As soon as Tzuyu closed the feeble door to the house she shares with Nayeon and Mina, she heard footsteps coming. Before she could even turn her head, she was bombarded with questions.
 

“Where were you so late into the day?”
 

“Did you finally get them?”

 

“Were you caught?”

“Did the princess take notice when you left?”

 

“Please! One question at a time okay?” Tzuyu countered.

 

Mina stepped up. “Let me ask again. What were you doing so late that you came back mid-day?”

 

“I may have...stayed the night at the palace.”

 

“With the princess?!” Nayeon yelled shockingly. “How...scandalous. That does not answer my question though. If you spent that much time, surely you secured what we needed.” Silence. “You have got to be kidding me.”

 

“This is the royal palace, Nayeon! It is like a fortress there! Especially inside. The princess is best friends with the captain of the royal guard! If word got around that the princess was bringing a masked figure into her room late into the night, it would not raise alarms?! I am doing my best here! You try it!”

 

“Alright, that is enough, you two. Nayeon is right, Tzuyu. With the amount of time you have been spending over there, it would become easier for the chance to open up. Why are you not taking it? What is the exact reason?” Mina questioned.

 

“If I tell you both, you must promise not to get cross with me, okay?” They both nodded and Tzuyu inhaled deeply. “I...I believe that I have fallen in love with the princess….”

 

“What?!” Mina lost her composure. “This has to be a joke, Tzuyu! You should know better! We are already risking enough with you being this close to the princess but you want to further jeopardize what we have accomplished because...because you have fallen in love?! How could I not be mad?! I knew you were not ready for this but somehow I let you do this anyway! Unbelievable, Tzuyu!”

 

Tzuyu sighed , crouched down to the floor, and put her face in her hands. 

 

“Mina. Please. She clearly feels bad about it enough. Let us not further drive a knife into her. Just leave. Go for a walk or something but leave to clear your mind.”

 

“Fine!” Mina huffed.

 

Nayeon squatted down to Tzuyu’s level and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Tzuyu…”

“Please I do not want to hear your lecture right as I heard Mina’s.”

 

“That is not why I am here, Tzuyu. I have no plans to lecture you. I just want to talk. Tell me about everything. Tell me about her.”

 

“Really? You are not going to poke any fun at me or anything?” Nayeon shook her head. “Okay. Where do I start? You know that first day I tried enacting our plan, I should have known how smitten I was with her. At the first sight of her, I thought she was so beautiful, Nayeon. It did not help that she was so nice to me even though she did not know me. She did not treat me like some lowly peasant who has no business being there. She treated me like a human being. Most royals would just scoff at my mere presence but not her. She was so bold in her actions that day. We barely met but can you believe it? She asked me to dance with her. God, I should have just given up on the mission at hand and we could find a more suitable target. I fell in love, Nayeon. I barely figured that out yesterday. I do not know what to do. I am scared. On one hand, I know what I must do to protect the innocent children being crushed by life but on the other hand I love Dahyun too much to hurt her like this. I know how devastated she will be when she learns of my true intentions. I can not bear to think of it.  Do you know how kind she is? After hearing of what life is like down here, she organized a whole masquerade ball and plans to invite all of us to the palace courtyard to celebrate. She even wants me to attend the ball with her as her partner. Everything is so confusing. I really do not know what to do. Nayeon...what do I do?”

 

“Unfortunately Tzuyu, I can not help you on that matter. This is something you have to solve on your own. It is your choice on what kind of route you want to take care in the future. According to you, you either break the princess’ heart or you leave the village orphans to fend for themselves.”

 

“You know what you must do, Tzuyu.” Mina coldly said.

 

“When did you get here? How much did you hear?” Tzuyu asked, afraid.

 

“Enough to know what needs to be done for the children. The princess will get over you breaking her heart eventually. Those children need that money from those crowns, Tzuyu, and you know it. If you do take my advice and decide the better option, then I already have a plan in mind.”

“Your plan is?”

 

“Thank you for asking, Nayeon. Tzuyu, Nayeon and I are going to be in that same crowd of villagers. What I want you to do is to not go to that ball as hard as you can. If the princess relents, you can sneak off from her bedroom to where they store the crowns while she is distracted. If you succeed, we will be waiting near the princess’ balcony. From there, we will escape. We will figure out how to distribute the crowns when we get them.”

 

“If I have no choice but to go as her partner, then what?”

 

“Find a way to escape. I know you will think of something. So, do you agree with me? Think of the children, Tzuyu. Think of what they need.”

 

Tzuyu remained conflicted for a few minutes as she weighed her options. Tzuyu looked up at Mina and nodded. “For the children.”

 

“Good. Just stay where you are with the Princess for now. Do not raise any alarms. Good luck, Tzuyu.”

 

Nayeon repeated the same thing to her but softer. “Good luck, Tzuyu. Please...be safe.” 

 

……

 

The fateful day of the masquerade finally befell the kingdom. Many had begun the preparations as soon as the princess gave word of what was to happen and had prepped for many weeks now. The kingdom people had set aside their finest attire for the special event seeing as how it has been years now and they have truly missed the wonderful events being thrown by the previous royals. The surrounding nobles had already summoned their carriages to take them to the palace and were now on their way as their horses trotted through the mountains. The palace staff were anticipating their skills finally being put to the test for the large event.

 

The aforementioned princess was just waking up as the sunlight hit her pale face through the curtains. She briefly opened her eyes before shutting them again at the harsh sunlight bothering her. She turned around and was met with the sight of Tzuyu sleeping on her side. As she brought her hand up to Tzuyu’s cheek, she froze and remembered the events of the previous night. Embarrassed, she brought her hand back and tucked her head under Tzuyu’s chin. The sudden movement awoke Tzuyu from her sleep. Simply humming she wrapped her arms around Dahyun tighter. “Good morning.”

 

“Good morning, my starlight. How have you slept? I hope well...especially after our endeavors last night.” Dahyun said timidly.

 

Tzuyu smiled.“Well, ever since we broke away from our monthly tradition many nights ago and have resorted to nightly visits, I should ask the same of you.”

Dahyun gazed lovingly and brought back her hand to rest it upon Tzuyu’s cheek. “I do not ever believe I can get over how ethereal you are. Everything about you is just...you are the definition of perfection. If there was ever a visual aid for the word perfection, I would ask you.”

 

“Hearing that from others so often becomes so repetitive and meaningless to me that I loathe it every time someone mutters how beautiful I am but hearing it come out your mouth...I would give anything to hear it again for the first time out of you.”

 

Dahyun smiled tenderly but quickly sighed.

 

Tzuyu furrowed her eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I wish I did not have to get out of bed today but alas today is important as I am sure you know. Today is the kingdom and the nobles all come to see me for the first time in years.  Young Dahyun has become a woman and is now ready to ascend onto her rightful place as queen of her kingdom. Tzuyu...may I confess something to you? I am deathly afraid of today. I do not know what it is but something about today is making me feel like something bad will happen. I am scared of the outcome and what it might end as. I can not stand any thought of it but it plagues my mind. What if something terrible happens and you or I or even both have ended up in the crossfire?”

 

Tzuyu stiffened for a moment but quickly gained her composure back. “Dahyun, nobody ever knows what the future may bring. None of us can ever know what the outcome of the day is but does that make us live in fear? No. We continue living our lives. I promise, my moonlight, no matter the outcome of today, I lo...I love you, Dahyun. Now! Let us get up and get ready for the night, hm? I am sure a lot of people are excited to see you and I for one, can not wait to see my beloved in a ballroom gown that can not capture her beauty. Especially as I whisk her for a dance.”

 

Dahyun scrunched up her nose playfully. “Charmer.”

 

“Only for you.”

 

“Now, come with me. We have much to do before the ball begins.”

 

“We? When I meant a dance, I meant here on your balcony. I have no intention of actually attending this ball, Dahyun. I am not meant to be there nor is it my thing. I would rather wait in your room and once you finally get the chance to slip away from the crowd, I can dance with you freely with no eyes on us. Lavish balls or anything like that for that matter, are things that I as a commoner should not attend.”

 

“Tzuyu, commoners are going to be in the courtyard either way. How do you even know if balls are not your thing if you have never been to one? I can use the same logic towards myself. I attended them as a child but quite frankly I do not remember any of it.” Tzuyu stayed silent. “I told you, Tzuyu, you are coming to his ball whether you like it or not. I mean it. I even asked Momo for a large favor.”

 

“That favor was?”

 

“Well, seeing that you brought no formal attire with you, which I saw coming, I have seen to it that you would have an outfit ready in case of this situation. I asked Momo to go into the next kingdom over and get you an outfit that just screams nobility so no one can question your upbringing. That way, you and I can be together with no suspicion.”

 

“You have truly thought this through, Princess.”