Hikari laid the rose upon her mother's grave. She has never really known her mother for she died giving birth to her fifteen years ago. Her father married a kind, rich noblewoman eight years later, but she died as well. Hikari's stepmother had a daughter one year older than herself. Her stepsister, Shegami, despised and envied her for many reasons. She was very cruel and was able to take advantage of Hikari's curse most of the time, for her stepfather was always off on journeys for trading, he's a merchant. Taichi married a lovely young lady in another land. Her name was Sora. Taichi visited them once a year, and those were the few times Hikari was actually treated like a lady.

"Hikari!" Shegami shouted at her, "What are you still doing out there?!!!"

"Nothing!" She replied. She ran to her home.

"Go gather berries for me, Hikari." Shegami grinned, her crooked teeth shown, "And make sure they're all ripe and perfect."

Hikari went to get a basket and went into the forest.

Her stepsister deprived her of all her beautiful gowns and replaced them with rags. She was made into a servant since the rest of her family was always away. Her best friend, Miyako, was also a servant and often took revenge for Hikari since there was a reason she wouldn't do it herself. Hikari was a stunningly pretty girl, and that was one of the qualities Shegami envied her of. The curse kept Hikari from being able to make her own choices. Requests and questions did not force Hikari to do something, only commands. Her father long ago ordered her not to tell anybody of the curse, afraid for her safety that someone will take great advantage of it. Shegami knew that Hikari was very obedient, but she didn't know why.

An arrow came out of the woods and shot right at the tree behind her. She was shocked. A boy of sixteen came out with a bow and hurried to her. "Are you alright?" He looked at the tree behind her to see if he had caught an animal.

"I'm just a bit startled, but other than that, I'm fine." She replied.

"My greatest apologies." He took off his hood, revealing golden blonde hair.

Hikari looked at his handsome face and saw the kindest blue eyes she has ever seen.

"Hikari?" At first, he thought that it was just an ordinary servant dressed in rags. When he caught a glimpse of her face, he recognized her.

"Takeru!" She gasped. "It's been so long!" She hugged him.

"How many years has it been? Three? Four?" He hugged back.

"Hey Takeru," An orange creature with strange ears flew onto his shoulder,

"Did you catch it?"

"No, it got away Patamon."

A voice started shouting in her head, "Berries! Berries!"

She suddenly said, "I have to go now!" She ran deeper into the forest, out of sight.

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"Took you long enough!" Shegami shouted at her. "Go wash them as clean as you can and no supper for you tonight!"

Hikari took the berries into the kitchen and washed all of them as clean as possible. When finished washing them, she ate some. Shegami never said she couldn't eat anything before supper. Hikari brought the berries to Shegami and ran to her room. The smell of food filled her nose and tortured her. Her stomach grumbled loudly. Half an hour later, Miyako came into the room.

"Here," She put soup and bread on a nearby table, "It was all I could get."

"Shegami said I couldn't eat supper." Hikari gloomily said.

"Since when did you start obeying Shegami like she was a queen?" Miyako asked, "Eat it Hikari."

Hikari was greatful that Miyako gave her a command cause one order can replace another. She picked up the bread and took a large bite. She swallowed and drank from the soup.

"What took you so long out there anyway?" Miyako repeated the question Shegami asked.

Hikari smiled, "You'll never guess!"

"Really, what happened?"

Hikari drained the rest of her soup, "I saw Takeru again! He's gotten a lot taller!"

"Really?" Miyako hopped onto the bed, "How do you know it was him?"

"He had blonde hair, blue eyes, he was wearing the crest that the royal family always wears..."

"It had to be the prince then!" Miyako glowered. "His brother is King of Hatriland and married Princess Mimi, so the prince needs to marry someone too since he doesn't fancy any princess."

"I know that..." Hikari seemed annoyed.

"Maybe you'll get a chance! Every maiden has the same amount of chance with the prince!"

"Oh well," Hikari shrugged her shoulder and became her usual sad self, "It's one out of a million chances that I'll meet him again."

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A/N: My school year starts on August 26, so I might have to delay the chapters longer, due to school work. The longest time period I'll have to let you wait is six months at most. I'll strangle myself before I let you wait longer than that. A small thanks to Dragontiger96 for a little help with ideas.