Chapter 1 – Enter Beauty

The morning sun peeked through the thick curtains of Princess Daisy's room. She was already wide awake since her parents had told her to rise early today for some unknown reason. Daisy didn't mind much and she surprisingly felt happy this morning, although she was notorious for hissing whenever the friendly rays of sun reached her skin. Since it was obvious to the kingdom that Daisy was not a morning person, the royal monarch was ready to change the girl's habits. It was about time they brought a few changes to the kingdom, seeing how Daisy was reaching the proper age to marry, and how she was still acting as if she were only a mere teenager. Daisy's poor habits and clumsy attitude is what made her parents fear the most. Although finding a suitor would be no trouble, even the most stuck-up snobs have their standards. Daisy wasn't aware of her attitude or habits and therefore, she lived a carefree life under her parents' rule.

As the sun's rays shifted deeper and deeper into the princess' room, she took this as a signal to meet with her parents for the morning and find out what they wanted. Daisy looked into the vanity's mirror once more, setting her brush aside. She sighed, dusted her signature yellow dress off, and stepped outside of her room. Toadette, Daisy's young advisor and good friend, was skipping cautiously down the hall. She had been waiting for the princess to wake up for a good hour now and seeing the princess as she left her room made her beam with glee. The princess smiled as Toadette bowed while giggling.

"Good morning, your highness!" Toadette said in between giggles.

"Morning, Toadette!" Daisy closed her bedroom's door. "Any news going around town?"

"I think," Toadette thought for a minute, recalling the days' previous events; "The baker ran out of flour last night and had to improvise."

"With what?"

"Ground flowers and sugar," Toadette then let out a disgusted yech. "I won't be touching his bread for a while."

"Harsh," Daisy cringed. "Anything else you would like to tell me, dear friend?" Daisy set her voice to the sweetest sound she could manage.

Toadette shrugged, "I think the school kids are looking forward to the field trip. So much that one actually…" her voice trailed off as she came to a realization, "Princess, are you stalling?"

"Stalling?" Daisy's nervousness shone through abruptly, "Whatever is this 'stalling' you speak of?"

"Oh princess," Toadette laughed, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Afraid?" Daisy scoffed, "I'm not afraid of anything. You should know that."

Toadette took Daisy's hand and let her down the hallway to the grand stairs. "Then why did you try to waste time?"

"I never know what my parents are planning. Even though I want to know, it's strange that they keep it secret, as if they don't want me to know." Daisy looked down at Toadette as they reached the first step, "Maybe I'd like to keep it that way."

"You're overreacting, princess," Toadette reassured, "I'm sure that your parents have a wonderful surprise in store for you."

"How can you be so sure?"

Toadette shrugged as they reached the final step. Daisy sighed, looking over to the towering doors of the throne room. Her parents resided in there whenever the commoners came to ask for advice or financial help. The only people surrounding the doors today were the two guards, and the girls took this as good news. The guards bowed as Daisy walked closer to them, opening the doors in unison.

The king and the queen were simply chatting quietly to each other, still not aware of their daughter's presence. Daisy called their names softly and their heads turned.

"Oh, sweetie!" the queen stepped down from her throne and gave her daughter a hug. Daisy embraced her, suddenly feeling queasy from her mother's tight hug. The queen stepped back. "I'm glad to see you up so early."

"Yeah, well, you know," Daisy's voice trailed off, knowing even she couldn't explain why she was up this early. The sun had just risen no less than an hour ago and Daisy was usually sleeping in by this time. Maybe it was curiosity or some kind of emotion that Daisy never understood.

"Now Daisy," her father spoke from the other side of the throne room, "As your mother and I have told you, we expect only the best for and from you."

"Yes, only the best," her mother repeated. Daisy laughed on the inside, knowing that her mother repeated whatever her father said thinking that she made her point strict, but it only made her sound silly.

"And we've gone over this topic many times before…"

Daisy rudely interjected, "If you're talking about how I act around people, then we don't need to talk about it again. I know I'm supposed to pronounce my syllables and use less slang and stop contracting and…"

"Don't interrupt your father, dear," the queen hissed quietly.

Daisy closed her mouth and looked at her father, giving him all her attention. The king nodded and resumed his speech, "I know that you might have some objections to such a decision, but your mother and I think it is best."

"…Think what is best?" Daisy tilted her head slightly.

The queen rested her hand on Daisy's shoulder to keep her in position.

"We think that you should have an arranged marriage."

Daisy felt her stomach tie up in knots as she swallowed hard. "A what?"

"An arranged marriage," the queen repeated calmly, "We think that if you marry a royal suitor, you two will learn from each other and you can become queen-like material."

"Queen-like material?" Daisy's voice rose, "Do you think that matching me up with some puffed-up prince will help me become queen-like material?"

"Daisy," the king kept his stern tone.

"No!" Daisy pushed her mother away and stepped away, "I can't just be matched up with some random prince."

"You will meet him the week before your marriage," the queen tried to reach for her child; "It'll be fine."

Daisy backed away even further, ready to run out of the room. "A week? How can I learn to love someone in a week? That's nothing!"

"Calm yourself, child," the king glared.

"I'm not going to be handed off to some puff-ball! I refuse to marry whoever he is! I can change by myself! I don't need him, I don't!"

"Daisy!" the queen called.

It was too late, for Daisy had run out of the throne room. She lost her sense of direction and only kept running forward. She stormed out of the castle, leaving everything behind.

