“Ouch!”
“Oh no! I’m so sorry Tiffany!” I exclaimed as I stepped onto Tiffany’s foot for the nth time that day. We had begun early in the morning to practice ballroom dancing for the upcoming Public Parade and after party, but even though we practiced for so many hours I was at the same place where I had started.

“I give up.” I sighed and plopped onto my bed. “I’m too clumsy for ballroom dancing. If this continues, you’ll be limping too.” I told Tiffany, but she was having none of it.
“You can’t give up! You have to show everyone your grace on the dance floor.” Tiffany wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel. “Besides, I’m your mentor. It’s my job to teach you no matter what.”
I scoffed. “Not a cell in me is graceful. What a troublesome life it is to be a princess.”

“Nonsense!” Tiffany rebuked me. “Poise and finesse can be acquired but charm is innate. Once you learn how to dance, you can steal the heart of both the Princes since you are naturally very charming.”

“Ha stop with the flattery.” I chuckled. “Wait, what do you mean ‘princes’?! I thought I was only supposed to charm Prince Kris!”

Tiffany sat down beside me on the bed, “Princes because even if Prince Kris end up marrying Aimee, Prince Chanyeol will be there to heal your broken heart.” She smirked.

“Nope! Nope! Wipe that nasty smirk off your face!”A weird feeling grew in my chest. “I have no intention of doing any such thing. My job is only to replace Princess Aimee that’s all.”

Tiffany laughed, “Geez, Taeyeon I was just pulling your leg. Learn to have a little fun!”

Though Tiffany had sparked up a light conversation with me I couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious. Not only because I was worried about cutting a poor figure of myself in front of the other Princesses, but also because it struck me that even if I do manage to get closer to Prince Kris and the other Princesses the harder it would be for me to say goodbye to this life of nobility.

“Anyway…” I mumbled. “I was supposed to hang out with my gang before lunch so I’m going to go meet them. Let’s continue with these failed attempts after lunch.”

“Haha, alright go and have fun!” Tiffany told me as I walked out of my room.

Many of the Princesses who were participating in this competition were out for blood in order to get their hands on the throne (and perhaps Prince Kris) but the Princesses in our ‘gang’ had no intention of getting into the Prince’s good books or anyone’s for that matter. However, we shared more things in common than just that. Their positive energy and care-free nature was something I really admired because I hadn’t thought that Princesses had the freedom to have such traits.

“Ame, You’re late!” Ice yelled out to me from the opposite corner of the Lounge. Minah and Seulgi were busy practicing their dance while Jemma was nowhere to be seen. I hurried over to their table and sat down on the empty chair near Ice.

“Wow, you guys are practicing too?” I commented. “But you already dance well!”
“Hey Ames! ” Seulgi greeted me and came over to our table. “This is just to kill time. Minah and I were super bored and Ice was way too engrossed in her book.”
“She’s right.” Minah huffed as she joined us on the table as well. “Ice you’re boring.”
“Well, excuse me if I like to invest my time in productive reading.” Ice mumbled, closing her book.
“Now, now let’s not dwell on that too much.” I said. “Where’s Jemma, though?” I looked around the Lounge once again to see if I could spot her. “She’s usually with all of us at this time.”

“Ah, Jemma won’t be coming back for a while. I think she was meeting up with Kris or something. Not sure though.” Ice said indifferently.

I was taken aback. “Oh.” I literally had nothing else to say to that. I also tried hard not to think about it because it would stress me out with negative emotions and that would drain out all my energy.

“Jemma’s making her move faster than I expected.” Seulgi commented. “Though if she does get selected by Kris, I would be very happy for her.”
“Maybe we could even be her bridesmaids!” Minah clapped her hands. “It would be the best wedding of all time!”
“Yeah yeah! You’re right” I tried to sound as enthusiastic as I could. I really didn’t want my friends to notice my discomfort at this talk.

“Hey Ame, do you want to practice dancing?” Minah suggested. “You were moping about it yesterday and we have nothing to do right now.”
“Oh, are you sure you want to? Even if it means that I’ll probably mutilate your foot?” I raised my eyebrow.
“I love a good challenge.” Minah smirked. “If you’ll do me the honour, m’lady.” Minah got up and held out her hand to me in a true Prince’s style.
“Geez, what a show off” I giggled as I took her hand. Of course I stepped on her many times but she took it all like a brave prince. In fact, I honestly became a bit better at not stepping my partner because of her precise guidance. Our little performance and banter with my friends lightened my heart.

Later we all went to have lunch at the Dining Hall. When we arrived, Jemma was already there and was actually talking to Princess Sarang. While I don’t really have any malicious feelings towards Princess Sarang, (Except when she’s being an annoying brat.) I felt uneasy watching her talk to Jemma. However, I chose not to speak up about it.
When we all were sitting at the table, Seulgi was the one to bring up the subject that I was actually dreading.
“So, how was your date with Prince Kris?” Seulgi raised her eyebrow suggestively at Jemma.
“Oh…” Jemma blushed red. “It wasn’t a date! We were just talking about stuff…”
“You guys know what? I’ve heard a rumor floating around that if the Prince falls in love with someone before the public parade, he actually has the chance to propose to that Princess at the parade and the competition would cease immediately.” Minah said.

