A/N: Posting Chapter 2 as well since it's just sitting on my usb taking space. Hopefully I get chapter 3 out by today as well (I'm seriously considering dividing it into 2 chapters).

I already hated the arrogance of this man already and I've only spent less than twenty minutes in his presence. It didn't help that he had placed himself so close to me either. "I'm sorry your royal highness but I believe you were mistaken. Now if you would you be so kind and give me back my personal space?" He wouldn't because he enjoyed seeing me uncomfortable. The asshole, instead, wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Now, now my lady, you wouldn't want to cause a scene now do you?" His innocent little statement really wasn't that innocent in terms of what I've seen regarding this mysterious asshole. The fact that only interacting with him would cause uproar was astounding enough. I bet if he put his mind to it, I would probably end up being more than glared at if I were to return. I'm so glad that I have this mask on. However, no matter the consequences, I struggled in his arms, trying to get the hell away from him but he was too bloody strong.

"Excuse me sir, but I need to go..." He wasn't going to let me go that easily. "Then allow me to escort you to your home." I instantly knew that his suggestion was not an option. However, I couldn't show him Will's home. The asshole would question me why I didn't have the seal and I seriously couldn't betray Curio's trust by bringing home a stranger. "I don't need an escort; after all you wouldn't want to be seen with a woman of a lower class."

I didn't forget his little comment but all I got out of him was a small laugh. "I shall still go with you...you never know the trouble the streets might present at night." By the tone of his voice, I had a hunch he knew exactly what happens during nighttime. His grip on me seemed to loosen and taking advantage, I managed to put some distance between us. "Why are you so hell-bent on going with me? Why don't you go mingle with the rich folk and leave me alone?"

I started backing away, ready to run out of there. Now that he wasn't so close to me, I could think straight and I found it was weird, having some strange guy suddenly offer to go home with me. I suspected he was part of the "trouble the streets might present tonight". "Look my lady..." Suddenly, another voice rang through the night. "Lydia!"

We both turned towards the sound and I quickly felt relieved when I recognized Francisco. He quickly apologized for leaving me behind and thanked the "gentlemen" before me for watching over me. I kind of noticed the guy's aloof aura had become rather cold and before I could decipher what happened, Francisco grabbed my arm and started hauling me to the carriage. I turned back to see what happened to the guy only to find that his presence had disappeared.

The ride home was rather unpleasant. It all just involved Francisco reprimanding me for my foolishness and told me that Juliet also received a similar lecture. He chastised me for my decision to attend the ball alone and that my actions had almost put Juliet in peril. I didn't even bother to correct him as he kept lecturing me. Out of all of Juliet's friends, Francisco was the most hostile towards me.

When I first met Francisco, I thought that he was a nice guy and that Curio would be the one that would protest my presence. Four minutes of silence went by before Francisco voiced out his protest, stating that me being there would put 'Odin' in danger and it wasn't till Conrad revealed that I knew Odin was a really Juliet, that Francisco admitted defeat. That didn't stop the side glares whenever I crossed paths with him. I even avoided him in public as well, the first time serving as a lesson.

I was helping Cordelia gather some fruits when I felt someone wrap their arms around me. Turning to my left, I saw it was Francisco, who held a bright smile. However, I saw that his eyes were still cold and it wasn't long before I figured out what he was trying to do. Thousands of girls continued to glare at me, some of them with eggs in their hands. Cordelia had to shield me but I still got egged by the end of it.

"Lydia, are you listening?!" Snapped out of my train of thoughts, I automatically answered, "Yes, I am" He didn't believe me for a second. "No, you aren't! Therefore, we shouldn't even allow you to go out with Juliet. You are a liability…" The second I felt the carriage stop, I dashed out, passing even a concerned William. Everything I did, intentional or not, was always my fault in Francisco's eyes. Conrad told me to not allow it to affect me but I live in the same place as him and every day, being tormented, just got to exhausting. I didn't know how much more of this I could take before I blew up, preferably at Francisco.

