WARNING: One; I don't speak a word of English. The lack of proper grammar here will make your eyes bleed. Two; this is only an impulse writing project. Meaning, I may or may not finish it up. It depends on how motivated I am to. Three; I never watched the anime, except for one movie and a few episodes of Mugen arc. I found the anime vastly different from the manga and it lacked so much of the essence that I love in the manga. Four; I intended to make this into a light story a la otome game a la Tokimeki Memorial but I'm such a disturbed person I can't write anything heartwarming or cute. And this bring us to my last point, Five; Expect OOC. A lot of them. Especially for Serena.

I used the English name because, well, since I made the background medieval-ish, Japanese names wouldn't exactly fit in.

Serena's fingers twitch irritably but she firmly stayed them on her lap, folded on top of another, intertwined like a net. She had a habit of twiddling her long golden hair whenever she's not exactly listening to the person who was talking to her but this time was not the time to risk it. When her Lady Mother speaks, everyone would listen, even more so when her Lady Mother was in the middle of lecturing her on her unladylike actions. She was sitting on one of the large cushioned chair in front of her Lady Mother, keeping her face down to show her submissiveness. Her faked submissiveness, that is. Her eyes lingered from her lap to the details of her fine silk dress' sleeves then turned to her side towards the open window a few paces from where she was. It's already nightfall and the sky was so prettily decorated with twinkling stars and translucent clouds. In a few hours the moon might even show its full roundness up in the sky. She liked it best in the night of a full moon. The sea that stretched to the horizon outside of the window would gleam so beautifully in pretty silvery light.

"Are you listening, Serenity?"

Serena would have yelped but it stuck in her throat. Her Lady Mother's eyes are stern and piercing through her like a rapier. Serena's brain for some reason refused to help her conjure up an excuse for letting her attention stray thus only unintelligible mumbles escaped her mouth.

"Gods have mercy on my soul. Serenity, are you even absorbing anything I had been talking about for the last hour? Do you really have no care whether or not you shame me so?"

Serena fought hard to not to try telling her Lady Mother again and again she didn't mean to shame her. It's well beyond her guilt already. Must all mothers pick on one mistake for the rest of their child's life? Why can't she just forget about it?

As if her Lady Mother, the Queen Serenity the First, was blessed with the ability to read minds, her stern eyes changed to an angry one. Serena thought there should be fires flared out of it from the way she yelled.

"You had been caught for the fourth times sneaking out of the borders – alone – to meet some man you never knew exactly who or what he is! Is this how an heir of the throne acts?"

"He is the Prince of Earthland, Darien of the House of Shields." It's hard to not yell back. How many times she had to keep telling her who Darien was?

"So you claimed, yet no one had ever seen him before. You never knew this Prince of Earthland ever existed before he ever told you. For all you know, he could be a murderer. Or worse!"

"But I believed in him, Mother. I love him. We will get married together."

Serena braced for a stinging sensation of a backhand slap across her cheeks. The last time they went to this part of the argument, her Lady Mother raised her hand to her only daughter. The last time she ran out of the room and straight to her own to cry into her pillows. It's all too unreal for the Queen to hit her like that. And furthermore, she had no right to. She only said the truth and she was slapped for the truth being too unbearable? It's unfair!

But the moments only passed in silence. The Queen let out a sigh and glided towards the fireplace that sat at the far end of the room. It's almost an eternity had gone by when she finally voiced. Her eyes, caged by fine wrinkles, betrayed her real age despite her steel back still strong and straight. Those eyes intimidate her allies and enemies alike with just a stare but this time, they barely made Serena sit up straight.

"Do you know why you were born, Serenity?"

She sounded so tired and disappointed. Serena felt her own heart broke from her tone.

"Why, mother? To be your successor for the throne, is it?"

"The only reason a child was born into a noble or a royal family is to produce an heir. Nothing more, and nothing less. Do you understand what that means, Serenity?"

"No, mother."

"It means that there's no such thing as a marriage out of love. Love is unimportant in a joining of two families for a royal, but only the advantages that will come along afterwards. You will marry a man because his family's power or influence, and even his wealth, but you will never marry for love. You don't necessarily need love to bore a babe."

"Then I will be nothing more than just a breeder? Like a brood mare?"

Serena put a lot of acid on her words. She will not live her life only to produce babies and simper like a fool for a man. Well, she would do both but only for a man she love. She would have Darien's babies and none others.

"It is the destiny of someone born in a royal family, be it a man or a woman. Whatever you did should be in the importance of the family. If you need love, you keep a secret lover."

"Are you telling me you have an affair with another man, mother?"

Serena meant to say that in a joke but the other woman was not smiling when she turned to face her.

"Why do you think I never keep a portrait of the late King anywhere in my chambers? Simple; I never loved him and I was never supposed to. I bore a child for him and it's only unfortunate he died soon after."

