"And then, one day I saw a huge floating island come towards ours!"

I chattered with Elise for I don't know how long. Must have been… hours. "That's when I came to know, that there were people, just like me! It was the day… I met Antonio."

I smiled back at the memory of that. He was just so scared and afraid he was going to die! He got so curious to know about my past and the same day I decided to follow him to civilization. So many things happened in a decade but… that particular day must been the most important and wonderful one yet. I saw similar creatures who were deemed to be humans like me at the end, saved them from danger which made them think I was amazing, they offered me to take them to their place and last but not least, I felt like as if I started to have a crush on somebody… and that gradually transformed into a feeling of deep affection called love.

Elise looked at me with wide eyes. "Why do you address his highness so informally?"

"What do you mean?"

"You called him by his name." yes, I did. That's what he was called right? Antonio?

"Well, what else am I suppose to call him then?"

"No, you didn't call him anything wrong, Ro. It's just that you have earned the privilege of calling him by his own name, trust me, his highness doesn't like it when someone calls him so informally." Elise looked down with a faint smile.

What privilege was she talking about? Antonio never officially told me anything about what I should call him, the first time I tried to call him by his name, I had to gather up lots of courage. The reasons would probably be stated as it was my very first attempt in calling a person and secondly this person had dug up a special place in my heart.

But I felt guilty about this. Maybe I should call him 'Your Highness' next time.

"Elise, what's wrong?" I was quite confused to see the brunette staring at her shoes.

"Nothing."

"Tell me, what's bugging you."

"Well, his highness has never been this close to a girl like you said. No girl in the kingdom, except for the royal family is allowed to address him by the name. But you… I wonder if this means something." Elise muttered that I had to put some extra strength to hear her talk.

"What does this mean, Elise?"

"His highness, might have chosen his to t-true love."

"What?! Are you crazy! Me?!" I jumped away from the bed, trying to avoid the butterflies as hard as I could. What she said was ridiculous!

"Yes, Ro. It might be you. You see, as per as the Prince's royal duties, he was to spend time with lots of Princesses from far and wide after his sixteenth birthday. All Princesses and maidens tried their best to win his heart but they never succeeded. Or maybe he wa- "

"Why would every girl want him to love her?" Was Antonio someone very special here? I mean what is that makes him so special about being a prince? Azul was a prince, and he dedicated him as someone quite special, but I never saw pride in Antonio's eyes.

"Every girl in the entire Kingdom dreams to be his one day. Maybe because of his ridiculously good looks, his smile which sends you off to daydreams and…"

So now, Elise along with a bunch of other girls thought of him the way I did? Antonio being Prince meant he was popular here? He has held hands or talked about romance with other girls before?

"I get it." I cut her off as fast as I could. I couldn't simply bear to hear another girl talking about him in a romantic way. It made me quite jealous. What she said must have meant Antonio was used to the 'being popular amongst all girls' thing. And here I was, also at the same track. Would that mean he would simply just ignore me and won't love me like the other girls?

"I should probably get you ready for dinner." She looked at the clock and turned her gaze to me.

Yeah, dinner. A good place to make a total fool of myself.

I remained quite for most times. Maybe it was a bad idea to talk to her anyway. My sudden motivation about trying to impress the royal family suddenly got grounded and I felt like I wasn't anyone special, I was just another girl.

I let her put me into fine new clothes, style my hair and put some stuff in my face which I wasn't quite sure of. They seemed to have made my face look brighter and prettier.

After awhile, I looked at the new me in the mirror. I was standing in a light yellow 'gown' with tiny flowers on the fabric. Unlike, real flowers, they didn't throw any sort of aroma or neither where they able to be plucked up. Elise said that they were 'embroidered' to the gown and weren't real.

For my hair, she undid my old plait and used a weird thing called 'hairbrush' to untangle it and soon it was quite fluttery and smooth. I got compliments from her saying, I had very beautiful hair and I also got to know that the color it possessed was 'platinum blonde'. What a fancy name, I always thought my hair was a light yellow color.

And lastly she applied that thing called 'make-up' to somehow brighten the complexion of my face and my cheeks were rosy. I also got answered for my curiosity of why her lips were red just like that when I found out it was nothing more than some sort of color applied on the lips to make them colorful. I was quite eager to try that as well but I preferred to go with the color of island roses than the Red.

I hardly looked at my face so I was never quite aware of what it actually looked like. All I knew was that I had a pair of blue eyes that matched the color of the distant sea water seen from the island at noon and I obviously had a nose and plump lips and pale skin which Elise said was very smooth and beautiful. Well, I guess. She asked me about the secrets to my 'smooth and beautiful' skin but I had no answer about what she was talking about.

