Once upon a time, years and years ago, there was an ordinary peasant girl, and she was very sad, for she desperately wanted to be special. Before the girl appeared her fairy godmother, carried on a rose-scented wind. She had an elegant bearing and knowing eyes.

The fairy smiled at the girl and waved her magic wand. "Little one," she said, "You are both strong and kind, so I will grant your wish. I will make you a princess." She produced a ring and gave it to the girl. "I give you this so, when the time comes, you will know your prince. This ring will lead you to him one day." She curled the girl's fingers around the gift.

Perhaps the ring the fairy gave her was an engagement ring.

This was all well and good, but the girl was impatient, and didn't want to wait for her prince. If she couldn't be a princess yet, she vowed to be a prince instead.

But was that really such a good idea?

It was lunchtime, and as usual, Chie and Yumi were hanging out in one of the second floor hallways. The windows were enormous and looked over the courtyard, letting them watch the crowds of students and teachers without getting caught up in them. Chie was a little surprised more people didn't eat up there She wasn't complaining, though. She liked having conversations at a volume lower than shouting, thank you.

She was watching the students idly, not thinking about anything in particular, when Yumi suddenly leaned out the window. "Oh, hey, there's Souji! He's the one I was telling you about earlier. He just joined the drama club, but he's already really good."

Chie looked where Yumi was pointing. "Oh, he's a student council member?" He was wearing the student council uniform, the white jacket standing out in the sea of standard Yasogami black.

"Yeah. Apparently, he's also top of his class, and really popular, too. Just look how many people want to say hi to him." Yumi shook her head. "I don't know how he has time for it all."

Chie squinted down at him. Now that Yumi mentioned it, he couldn't seem to go three steps without getting stopped by someone new. He'd greet each one with a pleasant smile, exchange a few words, then move on to the next. It was like he was following a script.

With so many people passing him by, it took Chie a while to notice that there was someone following him. A girl with long black hair and an unearthly beauty hung back from every conversation, her eyes on the ground or on Souji the whole time. Chie rubbed the rose crest ring on her finger absently. "Who's the girl with him?"

"That's Yukiko Amagi." Yumi rested her head in her hands. "I don't know much about her. They're supposed to be dating, but he never really talks about her."

"Huh." Souji certainly didn't seem interested in Yukiko now. He never even acknowledged her presence, though she stayed behind him the whole time. "Anyway," Chie said, "did you do the English homework?"

Yumi sighed. "You could at least pretend you weren't hoping to copy it. Ask me if I understood it, maybe, or make up a question to ask me. Act like you aren't proud of putting it off, at the very least."

"Hey, you're the actor here, not me."

Yumi smiled despite herself, and the subject of Souji and his weird girlfriend was dropped.

That should have been the end of it. Chie found herself noticing Yukiko in the hallways, hovering at the edge of a crowd or drifting two steps behind Souji, but that was only idle curiosity. In time, Chie was sure she'd have forgotten all about her. She was just another girl, after all, even if she was more beautiful than most. Chie didn't have any reason to keep thinking about her.

But then Yumi didn't show up at their usual spot for lunch. Chie went to the drama room, expecting to see Yumi caught up in rehearsing some new role, and instead found her sobbing on the floor.

She ran over to comfort her. "What's wrong?"

"I hate him," Yumi said. Her voice was thick with tears, but her voice was vehement.

Chie patted her on the back. "It'll be okay," she said awkwardly, hoping that was appropriate for the situation. She didn't have much information to work with here.

It seemed to work, though, as Yumi latched onto her eagerly. Eventually her tears slowed enough for her to explain the situation. "I got a phone call saying my mother was in the hospital. Souji overheard, and decided to come with me…" She stifled another sob. "He lied to me! They both did. How can he expect me to just forgive him like this?"

"That's awful," Chie said. She tried to keep her voice even, to be a calming presence for Yumi, but inwardly she was seething. What kind of sick bastard would go after a girl who'd just learned that her mother was in the hospital?

She refused to let anyone get away with hurting her friend, student council or no. She was set on becoming a prince. Here was her chance to be Yumi's, at least for the day.

She stayed with Yumi for the rest of the lunch period, running through soothing platitudes and wishing there was more she could do for her. She did at least manage to convince Yumi to go home for the day. She wouldn't have been able to focus on her lessons like this anyway.

It also meant that Chie was free to seek out Souji after school.

Finding him was easy. She just followed the crowd of admirers. She could almost see how Souji had become such a stuck-up jerk, if he was used to this sort of attention He probably thought the whole school worshipped him.

