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Andrew was one of the princes of Oletus Kingdom, and tonight his family was hosting a ball. Everyone in the entire kingdom was going, or, well, almost everyone. There was one young man who wasn’t allowed to go by his family. He was to stay home with his little brother Robbie and take care of him, like he always has. Robbie wasn’t that little anymore, but his family still used this as an excuse to keep him locked up at home.
The young man in question was Luca, he aspired to be an inventor or to do something great with his career but he knew his family would never allow it. Luca sighed and continued to sweep the floor, but while he was caught up in thought he sweeped right into the face of his little brother, Robbie. Robbie squealed, “Sorry Robbie!” Luca exclaimed and patted the boy’s head. The boy got up and ran into another room, likely to make another mess Luca would be forced to clean.
Luca’s father, Joseph, and his younger brother, Edgar, entered the house. “LUCA!” Edgar called out. Luca ran out, thinking they were mad and he was going to be Edgar’s verbal punching bag for the night. Not that he really minded, because he didn’t take anything Edgar said to heart. Plus, Edgar wasn’t as bad to him as his father. “Oh, Luca! You won’t believe what happened today!” Edgar grinned. “What happened?” Luca waited, broom in hand.
“Well, that one pretty prince boy invited us all to his ball or whatever like usual, but, I think he’s kinda cute, and his brother is pretty cute too.” Edgar rambled. “That sounds nice.” Luca said, getting busy with sweeping the room they were standing in. “Which one?” Their father, Joseph, butted in. “Well I don’t remember if it’s his brother or his cousin or whatever but the blonde one.” Edgar explained.
“Ah, I see.” Joseph continued, “Well, I’m sure there will be lots of people you might like..” Joseph trailed off. “Wasn’t there one you had your eyes on for a while?” Edgar asked. Luca exited the room to wash the dishes, but still listened to their conversation. “Yeah, that pretty grey haired boy.” Joseph smirked. “Isn’t he my age?” Edgar put his hands on his hips. “Probably, but I don’t care.” Joseph chuckled. Edgar playfully punched him. They behaved more like siblings than a father and his child, which was quite different from how Luca and Joseph’s relationship was.
Joseph seemed to despise Luca compared to Edgar, even though they were born a year apart. Joseph gave him seemingly endless chores, which was fine with Luca because he didn’t really have much else to do. It gave him time to keep his hands busy and think about inventions. “So when’s the ball at again?” Edgar asked his father. “It’s tonight.” Joseph responded, “Hey, Luca!” Joseph called out. Luca walked into the dining room where they were sat.
“Get me a glass of water will you?” Joseph twirled his hair on his finger. Luca went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water from their jug of water. He brought it back to Joseph and set it on the table. “No, dear, not that kind.” Joseph looked smug. “The kind from the spring in the forest, and make sure it’s filtered.” Joseph sat back in his seat. Luca sighed and went to the kitchen to grab a pitcher, and walked out the back door. It was already 5:00, the sun was setting. The ball would start soon, for it started at 6:00 sharp. He had an hour to go look for the spring, get the water, and come back.
Luca sighed and ran out into the forest with the pitcher. It wasn’t heavy but it was sure annoying to run with. He ran for about 10 minutes before he was lost, but saw the spring. It wasn’t too far from him, so he ran towards it. What he didn’t realize was there was someone at the spring. Luca ducked down into the bushes to observe who it was. He was far from the city now, so he had to be careful. Bandits and thieves liked to roam the forests, and would obviously stop at streams and springs for a drink.
From what Luca could see, there was a woman at the spring. She had long leaf-green hair and warm toned skin. The woman was wearing clothes that seemed to be made out of leaves, but the most noticeable feature about her was that she had horns. On those horns were vines and flowers wrapping around them. She wore a belt that shone with gold.
The woman had such an exotic appearance compared to those of the boring people of Luca’s city. She leaned down to drink water from the spring, and cupped it in her hands. She brought it to her mouth, drinking it. Luca didn’t realize he had dropped the pitcher until the woman had started walking towards him. “Shit,” Luca mumbled to himself. He covered his face with his arms as a shield, in case the woman had actually been a bandit of some sort.
