[https://imgur.com/a/wKTA70f]I was in front of the gymnasium, seated on a nearby bench. As I waited for Cindy’s arrival, I only looked at the starry night sky. It was the Yearly Ball of our school. Because I requested Pixie to bring Cindy back here in a ‘Cinderella Way’, I’ve got nothing to do but to wait. But without a notice, someone approached me from the back.

“Cindy...” I whispered to myself as I sat in silence.

“Boo!” the one who approached me shouted after she grabbed my shoulders.

“Whahaa!” I exclaimed in a surprised expression and immediately stood up.

“Pffft! What’s up with that reaction?” the girl commented as she held her laughter.

“Arian?” I muttered after I saw the culprit.

[https://imgur.com/a/wKTA70f][https://imgur.com/a/wKTA70f][

“Yeah. Didn’t recognize me?”

Arian wore a little revealing pink gown with her groomed red hair tied in a ponytail. She had also light makeup on her face. It made her more attractive compared to usual.

“What are you doing here? The program is still ongoing, you know,” she followed with a beautiful smile. Astonished, I averted my gaze with a blushed face.

“I-I’m not interested in the program,” I responded with furrowed eyebrows.

“Then, why did you even attend?” she asked in a puzzled look. “It’s more like you to not show up in events like this.”

“You really know me all right,” I responded after I looked at her with squinted eyes. Then, I looked at the bright crescent moon and followed, “But I need to.”

When she saw my expression, Arian became sad. “Is it... because of another princess?”

I became surprised and looked at her.

She smiled and asked, “Bull’s eye?”

“Yeah,” I replied after I looked down.

“I see...” she muttered and also did the same. Soon after, she smiled gently and stared at me once again. “You need to dance with her tonight, right? Then, I’ll be your practice partner.”

“Huh?” I reacted, dumbfounded by her proposal.

“It’s an important mission, right? If you don’t want to screw up, let’s practice your dance,” she said with a serious face and drew closer to me. Because of that, her fragrant fruity scent filled my sense of smell.

“I don’t remember you being this pushy before,” I commented while I tried my best to hide my embarrassment.

“Jeez. Hurry, you coward. Aren’t you ashamed to be lead by a girl? You’re the one who should do this instead of me, you know,” she continued with a pout. After that, she grabbed my left hand using her right.

“I’m no coward! You’re really an expert on making someone mad,” I complained in a grim reaction. Then, I placed my other hand on her hip after she put her left hand on my shoulder. After that, we danced under the moonlight as we imagined slow music. Something that only the two of us could hear.

“This is a shock. And here I thought you suck at dancing,” Arian said with a smug smile as she followed my lead.

“Shut up,” I retorted with squinted eyes. “It’s not like this is the first Ball that I attended.”

“I see...” she muttered with a warm smile.

“How about you? You’re good too,” I questioned after my expression changed into a poker face.

“Attended two before. One in grade school and one in middle school,” she answered with a smile.

“I see.”

I couldn’t even remember how long we danced. We only stared at each other’s eyes while we talked about some trivial topics. In the end, I gave her a spin and both of us bowed to each other.

“It looks like you have nothing to worry about,” Arian said in a somewhat somber look.

“Thanks...” I whispered after I looked away from her.

Then, both of us saw a familiar beautiful girl in a run towards the entrance of the gymnasium. She was wearing a light blue gown and glass-like shoes.

“Cindy...” I whispered with a stunned expression.

When Arian noticed my reaction, she smiled and gave me a light push on the back.

“Arian?” I called after I faced her.

“Go get her. I won’t forgive you if you screw up after practicing with me,” Arian continued with a serious smile.

“Got it,” I answered and chased after Cindy.

After I left, Arian made a sad expression and smiled as she looked above the night sky.

“I need to be stronger than this,” she whispered, the beauty of the moon reflected her pupils.

Out of nowhere, everything went black and when I opened my eyes, I immediately saw the white ceiling of my room.

“A dream... huh,” I whispered and lifted my upper body upright.

Though it wasn’t completely a dream. Because that’s what happened to me literally before I danced with Cindy in the Ball.

“Good morning Prince,” Pixie greeted as she flew towards me. She then stopped and asked, “Did you have a dream?”

“Yeah... but it’s only about something that recently happened to me,” I answered and got off my bed.

The day was Monday. As I headed towards the kitchen, the enticing smell of fried rice guided me to my destination. Then, when I arrived, I saw Ms. Bella. She was in a frilled yellow apron while she cooked on a frying pan, her hair pony-tailed on the side like usual.

“Good morning, Prince. Breakfast is almost ready so wait for a bit,” she informed me with a smile.

“Okay,” I responded and prepared our coffee on the table. After I finished, I sat down on a chair and watched Ms. Bella’s back as she scooped the fried rice from the pan to the plates.

