Judy sighed as she flipped through the applications. Out of all the Kingdoms, why on earth was the Kingdom of Hearts the one who made their male citizens apply for Prince?
Her Kingdom was based on love and romance, and yet she had to look through applications as if being her King was a job.
Well...technically it was a job, but that's not the point.
Judy had certain requirements for her King. For one, he couldn't be boring. If he was into boring stuff like math or studying history, he was out.
Two, he didn't have to be a supermodel, but he couldn't look like he'd been beaten half to death with the ugly stick. She assumed this was a little superficial, but she was a Princess. She could afford to be picky.
Three, he had to be at least sixteen. She could not believe how many ten and twelve year olds had sent in applications. She didn't even know that was legal. She did know however, that she wasn't going to marry someone who was underage.
Looking through the papers, she found nothing but snobby looking Nines and Tens who wanted nothing but more money and fame. "Boring, useless, lame, thirteen year-old," she listed off the reasons she couldn't take the certain applications. She slammed the stack of papers down on the desk.
"There is no one in this Kingdom good enough for me!" She yelled, throwing her head back. She rubbed her eyes, feeling her makeup smear all over her face.
Judy sighed. She knew she had to choose someone or else she wouldn't get the crown. Her cousin, Christina would get the crown instead.
She picked up the stack, leaning back with her high-heeled feet up on her desk. It was unladylike, but frankly, so was she.
She flipped through another couple pages of twelve year olds and Harvard rejects. She had no idea what a "Harvard" was, but she had heard some of the older servants calling some amateur lawyers by that name. She assumed it could apply.
Currently, her reject pile was much larger than her consideration pile, which contained maybe three applications.
She flipped through a couple more, before finding an application that peaked her interest.
Name: Elijah Dalton
Age: Eighteen years, five months, ten days
Rank: Six Home City: Angeles, Hearts
The application had no picture accompanying it, so she couldn't see what he looked like. She looked over the application, reading over his written interests with great difficulty. His handwriting was terrible. Judy squinted as she read through his skills, including seven different instruments and a couple languages.
Under "other skills", he had instead written a small note, which she of course took time to read.
Hello Princess! I do hope you're actually taking time to read this, and if you're not, then I guess I'm talking to no one. But I think you're really pretty and special, and I'm not just saying that because you're a Princess. If you weren't a Princess, I'd still find you absolutely perfect! Have a great day leading the Kingdom! Love, Elijah.
Her eyebrows raised and a grin slowly spread across her face. She set the application down in the consideration pile.
"That's enough work for today," she stated, setting the stack down and slamming all four chair legs and her own feet back on the floor. "Time to go steal some cupcakes from the kitchen."
Judy snuck downstairs, quickly locating the kitchens where she went every night. She had taken a little longer than usual, so at this point, everyone had probably gone home.
As she entered the kitchen, she found only one person remaining. A young boy, maybe a little older than she was. He was tall and lanky, with ginger hair and tanned, freckled skin. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he wore an apron over his clothes - a simple shirt and jeans - and was coated head to toe in flour as he kneaded a mound of dough.
Judy cleared her throat as she walked in. The ginger boy looked up, and sank into a low bow, disappearing behind the island. He popped back up, bouncing a little. "How may I help you, Your Highness?" He asked, his voice up about half an octave.
She giggled. "There's no need to be worried," she said. "I only came to...never mind. What are you making?" She walked over to the island, standing across from him.
"Just makin' some rolls for tomorrow's breakfast," he replied. "Nothin' too hard."
Judy cocked her head. "I've always wished I could learn how to bake. It seems so difficult."
The boy smiled. "C'mere," he said, holding his arm out as she walked around the island. "All you gotta do is push your fists into the dough, like a cat does."
He took off his apron and wrapped it around her, covering her silky red dress. "Might wanna roll up your sleeves, Your Highness," he said. "You don't wanna get flour all over that pretty dress."
She smiled and rolled up her sleeves before pressing her fists into the dough, pushing it in and out again. "Just like this?"
"Just like that." He smiled and sprinkled flour over the island, turning the dough over as he grabbed a pan and a rolling pin.
"You never told me your name," she said, looking over at him as she continued to knead the dough. "What is it?"
"Elijah Dalton," he answered, showing off a brilliant white smile. "But you can call me Eli."