She followed him out of the building, staying careful to blend in with the crowd. There was no point in causing a scene. Yumi didn't need to have her personal issues dragged out in front of the whole school.

She did catch Yukiko's eye, once. Yukiko smiled at her like they were sharing a secret. Chie looked away, cheeks burning.

The crowd thinned as they approached the gates. Chie was just thinking it would be safe to confront Souji when he noticed her first. "Hello," he said, voice placid as always. "We're in the same class, right? I'm Souji Seta. What can I do for you?"

"I know who you are," Chie said. "And I know what you've done, too. I'm here to teach you a lesson."

Souji raised an eyebrow. His gaze flickered to the ring on Chie's finger. "Oh," he said. "I hadn't realized we were getting a new Duelist. Well then, meet me in the forest at sundown. The fencing team will lend you a sword if you need one."

Chie froze. She had the distinct feeling she was in over her head. She'd just wanted to yell at the guy a little, and now he was threatening to stab her? What the hell?

She couldn't exactly back down, though. That wasn't princely behavior. Besides, Souji had to learn that he couldn't just do whatever he wanted. She was just going to have to kick his ass.

"Good," she said. "I'll see you there."

Souji nodded. "Welcome to the Duels." Apparently considering the matter settled, he turned and began to walk away.

Yukiko didn't. She stayed behind, staring at Chie for so long that Chie raised a hand in a tentative wave. "Uh, hi," she said.

Yukiko smiled, but said nothing. She just waved back, then ran after Souji.

What a pair of weirdoes. Maybe they'd bonded over their mutual inability to end conversations normally. Though that didn't explain why Souji barely seemed to acknowledge Yukiko, or why she was so much nicer than him and still didn't seem to have any friends of her own. She just drifted behind him like she had no will of her own.

And Chie was officially putting too much thought into random people's relationships. It was time for her to step away from the craziness. She needed to do her homework anyway. She had the feeling she wouldn't be getting much work done after sundown.

First, though, she needed to get a sword.

She had expected some weird looks when she walked into the fencing room out of nowhere and asked for a sword. Instead, everyone treated this like a perfectly ordinary request. She was directed to a boy with bleached brown hair and an easy smile.

"Another challenger, huh? Nice. Just don't take it too hard if you lose, okay? Souji isn't the reigning champion for nothing." He handed her a sword, acting like he hadn't just said something ridiculous and terrifying. "And either way, you should think about coming to the next student council meeting. You don't have to join, but it's a lot of fun. We don't spend all our time charging at each other with swords." He winked, then realized where they were having this conversation. "Okay, so maybe now isn't the best time to convince you of that. I swear I have other hobbies."

Chie forced a laugh. "Yeah…. I'll, uh, I'll think about it. Thanks for the sword." She left before he could reveal even more horrifying trivia about the school. How many people were caught up in this stupid dueling thing? And they were apparently all on the student council, too. How had they not all been suspended and/or arrested yet?

She didn't want to think about it. She was going to go fight Souji, because she refused to surrender to him, and then she was going to forget about this whole mess. She had more important things to worry about than idiots getting themselves killed for fun.

The setting sun cast long shadows on the walls of Yasogami High. On one such wall, a shadow unfurled itself into the shape of a girl, hair tied up in a short pigtail. Another stretched out beside her and took on the appearance of a slouching boy. Each wore the Yasogami uniform.

"Do you know, do you know?" the girl asked. "Have you heard the news?"

"Everyone has," the boy replied. "It's an old story. The wannabe prince, the secretive princess, the hidden world. You can find it on every TV."

"But maybe this time things will work out differently," the girl said. "I hear there's a twist to this story."

"That's true," the boy said. His shadow face remained perfectly blank, though his voice took on a teasing tone. "Do you know, do you know?"

"Do you know what it is?" the shadows finished in unison.

They bowed to each other, and then they were gone.

Chie had never gone to the forest behind the school before. When school let out, she wanted to get as far from the school building as possible. She figured most other students felt the same way.

Still, someone had to have known there was an enormous white door sitting in the middle of it. It was too well-maintained to be abandoned. And if that was the case, someone really should have warned her about it, instead of leaving her to discover it for herself.

The door was set apart from the forest as a whole by a rectangular ditch, a white stone bridge the only way to get across. There were wrought metal gates to either side, the metal twisted in a rose pattern. The space they framed was a bare wall with a spiral pattern carved into it. Above all of this was what looked like a bird's head, its wings spread over the whole scene. Only the handle sticking out of this mess suggested that this was a door and not an ostentatious art piece.

