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BEAU

Age: 24

JACKSON

Age: 22

RAÚL

Age: 17

KRISTOF

Age: 16

JUN

Age: 13

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He headed downstairs, pulling me along with him when I stayed rooted in my spot.

Five guys came up to us curiously. Ashton just looked annoyed with the whole situation.

I felt like a hobbit as they crowded around us. They were all incredibly handsome. It was like looking at six runway models.

Even with their messy hair and casual clothes, they looked more majestic than I ever hoped to. What were they feeding these guys on?

I needed the recipe… for research purposes.

One of the guys stepped forward. He was tall and had dark brown hair and striking cerulean eyes.

“Hello,” he smiled at me. “I’m Beau.”

“I’m Elizabeth,” I responded with a small wave.

The rest of the guys milled closer to us and gave Ashton probing glances. Another guy with chestnut hair and green eyes introduced himself as Jackson.

“Is this your girlfriend?” a pale guy with platinum blonde hair asked Ashton.

“Something like that,” he responded with a sigh.

I whirled around and gave him a questioning look.

“I’m Elizabeth… not Nicole. Remember?” I whispered pointedly.

“Wasn’t your girlfriend blonde and annoyi-” an Asian guy started saying, but was elbowed by Jackson.

He was visibly the youngest of all the guys. Maybe in his early teens.

Beau smiled in realization, but it quickly disappeared. “She is your betrothed? You found her?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Hey, that's awesome!” he grinned. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I said unfortunately, didn’t I?” he stated, with a frown. “I’m not even sure, but I’m really hoping I’m wrong.”

“You were betrothed?” the platinum blonde asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well now, thanks to Beau, everyone does.”

“I’m your what?” I asked him.

He pointedly ignored me. I crossed my arms and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Beau flashed him a grin. “You couldn’t keep it secret forever.” He smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re okay, Elizabeth. After the incident… Anyways, it’s great now that you’re here.”

“Relax man,” Ashton groaned. “She doesn’t even know who I am.”

I turned to Ashton wondering if this was all some big prank. I shrugged and decided to play along. “Who are you exactly?”

“Just don’t freak out again, okay,” he said, looking me in the eyes.

“I’m kind of the prince.”

I stared at the six guys in front of me, all quiet. Waiting for my reaction. Probably waiting for me to bow before him.

I rolled my eyes. So this was a prank. How old did they think I was to believe something like that?

Ashton Rivera seriously would not leave me alone. Especially this past year, he took every opportunity he got to taunt me. I guess he was just irritated because I showed no interest in him whatsoever. Well, this put the icing on the cake.

Maybe Chance the Rapper was waiting to pop out and tell me I’d been Punk’d. I looked around slowly, to try and find a camera, but I couldn’t.

The situation was slowly starting to upset me, but it was also funny to think that Ashton thought I would believe that he was the prince.

A laugh bubbled from my lips and I couldn’t stop laughing as the bewildered and confused expressions on their faces grew. Ashton scoffed and scowled darkly beside me.

The guys glanced at me, then at Ashton, then back at me, then back at Ashton. It continued like that for a moment until Jackson spoke up.

“We’re telling you the truth, Elizabeth,” he explained. “You might think we’re joking, but we’re not.”

I grinned and gave him a ‘Really? You’re keeping this up?’ look.

“You have a pretty good reason to be confused. Ashton’s done a good job of hiding his true identity,” he stated reassuringly. He actually seemed to genuinely believe Ashton.

“Don’t tell me you believe this, Jackson?” I asked incredulously

“He is the prince. No joke about it,” he said in a low tone.

The other four guys didn’t seem eager to join our conversation.

This was crazy. No. This was past crazy.

“I’m not falling for it you guys,” I admitted with a smile. “We’re all regular citizens of this kingdom. I am and so are you. I think I’d know if Ashton was royalty.”

I stared at the six guys who remained motionless. Jackson made no effort to talk to me again, but redirected his attention to Ashton.

“Show her what you are.”

“No.”

“She’s your betrothed.”

Ashton growled lowly beside me which surprised me so much that I jumped into one of the guys standing close by. He raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled.

“You scared?” he asked with a hint of a Spanish accent.

“Of course not,” I replied. “I just want to go home.”

“Ashton decides when you leave, sorry,” he smiled.

“I thought this was a free country,” I protested.

He chuckled, very much amused and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“Name’s Raúl,” he bent down to whisper in my ear.

“Are you confused about Ashton’s identity too?” I asked, half expecting him to get upset and defensive like the others, but instead he laughed lightly.

“Nah, I’m not confused, babe.”

I let out a breath of relief.

“I know he’s the prince.”

I groaned and he smiled at me. I was already beginning to like Raúl. He was easy to get along with.

“Ahem.”

I looked around to see Jackson, who was glaring not at me, but at Raúl with a disgusted expression on his face. Beside him Ashton’s eyes were dark, but blazing.

“Step away from her now,” Ashton growled.

“Your highness, I’m just talking with her. I’m not-”

“Raúl, now!” he hissed.

Raúl’s eyes widened and he dropped his hands from my shoulders and backed away from me.

“I was just introducing myself to her,” he argued. He muttered something in Spanish under his breath.

“What was that for?” I glared at Jackson, who was still shooting Raúl some distasteful looks.

“You’re Ashton’s betrothed,” he explained, but that went over my head.

“Alright, seriously. Why do you keep saying that?”

“Take her to meet your parents,” Beau suggested.

“That was the plan,” Ashton muttered, checking his phone again.

He turned to me. “Let’s get this over with.”

I sighed and followed him up the stairs. I really didn’t understand what he was trying to pull here. To claim to be the prince was absolutely absurd.

After a few moments, we came to a large, opaque door that looked like it was made out of glass.

He took a silver ring from his pocket and put it on with a frown.

“Ashton, I really don’t get why you’re doing this,” I sighed. “Do you really believe that you’re the prince? The only resemblance you have to him is your hair… and your name. The prince is abroad, studying. I’ve known you my entire high school life.”

He ignored me. He barely knocked once when a booming voice on the other side said to come in. Ashton shot me a somewhat worried look and nervousness snaked its way into my stomach.

This is nothing to be nervous about, I mentally encouraged myself.

Ashton pushed the glossy doors open and ushered me inside.

The interior of the room was arranged just as luxuriously as the other rooms we had passed. In the center of the room was a large mahogany desk neatly stacked with mountains of papers.

The man sitting at the desk had tan skin and jet black hair, like Ashton, and vibrant green eyes. Even through his suit, he was visibly muscular. His strong jaw was set and his eyes seemed to pierce right through me as I stepped apprehensively into the room.

In the left corner of the room, a woman sat on a sofa writing in a book. When we stepped in, her attention quickly drifted from the book to us. A wide smile formed on her cherry colored lips. Her skin was lighter than Ashton’s and she had curly copper brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes.

She was so stunningly beautiful; it almost felt as if she couldn’t be real. She quickly set down her book and made her way over to us. Ashton’s dad also stood up as we approached his desk.

“Your majesties," he motioned to me. "This is Elizabeth."

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