Nicole's POV

"I apologize, princess, but I just don't see you that way." he apologized.

With those words, my heart was crushed.  Shattered.  To put it simply, if my heart was a puzzle, right now someone had ripped it to bits and stolen some pieces.  That’s how heartbroken I felt.  Here I was standing in front of my crush, Lee Sungmin.  I had just confessed my feelings to him only to be rejected.  I knew I should have kept my feelings to myself!

“Why?” I asked, tears threatening to spill over.  Don't cry, Nicole, don't cry!  Showing weakness in front of him will only make this situation worse!

“Look, Nicole…  You talk and dress like a man.  You can even outdrink me, and I'm the heaviest drinker of the entire 4th squadron." Sungmin replied as he counted on his fingers.

"So?"

"Uh...  The entire 4th squadron is known for being alcohol sponges so..."  Sungmin shook his head.  "Anyways, your current attire speaks for itself too.  Sometimes I forget you’re actually the princess of this kingdom.”  I looked down at my clothing.  I was wearing baggy, dark brown slacks and a grey cotton tee that read “FCUK OFF!”

I cleared my throat.  “Er…  What other reasons?”

“For another, I feel like I know you so well that we could be brothers.  It just feels like taking another step would ruin the relationship we have now, you know?” Sungmin tried to pat my shoulders in a reassuring manner, but I took a step back.  Brothers?!?  I didn’t look him in the eyes.

“Alright, I understand.  I want our relationship to stay the way it is too.” … I sure as hell don’t.  “Well, I’m sure you have a lot to do seeing as how you’re moving to a different kingdom in a few weeks.  I’ll see you tomorrow, Sungmin.” … Actually I’ll be trying my best to AVOID you tomorrow…

“We’ll still be friends even though I rejected you, right?” Sungmin asked with innocent eyes.  Innocent eyes, which at that moment, made me want to melt in my spot.  Stupid Nicole!  What the hell do you think you’re doing still swooning over him after he rejected you?!?  Have some pride, you idiot!

I simply nodded in response and waved my hand.  “I said I’ll see you tomorrow, Sungmin.”

"Oh and...  Happy 18th birthday, Nicole."  And with that said, Sungmin rode off into the sunset on his horse while I stood there allowing my feelings to overwhelm me.

In other words, I cried my eyes silly.

I...  I need a drink.

---

“Sis...  How many glasses have you had?” asked my older sister, Seungyeon, as she observed the multiple empty bottles on the bar counter.

“I don’t know…  I just can’t seem to get drunk, damn it.” I groaned.  We were both currently in a tavern near our family palace.  There were quite a lot of knights cheering in the background while watching the horse-racing channel.  There were even a few princesses hanging about here.  “It pisses me off how I’m not a light weight when it comes to drinking…” I grumbled.  “It makes it so hard to get drunk.”

Seungyeon sighed.  “Nicole, what did I say about cursing...?” She then proceeded to drink a sip from her cup of orange juice.

I ignored her question.  “Seriously, why don’t you ever lighten up and drink alcohol, unnie?” I asked as I took another long swig of my beer.  I mean, who orders OJ at a bar?

Seungyeon grabbed a hold of my bottle and shook her finger in front of me as if I was a disobedient child.  “Stop chugging so much.” she chided.  “What brought about you asking me here to the tavern anyways?  Does this have to do with Sungmin becoming a head knight?  I heard he’s moving to a different kingdom in a few weeks.”

“AGH!” I shouted while clutching my head.  “Please don’t bring up his name!”

My sister raised an eyebrow.  “So it does have to do with that guy, huh?  What happened today?”

I clamped my hands over my ears.  “Lalala…  I can’t hear you…”

She sighed.  “I swear, even though I know we're related, sometimes I can’t believe you’re a princess.”

I felt my eyes begin to water.  “That’s what Sungmin said…”

“Oh dear, what happened?” She handed me a pink, lacey handkerchief. 

How...  Ridiculously princess-like and girly.

"Stop judging it and just use it,"

I gulped and wiped my eyes as I slowly told my sister what had happened while trying to keep my voice steady.  “So what now?” I asked as I sniffled.

Seungyeon was quiet.

“What?!?  Spit it out!”

“Well,” she began timidly.  “Sungmin’s right.  You really don’t act like a princess at all.”

“Excuse me?”  I glared at her.  “Yah, I can act like a princess if I tried hard enough.”

Seungyeon stifled a laugh.

“You know what?  Shut up, unnie.” I groaned.  “So what if I don’t act like a princess.  It doesn’t matter anyways.”

Seungyeon smiled.  "Actually, you're right about that.  It really doesn't matter anyways, does it?"

"I don't want to hear this from a person who has a fiancee, thank you very much."  My older sister had actually gotten engaged to the Nam kingdom's next-in-line, Nam Woohyun.  Thank goodness they did too; our Han kingdom had been warring with the Nam kingdom for almost five years.  Five years too long, in my opinion.  I inwardly scowled at the memory; I absolutely abhorred war.

Seungyeon kept on smiling; her smile told me she had a secret that she wasn't telling me about.

"What, what is it, unnie?  Why are you smiling so creepily like that?"

"Oh hush," she retorted as she pouted.  "It's just...  Mother and father told me not to tell you but...  A marriage proposal actually came for you today."

I did a spittake.