The woman moved aside the bushes to inspect where the noise had come from. “Hello,” queried the woman. “Who are you?” She asked. Luca’s arms shook, he refused to move them in case it was a trap. She noticed how he trembled. “It’s okay, I just want to know who you are.” She said, her tone softening. Luca dropped his arms. She looked over him, particularly interested in his black eye. “Oh you poor thing, who did this to you?” She asked, touching Luca’s face. “Uh, my father.” He mumbled.
“Isn’t there supposed to be some sort of ball tonight?” She questioned. “Yeah.” Luca replied. “Are you going?” She questioned further. “Nah.” He replied as short as possible. “Why not? I thought all the humans were going.” She looked puzzled. “My dad says I can’t.” Luca explained. “You shall, meet me behind your house when your family leaves.” She let go of his face, and left without telling him any more.
“Strange..” Luca muttered. He got up after the strange interaction and grabbed the water. He wouldn’t bother to filter it, he would just tell his father it was. Luca looked around before walking in his estimated direction of his house. He somehow made it back before it was dark, and he brought in the pitcher to his father. “Here, your water.” He breathed. Joseph took the pitcher. “Thank you,” he said dryly. He didn’t really mean it.
Joseph drank a sip of the water before getting up and telling Edgar to go get dressed.
“We will leave in 10 minutes tops.” Joseph mumbled. “Edgar, go get your clothes.” Edgar hopped up from the chair and ran upstairs. “Luca, watch Robbie.” Joseph ordered. Luca nodded, knowing he wouldn’t do that. A few minutes later, they were ready to go. “BYE LUCAAA!” Edgar called out as they left in a horse drawn carriage to the castle. Luca gave them a weak wave goodbye.
Luca went to his backyard to see the strange woman from before waiting for him. She was sitting on his fence. She hopped down, a patch of flowers appearing at the place of impact. “So, let’s get started.” She said excitedly. “Started with what?” Luca blinked. “Your clothes, of course.” She placed her gloved hand on his shoulder. “Hmm, I think we’ll go with..” She trailed off as his clothes transformed from a striped old shirt and jeans to an outfit suited for a prince, but not special enough that he would stand out too much.
“Eh, I can’t wear this-” Luca was cut off by her “Yes you can! You’re going to the ball.” She smiled. “I can’t, my family doesn’t want me to.” He sighed. “I’m your family and I say you can.” She placed her hand over his eye and his injured eye was no longer injured. “Actually, let’s keep that.” She waved her hand and it was back to how it looked before. “What do you mean you’re my fa-” “Now, how will we get you to the ball..” She puzzled, cutting him off again. “Oh, I never introduced myself.” She smiled, “My name is Fiona Gilman, I’m your godmother, but I’m also a fairy. Not human.” She finished.
“Oh.” Luca stated. “Well, let’s get you to the ball!” Fiona spun, and her leafy forest-esque clothes turned into a completely different outfit. She wore a gold and white outfit which very loosely resembled a nun. “I think this is fitting.” She looked content. She took a pumpkin off the floor, and with a “I think this will do,” turned it into a carriage. She turned a few ants on the floor into two horses to pull the carriage. “Well, get in! We’re going to the ball.” She smiled and sat on the front of the carriage.
Luca opened the door to the carriage, in awe at how she could do such magic. He sat down, sliding into the seat. Luca fidgeted with his fingers, nervous, after all it was his first time ever going to a big event. Robbie was probably content on his own in his chaos after all, so he needn’t worry about him. Luca sighed as the carriage pulled up to the castle. The young man stepped out, observing his surroundings. The castle was huge and loomed over him. “Well, I’ll see you!” Fiona called out. “Oh, by the way, this stuff wears off at midnight.” She yelled while she drew the carriage away from the castle.
“Great.” Luca thought. He had until midnight to have his fun, and he doubted his family would come home before then, since they loved to stay up late at parties. Luca entered the castle, showing his invite to the guard. He saw the line of people going to the ballroom, so he followed them. Luca entered the ballroom.
