❦ quick note there's a lot of songs used in this chapter, u can listen to them or not but they're just recommended!! they're also all in the playlist!!

tw: talk about blood, wounds/cuts/scars, etc.

❧

Jean dreaded coming to work this morning and for obvious reasons. He didn't get much sleep last night because he kept replaying the heated conversation on the roof.

He had always known you as upbeat, energetic and bubbly. That's how everyone knew you. People rarely ever saw you angry or sad. Most of them were oblivious to the fact that it was because you could take away those emotions from yourself.

For the first time, he saw you angry. Like really angry. He couldn't get your furious face out of his head. Not just mad but hurt too. He kept seeing the tears that poured out of your eyes each time you blinked.

He felt horrible. Truly. He didn't even have the courage to tell his mom about it when he got home that night.

He also felt bad for not sticking around to sing happy birthday to you but he honestly didn't think you'd want to see him there anyway.

He wanted to apologize. Well, more like he needed to. He wasn't going to apologize for getting on to you because he still felt the same way, disappointed in what you did. That didn't change. But what he did want to apologize for was how he said it all.

He also wanted to apologize for all the years before that.

After he clocks in, he begins to walk to your room as slowly as possible. He had rehearsed his apology over and over in his head all night and on the way to work but he knew the second he saw you, his mind was going to go blank.

The closer he gets to your bedroom, the more his stomach twisted up into tangled up knots. Not only had he not slept but his nerves were eating him up inside. He felt unbearably nervous.

He notices that the paints he left at your door are gone so that was a clear indication you received not just his gift but his note as well. He prayed that somehow helped ease the tension.

In his hands, he held two cups of hot coffee. He figured this was also another peace offering even though he couldn't recall ever seeing you drink coffee. At this point, he was just reaching for something.

He leans up against the wall across your bedroom door and waits like he always does. It's still early in the morning so the castle was at its most quiet right now but not nearly as quiet as it is at night.

Since it was so quiet, he could make out noises coming from behind your bedroom door. He could hear indistinct muttering that he connected quickly to Mikasa's voice. Then, there was the obnoxious sound of your laughter.

Well, she's laughing. That's a good sign, right?

Not even realizing it, his foot was tapping rapidly against the floors causing the sound to echo down the empty hall.

Suddenly, the door swings open and you're smiling brightly when it does so he feels temporary relief which quickly disappears when your smile drops just as fast.

You freeze in place and Mikasa bumps into you from behind. "Ow! Why did you stop?"

He does the same, standing up taller and stiffer. "Oh, uh, goodmorning Princess." He bows before you.

You bowed? Seriously? And you just had to call her princess too.

"Morning." You curtsy awkwardly. You look at Mikasa for help but she just stands there with her lips curled as she tries her absolute hardest not to laugh.

This was definitely going much better than he had horribly imagined in his mind but it was still just as humiliating.

He holds out the cup of coffee to you, his arm extended straight. "I got you coffee."

You look down at the foam cup in his hand. "Oh. I can't drink that. I'm allergic to coffee."

"Shit!" He pulls the cup away quick as his body fills with panic. "You're allergic to something?! Since when?"

You cringe and avert your eyes. "Since forever, I think?"

Again. Idiot. How did you not know that?

Mikasa makes a loud snorting noise as she fails miserably to conceal her amusement. She takes the coffee from his hand. "I'll take that." She takes a sip and then lifts the cup up to Jean like she's making a toast. "She's all yours."

She disappears down the hall with the stolen coffee cup, leaving you and Jean standing in the same place. It only got more awkward after she left.

You stand at your door with your hands behind your back and your eyes exploring the empty hallway trying to distract yourself and avoid eye contact with him. He just takes steady sips of his coffee and looks down at his shoes.

"Thanks." You speak finally. His head shoots up. Your eyes meet but not for long because you nervously look away. "For the, um, paints. I know they're really hard to find and pretty expensive so thanks."

He runs a shaky hand through his freshly washed hair. It was still a tad damp and he can smell his shampoo when he rakes his fingers through his mane. "There's this store by my house that was having a sale on them. I got lucky."

"Oh. Well, still, thanks. I love them. They're the exact ones I wanted." You smile with your eyes. He could tell you were just as mortified as he was.

"You're welcome." He says and takes a large, painful gulp of his still burning hot coffee. Even the burning sensation stinging his throat was less painful than the awkward tension in the hall right now.

Everytime he had some alone time with you, people always interrupted. He hated that. But now that he was begging someone to save him, there was not a single person in sight.

He looks out the window and sees the morning sky noticeably brighter than it was when he first got here. "Did you sleep good?"

"I did actually!" You spring up. Jean felt his heart flutter for a second when he saw your usual happy expression light up your face. "I took some of the herbs Kai got me for my birthday and made a tea with it last night. I practically passed out after."

He felt himself regain his confidence. "That's great. I wish I could say the same, I didn't sleep well at all."

"No?" You ask. "I can give you some so you can try it."

Okay, she's willing to share with me. That's a good sign.

Maybe he didn't screw up so bad after all. Honestly, the paints probably saved his ass. That was a good move on his part. The note had to have earned him some points too. He made a mental note to thank Kai later.

"No, it's okay. I'll just get some myself, I don't want to use your birthday gift." He waves his hand in the air as he drinks more of his coffee.

Your excited eyes turn dull. "Oh okay. I'm sure Kai can tell you where he got them from then."

You goddamn idiot. Don't you see she's trying to be friendly and share with you?

Annoyed with himself he turns away as he silently cusses himself out in his head. You look down at your hands in front of you and mess with your fingers.

"I want to apol-" You both say at the exact same time.

You back up and gracefully lift your hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. You go first." For a moment there you looked like an actual princess.

"No, no. I'm sorry. You go." He not so as graciously waved his hand in the air now.

The two of you stare at eachother in silence for an excruciating long 3 seconds. You lay your palm out flat with one hand and make a fist with the other. "Rock, paper, scissors?"

He can't help but laugh. It was his real laugh too and it makes your eyes light up when you hear it. You even smile at him too. He does the same gesture with his hands.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" You both chant. You pick paper and he picks rock. Of course. You didn't know why but it was obvious Jean was the type of person to always start off with rock.

He cringes. "Best 2 out of 3?"

You laugh. "Nope. Go."

His hand comes out to meet his forehead and he closes his eyes. "Well, uh, I just wanted to say sorry about being mean to you yesterday. And every other day before that."

He didn't want to open his eyes. He closed them because it was easier for him to apologize without looking at you. But even now that he was finished, he dreaded opening his eyes and seeing whatever expression is on your face right now.

"I'm sorry too."

His eyes slowly open and he sees you looking down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with him as well. "For everything. For running away. For scaring you. For yelling at you and dumping all that stuff on you on the roof." You finish.

"It's okay." He says quickly. "I totally didn't lose sleep over it or anything."

You laugh vividly and he can't help but be proud of himself for accomplishing that. For some reason, his ears always perked up at the sound.

You close the door behind you and start leading the way to the library for class. Jean walks beside you and realizes he has absolutely no idea how to act around you now. Usually, he was his usual confident, snarky self. That was before when he didn't really have any kind of relationship with you, before you opened up to him about how you felt toward him even if it was years ago.

He looks at you from the corner of his eye and sees you stare past all the open windows to the view outside, your face away from his.

He admires the way you look briefly. Today, you were wearing a silk baby blue dress that was not as tight around your torso like the red one from yesterday was. He was surprised you were wearing yet another different color than usual.

"You're wearing blue today." Jean points out. You turn to him and then look down at your dress. "I am. I told Hitch I wanted to switch my closet up and she's having the time of her life making all kinds of different dresses for me."

Jean nods and forces himself to look away before he catches himself staring for too long or worse, you do. "This one looks more comfortable than the other one."

Your hand comes up to massage your side. "You have no idea. The dress was stunning but it was suffocating me."

"Did Hitch make it too tight or something?" He asks.

You shake your head. "No, she got my size perfect. It was just the corset part. Dresses like that have corsets that you tighten as much as physically possible to give the illusion of a more feminine physique or whatever."

Jean winces when he thinks about the pain and tries to put himself in that position. "Shit, I forgot about corsets. Those things sound painful. I heard they cut and bruise your skin."

You look at him and press your lips together like you're trying to telepathically tell him something. "I don't really...get that. My skin heals pretty quickly."

Jean stares at you in astonishment. Even though he's known about your gift for years, he always found himself forgetting about it. Probably because he didn't even know much about it in general besides that you can heal animals and people and that it was a major secret. He wasn't sure how it worked in full detail especially when it came to healing yourself.

He scans the perimeter to make sure no one is around before he carries on the conversation. "Your skin does it on its own or do you have to make it do that?"

You look up at the roof. "Um, well it kinda just does that on its own. I never really feel pain ever because my body doesn't allow it. It takes it away before my nervous system even registers it."

"That's incredible." He admits. There was so many questions he wanted to ask. So many questions he wondered about for years now.

You shrug. "It's pretty cool, I guess."

He can see the library inching closer and closer so he tries to keep the questions brief. He also didn't want to annoy you or make you feel overwhelmed. "So you've never felt actual pain?"

You laugh at him, savoring his child-like intrigue and curiousness. "Not really. I can feel discomfort but that's about it. I never get sick either. I get allergic reactions too but again, my body heals it up."

You stop in front of the doors of the library. "Part of the reason I started doing such reckless stuff was to test how much my body could take. I'd play with my brothers even if they were too rough just to see how quickly every cut, bruise or scrape healed."

"And?" Jean replies quietly as he stops in front of you.

"And nothing. I've never broken a bone, never sprained an ankle, never had to get stitches. My body just...doesn't allow any of it, no matter what crazy stuff I do." You say.

Jean was honestly speechless. He couldn't believe it was physically impossible for you to feel pain or for you to get hurt. Your body was like a force field. That explains how every single time he saw you fall or hurt yourself, he never once saw any sign of pain or a single wound on your skin.

He couldn't believe there was someone out there who has never felt pain in their entire life. Who has no idea what it even feels like.

You push the doors of the library and turn to Jean. "See you later."

He waves to you and watches as you disappear past the door. He can feel his shoulders grow a million times lighter. He can breathe normally again. He really was nervous and paranoid for nothing.

He takes a seat where he usually does as he waits for you to come out of class. He finishes the rest of his coffee and opens up the book he holds in his hand.

He really wasn't in the reading mood at all, especially not to read a book he read what felt like a hundred years ago but he honestly didn't have anything better to do while he waited here for a whole hour. Luckily, at the perfect timing, a distraction walks down the hall.

Ambrose struts down the hall, his eyes fixated on the cuff of his jacket as he adjusts it. Jean hops off the window and prepares himself mentally for what he's about to do. "Ambrose."

The prince looks up and stops in front of Jean. "Kirstein. To what did I owe the pleasure?"

Suddenly, the apology he rehearsed over and over disappears swiftly from his mind as if it never existed. Instead, he stood there awkwardly as Ambrose just stared at him. Apologizing to a girl was easy. Apologizing to a guy was much harder. Especially a guy as cocky as Ambrose.

A thing Jean always hated about being friends with Ambrose was no matter how confident he was in himself, it always dulled in comparison to the way Ambrose shined.

"Are you about to confess your feelings for me or something?" He grins.

Now Jean definitely didn't want to say anything. His pride just wouldn't allow it. It was easy to apologize to you because you weren't arrogant like your older brother.

But there was no way he could only apologize to one of you when he hurt both. He takes in a deep breath. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Ambrose's smug grin melts. It was obvious he wasn't expecting that at all. It was probably the last thing he expected actually.

"Y/n told me about how you guys felt about me leaving without saying anything and never answering your mail." Jean explains. "I didn't think it was going to affect you guys that much."

Ambrose steps backward and laughs roughly. "She said that? It probably affected her but not me. I didn't even notice you never wrote us back." Jean knew Ambrose long enough to be able to tell when he was just acting tough.

"Well that's not what y/n said." Jean tries not to smile or laugh.

Ambrose tenses up and was growing noticeably embarrassed. "Y/n is delusional and probably imagined that. It was probably one of her imaginary friends she used to play with." He snaps.

Jean smiles cockily. "It's okay if you got sad. I won't judge."

Jean catches Ambrose's jaw flex. He wasn't helping his case at all by getting mad and defensive because it was only proving that it was true.

He sits back down. "She also told me that's why you're such a dick to me now because you're still hurt about it."

Ambrose scoffs. "Why the hell do I care about something happened years ago? You didn't want anything to do with us, that's fine. You suck anyway."

Jean really struggled not to laugh. Even though Ambrose was noticeably older now, he still acted like his 12 year old self. Prideful and childish.

"Well, whether it was true or not, I'm sorry. I know it probably pissed you off that I came back years later like nothing after I ignored you guys the whole time. It was a shitty thing for me to do." Jean says.

Ambrose glares at him with his arms crossed. "Yeah, you're a piece of shit."

Jean laughs freely now. He scoots over so Ambrose can take the seat beside him and he surprisingly does.

The two always had a weird bond. They were like actual brothers. Always arguing, always competing against each other. It's the same way he felt toward Eren. He'd call him annoying and stupid but he cared for him nonetheless.

"That damn y/n can't keep her mouth shut." He grumbles under his breath when he takes his seat. "I bet she didn't say the part where she waited for the letters too."

Jean looks at the library doors. "She did actually."

Ambrose snaps his head toward Jean, surprise written all over his face. "Really? Wow. I'm surprised she admitted that."

Jean scratches the side of his head. "Yeah, me too. I know she's not big on saying how she feels but we got into an argument and she just exploded on me."

Ambrose cackles. "Yeah, that'll happen. That's the only time we can actually get her real feelings out. She bottles it all up and eventually explodes, spilling stuff she's been holding in."

"That's exactly what happened." Jean chuckles. "She definitely did not go easy on me either."

The prince shivers. "I can't even imagine. The girl is the nicest person you ever met until she snaps. Then she's brutally honest and says everything you need to hear ruthlessly."

The two laugh as they recall your blunt outbursts. Once the laughing ceases, the two just sit in silence until Ambrose breaks it. "Since you're trying to be the bigger person and apologize, I'll say I'm sorry too, I guess. I can't have you have some metaphorical win over me."

Jean wasn't surprised he was making an apology turn into a competition. If anyone was as competitive as Jean, it was definitely Ambrose. That's why they always bumped heads.

"For what?" Jean asks, genuinely curious on what exactly he was apologizing for.

"Yesterday. For threatening you to be careful with my sister. I know you would never hurt her but I haven't seen or heard from you in years. I don't know what kind of person you became since then. You came back like nothing. Was I supposed to automatically trust you?" He explains.

Jean looks at him confused. "Is that your apology?"

"The best you're going to get." Ambrose says stubbornly. "She's my sister and I have to watch over her no matter how annoying she is."

He stands up and looks at Jean who remains seated. "I still don't trust you. Especially not now when there's someone here trying to hurt her."

Jean stands up as well. "I get it. You have every reason to be paranoid. But I'd never hurt your sister. You may not believe me but I'll say it anyway."

Ambrose stands eye to eye with Jean, studying him carefully. Jean laughs a little. "It's quite adorable to see you get overprotective of her, I must admit. I never thought you cared for her."

Ambrose brushes off his comment and sits back down. "I used to not care if we're being honest. As a kid, I know I wasn't the nicest to her. I pushed her around, pulled her hair, pulled pranks on her, called her names. Yet, she was always still nice to me. She loved me and took care of me even after every mean insult I threw her way."

He grits his teeth. "I didn't deserve any of it. But that's the kind of person she is. She gives her love to everyone she feel needs it. And at the time, I needed it. I felt like I wasn't getting it from my parents because all they cared about was Elijah, Elijah, Elijah."

Jean leans up against the window with his arms crossed and smiles. "She won you over."

Ambrose scoffs and shakes his head at the ground. "Whatever. She's still annoying."

He gets up and clears his throat loudly like he's had something stuck in there for centuries. "This has made me extremely uncomfortable so I'm leaving now."

Jean laughs as he watches your older brother walk away. He truly hadn't changed a bit. He was always the type to cringe and get awkward when it came to talking about gushy, corny things like caring for people or love.

He had a big heart, Ambrose. He just hated showing it because he felt like it was a weakness. He showed his love with material objects because that was the only way he could comfortably express it without using words like he dreaded doing.

There's the sound of the library doors coming apart and Jean looks up. You slide past the door and close it behind you. "Restroom. Be right back." You inform him before he even gets to ask.

There was a part of him that was doubtful you were actually going to the restroom but he lets it go. He finally felt like he was in a decent place with you and didn't feel like ruining it by starting another fight.

He grabs the book from where he left it and picks up where he left off. He was not even halfway through the book. It wasn't that he didn't love reading, he actually secretly enjoyed it but he hated reading something that he already knew the ending to. He liked to be surprised.

His eyes still glued to the pages, he can hear the sound of footsteps approaching and he naturally assumes it's you returning from the bathroom.

"Hey." Eren calls. Jean looks up and he's caught off guard when he realizes it's his friend and not the princess. "Hey."

