31 Days Left Until The Ball
Ruby wakes up the next morning, hearing non-stop knocking on the door. Ruby wakes up, stretching her limbs out and letting out a loud yawn. "What a dream," Ruby said as she rubs her eyes, tirelessly. "Morning princess!" Yells out Chip as she enters the room. "What?! It wasn't a dream?" Ruby asked.
"Of course not, now hurry, you must take your royal bath and get dress because later tonight, the dinner party will soon start and royal guests will soon arrive," Chip rushes. "Calm down, it's only nine in the morning," Ruby yawns once more. "I know, but you must learn the basic steps and manners when you will be greeting important guests and the princes you'll be meeting," Chip said.
"Ahh, they're here," Chip says as she hovers beside Ruby by the beside. "Who?" Ruby asks. They watched as the door opens, revealing a procession of three mystical creatures entering. They all are the same type of animal Chip is. "Princess, good morning," the royal butler bows and leaves a tray of well-prepared breakfast on her bed. He leaves the other maids to do their job as he heads back downstairs.
"His majesty, the king, expects you to meet him at the royal ballroom once you're completely dressed," the royal head-maid said. "We will help you get dressed," the first maid said. The maids guide her to the bathroom where she will get washed up before she gets dressed. She insisted to the maids she will do it herself, but the maids don't allow her to do so as that's the rule to help the princess get dressed.
Afterward, she is getting helped with putting on her gown and helped her put on her tiara. "Let's head downstairs," Chip says and follows Ruby behind, heading out of the bedroom to the main hallway. There are two large staircases on either side, but it didn't matter, Ruby heads downstairs to meet the king.
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"Ahh, my princess," the king calls out. "H-Hello your majesty," Ruby bows, but the king gives her a confused look. "Your father," Chip whispers in her ear. "I mean, father! Good morning!" Ruby nervously shouts. "Right, I see you're nervous about tonight, but it's okay, you'll be fine," he chuckles.
"Chip, make sure Princess Ruby learns the princes and the guidelines for the party tonight," the king instructs and left the two alone. "Let's get to work," Chip claps her hands together. Ruby learns everything she needs to know about being polite and showing respect to important elites. They take a small lunch break before she returns to learning.
By evening, Chip takes Ruby back upstairs to get changed into her nightgown. "I'm nervous about this," Ruby says. "Don't be, I'll be right next to you all night," Chip assures her. Ruby seems to calm down for a bit and lets the maids help her get ready. Meanwhile, the ballroom is almost filled with every guest from many faraway kingdoms.
Princesses and princes have arrived and greeted one another. Once the ballroom is filled with royal elites and fancy guests with expensive jewelry and clothing. The announcer announces the king as he makes his entrance, greeting close friends and families. "Are you ready?" Chip asks and Ruby who lets out a deep breath bravely nods.
Chip heads down first, waiting for Ruby at the end of the staircase. "Announcing, her highness, the beloved young Princess Ruby of the Red Chrysanthemum Flower Kingdom, soon to heir the throne!" Loud applauds filled the ballroom as they watched in awe when they see Ruby appear in her beautiful night-time gown, jewels hung on her dress, and the glitter-covered delicate fabric.
Ruby smiles, respectfully waving at the guests, and makes her way downstairs. She meets up with Chip and the guests greet Ruby as they pass by. "Your main goal here is to meet the princes, now, the real princess had met a few, but there are some who she hasn't met yet," Chip explains.
"Among the princes you meet, you must pick your dance partner," Chip instructs. "Geez, that's a lot of work," Roy sighs. Ruby looks around as she greets the guests and then, she stumbles upon a very familiar-looking prince. "Hoseok?" Ruby asks when she sees the familiar brown-headed, same height as her, a child-like yet cute boyish smile.
"Yo! You're Princess Ruby? Nice to meet you, your highness. I'm Prince Hoseok Jung of the Sunflower Kingdom." The prince talks like the Hoseok from Ruby's world. He bows down and smiles widely at her. "Uh- nice to meet you as well, Prince Hoseok," Ruby also bows down, greeting the prince.
"This castle is so big, you should show me sometime," Hoseok says. "Huh? I'd be happy to," Ruby replies, thankfully already knowing the castle around well. "Cool, I feel like the two of us can become good friends," Prince Hoseok said. "That would be nice," Ruby smiles. "I hope to see you around sometime, later!" Prince Hoseok waves goodbye before he disappears into the crowd.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, let's meet another prince," Ruby says as she looks around two meet another prince. Ruby stops mid-track when she sees a prince walk up to her as he holds a red rose. Ruby can tell this prince is exactly like the flirtatious Jimin from her world. "Princess, I may not yet have the throne, but I'm sure going to take you home," he says as the girls behind him sigh lovingly.
Ruby tries not to burst out laughing, hearing him say that. "Prince Jimin," Ruby smirks, folding her arms. "My beloved Princess Ruby, as beautiful as ever," he bows. "His highness, Prince Jimin Park of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom," Chip whispers in Ruby's ear. He looks back at Ruby, giving the rose to Ruby. "I'm the prince most fitting of a rose like you. But never mind that, we both know you're looking for a dance partner you should've accepted when I asked you before." His expression changes from a happy mood to a sad expression.
"Then you wouldn't need to look for one now," he said, now with an angry face. "I apologize for my anger management, but please let me know if you change your mind. Adieu, for now, princess," he bows and walks away to flirt with other princesses. "He needs to chill out," Ruby said. "Prince Jimin was rejected by the real princess once before. Since then, he kept on trying but he's yet to be successful."