"Ew, Nicole!  What are you doing?!"

"S-Sorry...  C-come again?" I stammered as I wiped the beer off the counter (and off my face).  "Did you just say a marriage proposal?  Came for me?  Today?"

Seungyeon sighed as she brought her handkerchief up to my face and helped me clean up.  "Honestly, I don't know what that man could possibly see in you...  I guess you got lucky, since it's your birthday today."

"'That man' you say?  Who exactly is this mysterious guy?"

"Matsumoto Jun...  He's the second-in-line for the throne of the Matsu kingdom."

"H-he's a prince?"  A prince?  And he's fallen for me?  I could hardly believe it.

"I can hardly believe it myself, but...  Apparently, he told mum and dad that he fell in love with you at first sight when he visited our kingdom earlier this year." Seungyeon shrugged.  "He said that he's been waiting for you to turn 18 in order to propose."

Matsumoto Jun...  Matsumoto Nicole...  Mrs. Nicole Matsumoto...

"Nicole!  Are you listening to me?"

"Y-yeah, I'm listening..." The bartender poured me another beer after I waved him over.  "What's he like?  I haven't heard much of the Matsu kingdom; all I know is that it's in another country."

Seungyeon laughed.  "I'm surprised you know that much,"  I glared at her.  "Anyways, like I've said, he's the second-in-line for the throne of the Matsu kingdom.  He's known to be quite the catch; apparently, a lot of princesses have had their eyes on him."

"Ooh, a player, eh?"

"Hardly," Seungyeon waved her hand in the air as if she was trying to get away from a bad smell.  "He's known to be quite respectful towards women." She grinned.  "And, since he's second-in-line, he decided that since he couldn't become king...  He'd try his best to do other things.  He's supposedly quite wicked at jousting.  He's actually the chief of his kingdom's army."

I choked on my beer.  "Wow, he uh...  Sounds too good to be true."

Seungyeon smiled.  "He does, doesn't he?  Well, I'm pretty sure everything I've heard is true."  Her smile suddenly widened as she tilted her head to get a look at me.  "You know, when we were little, didn't you tell me you wanted to marry a knight in shining armor?"

I blushed.  "Psh, that was when I was little..."  Actually, I still daydreamed about getting swept off my feet by a handsome and chivalrous knight.  As if that could ever happen in real life.

"Well...  Jun-sshi is basically all your childhood daydreams rolled into one, nice, foreign package."

"I-I guess so..."

"You never know when you'll meet another guy as good as him, much less better than him."

"I-I guess so..."

"... So you should consider his offer seriously." Seungyeon finished as she downed her glass of OJ.

“Hmm…  I guess that’s not such a bad idea.” I murmured.  "I don't really want to just marry someone I don't know though, even if he's supposedly tall, dark, and handsome."

Seungyeon pondered this for a second before nodding in agreement.  "True...  He could secretly have a weird for or something else weird like that."  We both shuddered.  "Alright then, it's settled...  Tomorrow morning, we'll journey to the Matsu kingdom!"

I did another spittake.  "C-come again?"

"Ew, Nicole!  That's twice now!"

"Well, sooooorry~"

She sighed as she helped me clean up for the second time that night.  "Anyways, yeah...  Tomorrow.  Journey.  Matsu kingdom.  Yes, yes?"

"Traveling to a foreign country is difficult and tedious...  We should think this over first."

Seungyeon pouted.  "Why do you choose to be practical now of all times, Nicole?  This could be your big chance for romance, sis!"

I scoffed.  "Say that last line again and I won't hesitate to hit you...  That was a bit too cheesy."

Seungyeon giggled.  "I guess so...  But seriously what have you got to lose but a little time?"

True...  I had already lost my dignity to Sungmin today...  Nothing else on this journey could possibly top that...

I sighed in defeat.  "Alright, alright...  Let's ask our parents tomorrow morning.  Alright?"

"Yaaaay!  I'm so excited for you, sis!  Just imagine if you really do fall in love!  We could go on double dates together and gossip about our princely husbands and-"

Suddenly, the bartender cleared his throat.  “Ahem, who is paying for all this?” he asked as he held out the bill.

Seungyeon took it from the hands of the bartender, eyes widening.  “What the-?!?  How could you down 11 bottles and still not get drunk, Nicole?!?”

Meanwhile, I meekly smiled at the bartender.  “Just put it on the royal tab please!”

Seungyeon muttered something about "abusing the royal privileges" as the bartender looked me up and down.  "Oh, wait, it's you!  Princess Nicole!  Sorry, I didn't recognize you!"

I sighed, "Yeah, I know...  A princess like me... Drinking...  Blahblahblah-"

The bartender let out a hearty laugh.  "No, no, actually, it's not that.  I've just never seen you here in my tavern.  The entire kingdom knows about your drinking habits though."

I groaned as I put my head down on the bar counter.  Seungyeon clicked her tongue and sighed.  "I'm going to have to try and princess-ify you as we travel, I see..."

Author's Note: Hello, hello~  This is probably going to be my first full-length fic here on AFF, haha~  Anyways, nice to meet you~  Sorry if the intro was a little boring; I'm a little bad with character introductions and starting off stories.  Anyways, thank you for reading and tune in next time for more OUAT (Once Upon a Time) ^^

Comments/Critiques are always welcome ^^