Chapter 46: Tiara Thief
"May, this is Nate." Kiara said.
"So...I'm finally meeting Kiara's boyfriend." May said.
That's right. Kiara brought her boyfriend to the castle to introduce him to May.
"It's nice to meet you, Your Highness." Nate said.
"Same to you." May said. "How long have you two been together?"
"Two months." Kiara said. "I was a little nervous to tell you right away when we started dating, so I just decided to tell you when I allow him to visit the castle."
"We met at school and first became friends." Nate said. He then took Kiara's hand and looked at her. "And then I realized that this beautiful girl was more than a friend. I was in love with her."
Kiara looked at Nate and blushed. "Aww…" May cooed. "You two are cute together."
Kiara and Nate looked at May. "Thanks." Kiara said. "Well, I want to go show Nate around, okay?"
"Of course. Have fun, you two."
With that said, Kiara and Nate left May's room. May sat on her bed and exhaled dreamily. "My little sister found herself a boyfriend. I'm so happy for her."
It's now a day in the second week of April.
"Guys, prom is coming up!" Dawn said excitedly.
"Yeah. It's this month." Gary said.
"But do you guys know what the theme is?" Dawn asked excitedly.
"No. What's the theme?" Drew asked.
"Fairytale!"
"A fairytale theme...that sounds so magical." May said. "I've always dreamed of my life being like a fairytale, and that could be true at prom."
"All of the girls will have the prettiest of dresses." Dawn said.
"And our prom will be the most magical night of our lives." Gary said.
"I don't know about our most magical night…" Drew said, glancing at May.
May smiled at Drew. "Nope. Not for us."
"But it will be pretty magical." Dawn said. "It's our senior prom!"
"I can't wait for it." May said. "It'll be fun."
It's now a day in the third week of April.
May just woke up and got out of bed. She stretched her back and arms out. She then went to her vanity to brush her hair. She started brushing out her hair while humming to a random song.
May's gaze moved from her reflection in the vanity mirror to the reflection of what's behind her. She gasped and stopped brushing her hair. She immediately got up and turned around, facing her desk. She ran to her desk.
"Oh. No, no, no." May said, shaking her head. "It's gone. But how?"
May pulled out her phone and dialed someone's number from her contacts. After that conversation, she called two more people.
Kiara entered the room shortly after getting a call. "I came as soon as you called." She said, rushing over to May. "Is it really gone?"
"Yeah." May said, looking at an empty display case that's on the top of the desk in the center. "No one has a key to the display case, but me, so how could it have been opened?"
"I don't know." Kiara said. The door opened and Dahlia rushed in.
"Wow. It's true." Dahlia said once she now stood next to May. "Did you let the Captain know?"
"Yeah. He should be here soon." May said.
"I'm here." They heard a voice from behind them. They turned around.
"Captain, my tiara." May said.
"Right." The Captain said, walking closer to them. They moved out of the way for the Captain. He saw the empty display case. "Tell me exactly what happened."
"Okay. Well...I just woke up like three minutes ago and I went to my vanity to brush my hair." May started. "When I looked at the reflection of my desk in the vanity mirror, I saw that the display case was empty."
"Hmm…"
"Captain, could you find it?" May asked hopeful.
"Of course I can, Princess." The Captain said. "I'll have the guards get to work right away. Just try and stay calm. We'll find who took your tiara." With that said, the Captain left.
"I can't believe someone actually stole from me." May said. "And the thing is…" she started walking towards her balcony doors. "I always keep the balcony doors locked when I go to sleep."
She grabbed the handles and moved them away from each other, opening the doors. "What?" May asked. She opened the doors completely. "Did someone...pick this lock?"
"Or maybe you just...forgot to lock the doors?" Kiara asked.
May turned around. "No I didn't. I know that I locked the doors."
"Well...it makes sense that they'd enter through there because the hallways have plenty of guards in them." Dahlia said.
May closed the balcony sliding doors. "Yeah…"
"I wonder how long it will take for the guards to find the culprit." Kiara said.
Skipping to the next day at school…
Earlier in the day, Dawn and Misty told May and Kiara that they were asked to prom by their boyfriends and there was kind of a squeal session.
May and Drew are in theater class. Drew looks at May because she's been quiet all day. May is just looking down at the ground with a sad expression on her face.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Drew asked.
"Nothing." May said sadly.
"Come on. You know that something is bothering you. Just tell me." Drew said, taking May's hand.
"Sorry. Don't feel like talking."
"Wow...you really must be feeling awful if you don't want to talk to me."
May looked at Drew and glared at him.
"Sorry. I'm not helping, am I?" Drew asked.
"Nope."
"Just...tell me what's wrong. You know that I'm always there for you."
May sighed. "Fine. Someone broke into my room last night and stole my tiara. That's it."
"Ohh...now I get it." Drew said. "You did mention that that tiara means a lot to you."
May nodded and then looked back down at the floor. "I love wearing my tiara for special occasions. I see it as a symbol that...one day I'll make a great Queen...and I've also had that tiara since my parents first started teaching me about being a royal...when I was thirteen."
"Don't worry about it. Do you have the royal guards currently at work in finding it?"
"Mm hm." May answered, nodding slightly.
"Then everything will be fine. They'll find your tiara. I know they will."
May looked at Drew and then smiled. "Thanks."
After school time at the castle in the Throne Room with May, Kiara, Dahlia, and the Captain…
"Your Highnesses, I wanted to let you know that we've retrieved your tiara." The Captain said.
"You have?" May asked hopeful.
"Yes. But the person who we found with it refused to give it to us."
"Bring him in."
The doors opened and two guards pushed someone, a familiar someone, inside the room. Kiara immediately stood up. "Nate?" She asked incredulously.