"Lydia, what's wrong?" My saving grace appeared in the form of Curio. Just mentioning Francisco was enough of an answer and he led me to the kitchen to offer me some water. Gulping it down quickly to hold back my tears, I asked Curio: "Why does Francisco hate me?" He only let out a small sigh before sitting on the chair. "He doesn't hate you, Lydia" I arched an eyebrow in disbelief and Curio quickly pointed out "Juliet is important to us all. Francisco is just trying to make sure of that." I knew that but that didn't give him any right to treat me the way he does.

"That doesn't excuse his behavior. I have done nothing wrong that would make me a liability!" Every time we had this conversation it would usually end up with Curio saying what he was going to say now. "Just give him time, Lydia." And this was the moment I let my frustration show. "I have been here for a couple months. If he hates me now, he'll still hate me in the future." I excused myself, thanking Curio and headed to the room I shared with Juliet. I opened the door only to find Juliet by the windowsill, looking out into the city. I then remembered she was upset the last time I saw her.

"How are you feeling?" Juliet let out a sigh. "I feel frustrated because I want to know why I have to dress like a guy." I gave her a small smile, putting all my frustration to the side, and patted her on the shoulder. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. After all your 16th birthday is tomorrow and they promised to tell you then." Juliet looked at me. "Don't you want some answers as well?" I was confused at what she was trying to say. "What do you mean?" Juliet sat down on her bed while I went to mine. "Don't you want to know who you are, to recover your memories? Don't you want to know why no one has searched for you?"

I look out the window, my eyes fogging up. "Well, I do want to know but every time I try, it feels like there's some barrier over it. I'm not sure what it is but it feels like it won't disappear until something from my past triggers it." Juliet turned from the window, opting to look at the floor instead. I tried changing the subject to something lighter. "So, talking about the ball, what were you doing during the time while I was inside?"

I saw her cheeks flush and I gave her a cheeky grin. "So, what's his name?" She looked taken back. "What in heaven do you mean?" I made my way towards my bed, a smile playing on my lips. "Come on Juliet! There wouldn't be any other reason for you to blush like that if it weren't about a boy!" Next thing I knew, my face met Juliet's pillow. I laughed, pulling it to the side. "You can trust me!" I finally won her over. "Alright but you must keep it a secret, even from Cordelia!" Juliet became startled when I stood up suddenly. I walked over her to hold out my pinky finger. "I pinky swear"

Juliet intertwined her pinky with mine, perplexed by my serious expression. Once I sat down on my bed again, we both couldn't help but burst into fits of laughter. "I'm serious about that promise Juliet" Juliet gave me a small smile. "I know" She then explained to me the mystery boy she was infatuated with. It turns out this wasn't the first time they had met. "He found me by the fountain admiring a white iris. I was so transfixed by his eyes that it took me a while to understand that he had spoken."

I knew by the tone of her voice. "That is attitude of someone falling in love from first sight!" Juliet's cheeks turned cherry red. "Lydia!" I let up on my assault. "Alright, I'll try to stop with the teasing. So how does this fair Romeo from the ball look like?" She smiled softly and gave him a brief description while fighting off her blush. Her description mostly focused on his features, his light blue hair and light blue eyes that seemed to pierce her. This Romeo sounds awfully similar to my mystery asshole. My wondering thoughts must have shown on my face because Juliet asked

"What are you thinking about Lydia?" Quickly shooting my head up, with a clear blush of my face, I tried playing it off. This man and Romeo couldn't be the same person; Romeo seems much kinder than the man I met last night. I shook my head to disperse my thoughts. "Since you were so honest with me, I'll be honest. Last night after you left, I met this man when I went to go get some water and he asked me to dance."

Juliet chuckled a bit and once she calmed down so I could continue "Something about him seemed off and his posture screamed arrogance so I declined his offer politely." Juliet only raised her eyebrows before her own pillow hit her face. She laughed and asked me to continue.

