Engaged to the Prince

Guest Treatment

A week passed and the dance practice always carried on until late in the night. At the end of each lesson, the students would always request more time to practice in the studio so the instructors would leave first.

With how much Arden had stuck with Katie before this week, Alexander wondered why he was nowhere to be found now. Ever since Katie came back from her walk with Arden clutching her bruised arm, he had never seen him around the palace again. Katie had discussed her injury with no one, hiding it with bandages until it eventually faded.

The day before the dance, Alexander finally saw Arden in the palace, walking out of the Queen’s study, holding a folder full of papers. Alexander turned toward the stairs, but after a silent argument with himself, spun sharply on his heel and darted toward Arden. The young doctor noticed him and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“What?” Arden asked, mildly irritated.

“You were gone for a whole week. Why?” Alexander asked.

“Did you talk to the staff here? I’m always gone.”

“But you always come back at a moment’s notice when Katie so much has a headache.”

Silence.

“You were the one who did it, weren’t you?” Alexander muttered, “The bruise on Katie’s arm?”

Arden’s eyes widened slightly but he gripped the envelope tightly in an attempt to keep his stoic facade. “How is she?”

“She’s fine now,” Alexander answered, which elicited a sigh of relief from the young doctor. “She wore long sleeves during practice for a couple days to hide it. I noticed it when she accidentally rolled up her sleeves,” He looked down at Arden’s free hand and saw it balled into a fist. “I asked her about it but she wouldn’t say. When I realized you were gone from the palace even when Katie had such an injury, I figured something happened back then.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I may not know her that much yet… But if you apologize, I’m sure she’ll forgive you,” seeing doubt in the doctor’s eyes, Alexander sighed heavily and decided to help him. “If you don’t know how to do that, you can start by driving us to the studio…?”

With no response from Arden, Alexander exhaled and left him at the hallway. When he got out of the palace, he saw Katie waiting patiently outside, scrolling through her phone under a tree’s shade. Probably seeing something funny, she giggled to herself, but her smile faded when she saw the area where the bruise was now barely noticeable. She brushed her fingers over it and sighed before looking up.

“Hi!” Katie greeted as he approached.

“Hey, the car’s not out yet?”

Katie shook her head no. “It’s alright if they run a little late.”

A few minutes later, to their surprise, a familiar car rolled to a stop before them. The passenger side window rolled down, revealing Arden at the driver’s seat.

“I… guess Arden’s taking us,” Alexander said.

As they neared Arden’s car, Katie practically jumped toward the backseat door handle before Alexander could reach for it. The prince glanced at her and she responded with a wordless stare. In the car, there was a tension between the two that Alexander dared not break.

During practice, Alexander answered a call while on their break, walking into the corner as he spoke in hushed voices.

“Yes, we’ll be home early today,” Katie could barely hear his responses. “I know. I'm confident that we can do the dance properly tomorrow.”

Probably sensing he was still audible, he lowered his voice even more. Arden approached Katie, holding his phone close to his chest. Noticing her distance herself from him as he was closer, he stopped and knelt in place.

“The Queen isn’t feeling well, I need to leave. I’ll come pick you up later, is that okay?”

Katie was motionless for a moment… then nodded.

Arden frowned but nodded as well. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

As soon as Arden left, Alexander ended the call and they went back to the dance. In the past couple days; Katie looked excited, dancing with a lot of energy and barely taking any breaks. On top of that, she was glad to finally be able to lift the sword with little difficulty! However, today was a little different. She looked preoccupied, and even if she knew the dance by heart, she was messing up at times.

“Are you still conflicted?” Alexander asked.

“Hm?” Katie looked up, pausing in her place. “Did you say something?”

Alexander repeated his question. “You look really preoccupied.”

Katie lowered her sword. “I guess I am,” her eyes scanned Alexander’s features, trying to look for any signs of conflict. “Have you ever thought about… dating?”

The last word echoed ceaselessly in Alexander’s mind. Is she asking what I think she’s asking? Be cool, Alexander! Reply! Don’t panic!