Eren lifts an eyebrow when he looks at the book in Jean's hand and laughs. "Romeo and Juliet?"

Using his thumb to hold his page in place, Jean flips the book over to show the cover. "Yeah, the princess is reading it for class and they're making me read it too, unfortunately."

"That sucks." Eren replies halfheartedly. "Anyways, the king and queen want to speak to you."

Jean halts for a moment. He could feel his blood pressure shoot up. Did they figure out what happened yesterday? Did the woman indeed tell the world?

"Did they happen to say what for?" Jean asks as he tries his best not to sound as panicky as he was.

Eren gives him a weird, confused look. "No? They just told me to come get you so I did."

I'm dead. I'm so dead.

Jean closes the book and hops off the window. "Okay, thanks. I'll make my way over there in a second."

Eren studies him cautiously. "You okay? You're all jittery."

Jean laughs it off. "I drank too much coffee so my body is a little wired. By the way, did you know the princess is allergic to coffee?"

Eren blinks slowly at Jean. "Doesn't everyone knows that?"

Apparently not.

Was he seriously the only person who didn't know? The worst part is he's known you for way longer than anyone else so you would assume he'd know something as crucial as that.

"I've got to go. I'm on gate duty today." Eren sighs. "See you later. Have fun reading your romance novel."

Just like that, Eren disappears down the hall leaving Jean alone as he tries to calm himself down before he headed for the ballroom.

He tried not to think so pessimistically as he approached his destination. I mean, if they knew what happened, wouldn't things be more intense right now? The castle was much too calm.

Maybe it was something else. It could've been a million different things.

Maybe, they wanted to congratulate him on doing so well. If he remembers correctly, the queen told him that if he did well on the princess's birthday, she'd make his promotion official and permanent. He tried his best to convince himself that's what this was.

He took deep breaths in attempt to keep his heart steady and control the painful heaving of his chest. He turns the corner and sees you standing by the massive ballroom doors, your ear pressing up against them.

"What are you doing?" He asks. You grab his arm and pull him closer to you. Scary close. Your chest was practically on his. You bring a finger to your lips signaling him to be quiet.

His heart was beating out of his chest and he was terrified you could feel it. He looks at you but your eyes are somewhere distant as you try to pay extra attention to the conversation you're eavesdropping on.

He could tell it was something serious by the uneasy expression on your face. You almost looked like you were about to be sick.

Considering right behind this door is the room the king and queen are usually found in, he knew whatever you're listening to is definitely on the more serious side.

It feels wrong but he listens in too. He had to know why you looked the way you did.

"If only she had been born normal. A lot of our problems would be solved, if not all of them."

Jean's heart stops. He didn't know the full context of the conversation since he had just tuned in but just that small part he overheard just now alone was brutal.

His eyes still on you, he notices that yours are sprung open. You originally had your thumbnail pressed between your teeth as you bit down on it but now it was back at your side.

Your head slowly falls lower and lower until your eyes are down on the ground, gazing at your shoes in front of his.

"Y/n." He says softly. His hands twitched like he wanted to touch you somehow but he didn't know how to comfort you. Does he hug you? Pat you on the back?

Your head comes up and you just walk past him like as if nothing even happened. He turns quickly to follow you. "Hey. You alright?"

You avoid looking at him as you walk down the hall. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm fine."

He looks back at the room he's supposed to be in right now and then back at you walking away from it. Does he follow you or does he go talk to the king and queen?

He gives up for a moment as he recalls Kai's advice from the other day.

"It's better to give her space when she gets like this. It can get ugly when you try to force her to talk about things when she doesn't want to."

It was useful advice from someone who you are the closest to. Naturally, it would make sense for him to follow that advice. Yet, he was internally fighting the urge to still run after you the more you ventured down the hall.

He recalls the few moments he had with you when he was younger. The few times he picked you up off the ground after your brothers pushed you around.

He would ask if you were alright and you'd stand up and say, "I'm okay," with tears in your eyes. He knew you weren't and that you were just saying that but even knowing that, he did nothing about it.

He regrets never doing anything back then. Especially now after you told him all you did yesterday on the roof.

But Elijah was right, there was no way to turn back time and do it all over again. The only thing they could do now to make up for it was to treat you the way they should've from the start.

He runs faster than you're walking so he can step in front of you and when he does, he hugs you tightly without second guessing it.

You gasp sharply when he pulls you into his arms. The side of your face rests firmly on his upper chest.

He could swear he could feel your heart beat quickly against his chest. Not that he was one to talk, his heart felt like it was going to burst from how fast it was going.

The two of you stand there, embraced together. For the first time in all his years of knowing you, he finally hugged you.

In fact, this is the first time he's ever touched you in any way besides your hand to pick you up from the ground or your arm to pull you to the side.

He'd give anything to read your mind right now
or just to see your expression to the sudden embrace.

Your arms remain at your side, your body still paralyzed from the surprise attack. "Why are you hugging me?"

Jean hugs you a bit tighter, his chin resting on the top of your head. "You're always so quick to take away anyone's pain. I may not be magical like you are but I'll do my best to try to take away yours."

Your frozen body begins to thaw and he can feel your hands come up to his back, finally returning the hug. You ball the fabric of his shirt into your hands. "Thank you."

He doesn't say anything and keeps you in his embrace until you pull away from him. When you do, you use the back of your hand to dry your eyes. "This is so embarrassing, I'm sorry."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jean says, shrugging his shoulders. He knew it would probably help with your embarrassment if he acted like it never happened.

You laugh and your hand comes up to your forehead. "Yeah, me either." You look up at him, your eyes were glossy and tears clung to your eyelashes. He felt weird admitting it but you always looked so pretty even when you cry.

You clear your throat and fix yourself up. "Okay, I've got to get back to class before Armin gets mad at me."

You walk past him and he watches as you do. Once you're out of sight, he turns back to the enormous doors and takes a deep breath before he pushes them open.

The queen turns to the door and smiles as if she hadn't just said what she did a few moments ago. "Oh, Jean. Good, you're here."

Clearly, he was just overthinking it because if what he thought was going to happen was true, it definitely wouldn't have started with a smile on her face.

He bows. "Did you need me, your highness?"

He couldn't stop hearing those harsh words in his head even though it wasn't even referring to him. He couldn't imagine how you must've felt. He could tell it hurt you just by looking at your shocked expression that you allowed to show for a spilt second.

"I heard yesterday went well." She announces. "I'm going to be honest. I was extremely worried. I didn't think she'd take too well to the new adjustment but it looks like the two of you are handling it well. She had no complaints about you at dinner either when I asked how she felt."

Wait. Seriously? After I yelled and everything? You didn't say a single bad thing about me?

"I'm happy to hear that." Jean responds. He actually was.

The king speaks up now. "We'd like to offer you the job full time. You'd stay here in the castle at all times to always be at hand in case of emergencies."

Yeah, they definitely, definitely had absolutely no idea what happened. He prayed it stayed that way.

"Of course I understand you want to keep a close eye on your mother as well so you're free to come and go as you please to check on her in your spare time." Queen Solana adds.

Suddenly, Jean felt like he was 10 years old again. "I would have my own room here?" He recalls the many nights he slept in the castle when he was younger but it was always just temporarily borrowing one of the guest rooms. He never had his own actual room to call his and that he'd sleep in every night.

The queen nods. "Yes, the room to the right of y/n's. Mikasa's room is on the left so y/n's room will be in the middle."

King Hendrix looks away. Jean could tell he was uncomfortable with the idea of him staying so close to his daughter but the queen most likely convinced him to agree to the plan whether he liked the idea or not.

He also knew that if it were anyone else, the king would've immediately said no but since he's known Jean since he was a literal baby, he was a bit more at ease with the idea. He knew Jean always had good intentions.

"Well, if she's comfortable with it and so are you two, I'd be happy to do it full time." Jean says.

The queen shines her usual bright smile. The two of you had the same cheesy grins. "It's so wonderful seeing your face around the castle all the time again. Seeing you with the boys all grown up warms my heart. Especially with y/n. I love seeing all of you together."

She walks up to Jean to speak closer to him. "Also, I'm sorry if things are tense right now. We're all a bit stressed. Trying to keep a close watch on anyone who may want to harm y/n while also trying to get her properly married is a challenge."

"If only she had been born normal. A lot of our problems would be solved, if not all of them."

So that's what she was referring to. They were stressed out of their minds already and they had no clue what you did yesterday. He could feel his mouth grow dry and his body turn numb when he tries to envision how much worse things will get.

Then there was the marriage. The ball was tomorrow already and you were forced to pick a suitor by the end of the night or your parents will do it for you.

He couldn't blame you for doing something rebellious one last time before they shipped you off to some far away land. It was like you said on the roof, there was going to be no next time. That was your last chance to do something like that.

He could see both sides. He understood your parent's paranoia but he also sympathized with your yearning for something new, something different. He felt the same way.

"You can go home tonight as usual and then tomorrow morning you can begin to bring your belongings here. From then, you'll be staying here." The queen dismisses him before she attends back to her duties.

He exits the ballroom and closes the doors behind him. He was relieved he didn't get killed on the spot like he envisioned in his head but he was still nervous. He may have gotten away with it today but who knows about tomorrow.

He catches the time on a nearby clock he passes by and notices a tremendous amount of time has passed and you were out of class for a while now. "Shit!"

His mind is so consumed by his own thoughts that he doesn't even pay attention to where he's going until he turns the corner and walks right into Kai, causing him to drop his bagel that was smeared with grape jelly.

The prince frowns as he looks down at the ground. "Hey man, what the hell?"

Jean fails to conceal his laughter. "Sorry, I didn't see you there, I was in a rush. Do you know where your sister is?"

Kai bends to pick up his fallen bagel and looks at it in disgust as a hair clings to it. "I don't know, aren't you supposed to know?"

"Well I figured she'd be with you since class is over for her." Jean admits.

Kai tosses the dirty bagel away in a nearby trash can. "We aren't always together, you know? Even I need a break from her sometimes too."

Jean sighs and rests his back up against a nearby pillar. "She might need you right now though."

Kai's restful facial expression snaps awake. "Why did something happen?"

"She overheard your parents talking about her. I didn't hear much of it but the part I did hear...it wasn't very pleasant." Jean admits.

Kai groans and rubs at his eyes. Jean could tell he had just woken up and clearly hadn't eaten due to the fact that his breakfast ended up on the floor. "Great. I'm not sure who I should be more upset with, my parents for not knowing how to whisper or y/n for ease dropping."

He walks into a nearby room that was like a common room for the royal family. It had multiple couches and chairs and a table filled with snacks and pastries. "So, what did they say?" He asks as he grabs another bagel and begins to apply jelly onto it.

Jean steps into the room and takes a seat on one of the chairs before he grabs a piece of sweet bread from the decorative table. "I don't even want to repeat it."

Kai sits on the chair across from him. "Was it that bad?"

Jean allows the food in his mouth to travel safely down his throat before he continues. "Your mom said something along the lines of wishing y/n was born normal and that it would solve all their problems."

Kai begins to cough as he chokes on his bagel. "Jesus. And she heard that?"

Jean nods and breaks off another piece of the bread and inserts it into his mouth. Kai slouches into his chair, his legs stretching outward and apart. His mother would have a heart attack if she saw how he was seated. He had terrible posture for someone who was supposed to be a prince. He says nothing but Jean could see the wheels in his working mysteriously.

"I thought since she developed a better relationship with you three, she did the same with your parents as well." Jean says mimicking Kai's lazy position. It was surprisingly comfortable.

Kai wipes jelly from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. "It has gotten better. But when it comes to her gift, no matter how close their bond is, they're bound to stress over it."

Jean leans forward, correcting his posture and forcing his body to be more present in the conversation. "So it is better now though? Her relationship with them."

Kai stares at Jean for a moment and then pats his face clean with a napkin. He breaks his eyes away to look out the window. "You could say that. They definitely speak to her more than they used to but they still maintain a safe distance."

"Safe distance?" Jean questions. "Why would they even need to distance themselves from her?" He caught his tone coming off as a bit hostile.

Kai doesn't look at him. Whatever he was seeing outside the window had his attention locked in. Or maybe he just couldn't look at Jean for some reason. "They're distant from her because they don't want to get attached. They know she's eventually going to leave. I'm guessing they felt it was easier that way."

He stands up and makes his way over to the window and places both hands on the pane. "My mom tries to keep a distance but sometimes she just can't resist. She finds herself drawn to y/n just like everyone else, probably even more considering they have that maternal bond or whatever."

He opens the window and allows fresh air to come in. "My dad is much better at it. Mainly because he's a man and it's easier for him to disguise his feelings. Although even he too succumbs to y/n's compelling personality sometimes."

He chuckles to himself a little. "You didn't hear it from me but that's why Ambrose is that way with her too. He probably won't admit it but he loves her to death. He's just too scared to get attached to her. That's why it was easier to push her away when he was younger. He didn't see a point in getting close to her if she was just going to leave. Of course,that changed with time."

"And what about you?" Jean asks.

Kai turns to look at Jean while still standing in front of the open window. "I don't worry too much about her leaving. It's not like I'll never see her again. I'll find a way to go visit her wherever she goes even if it means I got to break out of here myself."

Jean smiles at the ground. "She is loved so deeply, I don't even think she realizes it."

Kai allows the wind to blow in his face for a moment and he closes his eyes to enjoy the breeze even more. "She's an idiot so probably not. But yes, she's very loved. We just have odd ways of showing it, I suppose."

Jean sighs and stands up admitting to himself that his little break is over and he needs to return back to his job. "She's not an idiot. I'm sure she knows you all love her, odd gestures or not."

Kai looks at him, standing a few feet away. Jean hated when Kai stared because it was the one time the approachable boy looked absolutely intimidating. He had a stare so chilling that it could freeze water. "What is she to you? How do you view her? Like a sister?"

Jean almost throws up in his mouth. "No, definitely not like a sister. She's..." He thinks of an appropriate term for a moment.

"I could've been your friend too!"

He smiles gently. "She's a friend. That's how I see her."

He catches Kai notice him smile and he quickly recovers. "I see all of you differently. You're my best friend, Ambrose is like a brother to me. Elijah is someone I admire and look up to. And y/n, she's my friend. I know she'd be there for me if I needed it."

Kai's icy glare softens and his face returns to its normal state. "You're my bestfriend too."

It was true. Kai was his bestfriend. His childhood one. Since he had left, he had made many other close friends like Marco and Connie. Even Eren when they weren't fighting. But no matter how close he got to them, Jean's bond with them didn't compare to the one he held with Kai. It was a bond that remained strong even after the several years they hadn't spoken at all.

He used to tell Kai everything as a child. No one knew him better and vice versa. It was odd when he left and never spoke to him again because he knew that there was someone out there who knew all his deepest, darkest secrets.

"I know I can trust you and that you'd never do anything to make me feel otherwise." Kai adds. For some reason, even when Jean undoubtedly knew he'd never betray Kai or any of his friends, he still felt anxious hearing those words.

"Right." Jean says. He shakes himself back into reality and his eyes search for a clock somewhere in the room to check the time. "11:47. Where would she be right now?"

"Today is Friday." Kai points out. "She has violin lessons on Friday's at 11:30."

Jean freezes. "She does? I didn't know her schedule was different on Fridays. I didn't even know she took violin lessons."

Kai laughs and passes by Jean to exit out the room. "You seem to know nothing about your so called friend." He teases.

Jean forms a straight face. "I'm trying to learn, at least." He follows Kai out of the room and shuts the door behind him.

"I'm going to go eat in the cafeteria. Y/n should be in the music room. Her class ends at 12:15, take her to the cafeteria after so she can eat. Don't let her say no either." Kai informs. He was already halfway down the hall before Jean can even mutter an okay.

He turns on his heel to head in the opposite direction toward the music hall. The closer he gets, the more he can hear the song playing inside.

[play Reflections by Toshifumi Hinata]

It had just started so he arrived perfectly on time. Through the window, he can see who he assumes is your instructor seated at the piano and playing along. You sit perfectly on a nearby chair and play the sweet sounding strings of the violin.

Although it originally caught him by surprise that you could play the instrument, he wasn't surprised when he came to see how well you played it.

It was almost annoying how good you were at it along with everything else you attempted. It didn't even look like you were trying at all.

The strings obeyed you without hesitation. The bow gracefully moved against the strings as smooth as butter. The sound it produced was heavenly.

For a girl who was usually jumping around and seemed to be physically unable to sit still, you looked abnormally at peace. This is probably the most relaxed he's ever seen you.

You looked like you were in a whole other world. If Jean hadn't seen you playing the instrument with his own eyes, he'd honestly think it was an actual skilled composer playing right now.

He never saw himself learning to play the violin. Hell, he never even saw himself attempting to. Just the thought of it sounded difficult and time consuming. He was sure he'd could do it if he set his mind to it but unfortunately, he didn't have the patience to take on the challenge.

Yet, here you were, making it seem like it was the easiest thing in the world. Just looking at you, he felt like he could do it. Matter of fact, it made him feel like he could do absolutely anything.

Even your instructor seemed mesmerized by your playing. She was playing the piano but her eyes were stuck on the girl in the chair beside her.

