"Prince Yuuri! Your father wants to see you!"

Yuuri shivered at the screechy voice of the maid, but slowly stood up from the chair he had been reading in and went to meet the king of night.

As he approached his father in the throne room and bowed respectfully, he felt a strange sense of apprehension.

"Yuuri."

"Yes?" Yuuri said softly and looked up as he heard his father's deadly calm tone.

Toshiya sighed and dismissed the staff in the throne room. "Yuuri, you can't be antisocial all day. You have real responsibilities as a prince. You must-"

"-Show confidence, I know," Yuuri said. It's not like he expected his father to understand that, firstly, he wasn't confidence, and secondly, if he was ever put in a social situation, he would struggle to be even the slightest bit social. But that would be the downside of being royalty. A prince is always expected to interact with everyone at every single social event at the castle. And the royal family held too many social events for Yuuri to handle.

Toshiya looked at his son for a moment. "You know, you are eligible to be a suitor. You're seventeen now. There are many good young women who would be happy to have you as their husband."

Yuuri's lips pursed. It was a sensitive topic, Toshiya knew, but it was the hard truth. Yuuri had never had much luck with women. The three girls he had tried to ask out rejected him. One was when he was fifteen years old, and she had proclaimed that he wasn't her type. Another had said that Yuuri was too feminine. And Yuuko was the last. Lovely Yuuko. It was after he was rejected for the second time that he tried to ask her out after almost a lifelong crush on her. But Yuuri didn't realize that she was already going out with Takeshi.

Yuuri hated Takeshi. He was always a jerk when they were kids. He had always pushed Yuuri around because of his lacking confidence and body. Since then, Yuuri had vowed to look more like the prince he was.

The Nishigoris were a highly respected family in Lunis. They were the Dream Guardians, who guarded the Tree of Dreams and the Sea of Dreams. Once Takeshi's parents died, he would become the next dream guardian, and his children would take on after him. But after Yuuko had confessed their relationship, Yuuri's heart shattered.

Toshiya knew. He understood. Yuuko was a pretty girl, but Yuuri needed to focus on other things. Maybe if Yuuri got lucky, he would marry a princess who was first in line for the throne, but the chances were slim.

"That's not what you wanted me for, is it?" Yuuri asked, trying to change the subject.

Toshiya smiled. His son was always good at reading people. "No it's not. Prince Viktor's coronation is tomorrow. You should go."

Yuuri felt a whine growing in the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down. "Alright."

Toshiya shot him a glace. "Thank you. You can go."

Yuuri nodded lightly to his father and left the throne room.

The next day….

Yuuri sighed lightly as the maid slipped the soft garments over his head. He was just wearing an indigo tunic to the coronation today with a flowing cover over his back. A silver ring was on his right middle finger, displaying his role in the kingdom. A circlet with a small gem in the shape of a crescent moon on it rested on top of his soft onyx hair, his bangs floating in front of his eyes.

Some of the other officials in the kingdom would be going to the coronation today including the Leroy family, owners of the seat of Prime Minister, but it was traditional that the Lunis royal family go to the Solis coronations and vice versa.

Honestly, Yuuri didn't know why he was nervous. He was always nervous. But it wasn't like he would be the center of attention or anything. That would be the prince's spot. The soon-to-be-king Prince Viktor was always the center of attention. With his striking eyes and handsome face, he deserved it as well.

Solis, the kingdom of day, and Lunis, the kingdom of night always had a very strong treaty. The kingdoms were very close to each other. The treaty had been put up just after Yuuri's father had come into power. Thanks to the treaty, the kingdoms were always there to support each other.

But just less than three months ago, a great sickness had swept through Solis. Both the king and queen of Day died, leaving their 21-year-old son alone. Having recovered up to a point where they could put up a leader, Prince Viktor had been the obvious choice to take over.

Yuuri was most likely never going to take over his kingdom, though. Mari would take over as queen of night when King Toshiya died, and Yuuri was going to marry a pretty girl from another kingdom to make treaties stronger. Not the fate that Yuuri might wish for, but it wasn't really like he had a choice.

Yuuri turned into the grand entrance of the large castle with the maid following close behind him. He saw his mother, father, and sister surrounded by their own servants and bedecked in shining gems.

His father's crown of constellations shone brightly, and dark, flowing robes enveloped him. The cape that enveloped him was covered in stars dark as night. King Toshiya was wearing two rings: one on his right middle finger, displaying his role as king, the other on his left ring finger: his wedding ring.

His mother, Queen Hiroko, was wearing her own tiara with a large gem in the middle. She was wearing a flowing dress of purple and dark blue. Her own royal ring and wedding ring sat in their designated places.

Mari, with a circlet similar to his resting on her dark hair, was wearing a dress of royal blue, with a small choker wrapped around her neck. A ring rested on her right middle finger, signifying her future role as queen.

Yuuri had always felt strange apprehension towards these social events, but this time, something was different. He felt, in a strange sense, that something was going to change today.