Warning: some slight suggestive scenes

Lei doesn’t know what Lucas’s favorite color is, so she assumes it’s dark blue. From her dress to her shoes, she makes sure it looks like she let the midnight sky paint her outfit. To be honest, she would never put on such a short skirt or such high heels on purpose, but it’s Lucas, and Lucas really seems like any other guy. At least, that’s what Kai tells her, and her brother must have some sort of intuition that’s useful despite how much she dislikes him.

“Why are you going to see him if you don’t even like him?” Wendy asks as she helps Lei with her shoes.

“There’s no one else to talk to,” Lei mumbles. She checks her reflection in her compact mirror and decides that her lipstick needs some touching up. “I mean, what am I going to do all day? I already watched everything good to watch on Netflix. My brother’s an . Baekhyun is a creep, and I’m not gathering evidence myself, no way. And you’re…” Wendy arches a brow. “You’re not that interesting.”

“Fair enough.” Wendy shrugs. “Hurtful, but true.”

“You have feelings?” Lei smiles as if it were a joke, but in truth, she does wonder. Never in her life has she seen Wendy with anyone. In fact, everywhere they went together—a party, a dinner, a back-to-school dance—Wendy was always next to her. Maybe the reason for it is related to how Wendy is meant to be her advisor and not so much as a fellow princess.

“Yes.” Wendy laughs, her eyes crinkling. “I’m more sensitive than you think but being with you all the time has given me thicker skin.” She clears . “But what I feel is irrelevant. What do you plan on doing with Lucas?”

“Trouble.”

Wendy does a double take, nervousness and concern lacing her stare. “Trouble? Lei, no.”

“Lei, yes.” Lei laughs, already getting giddy. “Come on, Wendy. I’m only young once. I have to stir up trouble. Besides, after yesterday’s events, I need to do something about it.”

“I’m not proud of you.” Wendy shakes her head. “I can’t believe you were willing to do something like that. It would have made sense if you liked Lucas or were at least in a relationship with him, but you weren’t!” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Lei, as your advisor, that was very unwise. But as your friend,” she brings her hand down, “I can only tell you to keep your hands to yourself.”

“That’s not really going to stop me.” Lei rolls her eyes. “Come on. Do you think I’ll really keep my hands off of Lucas? He’s the only guy I can get involved with in any way.”

“So, you’re bored and want to do regrettable teenage things?”

Lei’s brows frown, but her lips smile. “That’s exactly what I want to do. I need to send my mother and brother a message that they can’t control me. Also, I need to wipe Baekhyun’s face off The Ouesce News Report.”

“I would advise against that.”

“Yet here you are. Not stopping me. You even found someone willing to risk their job to get me to Lucas’s house.”

“That’s because it’s Lucas.” It’s Wendy turn to roll her eyes, but it’s also her turn to smile. “You said it yourself. Last night, you, er, didn’t get far with your ambitions thanks to his resistance. So, as far as I know, he’s very orthodox about his values. Not to mention, he’s noticeably civil in a public setting, and he’s very assertive. You could learn something from him.”

“You trust me with Lucas then?”

“No,” Wendy admits. “But I trust Lucas with you.”

“He left me in the fire, remember?”

“You got over him doing that, didn’t you?” Wendy stands up from her kneeling position and leans against a table. “We all make mistakes. You nearly killed me too, remember? I was trying to get away at one point to save myself.” Lei stops tapping her fingers against her lap, and she looks away. She recalls exactly what Wendy is talking about, and she doesn’t feel good about it. “I forgave you because it wasn’t entirely your fault. I’m assuming you forgave Lucas because he wasn’t entirely at fault at either.”

Lei smiles to herself. Wendy’s right, of course. “You know me very well.”

“I do, so I also know you want to do all these crazy things because you feel trapped.” Wendy touches her on the arm, and Lei looks up to meet the somber gaze of her friend. “In between growing up, your familial issues, Lucas, and…Baekhyun, I know it can’t be easy.”

“It’s not,” Lei confirms, her tone a little less hard and steely. “I feel like I’m watching someone else’s life in my body.”

