His Royal Highness ➼ m a r k

~Chapter 5~

"Lady (Y/n)," Ainsley's voice called to you gently. Moaning, you draped your arm over your eyes and pulled the blanket over your head.

"No, not yet," You murmured, furrowing your eyebrows. You felt a pair of gentle hands pry the cover off of you. Your thin nightgown did nothing to protect your skin from the sudden chill, so you curled up to warm yourself.

"We've got a busy day," Libby informed you, trying to pull you up.

"Busy, busy, busy," Ainsley echoed, now arranging the things on your vanity.

"What am I gonna do, insult the Prince some more?" You joked, sitting up and stretching. Both maids smirked.

"As entertaining as that seems, no. Today, you're going to be interviewed for the public to see who their new queen could be!" Libby told you, fishing around in the closet. She pulled out a smooth gray gown with gems all along the neckline and side of the top piece. It wasn't too tight, but it definitely displayed your curves at the top and spread into a mermaid style at the bottom. "Now, if we add a little color to the jewelry, this'll be perfect."

You groaned, throwing yourself back to the pillow. All of a sudden, the bed's canopy seemed like the most interesting thing in the world as your maids rummaged through your collection of fine jewelry. The two women murmured in distaste or approval as they searched, letting you sulk a while longer.

"Ah! This is perfect!" Libby exclaimed suddenly, and you heard Ainsley express her agreement. A moment later, you saw their cheerful faces gazing down at you. You took to watching one of Ainsley's curls swinging slightly, having escaped from her tiny ponytail. With a sigh, you sat up and walked over to your dress. They helped you hoist it up as you realized just how tight it was around your waist. For a moment, you were terrified you wouldn't fit in it, but that proved not to be the case. They ushered you to sit in front of the three giant mirrors of the vanity.

"Say, Miss (Y/n)," Libby started absently, keeping her eyes on your hair. You snapped out of your half asleep, zombie-like trance and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Hm?"

"Well, yesterday you were about to tell us a thrilling tale," She started off gently. Raised an eyebrow, you simply watched as they played with your hair and did the little makeup you'd let them. You could hardly remember what you ate for dinner last night, let alone all the details of some yarn you were about to tell them yesterday.

"Yes, you were. I believe it was about why you hate the prince so much," Ainsley chimed in. NOW you remember.

You sighed. "Well, I mean, I've heard all the girls whispering at the parties and stuff back home."

"About how handsome he is?" Ainsley asked, concentrating on the back of your hair.

"At first, yeah. About how cute he was and all that. But then, as more and more girls came home from this stupid contest thing-" Libby looked as if she were about to object, so you sent her a sharp, warning gaze, "-or whatever you call it, I started hearing some nasty things about him."

"Such as?" The Scot promoted, twisting your hair.

"Um, stubborn, rude..." You trailed off.

"You do realize those are brokenhearted girls, right? They're gonna say things they don't mean."

"Of course I do! It's just...what if that's the real him? Rude, independent...what if that's who he really is?"

"What if it isn't?" Ainsley asked, slowly taking her hands away from your hair.

"But what if it is. Better safe than sorry."

"You know what I think?" Libby piped up gently, admiring your bun. "I think you're afraid of actually loving him."

Instead of arguing, you sat still in your seat, hands in your lap and eyes fixated on your reflection. A large necklace of silver and sapphire found its way to your neck. The metal was cool against your skin, and you put a hand to it. A matching crown was set on your head.

"You look lovely, dear," Libby cooed. Ainsley ordered you to stand and fixed the skirt of the dress.

"Now, you will go to breakfast only after every girl has been interviewed. Just be polite and try to portray yourself as playful rather than snarky, okay?"

You hummed and nodded numbly. Afraid of being loved? Was that it?

No, you thought, it wasn't. You were simply thrown into a completely unfamiliar world and stuck with five girls- three of whom seemed really unfriendly. You weren't afraid of finding love, you were just afraid of your surroundings. Afraid in general.

Sure, admitting you were afraid was humiliating, but it wasn't nearly as bad as admitting you had feelings for the prince.

***

Oh my god this sucks I'm sorry

The next update will be longer I just tad to put something out

And I'm kinda sleepy cuz I took some sleeping pills so sorry if this chapter sucks XD