𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 // 𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐉𝐈

chapter seventeen

I stand behind the cushioned chair, Marguerite sitting in it. Her silky, blonde strands of hair between my fingers as I put her hair in a different hairstyle.
"Are you sure this is alright?" She shyly asks.
"But of course it is!" I reply with a smile etched into my features.
"And the fact I am wearing your dress?"
"That too, do not worry. I think it fits you more than me, you can have it for the rest of your life, not just this ball." I say, adding the last details to her hair.
"Thank you, princess. I wish you luck tonight. Let's get going, shall we? The others are anticipating your arrival." She gets up from the chair.
"And yours too, do not forget that!"
"I do not think they anticipate a maid there, I am not sure if I am allowed there."

We make our way trough the dimly lit corridors of the castle, the moon shining in trough the windows.
"Ready?" Marguerite questions as she opens the door to the ballroom. The lighting inside was better, the chandelier giving off a warm, orangeish hue. The guests happily dancing to the magneficent music being played, while some just stood in the sidelines having a drink or a small talk.

I watch as Marguerite slowly dissapears from my side, into the crowd of people, leaving me alone.

--
"You know what to do, Sanji. I wish you luck." I hear Reiju's voice from next to me before she makes her way over to our brothers. On her way there, she looks back at me, tilting her head to the other side of the ballroom, signaling for me to look there.

I shift my gaze to the direction, scanning the crowd of guests until my eyes land on a familiar figure. I could feel as my face heats up, just by the sight of her. Get yourself together, damn it! This might be your only chance...
--

I stare off into the distance, my mind filled with the same thoughts. At least the person in them all was the same.
"Am I interrupting something, ma chére?" A voice hits my ears, one that I know too well.
"Prince Sanji, what a delight to see you here!" I say, my mood improving just by seeing him.
"I could say the same, princess. You look absolutely ravishing, like always. Care for a dance?" He extends his hand towards me, and I take it.

He calmly leads us to the dance floor, and I could feel the piercing gaze of a few guests.
"Isn't she the bride of Ichiji Vinsmoke? Why is she dancing with the freak, then?" I hear as somebody whispers to another person, thinking I can not hear them. But looks like Sanji heard it too, telling me not to care what they say. He places one of his gloved hands on my waist, while intertwining his fingers with mine with the other.

Should I tell him about the plan now? Or should I start a conversation and then tell him about it? Or-
"Is there something bothering you, princess?" He kindly asks, a hint of genuine concern in his voice.
"Absolutely, of course. Just lost in my thoughts." I quietly reply. "Prince Sanji... I believe I have told you that I am not interested in the marriage with Ichiji, but my mother insists that I settle with him. But she can not do anything about it if I marry somebody else from the family, I will never go back to her castle after all and the alliance will be valid. And I was thinking-"
"Marry me, Y/N."

My mind stops. Everything stops. The people who were around us and heard what he said, and almost as if the time stopped too. My eyes widen, mind trying to process what he said. He just stands there, holding both my hands with his, staring into my eyes with love radiating from them. I stay quiet for a few moments, and I could see as he got progressively more worried with each passing second.
"Terribly sorry if this is not where the situation was goi-" he starts but I cut him off.
"Yes." I say.
"W-what?"
"You asked me if I would marry you. I said yes."

He was silent for a few seconds, but then a huge smile made its way to his face.
"Marry me, Y/N. I am sure my father will have no objections."
"He won't, do not worry" a feminine voice speaks up.
"Reiju!" Sanji and I look at her.
"I asked him, and like I told you Sanji, he was happier that Ichiji will not have to marry than I expected. He said it is fine." She smiles.
"At least I will not have to be with her..." Ichiji appears, not mad at all about the change in plans. Even better, he seemed relieved at the news. I see Marguerite a few feet away from him, and I give her a reassuring smile.
"Well yeah, I better not see you after what you have done to her, anything remotely similar happens, you will get beat up again." Sanji adds. He heard about it? This was likely about the day when Ichiji punched me. Wait, get beat up again? Does this mean they had a match?
"It hurts but I have to admit, you have gotten stronger, brother." The red haired man says.

A/N: this time the italics do not mean yn's thoughts.

Right now you are probably wondering, dear reader, a few unanswered questions still in your head. What happened after this? What about Y/N's mother? And her sisters? Donna? Well, a few things did happen. Things that not even Y/N nor the Vinsmoke family clearly knew about. But that is why me, the narrator who did not appear before is here now. Because unlike the Vinsmokes and the princess, I know everything.

The news spread around the neighbouring towns and kingdoms like wildfire, leaving the resident puzzled. The headlines all saying the same thing over and over: "Princess Y/N marries Vinsmoke Sanji instead of Vinsmoke Ichiji!"

What a turn of events! The failure of the Vinsmokes, the gentleman with high cooking skills and no genetic modifications, getting married to a princess known for her beauty, who had turned down many suitors before. What had caused her to change her mind about the wedding with Ichiji, the people wonder.

But the news reached everyone, and I mean everyone. Even Y/N's mother, who, after hearing the news that tradition has been broken, was a raging mess. On the other hand, her daughters, Cassandra and Daniela, were filled with joy, along with the head maid, Donna. These three have forged a plan, one that Her Majesty, the Queen was not expecting at all.

Donna soon quit her job, left the castle, immediately heading to another one, where one of her loved ones resided. What the queen did not expect was that her own daughters would go along her, too.

Now left with no heir, a dying husband, and no real alliance with the Vinsmokes due to Vinsmoke Judge, head of his family not agreeing to give her his military power, the queen started to panic, her own people leading to her demise in the end. (Which I might add, nobody minded.)

Meanwhile, the Vinsmoke castle has already welcomed the new residents, Y/N embracing her sisters and mother figure in a warm, teary hug at the entrance. Oh, how she missed them!
"I hope we did not miss your wedding, sister!" Cassandra happily says.

Marguerite quickly formed a good relationship with them, and Donna was highly respected among the other maids in just the span of a few days.

What about the wedding, you may ask. Well, dear reader, that happened too.

Sanji, after failing to capture a woman's heart so many times, has finally found true love, and he was even getting married! Poor thing almost exploded from happiness at the altar, literal tears in his eyes.

And Y/N? She was just as happy. The arranged marriage with Ichiji had finally turned into something good, something she did not expect, but was glad it happened.

Donna shed tears like a real mother would, seeing her daughter figure dressed in a wedding dress, about to marry the man of her dreams. Cassandra and Daniela were not fans of Sanji at first, but as the days passed, they started liking him more and more, and by time they were glad their sister married him and not Ichiji.

I made the best of it, Donna. I did.

THE END

Try to make the best of it... I did, Donna. I did!