ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗘
─◌✰್ 𝗍𝗁𝖾
❝𝗶'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻...❞

Who designed dresses to be so fucking itchy?

You lifted the skirt that seemed to go on for a million miles clear off the ground to relieve yourself of a scratch that had been bothering you for the whole one minute since you'd put the stupid thing on.

The dress designer deserved to be fired.

Of course, seeing as the designer was an old woman named Nam Bora who had worked for your family since she was fourteen years old, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

And the dress was gorgeous. Anyone with eyes could see that. But the lace underskirts were made of a material that must have come from the depths of hell itself, because it made your legs feel like they were constantly being attacked by pissed off fire ants.

You twirled half-heartedly in front of the mirror, watching the cream-colored gown flare around you like spilled milk.

Cream certainly wasn't your color. Hell, colors weren't your color. But your mother had bought dozens of gowns for you in anticipation of the courting season, and she would rather drop dead than allow you to wear anything else.

But the longer you stared at your reflection, the more you loathed the dress. Not necessarily because of the way you looked in it. In fact, you looked damn good, despite the dresses hearty attempts to thwart you.

No, if you were being completely honest with yourself, it was the way pleasing your mother made you feel. No matter how dreadful the gown felt, the thing that really made you break out into hives was the sight of your mother smiling approvingly at you, pleased that she got her way. Then she would say, "you look gorgeous, Tessa! Like a real lady."

As if anything you chose for yourself was unladylike.

And while your particularly angsty spirit might have been due in part to you being away at university for the past year without so much as one visit back home, you knew what you had to do.

Without another thought, you tore the dress off your body, leaving it sprawled in a heap on the floor. Exactly where it belonged, in your opinion.

Then, you rummaged around in your suitcase for your favorite gown that you wore to every morning tea back at university, and tugged it on.

You studied your appearance, this time with decided satisfaction. The simple black silk hung off your frame in a natural, sultry fashion. There was no lace in sight, just a single bow in the center of the low-hanging neckline, right between your cleavage.

Your mother was going to have an aneurism.

Or so you hoped. You chuckled to yourself as you sauntered down the stairs, barefoot save for a pair of sheer black socks.

With your good mood in tow, you paraded yourself into the dining room, almost eager for the conflict that was sure to ensue.

Your mother, dad, and younger brother were all already sitting around the table. Your dad sat at the head of the table, as always, with your mother to his right, and brother to his left.

Just as you had expected, your mother immediately leaped up from her seat and rounded on you, eyes narrowed and aiming sparks at you and your outfit.

"What the hell do you think you're wearing?" She snapped, pulling at one of the spaghetti straps that hung off your shoulder. "This is not one of the-"

"One of the outfits that Your Highness approved?" You interrupted, jerking your arm away from her. "Yeah, I know. Because it's actually in style."

"Your father has some important news for you, and then you're going right back upstairs to change," a speck of saliva flew from her mouth and landed right on the front of your dress, leaving a small white mark on the otherwise pure black material.

"You can't make me do anything," you replied, raising your chin and making your way to your spot at the table.

You always sat on your brother's other side, with no one sitting across from you. Together, but separate, as always.

Your brother smiled at you before subtly pointing at the front of your dress and handing you his cloth napkin.

"So what's the news, dad?" You asked, gratefully taking the napkin and dabbing at the spot on your dress where the spit had landed.

Your dad, unperturbed by you and your mother's fight, set his fork down at the edge of his plate and smiled at you with tired eyes.

Your father had always been a kind, respectful man. Once handsome in his youth, his face was now showing signs of aging, with lines appearing around his mouth and on his forehead. His hair had been streaked with gray starting about five years ago, but it suited him. It gave him a stronger ere of wisdom and intelligence. People had always respected him because of his friendly, relatable stature, but it seemed the older he got, the more people looked up to him. His marriage to the queen, your mother, had been one of economic convenience, but they had truly come to love one another, despite their differences. Especially differences in personality, you thought.

Being the king of the Moonstone Kingdom, your dad had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

And that responsibility was going to be passed on to you one day.

Not because you deserved it. Nor were you qualified for the position in any way.

In fact, everyone in your family had hoped your brother would be able to take the throne. And if it weren't for the kingdom's laws, which hadn't been changed since the Moonstone Kingdom was created centuries ago, you were sure your parents would have appointed him as the next king without hesitation.