Souji was nowhere to be found. Chie realized with a sinking feeling that this ridiculous door was the kind of thing he would love. He was a pretentious asshole who challenged people to sword fights for no reason. Somewhere he could look fancy doing it would be catnip for him.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the handle. It didn't turn. She had a moment to wonder if it was just a statue after all before she felt a cold sensation, as if a snowflake had fallen on her ring finger. There was an enormous crash of water. Behind her, previously unnoticed spouts began to fill the ditch, turning it into a moat.

The sound of gears grounding drew her attention back to the door. The bird's wings were turning, connecting at the top to reveal that they were actually halves of a rose. The motion created a gap in the wall.

Chie stepped through it, only to stop again as she realized what was behind it. A glossy white spiral staircase rose into the sky. She could barely see the top of it.

Was she really going to have to climb all that way? And right before she was supposed to fight someone, too. She was suddenly grateful for all the time she'd spent training. This might not be the sort of princely situation she'd imagined at the time, but it would have sucked to do it unprepared.

She squared her shoulders and began to climb.

There were no markers on the stairs, only an endless spiral of identical white steps. There wasn't so much as a stray scuff mark or patch of dirt. It was easy for Chie to lose herself in them.

After the trance of climbing, the end of the staircase came as a shock. She shook herself back to the present and surveyed the area. The tower top was flat and open, made of the same white stone as the stairs. There was a large pattern painted on it in red. She thought it might be yet another rose.

There was no ceiling, leaving the space open to the sky. Despite the setting sun, it was well lit. Chie realized why when she looked up. Impossibly, there was a castle hanging in the air above her, upside-down and dazzlingly bright.

She could have stared at it for hours, trying to wrap her head around it, but she was torn from her gawking by the sound of Souji's voice. "I know, it's a lot to take in. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough."

Chie whirled to face him, feeling strangely like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Souji looked the same as always, right down to the smug look on his face. It was a look that said he knew exactly what you were feeling, and that he was already past that pitiful emotion. He wasn't even carrying a sword of his own.

As usual, Yukiko was standing slightly behind him, and as soon as Chie noticed her, she stopped paying attention to Souji altogether. Yukiko had changed out of her uniform into a sleeveless pink dress. It clung to her figure at the top before spreading into a full skirt at the bottom. It reminded Chie of the dress a princess would wear in a fairytale. Completing the illusion, a thin gold filigree tiara rested on her head. Despite the finery, her expression was mild and unassuming.

"Did you really drag your girlfriend out here to watch you fight?" What a creep. Chie really didn't know what Yukiko saw in him.

Souji's brow furrowed. "Did you not get an explanation? She's the Rose Bride. She has to be here for the duel to take place." Chie must have still looked skeptical, because he shook his head. "Let me show you."

He turned to Yukiko, who began to chant. "Rose of the noble castle." A ball of light erupted from her chest. Yukiko clasped her hands around it, growing it with her next words. "Power of Yatano that sleeps within me." The wind tugged at her, ruffling her hair and raising her skirts to reveal the bare legs underneath. "Heed your master and come forth!"

A ring of light spread over the area. Yukiko began to lean backwards, as if fainting in slow motion. Souji appeared by her side to catch her. His expression was almost tender.

The ball of light flickered, and then the hilt of a sword emerged from it. Souji grabbed the hilt and drew the sword from Yukiko's chest. His expression hardened as he did so. By the time the sword was free, he was glaring. "Grant me the power to grant the world revolution!" he yelled.

Chie was officially done with today. There was a limit to how much brain-breaking nonsense she could take, and she had hit it before she'd even gotten to the fact that magic was real now.

Yukiko seemed to have recovered from… whatever had just happened, as she'd found a grey rose and was affixing it to Souji's jacket. Chie hadn't known that roses came in grey. She didn't really know why you'd want one, either, but she couldn't bring herself to be curious about it at this point. She was equally incurious when a green rose was affixed to her own shirt. Even so, she couldn't help but notice that the fragrance of the roses was the same that had accompanied that woman so long ago.

"If the rose is knocked off your chest, you lose the duel," Yukiko explained. Chie was relieved to hear that they weren't fighting to the death. Still, having the objective so close to your heart seemed like a bad idea. If your sword slipped, it would be easy to impale someone accidentally.

Whatever. After tonight, Chie wouldn't have to worry about it ever again. She just had to remember that she was doing this for Yumi. She needed to do this if she wanted to call herself a prince.

Yukiko stepped back. "Okay," Souji said, "Let's begin." He raised his sword.

Chie settled into an approximation of a fencing stance. She didn't have time to worry about her form, though, because Souji was practically on top of her. She leapt back just in time. His sword rushed past her face, but her rose stayed intact.