You really were something else. The more he learned about you, the more impressed he grew. He found you fascinating. He yearned to learn more. He felt himself grow excited at what else he'd unfold about you.

At the start, he found himself being jealous of you. Jean was a hard worker, everything he has, he worked for and achieved all on his own. He wasn't saying you weren't a hard worker but he knew you didn't put nearly as much effort into things as he did but that's only because you didn't need to.

In school, he was praised for being the best at a lot of things. He always pushed himself to be. He never allowed himself to be anything but the best.

Then there was you. You who picked up a bow and arrow for the first time in your life and on your third try, you hit the target perfectly in the center and never missed a single target after that. You who picked up an instrument and needed only one lesson to be practically fluent in it. You who spent most of her life locked in a room yet had captured the heart of everyone outside of it just by being yourself.

You were effortlessly incredible. He was no longer envious of you. He was enchanted by you. He was captivated by your natural ability to be so beautiful in every way.

He also found it odd how humble you were about it. Each time you hit a target, you would smile proudly as if you didn't hit 10 others before that one. Each time someone complimented you, you'd graciously thank them and insist that you weren't even as good as they claimed you were.

He wanted to be more like you but he knew that was impossible. The two of you both had fiery personalities but you burned a different kind of flame. To him, you were something like a warm, sunny day. You are the rays of sunlight that come down and illuminate the world around you.

He, on the other hand, was more like a resilient burning flame. When fuel is added, he burned faster and stronger. He burned wildly and spread like a forest fire but he was put out just as easily on a rainy day.

He was so zoned out that he doesn't even realize the song came to an end as well as your class. From the window, he can see the instructor compliment your playing skills before she bows before you and grabs her belongings.

When she opens the door to leave, Jean slips in. You had your back toward him as you gently put the violin safely back in its respective case.

"You know, you're quite complex." Jean admits. You jump a little and spin around. When your eyes register it's him, you lift your chin up and smile. "Is that so?"

Jean hands you the violin bow that was resting on top of the piano. "I seem to find out more and more about you everyday. I wasn't aware you could play the violin, for example."

You laugh and take the bow from his hands and put it into the case along with its accompanying instrument. "Amongst other things, yes."

His hand glides across the spotless surface of piano. "Is there anything you can't do?"

You grab a book from the nearby couch and toss it on the fluffy rug nearby. On the same rug, you lay down on your belly as you flip through the pages. "Haven't you paid attention? There's many things I can not do. Leave this castle or make decisions for myself, for example."

He scoffs. "That isn't what I meant." He sits on the piano bench and hovers his fingers just barely above the keys. "You're naturally amazing at everything."

You finally find the page you left off on and look up at Jean from the floor. "Says the one who demands he be the best at everything."

He smiles briefly. His fingers apply pressure to certain keys creating the beginning of a melody. He turns to ask if you had a song you'd like to hear him play but he gets lost in thought when he sees you.

You were still laying on your stomach, your arm bent to hold your head up as you read the pages in front of you. The sunlight coming from the window beside you caused you to look more radiant than ever.

As you read, you hum a song. He could barely make out what song it was although, it sounded extremely familiar. It was almost nostalgic in a way.

"Jean."

He snaps back into reality, his eyes blink rapidly to recover fast from his daydream. He didn't know how long he was staring at you for but you were now staring right back at him. "Yes?"

"Love. How would you describe it?" You ask.

He turns his body while remaining seated on the bench. "Love?"

You pick at a flower stem and shove it in crevice of the book to act as bookmark. You then lift up the book so that the cover is facing Jean. "Romeo and Juliet. I have to write my report on it and how my idea of love has changed since I was younger."

He turns forward to the keys in front of him. "Ah. What was the question again?"

"How would you describe love?" You repeat.

He starts trying to mimic the song you were humming earlier on the piano but it doesn't work out well. "Love is..."

You sit up, your legs laid out to the side as your dress drapes your body beautifully. Blue looked incredible on you. "Well, haven't you ever been in love?"

He chuckles. "I suppose you could say that."

You sit straighter, your curiosity peaked. "You have?"

"Although that's none of your business." He insists.

You frown. "Are we not friends?"

He stops playing and averts his attention to you. "Friends? Is that what we are?"

"Why not? I've said all I needed to say to you. We've both apologized. I'm over it now." You declare confidently. You stand up and approach the piano. "Did you still have things you needed to say?"

Tons. But he wasn't ready to say any of it. "No." He replies.

You clap your hands together. "There you go, problem solved. Peace is achieved and the world is at ease again."

You lean up against the piano and flip through the sheet music. He stares at you in disbelief. "So all that happened yesterday, it's just over and done with?"

You stop at one of the pages and read the notes. "Depends on what parts you're trying to forget." You set the book down on its stand and gesture at Jean to play it.

"Definitely not the ones of you flirting with me." He teases as he adjusts his fingers to meet the correct keys that correspond with the music notes.

Your laugh echos around the room. "I don't recall ever flirting with you. You must've mistaken me for someone else."

He looks at you and flashes his dazzling smile that rarely ever failed him. "Oh, a face like that is hard to confuse for someone else."

Your lips curl into a smile and you shake your head at him as you stare into his eyes. "So this is oh-so-charming Jean Kirstein everyone speaks so highly of. It's incredible how long you've managed to keep him hidden. From me at least."

Jean's fingers swim along the keys, creating beautiful music that danced around the lonesome room. "So you think I'm charming?" He grins.

You roll your eyes. "I think you know how to smooth talk someone into getting what you want."

You were standing so close to him but at the same time, you felt so far. He sat on the piano bench as he played the keys and you stood right beside him, your body leaned up against the very instrument.

"And what is it that I want in this situation?" He asks, looking up at you. You stare down at him and don't falter. "You tell me."

He continues the song and you watch as he does. You point at his hands and casually say, "You're good with your hands."

His fingers twitch and a long dung noise escape the piano. He hated his dirty mind. You laugh at his sudden tenseness. "What?"

"Nothing." He shakes off. "Thanks."

You grab your belongings and head for the doors. "I'm hungry. I've haven't eaten and I assume neither have you." Without even waiting for him, you exit the door and he stumbles out after you.

The two of you walking along side each other and from the corner of his eye, he looks down and realizes how dangerously close his hand is to yours.

His eyes trail up from your hand to up to your arms and shoulders. The blue dress hung loosely around your shoulders, exposing the tops of them and your collarbone area.

On the top of the sleeves, there were pretty little flowers that lined across and trailed down to the middle of your dress. How Hitch managed to create a dress like this in just a day blew his mind.

It didn't amaze him as much as the person wearing it though.

"Do I have something on my face?" You ask suddenly.

He jumps and turns away. "No. Why?"

You side eye him. "Well, you've been staring at me non stop all morning."

Panic began to swallow him whole. It wasn't like he was trying to stare at you. He just couldn't help it.

He obviously wasn't going to admit that though.

"You have a booger hanging out your nose, that's why." He says quickly.

Your hand shoots up to your nose. "You're lying. Why didn't you say anything?!"

He shrugs. "I wanted to see how long it would take for you to notice."

With the same hand that was pinching your nose, you wipe whatever was on there on his sleeve. He yells and jumps away from you.

The two of you enter the cafeteria and approach the usual table. At the table sat: Eren, Connie, Marco, Mikasa and Kai. Normally, it was not customary that someone of the royal family sat with the employees or even in the cafeteria in general. But you and Kai were usually always found here eating with everyone else. Not that the two of you even remotely behaved as royalty.

You take a seat by Mikasa while Jean takes one by Marco. They were all practically done eating and just finishing their meals. Mikasa stands up once you're seated. "Do you want me to grab you some food?"

"I got it." You stand up and run to the kitchen before she can even argue with you. Jean follows to grab himself a plate as well.

Surprisingly, the kitchen was empty. Mainly because everyone was on their lunch break right now. Jean watches as you lift up lids and stir pots to figure out what you want to choose from.

Everything smelt amazing as per usual. It only made sense that the king and queen had the best chef in the land working for them.

"Pass me your plate." You say holding your hand out. He frowns and looks down at the dish in his hands. "You're going to serve me?"

You give him a stupid look. "Don't be weird about it."

He hands you the plate and you serve him the exact way you served yours. "Thanks." He mentions when he takes the plate back.

"Mhm." You suck some sauce off your thumb. The two of you wash your hands and walk over to a nearby closet to grab some extra napkins since there seem to have been no more in sight.

Without too much thought, you swing the door open and your plate in your hand comes crashing to the floor as your hand slaps your mouth shut. Jean rushes over to the closet and sees Niccolo and Sasha in an extremely close embrace with very minimal clothing and a can of whipped cream.

Jean immediately bursts into a laughing fit. You stood there trying to process what was happening in front of you. Sasha falls to the ground as she tries to shove her dress back on and Niccolo quickly wipes any whipped cream from his face.

"Oh my god." You howl with laughter. Sasha, with her hair undone and only one sleeve properly on her shoulder, approaches you and grabs you by both shoulders. "Please don't tell your parents. Or anyone for that matter."

You and Jean both watch as Niccolo tries to escape the tight space and trips over something landing hard on the ground. Sasha gasps and helps him up.

"Why would I tell anyone?" You ask. Her large, doe eyes turn to Jean. Jean gags. "Why would I tell anyone either? I'd love to forget what I just saw."

Niccolo laughs painfully as he rubs at his palm he hurt when he tried to break his landing. "It'll never happen again."

Sasha turns to him. "It won't?"

He looks at her with a panicked expression. "Yes!" He then turns back to you and Jean with an even more fearful look. "I mean, no!"

Jean puts his hand on the anxious chef's shoulder. "You mean you won't get caught again next time."

You stare at the can of whipped cream in Sasha's hand. "Why do you have whipped cream?"

Sasha stares at Jean in horror, much too humiliated and terrified to even look in your direction. Her eyes signaled Jean for help but Jean just stood there smugly with a smirk on his face. 

"We were sneaking some, that's why we were in the closet." She lies quickly. "We didn't want anyone to see we were just eating it just us two."

You raise an eyebrow. "Half naked?"

Both Sasha and Nic turn the same shade of bright red. Niccolo comes up to you and falls to his knees. "I'll make your favorite dishes all week long."

Sasha falls to her knees beside him. "I'll force Connie to let you shoot an apple off his head without moving this time."

You look at Jean with complete confusion and he shrugs back at you. "I wasn't going to tell anyone either way but deal. To both of those." You say.

The indecent couple both exhale and exchange looks of relief. "But—" You add. They both freeze up again and look at you with large eyes. "Jean might say something."

Jean frowns for a second but then you elbow him and he catches on fast. "Yeah. What's in it for me?" He wasn't going to snitch either but hey, he wanted free stuff too. He caught himself smiling at the fact that you thought about him too.

Sasha groans. "Name your price."

Jean grins. "Niccolo, you have to make me breakfast every morning. I want—" He looks at you and whispers. "What do I want?"

You whisper back. "Blueberry pancakes."

Jean raises his voice louder. "I want blueberry pancakes." He then lowers it to ask you something again. "Actually, can I have french toast?"

You give him the helloooo expression. "You can literally get both."

"Oh right." Jean turns back to the couple still kneeling on the ground. "I want both blueberry pancakes and french toast."

Niccolo sighs and stands up, dusting off his pants. "Deal."

You and Jean both exchange proud looks at eachother. Sasha fixes herself up in the reflection of a window nearby and then rushes out the kitchen. Niccolo clears his throat, washes his hands and fixes you another plate since you dropped yours.

As if nothing happened, the two of you return back to table and see a whole heated conversation is being engaged between Connie and Eren and by heated, I mean Connie making fun of Eren for getting nervous around Mikasa and Eren getting defensive about it.

As much as Jean found it especially entertaining when Eren was throwing a fit, he also didn't care enough to tune into the discussion mid conversation so he just eats instead. You on the other hand haven't touched your plate.

You frown as you look at Jean's plate and then back at yours. It was like you were trying to figure out what was missing from yours. You then groan loudly when you realize what it is. "I forgot to grab a drink."

Mikasa and Jean both stand up at the exact same time. "I'll get it." He stares at her and she stares right back at him, her face giving the iconic Ackerman glare.

Eren pushes his chair back. "I'll get it. Sit down Mikasa."

Wow, fuck me right?

Mikasa blushes and sits down. "Okay." Connie snorts. "Awww, Jaeger is so sweet."

Eren grits his teeth but keeps walking. Jean sits back down while everyone laughs at Eren stomping away. He looks to see if you're joining in on the laughter and notices you smiling with kind eyes instead. For some reason, Jean felt a weird sensation in his chest.

You scoot closer to Mikasa and whisper in her ear, then the two of you look in the direction of the kitchen which Eren just entered.

He felt it was better he just stopped watching and focused on the plate in front of him. It wasn't any of his business anyway but he had just grown accustomed to being around you so much now that it felt odd to share you with other people.

Eren returns and hands you a cup of what Jean assumes is sweet tea because that's what everyone else is drinking. That or water. "Thank you!" You beam as you take the cup from him.

Jean's eyes return to his food but his attention doesn't stay there long when he hears you spit out the drink all over the space in front of you and gasp for air.

Your hands were wrapped around your throat and Jean saw a flash of your skin breaking into horrendous hives and your lips get swollen but the second he blinked, your skin was normal again.

Everyone, including Jean, shoots up from the table. Mikasa turns your body to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

You cough twice and your hands leave your throat. "Yeah, I'm fine." You look around the table at all the concerned looks coming from your friends and brother. "It went down the wrong pipe. Sorry."

Everyone sighs with relief and returns to their meals. Everyone besides Mikasa, Jean and Kai. The three people who knew that there was a traitor in the castle.

Kai looks at Eren. "What drink did you get her?"

The entire table goes silent. Eren chews his food and knits his eyebrows together. "Huh?"

"Oh god." You groan and start to pick up the mess you made. "Don't start please."

Connie frowns. "I'm confused."

"I got her iced tea. What else?" Eren snaps. Kai shrugs, his face completely straight. "Okay, from where?"

"From where the hell else? The kitchen. Don't ask stupid stuff." Eren shouts, visually getting angry. His vexed expression drops drastically when he remembers who he's getting rowdy with. No matter how cool and laid back Kai was and no matter how well he and Eren got along, he was still a prince. A prince who had Eren's career practically wrapped around his finger. "Sorry."

Jean turns to see the liquid that spilled from the cup to investigate it further but you've already cleaned it all up and thrown all the evidence away.

Mikasa looks at you furiously but stays silent. He could just tell she was going to go off on you for doing that when it was just the two of you alone.

"Okay, lunch time is over. Go do your jobs." You say clapping your hands. They all stare at you with utterly blank faces. You raise your voice. "Like now."

They all exchange looks and stand up from the table throwing their trash away and cleaning any mess. Marco and Connie are the first to walk out and Eren follows. Not before Mikasa stops him.

She lays a hand on his arm, gently but with a good enough grip to force him to stay if he tries to make a run for it. "Sit."

He looks at her bewildered. "Huh?"

"Sit." Kai says louder so he can be heard from where he remained seated. "I don't think she stuttered."

Eren gives him the ugliest look you've ever seen in your life but sits down at the table. Jean pretty much knew what was happening. Mikasa and Kai believe Eren to be the traitor.

To understand their reasoning, he had to realize what really happened. Eren gave you a drink, you had an allergic reaction to it it seems and you healed yourself just a few seconds later.

It made sense Eren was being suspected. He's the one who got you the drink. And if he recalled correctly, just earlier today he and Eren were discussing how you were allergic to coffee. He himself said he already knew that.

But it seemed too easy. Too obvious.

A traitor wouldn't be caught practically poisoning someone in the middle of the day with a room full of people who could easily take him down.

Unless Eren was that stupid. And for a moment Jean thought, hey, he sorta is.

But not that stupid. He had known Eren for years now. He didn't even see Eren doing something like that. What for? What reason would he have to hurt the princess who has always been so kind to him? It didn't make sense.

"Did you give y/n coffee?" Mikasa straight up asks. Eren turns to her, clearly offended. "What the hell? Why would I do that?"

She stares at him with her arms crossed and then looks at Kai asking him to take the lead. Kai, who rarely ever got angry but when he did, it was ugly, stands up and stands in front of Eren. "She's allergic to coffee and she had an allergic reaction when you gave it to her."

Eren laughs with anger. "How was I supposed to know it was coffee?! It was next to all the other cups of tea."

"You couldn't smell it?" Jean asks tauntingly.

Eren snaps his head to him but shoots a finger right at you. "She didn't smell it either! She wouldn't have even drank it if she had! I promise it didn't even smell like coffee!"

"He's right." You speak. Mikasa glares at you. "Be quiet."

"I don't understand. Why would I give her coffee knowing she's allergic? Plus, she didn't even have a reaction! Shouldn't she been swollen right now? Or struggling to breathe or I don't know, dying maybe?" Eren defends. He looks at you. "She looks perfectly fine!"

That's right. Eren has absolutely no idea about your powers. It wouldn't make sense if he was the traitor then because he would've known about your abilities and wouldn't have wasted his time with something you could just heal right away. Again, Eren is not that stupid.