In appearance and height, she looks younger than me, but the truth is she’s already in her mid-twenties. Why does she look like that despite her age, anyway? Is it in her genes or she’s maintaining that look through beauty products? Or is it because of the curse? An ‘Eternal Youth’ curse?

“I doubt it though,” I whispered and sipped on my cup.

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“Thanks for the wait,” she said cheerfully after I placed everything on the dining table. Today’s breakfast was stir-fried rice with a sunny side up egg. There were also chopped hotdogs shaped like cute octopodes. It’s simple, yet the aroma from it was very appetizing.

“I can already tell that this fried rice is delicious,” I said with a light smile.

“Well, better taste it first before commenting,” she followed and looked at Pixie. “Here’s your share, Pixie. I only wish we have a small spoon too. I guess I’ll try to find one when I went for groceries later.”

“Thanks, Bella,” Pixie responded in happiness. Then, she ate the fried rice on the small saucer plate using a spoon as tall as her.

“I’m gonna go shopping for some supplies here in the house this afternoon, Prince. Do you have something you need to buy? I’m gonna buy it for you if you want to,” Ms. Bella suggested.

“I’m still good. Do you need money for the supplies?”

“Your mother already sent me money the other day so don’t worry about that,” Ms. Bella responded with a smile.

“I see. Do you need help carrying those? I can help you if it’s after school.”

“Thanks but I think I can handle it. It’s not that many, anyway.”

“Okay then,” I responded and continued my breakfast.

After that, I prepared for school and before I left the house, Ms. Bella went before me to ask something.

“Prince, do you want to bring lunch starting tomorrow?”

“Are you gonna cook for me?” I asked with a little surprised look.

“That will lessen your expenses, right?”

Well, Cindy is still bringing me lunch though, so I’m not spending that much for lunch. Only for our drinks.

“Hmm...” I muttered while in a thinking pose. “Okay then.”

I can’t always rely on Cindy, right?

“Got it,” she replied in a cheerful look. “Do you have any requests?”

“I’ll leave it to you,” I followed and went towards the door. “I’m leaving.”

“Take care,” she responded with a smile as she waved her hand.

After that, I walked towards the school with Pixie in flight behind me.

“Bella seems to be a good person, right?” Pixie muttered with a smile.

“Well... yeah,” I agreed with a poker face.

Her character is like Cindy, but more cheerful and lady-like. As of now, there’s nothing that stands out. Did I get used to girls with unusual characteristics?

“But I still can’t see anything that might lead to removing her curse,” I continued.

“It’s lucky for us she’s staying at your place so we can take our time finding out what her curse is.”

“Yeah. I only hope that we can discover it soon,” I followed and reached the classroom. After I sat down on my seat, I noticed that everyone was talking about the events in the Ball.

“The Ball was very fun, right? Hiro even invited me for a dance,” one girl told her friends in elation.

“Really? Congrats to you,” the other girls responded with a smile.

“It’s too bad that Dawn couldn’t attend it though,” another girl commented with a sad face.

“Yeah. Hope she’ll wake up soon from that comatose,” the girl next to her followed.

Dawn? Comatose? Do we have a classmate in comatose?

Suddenly, Arian went before me with a smile.

“Good morning, Pixie,” Arian greeted in cheerfulness.

“Good morning too, Arian,” Pixie responded with a smile as she sat on my table.

“So did you dance with Cindy in the Ball?” Arian asked me curiously.

“You know her?” I asked, a little astonished.

“Well, we’re not acquainted but I know her name because we’re in the same year, right?”

Uhmm... I can’t even name all my classmates, you know. Is this the difference between an introvert and an extrovert?

“I see,” I responded. “Yeah... and I already lifted her curse too.”

When Arian heard that, she became stunned. She then averted her gaze with a conflicted face.

“I... see. Can I ask... how?”

“Well...” I muttered while in a thinking pose. “It’s a long story, but to summarize it, I ordered the return of the curse to the book. It seems like that’s my power in Cindy’s case instead of the sacrificial blood in your case.”

“I see,” she whispered and let out a deep sigh.

Then, she looked at me with a smile and followed, “You’re doing great, huh. Keep it up, Prince Dweeb.”

This girl...

“Got it, Princess Dugong,” I followed with a smug smile.

“At least call me mermaid!” Arian exclaimed furiously.

 “Arian? That’s rare. You’re talking to Prince?” Arian’s friend asked, surprised a little after she approached us.

 “Really? I’m talking to him even before we became juniors, you know,” Arian commented with a puzzled look.

 “But through fighting,” her friend answered and giggled.

 “Well, this ‘prince’ has some sort of ‘issue’, you see,” Arian replied and looked at me with a grin.

 “At least not that severe than yours,” I retorted with a smirk.

 “What did you say?” Arian reacted in sudden anger. 

