Chapter Text
Princess An thought her day couldn’t get any worse.
Her daily routine always started with her waking up at eight in the morning, getting dressed and pampered with the help of her maids. Unfortunately, her body decided to wake up at four in the morning, refusing to get any inkling more of sleep. On top of that, it took her maids extra time to get her ready as her hair was completely tangled from her tossing and turning in her sleep. Her daily routine would continue with a walk in the garden, followed by having tea under the gazebo in said garden. That was also interrupted as well, as it was downpouring all morning. ‘Just my luck..’ An thought to herself as she walked down the long, narrow hallway of the castle. The maids had told her this morning that her father requested to see her in the dining room, and this was something she unfortunately couldn’t decline.
As An entered the dining room, her father greeted her with a smile, gesturing her to sit down. “What did you need to see me for?” An asked as she took a seat across from him at the table. Her father, Ken, took a deep breath before answering. “This might be difficult to digest all at once. An, you are getting to the age where it is time to find a potential marriage partner. Your mother and I set up a meeting for you to meet a potential partner.”
At that moment, An knew her day definitely could get worse.
“You’re joking, right? If so, this is not a very funny joke.” Coincidentally, the butler brought out their breakfast, awkwardly coughing before leaving the dining room. “An, as much as I joke around with you, I am not joking around this time. The man you will be meeting is the prince of Shinonome Kingdom, Akito Shinonome.” An grimaced at the mention of said prince. It was one thing to get married to the opposite gender you aren’t attracted to at all, and another thing for it to be the Shinonome Akito. Many stories lingered around the streets of the Shirashi Kingdom about the prince of the Shinonome Kingdom, a blunt and hot-blooded man. If it were any other man, maybe An would’ve tolerated them. She absolutely despised the idea of potentially marrying Akito.
“With all due respect father, I don’t want to marry him. Nor do I want to get married any time in the near future.” An took a sip of her drink, avoiding her father’s piercing gaze. “Unfortunately, you need to marry. It’s crucial for you to marry to continue on the royal lineage.” She scoffed at his words, staring down at her drink. “There’s no point for me to be in a marriage where I won’t end up loving the other person.” An placed her drink back down on the table, swiftly standing up and walking away. Ken turned towards her, beckoning for her to sit back down. “An, we aren’t done talking yet!” An sighed, opening the doors to the dining room and left without hearing her father out.
Thankfully during her curt talk with her father, it stopped pouring outside. An decided to take a walk outside the castle walls for some fresh air. She needed to clear her mind before facing her parents and whatever stupid marriage crap they had left to discuss with her about. She walked back to her room, grabbing her coat before heading out the passageway she would always leave through as a kid. Rebellious memories of her leaving the castle as a kid flooded back into her mind. ‘If only I was a kid again, I wouldn’t have to come face to face with the responsibilities I now have to face.’
Once An left the castle, she decided maybe a stroll in the enchanted forest would do her good. As a kid, she would always sneak into the forest, picking up wild flowers that she would always end up bringing back to her nanny, Nagi. Nobody else but Nagi knew where she was when she left the castle as a kid. If someone were to ask An who she loved the most, she would say her nanny. An loved her mother, father, and maids very much, but Nagi was the one person who held a special place in An’s heart. Nagi would always give her a sincere smile as An handed her the wild flowers she would collect in the forest.
Sadly, all good things have to come to an end at some point. As An grew older, Nagi ended up becoming sick. Nagi’s sickness ended up becoming worse, but she always hid her pain behind a smile that never quite reached her eyes. An would always hold a bit of resentment towards her family, and even Nagi, for hiding her illness. She couldn’t blame them though. It’s hard to break the news to a young girl that her nanny has not much time left to live. An sighed, trying to block out the negative memories of Nagi’s sickness from her mind. She came into the forest to clear her mind, not fog it up any more with negativity and sadness. She mumbled to herself, “If only I could live in a world where I can be free and not be confined to a loveless marriage.”
Just as she said that, she stumbled upon an interesting scene. A young man, possibly in his early 20’s, was tangled up in several vines hanging from a tree. The man had unruly purple hair, with a monocole sitting on one side of his face and a black cloak hanging from his shoulders. He was currently hanging upside down and sporting an unreadable expression. An walked up to the man with confusion on her face. “Are you alright up there?” The man acknowledged her, his eyebrows raising in surprise. His face shifted into one of happiness, as someone has finally come to help him out. “Finally someone has come to help me! Do you think you could help me down?”
“I don’t have any weapons on me to cut those vines but I can try to untangle you.” An had experience climbing trees from when she was younger. This was something she never confessed to her parents, not even Nagi. An grabbed a hold of the tree, using her lower body strength to pull herself up the tree. She grabbed onto the branch that the man was hanging from and tried to untangle his foot from the vines with one hand. It took a bit of time to unravel the vines from his foot, but she managed to get it off him. The man ended up landing on the ground with a loud thud! An winced, sending an apologetic look towards the man as she climbed back down the tree. “I should’ve expected to fall on my ass like that,” the man said as he laughed. “I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Kamishiro Rui! I live right here in the forest. I was trying to save a rabbit from this tree, but I ended up getting caught in the vine trap that hung from this tree.”