"I don't think it's Eren." Jean speaks up. "I think someone did try to poison y/n but it wasn't Eren. Eren was just the cover up."

He was proud of himself for putting it together so quickly. Someone set Eren up. It had to be.

Right?

"You don't think what's me?" Eren asks. He also seemed genuinely fucking confused.

Mikasa's icy glare turns to Jean. "Why?"

Jean scratches his chin. "The person who is the traitor obviously knows about y/n or else they wouldn't be after her in the first place—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Eren interrupts. "Traitor?You think I'm a traitor?!"

"A spy." Mikasa corrects. "But initially yes, a traitor."

Jean carries on with his theory completely ignoring the other two talking. "The person knows poisoning y/n wouldn't have worked. So what was the point then?" He holds out his hands as he waits for someone to answer but no one does. They all just stare at him.

He sighs. "Someone set Eren up to make it look like he's the traitor. They know we're getting suspicious and they're trying to take the heat off themselves. A distraction."

You sit down and cover your face with your hands. "This is so stupid. I'm fine! It wasn't even coffee! Eren is right, it didn't smell like it because that's not what it was. I didn't have an allergic reaction."

Eren groans and tugs on his hair. "What the fuck is happening?"

Jean turns to you. "Then what happened to your face?"

You snap back at him. "What the hell is wrong with my face?"

Mikasa joins in. "It was swelling up."

"I COULDN'T BREATHE!" You shout. "Alright?! It went down the wrong pipe and I tried not to cough so I held it in and my face swelled up."

You push your chair back, the legs scraping disgustingly against the waxed floors. "Stop traumatizing Eren. He clearly doesn't know a single thing we're saying."

You storm out the cafeteria and everyone just stares at the door as you disappear out of it. Eren shakes his head. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

Jean runs after you without even hesitating. He pulls you into a room so fast that you can't even process it happening. "What? What are you doing?"

The door closes and with your back against the wall, he grabs your chin to lift your face up to meet his. He brings your lips right up to his for just a moment and he can feel your body swell with electricity for just a second but he pulls away. "You're a liar."

You stand there stunned. Your fingers come up to your lips. "Were you about to kiss me?"

"Your mouth smells like coffee. You lied." Jean says. "Why would—"

You groan obnoxiously loud. "Look at me! I'm okay! I'm allergic but I can heal myself so it's not like I'm actually really allergic."

"Y/n. You don't get it. This was just like a warning. They know you can heal—" Jean begins.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" You cry. "It's not a big deal, okay?"

He places his hand on the wall by your head and looks down to the ground. He laughs exhausted. "It's not a big deal to you because you can you-know-what. But what if you didn't have that? Huh? That could've killed you if we didn't get you help fast enough."

You scoff and roll your eyes at his dramatics. "If I didn't have you-know-what," You mimick his words,"I wouldn't even have people trying to steal me away in the first place."

"Just be careful, alright?" Jean rubs his forehead. "You die, I lose my job. Don't mess with my money."

You relax and you're back to your laughing self. "I'll try not to. Don't worry."

You walk out the room along with him and begin to walk down the hall to go outside for the day. You had enough of being inside for an entire year after today.

"I can't believe you tried to kiss me." You say in a pretty decent volume causing Jean's entire body to feel shoot with adrenaline, panic and fear all at once. "Please shut up." He says under his breath.

You giggle and cover your mouth with your hand. "You did. I bet Kai would love to hear about that."

He shoots you a warning look. "Don't start. I wanted to smell you to see if you were lying. I know you wouldn't just open your mouth and let me smell your breath. Plus, that's weird."

"Who says I wouldn't?" You ask, hands behind your back as you walk beside him.

He frowns. "Wouldn't what?"

You look at him and smile. "Open my mouth for you."

He seriously thought he was going to pass out for a second there. His heart and the rest of organs seemed to drop down to his stomach all at once.

Was he just being dirty minded or were you actually...No. There's no way. You couldn't be talking about that when you don't know stuff like that besides the basics.

Right?

He scans the smiling girl beside him. You batted your eyelashes innocently at him but he could see it in your eyes that you were messing with him.

"It wouldn't fit." He says casually. Your mouth drops open but you quickly close it. "You're disgusting."

He smirks. "So you do know some stuff you shouldn't?"

You turn away from him and pretend to be really interested in the paintings on the walls even thought they were the same paintings you've seen every single day for your entire life. "I know the things I need to."

He found it adorable how quick you went from seductively teasing him to suddenly becoming bashful.

Mikasa appears out of absolutely nowhere of course and grabs you. "Are you okay?" Her hands come to touch your whole face. "Are you hot? Do you need to go to the doctor?"

"What?" You move her hands. "I'm fine. I just want to go outside. Can I do that?"

She looks at Jean now. "Is she really fine or is she just saying that?"

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not standing right here." You protest.

"She's fine." Jean insists. "Annoying per usual."

You glare at him and he winks at you. Mikasa stands there unamused. "So now what? We just forget about what happened? I mean, we have to do something right?"

"What? What are we going to do? Question every single person until one confesses?" You ask. "Look. I get it but tomorrow is my birthday ball and by the end of the night, I have to pick the person I want to marry. I'm trying to have a good day today. Tomorrow will quite literally be life changing and who knows if it'll be in a good or bad way but we will worry about that tomorrow."

You grab Mikasa's hand. "Today, we have a good day. Okay?"

She keeps an irritated expression for a few moments but then it fades away. "Fine. Only for today. I mean it."

You smile and grab onto her arm. "Let's go outside." Then, to his surprise, you turn to him and smile even bigger. "Come on."

You run full speed, well as fast as you can in a dress and Mikasa being dragged behind you. You burst through the doors as Jean watches through the window as you release Mikasa and throw your arms out and spin around in circles. "Finally!"

You throw your body down on the grass just at the peak of the hill. You laid flat out, with arms and legs spread out and eyes right at the sky.

Mikasa sits beside you. She tilts her head up to the sky. "I think it might rain tomorrow. There's a lot of gray clouds."

You shut your eyes and smile. "Mm, let's hope."

Jean sits on the other side of you and stares up to the sky. "Even if it rains, people are going to come. The ball is inside."

You lift one eye open and pierce him. "Let me have this moment please."

"Mikasa." All three of you, including yourself who was now sitting straight up, turn to look at Eren who stands there. "Uh—Lady Mikasa." He corrects.

"Yes?" She asks.

"Can I talk to you?" He asks. Jean registered the considered look on his face. Since he had been friends with Eren since forever, he knew what it looked like when he had just gotten in trouble.

Mikasa turns to you. "What do I do?" You blink slowly at her and then turn to Jean. He just shrugs.

You scowl him and then return back to Mikasa. "Just tell him. Both Jean and I don't think it's him. You know it's not either."

"Everything? But I—" The dark haired girl stutters.

"Yes. Everything. We might as well now before he finds out later. Right?" You convince. She presses her lips together. "But—"

"Jaeger, I'm feeling a little romantic and in the mood to watch two people take a stroll down the rose garden so go walk with Lady Mikasa." You command politely.

"Wait, really?" He asks. Mikasa laughs and bends slightly to speak by your ear. "What do you think you're doing?"

You ignore her and smile at Eren. "Yes, really. Now go. The pretty weather won't last forever."

He sighs and extends his hand out to Mikasa to help her up from the ground. She just looks at you. "Are you sure about this?"

You tilt your head to the side. "Worst case scenario, he already knows."

She looks completely fed up with you. You grab her hand. "I'll explain everything to my parents. Jean was a witness. Right?" You turn to him.

He nods. "Go."

She stares at Eren's hand for a moment then back at you. "Or just trust your gut." Jean offers.

She looks at Eren and he sheepishly smiles at her. She internally melts but rolls her eyes to act unimpressed on the outside. "Fine."

She takes his hand and he helps her up. She looks at you. "I'll be right back."

You shake your head. "Take your time. I wanna really feel the moment."

The two begin walking down the hill and you bring your hand to the side of your mouth. "Make it romantic, Jaeger!"

Eren shakes his head as he leads Mikasa down to the rose bush garden. When you were kids, you would get lost in there like a maze and would try to find each other. Of course, the guys would always leave you hanging and were "never able to find you."

"That was nice of you." Jean says still seated beside you. You were already laying back down and soaking in the sun. "She always bends over backwards for me. It's the least I can do. She deserves it."

Jean laughs. "Employees are not supposed to date, you know? That's one of the first things they tell us when we start working here. Don't even get me started on when it comes to you guys."

"I know. But I'm not going to tell on them. Same with Sasha and Niccolo. Are you?" You open your eyes and tilt your face to the side to see him.

He looks down at you. "No."

You smile and close your eyes again, aligning your face straight. "Problem solved."

"Well, what if someone sees?" Jean asks.

You sit up straight and take a deep breath. "Do you ever not worry so much? They're just walking Jean but if someone does say something, I'll say what happened; I forced them to walk together because I thought it'd be romantic."

Jean smiles and looks away. "I'm realizing you're a pretty good liar."

You scoot closer to him. "So?"

He panics a little on the inside but stays calm. "So, aren't you supposed to be pure?"

You bat your eyes at him and smile. "Is that how you see me? Pure?"

He tries his hardest not to break away but you made it so hard. "Well I'm not sure now. You're a woman of many hidden talents, I've come to realize."

You lean in closer. He could still smell coffee hidden in your aura. Probably from when you spit it out, it must've landed on your clothes or maybe even on his. "You don't even know half of them."

Jean hated himself for thinking dirty especially when you were an innocent virgin. He felt like he was soiling you or even somehow corrupting you even though he hasn't even done anything yet.

But it wasn't his fault your parents kept you so sheltered. I mean, did they really expect to not tell you anything and just throw you out there? To expect for you to know what's gonna happen on your wedding night?

But then there was those comments, those sly little comments. Were you actually innocent or just pretending to be?

You smirk. "What's going through that mind of yours, Kirstein?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." He chuckles. He runs his hands through the lush grass underneath him. He can feel you scoot even closer to him and he was trying his best to make it seem like it didn't make him nervous.

"I would actually." You debate. "I wanna know everything."

He raises his eyebrows and smiles. "Really?"

You laugh. "You having dirty thoughts or something?"

How the hell...

Although the two of you hadn't been necessarily close for too long, you always read right through him so easily. But again, he wasn't going to admit that.

"I'm thinking about Mikasa telling Eren everything." He lies. Technically, it wasn't really a lie. He really was thinking about it and how Eren was going to react but that was more in the back of his mind. His mind was completely consumed by something else.

You look over to the garden and realize you no longer see them. "I wonder how he's going to react."

Jean brings one knee up and rests his arm on it. "If your parents found out we told him, we'd get in so much trouble."

You pick a small daisy that grew from the ground nearby. "They won't find out. If anything, they should be glad another guard besides yourself knows so he can also keep an eye on me."

That was a good point. He wasn't really sure if your parents would see it that way though.

"I trust Eren. I don't think he'd tell anyone. I know you trust him too because you advocated for him in the cafeteria. Mikasa trusts him too or else she wouldn't be telling him right now." You reassure him.

He did trust him. Eren had never once done something to make him feel otherwise but it still made him feel anxious. Not because he didn't trust him and believed he was the traitor but he was worried that maybe Eren might slip up and accidentally say it to someone without even realizing it.

He couldn't even imagine how Mikasa felt considering she was much more overprotective of you than Jean was. "Does she like Eren?" He asks.

You place the daisy behind his ear, tucking his hair behind it. He could feel warmth spread throughout his cheeks. You smile as you admire the way he looks much less intimidating now with the flower on him. "Yeah but don't tell anyone. She doesn't want anyone to know. Especially him."

Jean's fingers come up to feel the small flower behind his ear but you smack his hand away so he doesn't mess with it. "Why not? Eren likes her too."

Your eyes burst open and you sit up on your knees as you turn your body fully to face him. "Really?! Did he say that with his own words?"

Jean looks you up and down and smiles at your excitement. "Well no but it's pretty damn obvious. He turns into a complete other person around her and never shuts up about her either. He was pissed I got the promotion instead of him cause he wanted an excuse to be around her more often."

You smile giddily. "That's adorable." Jean turns his head to the garden and can see the tops of both their heads walking around.

"Can I ask you something?" Jean asks. He was hesitant on asking but he finally was alone with you again and you were a pretty straight forward person so he knew he'd get an actual answer.

"Mhmm." You hum.

He prayed this wasn't going to offend you in any way. "Mikasa. Did you ever have feelings for her?"

Your warm eyes and soft smile grow serious."Who told you that?"

Well, that answers that. "No one. I'm just asking." He responds. Did that mean someone knew?

"Swear?" You ask. He rolls his eyes. "I swear."

You exhale deeply and bring your knees up to your chest and set your chin down on them. "I used to like her a few years ago. Around the time she had started working here."

"That was your first kiss. Wasn't it?" Jean questions. He recalls you saying your first kiss happened here that you didn't even need to go anywhere. Then, Mikasa told him she used to be in love with you and he just put two and two together.

"Yup." A dragonfly flies past the two of you but then circles back around and lands on the flowers by your feet.

"Did you kiss her or did she kiss you?" He watches as you hold your finger out near the dragonfly and it gladly takes up the offer and climbs on to it.

You raise your finger up to your face and examine the insect before it flies away to its original destination. "I kissed her. I wanted my first kiss to be with someone I could trust. So, I kissed my bestfriend. Plus, I obviously had feelings for her."

He raises an eyebrow. "And that's it? You just kissed and bam, nothing?"

You laugh and hit his arm. "Yeah that's it, you perv. What else did you want to happen?"

He laughs too. "No! I'm just saying sometimes kissing leads to stuff. Not just sex but relationship wise too. I'm surprised the two of you just stayed friends and nothing more after that."

You shrug and look away from him. "Not all the time. Sometimes kissing can just be as sweet and simple as a kiss."

"I guess you're right." He agrees. He had kissed girls before and that's all it was. There was no spark, no magic. Just a that. A kiss. Actually, he struggled to recall a time where he ever really did have a magical kiss that meant something to him. "So do you...like girls? Is that why you don't want to marry a prince?"

You hug your knees tighter. "I like both. I just don't want to marry a prince because I don't want to just marry someone for the hell of it. I want to feel something for them. I want to love the person I spend forever with. Regardless of their gender."

Again, he was constantly finding out new things about you since he earned his new title as your body guard. He wondered if any of your brothers knew you felt this way. He wondered if anyone knew in general.

Then, out of absolutely nowhere... "If I asked you to kiss me, would you?" You ask him suddenly.

He snaps his head toward you. "What?"

"If I asked you to kiss me, would you do it?" You repeat again without hesitation.

Man, you really did not hold back. It was like you had no filter or maybe just plain didn't give a fuck. He wondered how freeing that must feel. To say things so openly and fearlessly.

"Why would you ask me of all people?" He questions you. He thought maybe this question would stump you but he was wrong because again, you answer bluntly. "Because maybe I want you to. It's a fake scenario, Jean. Don't shit yourself."

He ignores your rude comment. "Do you want me to?"

"Will you do it if I say yes?" You question him back.

He smirks. "I thought it was a fake scenario."

Your eyebrows meet in the center and you return a similar smile. "You almost did it earlier. Just admit you're scared."

"Hell yeah I'm scared!" He howls with laughter. "Do you have any idea what would happen if someone were to see me kissing you right now?"

You lean in closer. "We can go somewhere private."

She's teasing you. Making fun of you. She's trying to see how nervous she can make you. She doesn't actually want to kiss you.

He knew you had to be testing him. If you really wanted him to kiss you, you wouldn't be saying it like this. Here and now. Or you would've just done it yourself like you did with Mikasa. So, he decided to play along. "Fine, let's go."

He can see all the smugness drain from your face and shyness took its place. "I was just joking." You quickly recover.

Jean grins. "Just admit you're scared."

You open your mouth to defend yourself but Mikasa and Eren return from their romantic stroll and now stand in front of the two of you.

You look up angrily at her. "You're back already?! I told you to take your time!"

"Can't. You have dance rehearsals in 10 minutes." Mikasa replies. Jean turns to Eren realizing that he now knows the big secret and sees he looks as pale as a ghost. It was safe to say Mikasa filled him in on everything. Especially by the way he's staring at you now.

Eren looks down at your hands and then back at you. "So can you really...you know?"

"Yeah." You respond. Eren takes a deep breath and then slowly exhales. "Well. That makes a lot of sense. Like a lot but I'm still having a hard time believing it. I mean, how is it even possible?"

You loosen up your body and your knees leave your chest. "I don't even know myself but here, let me show you."

You grab a nearby rock and lift up your dress until it's past your lower thigh. Respectfully, Jean and Eren look away. You scoff and laugh at them. "You kinda have to look to see what I'm going to do."

Eren and Jean both slowly turn their heads back to your exposed leg and with the sharp edge of the rock, you slice your knee open. All three of them both hiss when they see the edge slice up against your skin but Eren's mouth then drops when he notices the scratch that appeared for just a spilt second already disappeared.

His mouth then closes and with him being as hardheaded as he is, he still refuses to believe it. "You didn't do it hard enough."