"Then Emilia's friend popped up drunk trying to get me to dance. Then he appeared out of nowhere and helped me get rid of Emilia's friend easily though he smirked when I said I could have handled it. Then he forced me to dance with him and through some attempts that involved hitting his feet a lot, the song managed to end. Then I remembered about you and quickly left to find you, leaving him behind. Worst part of it all, I had to ask those nobles where you were until this disrespectful woman gave me this hateful look. The reason why is because I was gaining the interest of that awful man. Then when I was about to leave, the guards questioned what family I was from. The guy...ended up saving me again but he was too arrogant about it saying, 'never thought I would save a damsel in distress several times tonight' and I got pissed. Then he was invading my personal space but I managed to remedy that. The Francisco showed up, saved me from kicking the guy's ass and here we are."

Juliet spoke after a few moments of silence. "Did you get his name?" I shook my head. "No... I'm not interested in narcissistic jerks like him." I looked over at Juliet as she burst out laughing and I grabbed another pillow and threw it at her. Juliet dodged it and said, "I can't believe you did that!" I shrugged a little saying: "I'd rather be with you then some stranger. Though, now that I think about it, by the description you gave me of Romeo, the guy I was with could have been his older brother."

Juliet thought about it and said, "If we end up marrying them then that makes us sisters." I grabbed my other pillow and threw it in her direction and said, "It's not like I'm interested in him!" Juliet chuckled and said, "Then why are you talking about him?" I gave a quick reply. "I'm talking about it because the way you described Romeo is about the same description as the guy who...uh...helped me out though he looks older. Besides it's not like I'm ever going to see him again"

Julia suddenly got quiet and I couldn't stop a grin from forming on my face. "You're going out to meet him!" The look on her face confirmed my statement. "I-It's tomorrow, at the Iris garden near the fallen ruins." Suddenly everything started to make sense. "So that's why you didn't want me to tell Cordelia anything! Don't worry I'll distract her long enough for you to go meet your love!" Juliet nodded and said, "Thank you Lydia"

Before we could continue talking, the door opened to show Cordelia who quickly told us it was time to go to bed. Juliet and I protested but Cordelia's word was law and we quickly changed our clothes and got into bed, muttering goodnight. Cordelia went over to the drawer and blew out the candle, telling us to have sweet dreams and walked out. As the door closed, Juliet whispered, "We'll talk more in the morning, all right?"

"For sure, we need to plan out your secret date with Romeo" It was at this moment that Juliet realized she ran out of pillow to throw. "It's not a date!" She was too loud. "SHH! Keep your voice down before Cordelia comes back." Juliet understood what I meant. "I can't explain this feeling my heart gets when I am thinking about it." I smiled because Juliet was finding her happiness. "Maybe it's the blossoming emotion of love, Juliet" Juliet questioned me. "What about you?" I quickly gave her a skeptical look. "Whatever do you mean?" Juliet rolled her eyes. Don't tell me you aren't the least bit interested in your mysterious knight?"

I suddenly got defensive. "I'm not interested and he's not my knight. I was just some entertainment for him to alleviate the boredom that is other nobles. Besides I hate the man and his despicable behavior and wouldn't even touch him with a three-foot pole." Juliet looked at me weirdly. "You always have an odd way of speaking sometimes." I shrugged my shoulders. "Out of habit I suppose." Juliet seemed to be thinking about something before turning to me.

"Lydia, your words reminded me of something." What could I possibly remind her of? "What is it?" Juliet had this faraway look in her eyes. "It something William told me a while back. It went something like 'hate is not very different from love'" She is not insinuating thatI might have feelings for that asshole. "No way in hell, I rather put up with Francisco then fall in love with that asshole." Juliet understood if I ever compared anything to Francisco, I was serious "Lydia…" I shook my head and shot her a smile, which meant there were no hard feelings. "Let's just get some rest."

"Okay Ly…" Across the room we can hear a high pitch wine. "Go to sleep!"