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Andrew watched from the balcony on which he and his cousins were sitting in soft velvet covered chairs. The three of them were princes. Andrew scanned over the crowd, until his eyes caught on one specific person in the crowd. It was a young man dressed like how everyone else was dressed, but there was something about this man that Andrew could not place. “Hey Andy.” his cousin, Aesop walked up to him. “Dancing’s about to start, are you gonna go?” Aesop tilted his head. His cousin was a strange man, but he loved him nonetheless. Aesop had a thing about not letting anyone see his face in public, so he always wore masks. At least, not the bottom half of his face. Whatever, Andrew didn’t want to pry about it.
Andrew looked up “Oh, yeah I’ll go soon.” He replied. “C’mon it’ll be fun!” his other cousin, Victor, pleaded. “Fine, I’ll come now.” Andrew stood up, walking down from the balcony. The three of them were supposed to give speeches before the dancing and fun began, and at the end of the night as well. They said the important parts of their speeches during the beginning of the night; that way everyone would get a chance to listen.
Andrew despised this part, as did his cousins, but they were expected to do this by their parents as well as the entire kingdom that was in front of them. Andrew, who was the oldest, was up first. “Welcome, Oletus Kingdom.” Andrew started, “Tonight marks the 15th anniversary of the kingdom, and I hope you all enjoy your time spent in this castle.” Andrew added more to his speech and finished up, and Victor was next.
Victor said pretty much the same stuff but with different words, as did Aesop. Andrew stood at the front of the platform and waved to everyone to signal that the night had begun. The crowd cheered and the musicians began to play. Andrew sighed and walked off the platform, eyes searching the crowd for the young man he had spotted earlier. Andrew was interrupted by Victor. “Hey, Andrew!” Victor dragged along a young man with long brown hair that was neatly tied back in a bow. “It’s the guy from before, he came!” Victor shouted over the excitement of the rest of the guests.
The young man Victor had brought was followed by a taller man with white hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue suit and also had his hair tied back in a bow. The taller man looked down at Andrew. “Good evening, your highness.” The man bowed his head to Andrew. Victor was like an excited puppy with the guy he was holding, but the one in red was clearly annoyed. “Andrew, can I marry him?” Victor pleaded, “Please? Please please?” He begged. “Sure,” Andrew blinked. “Oh, well if they’re going to be married this will make me your uncle in law.” The man in blue chuckled. “My name is Joseph, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Joseph held out his hand, and Andrew shook it.
“May I ask where the grey haired young man is at the moment?” Joseph asked. “Uh, I don’t know.” Andrew said, looking around. “Oh, here he is now.” Andrew watched as Aesop came running with a tall man in tow. “Hi Andrew!” he beamed. “Hello,” Andrew responded, eyes flicking to the man he had brought along. “Who’s this?” he asked. The man was tall, tall enough that the top of Aesop’s head reached near the man’s shoulders. His hair was curly and black, his eyes were a dull brown color. His skin was scarred, almost half of his face had a scar on it.
“Oh, this is the man I want to marry.” Aesop smiled and grabbed the man’s arm. Joseph’s head jerked in the direction of the two of them, and eyed the black haired man. “His name is Norton.” Aesop laid his head on his arm. Joseph gritted his teeth, it was clear he was not happy with that statement. “That’s great, I’m sure he’s a good choice.” Andrew smiled at his cousin. “Well, all of you have fun.” Andrew walked away from the group, still on the search for the man that stood out to him.
Then, he finally saw him. Andrew quickly walked between people, but the man slipped away into the crowd. “Ugh.” Andrew gritted his teeth, and wandered through the crowd, looking for the mysterious man. He saw the young man at the food stand, and walked up behind him. Andrew placed his hand on his shoulder. “Uh- excuse me?” Andrew swallowed. The man turned around, giving him a puzzled look. “Hello?” he said. “W-would you like to dance with me?” Andrew looked away from the man, embarrassed. “Oh, okay.” the young man agreed.
The two of them left the food stand and went to the ballroom, where the musicians were playing slow dancing music. Andrew took the man’s hand and asked him, “What’s your name?” Luca smiled, “My name is Luca.” Andrew put his hand on Luca’s waist and began to dance with him to the slow and melodious song that the musicians were playing. The two of them enjoyed that moment, the song guiding their steps.
