So, this chapter may seem like filler (which it kinda is), but what happens here is important later on. Next chapter will be better, I promise!

Another dart punctured the bedpost, damaging the already flaking, scabby wood and chips of varnish fluttered to the carpet. Angrily, Machida yanked the dart from the wood and stomped back to take another shot at the post, which was already beginning to look like a pack of starving dogs had mauled it.

He had never been so frustrated in his entire life. How could things not be going his way? First there was that infuriating Sunderese guy, the son of the foolish baron who thought he could tell his father what to do. The guy really got on his nerves. His foreign accent and his smooth talking charmed all the blindsided princesses, but Machida knew that he was just all talk and no bite. He knew for a fact that the guy was just looking to marry a rich lady, and if she happened to be a princess then all the better for him.

Then there was the fact that, for some weird reason, Haru-chan was resisting all of his own charms and had even kicked him under the table the night before. She had never done anything of the kind before. Well, okay, that wasn't exactly true, but Machida had always assumed that it was like when a boy pulls a girl's hair and the girl slaps the boy back, and that meant they liked each other.

Plus there was the fact that he hadn't been able to follow the princesses. Ryoko-sama had been less than thrilled with both of the recent competitors because neither of them seemed to have any leads, but Machida just couldn't figure it out.

"Damn," he muttered, hurling another dart at the bedpost.

Worse yet, Haru-chan liked the infuriating Sunderese guy! What made him so attractive? He was blonde for God's sake!

Furious with his circumstances, Machida punched the wall. The wall did not yield and actually didn't seem to care about his feelings or fist. Machida, on the other hand, immediately regretted punching the wall as his knuckles began to redden and bruise and his hand throbbed painfully.

Note to self: don't punch walls.

Rubbing the feeling back into his hand, the Bodarian prince sank onto his bed and brooded. There had to be a way to win Haru-chan's affections and hand without getting banned from the capital forever. But for the life of him he just couldn't figure out what to do!

Then an idea suddenly popped into his head, one that made him grin evilly.

Haru-chan was out walking with the Baron guy again, which meant his room was unoccupied. Therefore, his room was unlocked and open for a certain person to investigate, as it were.

Machida wasn't about to deny that the stupid Sunderese guy was smart; that much was certain. He had to be if he was able to insinuate himself into the royal family so easily and swiftly. Perhaps the Baron had discovered something over the past three days, something that could prove the princesses' whereabouts and insure the prince won the beautiful—albeit stubborn—Haru-chan's hand.

Tiptoeing to the door and checking to make sure the coast was clear, Machida stepped out into the hallway and quietly shut his door. Now he just had to figure out which one was the Baron's bedroom. He wished he had paid more attention when Ryoko-sama's assistant had showed them their rooms, but now was not the time for regrets.

Let's see… if he remembered correctly, the Baron's room was on the other side of the princesses' door, just two doors down from his own bedroom. Thankfully the door truly was unlocked—Machida suspected a maid had been in there recently and forgot to lock it again—and the prince silently entered the room.

Upon entering, Machida furrowed his brow. He wasn't entirely sure he'd entered the right room; after all, the only difference between it and all the other guest rooms in Ryoko-sama's castle were the colors of the walls and curtains.

Striding toward the closet, he yanked open the door and casually flipped through the clothing hanging up. Most it looked to be of a foreign design—which made sense because the Baron was, indeed, foreign—but he did recognize the simple green tunic and brown trousers buried between the other items because that was the outfit the Baron had worn upon their first meeting.

Yep, he thought, this must be his room. Now, he rubbed his hands together, to investigate.

In a relatively short time, Machida tore the room apart. Among the items found, there was a cloak—which was ratty and certainly not expensive—and piles upon piles of books, from fairy tales to physics and every one of them useless.

Sandwiched between a stack of maps and a pair of tan gloves, Machida pulled out a tiny spoon. It was made of solid gold with a cat wearing a crown embossed on the slender handle. He couldn't recall there being any such spoons at Ryoko-sama's castle; come to think of it, he'd never seen any spoon like it.

A cacophony of noise erupted in the hallway—breaking glass, scraping claws, angry feline hissing and loud cawing—causing the Bodarian prince to jump and utter a little yelp.

"What the…?" Traipsing through the mess he'd created, he bent down and peeked through the keyhole. When the sounds began again and he still couldn't see who was producing the sounds, he jumped a second time.

I've got to get out of here, he thought, stifling the panic bubbling in his throat. Easing open the door, he just managed to slide through the crack, dash down the hallway, and disappear into his room. He didn't even remember slipping the gold spoon into his pocket as he left.

=^^=) - cat.

Note to self: don't punch walls (: