Mia snuck back into the room finding Anne still asleep. Well, I guess I can wait until the morning to tell her what happened...

*****

"You did what!"

"It was an accident."

"How does someone accidentally kiss her boyfriend's psychotic brother!"

"Prince Gain is not psychotic," Mia winced and closed her eyes, "and please stop yelling. My head hurts."

"If he hurt you..."

"Prince Gain was a perfect gentleman." Mia laughed, "though, I think that I almost gave him a heart attack. I don't think he's been too close to many girls."

"How can you laugh?" Anne was almost tearful, "You could have really been hurt!"

Mia once again winced at the volume of Anne's concern, and pointed to her own head.

"Headache."

"Okay, you stay here. I will get you something for your headache."

Anne left the room, but decided to poke her head though the door one more time.

"Stay!"

"I am not going anywhere. Please get me something for this headache!"

Anne let out an exasperated groan, and began the walk down the great halls to the kitchen. On her way, she noticed Gain scooting around the corner with a letter in his hand. Gain! He's looking especially suspicious. I wonder if that letter has anything to do with what happened last night? Deciding that the sneaky movements of Mia's current arch-nemesis was more important than her Princess's headache, Anne decided to stealthily follow at a distance. Unlike a certain direction-challenged princess, Anne knew the layout of the castle well—he's heading to Prince Abel's office. Anne quickly ducked behind a corner as Gain turned around to check if he was alone. When she looked again Gain did not have the letter. He must have dropped it off...

*****

The door to Gain's study swung open, slamming into the wall, and a furious Anne marched through with an envelope in hand. "What is this?"

Gain quickly rose from his desk, and rushed to meet Anne in the middle of the room. "How did you get that?"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I just took it off of your brother's desk, right after you dropped it off."

"You didn't have the right..."

"She is my friend, and it's a letter addressed to her!"

What should I do now? Uh oh, she's reading the letter—will she think I wrote it? She's going to be furious...wait...she's smiling...why is she smiling?

"Ha! Ha! Ha!!"

"What is so funny?"

Anne waved the envelope in the air...

"This is a love letter! To Mia! Did you write this?"

"Of course not! Why would I write a love letter to that thing—I mean Princess Mia? I...I found it. It's from her knight Kuolan"

"Kuolan? Her knight?"

Anne finished reading the first page, and then the second, and the third.

"Oh this is bad!" she groaned.

"Yeah, I thought so too! And I hear he has a wife and kid..."

"No, I mean this really bad. As in terrible. I mean who writes like this? Even when my sister Elise was six years-old, she didn't write like this!"

"The writing is not that bad! And, who cares anyway? She's cheating on my brother!"

"Mia?"

"Yes!"

"With Kuolan?"

"Yes!"

"Well, that makes sense at least. It does seem like something Kuolan would write"

"I am glad you agree!"

"Yes, especially this part here."

After pointing to the passage, Anne began to read aloud. Melodrama dripped from Anne's lips, "I miss you! I miss you my little sugar cube! Especially your hair—it's like golden straw!"

Well, I guess, if you read it like that... Gain was beginning to feel embarrassed— but, it was only just beginning.

Anne smirked, "Kuolan sure does love his straw...and sugar cubes!"

"He does?"

"What horse doesn't?"

"Horse? The Princess is in love with a horse?"

"Mia is in love with Abel, you idiot! What were you even thinking?"

"But...but, she said he did all the thinking! And the wife and kid! What horse has a wife and kid?"

"Who told you all that nonsense?"

"Uh, that Thin...I mean Her Highness"

"Ha! Mia got you good!"

Now, to be fair, Mia was not trying to fool anybody. Everything Mia said to Gain was true. During the tournament, Kuolan was the brawn and the brains—Mia's job was just to hold on for dear life—and really, she almost messed that up. As far as Kuolan having a wife and kid, that was also true, though Mia was probably the only one that referred to Kuolan's's mare and foal that way—Mia really did love and respect Kuolan, just not in the way that Gain imagined.

With that, Anne held the letter to her chest, and smiled an uncharacteristically evil smile. "So, who should I give this letter to? I think you left it on Prince Abel's desk... But, it is addressed to Mia!" She rested her finger to her chin and rolled her eyes. "Hmm?"

All of the color drained from Gains face. "You wouldn't!"

"I would! And, I will! I don't know which part is funnier, that you wrote a love letter from a horse, or that you are so bad at writing love letters! Well, I guess it's not that bad— for a horse, but you are a prince! Have you ever been in love before? Or even talked to a girl? I mean this is Mia that we are talking about! The Great Sage, The Great Saint! 'Hair like straw?' I comb that hair every day! It's beautiful! She's beautiful! She's The Great Beauty of the Empire!"

"'Great Sage?' She said she would not even have passed mathematics without your help! She told me so herself!"

"Well... she has a lot to do! She just needed a little help."

"I don't get it at all! She's not even pretty!"

"Mia is gorgeous!"

"No she's not! Anyway, even if she is, you are a thousand times prett..."

Gain, cut himself off. His neck began to get warm, he looked down at his feet. If he had looked up, he would have seen Anne's face as red as his...

"Here..."

Gain saw the pages of Kuolan's letter flutter down to his feet. He heard the closing of a door, and Anne was gone.