Chapter Sixteen

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16 Days Left Until The Ball

Early this morning, Ruby had to run some errands at Samba Square. These errands were none other than delivering some information she has gotten from the villagers. She made sure she wrote two copies, one for the sheriff and the other for herself. On her way back to the castle, she passes by an accessory shop.

She sees Prince Seokjin inside the shop, looks like he's talking to one of the workers of the shop. She enters the shop to greet the prince. When she steps inside, the door hits the small bells from the top left corner, signaling the worker if the customer's arrival. She looks up to see Ruby, immediately welcoming her with a bow.

"Welcome, your highness." Prince Seokjin turns around and smiles when he sees Ruby. "Princess Ruby, are you here to buy a new necklace?" Prince Seokjin asked. "Not really, I just happen to pass by and I saw you through the window," Ruby said. Prince Seokjin chuckles, turning back to the worker. "Your order is finally canceled, I just need you to sign here, and here are your coins," the worker says as she slides the slip to the prince and a bag of coins next to the slip.

'A cancellation order?' She thought. Ruby was curious to know what kind of order Prince Seokjin was canceling, but she should know that minding her business is one thing, however, she wondered if the order was supposed to be for Princess Juliana. "Thank you," Prince Seokjin said as he returns the slip back to the worker and grabbed his bag of coins.

"Have a lovely day, your highnesses," the worker says as she bows down. They both leave the shop, Prince Seokjin tucks the bag f coins inside his jacket. "I hate to ask, but that cancellation order, was it for Princess Juliana?" Ruby asked. Prince Seokjin sandy sighs and nods his head in response. "I'm sorry to ask, I know that you both aren't on good terms, but I do hope you two resolve and be good friends at least," Ruby says as she tries to cheer him up.

"Thank you, Princess. The order was supposed to be a custom-made diamond rose pendant with both of our names engraved." Ruby comforts the prince and the two walked around Samba Square. They had a small conversation, even Prince Seokjin felt better and forgot about Princess Juliana.

Ruby almost forgot she had a solo practice, which means neither Prince Yoongi nor Jare won't show up to practice today. On her way to Practice Hall, she takes in the beauty of the kingdom, every time she passes through the bridge. The river flows down, west, the large castle that stands in display.

Arriving at Practice Hall, Ruby enters inside to find Prince Taehyung who mss sitting down in a chair, looking like he's waiting for someone. "Hello Prince Taehyung, what are you doing here?" She asks. "I was- uh, passing by and thought to come by here and watch, if you don't mind," Prince Taehyung hides his bashful expression.

"Sure, and also, why didn't you participate in the Horse Racing Derby?" She asked him once more. "I just can't stand whipping horses," Prince Taehyung answers. "You have such a kind soul," Ruby praises which causes the prince to blush. "Well, I'm gonna start practicing, are you sure you don't want to dance with me?" She asked, one more time.

"I'm fine," Prince Taehyung says as he crosses his arms, and huffs as he looks away. Ruby shrugs and Chip began playing on the piano as Ruby began to dance. Moving her arms softly and her feet moved to the soft melody from the piano.

Prince Taehyung turned to look and is taken back from her beauty as she concentrated on her dancing skills. After a twenty-minute practice with just correcting her dance steps and swaying her arms to match with her steps, she turns to look at Prince Taehyung, he was staring at Ruby, not even noticing she was done with practice.

"Uh- Prince Taehyung, how was my practice going?" She asked the prince, interrupting his trace. "Mm?' Oh- um, your practice was neatly done," he said. "Really? I really wanted you to say that I was better, why don't we dance and see if it might change your mind?" She requested, but prince Taehyung holds his hand out, stopping her chatters.

"I must respectively deny as I shall leave now, goodbye Princess Ruby," he bows before quickly speed-walking out of Practice Hall. "That was weird," she mumbles.

"Prince Taehyung is very suspicious, but let's just ignore that and continue practicing," Chip says, already beginning to play the piano. Ruby goes back to practicing her steps, pretending she's dancing with Prince Yoongi. She somewhat felt a bit jealous that Prince Yoongi had already gotten a partner for the world competition, but she shouldn't protest, Prince Yoongi is right about not picking her.

Why is she feeling like this towards Prince Yoongi only? There are other princes that are the same as Prince Yoongi, but why him? Is it because they were childhood friends? Well, not Prince Yoongi, but the Yoongi in her world. She didn't feel jealous whenever Prince Jimin would constantly flirt with other princesses.

Ruby is becoming too distracted with her thoughts that she trips over the gown causing her to stumble on the floor with a loud thud. Princess!" Chip worriedly shouts, running to her aid. Prince Yoongi and his partner, Princess Jasmin had entered Practice Hall and witnessed what just happened. Prince Yoongi jogs over to see what had happened.

"Princess Ruby, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?" Prince Yoongi asks. "I-I'm fine," Ruby breathes, seeing Prince Yoongi's worried face. "I think I should take her back to the castle, have a good practice, your highness," Chip told the prince as she helps Ruby stand and they both walked out of Practice Hall.

"Actually, I want to go relax at Viennese Waltz Lake," Ruby says, pointing in their right direction. "Are you sure?' Chip asks and Ruby nods. So they both walked towards the lake, hoping to get Ruby's mind off things. "Hello, Princess Ruby!" Prince Namjoon waves. Ruby smiles, waving back at him.

"I was just heading to Viennese Waltz Lake, how about you?" Ruby asks. "So am I, may I join you?" Prince Namjoon asked, holding his hand out. "Of course you can!" Ruby giggles, accepting his hand. The two walked to Viennese Waltz Lake, Ruby almost forgetting about the incident at Practice Hall.

"Hey, Prince Namjoon, how come you didn't enter the Horse Racing Derby yesterday?" She asked him. "Oh, well, I'm not really into that sort of stuff. Prince Taehyung and I hung out at Tango Garden, he wanted to learn more about each flower in the garden," Prince Namjoon said. "Really? He was acting so weird earlier at Practice Hall," Ruby mentions.

"Oh, that's probably because Prince Taehyung was too shy to ask her to dance, he's never asked a girl to dance, but it seems like you're the first princess to catch his attention," Prince Namjoon explained, but stopped midway, harshly slapping his forehead which made Ruby shocked at what she just saw.

"Uh- Prince Namjoon?" She asked. "What I said just now, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. I promised Prince Taehyung I wouldn't share his secret," Prince Namjoon worriedly said. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Let's pretend you didn't say anything and I don't know anything that Prince Taehyung told you," she promises and the two continued walking to Viennese Waltz Lake in silence.

Ruby wondered if Prince Taehyung has developed feelings for her, well, she just has to find out on her own...

To Be Continued...

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1,304 Words

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