Byul barely dragged herself out from her bed the next morning.

There was an immediate guilt that striked her when she went out into the common room where she saw the bits of flowers and decorative cloth around the place left from the previous night.

When she had arrived back after her tedious princess lessons, the EXO boys had already left and only Baekhyun was left waiting for her. He briefly explained about how they wanted to surprise her with a party and it got ruined because the princess lesson had dragged on for a little too long.

He didn't go into lengthy explanations nor did he whine about his disappointment in the matter, but Byul knew him well enough to know that he was indeed so.

It hurt her that she had disappointed not only him but the rest of the EXO boys as well, and even if she didn't want to think so, she thought it was her fault. It was her fault for not being able to remember the poems in the time Attendant Kim wanted her to. If only she had a better memory and intellect, the lesson would had finished much sooner

She was just so tired from trying to prove herself everyday that she realized that mental tolls were much more difficult to bear compared to physical ones.

Baekhyun seemed to know that and he had wordlessly carried her off to bed and tucked her to sleep in that caring sweet manner of his. He made everything worth it.

But as she walked out into the discarded party preparations the previous night, Byul couldn't help but feel bad once again. It was her fault for not being more of a princess wasn' it?

She was surprised to find Baekhyun already awake and already dressed, but more so surprised at what he was dressed in. He wasn't dressed in his usual premium quality royal robes, but instead, comfortable cotton rags of dull colours which he would have undeniably classified as unfashionable had it been another day.

He saw her coming in and brightened instantly, waving her over. "Eunbyul, I prepared your clothes." he gestured at a pile of dull pink cotton robes. "Change into them."

Byul went over and blinked at the clothes before looking down at the hanbok she was wearing. "What's going on?"

Baekhyun grinned at Byul and flicked her forehead. "We're going on an excursion into the Capital City." he declared. "Today you're not going to whatever ty princess lessons no matter what Head attendant Kim thinks, you and I, together with the EXO boys, we're going to the Capital City to catch that play you missed last time."

Memories floated up at his words and scenes passed in Byul's mind. She remembered the time when Baekhyun was still supposedly in love with Dahae and had actually agreed when Dahae said to not bring Byul along for the play when Byul had been looking forward to it trememdously.

She remembered the disappointment and Baekhyun's joking passing statement. Or perhaps, what she thought was a joke.

"I'll bring you to the theaters again next time. I'll make them perform the play just for the two of us." he promised.
"You can't do that."

"I can. I'm the Crown Prince! If I want to open the theater for Han Eunbyul I'll do so!"

Byul stared at Baekhyun in utmost surprise and adoration and Baekhyun grinned back, smacking a loud kiss on her lips. "Look at me like that for a second more and we're not leaving the quarters anymore."

"What is the play about?" Tao played with the piece of handwritten "ticket" for entrance into the theatre. "The last one was a great laugh. I remembered it for days."

"Indeed." Kris nodded. "That Baekhyun better not let us into some romantic, soulful, touching performance because I'll positively gag. I'm not kidding." He didn't look like he was either.

Chen yawned and tossed an orange in the air before catching it. "It's all well and everything, but do we have to dress down like commoners when we go out to play? I don't like these robes. They're scratchy." he complained.

"Shut it, spoilt brat." D.O. shook his head in amusement. "We don't want to intimidate the commoners on the road. It'll be awfully distracting." He tapped his foot impatiently as he looked around. "Where's Baekhyun hyung and Byul? Why are they taking so long?"

Chanyeol nodded in agreement. He realized with a start that he wanted Baekhyun and Byul to quickly arrive because...because of the person that would come along with them. Im Sora.

He wanted to keep an eye on her, or so he wanted to call it. Or perhaps he wanted to stare at her with not a care in the world as if he was her biggest fanboy ever on earth. Maybe that as well.

Chanyeol turned to Kai who was completely ignoring the rest of the other boys because all his attention was currently focused on his girlfriend Minhee who was drying the laundry in the yard with the other maids. Kai had invited Minhee to go along with them to the play as well but Minhee was too shy to join so many princes, which made Kai slightly irritable and disappointed.

People in love~ Chanyeol smiled softly at Kai's dreamy gaze directed to the unknowing maid who was working hardworkingly. It was fun to watch the ice man melt.