The air was crisp and the temperature was beginning to rise. The sand morphed around every step the princess took. She had no idea where she was going or what she was doing at the moment. If she returned, her parents would scold her and she didn't want to hear the anger in their voices anymore. Daisy kept the tears from rolling down her cheeks. It wasn't the forced marriage that made her cry – it was the fact that her parents didn't accept her in any way. Her father wanted a son, after all. Her mother wanted a regal princess, which Daisy was aware she wasn't anything close to that.

Reaching the edge of the sand dune far from her castle, Daisy stood still at the top, watching the sun. She looked behind her, staring at her very vague castle in the distance. The grand doors opened and the king and queen along with Toadette had stepped out. All three looked frantic and Daisy could tell they were searching for her now. She looked away quickly. She now faced north, the direction of The Mushroom Kingdom. Her dearest friend, Princess Peach, ruled the kingdom on her own and Daisy had to give kudos to her for doing such a good job. Peach was formal, kind, adventurous, but also a tad bit weak. She was everything that her parents expected in a princess. If Daisy could learn from Peach, then her parents would accept her the way they accept Peach.

That was her glorious plan. Daisy was going to run off to The Mushroom Kingdom and learn from the pink princess herself. Daisy had little confidence, but she was willing to try. She would have to wait until nightfall to put the plan into action, however. Looking over to the town nearby, Daisy took a deep breath, blinked a few times to clear her vision, and was on her way. She trotted over the town, keeping her eyes focused squarely on the ground.


"That girl will be the death of me," the queen shivered underneath the king's arm. Her eye twitched due to a nervous tick that she received every time something bad happened around the kingdom.

"We'll find her, darling. Don't worry." the king looked over to Toadette, who was walking closely by the two. She too was wearing her nervous emotions, but she denied them.

"You two better get some sleep," Toadette put a feeble hand on the king's arm, bringing him to a halt. "I promise I'll keep a watch over the castle tonight."

The king and queen nodded with little hesitation. They trusted Toadette, although she was still no more than an adolescent. They retreated to their room, holding each other close. Toadette sighed, staring back down the hallway. As the master bedroom doors closed, the sound of a window breaking could be heard. The sound of broken glass falling to the title floor was also accompanied by footsteps.

Toadette quickly grabbed a candle and lit it with the flick of her wrist. The light overpowered most of the darkness around her, but not all. She shivered, taking her first steps closer to where the sound emanated from. She opened her mouth to speak, almost forcing complete gibberish to come out from all the stuttering. Toadette grew nervous - so nervous that she felt as if every eye on the kingdom was on her. So nervous that she swore she could see people all around her, although she was the only one awake, for the guards had all retreated to their quarters along with the servants.

A tile creaked. Toadette recoiled.

The broken glass shifted. Toadette thrust the candle forward to light the darkness.

A hand grabbed her shoulder as a girl said, "Shh." Toadette turned around in a beat and opened her mouth to scream. The girl put another hand over Toadette's mouth, "I said shh!"

Toadette gasped and loud out a muffled princess!

Daisy nodded and slid her hand down just an inch, "Listen carefully…"

Toadette was far too excited to listen, "Oh Daisy, this will be wonderful! You'll get married soon and get lessons and you'll be in love with the new prince and you'll be queen later after that and…"

"Toadette," Daisy hissed, "I don't have much time and I won't be staying here for long either."

Tilting her head, Toadette asked, "Why? What's wrong?"

Daisy shook her head, "I don't want to scare you."

"But you already did," Toadette huffed, "You scared the entire castle half to death. And you know about your mother and her nervous ticks. If they last too long, then it can be fatal."

"Then tell them not to worry, I'll be fine." Daisy scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Toadette gasped and pulled at the princess' arm, "You can't possibly think about running away – can you?"

"I'll be back soon." Daisy walked over to the staircase, "I'm staying with Peach for a little while, that's all."

"No, you can't do this!" Toadette's voice rose significantly.

Daisy hushed her once more, "It's better for everyone."

"No it's not! You just think it's better because you're running away from the problem instead of facing it. Talk to your parents."

"They wouldn't understand."

"I bet they would."

Daisy took a deep breath. The argument would lead nowhere and they were wasting precious time. "Toadette," Daisy finally said after a few moments of silence, "I just need to you to make sure that my parents don't freak out while I'm gone. I'll be back in a week – two weeks tops, just…stall for me."

"Stall?" Toadette's voice softened.

"Just think of it like that."

Toadette looked down the stair case, holding the candle with a tight grip. If she agreed, then she would lose the kingdom's trust. If she denied, then she would lose the princess' trust and friendship. Toadette knew well that Daisy was ill-tempered and stubborn as can be. Avoiding the request wasn't an option either, although Toadette did stall for time at the moment.

"Please," Daisy begged, "Please."

Toadette opened her mouth to speak, but didn't return eye-contact. "I-I guess…" She narrowed her vision and turned her head back the princess, "You better come back in a week – two weeks tops! That's all I can handle!"

Daisy hugged Toadette with a sincere smile of gratitude. "Thanks, I promise."

She pulled away and quickly ran down the staircase of the castle. "Wait!" Toadette called, still in a hushed voice.

"What?" Daisy quickly turned around.

"What about the broken window?" Toadette looked over at the shards of broken glass surrounding the area.

"Just make up something! You always have the best excuses!"

And with a small giggle, Daisy made her glorious exit out of the grand castle doors. The moon was shining perfectly on the castle and she took it as if it were a spotlight. The desert air was cool, almost a bit cold, but Daisy didn't mind.

She was finally going to get her parent's approval and she felt better than ever.