He didn't give her a chance to recover. He charged again, but this time she was ready. Their swords clashed with a satisfying clang. Souji pressed forward, a hint of a smile on his lips. He was stronger than Chie had expected. Her sword creaked ominously. She had to get away before either the blade or her strength gave out.

She stepped to the side abruptly. Souji stumbled, but quickly got back into fighting form.

This wasn't good. Chie could tell that she was outclassed. She'd managed to stay out of Souji's way so far, but she couldn't keep it up forever. She didn't know what she was thinking. She was just a child playing pretend. She'd never be a prince. She couldn't even help her friend.

No. She refused to let things end this way. She'd worked for so long, preparing for a chance like this. She just needed a way to use her training to her advantage. She was done with letting Souji make the rules.

The beginning of a plan came to her, just as Souji charged once again. Chie waited until he was almost to her, then stepped aside. He was expecting it this time. He didn't stumble, simply slowed his gait. He was still slowing down when Chie kicked him in the back of the knee.

His leg folded, the other shooting forward to catch him. The tip of his sword lowered as he tried to regain his balance. Chie swung her own sword down behind it, neatly slicing the rose off his chest.

Bells tolled in the distance. The petals from Souji's rose seemed to fall in slow motion, their grey barely visible against the white stone of the floor. Chie dropped her sword, wondering if a victory dance was in poor taste. She decided to do it anyway. In your face, Souji!

The boy in question was pulling himself to his feet, sword still in hand. He set it down gently and came over to Chie. "Well done," he said, extending his hand.

Chie's dance faltered. She hadn't expected courtesy. "Uh, thanks?" She shook his hand hesitantly, but it didn't seem to be a trap. He didn't stab her while she was distracted or anything. She wasn't going to forgive him that easily, though. "I mean, that's what you get for making Yumi cry!"

Souji gave a remarkably convincing show of concern. "How is she? She was really upset last time I saw her."

"Don't play dumb. I know you're the one who did this to her in the first place." Chie crossed her arms. "Leave her alone, you asshole. Her mom's in the hospital, she's got enough problems without you making everything worse."

"What?" Souji looked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about, but her father is the one who's sick. Her mother just pretended it was her so that Yumi would come and visit him."

Chie had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She hadn't pressed Yumi for specifics as to who the "he" who lied to her really was, too busy trying to comfort her. It was possible that she didn't understand the whole situation.

She fought off the doubts as best she could. "A likely story. And why should I believe you? You just tried to stab me!"

"You can ask Yumi if you want." Souji seemed to realize something. "Wait, do you really not know anything about the Duels? Did the letter not explain anything?"

Letter? No, it didn't matter. He was just trying to distract her. "I know what I need to," she said.

Souji started to laugh. "All right then. I imagine you'll figure it out soon enough."

Seriously, what was this guy's problem? It was like he sat around thinking of new ways to be weird and unpleasant. She was so ready to be done with him, and with this whole evening.

Now that she thought about it, there was nothing keeping her. She didn't owe Souji anything, especially now that she'd won. She'd done her princely duty, and now she could move on. She stuck her hands in her pockets. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, this has been fun and all, but I'm going home. Bye."

She walked away without waiting for a reply. Let Souji see how he liked being on the receiving end of it for once. Besides, she had about a million steps to go down before she could get back to her room. She might as well start now.

It was late by the time she got back, and the school was predictably empty. She stopped by the fencing room just long enough to return the sword. She figured that would be enough of a hint that she wasn't going to be involved in this weird power struggle. She didn't even want to think about it anymore.

She was so caught up in not thinking about it that she nearly ran into Yukiko. "Ah!" She was halfway to a fighting stance before she realized that this time, nobody was attacking her. She tried to turn the motion into fixing her hair. Mercifully, Yukiko didn't acknowledge any of it, only watching Chie patiently. "Hi?" Chie said.

Yukiko smiled. "Hello, Chie-sama," she said. "I've been waiting for you. I am the Rose Bride. From this day forward, I belong to you."

"Um," Chie said intelligently. She didn't even know where to begin with that. "Cool?"

Yukiko hid a smile. Unlike the polite one she'd given before, this one reached her eyes. Chie had the unhelpful thought that she was even more gorgeous when she looked happy. "As you say, Chie-sama."

Okay, no Chie was not dealing with this. She'd won the duel, she was supposed to be done with these people. "Well, anyway," she said. "It's getting pretty late, so I'm just gonna… See you around!"

She ran back to her room before she could get caught up in any more bullshit.