The princess was just as mischievous as she was beautiful.

 

Even after all these years, Dahyun could do nothing but stare as the enormous doors framed in gold and jewels swung shut behind her and the princess looked up, eyes that almost seemed to glow holding her gaze with a look unreadable.

 

Princess Minatozaki Sana was the kingdom’s beloved prize, the girl who could have entire armies at her feet with a single flutter of her lashes, renowned for her beauty of both body and soul. 

 

Dahyun wondered what she’d ever done so wrong to be put under her servitude for the past five years of her life.

 

“Princess—”

 

“ —Sana.”

 

Dahyun sighed, closing her eyes and resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Sana. What are you doing?”

 

The princess’ eyes lit up and in a blink of an eye, she was in front of her, bouncing on the balls of her feet, holding a brush doused in so much red paint that it looked like blood, blue streaking across her cheek, purple in her hair, and a myriad of colors all over her arms.

 

For the love of the gods, she isn’t a child anymore.

 

“You look even more beautiful today, Dahyunnie,” she said, twirling her hair between slender fingers. “Why don’t you allow me to take you on a date?”

 

Definitely not a child.

 

Dahyun felt redness creep into her cheeks despite the fact that she’d expected the girl’s advances, though she didn’t allow herself to look away. Looking away meant losing, and losing to Sana came with vast consequences.

 

“And you look rather colorful today, Princess. I see that you’re raring to make my day difficult again. As usual.”

 

“Oh don’t think of it so negatively,” Sana said, leaning down so all Dahyun could see was the amber of her eyes. “I’m only looking to make your life a little more interesting.”

 

She blinked, then stumbled backward, clearing hastily. “If you’re done using the paints, I’ll cleanse them now, if you don’t mind.”

 

She ducked past Sana as quickly as humanly possible and sighed heavily at the mess that greeted her. Nevertheless, cleaning took no more than ten minutes, although that was still a long time for Sana to be silent for. 

 

“Dahyun, you missed some over here.”

 

Admittedly, it was her fault for allowing her guard to fall, but Sana’s mischievous grin and bare skin had her yelping in surprise, hands shooting upwards to cover her eyes and feet stumbling backward to get away from the girl as quickly as possible. 

 

The fall that should have come never did and Dahyun only felt warmth encircling her body as she clung onto silky fabric in an attempt to maintain what little balance she had left.

 

“Now, now, we can’t have you harming that pretty face of yours, my lady.”

 

Sana’s dark hair cascaded down, surrounding her field of vision, so the only thing she could see was her face. Gods, she was beautiful, and that much more dangerous for it. She gave up on attempting to stop the red she could feel flushing her cheeks.

 

She was completely at Sana’s mercy, the girl holding her up by her waist, practically dipping her as if they were on a ballroom floor. That didn’t stop her from correcting her, though.

 

“I’m not your lady, I’m your maid. Those are two different things, Princess.”

 

Sana’s expression sobered. “That might be true for others, but that doesn’t mean it’s true for me. How many more times do I have to confess for you to accept my feelings?”

 

With a natural sort of ease, Sana pulled her flush against her body and righted her so that she was no longer hovering over the floor. She wondered if the princess was simply that strong or if she was simply that light. Dahyun breathed out a sigh of relief, and moved to pull away, only for the arm wrapped around her waist to tighten.

 

“How many more?”

 

The whisper brushed against her ear and Dahyun couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her skin, warm and electric. She felt the way her fingers curled into the silky fabric at Sana’s shoulder.

 

The doors slammed open. “Princess!”

 

It was almost mechanical, the way that Dahyun immediately dropped to her knees, pretending to search for something that wasn’t there, and Sana whirled away from her, straight-backed and smiling as prettily as she was expected to. 

 

A guard stumbled inside, out of breath and ruffled. When Dahyun glanced up to look at him, she knew there would be trouble. This was the guard that had confessed to her just a few days ago, the one that did so just as Sana was turning the corner.

 

Dahyun still couldn’t get the image of the fiery glint in the princess’ eyes that she’d seen that day—one that screamed jealousy and possessiveness and mine. It had been all that she could do to reject the boy and shoo him away as fast as possible before Sana could rip out his throat. 

