His hand was steady as he aimed the maple bow at his clever adversary. Even with the hood of his cloak shielding half of his face from view, he had a clear sight of his opponent. With stealth-like side steps, he circled from a far distance. One wrong move and it could all be over. His eyes never left the target. Right at the heart he told himself.

Right at the heart.

With an exhale, he released the steel arrow and it shot horizontally, slicing through the air with as much accuracy as threading a needle.

Its white fur coat was stained crimson as it kicked. Jae watched as the rise and fall of its chest gradually stopped. The arrow driven deep into its side was still at last.

Out of nowhere, a girl cried out in dismay. She rushed forward screaming the name of her fallen love.

“Prince Charming!!!” She shoved the crouched Jae aside and gathered the dead bunny in her arms. He was still warm. The blood slowly oozed out from his fatal wound as she hugged him close, shifting the bloody shaft of Jae’s arrow.

He was rooted to the ground. All he could do was watch this hysterical girl cry over a rabbit. She spoke to it as if it was her lover.

“Cyndi is here, sweetheart. Shhhhh… Don’t cry now…” She started to its fur. The blood stained her hand.

She’s mad… she’s insane, Jae thought to himself. He shot a rabbit but that didn’t mean he was heartless. Uprooting himself, he moved closer to her and reached out his hand to pat her on the head (his attempt at comforting).

“There there… It was just a rabbit. I’ll buy you another one. I’ll buy you a hundred rabbits if you want…”

She shot him a look of utmost disgust. He was forced to take a step back. Cyndi dropped Prince Charming as she stood up. Jae was stunned when she struck the side of his head with her blood stained hand.

Smacked by a girl, he was caught off guard for the first time in his life.

“You monstrous jerk! Get out of my forest!”

Jae had never been spoken to in such a matter, “Do you know who you are addressing, miss?”

“Does it look like I care?! You could be the Prince of Acitokys and I wouldn’t give a horse’s tail! LEAVE!”

He couldn’t be bothered arguing with a madwoman and so he did what she asked him to. Leaping onto his black horse with the grace of a king, he left without another word.

•••••••

Poor Prince Jae. Ling, the fairy godmother watched as the images of Jae flashed across the surface of the crystal pond. She took pity on him.

“Out of a million people, why must you be the one without a soul mate? Why must you live with an incomplete heart?”

She had decided to give him a chance to love. Even if it was only for a short while, his heart would know what it felt like to love and be loved.

It is true what Lord Tennyson says… “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

•••••••

He never really had any interest in balls. Dancing with strangers and being gapped at like a caged animal at the zoo. He made faces at the mere thought of it. Jae watched lazily as dance partners swirled, gliding around with half-fake smiles plastered on their faces. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a group of girls. They were eyeing him and giggling. He rolled his eyes. He was definitely fed up. This was enough “displaying” for one night. He stood up and made his way down to the dance floor, heading for the balcony. He froze right in the middle of the floor when he saw her rushing towards him.

… Double …

It was his cousin, Jolin. Jae turned around frantically, looking for a quick exit among the twirling dancers. There was really nothing wrong with her looks. She was very beautiful (after she forced a genie to grant her four wishes instead of three). Jolin used all her wishes on her physical appearance fixing this and fixing that (kind of like plastic surgery). Jae would have preferred having those wishes go into fixing the wires in her brain, but of course he wasn’t her. He abruptly stopped a couple in the middle of their waltz and nudged the gentlemen out of the way. Politely, he bowed to the lady, apologizing for the interference. He looked up to see her smiling at him and he almost fell over in shock.

How in the world did the forest girl end up here in front of him? And smiling? He was utterly confused. Jolin was coming closer. To avoid her, he gripped the small of Cyndi's back with his hand and whooshed her off among the other couples.

He made sure they were far away from Jolin before apologizing to her once more.

“Well… that was very gentlemen-like of you to push aside my dance partner than pull me away without even a warning…” Her tone was drenched in sarcasm.

