Chapter Text
Lucia sighed sadly as she stood at the balcony of her palace. Wondering what their parents are going to say or do to her. She knew what this meant and it hurts. It hurts knowing that she hadn’t met him yet. Another batch of suitors and yet, not one of them is THE one. Why is this so hard for her? The last thing any of them want is for the King and Queen to forcibly choose their daughter’s husband as that led to more problems than not. But they agree that this can’t keep going, so they were going to talk it over. Hence why she was waiting out on the palace balcony.
“Cheer up, Lulu. It took Haou a while to find Felicia. You still have plenty of time.” a feminine voice spoke. It didn’t the brunette princess long to see a demonic female fly down to her. She wasn’t a demon at all. She was known to be a Duel Monster, whatever that meant to the royal family. Either way, they learned this when the royal twins were seven. “You didn’t see Mother and Father’s reactions to the rejections tonight, Yubel. I-I’m worried that they’ll force their hand on me after this.” Lucia replied, tears threatening to spill from her green eyes. Yubel simply wrapped her princess in a hug, calming her down as she cried.
It was an older sisterly gesture and the two knew it.
Everyone who knew the royal family knew that Yubel’s love for the twins is platonic. “Don’t worry, my Princess. I predict that the King and Queen will give you another chance and this time, you will meet him.” a male voice said, grabbing Lucia’s hand. Lucia blushed at the sight of the wavy blue eyed blonde in his signature pink and white outfit not much different from her brother’s current outfit. It was no secret in the Duel Spirit World that the princess of Telia is smitten with the psychic prince. The feelings were mutual for the blonde monster.
“Thank you, Love Prince.” Lucia said. The blonde male smiled before kissing the back of her hand. “The pleasure is mine, Princess.” was all he said before going in. Yubel broke out cackling at the scene. The unspoken feelings are so obvious, it’s hilarious. Sometimes it sucked not being human at all, but the demonic woman wouldn’t change it for the world. “If only we’d be allowed to marry humans. Love Prince would marry you in a heartbeat, Lulu.” she said after calming down. Lucia nodded, feeling slightly better. Love Prince always did know how to make her feel better.
Sure enough, just like Love Prince predicted, the King and Queen decided to give Lucia one more chance to pick her husband of her free will. And of course, it finally happened.
Two weeks later, it was announced that the kingdom of Armanda was having a ball in honor of their youngest prince, Alexander. Much like Lucia, he’s also choosing his bride and so far, none of them have been the one. Of course, the kingdom of Telia was invited to celebrate and have the princess meet the prince. As the carriage carrying the royal twins and Princess Felicia pulled up to the castle entrance, Lucia kept looking out the window in boredom. Messing with the edges of her green ballgown skirt in nervousness. What if Alexander didn’t like her or worse yet, decide to not have his kingdom align with theirs?!
“Lulu, don’t worry about it. Alex may be arrogant to a fault, but he’s been a trusted ally to Meg and Juno. You won’t regret meeting him.” Felicia said. While she didn’t love him the same way he loved her, the blonde doesn’t regret having their kingdoms be allies once the arranged marriage contract fell through. The fact that her engagement to Haou is official is more of an obvious reason why she said no. Lucia smiled before nodding. The carriage door has opened and the three royals were helped out by a couple of men. Safe to say, the shorter man, a blonde with a red headband, was instantly smitten with Lucia. Almost wishing that he could marry her.
It sucks being a Duel Monster.
Upon the trio entering the castle, the horns blew, signaling the arrival of guests. Causing everyone to stare at the newcomers. “Presenting their royal Majesties, Prince Haou the Heroic and Princess Lucia the Elegant! And Prince Haou’s betrothed, Princess Felicia of the Cyber Angels!” an older man with an eye patch announced. A woman scoffed at the announcement of guests. As far as she was concerned, Alexander belonged to her and only her. And yet, the laws of the Duel Monster world prevented her from marrying the prince herself. The twins smiled warmly as they made their way through the crowd.
As expected, many of the men, both royal and poor, were smitten with Lucia. The princess, having been used to the attention, simply greeted the men without so much as a bother. Her beauty and kindness got her a lot of unwanted attention. Sure, she broke many of men’s hearts, but Lucia didn’t do it out of vainness. Many of the women were gushing over Haou and sending jealous glares towards the two princesses. The prince simply held Felicia closer to him, sending glares to the other women. That didn’t stop them from flirting with Haou, hoping that he’d notice one of them instead of the blonde princess.
Causing Felicia to sigh at the attention. Some things never change...
Prince Alexander had been greeting various women for a while and none of them got his attention. Many of them are attractive, but none of them screamed beautiful. They all want one thing and that’s his power. His loyal monster friends can tell that the raven haired prince was kicking himself for not winning Princess Felicia’s hand in marriage. What made it hurt even more was that the blonde bore the mark of soulmates on the back of her shoulder. The mark that he should’ve received, not that blasted prince! And hearing Don announce him and Felicia didn’t help his mood either.
“Alex!” a shrill female voice shrieked, causing the prince to groan. Oh, how he HATED this girl. Lady Krysta may look like a suitable bride, but the fact that she can’t take a hint and has a jealous streak a mile wide made Alexander less interested in her.
Let alone want to marry her. Why do his brothers insist on bringing her back to their castle after she’s proven to be undesirable? Can’t they see that her uncle Lord Crowley had proven to be more trouble than not?! Still, his upbringing taught him to be polite towards women, whether he liked them or not. And it was tradition for the prince to greet the maidens at a royal ball, so he was being cordial more than anything. In the process of bowing to the lavender eyed redhead, a strange new perfume blew and caught his nostrils.
Causing Alexander to stop and look up. In fact, the other maidens also took notice of the strange smell and the prince’s behavior. Even Don and the woman noticed the change in behavior and that it isn’t normal. The woman then noticed that the prince’s gaze fell on Lucia and sent her a jealous glare. And yet, she can’t fully hate her like she does the others and she doesn’t know why that is. That was when Alexander first saw her; a princess with hair that rivaled the Earth and eyes that rivaled emeralds. Her eyes aren’t the only thing that caught the prince’s attention. Her lips are rosy red and full. A strange new feeling overtook Alexander and one thing became clear:
He had to talk to her and get her name.
Lucia was wondering around the castle, not really paying any attention until she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She spun around and a gasp came out. She was face to face with a handsome prince, but this prince stood out in ways that the others didn’t. He has snow white skin, raven hair, and blackish-gray eyes that reminded her of onyxes. His attire is no different from her brother’s, only it’s navy blue and black. And he looked damn good in it. Ignoring the jealous looks from the other men watching.
Maiden in Love was also swooning at the sight of the prince. That is, until she noticed that his personal guard was staring at her with interest. “Just who might this lovely rose be? I don’t think that I’ve seen you before.” Alexander asked in a suave tone, taking her hand in his, ignoring the whispers of the Ojamas. Fighting back a blush and letting a smile form on her face, Lucia answered, “I’m Princess Lucia of Telia, Your Highness.” The prince smiled warmly before adding, “The pleasure is all mine, fair Lucia. I’m Prince Alexander of Armanda, but call me Alex.” He then kissed the back of her hand.
Causing Lucia to madly blush. The young royals then notice a pair of marks start to take shape on their arms. Haou knew what they were and chuckled.
It’s official, his sister has finally found her soulmate. Little did they know that this will be the breaking point for betrayal for one of their allies...