After we exchanged a couple more insults, the class started.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

Soon after, lunch break arrived. As usual, I went to the library’s rooftop to eat with Cindy. There, while we eat, I told Cindy about what happened to my house recently. About Ms. Bella’s stay to do the chores and also the fact that she’s also a cursed princess.

“So do you guys have any idea what her curse is?” Cindy asked, worried after we finished lunch.

“We still don’t have any idea what it is,” Pixie answered while seated between Cindy and me.

“But we won’t have any problems in knowing what it is because we live in the same roof,” I followed with a serious look.

“I... see...” Cindy asked gloomily.

“Anyway, she also said that she’ll start cooking lunch for me tomorrow,” I followed.

“Does that mean that... I can’t cook for you anymore, starting tomorrow?” Cindy asked with a surprised face.

“Uhmm... that’s... yeah,” I replied, confused on how to answer.

Why am I feeling this bad now?

“O... kay...” she said and smiled in sadness. “But we can still eat together, right?”

“O-Of course!” I answered in eagerness.

“I... see. I’m glad then,” she followed, now a little happy compared to earlier.

“And it’s not like she’s gonna stay at my place forever. Around less than a month, I guess so... can you continue making lunch for me after that?” I asked in shyness, my eyes not on Cindy.

After indy heard that, she smiled in joy and nodded.

“Thanks,” I replied after I looked to her with a smile.

Now that’s more like her all right.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

After the class, I went to the shopping district to duplicate my house key. After I claimed it, I saw Ms. Bella in the crowd. She was in a one-piece yellow dress with grocery bags in both hands.

“Ms. Bella!” I called and ran towards her.

“Prince, Pixie,” she muttered with a smile after she spotted the two of us.

“You finished shopping?” I asked after I stopped before her.

“Yes,” she answered with a smile. “But I still need to buy some soap, shampoo, and other hygiene products but my plan was to do that tomorrow. Since you’re here... want to help me? I could use a little helping hand now.”

“Sure,” I agreed, and we handed the bags over at the baggage counter of the nearest general merchandise. After that, we entered the shop.

Inside, Ms. Bella grabbed different necessities and placed it inside our shopping cart. But one thing stood out every time she visited a new section in the shop.

“There,” she muttered with a smile after she stacked the box of soaps in order. Some shoppers don’t return the items to their original places after they decided not to buy it. That’s when Ms. Bella put every misplaced product back to their rightful places.

“Uhm... do you need to do that?” I asked in curiousness. “I mean, it’s not a bad thing to fix things, but I’m sure the staffs here are the ones responsible to those.”

“Well... I couldn’t help it,” Ms. Bella replied with an awkward smile.

She’s a perfectionist, all right. She’s almost... no... the same as Rosa.

“Well, okay. But can I help too?” I asked with a smile.

When she heard that, she became surprised but immediately smiled after.

“Thanks. Let’s do this then,” she followed, more excited than earlier.

After we bought everything we need, we walked home. As the sky turned to orange, we walked beside each other in silence. Then Ms. Bella stopped her walk. Her eyes were on a crushed can beside the road.

You’re kidding me, right? Even the trashes count too?

“Leave it to me!” Pixie said with a smile and flew towards the can. Then, she grabbed it with two hands and threw the garbage inside the trash can nearby.

“Thank you, Pixie But… show me your hands,” Ms. Bella thanked and requested with a smile.

“Like this?” Pixie repeated, confused with open hands.

Then, she grabbed a small disinfectant bottle in her pocket and gave it to Pixie. “But you need to sanitize your hands after.”

“Jeez,” I whispered to myself with a smile.

“So this is a disinfectant. It smells very strong,” Pixie said in a conflicted expression as she rubbed her hands after a spray.

“Do you always do that, Ms. Bella?” I asked out of curiosity after we continued our walk.

“Well, it’s like a habit of mine. Is it.. .weird?” she asked with an awkward smile.

“Uhmm... I know for a fact that some people are like that. In fact, it’s already my second time meeting someone like you,” I answered with a serious look.

The first one is Rosa. They share the same habit, even though their characters are opposites of each other.

“So it’s not that weird considering you’re not the only one like that. I only think it’s unique.”

“You are smart, for real. I know it because of how you answer ordinary questions naturally,” she followed in a smile.

“I only became like this after reading lots of trivial books.”

“But you don’t have to call me Miss. Bella is fine,” she continued with a warm smile.

“I... see. Okay, I got it,” I responded and looked away from her.

“You’re always serious, you know,” she commented and chuckled.

“It’s my ‘default’ expression after all.”

“It’s not a bad thing though,” she whispered with a smile. “Anyway, let’s go so we can eat dinner early.”

“Yeah,” I replied and followed her lead.

To think I’ll spend the day with three different girls. Being a prince is definitely too much for a modern age.