***

A WEEK HAD GONE by in a flash. Right now, all the villagers were getting ready.

Well, almost all.

'Fay!' Emilia spoke in an exasperated tone. 'Can you please stop moving?'

Fay looked at her best friend with an irritated look. 'Emilia, I already got dragged against my will into this. So don't say anything about me not standing still.'

'Ladies, are you done yet?' Ronald asked from outside. 

'Almost, father!' Emilia answered. 'We already would be, though, if somebody wasn't moving so much.'

With that, she went back to adjusting Fay's dress, the latter rolling her eyes.

***

'REMEMBER ELYNA, you need to make sure than you do not embarrass yourself and are able to make the Prince fall in love with you, do you understand?' asked Queen Josephine.

'Yes, mother,' Elyna responded, twirling as she admired herself in the mirror. She then turned to her mother. 'Do I look presentable?'

Queen Josephine smiled. She walked up to the blonde bride and placed a hand on her cheek. 'Oh my sweet child, you look more than presentable. You look like a shining star. Oh, how quickly have you grown.'

'Thank you, mother,' Elyna smiled.

***

'WHAT did I get myself in to...?' August muttered as the dresser fixed his clothes.

'Brother, would you please stop whining? The dresser is having a hard time you know,' Emmaline sighed.

'Forgive me,' August apologized.

'You need not apologize, Prince August.' The dresser shook his head. 'If it makes you feel better, you're allowed to go outside before the ball to get some fresh air.'

August smiled at the man. 'Thank you for informing.'

***

Fay tapped her foot impatiently as Emilia got off. She was wearing a blue plain dress reaching her ankles with silver bordering's and her brown leather belt pouch. Along with the dress she wore long brown boots, which were covered.. After Emilia got off, she did too and the moment she looked in front of her, she was in awe.

'Wow...' she mumbled, wide-eyed. Emilia smiled at the sight of her best friend's face and walked off, not wanting to interrupt her moment.

Unfortunately, someone else already did.

'Fay!'

She swiftly turned around and blinked. 'Sir Ronald. To what do I owe the pleasure?'

'I thought you might need these,' he remarked brought a bow and a quiver of arrows in front of her.

'But- Oh, Thank you so much!' Fay beamed as she took them. She took the quiver of arrows and hid them by tucking it in her boots along with the quiver.

'Smart,' Ronald nodded in approval.

'Thank you. Hope you have a splendid night, Sir Ronald,' Fay bowed and walked away. 

***

AUGUST WALKED into the castle garden, filled with fireflies. He smiled and put his hands in his pockets as he walked around. However, his lone peaceful moment didn't last long as he heard footsteps.

He turned around and felt like his breath had been snatched away from him when he saw a young brunette wearing a blue dress. Even though it was nothing special, her own beauty being too much.

'Woah,' August breathed out without thinking.

Although he started to panic internally for a moment when the girl spotted him and was highly relieved when she smiled at him from the distance and waved.

Fay did not expect someone else to be in the garden, much less the prince. The moment she heard him, she had her guard up but let it down slightly when she saw Prince August. 

She wouldn't lie; the prince was really handsome. And he looked even more dashing in his formal suit.

 She nervously waved at him from the distance, secretly thanking the fact that it was night.

But what happened next caused her to freak out, though she kept her composure; the prince started to walk towards her. She debated on what she could do-

1] She could just walk away, ignoring the fact that the prince was walking towards her,

or

2] She could stand there and strike up a conversation with him.

She didn't have much time to choose though, as the prince had already made his way to her.

'Good evening,' Prince August greeted formally.

'Good evening to you too, Prince August,' Fay spoke, internally surprised herself at how she was able to sound so confident. 'I apologize for intruding, I did not think someone else would be here as well.'

'It's fine,' August assured her. 'I am in the wrong too, for I am not supposed to be here.'

This left Fay in slight surprise; after all, this was the Prince's own home. Why would he not be allowed?

'I see.' An awkward silence fell, which was interrupted by the brunette girl clearing her throat.

