"WELL THAT WAS A DISASTER."

       I plop down onto my bed and Ahra gives me a crooked smile. According to the King and Queen, I had behaved in an unladylike way and the punishment is waiting in my room until I'm given permission by them to leave or something. 

       "You should've just given them a chance," Ahra says. "Your future husband could've been in there but was too afraid to show himself because you literally upturned every table in a ten metre radius."
       "Very funny. You're lucky. You get to find the l-word."
       "You mean love?"
       "Yes, that."

       She snorts and hands me thirteen cards. She picks up her own thirteen cards and before we can even start our game of thirteen, a loud knock on the door makes us both jump. Ahra sighs and groans as she rolls off my bed. She literally drags herself across the spotless mahogany floor. The knock gets louder and she bites down on her bottom lip to stop herself from yelling in irritation. She finally makes it and creaks the huge wooden door open. In steps the King. Immediately, the importance of the man before her registers on Ahra's face and she curtseys clumsily. He just waves it away.

       "The new stable boy has arrived. Go show him around the palace. He's waiting at the front entrance," he says tiredly. When he notices Ahra waiting for a dismissal, he sighs and nods his head. As quick as lightning, she disappears but not without giving me a sympathetic glance. 

       "What is it, Father?" I ask. There are only two reasons as to why he's here in my room. One, he's going to reprimend me for throwing a tantrum in front of the polite suitors, or two, he's going to try to persuade me to join the army. Of course, it was the latter.

       "Your Mother wants you to get married but I'm telling you now that you can join the army instead. I did and it was actually quite fun. I found your Mother after that and we wed. You can wait for love if you must," the King gives me a forced smile.

       "Can't I just not choose any? Why didn't Yuhyun–" I stop right there since I know nothing good comes after mentioning my older brother's name.

       "Yuhyun disgraced our family's name. Be glad that your Mother and I are still trying to help you follow the tradition. If you don't want any, then our kingdom is going to fade away without anyone to rule it. You won't lead a happy life anyway, since your people living in the villages now will hate you for not giving them any guidance," his voice raises with ever single word. Soon, he's practically yelling. "You will make up your mind by the time there's a month left until you turn seventeen. No more after that. Think about it. There's four months until your birthday so I'm giving you three months to choose marriage or the army."

       Immediately, as he finishes, the King sweeps out of my room in a dignified manner leaving me to contemplate the choices. If I choose marriage, being unhappy is extremely likely but at least I can rule the kingdom and stop the tradition once and for all. On the other hand, if I choose the army, I'd be expected to fight in wars against other kingdoms yet still marry later anyway. Either way, it's marriage. In other words, I can either marry early or later– Soft giggles filling the hallway interrupt my thoughts.

       Mother and Father wouldn't mind if I take a peak so long as I stay in my room, right? I scramble off the bed as quickly as possible and crane my head outside the door that the King left open. Straight away, I see two figures walking in the opposite direction from my room. My room is the dead end so of course they'd go that way. I'm about to sneak back inside when I realise that one of the two figures is Ahra. 

       Squinting as the two go further and further away, I can see that she's walking beside a boy that I've never seen before. A tall and slim one. One with scruffy brown hair peeking out from the edges of his newspaper boy's cap. As I lean to take a closer look, my foot catches on the frill of my ridiculous dress and I topple over. I try to disappear without notice but in the dangerous quietness of the palace, the huge sound of a huge body falling to the ground gets noticed pretty quickly.

       Ahra whips her head around and seeing me, she rushes over. The scruffy boy who was beside her scratches his nape for a moment awkwardly before joining us. I don't even hear Ahra's concerned whispers. All I can see is the boy. From the tip of his brown hair to his gray-brown eyes to his lips to the bottom of his feet. 

       "Are you okay?" He asks me and his voice is literally heavenly. It was rough but sweet at the same time. Gruff but gentle all the same. His gray-brown eyes are flooded with worry as he eyes me. 

       "I-I-I'm fine," I stutter and I scramble to get away from his outstretched fingers. I doubt his touch would help me at the moment.

       "Are you sure, Yumi?" Ahra asks and it takes me a moment to remember that she was there, too.

       "Yumi? Princess Yumi?" The boy questions and as the unspoken reply registers on his face, he bows and offers me a hand to help me back up. "I'm Sehun, the new stable boy, my lady."

       But I don't care if he's an alien from mars. Sehun. I giggle and the duo before me give me a weird look. I don't care about that either. Sehun.