~Chapter 6~

In the ballroom a beautiful waltz started to play in the background. It was beginning to become late but he blinked spontaneously, surprised but elated that he sees her just across the ballroom floor. From that familiar pink colored hair to that stunning dress she had worn he knew she had come back after all. 

He doesn’t know how or what happened to make her come back but he was hoping it was because of him. His feet took quick strides across the floor to get to her and when he was standing behind her he seemed nervous to talk and see her again. Mustering up all his courage he gently taps her on the shoulder. She turns around and almost like it was in a dream they looked at each other’s eyes ignoring everything else around them. 

She didn’t say a word and neither did he but he had to be the man and take initiation. “Ahem I believe you owe me another dance miss?”

The way he curtly bowed with his hand extended out for her made her giggle. Even the way she had laughed made his heart tingle.  

She gracefully bows before picking up her head. “I was worried that I was never going to find you but then you found me instead.” 

“Well all I can say is you stand out from the crowd but in a good way.” he reassured. 

He takes her to the middle of the ballroom floor and they begin dancing to the music. She let him lead and as they continued to dance it felt like they were walking on clouds, her hand was on his shoulder while the other hand was placed on his left. At this moment nothing felt like it was wrong. From their touches to gentle gazes in their eyes everything felt perfect to him. 

There was something about her smile and twinkling eyes that made him want to lean down and give her a wondrous kiss. However, there was one major question on his mind he had been dying to have answered.

“Before you should run off again I must know what your name is. Please tell me?”

When she had opened the ringing of chiming bells echoed out of and it had completely startled him. The noise becomes louder and the girl is pulled away by a mysterious force. He tried to chase after her but was surprised his feet would not move at all. No matter how hard he tried to move he was stuck. 

Suddenly someone taps his shoulder. He turns around but feels his heart completely drop. 

“Did you really think you can be with someone like her?? You belong to me! I’m your fiancé. You’re supposed to love me! And we are going to be together forever!”

His fiancé’s petite form starts to grow bigger until she becomes some unidentifiable beast that terrified him to his very core. She towered over him and with her huge and pointy fingers she reached out to grab him. 

“Noooooo!!!”

“-wake up! Kris wake up!”

“Ah!!” 

“Kris, Kris you’re ok. It’s ok. It was only just a nightmare.” Lay gently reassured Kris who looked utterly traumatized. 

Kris had shallow breaths and noticed he was completely drenched with sweat. At first he was sad that it was just a dream that the girl from last night had come back but he was also glad that the nightmare was over. Until he remembers that his fiancé actually existed in real life. 

“Gosh that must’ve been some dream you had Kris. I was coming in to wake you up for breakfast when I saw you were mumbling in your sleep until you began screaming and shaking. That really scared me.”

“Sorry Lay. It’s just I’ve been thinking too much about this stupid engagement that it’s even haunting me in my sleep.”

Lay nods with a sad smile etched on his face. “I understand. Last night was rough for all of us. We couldn’t even have fun together without being pulled away by our fiancé’s every five seconds. I mean you and I can withstand it but I’m not so sure for the others who have such a short temper. ”

“Do you think it’ll be worth it in the end? We’re sacrificing our happiness for our people’s happiness?”

This was the first time Kris had seen Lay look so troubled. His eyes were distracted with his twiddling thumbs before he answered hesitantly. “To be honest I’ve never been stuck between two difficult crossroads before. As a prince you’re supposed to think of your people first. It’s royal protocol but can we for once forget what we’ve been taught and think for ourselves what is the right thing to do? I don’t think marrying such dirty and evil people to end wars is such a good benefit to us all.”

Kris nodded mindlessly but darted his eyes over to Lay. He could see his eyes were filled with turmoil and disappointment. He pats Lay’s shoulder comfortingly instantly putting that familiar soft smile on his face.

“We should head down for breakfast. We need to get our minds off of all of this mess with food. I know food is the best kind of medicine to cheer a man up.”

Kris couldn’t have agreed more. When they stepped out of Kris’s room, they almost bump into Kai who was just passing by the hallway on his way to breakfast too. 

Lay quickly apologizes to Kai. “Oh sorry Kai didn’t see you there.” However, Prince Kai didn’t reply or even acknowledge their presence. He kept dragging his feet with a lost expression on his face. 

“Hm seems like you're not the only one out of it today.” Lay chuckles as they both followed and watched Prince Kai trailing down the hallway like some ghost. 

As soon as Prince Kris and Prince Lay arrived at the dining room, they noticed everyone looked practically miserable. Not even the sight or smell of their delicious breakfast could cheer them up.  

“Good morning everyone!” Lay’s chirpy greeting got some heads slowly turning. 