"You look beautiful, just like a princess." I heard the brunette girl speak while she brought some stuff on her hands.

"Thank you." I wasn't quite happy to talk to Elise anymore, not after what I just heard from her a while ago. She and a bunch of other girls thinks of Antonio like I do.

More than that, I was curious to ask him why he was loved by so many young girls. No, wait, why would I?! It would just be just the finest attempt to make a fool out myself in front of him. I would make things so awkward and I highly suspect that he would ask why asked him this certain question. Then what would I say? That I am jealous other girls loves you too, only I am allowed to love you, you're mine!?

Definitely not.

"I brought you your shoes." Elise held a pair of identical looking black… things on her hand. Before I wanted to investigate want were those and what could the be used for, I inquired her what 'shoes' were.

"You wear them to cover and protect your feet. It could also be added that you wear them to add some extra fashion to your appearance." I hardly could find any fashion in the plain looking black shoes but I shouldn't judge, people here see things differently.

"Very well then, let's check them out." I nodded in agreement while she put the shoes in front of my feet.

I took a look at those objects. Black and shiny with a tiny bow and pearl on each. Huh, guess I failed to observe them. I got pretty eager try them on. I remember watching Antonio covering his feet with shoes as well although his didn't look anything like the ones I was about to wear. I thought it was silly for not letting your toes enjoy the fresh breeze or cool water but then I discovered a reason, it was just for protection although I never let my feet get hurt by a single thing on the island, not even on the ship till now.

With the help of Elise I managed to put them on. It felt funny and I wobbled some steps after I finally got 'the walking in shoes' thing right.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror. Needles to say I didn't look anything like the island version of me. I hardly paid any heed to the clothes and footwear I put on, at the same time they made me feel like I was properly dressed and ready to face the world of civilization, and God how much I wanted to take the 'corset' thing off my waist! It was the most uncomfortable thing ever and it limited my breath.

I pleaded Elise to get rid of it but she said no. All women must wear it. They just have to. I didn't like this.

"Ro, now that you are ready why don't you run along to dinner?"

Did she just say Run?

"How am I supposed to run with this long gown and shoes covering my feet. I am certain I might trip."

She shook her head and giggled quietly. "Alright. Why don't you walk then!"

I headed for the door when I bumped into someone. Great. It was Antonio.

"Ro! I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?!" I wonder why he worries about me that much…

"I'm alright. Really. Are you alright An- I m-mean your highness?!" I nervously lifted my head to meet his green eyes.

"I…" He stared at my face. Surely he wasn't secretly admiring my new look in his mind. I mean my brushed hair got a bit messed up and some strands dangled over my face.

I looked at the ground while moving the strand away from my face. I did move it away but it didn't work, it slid back where it was.

All I wanted him was to stop. It even made the situation more worse with Elise probably watching from behind. Luckily she came to the rescue by softly clearing her throat to distract him.

Antonio shook his head and gestured at her to leave. She bowed to him and left quickly.

Seeing Elise walk away made me feel a bit easy cause no one was watching us but also that now it was the two of us. Alone.

"Um, did you ask something?" he raked the back of his head.

I smiled softly. "I was curious to know if you were alright your highness."

"Well…I am not alright."

"Wha-I am so sorry your hi-"

"I'm not alright with you calling me 'Your Highness'" he bluntly replied.

"I Uh…" I was running out of words. "I thought I might start addressing you properly."

"So you think 'Your highness' is the proper one to call me, huh?"

"Well, you are a prince. And I'm… nobody." I looked down and sadly sighed for I lacked of my true identity.

The grim look on his face saddened and he put his hands on my shoulder. I quickly looked up at him to my surprise.

"Hey… it'll be alright. I promise I will help you know who you truly are." His words comforted me. For a moment I felt as if everything would be alright as long as I was with him.

I smiled at him with gratitude. "Thank you, Antonio." I realized that I didn't call him 'Your highness' this time, but I really liked how his name slipped out my lips just like that.

I could really tell by the grin on his face that he was quite alright with me calling me by his name. I forgot what Elise had said about addressing the prince properly and concentrated on what he really wanted to me to call him.

Antonio grabbed my hands then and held them up. "You look beautiful with your hair out." he pushed that strand of hair that hung across my face behind my ear.

I chuckled. "Do I?" I didn't know what I was saying I suddenly liked how he touched me and I didn't even feel awkward to be with him anymore.

"A lot. "

We spent another moment smiling at the ground and all those things Elise said about him spending time with other girls and also that how she and other girls felt about him disappeared. I truly didn't pay any heed about what she said, Antonio cared about me and that made me feel content.

Now I realized how deep my love for him was. Really deep. I hope he felt the same.

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