“At least you’re not living a peasant’s life.” Wendy arches a brow and shrugs. “Think about it. If I’m going to be forced to live through a setting in which I don’t want to live in, I’d rather have it be one where I’m a princess.” She giggles in excitement. “Look at you! You’re Lei Kim. You get the name, the tiara, the future prince charming. I want that too.”

Wendy’s smile is so infectious that Lei can’t help her lips from tugging up at the corners.

“It’s not that exciting,” Lei admits, shaking her head slightly. She loves Wendy as if she’s a sister, and she doesn’t want to see her heart crushed by the agenda all royalty has. “You wouldn’t be allowed to do anything fun. And ‘Prince Charming’,” Lei air quotes the term, “isn’t always as fun as he sounds like. Remember when my mother forced me to go to that ‘social gathering’ with Lucas?” She shudders at the memory. “Admissible and abominable.”

“I’m sure it was.” Wendy rolls her eyes. “Wearing thousands of helions worth of jewelry—not to mention the dress and the beau you had on your arm.”

“Please.” Lei stands up from her chair, and Wendy moves quicker to open the bedroom door. “Believe it or not, I wish there was something more to being…this. Being some sort of accessory to whoever I marry.” She fake gags. “I mean, is this it? Is this the best my life will get? If so, then I want to opt out.”

Wendy sighs, but she also smiles. “You’ll find someone, Lei. I’m sure of it.”

“Who? The only option I have is Lucas.”

“There’s parts of him you don’t like, sure, but I’m sure he finds a part of you that he doesn’t like either.”

Lei frowns and tilts her head as if to examine what circuits went haywire with Wendy. “What could that be? I’ve been nothing but diamonds to him. I’m a princess, for god’s sake. What is he again?”

“Hey.” Wendy grabs her wrist, and Lei gasps, astonished that Wendy had the nerve to do so. She quickly releases her grip, however, probably realizing how out of bound she was. “Sorry but listen to me. Lucas comes from a wealthy family—and so do you. You’re both from wealth. He could have anyone and so could you. Isn’t this somehow a match made in heaven?”

“A match made in my mother’s hands,” Lei corrects. She stops with her frowning and whines, repulsed and tired of the path laid out in front of her. “What if she forces me to marry Lucas? What if I get stuck with that…” She pauses, unable to think of a word other than terrible that encapsulates The Essence of Lucas. “I would throw myself out of the window.”

“I’d rather you not.” Wendy fixes the hem of Lei’s shirt. “Prenuptial agreements exist, and I’m assuming Lucas’s family won’t like you committing suicide.”

“It’s only suicide if I die. What if I disappear before our vows?”

“Lei, you should just pretend to like him.” Wendy opens the front door, and their heels stop clicking behind them in the same way they click against the granite flooring inside the castle. On the brick walkway, the clicks become duller.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because he likes you.” Wendy nudges Lei’s shoulder with hers. “Don’t walk over his feelings. Or anyone’s.”

“But he walks over mine!”

“So you do like him.”

“That’s disgusting. No, I don’t.” Lei stops in front of the awaiting car. The chauffer opens the door for her, but she doesn’t step in it yet. First, she has to do something… “Wendy?” Wendy’s eyes are an average brown, but they always seem to twinkle when she smiles—like now. “You’re a really good person. And...I don’t say ‘friend’ because you’re obviously not. You’re kind of like, I don’t know, a mom? It’s whatever, honestly. But thank you. For everything. For putting up with me.”

Wendy laughs, showing a set of brilliant teeth. “You’re not dying. Why does it feel like we’re saying goodbye for the rest of eternity?”

“Ugh, stop ruining the moment.” Lei rolls her eyes and crosses her arms with a smile. “I love you, Wendy. If I wasn’t straight, I’d definitely go for you.”

“I love you, Lei.” Wendy continues to grin. “You’re my sister that I never had.” She pauses, her smile fading into a frown. “Which would make it uous, wouldn’t it?” Lei smirks, having read Flowers in the Attic. “Wow, I learn more about you every day.”

“Hey!” Lei punches Wendy’s shoulder, causing both of them to laugh even harder.

“Okay, you should get going,” Wendy says once they’ve caught their breaths. “Lucas is waiting.”

“I doubt it, but thanks.” Lei raises her brows for a second. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Of course, my princess.”