 

It was ironic, really, how Dahyun was Sana’s in every aspect of the word except for the way that she knew the princess wanted her to be hers. Sana’s expression had gone cold, and it was frightening, seeing the warmth seeped out of her eyes and the corners of her lips where a smile usually lingered. Dahyun wondered how the boy was still standing. 

 

“What is it?” she said, her voice sharper than the sword at his waist.

 

The guard froze momentarily, looking stunned at the thinly veiled hostility, though to his credit, he quickly recovered. “Your Highness, Princess Myoui Mina is at the gates.”

 

Sana’s expression abruptly brightened, light flooding back into her eyes and a skip to her step as she all but jumped towards the doors. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

 

Dahyun scrambled to her feet and did her best to keep up with the princess, once again wondering how Sana managed to stay in such good shape when she’d never seen her exert herself in any form of exercise. 

 

They made their way to the front gates in record time and Dahyun nearly doubled over, gasping for breath. Sana didn’t even look close to being winded, impatiently waving at the guards to do their job. They complied with a speed that was almost too quick to gauge and Dahyun watched as the gates swung open to reveal the second most beautiful woman that she knew.

 

“Minari!”

 

Sana practically leaped onto the girl, but Dahyun knew that Mina was too accustomed to Sana’s antics to be the least bit fazed. Despite being smaller than Sana, the other princess managed to carry her weight without collapsing, a soft, affectionate laugh slipping from her lips amidst Sana’s excited giggles.

 

“You didn’t tell me you were coming!”

 

“This wasn’t exactly planned,” Mina said, pulling away from what Dahyun was sure was a bone crushing hug. “I would have told you if it was.”

 

Sana narrowed her eyes. “Sure you would have. Where’s Momo?”

 

Dahyun felt the automatic smile creep onto her lips at the mention of the older girl, scanning the small entourage that Mina had brought with her. The slender, dark-haired maid was easy to spot amidst the stiff, broad backed soldiers, the girl stepping forward to greet Sana.

 

“Hello, Your—”

 

“—if you say Your Highness or Your Majesty or Princess I swear I’ll punch you in the face—you and Dahyun both because it’s been five years and she still does it.”

 

Dahyun didn’t bother to defend herself, just shaking her head and walking up to stand behind Sana instead. She caught Momo’s eye, the older girl flashing her a charming, slightly tilted smile before she looked back at the princess.

 

“I’m sorry, Sana. I won’t do it again.”

 

“You and I both know that’s a lie,” Sana refuted, though she grabbed Momo by the forearm and tugged her into a hug anyway.

 

“Is Mina not feeding you enough? You’re all skin and bone!”

 

“Momo eats everything in the castle, actually,” Mina said, a brief look of exasperation flashing over her face. “I think I need to hire new cooks. The ones we have are all under her power.”

 

Sana’s expression falters at that. “…Everyone but Momo is welcomed inside.”

 

“Hey!”

 

~

 

“Sana’s feelings for you are genuine, you know.”

 

It took everything in Dahyun not to choke on her water, hastily swallowing before it could happen, eyes wide as she stared at Momo. The older girl simply continued to wipe down the bowl in her hands, nonchalant despite the explosive she’d just set off in the kitchen.

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

Momo eyed her, a small smile quirking at the corner of her lips. “Mina tells me many things, one of them being about the relationship between you and Sana. You have feelings for the princess, no?”

 

Dahyun knew that she felt…something for Sana. How could she not? The princess was beautiful and generous and so, so kind, despite her playful, mischievous nature, and the feeling that developed in the pit of her stomach whenever she smiled was certainly something, but Dahyun hadn’t dared name it. 

 

She hadn’t named it the time she watched Sana order her entire entourage of fifty men to stop in the middle of a dusty road just to swing off of her horse and offer two scrawny children her entire sack of freshly baked bread and ripe fruits. 

 

She hadn’t named it the time Sana promptly marched up to an executioner's block before anyone could stop her because she believed that the thief who had snuck into her own room to take anything and everything valuable to her didn’t deserve such a gruesome death.

 

She hadn’t even named it the time Sana punched a man so hard she broke three of her knuckles for cornering Dahyun against a wall, staring down at him with fire and ice in her eyes and ignoring the crooked way her fingers bent, blood dripping down her alabaster skin.

 

Dahyun had tended to her wounds that evening and Sana had only remained quiet, anger simmering hot beneath the surface that Dahyun could almost feel in her skin. It had taken her pulling Sana into a hug and whispering her gratitude for the princess to relax, soft and pliant once again in her arms.

 

“Well?” Momo prompted, setting down the bowl and picking up a plate.

 

Dahyun shook her head, nails digging into her palms. “I don’t know.”

 

“You do know, Dahyun. It isn’t treason to love the princess, especially not when the princess reciprocates those feelings. And you know she does. You know she loves you.”

 

Dahyun felt the familiar burn of rebellion in . “And you? You love Mina.”

 

She didn’t receive the reaction that she wanted, not when Momo’s eyes only softened along with , a lovesick smile if Dahyun had ever seen one. Words weren’t needed for the girl’s answer, and Dahyun barely noticed the ladle she had been holding clattering back into the sink.

 

“You’re—”

 

“—we’re together, yes. Granted, it was Mina who confessed, but that’s beside the point.”

 

Dahyun’s thoughts whirled in her mind, a hurricane of questions and statements and exclamations that she wasn’t sure what to say first.

 

“Does anyone know?”

 

Momo blushed, pretty pink tinges on the apples of her cheeks and Dahyun resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the unfairness of it. “The king and queen know. Mina has never been the type to keep things from her parents. They were surprisingly very accepting.”

 

Well, she couldn’t possibly be angry in the face of that. She felt herself deflate along with a small sigh and a smile. “I’m happy for you, Momo. Really. “

 

Momo grinned, strikingly pretty as always. “Thank you, Dahyun. It means a lot. Try not to think too hard about it. Follow your heart.”

 

Dahyun bit her lip, but nodded all the same.

 

“I’ll try.”

 

~

 

Mina and Momo left two days later.

 

Sana was more reserved than usual. There were no more flirty touches or invasions of personal bubbles. She wasn’t cold, just—lukewarm, so unlike everything that Sana stood for, and Dahyun found that she hated it.

 

She could still feel the heat of her gaze when her back was turned, but it was all for nothing when she turned around and Sana’s eyes flickered away as quickly as a fleeting thought, and the warmth simmered away again, faster than she could cling onto it.

 

It was only when Sana returned to her bedchambers with a badly scraped arm that the silence finally broke. She attempted to hide the wounds at first, but Dahyun had always had a sharp eye, and crimson blood staining the sleeve of the princess’ shirt wasn’t something that bypassed her.

 

It took less than three seconds for Dahyun to rush up to her and begin to fuss over her arm. “Sana, you’re bleeding. What happened? Did someone do this to you? Did you fall? Did you—”

 

Sana’s hand fell over her own, larger in both the length of her fingers and the width of her palm, her touch still gentle despite the icy silence between them. Nothing about the girl had ever been harsh. Dahyun looked up only to see her carefully avoiding her eyes.

 

“It’s nothing. Just a fall. I’m okay.”

 

Her hand quickly retreated and the princess stepped away, removing what Dahyun recognized to be her riding boots.

 

“You fell off your horse? Did you hit your head? Was nobody there?”

 

“It was an accident. You know how clumsy I can be,” Sana said, placing the boots neatly against the wall.

 

Dahyun shook her head. “Not on horseback. You never fall.”

 

The snap came faster than she could prepare for it. “Well I did, okay? I don’t know why you care so much. I told you it’s nothing.”

 

Dahyun subconsciously took a step back, a small thrill of fear coursing through her veins at the sign of danger that she’d never seen aimed at her before. Sana’s eyes were fire, still somehow beautiful in their tornado of emotions, but the tornado disappeared at the same speed that horror replaced the flames.

 

“I’m sorry,” Sana whispered, hand hovering over . “Gods, I’m sorry, I—I don’t know what that was.”

 

She all but crumpled onto her bed, elbows on her knees and face in her hands. Dahyun wasn’t sure what to do. She never knew what to do when Sana wasn’t smiling that dazzling grin of hers, when she wasn’t laughing all high pitched and infectious. 

 

“It’s okay, Sana. You don’t need to—”

 

“No, it’s not okay. You didn’t deserve that.”