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After a while, Luca looked at the clock. It was almost midnight, the time that his outfit and everything would go back to normal. Luca panicked at the thought, after all, he was dancing with a prince right now. “Uh, Andrew- I’m sorry but I have to go.” Luca slipped out of his grasp and briskly walked away from the crowd. Luca walked out the door and started to run. He ran down the stairs, tripping on the last step and he fell. Luca caught himself, but one of his shoes fell off. Andrew ran after him, stopping at the top of the stairs.
Luca ran all the way to his house, it wasn’t that far after all. He sighed as he watched his pretty outfit fizz back into his normal clothes, and opened the front door. Surprisingly, Robbie was asleep on the floor in the living room. Luca picked him up, bringing him to his and Robbie’s bedroom. Luca placed him on his bed and took off his shoes, when he noticed he was missing one. “Damn it.” He muttered, “I lost my shoe and Joseph’s gonna be pissed.” he mumbled. Luca sighed, flopping on his bed and began to dream about the prince he danced with that night, slowly drifting off to sleep.
That morning, Luca woke up to Joseph sobbing loudly in the living room. Luca got up, careful not to wake Robbie. He wandered into the living room, “What’s wrong?” Luca asked him. Joseph scowled at him, eyes red from crying. “The one I like is getting married.” He said between sobs. “Well what about the other ones?” Luca asked, going to the kitchen for a glass of water. “Well, Edgar likes that blonde annoying one, so I’ll probably go for the very pale one, Andrew, was it?” Joseph stopped sobbing by now.
Luca looked up when he heard that name, it was the name of the man he had danced with last night. He finished grabbing his water and walked into the dining room to sit and drink. There was a knock on the door, and Joseph looked to Luca, a signal for him to go and answer it. Luca set his glass down and walked to the door, anticipating who it could be. He opened the door to be greeted by Andrew. Andrew was holding a shoe that looked much like that of the one that Luca had lost.
“Hello.” Andrew said, studying Luca and the rest of the house behind him. Andrew looked Luca up and down, noticing his clothes were that of a commoner, much unlike the clothes he had worn to the ball. “I brought this shoe, I believe you lost it?” Andrew raised an eyebrow. Joseph got up and ran to the door. “Hello, Andrew.” Joseph smiled. Andrew glared at him. “I need to speak with Luca.” Joseph’s smile faded. “Alright then.” He pushed Luca outside and shut the door.
Luca looked at the ground. Andrew held out the shoe to him, “Your shoe.” Luca took the shoe, thanking him and turning around to go back inside. “Wait a second,” Andrew hesitated. Luca turned back around, “Yeah?” he questioned. “I.. I would like to marry you.” Andrew said very directly, covering his face with his hands. Luca’s face flushed, “O-okay, but I’m just a commoner, is that fine?” Luca pulled one of his hands off his face. “Yes.” Andrew replied, “My cousin is marrying a damn coal miner so I assume it would be alright to marry you.” He laughed nervously.
Luca messed with his fingers idly, “Well, for the time being could I live in your home?” Luca waited for his answer. “Uh- yes, we have spare rooms.” Andrew nodded. “Well, I’ll pack my stuff.” Luca smiled. “Okay, be ready in about an hour.” Andrew got into the carriage and waved goodbye. Luca waved back and watched until they were gone.
Luca entered the house, ready for Joseph’s interrogation. “So, what was that about?” Joseph crossed his arms. “Andrew just invited me over for a bit, no need to worry.” Luca lied. “Hmph, okay.” Joseph glared. “Get me a water while you’re here.” Joseph went and sat at the dinner table. Luca obeyed, going to the pitcher of water he had gotten the day before and poured out some for his father.
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After an hour, Luca was dressed as best as he could and packed up his few things. Luca exited the house, waiting for Andrew’s carriage to pull up to his small, two story house. After a few minutes, Luca could see the carriage moving towards him in the distance. Luca walked forward and waved, and the carriage slowly pulled up to his door and stopped. Andrew opened the door and waved, inviting him inside.
To be continued