“Have you found one?”

“Back off Cammy, I’m trying!”

Camilla was 12 and Albert was 13. They were now both in the Royal Academy, but only met before and after school hours, plus occasionally during lunch when the times overlapped. They were standing in a corner of the campus that wasn’t used often.

“You got here an entire year earlier than me, what’s taking so long?” She poked his side continuously.

He laughed against his will and jerked to the side, glaring at her for touching his ticklish spot.

“This isn’t like picking out a horse, you know. If I’m going to break things off with you, I’ve got to find a better girl to replace you.” He huffed. “Do you know how hard that is?”

She rolled her eyes, “How hard can it be? I’m not that special!”

“You’re the daughter of Duke Florentine, one of four dukes in the entire country! Of course you’re special.”

“Don’t just look at a girl’s parents to determine her worth,” She tut-tutted at him like he was dumb. “This is the girl you’ll spend your whole life with. You need to find someone you like PERSONALLY and then go from there.”

“That’s easy for you to say… who’s got to convince my father to allow for the switch…” He grumbled, the shadow on his heart seeming to intensify.

Two years had passed and he still could not convince Camilla that he was worth marrying. He didn’t dare SAY he was trying to impress her, because even hinting at such a thing meant the following weeks between them would be miserable. He could only express it through his actions.

Whether it was hunting, sword, academics, or manners, he worked desperately to excel at everything. If he was better than every other man in her life, he was sure she would acknowledge him. After all, what kind of girl would pick the lesser option? So he must always be the better pick.

Though he’d been dedicated to becoming a good Crown Prince before meeting her, his zeal to excel in every area of life had unintentionally impressed everyone else. There were already rumors about how amazing he was and some people started calling him “the Perfect Prince” behind his back.

Alas, the one person he wanted to impress, was not impressed. Or more precisely, she wasn’t impressed to the point of falling in love with him. As a friend, she was always very encouraging and complimented his hard work. But that’s as far as it went.

“Well, I suppose it’s true that your father would be difficult to impress…” She pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “Still, it won’t do any good if you don’t like the girl you’re going to marry. So pick the one you like first and then we’ll put our heads together about getting your father to accept her.”

Albert glanced at her morously but didn’t refute her.

He really wished he hadn’t fallen in love with her.

****

“She looks pretty good. I give you full marks for your taste in women.”

Bethany, the daughter of a Viscount, stood in a corner of the campus with the Crown Prince and the notorious Camilla Florentine looking very confused.

While Camilla was known for her fiery temper, bright tightly curled blond hair and blue eyes that could freeze her enemies, Bethany was known for her gentleness and intelligence, she had fluffy brown hair and dark green eyes. Camilla was tall and salaciously curved while Bethany was short and petite. They were visual opposites.

Bethany and Camilla were in different classes. They didn’t know each other well, only crossing paths in the hallway or at lunch.

Prince Albert was a year older than them and his classes were on a different floor of the building. She knew him even less. Yet he’d called her out and, under everyone’s eyes, started walking her to the dorms every day at the end of school. As a Viscount’s daughter who only got in because of her brains, catching the attention of the Crown Prince had almost given her palpitations.

He asked her all kinds of questions as he walked her to her dorms. It was very strange, because it was like he wanted to get to know about her but was also keeping a distance between them.

Her brain wasn’t for show. It was very clear to her that the Crown Prince wasn’t giving her attention because he’d suddenly fallen in love with her. It was just that she couldn’t figure out what he wanted otherwise. Being seen with her was definitely not to his advantage and might actually get them both in trouble.

Camilla Florentine and Prince Albert had been engaged since they were 10 and 11 respectively, and now they were 15 and 16. They were often seen talking on campus and got along well, sometimes helping each other out with projects forced on them by the school administrators. No one dared interfere with their relationship.

This naturally included Bethany.

If Miss Camilla misunderstood because of the rumors floating around between her and the Prince… Bethany didn’t want to think what would happen. She’d seen first hand the kind of temper Camilla had and she didn’t want to ever be its target…

Her hands shook slightly at how uncomfortable she felt but she managed to greet Camilla properly.

“Good evening Miss Camilla.” She glanced between the girl and boy and took a guess, “Did you two want to have a word with me?”

Camilla put her hands on her hips and grinned broadly.

“Indeed we do! How would you like to be the next queen?”

*****

“Did you hear about the Viscount’s daughter?”

“Uh.. the one who got in via scholarship?”

“That’s the one!”

“Ah, what’s to hear then? She gets top marks every quarter. All I hear from mum and dad now is why I’m not at least as good as her. What are they expecting from me, huh? I heard she’s the genius of the century—”

“Did studying make your brain stupid? I’m talking about her and the prince!”

“Oh that….”

“What do you “Oh that”!? Some riffraff Viscount’s daughter is making the moves on the Crown Prince!”

“Isn’t it rude to call the smartest person in the school riffraff? It’s not like her dad being a Viscount is bad or anything…”

“Fine, whatever! She’s not a riffraff! But she’s definitely going after another girl’s man!”

“Are you sure the Prince isn’t making the moves on her?”

“THE CROWN PRINCE WOULD NEVER!”

“Gah, don’t scream in my ear!”

“Don’t say something stupid then!”

“But it’s not stupid! You aren’t in her class like I am. I’ve seen how they interact and it’s always the Prince looking for her not the other way around—”

“Shows what you know! I’m in Camilla Florentine’s class! I heard directly from Lady Camilla that the Prince is being taken from her and she’s heartbroken over it!”

“...are you sure you heard that right..?”

“I said DIRECTLY FROM HER.”

“Weird. He’s been a skirt-chaser all this time and she never cared…”

“I TOLD YOU THE PRINCE ISN’T LIKE THAT!”

“You’re just saying that because he’s chased your skirt too. I bet you’re just jealous of Bethany!”

“Why you—”

SLAP.

PUSH.

“ARG!”

“GAH!”

“Holy cra—”

“Did she just slap that—”

“Fight, fight, fight!”

“The girls are fighting, woah!”

“Kick her in the balls!”

“Girls don’t have balls stupid!”

“Oh right then.. er... Go for the boobs!”

“God I’m surrounded by idiots—Can someone PLEASE get a teacher!”