Baekhyun and Byul finally arrived, appropriately dressed in their commoner robes, and Sora followed behind them with a respectable distance. Chanyeol's eyes fell on her at once and she didn't look at him, staring at her shoes the entire time. He realized it was kind of a habit for her, to not make any eye contact with people around her. As if she was a lower being or something.

"Everyone ready?" Baekhyun beamed.

"YESS!" Sehun and Tao chorused enthusiastically while Lay blew a raspberry. "For ages."

"To the theatres, let's go!" Baekhyun led the way to their separate carriages, almost skipping the entire way with Byul by his side. Suho shook his head and met Xiumin's gaze. "Can you imagine this guy is going to govern Korea?" he whispered.

Xiumin shook his head. "Tough times ahead, it seems."

------

The EXO boys rushed into the theatres and all of them chose their favorite seats, or what they claim to be "the best seat of the house". Sehun chose the first row seat and was immediately laughed at by Kai because of the former's stupidity. Sehun harrumped angrily and stayed put in his seat until the curtains were drawn and the play began.

Which was when he realized that first rows seats weren't that good after all. Especially for the welfare of his neck.

The EXO boys enjoyed their play thoroughly, completely absorbed in the witty storyline and interesting banters and dialogues. It was a story of a young farmer boy who wanted to find his pet rabbit which had disappeared all of a sudden, and the funny happenings throughout the whole journey where he befriended more animals and made more friends.

Childishly fairytale-ish, yes. But the princes loved it.

It wasn't until halfway through the play that Chanyeol realised something wasn't quite right. His gaze moved around the faces of the EXO princes and then around at the otherwise empty theatre. Strange. Baekhyun and Byul were nowhere to be seen.
Not to mention Sora wasn't around either.

Chanyeol quickly got up from his seat and moved out of the theatre, looking for his friends. He immediately saw Sora standing outside one of the other theatres in the building, standing in attention. "Sora?"

She nearly jumped. She blinked at him in suprise and bowed politely, her gaze avoiding his. "Chanyeol-gun."

"What are you doing out here?" Chanyeol asked curiously, his gaze darting back to the theatre door she was guarding. "And do you know where's Baekhyun hyung and Byul?"

Sora nodded and pointed inside. "They're watching a play by themselves so I'm guarding the door here." she told him. Chanyeol peeked into the theatre and saw Byul and Baekhyun cuddled up side by side while their laughter rang out from the funny scenes depicted.

Typical Baekhyun. Of course he wouldn't share his Byul with the others even when it was just watching a play.

Chanyeol turned his attention back to Sora and rubbed the back of his neck. Logic told him to go back to his own seat to continue watching the play before he missed out too many scenes to make sense of what was going to happen.

His damn heart told him to stay. Or at least, told him he could not just let Sora stand guard here alone.

Chanyeol hesitated in front of Sora for a few moments that she even dared risk a glance at his face to ascertain that Chanyeol hadn't fallen in sleep in front of her. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and bit his lip. "You...want to watch?" he finally blurted.

What did you just ask! His heart screamed. Not ready for a relationship yet, definitely not! The heart concluded. You were in love with Byul just six months ago, what made you think that Im Sora was the right girl for you? Was she just a filler for the emptiness in your heart? Would you think of marriage with this girl, and having kids with her?

Chill. His brain scoffed. It wasn't even anything suggestive. It was asking her to watch a play with ten other princes in there. What the hell about marriage and babies??

Sora bit her lip, not daring to answer. However, her sneaking longing glance to the door told him how she felt about watching the play, and Chanyeol found himself tugging Sora on the hand and leading her to the theatre.

"Baekhyun hyung's not going to die if you don't watch him for another hour." Chanyeol whispered. "Just come in to enjoy yourself." he assured her.

He didn't know what got into his head because Baekhyun's safety was supposed to be of utmost importance. Because even if Sora was a friend, she shouldn't be allowed to leave because Baekhyun was still the Crown Prince. Because they were out in the Capital City and it wasn't as safe as it was in the Palace, and anything could happen. Anything.

But he didn't know why he smiled when Sora settled in the seat beside him and started to watch the play.

He must be going mad.