Mathias froze at the sight before him. Looked up. Swallowed. Around him circled all the guests, which, upon his appearance, erupted claps of sincere joy.

"Stand up, my prince."

That voice.

Mathias saw the owner of the voice. Then, it dawned on him.

Her hair. Her eyes.

Mathias did as he was told. "I thought my eyes decieved me, but it really is you!"

"I told you we would definitely meet again."

A million questions raced in his mind, but upon noticing the change in outfit, there was none. There was only one thing on his mind: "I must ask. How did you change so quickly?"

His eyes wandered on every detail of the dress. The upper area was decorated with a patterened lace with strings of red lining around her neck and around the torso. The torso seemed extreamly tight, yet it successfully emphasized her petite waist. The lower area of the dress was long and it had numerous frills that swirrled and overlapped each other like a red and white star tip iced cake (the prince was fond of baking), which was also coincidently the colours of the Danish flag.

"A girl has her ways."

Mathias stared at the dress once more, and then looked up at the beauty it held. "Words alone cannot describe the magnificence of you dress."

"Then you should say: 'It is magnificent'."

"It is magnificent," repeated the prince in a whisper.

Princess Erika smiled bashfully to her side, and at her reaction the prince swore his face could expload any second.

Then suddenly he remembered the rest of the questions. Mathias held the princess' hand. "Why did you not tell me that you were Princess Erika when I first met you? I must have looked like a complete fool."

"If I had told you, you would treat me differently. Would you not? Treat me with coldness and disinterest? Now, that would be a more foolish action."

"I have said some horrid information, and if you would let me, I can only give my sincere apologies and ask for your forgiveness."

"You were only being honest, but I forgive you."

They enveloped each other into a loving embrace. Both kings looked at each other in surprise, wondering how the pair had become so close despite just knowing each other just this day.

Princess Erika peered over her fiancé's shoulder. When her eyes met those of the blonde butler from before, her lips formed a sickening sweet smirk, and she turned to whisper some words in her fiancé's ear, and upon hearing them, caused the prince to release her, caress her face tenderly, and then hug her again.

The words that the princess whispered were far too inaudible for Lukas to comprehend, but the prince's actions were completely visible to him. Out of nowhere, his knees felt numb and his stomach started to clench in severe agony. Terribly weakened, he slowly slid down the wall from where he stood and fell helplessly to the ground. He clutched onto his abdomen. Why was this happening? He looked back at the princess, who was drifting off into the crowd with the prince hand in hand. Then his stomach clenched tighter, and he moaned pitifully. He was sick. Yes. That was the only explanation.

He got up, and, after regaining his balace, he headed for the door, ultimately exiting the main hall.

The king made his way to his seat, and so the guests followed by returning to their assigned tables. "I would like to welcome everybody attending the engagement of, my son, Prince Mathias of Denmark and Princess Erika of Iceland. I give thanks to everybody for coming together to share and celebrate the occasion." The king motioned to his side. "I also especially welcome The King and Queen of Iceland."

The said guests stood up. The King of Iceland looked very much like his daughter, with his silver hair (which may come from his old age rather than genetics) and purple eyes. In contrast the Queen of Iceland lacked similar features to her daughter, as she had blonde hair and blue eyes. The person that caught Mathias' eye the most was the Queen of Iceland, and it was not due to her features, but her expression, which lacked emotion, only feigning happiness. It confused the prince. Today, her daughter would be engaged. Is that not the dream of every mother? On the other hand, Mathias looked at the King of Iceland's expression. He was gleeful like any normal father should.

The king continued with the greetings and then proceeded to share an anecdote - probably stories of his childhood - then ending his speech with a toast

"-I am most proud of my son as a result of the engagement. May this marraige brighten his future and strengthen the bond between Denmark and Iceland."

With champagne lifted in the air, everyone cheered. As quickly as the toast lasted, the guests went in search for the engaged couple to congratulate them personally.

Feeling the cheery vibe in the atmosphere, the prince thought that maybe the marraige would be a good idea. It was clearly destined that he would marry the princess - it was also clear that princess was was destined to be the girl he fell in love with in the garden! His parents were happy. The guests were happy. Princess Erika was happy too. Overall, he should be happy. Oh, and his butler should be happy too! When was the last time he saw the man smile? Alas, never! To see a smile form on Bondevik would certainly be a sign from God that his marraige is fated.

Mathias searched all ends of the main hall, but unfortunately, his butler was nowhere to be found. He decided to leave the room and search somewhere else, but as he made his was towards the door, his actions were halted. Princess Erika stood in his way.

"My prince, you seem troubled. Who or what is it you search of?"

Mathias looked at his fiancee bitterly. "I cannot find Bondevik. So I will go search for him."

Erika coiled her arms around the prince's and pulled him as far away from the door as possible. "Why him? There are other butlers in the room who can assist to you."

"Ah, but you do not understand-"

Erika interrupted. "I will ask one of the butlers to look for him. It is your duty to engage in conversation with the guests."

Mathias' eyes were drawn back to the door and he bit his lip. The crowd around him got larger and larger that he could no longer see the princess. He was fortunate, although, that he was very tall. Notwithstanding that the room was packed with many people, he managed to peer over the guest to search once more for his butler.

Concluding that his butler was unable to be found in the room, Mathias excused his way passed the guest, as well as avoiding Princess Erika's sight, and sneakily left the room to start his search.

Lukas limped aimlessly around the palace. Despite his three years of training, which included long hours of practice in standing straight, Lukas could not even manage to support his legs for a minute in the room. All his training gone to waste. He spat curse, after curse, after curse under his breath. It only took one look. A look that summoned and wrapped thorns around his mind and stomach and legs, that crippled his thoughts and actions and rendered him vunerable.

Bursting into a random room, he searched for a bed. There was one in the middle of the room and Lukas advanced towards it like a man finding an oasis in the scorching desert heat. At the contact of the cool comforter that draped the bed, his breath hiked, and Lukas submerged into the sheets of bliss.

Recollecting memories in his past, there was only one other moment where he felt like this. It was a memory he could never forget, and once again:

It only took one look.