He cleared his throat before answering, heat rising to his cheeks. “D-dating? I mean, sure…” Sure?! What kind of reply is that?! “What brought it on?”

“I know this whole uniting our kingdoms is our responsibility but… don’t you miss those times? Actually knowing someone fully before they propose and give you the decision to choose whether you're ready to get married or not.” her eyes met his but looked away immediately.

Oh… He cussed inside his head. Of course she didn’t mean date with her. “Katie, I actually-”

Suddenly, the lights flickered and turned off. Alexander heard Katie’s sword clatter to the ground and the next moment, her hand gripped his shirt, eventually wrapping around his arm. He could hear her rapid breathing beside him.

“Let’s grab my phone,” Alexander muttered and slowly walked to his phone, making sure that Katie was beside him the whole time.

“Is the power out?” Katie muttered, walking slowly.

Alexander glanced around as he felt for his phone. “There’s still light outside. It’s probably faulty wiring… got it!”

As his hands wrapped around his phone, the faint sound of a lock clicking in place was heard. “That can’t be good,” Katie muttered, her hands tightening around his arm. “Maybe we should check the door…?”

Alexander opened his phone’s flashlight and handed it to Katie. The princess accepted and directed the light to the door, walking beside Alexander as he went to check on it. He lightly pressed his weight on the door but it would not budge. He cast a worried glance at Katie then rattled the door, hoping it would miraculously unlock itself but to no avail.

“I’ll try calling Arden,” Katie rushed to her phone and turned back to Alexander with an embarrassed expression, holding her phone up to show that it was dead. “I guess it gave up on me.”

“I can call my father,” Alexander grabbed his phone from Katie and frowned when he saw the ‘no signal’ symbol flicker on the screen. He sat on the floor and heaved a sigh. “No signal, apparently. It was just fine a while ago! This is a load of-” The unmistakable sound of his growling stomach made the prince pause in his words. “Um…”

“You’ve been practicing too hard,” Katie rummaged through her bag and brought out a lunch box full of sandwiches. “It’s not fresh but please make do with it.”

Alexander gratefully accepted and picked up one of the sandwiches. “Do you always carry sandwiches with you?”

Katie rubbed the back of her neck, hesitant to say something. “I woke up late today so I had to pick up my breakfast on the way to the car.”

Alexander stopped chewing and glanced at the box of sandwiches. “This was supposed to be your breakfast?”

Katie’s eyes widened and she grabbed a sandwich to check its taste. “Is it starting to taste weird? I’m sorry, I-”

“No, I mean-” Alexander interrupted. “Didn't they wake you up for breakfast? They did for us.”

“Oh,” Katie heaved a relieved sigh. She took another bite of her sandwich and went silent, long enough for Alexander to think that she no longer wanted to speak… but she eventually spoke up. “They don’t… wake me up. I pick up my breakfast in the kitchen and eat it before I get to my lectures. It’s why I requested sandwiches.”

Alexander laughed but his laughter faded when he realized Katie was serious. He felt anger build up in his chest. “What, do they secretly hate you or something? They treat guests better than you!”

“I understand why they’re doing it,” Katie looked down, taking another bite of her sandwich. “And I was the one who decided to just let things be this way.”

“So what are the things you’re doing all by yourself, exactly?”

Katie scratched the back of her head, unable to meet Alexander’s eyes. “Just the… breakfast… thing,” she muttered, barely audible.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Alexander replied.

“Yeah, I know,” Katie sighed. “Let’s drop the subject, please?”

The sound of glass breaking from the direction of the windows interrupted their conversation. Katie jumped forward and buried her face on Alexander’s shoulder. He felt her soft, long hair brush against his arm and he felt his body tense. He cleared his throat and reached for his phone on the floor.

“Ah!” Katie screamed, moving away from Alexander. “I felt something move behind me!”

Sure enough, Alexander felt swift movement behind him, brushing against him like a gentle breeze. The next moment, he felt something hit his temple, causing his vision to blur... and he promptly lost consciousness.