An smiled as she offered out her hand to shake Rui’s hand. “My name is Shirashi An, you probably already have an idea of who I am,” she laughed as she reeled her hand back after shaking his hand. “The Crown Princess, huh? What a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. What are you doing in this forest?” An awkwardly scratched the back of her head, sighing. “I.. needed a break from my duties. A princess’ life can be hard, after all!” Rui nodded in agreement, “I don’t doubt that. Princess An, do you mind if I join you on your walk? I think there’s a spot in this forest that might ease your stress.” The princess nodded and she followed Rui through the forest. After walking for a few minutes, Rui pointed to a small opening behind a bunch of hanging vines. “Through there is the spot I was talking about. Come follow me.”
All stress and worry seemed to slip from An the moment she walked through the hidden enclave in the forest. There stood a huge waterfall with beautiful flowers surrounding it. Butterflies seemed to dance through the wind, and huge willow trees breezed in the wind. What stood in the middle of the small area through was a well that had moss and small plants growing on and around it. “This area.. it’s beautiful,” An said incredulously as she approached the well. “You know, people will come to this well and make a wish. That said wish ends up being fulfilled.” Rui also approached the well and stood next to An. “Said wish ends up being fulfilled, huh? Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to make a wish.”
“I wish to live in a world where I can be free.”
As An thought of her wish, she felt a hand push her into the well. An screamed as she fell into the well. It’s as if she was continuously falling with there being no ground at the bottom of the well. Next thing she knew, she was waking up on the dirty ground of a sewer. She slowly blinked, taking in her surroundings. An looked up and saw specks of sunlight coming in from the manhole at the top of the sewer ceiling. She pushed up on the manhole, climbing out of the sewer. What she saw next was not what she was expecting at all. One second ago she was getting pushed into a well and the next she was in some weird area with carriages without horses pulling them! As An looked around, she noticed many people staring at her with weird looks on their faces.
‘While these people do dress differently than the people in my kingdom, it seems they are all still commoners.’
She decided to walk around and try to get an idea of where the hell she is. A small building with the words ‘Vivid Coffee Shop’ stood out to An. Maybe she could find someone who could tell her where she is! As she entered, many more people continued to stare at her like she was a witch who had just committed several, blasphemous crimes. An walked up to the front desk, completely ignoring the line of people next to her. “Excuse me, do you know where I am,” she asked the lady at the front desk.
The lady at the front desk with green hair had a scowl on her face and glared at An. “Are you trying to do some memory-loss roleplay while cosplaying as a lost princess? If so, you can leave this shop.” An gasped, shocked at what the lady just said to her. “Memory-loss roleplay? What’s that?” Before she could ask any more questions, the person at the front of the line pushed her away. An walked out of the coffee shop with still no idea where the hell she was. She continued to walk down an unfamiliar street before ending up in some alleyway. At the end of the alleyway, it popped her out on a different side than she was on. A huge billboard with a princess smiling stood before An. The princess had a smile on her face with the words, “Need some help? Call Princess Palace Services at xxx-xxx-xxxx today!” next to her. An gasped, an idea popping in her mind. Maybe this kind princess could help her find out where she was! Thankfully, her tree climbing skills came in handy as she climbed up the billboard. She shouted, trying to get the princess’ attention, “Hello? Are you able to tell me where I am?”
Unbeknownst to An at that time, a taxi was also driving down that street while she was calling for help. The little girl in the taxi had her face smushed up to the window, her eyes twinkling in wonder. “Mama, there’s a princess on top of that billboard! I think she's shouting for help!” The little girl’s mother sighed, still staring at her phone. “Pearl, there’s no princess outside. I think you are just daydreaming or imagining things.” Pearl shook her head aggressively, pointing outside the window. “I'm serious mama, there’s a princess on top of that billboard!” The mother finally lifted her head and gasped, seeing an actual woman on top of that billboard. At any moment, she looks like she's about to fall off it too. Pearl opened the taxi door and ran outside towards the billboard. “Pearl, where are you going?! Stop the car, now!”
The mother bursted out of the taxi as well and ran after her daughter. “Ma’am, are you okay? Do you need help?” asked Pearl, staring up at An who is still on top of the billboard. An looked down at the little girl in surprise. “Oh my god, finally someone I can ask for help! Do you know where I am?” ‘Oh my god, I think this woman is not mentally okay,’ thought the mother as she stared up at An. “You are in Vivid Street, now please get down from that billboard you are going to hurt yourself!”
Before An could get down from the billboard, she accidentally tripped and fell backwards. Before she could brace impact from the hard ground, she ended up landing in the woman’s arms. An opened up her eyes and they widened in shock. The woman who had caught An had gorgeous blonde hair, small rounded glasses, and the most beautiful pair of brown eyes she has ever seen. Those same brown eyes stared down at An in concern and she put the princess down. “You can’t be careless like that and climb a billboard! What do you think you are doing?” asked the blonde haired woman. Her daughter, Pearl, was also staring at An with glimmering, curious eyes.
“Well, I was trying to find someone who could tell me where I am. One moment I was in my kingdom, and the next I’m here!” The blonde haired woman sighed out of exasperation, dragging her hand across her face. “Okay, let’s start out with this. What is your name?” An smiled, responding with a cheery tone, “My name is Shirashi An and I am the Crown Princess of the Shirashi Kingdom! What’s your name?”
“My name is Azusawa Kohane.”