A/N: *blows big party horn* HAPPY BELATED FOURTH BIRTHDAY TO THIS FIC WOOOOOOOOOOOO

I wanted this chapter done on the actual day but life happened. It had a few iterations before becoming what it is now. Its setup for stuff that will happen later. The boys getting revenge should be next chapter.

Special thanks to the guest and Kitkatkatester for reviewing the last chapter :)

Enjoy!

Ella had slipped right back into normal life after her return to the palace, no odd glance turned her way as she did what she always did these days...sit before suitors.

Her father was starting to get frustrated with the lack of progress his daughters were making in choosing a partner. They'd sat before most if not all the eligible noblemen in this country and the next, and no one seemed good enough. Sky always looked incredibly bored and Ella...Ella was off in dream land. She also was becoming much more picky, polite about it as she was. Her heart wasn't in it as it had been before, what could have happened?

"Sky, Ella, wonderful daughters of mine, why on Earth can't you just pick someone? I've spent so much on bringing in all these guys and we're still here? We had a ball and everything!" the king asked in exasperation.

"...Ella's heart's already taken," Sky said without thinking.

Ella blushed furiously. "Sky!" she said, slightly offended. "I thought we agreed not to speak about that!"

"Wait a minute, you're serious? Which one? Why didn't you say anything?" The king asked in quick succession.

"W-well, he's not exactly...he's, um…" Ella tried to find the words.

"He's a gardener slash actor, from what she's said," Sky said unhelpfully. She sounded tired and had it in her head that this would somehow get things to move quicker.

"He's more than his occupation!" Ella defended while standing up suddenly, her face burning red.

"No wonder we've been wasting so much time! Get him in here!" At this point the king could be a bit more lenient with his standards; the pool grew smaller by the day and this could mean progress.

"I'm sorry Father, he doesn't live in the capital-" Ella continued.

"That's not a problem, I'll just have Jo take care of it. She's good at finding people, s'why she got promoted!" The king grinned. "We'll see if this...gardener of yours is up to snuff." He glanced at Sky. "We'll figure you out later." The king left the room quickly to speak to the head guard.

Ella looked at her sister. "Why did you do that?" she asked quietly, feeling embarrassed and emotional all of a sudden.

"...the sooner Father sees him the easier it'll be to get over him if he says no," Sky explained. She'd had a week to think this through; Mike would have to present himself before the king in order for anymore progress to be made. She herself was probably more important to get married to a rich person anyway since she was next in line to inherit the throne, but found all the men who'd offered to be unimpressive. Maybe he could impress the king enough that he'd be considered for Ella to marry, but that was a very high bar for the poor guy to reach.

It was also getting a bit old listening to Ella's nonstop talk about a man she had little chance of being with.

Ella covered her face with her hands.

"Look, Ella, I'm as sick of this whole thing as you probably are. He sounds like a nice guy. Was very polite when we danced at the ball. I just don't want you to get your hopes too high," Sky further clarified, trying to get her to understand.

"...I don't want to scare him away," Ella said through her hands. "Last time he was here he…" No, no, she wasn't going to think about the ball.

"That's not going to happen again! What are the chances of that?" Sky figured.

Ella sat back down, sighing. "...I do like him quite a lot, Sky...and I don't want him hurt again because of me," she said quietly.

"I know. But you have to look at this realistically, Ella," Sky reminded her. "He might not be what you need."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Ella asked. "That he's not wealthy and doesn't have a title like me? Money isn't everything, is it?" In her sudden emotion she appeared to have forgotten such a crucial part of her existence.

"...why did you think dad would only let us see noblemen?"

"Captain Jo! My favorite strong lady," the king announced his arrival into her quarters/office, where she was busy working on scheduling.

Jo slowly looked up, straight faced. She wore her captain's uniform that did not include her armor, as she wasn't on call for anything requiring it. Her hair was tied up and out of her face. She put down her pen and did the usual bow after standing up. "What's the issue of this visit, Your Majesty?" she asked as she stood up with excellent posture, meeting the king's height with a slight edge.

"Need an escort put together for a suitor of Ella's. Also need to locate 'im, might want to ask her 'bout that. I've got other things to take care of and you're really good at this stuff, so, yeah!" the king explained with a grin.

"An escort? Don't suitors usually have their own guard detail?" Jo asked with slight confusion. She said this because she'd ended up having to deal with suitors' guards while they'd been there. Lots of men with little regard for hygiene... or her gender, which lead to some unfortunate consequences for them.

The king shrugged. "Ella apparently likes the guy even though he's not nobility...I'd rather get him here in one piece so she'll be let down easier. Really don't want a repeat of the ball." He looked off to the side, reminding himself of the stress that had come with that night. So much food that went to waste…so many suitors turned away.

"Don't remind me…" Jo muttered, also not a fan of thinking about the ball, before nodding. "Alright, fine." She looked back down at the papers in front of her, picking up one of them. "We're a bit squeezed on spare people right now but I could maybe get a group within a few days that should be plenty to protect one guy." Names flashed in her mind of people to assign.

"Great! Knew I could count on you, Captain," the king replied with a clap. "See it gets done. I can't have my daughters waiting much longer." He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Jo let out a breath, sitting back in her seat. She knew exactly who the king was asking her to retrieve, she'd spent enough time as Ella's chaperone prior to her promotion to be aware of them…she also knew it might be as easy as the king made it out to be.

"I don't get paid enough for this," she thought out loud to herself as she started to rearrange the nearly finished shift schedule for the next week, taking a while before stopping, recalling her last meeting with Mike and his 'father'. " 'Kid should get a warning, at least…" She put her pen down and left her office, intending on having one written up and sent by messenger. She already knew the address from last time. It was ingrained into her memory, along with the image of Mike's battered appearance and Noah's irritating face

No one wants to think about the ball lol haven't written the king in ages

Lemme know any thoughts on the chapter. Also, since it's the fic's fourth birthday, hit me with any and all questions about any aspect of the story/process if you have any. I'll answer if I can.

It's been a wild four years writing this on and off and I'm still not done just yet. Thanks for sticking with me on this writing journey. :)

Stay safe out there y'all, and I'll see ya next time!