“Yes… very…” Jae tried changing the topic. “So... did you have a funeral procession for your Prince Charming?”

“What? How would you…”

Jae quickly thought of a reply, “Uhh… my brother told me about his hunting trip…”

He cursed at himself. What reason did he have to lie to her? Was he afraid she would hate him? He couldn’t even lie properly (Prince Jae does not have a brother). He was now beating himself mentally.

“You have a hateful brother…” she looked as if she was about to cry. Jae tightened his grip and whispered in her hair, “shhhh, don’t cry now…”

She nodded silently and placed her head against his chest.

“You’re right… I shouldn’t cry while dreaming…”

Dreaming? What did she mean by dreaming?

He was sorry for bringing up the rabbit incident. Maybe some fresh air would do her some good.

“Here... come with me.” He pulled her away and she followed without protest through the crowds of people and out onto the cool balcony.

The mild breeze was refreshing for both of them. She leaned forward onto the marble rail and surrendered herself the cold kisses of the night. Cyndi opened her eyes and watched the full moon while a genuine smile formed on her lips. He couldn’t help smiling as he watched her. Jae felt at peace.

She shined like the stars in her hair.

“I’ve never seen such a beautiful garden like this one before. It is truly enchanting.” Her voice seemed much sweeter like the melodic sounds of a harp.

Jae took a deep breath. He almost forgot to breathe. “Come… I’ll show you the gardens up close.” This time, he offered his hand. Cyndi’s eyes brightened. This was what a dream ought to be. She took his hand. Jae could feel the warmth spread from her hand to his heart. It was an indescribable feeling of belonging he had never experienced before.

With a light heart, he led her to the gardens below. No one was there except for the two of them.

“Wow… how far does the garden stretch?” She walked happily beside him.

“I’ve never measured the garden… never really paid much attention to it until tonight.”

“Really?” she turned to look at him. “Tonight must be one magical night then.” Cyndi smiled as an idea came to her.

“Why don’t we race to the other end of the garden? See how far it goes. See who the faster runner is.”

Jae laughed. The sound of his voice was pleasant to her ears. “You seriously think there is a chance you might out run me? Even without your puffy dress, I doubt you could run faster than Prince Jae.”

“Just watch me beat you in this dress, Prince Jae! On the count to three… One…. Two…. Three!” They were both off at a run with Jae still laughing. She was determined to win.

He was so busy laughing, Jae didn’t see the silly rock in the middle of the path.

Thump.

Cyndi turned to see Jae face down on the ground. She couldn’t stop herself from giggling at the sight of him. How clumsy of him, she thought.

“Are you okay?!” She yelled to him. He didn’t respond.

What if he was really hurt? Cyndi ran back to him.

She was quite concerned. How could her dream feel so real… Bending down, she poked him on the head with a finger.

“Jae, are you alright?” She had dropped all formalities.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down to join him on his bed of gravel. They both rolled over until Jae was on top of her. She looked frightened and angry but her expression quickly changed. Her scowl was replaced with a frown.

“You tricked me…”

Jae had the urge to kiss away her frown. He leaned in and kissed her hand instead. She was prepared. He pulled back and laughed again. Cyndi loved hearing him laugh. It was quite nice…

“You know… this is only a dream. All of this is just a dream…”

Jae smiled as she spoke. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head in her hair, “If this is really just a dream… please don’t ever wake me up…”

Cyndi didn’t push him away. He spoke the words in her heart. She didn’t want to wake up from her dream. She wanted to lay with him like this forever.

She could feel herself waking. Her eyes widened in horror.

Jae felt her uneasiness, “What’s the matter?” He gently wiped the tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

“My bunny killer…” He could see the sadness in her eyes as she spoke her last three words to him.

Cyndi pulled him into a kiss.

The rush. The fire. The taste of love intertwined. Lost in a whole world of their own until…

She disappeared.

Gone forever.

One magical night.

The only one worth telling.