Chen forcefully picked his head up and looked like death itself. “What’s so good about this morning? I got no sleep from last night, I think my feet are dead or hopefully asleep and worst of all everytime I start telling myself this engagement is just a figment of my imagination when SHE starts talking.”

“Chen you’re not the only one that feels like their soul got out of their body and then got spat back in.” Prince Tao lazily fired back. “I thought I could never hate dancing but after last night with that woman’s gigantic feet stepping all over me, my poor toes began weeping after going to bed.”

“Ok ok so everyone had a rough night with the twelve princess’s from hell but let’s look at the bright side.” 

“Oh yeah sure Suho I would love to hear it but you know what I don’t think I hear anything but endless torture for the next couple of weeks!” by the end of Prince Baekhyun’s sentence he began to weep. Prince Xiumin who was sitting next to him comfortingly pats him on the back. 

Suho rolled his eyes at Baekhyun’s being overly dramatic. “The BRIGHT side is that we have the morning to ourselves. So we can just relax and have time to ourselves. No maniacal king breathing down our necks and most of all no pesky fiances.” 

“OH DARLING!!” immediately the prince’s got a severe chill up their spine just hearing one of the princess’s sickly and nasally voices. Most of them were just hoping that it wasn’t their fiance that was going to burst through those cursed doors. 

Thankfully it wasn’t any of their fiancé’s . She comes barging through the doors and circles around their breakfast table like some shark.

“Good Morning Princess Mari.” Prince Suho was just being polite out of courtesy but other than that just carried on eating his breakfast. 

“Where is he?” she asks rudely ignoring Suho but he didn’t care.

“Who’s he?” Prince Chanyeol asked but regretted even saying anything. 

“My sweet darling munchkin Prince Kyungsoo. He wasn’t in his bed when I came to visit and it seems he isn’t here with any of you.”

There was an empty seat next to Prince Luhan who finally realized that there was someone missing. “Huh well what do you know. I barely noticed the poor sap not showing up to breakfast.” 

“So do any of you have a clue as to where he could be?” 

“Nope” Prince Sehun coldly answered back wishing that she would just go away. 

“Maybe he’s hiding.” Prince Tao mumbles

“Pft lucky bastard.” Prince Sehun mumbles back. 

“Ugh anyways if you see him tell him that I’m looking for him.” 

None of them really answered her back but she was just too focused on finding her fiance to even care about the others. So she leaves the dining room continuing her search. 

“I wonder where Kyungsoo is?” Prince Baekhyun finally wonders.

“He must have woken up really early to try and get away from that woman. I mean I knew I got lucky with my fiance but man I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone make Kyungsoo want to punch a wall so badly.” 

“Well wherever he is I hope he is doing ok.” 

“Oh stop worrying Suho. Kyungsoo can take care of himself just fine although I am a bit worried about these two zombies over here.” Prince Chen found it odd well not strange for Kai to be spacing out but Kris on the other hand was blankly staring out the window. “I think they’re half asleep.”

“Kris? Kai? Are you two alright?” 

Kai abruptly dropped his fork and looked up like a deer caught in headlights. Lay elbows Kris and his attention was quickly diverted realizing that everyone was looking at him and Kai. 

Kris didn’t know why Kai was acting a bit strange this morning but he didn’t want to share with the rest of them that he’s been thinking about this beautiful girl he met at the ball last night. They would probably and in the end they wouldn’t do anything about it because in a few weeks he was going to be with someone else. 

“Kris? Kris?”

“Um yeah sorry. I just thought it was such a beautiful day today.”

“Uh yeah same here.” Kai quipped before he stuffed his face with his breakfast just so Suho wouldn’t keep asking anymore. 

Ever since last night, Kai just couldn’t stop thinking about that girl he had run into in the garden. His mind was filled with her beautiful face but if only he could’ve gotten to know her more then he wouldn’t look like he was losing his mind so early in the morning. 

Then Prince Chen gets up after finally finishing his breakfast. “So does anybody have plans today? Besides playing hide and go seek with ourthe devils?” 

Some of them were planning to do just that while Prince Suho had other plans to try and sneak out of the palace to visit Hanako at her shop and hopefully have the courage to tell her the truth. Just thinking about it made him start getting nervous but he had to do this and no one was going to get in his way. 

“Oh Prince Suho~” 

Well except for those unbearable princesses. Now it was everyone’s activity to run and hide from the princesses today. So far Prince Kyungsoo may be the only one who might win today. 

(Sunny Manor)

After the ball, Hanako couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t leave her mother’s side when she was in her weakest moment. It felt like forever for the doctor to arrive but when he had finally showed up he had rushed inside her room to give a thorough checkup. Hanako wasn’t allowed inside and was constantly pacing in front of the door anticipating whenever the doctor would come out.