You toss him the rock and he catches it. "You do it then." You offer. "Hard as you want."

He stares at the rock for a moment, his finger poking at the sharp edge and debating whether he was actually going to cut himself or not. Jean shakes his head and takes the rock from him swiftly before he grabs his hand and slices his palm.

Eren winces and steps backwards as he holds onto his hand. "Ow! What the fuck, man?"

"You were taking too long!" Jean defends. Honestly, he just thought it'd be funny.

Eren unclenches his fist and exposes his wounded palm. There was a long scratch that wasn't too deep but deep enough to pull a tiny bit of blood.

You grab his wrist to pull him to you and before he can even pull away, you close his fist and with both hands, you wrap them around his. He looks at you in complete horror, still shooken up from the fact his friend practically assaulted him.

It lasted a total of maybe three seconds if even that. You release his fist and step backwards. "Done."

Eren's green eyes extend in size. "Already?!" You nod. "That's what I said."

He exchanges looks with Jean and Mikasa and they both give him nods of approval and reassurance. He then cautiously opens up his palm and sees his palm not only was completely healed of the cut but it was as smooth as it was the day he was born. He opens his mouth to scream but Mikasa jumps and slams her hand over his mouth. "Don't."

He stares at Mikasa wide eyed, still not processing what just happened. He looks at Jean and Mikasa pulls her hand away. "Is this real? You knew about this?"

"Yeah." He answers. "For years now."

Eren examines his hand before he looks at you again. "Are you God or something?"

You cringe. "No but go ahead and worship me if you want."

His thumb runs across the smooth skin of his hand. "So this is why you got the job over me, Kirstein. You already knew about this."

Jean scoffs. "Whatever you have to tell yourself."

"You can't tell anyone, Eren. I'm serious. Not just for y/n's sake but for yours as well. The king doesn't mess around when it comes to this." Mikasa warns. "I'd hate to see something happen to you."

Eren gulps. "I won't."

"Good." She finishes. "Let's go to rehearsals now that that's over with." She looked drained like she had been stressing over this all day and finally felt like she could have a little peace of mind.

You, Jean, Mikasa and Eren all walk into the ballroom together and see Marco, Hitch and Ambrose already waiting there.

Hitch is seated between the two of them and he had no idea what they were saying to her but she was clearly blushing.

She jumps up when she sees the four of you come in. "Yay! Wait..." She begins counting everybody in the room. "Aren't we missing people? Where's Kai and Elijah?"

Jean looks around and notices Kai is indeed one of the only people missing. He began to wonder if he was telling his parents about what happened today.

Jean exchanges looks with Eren who looks like he might pass out. He actually felt bad for him, getting dragged into something he had no part in from the beginning. Now he was going to be as paranoid and stressed as he and Mikasa.

Kai walks in a couple moments later along with Elijah. Which honestly made Jean feel even more worried. Kai wasn't, how do you say, responsible? Yeah, maybe that's a good word.

Kai looked intimidating on the outside with his dark eyes and heavy eye bags. His resting face was always chilling and he was always found wearing dark colors.

But that was all just on the outside. Kai was just as playful and exuberant as you were just on a more quieter level. He wasn't necessarily someone you would count on to handle something extremely serious all on his own. He wasn't mature in those kind of things yet. He was the youngest boy so he didn't have as much responsibilities or work to do.

So, it made sense that Kai would take Elijah, who was considerably much more responsible, to help properly explain the situation that carried on today.

But the two seemed normal. They walked in and greeted everyone and even calmly took their seats.

"Hitch, do we really have to do this?" You whine. "I've had dancing lessons a hundred times. I'm sure I still remember."

She glares at you. "Then this class should be a breeze for you." She then turns to everyone else. "Okay everyone, stand up."

Halfheartedly, everyone stands up and tries to shake off any stiffness they may have. Mikasa is the only one remaining seated since she only came to watch. And by watch, you mean laugh the entire time.

Hitch turns on the music and [play Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker, it's on the playlist] the song begins to play.

Everyone stands unnaturally at the center of the ball room, not really sure how this is actually going to work.

Hitch gives a look of disappointment when she sees everyone in a bunch and unorganized. She grabs the guys by their arms and pulls them off the side.

She then grabs Kai by his shoulders and drags him in front of you. "Kai first then Ambrose. Then Elijah followed by Eren, Marco and Jean in that order."

She turns to the rest of your dance partners for the evening. "You wait there until I call your names. That's when your turn starts."

Marco points at his chair. "Can we sit down while we wait?"

Hitch gives him the ugliest look. "No. You know how much time you waste standing up from your seat?"

Jean sighs and presses his lower body up against the table since it's technically not sitting. Ambrose went ahead and sat down anyway even though he's the one to go up next after Kai.

Elijah was staring at his watch, Eren was talking to Mikasa and Marco was staring at the chair beside him like he was determining whether he had the guts to sit on it or not.

Jean snickers. "You can sit down. Your turn is one of the last ones anyway. Right before mine."

Marco scrunches up his nose and looks at Hitch. "She's kinda terrifying, no?"

Jean turns to the blonde, micromanaging your dress and babbling on about who knows what. "She's cool." He then turns to his friend. "You have a crush on her?"

"On Hitch? No. Do you?" Marco asks.

Jean shakes his head with his bottom lip poked out. "Nope." He turns back to the three of you at the center. You looked irritated and trying your best not to show it. "Girls are the last thing on my mind right now." He adds.

You make a fake gun with your fingers and aim it right at Kai before pretending to shoot him. He stumbles backwards playing along and even adds his tongue hanging out with his eyes closed for dramatic effect. You then turn the gun to yourself and pretend to shoot.

"You can fake suicide all you want, Juliet, but this is for your own good." Hitch says. "There's going to be a line of men wanting a dance with you."

Your shoulders sag. "My dream come true."

She ignores your sarcasm and points a ruler at Kai. "Bow."

He frowns. "Now?"

"Yes!" Her voice booms. She then smacks your butt with the ruler. "Curtsy."

A rough groan escapes your mouth and you curtsy lazily in front of your brother.

The two of you begin dancing and Jean can no longer hear your conversation as the two of you move around. "What happened with you and Thalia?" Marco asks.

"Who's Thalia?" Ambrose overhears. Who knows how long he was listening in for. Eren's head swings away from Mikasa. "Thalia?"

Marco winces. "Sorry. We were just talking about girls and you just never told me what happened with her."

Jean pinches his nose bridge. "Thalia is my ex girlfriend. That's all. And nothing, we broke up. She moved away remember? It wasn't going to work out."

Ambrose laughs and stands up from his seat, his boredom finally cured. "Jean Boy had a girlfriend?"

Eren grins. "He lost his virginity to her too."

Elijah finally decides to join the rest of the group back on planet earth when his interest is peaked. "So it's his first love."

Jean instantly heats up. "Why are we talking about this?!" He points at Eren. "Talking about virginities, go ahead and tell Mikasa that you're still one."

Eren's mouth drops open and Mikasa's hand comes up to cover hers as she laughs into it.

"AMBROSE." Hitch calls. Ambrose grins at Jean. "Can't wait to hear all about it." He then proudly walks to the dance floor and switches spots with Kai.

"Did you know about this Thalia person?" Elijah asks Kai as he joins the table.

Kai sits down and kicks his feet up on the table. He crosses his arms behind his head. "Jean's ex-girlfriend, right?"

Mikasa turns to Kai. "You're awfully relaxed for someone who is going to be in y/n's position soon."

Kai scoffs. "I'm the youngest of 3 men. I don't have to get married any time soon. Not as soon as Elijah and Y/n at least. Elijah is the king. Elijah will produce an aire." He tilts his head back and relaxes. "If not him, Ambrose."

Elijah deadpans to his younger brother. "No pressure, right?"

Kai shrugs cooly. "Should've been a middle child instead like me. We get all the fun."

"ELIJAH." Hitch calls the next person. He sighs and walks over there and when he passes Jean, he points at his ear. "Why do you have flower behind your ear?"

Shit!

He had completely forgotten you had stuck there earlier. He couldn't believe it hadn't fallen off yet either. Ambrose overhears and laughs. "Maybe Thalia gave it to him."

"Maybe he's gay." Eren adds.

Jean grits his teeth. "Weren't you the one who had a guy send you love letters everyday in high school? What was his name again? Floch?"

Eren stands up from his seat. "Are you trying to pick a fight?"

Jean smirks. "Alright, sure. Makes no difference to me."

"NEXT. EREN." Hitch announces. Eren, who was already all up in Jean's face, smacks his lips and makes his way to the dance floor.

Eren joins you at the center and begins to move along with you. He says something to you that makes you laugh and Jean can feel himself get even more hot. He was already annoyed by Eren from their argument so now every little thing he added on to that made it worse.

He wasn't sure why he was more irritated around Eren today. Was it because he now also knew about your secret? Was he worried that Eren would get closer to you now? Or maybe that he'd try to take advantage of it by blackmailing you?

He figured he was just overthinking it. Eren liked Mikasa and she liked him. Plus, Eren already also swore he wouldn't tell anyone so unless he was lying, that wouldn't happen either.

He figured he just was jealous and didn't want to share you with anybody. He didn't seem to understand why considering you weren't his girlfriend or anything. In reality, the two of you barely declared friendship today.

He was embarrassed with himself. Embarrassed he was getting jealous over tiny things such as watching his friends dance with you or make you laugh.

Now Marco was dancing with you and that felt even worse because he knew for a fact Marco had a crush on you. He always denies it and says he just thinks you're beautiful but why else would he get you flowers?

It seemed like that was really the only person he truly had to keep a close eye on. There was Mikasa but from what she told him, she didn't have those kind of feelings for you anymore. Unless, she was just saying that because she had to.

It was hard to see Mikasa the same way now. His view on her changed the day she told him she used to be in love with you and then changed even more once you told him she was your first kiss and that you at one point felt the same way for her. He felt.. envious in a way.

"What?" Mikasa asks. Jean snaps back awake. He didn't even realize he was looking in her direction. "Nothing."

"JEAN." Hitch calls.

Mid spin, Marco switches with Jean and you're caught off guard. Your eyes looked at your joined hands and then back at him. "I must let you know this is the most embarrassing thing I have ever done." You say.

"Tell me about it." He says. "I hate dancing with a passion."

Your eyebrows perk up. "You do?" You look down at his feet. "You're not that bad at it."

And then right on cue, he accidentally steps down hard on your toe. He can feel the nub under his boot and he quickly jumps. "Shit! I'm so sorry!"

You laugh loudly. "It's okay, I didn't even feel it."

He whines and looks toward the table to make sure no one is watching him but instead they're all engaged in their own conversations. Mikasa, Eren and Marco talk on the right side and Kai, Ambrose and Elijah talk on the left. The princes seemed to be having a much more serious conversation that the others across the table.

"I'm not a fan of dancing at all." Jean admits.

Your lips curl into a smile. "I can tell."

He narrows his eyes at you. "Was is that supposed to mean?"

You hum and look away while continuing to dance with him. "Mm, I don't know. Maybe that you suck." You tease him.

His mouth drops open and a laugh escapes. "Oh, you want to see bad dancing, huh?"

He begins to move even more awkwardly on purpose, making sure to not match the rhythm at all. He twists and turns your body in ways that you shouldn't.

You squeal as he moves you all over the place. "Hitch is going to kill you."

He looks at Hitch and sees her flirting with Marco. He then looks back at you. "Better not let her catch us then, huh?"

You grin widely and begin to dance exaggeratedly with him, the two of you not taking any of this serious whats so ever.

Each time, Hitch turned to check on how you two were doing, you would return to normal and dance like you're supposed to. Then, when she turns away, you both start doing the most horrific moves you could possibly do to see who could do worse.

He didn't know how he hadn't been caught yet considering you both were a laughing, stomping mess. He grabs your hand and lifts your arm up in the air. "Let's see how fast you can spin."

"Don't you dare." You warn. He spins you around three times as quick as he can and as ungracefully as possible. Just from those spins alone, he could tell you were already getting dizzy.

"Oop. One more time." He says before spinning you around and around again. Your head wobbles when he stops. "Stop it." You whine. "I can't take it anymore. I'm going to throw up."

Hitch turns to check up and he dances normally with you again. "What do you mean? You're a natural. Third time is the charm, I've heard though."

Your eyes widen just before he spins you around again but this time he doesn't stop. You spin and spin and spin and spin until you actually can't do it and lose your balance and he has to catch you but he slips and the two of you come crashing to the ground.

"Hey!" Hitch finally catches on. "What happened?"

You sit up. "We slipped, sorry." Jean rubs at his butt that landed hard on the polished floors. "My ass hurts now."

You grin and lean in closer to him. "Want me too heal it?" Jean begins to stammer and pushes your head away from him. "Get away from me."

Hitch groans and walks over to you both. "Come on up. Let's do it all over again." She lifts you up by your arm and does the same to Jean. "Kai get over here. From the top everyone!"

Everyone moans and complains but Hitch ignores them. "We will do this 50 times if we have to."

After a few more excruciating rounds of practice, Hitch finally dismisses everyone and you're the first one out the door, dragging Jean out with you while everyone else is distracted.

"That was kinda fun." You admit, smiling up at him with your hands behind your back as you walk beside him in the direction of your room. Well his room too.

He smiles. "Glad you think so." Your smile seems to grow even brighter, your eyes were gleaming along with it. The whites of your eyes were so bright and there was a curtain of shine reflecting in your irises from the light above. He can tell you've lived a sheltered life and that nothing had ever not once tainted those pretty little eyes.

"We should do it again, sometime." You suggest as you stop in front of your door. "Like tomorrow at the ball."

He doesn't take you serious. "You know I can't dance with you there. I'll be technically working."

You place your hands on your hips. "You were technically working today too."

Jean flicks your forehead. "I said no."

You mean mug him and rub at your forehead. "That didn't hurt."

He leans forward. "I know it didn't, that's why I did it."

You groan loudly. "Why won't you just dance with me tomorrow? You're the only person who will dance badly with me. Kai probably would but the girl he likes is coming so he'll be too embarrassed."

Jean laughs and swings your bedroom door open while maintaining outside of it, hinting at you to shut up and go to bed. "Why do you want to dance badly in front of everyone?"

"So no one else will want to talk to me. I want them to think I'm weird, obnoxious and annoying." You explain.

He steps behind you and pushes you into your room but you dig your heels into the floor. "Congrats, you're already all three of those things."

You trip into your room and grab onto the door for support. You turn around with your hands still attached to it and show a look of utter betrayal. "I take back what I said earlier. We're not friends."

He chuckles. "Okay." He points his thumb toward his new room right beside yours. "Neighbors then?"

Your head leans forward and your eyes meet the door next door. You smile at him. "Okay, neighbors."

He rakes a hand through his hair. He was exhausted. Both mentally and physically. Today seemed like a million things happened at once. It pretty much did. All he wanted to do now was just sleep.

The only problem was he going to be able to?

"Not until tomorrow though. I gotta go back home tonight and pack my stuff." He sighs as he begins to dread the packing process. "Goodnight."

You lean your cheek against the frame of the door. "Goodnight." He turns on his heel to walk away but you stop him by calling his name. "Oh Jean."

He looks at you again and you smile a warm smile that reminded him of fresh baked pie or warm cookies. "Invite your mom, tomorrow. I miss her." You hold out a small paper. "It's a gift receipt for the tailor by your house. Tell her she can get any dress she wants, it's already paid for. Whatever money she doesn't use, she can keep."

There was a good chance that if Jean told his mom she was invited, she still wouldn't come. You knew that too. But you still thought of her anyway. "I'll see if she has time in her schedule for you." He taunts.

You roll your eyes. "Bye Kirstein. You're dancing with me tomorrow whether you like it or not." You then close the door shut before he can even argue your final words.

Before he went home for the day, Jean decided to look at his new room since he was right here in front of it anyway.

He needed to know where exactly he was going to put everything. Not that he was going to bring a lot with him. He was just granted a place here while he has this job and while you remain living here. You're soon to marry and leave and he will return back to a normal guard like everyone else.

He pushes at the door in hopes that they've already unlocked it and they have. The room was massive, which didn't surprise him because every room in the castle was.

The colors were gold and white and he was much too terrified to even touch anything because of how expensive and timeless everything looked. He felt very out of place as he was used to his room back home that was absolutely nothing compared to this.

He opened every cabinet, every closet, every drawer. It was true that all the rooms were similar in their immaculate sizes but they were all different in their own ways. From different colored decorations or the number of windows, they all had their own different structures that allowed not a single room to be the exact same.

Jean had probably been in every single room in this castle besides, obviously, the queen and king's and yours. But he had also never gone in this room nor the one Mikasa lived in.

There was only one explanation for him not entering those rooms ever and it's because they're the two right beside your room. One on each side. He actually rarely ever came to this side of the castle until recently.

He looks to his left and realizes how odd it is to know you're just a wall apart. He places his hand on the wall and for once pays close attention to how thick or thin the walls are. Right now, you were just behind this wall right here.

For a moment there, he swear he heard singing. Or was it humming? He steps closer to the wall using the hand that's pressed firmly against it for support.