"Kiara, you've got to tell these guards that this is some mistake." Nate said.
"You two know each other?" The Captain asked.
"Yeah...he's my boyfriend." Kiara said.
The Captain's eyes widened. Nate and the two guards stopped walking and stood next to the Captain.
Everyone saw the tiara in Nate's hands. "Kiara, please believe me. I didn't steal the tiara." Nate said.
"Then why do you have it?" May asked, standing up.
"Okay. This is what happened. I was just walking through Petalburg City when I saw someone running at a fast speed away from the castle. He was carrying a bag in his arms that clearly had something inside of it and he was also running towards me. Not seeing where he was going, he crashed into me, throwing his bag in the air and the tiara falling out of it. It fell into my hands and I confronted him for it, asking him if he stole it from the castle. And without answering me, he just ran away. And then today, the guards found me holding the tiara and walking towards the castle and they stopped me and just brought me here, saying that I stole it, but I was just returning it. Honest."
Kiara started walking down the stairs and to Nate. "Back away from him." She told the guards. The two guards that were right behind him took a few big steps backwards.
Kiara and Nate looked into each other's eyes. "Are you really telling the truth?" Kiara asked.
"Of course I am. Why would I lie to you?" Nate asked.
May walked to Kiara. "What do you think? I'd say it's your call, because you're the one who's known him the longest."
Kiara pulled out her scepter. "Right." She held up her scepter in front of her. "If you're lying to me, then I suggest you admit that you stole May's tiara this instant. If you're not lying, then you shouldn't be afraid to take a few hits from my scepter."
"What? You're kidding me, right? Taking hits from your magical scepter?" Nate asked.
"I'm not kidding." Kiara said. "I'll do it if I have to to get you to admit what you did."
"But Kiara, you really don't trust me?"
Kiara didn't respond right away. "...I guess I don't." She fired a blue beam, called Beam of Hope, right in front of Nate's feet.
"That was a bit too close, wouldn't you say?" Nate asked.
"Did you steal May's tiara...or not?" Kiara asked angrily.
"...No, I didn't." Nate said after hesitating.
Kiara fired another Beam of Hope in front of Nate's feet. "Tell the truth!" May yelled, eyes getting watery.
"I am telling the truth!" Nate yelled back.
"No...you're not!" Kiara yelled, launching another beam at Nate's feet.
"Kiara, calm down." May said.
"No. He's not telling me the truth!" Kiara yelled at Nate.
"And are you sure?" May asked.
Kiara stared into Nate's eyes for a bit longer. "I'm sure." She paused before yelling, "Just admit it!"
"Fine!" Nate yelled almost instantly. "I stole the tiara! Happy now?!"
Kiara lowered her scepter and some tears came out of her eyes. "Why?" She asked quietly.
"Because I want to make millions." Nate answered. "I was going to sell the tiara for a lot of money in a different region, because if I try selling it in this region, the person I sell it to will know that it's Princess May's and he'll bust me for stealing it."
"So...you just...used me?" Kiara asked, more tears coming out of her eyes. "You used me to gain access to the castle."
"Hey. It's your fault for trusting me. I'm just a commoner. Not someone with high status like you."
"Hey. We happen to know a group of commoners who would never use us like you did." May said angrily.
"They'll probably use you eventually." Nate said.
"Hey! You take that back! One of those commoners happens to be my fiancé!"
"Wow. Fiancé…" Nate started. "He's really going far into this. Marrying the Queen to just steal from her in the end…"
Instead of arguing back, May just thought about what Nate said. Will Drew really steal from her once they get married? There's no way he'd do that, right? Will he just leave with all the jewels and leave her to cry?
"No…" May said quietly. "Drew would never do that."
"And you're sure?" Nate questioned. "Hasn't your parents ever told you that all commoners think the same way? We all just want to become billionaires, so we steal from the royal family."
The two guards that were behind him just walked forward and gripped his arms. "That's enough talking from you." One guard said.
"For your information…" May said angrily. "My fiancé has a mansion. He doesn't need any more money than he already has. And I know that our love is real."
"Just keep telling yourself that." Nate said.
"What do you want us to do with him?" The Captain asked.
May looked at Kiara. "It's your call."
"Nate…" Kiara said, tears falling out. "We're done."
"What do you mean?" Nate asked.
"Don't play dumb with me. I'm breaking up with you. You used me to steal from my sister. I can't go out with someone who would do that."
"Yeah. I guess I saw that coming." Nate said, not the least bit sad that his girlfriend broke up with him.
"Captain, just let him go." Kiara said.
"Are you sure?" The Captain asked.
Kiara nodded. "He knows what will happen if he tries something like this again. I see no need to lock him up. This is just his warning."
"Very well then."
"Wait." May said. "How did you open the display case?"
"I'm good at picking locks." Nate answered.
"Ah. That's what I figured. Now, you better not show your face within castle walls again, do you understand?"
"Yes." Nate said. "Thanks for not locking me up."
Kiara and May both glared at Nate. May took her tiara out of Nate's hands. "Let him go."
The two guards released Nate's arms and Nate just walked out of the Throne Room and left the castle. The Captain and guards bowed and then left as well.
"Kiara, are you okay?" May asked.
"No." Kiara said, crying some more. "I really thought he liked me. But he just used me."
"Yeah...but it's okay. You'll move on to someone who really cares about you."
"Like Drew cares about you?"
May blushed. "Umm...yeah. Like Drew cares about me."
Kiara smiled slightly and wiped her tears away. "I hope I'll find that one guy who just...steals my heart."
"You will. I'm sure of it. Nate wasn't the one. There are plenty of other fish in the sea."