“I believe some Prince did that in the past.” Ice pointed out. “But it’s like the only chance they get. Otherwise they have to wait till the full term of the competition, meaning elimination until only one Princess is left.”

“As far as I know, Prince Kris is not one to fall in love so quickly, but he’s not very interested in this competition either. Maybe he’ll just decide on a Princess and end with it. Besides, Jemma’s the only one whom he’s met more than twice. There’s definitely a possibility for Jemma being chosen.” Seulgi said.

“I hardly think that’s going to happen.” Even as Jemma said this she was blushing furiously. “He hasn’t shown any romantic interest in me….but if it were to actually happen I’d be glad…Thanks guys.”

“I would like that…” I murmured softly.
“Huh? Ame did you say something?” Ice asked me.
“I mean…It would be nice if he would just end it on the Public Parade. We can all go home at once instead of watching everyone leave. To watch my friends go away one by one is too painful to imagine.” I explained.

While these feeling were absolutely true, there were also other reasons that they were better off not knowing. If the competition continued, I would inevitably become closer to these Princesses and that would make leaving them all the more harder. Also, my feelings for Kris were extremely conflicted. I was worried that in the process of making it seem like Princess Aimee was the one falling for Prince Kris, I, Kim Taeyeon, might just end up harboring those feelings for him myself.

After lunch I was headed back into my room for some well deserved rest when my arm was suddenly pulled back by great force. “Whoa! What are you doing!” upon turning my head I saw that it was none other than His Majesty, Prince Kris.

I hadn’t really talked to him after the night of the riot. We greeted each other as usual, but he never called for me or asked me for a date or even show up at my room in a drunken mess. I told myself that I wasn’t bothered by it, but just noticing these facts made me think that I was actually dwelling on it way too much.

“Oh hey…” I said pulling my arm free from his grip. “How have you been?” I wonder if he’s notice my attempt at being nonchalant.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy preparing for the public parade.” He said.

But you had enough time to meet Jemma and take her out on a date.
“What’s with that face your making? I’m not lying.” He rubbed the back of his neck, which was a clear signal that he was lying.

“Sure, whatever floats your boat.” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, I was going to my room to sleep so unless it’s an emergency, I don’t want to hang out with you.” Maybe that was a little too straightforward of me because Kris’ expression was really one of shock.

“It’s not an emergency.” He mumbled sheepishly. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
I really, really didn’t want to talk to him because that would just make me remember everything about Jemma and him but looking at his face, it really did look like he missed me. I couldn’t ignore that face.

I sighed heavily. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Well…I actually don’t want to talk, but I heard that you’re an excellent baker. I haven’t had dessert yet, would you bake me something?”
“Geez… alright. It must be nice to have everybody dancing on your fingertips. Take me to the royal kitchen or whatever. I’ll see what I can do.” Admittedly, his small request made my heart flutter.

I wondered if this was Kris’ compensation for the other night. He did nothing but watch me while I was baking. I felt a little nervous under his intense gaze, but it wasn’t so bad. In the end, I did manage to bake some neat Lemon Curd Tarts.

“Taste it and tell me your opinion.” I said pushing the plate towards him. We were sitting at a small table in the kitchen. It was only us there.
“Aren’t you going to have some?” He asked me.
“No, I made them for you. I want you to eat every last bite.” I really did want him to eat everything and was curious to see if he liked it or not. In my heart, I felt guilty because back at home my parents and I never had the chance to eat what we baked since it was our income. To watch Kris enjoy eating it would be enough to satisfy me.

I stared at him as he bit into the tart. “Do you like it?”
“Mmm…It’s delicious.” He said after swallowing what was in his mouth. I was excited to see him eat it.
“I’m glad.” I smiled brightly.
Suddenly, Kris’ expression changed as he set down his fork on the table. “Hey, come watch me play the violin after the public parade…. I haven’t done that in a while…”
“Oh my, are you asking me out on a date Prince Kris?” I smirked while resting my chin on my hand.
He looked straight at me and said, “Yes. Also, I think I could help you with your dancing. You were pretty awful back there with Princess Minah.”
“What?! You saw us!! Are you always lurking in the shadows and spying on me?” I complained. “And weren’t you with Jemma at that time?”
Kris looked like something struck him, “Ah, so that’s why you were being so rude earlier.” He smiled, “I was just talking to Jemma about some private affairs with her country.” Then all of a sudden he reached out and cupped my cheek in his hand. “You’re the only one I can freely talk to, Princess.”
“Oh, your cheeks have become red like a tomato.” He chuckled withdrawing his hand.
I looked away from him, already missing his touch. “You don’t say…” I sighed. “Okay, I’ll take up your offer. Since I’ve already failed with my other two instructors, third time’s a charm, right? Come on, teach me how to dance.”

The evening sunlight poured into the kitchen as Kris taught me. It was very nerve-wrecking to have him so close to me; It was even worse that his hand was on my waist, but I enjoyed every second of it. I even managed to (finally) learn not step on him anymore. As the sunlight illuminated his smiling face, I looked at him and wondered: Will I ever be able to leave him?....or have I already fallen in love?