He knew instantly it was you humming. There's the sound of water too like you're in the tub which would make sense since you were getting ready for bed.

He's surprised on how well he can hear you hum your tune. He never expected walls to be that thin in such a lavish castle. He could make out the song perfectly and he realizes it's the one you were humming earlier too.

In fact, he has heard you hum it on multiple occasions. Especially the one time he watched you admiringly as you peacefully tended to your garden.

It frustrated him that he didn't know what song it was when it felt like he should. It was so familiar like a lost childhood memory. He hums it over and over to see if it'll help jog his memory but nothing clicks in him besides the fact his brain now can't forget the tune.

He just makes mental note to ask you tomorrow or maybe even his mother knew since she spent a good amount of your life with you.

Speaking of his mother, he had to go home now and pack his belongings after he tells her of his new living arrangement.

He wasn't sure how she'd react. Most mothers might be happy when they finally get their home to themselves and don't have to attend after their kids anymore but Jean's mother was a more anxious person and his father wasn't around anymore so she'd be in that house all alone.

He actually never even knew him, his father. He left when Jean was just a couple months old so he doesn't even remember him at all.

It didn't bother him. It wasn't like he was alone. His mother did well raising him and he grew up with three princes who provided enough testosterone to excuse the absence of his father.

He also couldn't remember how his mother took it when he left. He was only a couple months and she was already working here at the castle and taking care of Elijah and Ambrose who at the time were 3 and 2. Not to mention the queen was also about to give birth to Kai at this time.

She had a lot to distract her from her husband leaving her and her son. She never brought him up after that unless Jean asked, which he rarely ever did. He didn't want to know a single thing about a man who would abandon his family at a time like that.

She also didn't struggle. Since she was already working in the castle, they paid her sufficiently. They even offered her a room to stay in but she wanted her own home that Jean could call his.

He stood at his front door and takes a deep breath before coming inside. His mom was already in her night gown and heading up the stairs to go to bed. "Oh, Jean Boy. How was work?"

He kicks off his shoes and takes off his uniform until he is in his undershirt and his pants. He drops his bag down to the ground. "Exhausting. I got some news though."

She comes down the steps. "Good news, I hope."

He chuckles. "Yeah. I got the promotion after all."

She claps and embraces him in a hug. "Oh, congratulations, my darling. I'm so happy for you."

She then pulls away and sniffs the air around Jean. "You smell lovely. Are you wearing...women's perfume?"

Jean lifts up the hem of his shirt to his nose. It smelled just like you. Probably from all the close interactions he had with you today. He honestly still couldn't believe it.

He quickly recalls what the original discussion was about. "Anyway, they offered me a room there so I can be there 24/7 in case of emergencies."

"Oh." She says softly. "This...traitor thing is getting pretty serious then."

Jean mentally drained, plops down onto one of the chairs. "Yeah. It's a real mess."

She brings her hand to his face and smiles. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You've always been so sharp."

He returns the smile. "I've started playing the piano again too."

She pulls a chair out from the table to sit beside him. "Really? That's wonderful. You used to play so beautifully before you stopped practicing."

His mother leans in closer and wiggles her eyebrows. "Does this have anything to do with the princess?"

He disregards her taunting. "Speaking of the princess, there's this song she hums a lot. It sounds so familiar but I can't quite figure it out."

She thinks for a moment. "Hm, well, hum it for me. I'm sure I can figure it out."

Jean didn't even need to recall the melody because it had been playing on repeat in his head all day today. He begins to try his best to hum it perfectly and not even a few seconds in, his mother's face changes drastically.

"She's been humming that song?" She asks.

Jean walks up to the sink and fills a glass up with water. "Well I'm not sure how long she's been humming it for but I've noticed she does it a lot ever since I've gotten closer to her."

He takes a long sip of the cold water and then sets his glass down on the counter. "Do you recognize the song?"

She blinks astonished. "It's called City of Stars. I used to sing it to her to put her to sleep when she was just a small girl."

"City of Stars?" Jean strokes his chin. "I remember that song. I remember hearing it all the time."

She laughs with amazement. "I can't believe she remembers that."

Jean drinks the last sip of water. "She unfortunately has incredible memory. It's like you tell her something once and she'll remember it forever."

She smiles down at her lap. "Yes, she always was like that, wasn't she? Always noticed the small things."

She then looks back up at Jean. "You know, there's a kingdom far away named Paradis. It's known as the city of stars. They call it that because of this lantern festival they have there every year."

Jean shoots up straight. "I remember that! Sometimes we can see the lanterns all the way from over here if the wind is just right."

She nods. "The queen there, Queen Historia, has a festival where they send off lanterns into the sky to honor the death of a close friend of hers."

Jean takes in the information. It all sounded familiar like he probably learned about this in class or something.

His mother stands up from the chair and walks over to Jean and whispers like it isn't only them two in the house. "That is also the place where supposedly y/n's powers originated from."

Jean's heart skips a beat. "What? Does she know that?"

She shakes her head. "Most likely not. You know they do their absolute best to keep anything related to that extremely hidden."

"City of stars. Paradis." He says to himself. "How far is that from here?"

"Jean Kirstein, you better not get any bold ideas. I shouldn't have even told you any of that." She warns.

He walks past her and heads toward the stairs. "I was just asking." He turns on the third step to look at her. "Are you sure you're okay with me staying in the castle? You're going to be by yourself here now."

She waves her hand in the air. "I'll be fine. No one is going around kidnapping old ladies like me. The princess needs your protection more than I do."

Even if she was scared, she'd never admit it. She was happy for Jean and didn't want to ruin anything for him. You and her were alike when it came to that.

He says goodnight to her and begins to pack all the important belongings in his room to take tomorrow morning.

After about an hour or two of packing, he takes a shower and grabs a late night snack before he crashes into his bed.

Even though his body was tired, he knew he was in for another restless, sleepless night. His mind was racing too much. It was like it was working on overtime.

He kept thinking about your stunt during your birthday parade. He kept thinking about the coffee incident and how he was sure it wasn't Eren but at the same time, how could he be so sure? Then, he kept thinking about tomorrow. Your birthday ball.

Princes and princesses will be coming from lands far, far away to come to your birthday celebration. Most of the guests will be trying to convince you to marry them and follow them to whatever the hell they come from.

He knew he had to keep a close watch on whoever even gets close to you but that also meant having to endure the discomfort of watching men flirt with you all night long.

He definitely wasn't looking forward to that.

Not to mention the fact that he wasn't allowed to drink since he was technically working. Meaning, he had to watch men flirt with you completely sober.

And then that was it. By the end of the night, whether you liked it or not, you would have someone in mind for marriage. All that would be left after that is for them to propose.

He couldn't believe it. He had just gotten close to you and now you were just going to leave somewhere probably on the other side of the world.

After a long while of him tossing and turning, he finally falls asleep and morning comes a few hours after.

He grabs his belongings once he does his entire morning routine and sets them down at the bottom of the stairs. He eats breakfast, kisses his mother goodbye and promises her he'll come to visit at least twice a week to check up on her.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to her. He knew it was only temporary but honestly, he knew he was going to move out eventually. Once his stay at this castle is over, he decided he wasn't going to return back to his mother's house but instead to get his own. So one way or another, this was him moving out.

Before he walked out the door, he stops and takes something out of his pocket. "By the way, here, the princess gave you this. It's a gift receipt for the tailor down the street. She paid for you to get a dress for tonight, any kind you want."

She takes the paper and stares at it. "Oh, this is a lot of money. Way too much money for just a dress."

He picks up the falling strap of his duffel bag. "She said whatever you don't use for the dress, you can keep."

Before she can say anything else he adds, "I'll be here to pick you at 6pm tonight to take you. Be ready." He then closes the door and makes his way to the castle.

The village closest to the castle was as calm and peaceful as always. He waved hello to everyone he passed by and smiled at the kids playing in the streets. It was Saturday so the weekend had just begun for them.

The inside of the castle walls were completely different than the outside. So early in the morning, people were already running around and working hard.

The ball wasn't until this evening but since it was going to be quite an extravagant event, they had to prepare everything early in advance hence why they're at it at 6 in the morning.

He catches his friends carry heavy loads in their arms back and forth. Connie glares at him just standing there. "You plan on helping?"

Jean pretends to think for a moment. "Hm...no."

Eren, who wasn't paying attention, bumps right into Connie and almost drops the large box full of glass objects in his arms. "Oh shit! What the hell?" He pokes his head past the box to see what was in his way. "Move out the way, idiot!"

Connie spins around with his box to face Eren. "Huh?! You bumped into me, dumbass!"

"Where's the princess?" Jean asks right in the middle of them fighting. Eren scratches his head. "Something about a spa day? She has to like, get ready, or whatever for tonight. Mikasa said it's an entire day process."

Jean watches as people run around all kinds of directions carrying things from decorations to tables and chairs. "This is really a big deal, huh?"

Eren sighs. "This isn't just any birthday party. They're practically throwing her in a room full of sharks and giving her an ultimatum to choose one to spend every single day with or they'll do it for her."

"Sometimes I don't even realize how easy we have it until I see them." Jean admits. "We envy their lives but there isn't all that much to be envious of."

Eren nods. "Nothing we can about it though."

And just like Eren said. It was an all day process because Jean didn't see you at all the entire day. He was sure he wouldn't have missed it if he did.

He wondered how you were feeling right now. He wondered how the night was going to end. He wondered how it would feel for him.

As the sky grew darker and darker, evening came eventually, along with a bunch of carriages arriving one by one.

Guests make their appearance right at 7 and scatter across the ballroom once they greet and bow before the king and queen who were also walking around and greeting people.

Jean took in the scene before him. He had never seen anything quite like it. He had seen the several balls they're hosted but this one, this one topped all the others from before.

There was champagne towers everywhere you looked. There was two massive harps on opposite sides of the room along with a group of violinists. There was even someone playing a gorgeous jet black piano as well.

The decorations were gold and a champagne color kinda like his new room with hints of dark blue and purple here and there. On each table, there was bouquets of indigo colored flowers.

He looked up to the roof and saw acrobats twirl around in the air using hoops and drapes. People laughed as they caught up with people they hadn't seen in a while and drank from their champagne glasses. They were all so well groomed and dressed. He had to resist the urge to not stare at every diamond necklace or fancy watch that caught his eye.

There was no sight of you and he figured it was probably because you were due to do some big entrance. Not of your own free will, of course.

He spotted Ambrose charming a group of highly respective people. They were beaming with smiles and laughing at everything he said. It was always so crazy to Jean how Ambrose could switch from being so undeniably charismatic one second to an unbearable cunt the next.

Kai was standing next to two other princes that he seemed to always get along with each time they met. He was always really good at making friends so it didn't surprise Jean he was actually socializing.

There wasn't any sign of Elijah either and when suddenly the music comes to a steady pause, it is revealed where he is.

Just before his appearance, the queen taps on a glass calling everyone to be quiet and turn their attention to her. "Hello everyone, thank you so very much for attending our ball this evening. This ball is to celebrate the 19th birthday of my beautiful daughter, y/n." She smiles and gestures over to the ballroom doors and they come apart.

Jean's head, as well as everyone else's in the room, turn to look toward the opening doors. You stand there with your arm linked with Elijah's. Everyone claps and bows before the two of you. You both do the same.

When his eyes adjust, he takes you in for a moment. Your dress was a soft ivory, powder color with stunning gold lining and details.

Your hair was up with your crown seated proudly on the top of your head. Since your hair was out of your way, your facial features were more prominent. Your makeup was light and fresh but it made your skin look hydrated and healthy.

"Happy birthday princess," and "You look incredible, your highness," get tossed around into the air while the music begins to play again.

You smile at each compliment. "Thank you so much, you're too kind." You then turn to Elijah and whisper something and he laughs. Your eyes meet Jean's and your face lights up and you drag Elijah along with you as you run over to him.

He wasn't sure if your face looking like that was because of him or his mother standing beside him who you haven't seen in years but he treasures the view anyway.

You quickly release Elijah and crash into his mother, your arms wrapped tightly around her. "You came. I've missed you so much."

Caught off guard, she looks up at Jean and he notices the sudden shine to her eyes. "Aw, Ma, please don't cry. We're at a party."

You gasp and pull away. Your thumbs dab at the skin under her eyes and the outer corners. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."

She sniffs and grabs both of your hands so she can admire you. "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you. Look at you, you look absolutely gorgeous. Right, Jean?"

The two of you look right at him and he smiles cooly. "You look different. Did you take a shower?"

You glare at him. "Very funny. I see you managed to actually brush your mane for once."

Jean's mom taps on his shoulder. "I'll leave you two be. I'm going to go say hello to the king and queen." She says before she disappears into the crowd.

"Well," You look around. "Isn't this something?"

Jean does the same but with his hands on his hips. "It's something alright." He looks at you from the side and notices your face seems a little down. "You don't look like you're the mood to party."

You walk over to the pastry table and place two small cookies onto your palm. "I don't want to be around all these people. The princes all want one thing and the princesses all hate me. They only came for my brothers."

He takes a cookie from your palm and tosses it into his mouth. "They hate you? They don't even know you."

You sigh and grab another cookie to replace the one he stole. "They come to all our balls but I never go to any of theirs. They probably all think I'm stuck up."

"Maybe tonight you can change that. Show them the real you and they'll find out their false perception of you is stupid as hell." He suggests.

You laugh and face toward the abundant ball room. "Honestly making friends is the last thing I want to do right now. I just want to get out of here."

He grabs another cookie from the table. "So what are you going to do? Act obnoxious again so guys don't want to marry you? Don't you have to pick someone tonight either way?"

You bite into the dessert in your hand. "It's worked before. Why not? In order for me to choose one, one has to be interested. I just have to make everyone in here hate me or not even get the chance to know me so no one will be in line to get chosen."

He looks at you with sad eyes. "You really don't want to get married, do you?"

You scoff. "I highly doubt I'm going to fall in love with someone in one night so no, I don't want to marry of these people."

"What if you do?" He asks.

You stare blankly at him. "What?"

"What if you do fall in love with someone tonight?" He clarifies.

You look away and keep your eyes on the crowd of people dancing and talking to each other. "Then I guess I'll pick that person."

Queen Solana appears and stands beside you as she fixes your crown. "Sorry to interrupt but there's some people I would like to you to meet. Come along."

She's pulling you away before either of you can even get a word in. You give Jean an annoyed look and he winks. "Give 'em hell."

After a good while of scoping the room, talking to his mom and the other guards on duty, Jean notices you're no where in eye sight.

He walks around the ballroom and he finds you standing by the violinists and admiring them as they play heavenly. You then float over to the harp players and do the same to them.

He walks over to you, leaning in to speak closely over the music. "Can you play the harp too?"

You giggle and lift your head up proudly. "I can actually."

"Jesus, of course you can." He crosses his arms and stands beside you and admires the harp. "Go on. Play it."

"What? Right now?" You ask.

He shrugs. "Why not? It's one way to get a suitor's attention."

You roll your eyes at him. "Yeah, maybe yours."

He grabs the glass of champagne from your hand and raises it up in the air. "That's all that matters, if we're honest."

You snatch the glass back. "You're quite funny, Kirstein. Anyone ever told you that?"

Jean comes to stand right in front of you. "And handsome too, let's not forget that."

You tilt your head to meet his eyes. "How could one ever?"

He smiles. "So this is the y/n l/n everyone talks so highly about. It's incredible how long you've managed to keep her hidden."

"Did you enjoy my words so much you had to steal them from me?" You say to him, your eyes sparkling in the chandelier light above.

Jean felt himself grow hot. Was he imagining it or were you getting closer?

"Y/n." The queen interrupts. "Excuse us, Jean but the princess has some guests to attend to."

Before either you or Jean can say anything, she's pulling you away and dragging you to the nearest prince she can spot leaving Jean where he stands.

He didn't know why he felt disappointed each time you got pulled away from him. He knew he wasn't going to have all your attention tonight because there was hundreds of other people asking for it too. Yet, here he was getting interrupted every single time throughout the night.

Not that he was one to talk honestly. Everytime a prince approached you, you would send Jean a pleading look that subliminally begged him to come save you and each time he would. So he couldn't complain people kept interrupting his time with you when he was doing it to others as well.

Jean stood by a tall risen table and just watched the room full of royalty from around the world buzz with life and vibrancy. Not only was everyone dressed rich but they looked it as well. Their skin was perfect, hair done nicely. All well fed and healthy.

Kai joins him at the table, holding a glass of bubbly champagne. "You sure you can't drink a little?"

Jean snickers. "I wish but your parents strictly said I can't have a single drink tonight."

Kai takes another glass of champagne off a tower nearby and hands it to Jean. "I won't tell, here. Drink it quick, I'll be the look out."

Jean grins and downs the glass in one swing while Kai keeps a close eye on anyone watching. He smiles when he sees Jean actually did it. "See? Easy."

"I saw that." You appear. You grab a glass now and down it yourself. "You can't get more drunk than me tonight, Kirstein. You're supposed to be babysitting me."

Jean watches as you reach for another glass but he pulls it away from you. "You shouldn't get drunk period."