 

The silence was heavy, a weighted blanket that trapped them in a cocoon of bottled feelings and unspoken words. Dahyun had never been brave. Bravery was one quality among many that she lacked and no matter how hard she tugged at the cork stopping the bottles, she had never been able to get them out.

 

“You’ve been distant.”

 

She almost recoiled at the words that left her, syllables tasting strange and unfamiliar on her tongue. Sana looked like a child who’d been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. 

 

“No I haven’t,” she murmured.

 

The denial was weak, and Dahyun knew that the princess knew it, too. “You have. You don’t…talk to me anymore.”

 

Abruptly, Sana was standing again, easily towering over her because, well, almost anyone could when she was quite literally the height of one of the kingdom’s ponies. However, it was only then that she realized just how much the princess dwarfed her.

 

Something in Sana’s eyes broke and then she was being engulfed in a hug.

 

“I don’t know any other way I can do this, Dahyun. It’s too hard. I—I think about you constantly and every time you smile I just want to keep it there forever, and every time you talk I never want you to stop, and I don’t know what to do with this.” Sana pulled away and Dahyun froze at the sight of tears. “I don’t know how to stop loving you.”

 

Dahyun could only blink at the confession, her brain having difficulty processing the words and the meaning behind them and everything in between. She failed to register Sana pulling away, arms wrapping around herself instead of Dahyun.

 

“That’s why I’ve been distant. I hoped—I hoped that distance would help and that you wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable around me anymore…”

 

“Uncomfortable?”

 

“This wasn’t my initial intention,” Sana went on, hand wringing through her hair. “You were cute and I liked how red your cheeks got when I flirted with you and I liked how I could see you smile when you turned away even when you acted like you couldn’t possibly hate it more, but then,” she paused, picking at her nails in the way that she did when she was stressed, “but then I realized I was falling in love with you.”

 

You do know, Dahyun. You know she loves you.

 

Momo’s voice rang in her head, and as if her body had a mind of its own, she found herself closing the space between them, her entire body vibrating with a strange energy. 

 

Sana’s arms seemed to react before she did, looping around her waist again as if they belonged there before she looked up, her eyes wide and confused and so, so pretty.

 

It was her eyes that snapped Dahyun out of whatever trance she’d been under to get to this point and she felt heat shoot straight into her cheeks like twin arrows when she realized what she had done. It wasn’t enough to make her back away despite it all. Not after all of this.

 

“Dahyun?”

 

“I—I,” she attempted, the words failing on her tongue. She felt her brows furrow, eyes trained on Sana’s neck because it was too much to look into her eyes. “Me too,” she finally managed to say.

 

A brief silence fell between them. “What?”

 

Dahyun felt frustration build in her chest. “What you said. Me too.”

 

“I…don’t understand.”

 

The frustration spilled over and Dahyun closed her fists on Sana’s shirt, closed her eyes, and kissed her. It was the feeling of warmth and comfort and safety and it was everything. Sana gasped into her lips, but it wasn’t even a second later that her arms wrapped tightly around her and pulled her closer.

 

A few moments later, Dahyun found that not only was Sana taller than her, but she had the lung capacity of an elephant, and she broke the kiss before she could faint from the lack of oxygen. The princess followed her lips, and Dahyun quickly pushed her face away, panting heavily and glaring at her.

 

“Are you trying to kill me?”

 

Sana looked genuinely confused and barely out of breath. “What do you mean?”

 

“What are you, a fish? I need air.”

 

The princess laughed, loud and bright, a mischievous glint sparkling in her eyes. “You started it. I was only reciprocating.”

 

Dahyun flushed, attempting to find some sort of comeback, only for her eyes to catch the sight of blood still on the sleeve of Sana’s arm. Realization slowly dawned on her and she quickly grabbed the fabric of her dress to see what she knew would be there.

 

“You got blood on me!”

 

“What?”

 

“Blood! On my dress!” Dahyun yelled, pointing at the stain.

 

Sana seemed to take it seriously for a moment, inspecting the material before she straightened up and nodded, a sly grin on her face. “Well, you can take it off if you want to. I wouldn’t mind.”

 

“Minatozaki Sana!”