He was dismayed, but he was afraid he'd hurt Harry even more, so he left her to go back to his throne. When he made it back, he looked at the other three thrones. The prince had already gone back to his room, the princess was still around talking to her friends, and the queen sat on her throne shaking her head at him.
"Oh, your majesty," she sighed. "What have you done now?"
He sighed heavily, "I tried to bond with her out there, but...." He sat down; his head was banging like a drum. "She made a mistake, I tried to console her, but I ended up making it worse."
"You yelled at her."
"I did."
"In front of everyone."
"Yes."
"With all the nobles watching."
"I know."
"How cruel, your majesty!"
"Caroline."
"Are you going to yell at me too?"
He sighed again, "I'm going to retire for the night."
"You can't leave," Caroline replied. "You have to oversee this whole party remember?"
"Then I will cancel it."
"On your new wife and daughter's special night? How cruel! And here I thought you wanted to be seen in a different light."
The king gave her a tired look and replied, "As much as I love your jests, I cannot handle them tonight." He quickly caved. "Fine, I'll oversee it until the end, but the second it's over, I'm gone."
Caroline looked at him and then at the guests. "I'm just teasing you, but I suppose you've had enough. My daughter's heart is a tough thing to get into. I mean, sure, she's kind and polite; she's always been that way. But she doesn't let people into her heart so easily."
He looked down. "I see," he replied, saddened.
"But I'll tell you a secret," she continued. "A way to open her heart to you."
"Really?" he asked excitedly.
"Yes," she replied. "I'll tell you later when it's just us two." The two shared a smile with each other.
•••
Meanwhile, in the ballroom, the first princess stood surrounded by her friends.
"The king was lovely tonight, wasn't he?"asked Lady Loraine, she was the daughter of a viscount.
"Yes," answered Lady Sierra; she was the daughter of a marquess. "His dance with that new princess was wonderful!"
"But why did he suddenly shout like that?"asked Lady Angelina; she was the daughter of a duke.
"I have no idea, but that princess was so graceful and pretty," replied Sierra.
"But not as pretty and graceful as our Princess Kaitlyn, of course," added Loraine.
Kaitlyn glared at them. "What are you talking about?" she asked coldly. "Didn't any of you see it?"
She looked through the crowd at Harry, who was at the food table. She knew that Harry had messed up. Even if no one else had noticed or seen it, she did. "Who would favor a fake princess anyway?" she asked, "This kingdom already has a perfect and real princess; it doesn't need another one."
Her friends were quick to agree with her. Kaitlyn continued to stare at Harry as she was trying to pick a dessert. Kaitlyn didn't realize how nervous Harry was, nor did she see the uncomfortable scared girl. If she had, then maybe things would have turned out differently between the two of them.
"Which should I choose?" Harry asked. She started at the table. "I need to choose quickly so I can get out of everyone's way." Even though she said that no one was there, no one approached her. They all just stayed away. "I really need to choose," she whined.
"Hm, what are you doing, Princess Harry?"
She looked up from across the table. "Sir Cambrel!" she exclaimed.
Although people made her feel nervous, she was relieved that someone had wanted to talk to her. Cambrel and Harry talked for a while. She told him about what had happened during her dance with the king. She felt relieved but also glad that someone had listened to her and wanted to talk to her.