'Well, I shall go then,' Fay smiled and walked away.

'Wait!'

Fay stopped abruptly and turned around to face a sheepishly smiling prince. 'Um... I didn't exactly catch your name...'

The brunette's pale cheeks turned pink as she swallowed. 'Fay.'

'Well, Fay,' August grinned handsomely. 'Save me a dance in the ball?'

Fay's face turned red and she nodded. 'Of course.'

With that, she walked away, still shocked by the bold request of the prince.

And as she did, Prince August cheered silently at his accomplishment.

***

'WHAT!?'

'Shh!' Fay scolded. 'I didn't tell you just so that you could tell the whole castle!'

'I'm sorry Fay, but this is big. The Prince August, the most handsome man on earth, asked you to dance with him!?'

'Yes! Now, Emilia, I beg of you, please do stop shouting,' Fay begged.

'I will, but I need more details about the event later, do you understand Fay?' Emilia spoke sternly.

Fay nodded once and looked in front of her as the huge gates in front of the crowd, which consisted of lots of girls itching to see the prince, opened.

Many people gulped and did last minute fix ups before finally walking into the grand ball room. Fay instantly felt self conscious and started to rub her left elbow as a mean of calming her nerves.

Meanwhile, from behind the curtains, August was scanning the crowd for the girl who had gotten him fall for her instantly. She wasn't hard to find, since her dark brown hair was highly contrasting to the other light hair colors. She was looking around, in a slight trance.

August smiled at the sight of her and did not notice Emmaline sneak up to him, giving her the perfect chance to scare him.

'August? What are you staring at?' Emmaline asked.

'Wha-' August jumped and stared at his sister wide eyed before quickly relaxing. 'Nothing much, dear sister. I was just making sure that everything was perfect.'

Emmaline stared at him blankly. 'Okay.'

With that, she walked off and August sighed and went back to staring at Fay.

***

'LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, please bow down to King Robert Alfred Beckett, Queen Elizabeth Rowan Beckett, Princess Emmaline Rowan Beckett, and Crown Prince August Robert Beckett.'

Everyone bowed as the Beckett family came into view. Fay looked at the family from the corner of her eye and took in their appearance.

King Robert was a man in his 30s with tan skin and black slicked back hair with hazel eyes. He wore a white turtleneck suit and on his head gleamed the golden crown. His sword was attached to his belt.

Queen Elizabeth was a pale skinned woman with long black hair and green eyes. She wore a white ball gown and a headpiece on her head. Her face was donned with a bright smile she always had.

Princess Emmaline had curly light brown hair and pale skin and light blue eyes. She wore a silver ball gown and wore her tiara. Fay couldn't understand how the princess was not suffocating from how tight her corset was.

Then there was Prince August. Even though she had already seen him, she couldn't help but blush slightly at how he looked more handsome in the light. He hair was still curly and looked as if he had been purposely trying to make it look messy and Fay could've sworn that his green eyes had been staring at her for a moment, though she pushed away the thought.

Get it together, Fay, she scolded herself as everyone straightened.

'Now, please bow down to King Arnold Edgar Howard, Queen Josephine Celestine Howard and Princess Elyna Celestine Howard.'

Everyone curtsied once again as the Howard family came into view and stood beside the Beckett family before standing up. Fay noticed that Princess Elyna was trying to stick very close to Prince August, and the latter was not happy about it.

August held back the urge to yell at Elyna, who was literally sticking to him, something he did not like. He held back the urge to roll his eyes as his father spoke about how 'proud' and 'happy' he was about the fact that the two kingdom's were finally in peace.

He looked at the crowd and found himself, once again, staring at Fay, who was listening to his father's speech intently. He smiled at the sight and was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to talk to her for a long time from now.

The moment he realized what he was thinking and feeling, he pinched his elbow. He couldn't think like that; he was hours away from his marriage and he had only talked to the girl once.

So why was he feeling that way?

***

It was weird, they had only met once, but they felt as if they knew each other from long. Did they meet at a point but did not remember it?

Or was it something else?