After all, he had been the one to stay back and learn about the economy, politics, and people of Moonstone. He had made personal connections with the entire population, including the peasants, with ease. That was something even your dad had trouble doing at the start of his rule. Your brother was smart, polite, social, and genuinely kind to everyone he met. He would make the perfect king.

And what had you done? You'd ditched your family and the kingdom as quickly as possible to attend university.

But seeing as you were the oldest child, you were to rule. Moonstone law didn't care if you were a girl or a boy, if you were the first-born child, you were the next to the throne.

Of course, you had known this since birth. Your mother sure as hell hadn't let you forget. Whenever you made a mistake, had bad manners, or did poorly in a class, she made sure you knew that "a true queen would never do that."

You had wished your perfect brother would just take over for you instead. In fact, you still wished that somehow, the laws could be changed and you'd be relieved of this responsibility that no one wanted you to have in the first place.

But surprisingly, you and your brother were so close, people assumed you were twins. He was always attached to your hip, chasing you around on your daring escapades, even trying to take the fall when you got in trouble with your mother. He was always the nicer, more sociable, politer, smarter sibling in every way. Everyone and their fucking ancestors loved Lin Kai.

They expected your brother to want to become the king, to be jealous of you and your position.

But the thing you loved about him the most? He wasn't jealous of you. He never wanted to be king, and he never wanted to take your place. In fact, he was your biggest cheerleader, the one constantly telling you that you had what it took to be queen.

You never believed him, but it was nice to hear.

"We are having a ceremony tonight to commemorate the start of courting season," your father said, nodding to the server who stood a few feet away from the table.

The server, who was holding a silver platter like some sort of medieval butler, handed you an envelope off the plate and returned to the same place.

You immediately ripped open the letter, ignoring the pristine seal done in silver wax with a moon imprinted in the middle. Unfolding the letter, you read the following:

To Whom It May Concern,
You have been cordially invited to a ceremonial dinner commemorating the start of the 2023 courting season, which begins on August 1. The dinner will occur Saturday, July 25. Dress is formal. One plus one is admitted, and will be checked at the door upon entrance. Please send a letter back informing the King and Queen of your attendance, and who will be accompanying you.

Regards,
King and Queen Lin

"So we're having a dinner a week before the dance?" You asked, frowning at the dates. "Isn't that earlier than usual?"

Your dad nodded, taking a bite of his rice and following it with a spoonful of miso soup. "Yes, it is," he agreed, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "We have... many important things to attend to leading up to the courting season this year."

You wanted to ask what he meant by that, but kept your mouth shut.

"Yes," your mother barged into the conversation. You knew nothing good could come of it, seeing as whenever she opened her mouth, you wanted to scream.

"And as you can see, the dress code is formal," your mother jabbed a scarlet nail at the letter you still gripped in your hand.  "Did you hear me? Formal. So none of that gaudy, slutty shit. Not like last year."

You instantly felt your face burn, a mix of humiliation and resentment rising in your throat. You weren't sure if you wanted to yell or throw up.

"It was one fucking time," you tried to keep your voice steady, but it shook with barely concealed fury.

"Be that as it may," your mother shot you a triumphant look, and you had no idea why. It's not like she'd won this fight, not even close. "I'll be picking you an outfit for the dinner. You can follow directions for one night, right? That's easy enough, even for you. Or do you just have to wear something exposing to get a man's attention."

It was a statement, not a question.

You stood up from the table, your chair scraping loudly on the wood floor. You prayed the floor was irreversibly scratched.

"You can go fuck yourself," you blurted, ditching your food and storming away from the table.

"Tess-" Kai started, speaking for the first time that morning.

"Watch your language!" Your mother exclaimed, but you kept walking.

"Yeah, and guess who taught me that language?" You yelled back, before escaping out the back door.

How was that for a welcome home, you thought as you slammed the door behind you, leaving your family to sit in stunned silence in your wake.

laska's note —

so the story begins!! for the first few chapters, we don't see a lot of the stray kids boys but we're setting up for something really exciting 😈 what are your thoughts? i bet y'all know who kai is, he's definitely based off a certain kpop idol! is tessa in the right? why is her mom so mean to her? what about the ball and the dinner?? give me all of your thoughts in the comments!! i can't wait for this fic it's already so good.

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟬𝟮 - 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻
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