- - - - -

Lucas doesn’t live in an old castle like Lei does, but he does live in a sprawling mansion with outlying gardens and an entire beach. While its size pales in comparison to the royal castle, its sleekness and modernity tops perhaps every other piece of property on the island—maybe even the world. The most unimaginable fact about where Lucas lives is that it’s a private estate. That means no public tours or gaping tourists.

As Lei walks over the white stone pathway leading to the front entrance, she recalls the first memory she had of Lucas.

It was New Year’s Eve of 2016, and it was Lei’s first time going to the Wong residence. She remembers it like yesterday. The amount of energy that emanated from the partygoers was delightfully unreal. People were in the midst of dizzying happiness and youth. Even those who were reaching past their midlife seemed to grow decades younger. And while the party really wasn’t for her, in between fountains of champagne and bursts of fireworks, Lei met Lucas’s eyes from across the veranda.

He was leaning against the wall, hands around a beverage for someone years older than he was, yawning. It was New Year’s Eve, hours before midnight, and he was yawning. Lei doesn’t know what was so particular about him, but he just was. The next thing she knew, he was smiling at her and walking closer. With every step he seemed to take her heart seemed to quicken. One step equated to an increase of beats per minute.

His voice felt like velvet, and for a second, it was the most beautiful thing she heard. Hey, I’m Lucas.

Lei knocks their melody on the door, and it opens after only a few seconds.

“Princess Lei.” It’s Taeyong, and he has a pink blush across his cheeks. “Hello, um, this is unexpected. Please, come in.” Lei enters with a smile. Taeyong, although she’s not terribly close to him, is one of her favorites out of Lucas’s rowdy group of friends because he makes every affair a formal one—as demonstrated by his habit of wearing of business suits. “Um, Lucas is busy. Was he expecting you?”

“No, but I thought I’d surprise him.” Lei looks around for signs of Lucas’s other friends, but she’s not successful. “Why are you here? Is there some sort of gathering I’m not a part of?”

“Not really,” Taeyong stammers. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, and Lei narrows her eyes at that. Taeyong, the usually composed and regal, always keep his hands in his pockets. “Do you want a drink or something? You’re 18 now, right?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t had the chance to drink anything alcoholic yet.” Lei follows Taeyong into the kitchen where he opens a cabinet filled with wine bottles.

“You want to try anything or are you fine with water?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Lei laughs, leaning against the kitchen island. Taeyong freezes on the spot, and he shakes his head quickly. “You’re really funny, Tae. You nervous about something?”

“Not at all.” He smiles, but Lei notices him shaking his leg. For some reason, he takes out a bottle from the cabinet and pours himself a glass of something. Lei’s not unfamiliar with Lucas’s friends drinking since they are older than she is, but they never drink anything alcoholic before the sun goes down. The fact that Taeyong breaks this unspoken rule suggests something devious to Lei.

She walks over to him and pulls the glass away from his lips at the last second. “Taeyong,” she says, and his widen at their proximity. “Are you on drugs?”

“Of course, I’m not!” Taeyong steps backward, but Lei can see the truth in his eyes—literally. His pupils are dilated despite the overabundance of light in the kitchen.

“Tae, you’re worrying me.” Lei narrows her eyes at the way he starts avert his gaze. “You know, we’re friends. Sort of. You can tell me whatever what’s making you nervous.”

“Nothing’s making me nervous,” Taeyong insists although he keeps shaking his leg. “Can I have my drink back?”

“Nope.” Lei pops the P, and then without thinking, she drinks the entire glass filled with an alcoholic liquid. It burns worse than the fire she holds within her core, and as a result, she coughs and coughs at the repulsive taste. “What,” she spits the word out of , “is that that?”

“Vodka.” Taeyong grabs the glass away from Lei, and he shakes his head. “Don’t go out of your league.”

“Out of my league?” Lei stands against the counter on firm feet. After the initial burn of the vodka, she surprisingly feels fine. “That wasn’t bad. It just tasted terrible. Needs a chaser or something.”

“Oh, you know what chasers are?” Taeyong smirks, tilting his head to the side so that the light streaming in from the windows paints a golden hue across his features. “You’re so cool, Lei. Now come on, let’s find your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Lei rolls her eyes and crosses her arms when Taeyong nudges his shoulder towards a door at the back of the kitchen.

“But didn’t