The night was dark and long as  the prince tossed and turned in his bed, creating a mess of the sheets and his jet black hair. He couldn’t get the servant girl off his mind. Her words had so much bearing that it deeply affected him. Worse, the image of his princess was slowly being replaced by the girl driving him to insanity. It was so depressing that everything she said was right as if she could see clearly past through him.

He is no angel or saint; he is just a mere mortal like everybody else. But everyone had high expectations of him that he had to hide his true self behind a mask – a mask that was Prince Charming. And just by a few simple words, she stripped off the fake mask completely.

A worn-out prince greeted the next day with bags underneath his eyes. It was the last day of their search with only two more households to visit. All enthusiasm drained out from him, he headed out to complete his mission. He was quite certain that it was a fool’s errand but decided to go with it, just in case.

Hours passed by so quickly and the prince was inside his carriage on the way back to the palace.

“Do not fret, your highness. We will still continue finding the princess,” his loyal adviser reassured him as he stepped out. The old man had caught the prince staring longingly at the empty space next to him.

“There is no need. I think I know where she is,” he informed him with a smile and the former didn’t quite understood what he meant by it.

The warmth of the sun mixed with the cool breeze gave him a refreshing feeling as he strolled in town. Prince Donghae had disguised himself as a commoner and blended in with the townspeople as they went on with their business that early morning. He had been doing that for quite some time now.

But he wasn’t there to just laze around. He was on a quest to solve the mystery of the missing princess.

The more time he spent with her, the more he fell in love with her and the more he was convinced that she was his princess. 

As fate had it, he saw her by the fountain at the town square. It seemed like she was by herself, and so, without second thoughts, he took his chances.

Sitting by the fountain with her brought back sweet and painful memories. No one uttered a single word and he just savoured that precious moment with her. He watched her through the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t get a clear view of her eyes, all thanks to the bangs. However, there time together was cut short when she suddenly stood up and left.

“Again? You leave me here alone again.”  He pouted childishly as he followed her while keeping a safe distance to not blow off his cover.

“Good morning, Karin!”

“Want to try some fresh meat, Karin?”

“Karin!”

“Ka-rin~”

“Karin.”

The prince was amazed as to how everyone knew her name. Everyone. Except him. He remembered how many times he asked for it that night, but she simply avoided the question.

“There is no need to hide from me. I know it is you.”

“Karin.”

Blood rushed through his veins when he heard another man’s voice call out her name. It irked him even more when the girl smiled. The lad, about the same age as his, offered her a bouquet of flowers which she gladly accepted.

It was definitely her. He could never forget that blinding smile of hers. But he was too conceited that afternoon that he didn’t get to see it and he was now reaping the consequences of his rudeness. It was so depressing to see her smile at everyone but not him. Prince Donghae stared long and hard at the flowers, boring holes at them while throwing daggers at the guy. 

The guy left and she was alone now, much to the prince's satisfaction. So, once again, they resumed their walk but upon reaching a fork in the road, she stopped all of a sudden.

“If there is anything you need, just go ahead and ask. You don’t have to follow me every single day.”

He froze in place and realized how close he was to her. It even troubled him that she knew he was following her all this time.

Without hearing a response, she turned around and saw him staring sadly at her. Karin took pity on him and sighed, “You could have gotten yourself in trouble if you were found out. Please stop being so reckless.” She was once again his kind and gentle princess. Oh how he missed her so much.

“Then please stop giving me a hard time. It i