A wave of silence swept the room, disturbed only by the crackling of the firewood. The Queen walked towards her large desk she used for her paper work and sat, dipping a quill into an inkpot and seemed to had forgotten all about her. Serena was about to stand up and take her leave but her Lady Mother called her back.

"Tomorrow all the guests for my thirtieth's anniversary celebration since crowned will start to come in. I have invited a few suitable men that shall deem very advantageous if you marry them. Choose one by the end of the month long festival. This is not a suggestion, Serenity, but a royal demand. You will be wed before summer is over by a man of my choice if you did not make yours. That is all."

It was all Serena could do to keep her lips shut and curtsy to the Queen as she took her leave. Trying her best not to slam on the large gilded door, she made her turn in the corridor towards her chambers. She ignored the trailing wave of 'Good evening, Your Majesty' from every single person she passed by. She had no mood to even nod to their greetings.

Her four personal maids who were also act as her teachers was sitting at a table in one corner of her chamber. The round table was placed there as a place for her tutors to have a class. The Princess of the Kingdom was taught from writing to politics, economy and even astrology. For someone who was only destined to produce babes, they certainly wasted a lot of time trying to teach that much knowledge she wouldn't need. Her tutors all rose and began to ask her how had her talk with her Lady Mother had been but Serena's mouth instantly turns sour.

"Raye, you tell-tale woman, why did you had to tell the whole world I was gone? To Mother, of all people?"

The woman named Raye – only a few years older than herself – knit her brows together in a way she usually did in anger. Serena would have expected her shouted back but instead she shook her dark hairs cascaded freely to her waist and crossed her arms together.

"And what exactly should I do when you're missing for more than a day when you promised to be home by nightfall? You expect me to lie to the Queen when she came checking your whereabouts every now and then? She'd have my head on a pike sooner I can sneeze."

Serena had not been a person who cared much for formalities and thus why she let most of her friends called her Serena instead of Your Majesty. She didn't mind them speak very casually to her either and as equals. Raye was one of the people that cared even less for formalities and she argued with her most of the time as if they were blood related sisters. She and the other three of her private tutors had been in her service since she was born to make sure the heir of the throne grew up to be the best and fitted for the duty. But none of that matters now.

Sitting on her well made bed, she tried to forget everything her Lady Mother had lectured. She wouldn't know true love, she thought. Serena will only marry Darien and nothing the Queen would do can change her mind.

"Don't be silly, Raye. Mother wouldn't do such a thing."

"She had beheaded people for less reason, Serena, and she wouldn't blink to demand for my head rolling off my neck because I couldn't keep my eye on you."

"Raye is right, Serena. The Queen was very upset when she found out you were out of the palace and out of the borders of the kingdom. Who can say what she will do if you didn't come back alive? She will have all our heads just as easily she would command a nationwide search for you. She would do so if Raye hadn't begged for the Queen to wait for another hour for your return."

Amy said carefully, placing her hand gently on Serena's shoulders – the way she usually do when she wanted to make sure Serena understood exactly what was told. Lita and Mina nodded in agreement from where they stood. Serena hadn't thought of what will happen to her dear friends if anything were to befall on her. She knew she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if they were to pay for the sake of Serena's punishment.

"I'm sorry. For making you worry, also for making Mother threatened you."

Her friends smiled and began to gather around her to help her undress and get ready for bed. They untied her long golden hair and comb it down a hundred strokes without fail, sprayed fragrant oils around her pillow to help her relax and sleep, and blew the candles out. Before they quietly left the room to their chambers, she called one of them back.

"Raye. I'm sorry."

"You should be considering the hair-breadth away I was to the guillotine. And for making me begging like a desperate fool for your sake. But that's in the past, Serena, and I, too, wouldn't think the Queen would go so far. Cold as iron as she might be, but she's not as heartless. But you shouldn't worry her too much. The Queen had quite a lot in her hands to handle at the time being."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Just go to sleep, Serena. Tomorrow's going to be a fun day watching all the fine looking gentlemen coming into the castle. Rest well."

She closed her eyes after a few seconds staring at the beautiful tapestry on her ceiling, dreaming nothing but the hours she spent in the arms of her Prince Darien. She awoke in cold sweat just before dawn from a nightmare of seeing her friends lining up to a hooded headsman. Darien was at her side pulling her, stopping her from running towards them. Darien's face was apologetic and whispering something she can't quite comprehend. When she turned back to her friends, there were only four heads standing on a pike, bathed in blood. Their empty eyes were as if asking why she let it happened. But to her horror, the headsman took off his black hood and he bears her Lady Mother's face. "In the Royal family's law, the servant pays for their master's fault. Remember that well, Serenity." Tears welled and fell on her cheeks as she curled in her bed remembering the dream. That was one of the first things she required to understand ever since she was old enough to speak. Silently, she prayed to any god who was listening that she wouldn't have to choose between her love for Darien and her friends.