Kai takes the glass from Jean's hand and wiggles his shoulders. "I on the other hand..." He brings the glass to his lips but then he spits out the drink and spins around. "Oh shit."

He wipes his mouth and sets the glass down on the table. Then, he straightens his outfit and makes sure his hair looks okay. "How do I look?"

You frown and look around. "Who are we trying to look good for?"

He uses the piano's slick black surface as a mirror to double check himself. "The girl I was telling you about."

A prince approaches you with a bouquet of roses but Kai snatches them away before he ever gets a chance to present them. "She's allergic to roses, I'll take those." He walks away from him just as quick as it happened.

The empty handed prince then turns away to rethink his strategy while Kai holds the roses and smiles at the approaching princess. "Princess Amara. It's good to see you."

The princess curtsies. "Prince Malakai, you as well." He holds out the roses to her. "Here, these are for you."

Amara frowns and stares down at the roses. "Oh, thank you." She then plucks one of the roses out of the bouquet and hands it to you. "Happy birthday, your grace."

You smile and bow your head at her. "Thank you. It's lovely to finally meet you. You seem to have caught the eye of my brother, I see."

The girl turns a bright shade of pink. "Have I?"

Suddenly, Ambrose approaches with a princess of his own wrapped around his arm. She was completely different than the princess Kai brought to the table. She didn't even bow or say hello. Instead, she just laughed.  "Wow, you really do exist. I was beginning to think you were just some kind of folklore."

Jean watches as your usual approachable face hardens but you force a smile. Ambrose laughs. "I told you."

The girl tilts her head and examines you. "You're a lot prettier than people say, I'll give you that. A lot taller too."

"And you are?" You ask. The girl lets out the fakest laugh Jean ever heard and she flips her hair. "Where are my manners? I'm Anastasia of the kingdom Levison." She holds out her hand. "I'm sure you've heard of me."

Princess Amara laughs into her palm and everyone turns to her. Her eyes grow in size when she realizes she laughed out loud rather than in her head and she clears her throat. "Sorry. Carry on."

You shake Anastasia's hand. "I can't say I have but it's nice to meet you."

She gives you a disgusted look before she releases your hand. "I heard you don't want to get married." She smirks.

You snap your eyes toward Ambrose and he gives you the whoops I may have mentioned that look. "I do plan to marry just when I find the right person that I love." You explain.

She lets out a witch cackle that rung annoyingly in Jean's ears. "Love? What are you 12?" She leans in closer and grins. "Let me guess, you're still a virgin too."

You furrow your brows. "Aren't we all supposed to be?"

Amara brings her glass to her lips, her lipstick leaving a stain around the rim of it. "We are supposed to be but some people have trouble remembering that."

Princess Anastasia glares at Amara who just smiles at her. Jean didn't know what the story behind those two were but he knew they absolutely did not like each other.

She then turns to Ambrose who was already checking out another girl across the room. "Let's go introduce me to your parents." She pulls on his arm.

His attention comes back to her. "Hm? Oh, yeah sure whatever." Kai stops him. "You can't be serious, right?"

Ambrose looks at him like he said the most insane thing ever. "Do you think I'm fucking dumb? I wouldn't take this girl serious in a million years. I'm just trying to get some before the end of the night." He slurs his speech.

You wrinkle your nose. "How romantic."

He stumbles behind Anastasia as she drags him across the room. Amara stares in complete shock and Jean completely forgets she's not used to Ambrose's lewd comments. "Your brother sure is something."

Kai sighs. "He definitely knows how to leave an impression on someone." He shakes his head and forgets all about what just happened. "Dance with me?"

Amara smiles and sets her hand on top of Kai's extended one. "Sure."

He winks at Jean before he walks away. "Take notes."

Jean shakes his head to himself. "This guy." He turns to his left to where you were originally standing and just now realizes you're no longer there.

Mikasa runs up to Jean. "Where's the princess? Her mom has been looking for her."

He looks around, completely confused. "She was just right here a few seconds ago. She just disappeared."

Mikasa groans and takes a shot of whoever's glass was left on the table. "I can't find her anywhere and the fact that not even you know where she's at makes it even worse."

She sits down and relaxes for a moment. She keeps her eyes down on her shoes and she slips her heels off for a second so her feet can have a break. "Can you go find her, please? I need a second."

He still couldn't believe you practically disappeared into thin air. One second you were there and then the next you weren't. He tried not to think negatively about it but it was hard when he looked around the entire ballroom and didn't see you anywhere. And you were hard to miss. "Yeah. I'll go look outside maybe."

He looked everywhere. Well, everywhere he'd think you'd be hiding. He checked the music room, the greenhouse and even your dangerous secret hiding spot on the roof. But you were no where to be found.

It felt like he had searched the entire perimeter when something in the back of his mind told him to go check by the pond.

As he approached the large body of water, he noticed the pond almost look like it was sparkling as it gleamed under the moonlight.

Another thing he noticed was a girl sitting on one of the swings that hung from the willow tree nearby. It was obvious it was you because A. Who else? and B. He'd recognize you anywhere.

"There you are." Jean says once his eyes register that it's indeed you. "Mikasa is looking everywhere for you, you know." He walks over to you and leans up against the tree the swings hang from.

You don't even look in his direction. Your eyes are too busy at the view before you. The sky was a heavy shade of indigo and the stars twinkled brightly against the dark background. "I know. We're just playing hide and seek."

Jean laughs. He knew that wasn't true. He knew you ran away and now Mikasa has no idea where you were. Which, technically, is hide and seek just without Mikasa's knowledge she's playing said game. "Aren't you a little too old for that?"

"I wasn't aware there was an age limit." You sigh while you kick off the ground so that your swing does exactly what it's made for.

He looks down at you from where he stands still. You look miserable. You weren't even trying to hide it anymore like you had been all night. That's most likely why you came to hide on the complete opposite side of the castle to get a break of pretending. "That bad huh?"

You fix your dress so it covers your legs properly. "You have no idea."

He wasn't sure if you wanted to be alone or not but he decides to take the risk and sit next to you anyway. He takes a seat on the accompanying swing.

You lean your head against the rope that ties the swing to the tree. "What am I doing, Jean? I mean, this isn't going to make me happy. I'm going to be miserable for the rest of my life because I was forced to do something I didn't want to. This isn't the life I would've chosen for myself. This is not what I want to do."

Jean blows air out as he attempts to understand your position. He truly didn't know what to say. He had never been in this position. It was like you said on the rooftop, he had control over his own life, he could make his own decisions and choices, you couldn't.

He struggled to come up with something comforting to say to you. The way you were looking at him as if begging for some kind of solution made it even harder. Every time you looked at him with those eyes, he couldn't focus. He would always just lose his train of thought.

"They can't all be that bad right?" Is the best he can come up with. "One of the hundred of princes in there has to be somewhat decent."

Your eager, yearning eyes darken and you turn away. He clearly didn't say the answer you were hoping to hear. "Yeah. Some are okay."

You take a deep breath. "Maybe I'm the problem. Some of them are kind people with good hearts. They're not bad looking either. So what's the problem? Why can't I just choose one?"

Jean looks down at his hands on his lap as if he'd somehow find his next answer there. What was the right thing to say in a moment like this?

"Is it bad that I feel bad for them more than I feel bad for myself?" You ask.

He frowns. "You feel bad for them? Why?"

"One of those poor guys is gonna be stuck with me forever by the end of the night." You respond.

"And that's a bad thing?" He asks.

You shrug and play with your fingers in your lap. "Well, it's not necessarily good."

A small frog hops in front of the two of you and jumps into the nearby pond. "Why not?"

You take a moment to respond like you're hesitant about what you're about to say next. You pull at a hangnail that sticks out from your thumb and it draws a little bit of blood. "I just don't understand why anyone would wanna marry me."

He keeps his eyes on the red bubble coming out from the tiny cut. He blinks and completely misses when it heals up instantaneously. In just a blink of an eye, the wound closed up without you even putting in any effort at all.

He only ever saw you heal something about three times. The bird many, many years ago was the first. Just a couple days ago, you healed a girl's damaged eyes and allowed her to see for the first time in her entire life. Even though he didn't get to see the process of you doing it, he was able to briefly catch the amazed expressions of the girl and her mother.

It was the exact same expression he had when he saw you give the bird another chance at life.

And then today, you healed Eren's hand in just a matter of seconds.

He found it astonishing you doubted yourself so much. That you were blessed with such a gift and had the ability to do all kinds of incredible things yet still thought so low of yourself.

The girl who made everyone stand up straighter each time she walked in a room. The girl who literally every single one of guards had a crush on at one point or another. The girl who could somehow make even Levi Ackerman laugh his hardest. The girl everyone described as pure and selfless. The girl that everyone outside the walls was curious about. The girl who Jean used to sneak away from his friends when he was a child just to get a quick look at you. The girl who made it physically impossible for anyone to be upset around her because she took away everyone's pain without them even realizing it. The girl who risked her life to help a girl she's never met in her entire life.

[play The Flower Garden by Joe Hisaishi here]

"I wish you could see yourself the way everyone else does." He says suddenly. He meant to only say it in his head but his mouth blurted it out anyway.

You turn to him. He could tell you never expected those words to come out of his mouth or anyones for that matter.

He stands up and fixes his uniform before he extends his hand out to you. "Dance with me."

You look up at him from where you're seated, your eyes wide and sparkling. Then, the softness melts and you try to make your face as serious as possible. "That's not funny."

He chuckles. "I'm not joking. Dance with me." Your eyes meet his hand that only rests a few inches from your face. You cautiously take his hand and he pulls you up.

He brings you closer to him, your bodies touching briefly. He holds on to your right hand while the other comes up to your waist. You instinctively squeeze his hand without realizing when his hand grazes your side and sends chills up your spine.

"I thought you didn't like to dance." You tease him. He didn't. He never liked dancing. But yet here he was.

The girl who could make Jean Kirstein, who hated dancing, want to get up and dance.

"I hate it because I'm not good at it." He admits. He could feel his face burn with embarrassment as the words leave his mouth. He's never admitted that out loud before.

You chuckle softly. "You're a natural." He recalls himself stepping on your toe yesterday during practice and how he was completely humiliated and cringes.

He spins you around and your beautiful, golden dress twirls around you like glitter dust. The stars above dulled in comparison to how much you shined right here in his hands.

He bashfully shakes his head. "Don't lie to me. I was never a good dancer. Even as a kid."

You smile at him. "I think you're pretty good."

Jean always thought you were beautiful. He'd be lying if he said he didn't. But right now, there was something different. He wasn't sure if it was because he was seeing you under moonlight this time rather than sunlight like always but in this moment, you looked ethereal as the light above shined luminously on your skin.

He couldn't believe this view here was all for himself. There was no one else around to see it. He wished he could snap a photo of it and have it saved in time forever just in case his memory ever failed him.

He felt like his younger self was applauding him right now. He would've never had the guts to do this. He couldn't believe he even had them now.

In this moment, he didn't feel like an awkward, uncoordinated dancer. The two of you moved like your bodies were drawn to each other. Everywhere he stepped, you flowed perfectly in that direction effortlessly.

Maybe it was you that was casually leading the way and making him do so well. Maybe it was the practice from yesterday. He wasn't sure what it was but he just knew he felt surreal. Like a dream almost.

He felt like he was having an out of body experience. Like he was floating outside his body and watching someone else dance with you. He felt like a complete other person around you.

He didn't feel subconscious or insecure. He didn't feel awkward or out of place. He felt.. brave. He felt secure and confident.

It took him a second to realize you were probably taking his doubts away the second he grabbed your hand, your power seeping into his skin.

But he didn't care. He liked how he felt. He felt like himself. No, he felt like his best self.

He began to spin you around and around in circles, curious on how long you could do it for like yesterday. You do it a couple times before you catch on to what he's doing and laugh. "Stop!"

He stops and laughs with you. He can see your head slowly wobble as you grow dizzy and try to catch your balance. You stumble a little but he brings you into his arms to catch you.

Your hands were still joined together and Jean could feel your thumb caress the tough skin on his hand. You rest your head on his shoulder as he holds you tightly. "I wish you were a prince."

Jean's feet stop moving along with the rest of his entire body. He was glad your face was buried in his neck so you wouldn't be able to see the stunned look on his.

You pull away from him when you notice he stopped moving and look at him with concerned eyes, scared you might've made things weird.

"Y/n!" Mikasa snaps. "Get your ass back over here! Your parents are going to kill me."

You sigh. "Alright, alright. I'm coming." You weakly smile at Jean before you pass by him and back to the ballroom with Mikasa.

He still stood there in shock. He wasn't sure why the words caught him so off guard. It was like he was struggling to determine whether he heard you correctly or not.

That's what you said, right? That you wished he was a prince? He had trouble believing you'd actually say that. Maybe he only heard what he wanted to hear.

He began walking back to the ballroom, a few feet behind you and Mikasa. He could hear her getting on to you and you making jokes to help her relax.

You both then step into the room and freely walk over to the back where the thrones are while Jean isn't even two steps in yet when Kai, who was leaned up against the wall near the entrance door, speaks to him. "This party is incredible, right? She's clearly the favorite." Kai says, biting into a cupcake. "My birthday parties aren't half this extravagant."

Was he...waiting for me?

Jean looks up at the acrobat above as they twirl around in the air and hang from some kind of drape. "I don't think I've ever been to something like this in my life."

"Well," He crumbles up the decorate cupcake liner and sticks into the suit of a passing by prince. "It is her going away party after all. Whether she realizes it or not."

Jean felt a wave of sadness. The party was disguised as just your birthday ball but it was like Kai says, your goodbye ball.

"Are you going to miss her?" Jean asks, his eyes still above. This was his first time seeing acrobats in the air.

Kai looks up as well and takes in the performers. "Of course. She's my other half. I don't think I would be sane if it wasn't for her."

Jean found himself smiling. He loved seeing how much your bond with your brothers changed since you were children. He could tell they all loved you dearly now.

"Are you?" Kai asks, looking right at Jean now. For some reason, Jean couldn't meet his friend's eyes so he kept his vision up above. "Not as much as you, I'm sure." He answers carefully.

Kai grabs a glass of champagne off one of the nearby towers. "I don't know, you two seem to have gotten closer lately."

Jean felt his heart stop for a second but then it quickly finds its rhythm again. "I suppose you could say that."

Kai brings the glass to his mouth to take a sip of the bubbly beverage but instead of a sip, he just downs the whole thing. He wipes his mouth with his sleeve and sets the now empty glass on the table. "Please don't get in the way of her choosing someone tonight."

Jean finally meets the prince's eyes. "What? Why would I do that?"

"I don't think you would intentionally. I know you're a good man." Kai corrects.

"But?" Jean asks. He knew Kai well enough to know there was always a but.

Kai sighs. "But I also know my sister. She gets wild ideas in her head with that imagination she has and runs with it."

Jean just stares at him, confused and offended by what's happening. Kai steals another glass and finishes it in one take like he did with the other one. He sets the glass down beside the other empty one and sets his hand on the table as he prepares himself to sound as mature as he could.

"Me, Ambrose, Elijah, Y/n. We were born into this life." He gestures around to the room filled with princes and princesses in expensive dresses that Jean could probably buy a house with. He then jabs a finger at Jean's chest. "But you? You had to work hard for this. You've made it this far up because you worked for it. You earned this."

He backs away and looks at Jean, his face as serious as he could make it. "Don't let her destroy everything you've accomplished. This could not just get you fired but banished even. Killed depending on the circumstances."

Jean shakes his head and contorts his face. "I don't understand why you're telling me all this."

"Are you falling in love with her?" Kai asks bluntly, frustrated and no longer wanting to beat around the bush.

Now Jean's heart really does stop. Not just for a moment but for what felt like forever. The room suddenly felt a million times hotter. "I'm just doing my job." He says firmly.

Someone collects the empty glasses from the table and Kai pauses the conversation until they leave. "Well maybe try not to be so good at your job." He says once they do.

He steps closer to Jean and Jean tried his best to not tense up but he was already so on edge from the conversation. "Because although you aren't falling in love with her, I believe she's falling in love with you."

It felt like the room went completely silent. He also felt like every single eye was on him. This of course, wasn't true at all. He knew his mind was playing cruel tricks on him trying to convince him that what he heard just now wasn't just a figment of his imagination.

It couldn't be. You weren't falling in love with him. He refused to believe you were.

"What if I was?" Jean asks. "I'm not saying I am but I want to know what would happen."

Kai grabs yet another glass of champagne. Kai liked to drink but not like this. Jean could tell this conversation was hard for him and that he couldn't do it sober. Meaning, someone put him up to it. "I pray for the sake of her heart and yours that you never do."

He tosses the drink down his throat and wipes his mouth. "Look, y/n, she needs to marry a prince. Not just because my parents won't allow anything else but because she has big hopes and dreams, dreams she can't accomplish unless she has her own kingdom. She needs to be a queen to have the power to do all the things she wants to. If she stays here, she'll always just be a princess under her parents' control. She'll never leave this place. Her getting married and leaving is the best thing for her. She's been stuck here for too long."

His heart hurt. It hurt so bad because he knew everything Kai is saying was painfully true.