Ruby walked along as she looks for another prince to meet, but she has collided with a prince who seems to be in a bit of a hurry. "Hey, watch where you're going!" The prince yells out. "I'm sorry," she saddens. The prince's angry expression calms down when he realizes it was Ruby. "I should be the one to apologize," he said as he politely bows down and quickly walks away.
"Are you okay?" Chip asks, making sure Ruby wasn't hurt. "I'm fine, but that prince looks like my childhood friend, Yoongi, from my world," Ruby said. "That would be his highness, Prince Yoongi Min of the Iris Kingdom," Chip introduces. "He seems to be like that sometimes, all rude and mean, but I know he's got a kind heart," Chip says.
Ruby continues to look around when she spots a lonely prince standing in a corner, far away from the crowd. "He looks like Taehyung from my world," Ruby said. "Correct, his highness, Prince Taehyung Kim of the Magnolia Empire Kingdom," Chip whispers. "Hey, why don't you come out from that corner and we can get to know each other?" Ruby asked.
"Why do you want to talk with me?" "Well, because I would like to meet new friends," Ruby joyfully smiles. "Hmm, you're a strange one, aren't you?" The prince quirks his eyebrow. "I can be sometimes," Ruby shrugs. "Indeed," he says and bows down t Ruby before he takes his leave. "He could've been a bit friendlier," Ruby huffs.
"He may not be good with meeting new people, but he's an excellent prince with high standards and has an intelligent mind," Chip speaks. "Wait, what's going on over there? There's a crowd!" Ruby exclaims. Ruby walks over to spot a handsome-looking prince surrounded by many young girls and women.
"He looks like Seokjin," Ruby whispers to herself. "That would be, his highness, Prince Seokjin Kim of the Republic of Rose Kingdom. He's quite popular among the princes here." "Prince Seokjin, let's go have a picnic down at the beach!" One of the princesses shouts which makes Ruby turn to see who it was. "No! Come with me to watch the opera!" The other princess shootouts.
"Those two would be the real princess' twin cousins, Rosie and Josie," Chip explains as she points towards the two loud princesses. "Those two will never stop obsessing over Prince Seokjin," Chip sighs. "Go talk to him, maybe this might be your chance to make new friends," Chip ushers Ruby. "Uh-, nice to meet you, Prince Seokjin!" Prince Seokjin sees Ruby snd instantly greets her as well.
"Nice to meet you as well, Princess Ruby," he says as he bows down. "This may be a little sudden, but will you be my dance partner?" Ruby shyly asks. But the prince could not hear a thing because all the princesses are speaking loudly to get the prince's attention. "What? Sorry, I couldn't hear you. Could you say that again?"
"Hey, Ruby!" Ruby hears the two princesses call her name loudly. "Just because you're going to become queen here, that doesn't mean you're going to choose Prince Seokjin," Rosie huffs. "Yeah, either way, he's with Princess Juliana!" Ruby never thought Prince Seokjin would be with Princess Juliana, just like the Seokjin and Juliana from her world.
The princesses drag the poor prince away. "Even if the prince was with Princess Juliana, why would those two still stick around and both that poor prince when there's a lot of princes here," Chip argues. "Never mind that, I think I'm getting a bit worked up here. Look! There's a garden outside."
Ruby heads out to the castle's garden. Ruby finds Prince Hoseok talking to another prince. "Hey, guys, what are you up to?" Ruby interrupts their small talk. "Hey Ruby, I guess he found some rare flower or something," Prince Hoseok said. "It's a malkid flower, I found it while I was on my way to the castle," the prince speaks.
"The malkid is a flower that only grows in this region." "Oh really?" Ruby asks. "How are you not bored with this? I'm leaving," Prince Hoseok yawns as he heads back inside the ballroom. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Ruby. I am Prince Namjoon Kim of the Daisy Kingdom," Prince Namjoon introduces himself.
"Oh, nice to meet you as well, Prince Namjoon, I am Princess Ruby," Ruby introduces back. Realization struck her when she notices that Prince Namjoon looks like Namjoon from her world. "You very much love to learn different kinds of flowers," Ruby smiles, thinking about the Namjoon from her world.
"I sure do. What kind of flowers do you like, Ruby?" He asks. "Me? Oh, I love lilies," Ruby smiles. "Really? I love lilies too! Then I'll give to I've you a pretty lily the next time I see you." "Oh thank you, you seem to be a nice guy," she compliments him. Although Ruby has the chance to ask Namjoon to be her dance partner, she would like to get to know him better and decides not to ask just yet.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Prince Namjoon, but I must go back inside," Ruby says as she stands up from the bench. "It was nice talking to you, Ruby!" He waves.
The dinner party comes to a close ending. "I'm getting tired," Ruby says, uncomfortably fixing her dress. "All attendees! I would like to thank you all for coming in to celebrate my daughter's future reign. I hoped all the princes have met my daughter and hoped to get along well. Let us end the royal dinner party with a special performance by Prince Seokjin of the Republic of Rose Kingdom and Princess Juliana Abram of the Tulip Kingdom!"
The ballroom filled with loud clapping as Prince Seokjin guides Princess Juliana to the dance floor and the music from the orchestra began to play softly. Ruby admired the way Princess Juliana was feeling the moment with Prince Seokjin. She couldn't believe she would dance just like them at the ball.
She wondered, how hard can it be?...
To Be Continued...
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2,088 Words