Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait, I've been having writer's block while trying to write this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: A New Acquaintance

On the third day of being in the castle, Puck found himself beginning to get bored. It seemed as if the only thing everyone cares about is Rachel's schedule and getting her prepared for her coronation. His friends weren't there so it wasn't like he could do anything with them.

While he was walking to find Ryder, he passed Rachel and Sara. "Hey what are you guys doing?"

"I'm helping Rachel make arrangements for her party tomorrow night," Sara answered.

He looked at Rachel and raised an eyebrow. "Party?"

"Well it is more like a small get-together with the other princesses from neighboring countries. I do not usually have company for fun so I thought that it would be fun. Would you like to attend?"

"A party with a bunch of princesses? I'm there," he smirked.

Rachel tried to ignore the jealous feeling in her gut before nodding. "Great. Be in the common room tomorrow evening around six."

As they walked away, Puck went and found Ryder polishing silver. He went and grabbed one of the silverware and started polishing with him.

"Thanks but you know if someone catches you helping me I'll probably be in a lot of trouble for having a guest polish silver," Ryder told him.

"Well I'll help you out if that happens. But I wanted to talk to you and see what you had planned for tomorrow night."

Ryder thought about it. "I don't think I'm supposed to be helping with anything. Why?"

"You're coming to Rachel's party tomorrow night. There are going to be a bunch of hot princesses there and you might be able to have some fun for a night."

"Um sure I guess it could be fun," he shrugged.

As they polished the silver, they talked about what the princesses might be like and Puck had to admit that he was looking forward to this party. Since Rachel was going to find an eligible prince to marry, he could use this opportunity to find someone else and finally get over her.

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The night of the party, Rachel stood in front of her mirror observing of her plain black dress. She turned to Sara, who was sitting on her bed.

"What do you think?"

Sara frowned. "It'd be great if you were going to a funeral or something. Not a dress for a party." She got up and pulled out another black dress that was more suited for a party. "This is what you want."

"Really?" Rachel asked, taking the dress and looking at it.

"Trust me, you'll thank me later." She hesitantly agreed, walking into the bathroom to change. When she came out in the new dress, Sara smiled and nodded. "Much better."

After they were ready, Rachel and Sara went to the common room to meet up with the princesses who were just arriving. When they got there, Rachel found her eyes glued to Puck who was wearing a light blue button-down shirt that seemed to bring out his hazel eyes.

He walked over to them and smirked. "Well don't you ladies look nice."

"You look nice as well," Rachel replied before getting everyone's attention. "Ladies these are guests of mine who will be staying for my coronation. This is Noah Puckerman and his sister, Sara. Please make them feel welcomed."

As the party went on, Puck hung out with Ryder mostly. He looked at him. "So do you think you have a chance with any of them?"

Ryder laughed. "Not at all. You must be forgetting about the whole 'marrying a prince' thing."

"I mean I figured that was the case for Mercier. I didn't realize it was for every country. You mean no matter what, these girls all have to marry some arrogant prince?"

"Don't get confused, some of these girls can be pretty arrogant. Not all princesses are like the princess. Whereas the princess prefers to treat the servants like they're family, other princesses will be just as cruel and uncaring as a stranger would."

Puck looked over at one of the princesses who were getting something to drink. "Well I wonder what kind of princess she is."

Ryder smirked. "Why don't you go find out?"

He nodded and accepting the challenge, he walked over to the princess. "Hey so what country are you the princess of?"

"Someplace far away from worthless peasants like you," she glared as she walked away from him.

Puck turned back to Ryder who was laughing at his attempt but before he could walk back over to him, he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around he saw one of the other princesses standing in front of him.

"Do not worry about Beatrix," she told him in a sharp English accent. "She can be a little unsociable."

"If that's the case then why is she invited?"

"Rachel likes to include everyone, no matter how nasty they may be. That is what princesses do."

"I guess that's understandable." He held out his hand. "Noah Puckerman but call me Puck."

She shook it. "Princess Arabella of Maldove."

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm glad to see you are nothing like Beatrix. You're actually sweet," he smiled his flirtatious smile.

She reddened before smiling back. "Thank you for the compliment."

While they flirted, Rachel stood nearby watching them and felt the jealous feeling come back. Choosing to ignore it, she went over to Sara.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked.

Sara quickly nodded. "Oh yeah. Some of these princesses are really cool. What about you?"

"I suppose I am having fun," she answered, glancing at Puck and Arabella.

Sara looked in the direction of Rachel's gaze and frowned before looking back at Rachel. "Look Rachel-"

"It is alright. He is having fun as he should. If you'll excuse me, I have to check and make sure the hors d'oeuvres are ready to come out."

Without another word Rachel hurried away, leaving Sara standing there glaring at her brother. Of course her brother would be flirting with one of the princesses at Rachel's party. He doesn't know any boundaries.

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When the party was over, Puck found himself wishing it was longer. He was enjoying talking to Arabella and he was amazed at how he didn't think about Rachel once the entire night.

As he walked her out, Arabella turned to him. "Well I am content to know that you will be staying for two months. Maybe we will have more opportunities to get better acquainted."

"That's what I'm hoping for. I guess we'll see."

She smiled. "I suppose we will. Good night Puck."

"Good night," he smiled back as she got into her car. As it drove away, Ryder walked up behind him.

"So I'm guessing that went pretty well?" he asked.

Puck smirked. "Of course it did." When he started walking back to his room, he saw Rachel sitting on the staircase looking distracted. "Rachel?"

She looked up at him. "Oh hi. Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yeah I had a lot of fun. You?"

Remembering his interaction with Arabella all night, she frowned. "Um not as much as I thought I would."

"Why not?" he asked, sitting next to her. "I thought you wanted to have this party?"

"I did but it just was not what I was expecting."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe next time."

Rachel couldn't take the small talk so she cut right to the chase. "I saw you talking to Arabella. What do you think of her?"

He shrugged. "She's pretty cool. I'm not sure if I'll see her again though with her being princess of a whole other country."

"That's too bad," she replied but she knew she was lying. There was no way that she would've wanted Puck to be dating Arabella.

Puck could tell Rachel was tense but decided not to question it. "Yeah but I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me."

"You're welcome. I should be getting to bed now."

He nodded. "Okay well good night."

"Good night," she said as he walked away. As she retreated to her own bedroom, she couldn't understand why she felt the way she did. Her and Puck were over and have been over for five years. It was silly of her to feel any type of jealousy towards him and Arabella or any other girl he found himself attracted to. Hopefully finding a prince to marry would take her mind off of everything.

I'm sorry it's short but this chapter was more about setting up the next chapter. Let me know your thoughts. Bye for now :)