"If it makes you feel any better," Kai starts. "We had the same conversation with Mikasa a while back."

Just like that, he disappears into the crowd.

Now, Jean was left feeling nothing. He didn't quite understand how to feel. He was feeling a variety of emotions but mostly, he felt nothing.

"Hi." You appear out of nowhere. He keeps his eyes ahead on the harp player. "Hey."

You frown. "What's wrong?"

Please just leave me alone.

"Y/n." Queen Solana approaches with a prince in her grip. "You know Prince Phoenix, the son of King Nathaniel, right?"

Jean could tell by your facial expression there for a spilt second that you had no idea who he was. "Of course." You curtsy. "It's a pleasure to see you again, your highness."

He bows before you and reaches for your hand before planting a kiss on it. "The pleasure is always mine."

You look at Jean as you pull your hand away but he's too busy looking at this Prince Phoenix that the queen just had to bring forth to you.

"I heard you're proficient in three different instruments." The prince beams. Jean couldn't deny he was handsome. He had perfectly straight white teeth and clear skin that radiated just as equally.

You laugh sheepishly. "I wouldn't say proficient."

The queen cackles with laughter and brings her hands around you to lead you closer. "She's much too modest, forgive her." She then turns to you. "Perhaps you could show him how you play sometime."

You looked wildly uncomfortable but you hide it behind a warm smile. "I'm sure the prince is much too busy for something like that."

"I would actually love to hear you play." Phoenix smiles reassuringly.

Your smile wavers. "I'm not that great, I'd only embarrass myself I'm afraid."

Jean scoffs. "Don't listen to her. She's incredible. I've had the privilege of seeing her play two of the three instruments and might I say if she wasn't already a princess, I'd say she'd be one of the world's most talented composers."

You turn to him, your eyes wide and mouth open. You slowly creak your head back to the prince. "Will you excuse me for just a moment? It seems this man is off his medication again."

You grab a tight fistful of Jean's uniform and drag him along with you out of sight. When you're finally alone, you snap at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm helping you." He responds dryly like it was something that was common sense.

You scowl him. "I don't recall ever asking for your assistance."

"Well, you need it. You're doing terrible. At this rate, you'll scare every man worth marrying." Jean says.

You knit your brows together. "Did you forget that was the point?"

He pauses. You scoff. "First, you interrupt every conversation I have with a man and now you push me to them? Why don't you make up your mind?"

"I have!" He shouts. He then lowers his tone realizes he's letting his emotions get the best of him. "It was stupid for me to mess with tonight for you. This is important."

He could see the growing anger and confusion on your face. "What are you trying to say?" You ask.

"I think you should take it more serious. It's better for everyone if you get married." He says looking down at his shoes.

You stare at him for a moment and he could feel his hard exterior melt on the inside. "Is that really what you want for me to do?"

"It's best for everyone." He says firmly.

"That's not what I asked you." You argue.

"It doesn't matter what I want, its—"

"IS IT REALLY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO?" You repeat.

He wanted to rip all his hair out. "Yes, y/n, yes!"

Your fierce expression and posture sinks and disappointment takes it's place. Your eyes finally break away from his, no longer being able to meet them. "Okay."

Just like that, you walk right past him like nothing. Just an okay and that's it. No other words. Just a blank faced, dry reply.

[play i was all over her by salvia path]

He now stood there alone, basking in his own thoughts. He did the right thing, right? So why did he feel so discontent?

All he wanted was for you to be happy and have the life you've always dreamed of. The only way that was achievable was if you married one of the many rich princes here.

He must've forgotten his place. He didn't belong here. He wasn't one of you. No matter how close he got to the top, he was never on any of the other men in this room's level. He didn't own a castle or an entire damn kingdom. He didn't have rich blood running through his veins. His parents were normal people and he was just a normal person.

The more he hung out with you, the easier it was to forget that. To forget he wasn't just some commoner lucky enough to even breathe in your air. It completely slipped his mind. Although he did know he was lucky.

This was the world you belonged in. You may be humble and lack princess like poise and manners but regardless of how normal you felt around him, you were a princess at the end of the day. Untouchable and intangible.

It felt like he was waking up from a long dream. Reality smacking him right in the face. He didn't know what was it about you that made him feel just as invincible as you are. You gave him that courage and that burning drive to accomplish anything. It didn't matter if he had some stupid crown on his head or not, he felt like he was on top of the world when he was with you.

But still, you belong you to someone else. Someone else in this very room will be even more lucky he is. He got to spend time with you everyday but someone here was going to have you forever.

He watches as you talk to the 100th prince of the night. Your brothers also are too preoccupied with princesses of their own. He didn't even know where his mother was at this point. He was in a room full of people but yet, he felt so alone.

Laughter and music filled his ears. He kept seeing flashes on priceless jewelry and the sound of valuable dresses swipe across the floor as the owners spin around in circles. It almost felt like they were mocking him and rubbing it in his face.

He needed this. He needed to be humbled and reminded that his life was never going to somehow merge with yours in any other way but to watch over you for the short time you still remain here. After you're married, you're no longer his problem. He's to move on with his life and you with yours.

Jean stands by a tall table, admiring you dance from afar. He can feel the presence of someone joining beside him but he's too mesmerized to even pull his eyes away.

"So, I've heard your the princess's personal guard." The voice of the mystery guest says. "Tell me about her."

Jean turns to the voice, ready to say something when he realizes it's a prince that he recalls goes by the name Prince Kingsley. Jean quickly bows. "Your highness."

The prince bows his head in return. Jean turns back to look at you. "Well, I'm not really sure how to begin, uh..."

He gets lost in his own world again looking at you. It was like every thought he ever had disappeared from his mind and was consumed by only ones of you.

You're smiling brightly as you talk to Mikasa. He loved the way your eyes fluttered closed each time you laughed. "She's brilliant at everything she touches. She cares for things so deeply and passionately. She has the curiousness and imagination that of a child. She's often always seen dancing or running around."

He didn't even realize he was just rambling now. "She's so humble that she barely even realize how incredible she is when everyone else sees it. They're all naturally drawn to her. People, animals. It seems like even the trees sway in her direction and flowers grow wherever she shines."

If someone didn't stop him, he could go on forever. He just now realized that. Even when it seemed like he knew nothing about you, it felt like he knew everything.

"She lights up every room she enters." He smiles to himself. "Her laugh is the kind that your brain memorizes forever. It's the kind you can point out in a crowd full of people and loud music."

The prince stares at Jean for a good while before returning back to the princess. "Is that so? Tell me, a woman that extraordinarily beautiful and so incredible as you describe, why hasn't she married? There must be something wrong with her."

Jean felt his body stiffen and his muscles flex. "I will not speak ill of the princess."

The prince roars with laughter. "I'm not asking you speak ill. I'm asking for your honesty. The princess would be an ideal choice but forgive me for being suspicious of the woman who has been hidden away her entire life."

"She's just very picky. That is all." Jean defends. "Matter of fact, she does not even wish to be married."

Prince Kingsley makes the most absurd face. "She doesn't?"

Jean instantly regrets his words. "I mean, she does. She just wishes to marry out of love."

"Love?" Kingsley cackles. "How foolish."

Jean studies the prince beside him. He honestly looked twice your age and his hair line was already receding so he didn't know why he was even bothering. "Is it that foolish to want to live a life as happily as possible?"

Kingsley scoffs and looks at Jean head to toe. "Maybe for you that is achievable but for us royalty, we do not seek things as insignificant as love."

Jean shakes his head and his eyes return back to you, pulling on Mikasa's arm so she can dance with you. "Right. Just looks, money and status."

"Precisely." The man smiles a shark line grin. He then pats Jean on the back. "And the princess has exactly all three of those." 

Jean watches as the creepy man trails his way over to you and he feels sick to his stomach when he thinks about how many other princes in the room talk about you just like that as well. Like an object or prize rather than an actual person.

Luckily, just before Prince Kingsley makes his way over to you, Prince Phoenix beats him to it. Not that Jean was a fan of him either but anything was better than that sick fuck.

Prince Phoenix leans into your ear so you can hear him over the music and he points his head over to the direction of the balcony across the room. To Jean's surprise, you hold on to the prince's arm while he leads the way to where he indicated.

He wasn't sure why he was surprised. He literally told you to take this serious so he can't act shocked when you do exactly that. Maybe he just thought you would do your own thing anyway regardless of what he said. More like he was hoping you would.

He pretended to grab a cupcake from the table near the balcony just so he could try to overhear some of the conversation. He knew it wasn't any of his business but he was your bodyguard, wasn't he? He's supposed be near you at all times.

"Your land is beautiful." Prince Phoenix compliments as the two of you admire the view from the balcony.

Jean can't see your face because your back is toward him but he just knows you're smiling. "Isn't it?" You turn your head to face him. "Is yours?"

For some reason, there's an aching sensation rising in his chest. Why did you want to know what his land was like? Maybe you were just making conversation or being nice.

He chuckles. "Mine is a different kind of beautiful than yours. Where you live there's trees that stretch for miles and mountains that touch the clouds. Where I live, the land is lush and flat and there's massive bodies of water everywhere you look. The trees are not like yours either. We have palm trees."

Your eyes grow as your imagination takes hold of you. "You live by the ocean? That sounds amazing."

He smiles. "I could take you one day to see it. My words don't do it enough justice."

Jean could feel his arm twitch for a moment. He watches as your smile drops and you step back. "Oh I'm—I'm flattered."

He closes the space between you two while maintaining a respective distance. "I know you have choices. You have an entire room of men wanting to ask for your hand in marriage and I know it could be overwhelming."

Your tense body relaxes a little, your shoulders coming down. "You truly have no idea."

The prince extends his hand out. "So I only ask for your hand for a dance. Just one and I'll be content."

You stare at his hand and then laugh before you take it. "Okay."

Jean couldn't deny it. He was smooth. He was extremely good looking, well dressed, well groomed and well behaved. He didn't get weird vibes from him like with everyone else.

That was a good thing, right? That you found someone decent for you.

So why did he feel so...

He walks away from the dessert table before you can see him standing there. He heads over to the table he spotted his mom at and he watches as the prince leads you to the dance floor.

Prince Phoenix says something that makes you laugh before you both begin to dance together. He wanted to know what he said but it was probably better if he didn't.

"She's smiling." Jean points out. "Laughing even."

His mother bumps his shoulder reassuringly. "She always laughs at everything. I'm sure his royal highness isn't as humorous as you believe him to be."

He appreciates her words but he knew better. "But even if he was, wouldn't that be ideal? For the princess to marry a man who knows how to make her laugh?"

She gives him a weary look before turning away. "I suppose you're right."

The two quietly watch as you and the prince, along with others, twirl around on the dance floor to the music playing.

The night comes to an end finally and people begin to say their goodbyes before they head home.

You stay behind with everyone else to help clean up even though they all insisted you just went to your room. The two of you don't exchange a single word or look the whole time.

Once everything was picked up and all the guests were gone, everyone else, including his mother,  went home for the night as well.

Jean catches you walking out the ballroom alone with not even Mikasa or your mom in sight so he decides this is a good time to talk to you. He knew you were mad at him and he didn't want to end the night that way.

He jogs over to you. "Well? How did you manage to get out of it?" He asks once he's beside you. You keep your head forward while you pull pins from your hair. "Get out of what?"

"The marriage. You didn't pick someone, right? Unless your parents did choose you after all." He answers back.

You pull the last pin and you can feel your head feel lighter suddenly when your hair falls normally. "I did choose someone."

Jean stops walking. "You did?"

You continue walking to your room considering you were just a couple feet away. He could tell you wanted nothing more than to take off your dress and makeup. "Yes."

He remains standing where he stopped, keeping a safe distance for the meantime. "Who?"

Your hands reach around your back as you try to untie the tight strings from the back of your dress. "Prince Phoenix."

You struggle to reach the strings and groan with frustration. You hold onto your door handle and use it for balance while you kick off your shoes.

"Prince Phoenix? You're marrying him?" Jean laughs as he steps a few feet closer but still remaining at a distance.

You bend forward to grab your shoes and frown at him when you stand straight again. "What of it?"

"He's named after a bird. A fake one at that." Jean points out.

"And you compared yourself to a horse." You remind him.

"Well, do you even like him?" He asks. His heart felt like it was beating abnormally quick.

You open the door and toss your heels in there. Your hand then comes up to your ears as you begin to strip them of the gleaming earring they held so proudly. "He's nice enough."

Jean steps forward. "Nice enough? That's it?"

You sigh deeply and turn to him lazily. "Nice matters when it comes to forced arranged marriages, Jean. I'm lucky there was even a decent man left."

What were you saying? Your entire life you were so against marriage and said you'd never marry someone just because they were a prince. You wanted to marry for love. Not for any other materialistic reason. Now, you were marrying someone just because they were nice to you.

"So I guess you're getting married." He says aloud and when he hears his own words, his stomach turns like a washing machine.

You strip yourself of the remaining jewelry. You just stand there in your dress that you were still struggling to get off. "Well he still needs to propose to me but in other words, yes." You grow quieter. "I suppose I am."

You give up and attempt to take in a deep breath, your fingers cramping up from twisting awkwardly behind your back in feeble attempts to pull on the strings to loosen your corset.

Your arms come down to your side and you look down at the ground. He could tell you were disappointed in yourself. Not just for giving up in trying to untie your own corset but for giving up in general. "We all saw this coming, right? We knew it was going to happen eventually whether I wanted to or not."

"Do you want me to help you?" Jean asks quickly. He wanted to desperately change the subject.

You snap your head up. "What? No. I can do it myself."

He chuckles. "Really? Because I just watched you struggle to do it for a good five minutes now."

You glare at him. "Mikasa will help me if I need it. Thanks."

"She's with Eren, isn't she?" Jean asks. He knew you probably set it up so that they could spend time together somehow and most likely mentioned to her that you'd cover for her and that she was free to take as long as she'd like.

You nod. "But it's alright. I don't mind waiting."

"You sure? I know you're exhausted and want to get into bed and that doesn't look at all comfortable to sleep in." He asks.

You shake your head. "I probably won't even feel it." You turn away from him and step into your bedroom but you feel something tug on the strings of your corset bringing you to a stop.

Jean swiftly pulls one of the strings, loosing the corset slightly. You feel relief all around your body even though it's only loosened up just a smidge. You close your eyes and breathe easier.

"Does that feel better?" He asks. He was standing right behind you now.

"Yes." You say softly. Since your back was to him, he couldn't see what face you were making but he knew you were growing flustered because he could hear it in your voice. "Do you want me to loosen another?" He asks.

He was so close to you. The smell of your perfume filled his nose and your skin was just a touch away.

You hesitate for a moment. "Just one more. I can do the rest after."

He looks into your room and realizes he can see his reflection in the mirror against your wall straight ahead. Along with his reflection, is yours in front of him.

While maintaining eye contact with you in the mirror, he pulls on another string, slower this time. He watches as your chest begins to breathe naturally again without struggle. Your eyes close in temporary bliss.

He couldn't shake his dirty thoughts. Your smell, your skin just by his, your face melting with pleasure in the mirror. He had to stop. He had to get away from you.

He pulls away and steps back but your hand quickly bends back to grab him. You look at the ground unable to meet his eye. "Wait."

"Yes?" He replies.

You release his sleeve and your hand returns to where it originally was. "Keep going."

He watches your expression carefully in the mirror ahead and can tell your mind is racing. He wondered if your thoughts were even remotely close to his.

At the same time, both of you hear heels clicking down the hallway. You spin around to face him and force a smile on your face. "Never mind. Goodnight. Thanks for helping me. I think I can handle the rest."

He steps back so he's out of the way. "Goodnight." He clears his throat. "And of course. Sweet dreams, princess."

You cower behind the door and your face twitches like you're about to correct him and remind him to call you by your name but to his surprise, you don't. You let it slide.

You press your lips together to form a smile as you bow your head and bring the door to a close. He stands on the other side of your door and finally catches his breath. It felt like he was holding it the entire time he was practically undressing you.

He takes a moment and leans his back against the closed door. For some reason, it felt like you were doing the exact same thing on the other side.

And when he hears your muffled words just moments later, he realizes you are. "Thank you for dancing with me."

He smiles. "Thank you for letting me."

A small part of him hopes the conversation will carry on but he can feel the presence on the other side of the door disappear and there's no other words exchanged.

He pushes his body off the door and walks a few steps to the right. He found himself laughing at how close his room was to yours.

He enters his room and does all he needs to before he showers and prepares for bed. Once he's under the sheets, he's in love with the quality of the mattress as well as how soothing the comforter was.

Even though his new bed was perfectly ideal for sleeping, he found himself still wide awake. He was laying on his back with his arm underneath his head, his eyes plastered on the decorative ceiling above.

He couldn't get you out of his head. Why? Why was his mind infatuated with you? Why did it seem that even now, after practically your whole family warned him to not get too close to you, he still wanted to. He wanted to know you even deeper. It almost seemed that the more people warned him, the more he wanted to rebel against them.

That is the tricky thing about being told you can't do something...

It always makes it ten times more exciting to do it anyway.