disclaimer: i don't own harvest moon. i also don't own 'the ordinary princess', where the idea of what the perfect princess is comes from.

The Princess and the Cowboy

~Rebel~

"P-Princess, get back here!"

"No way!" I rounded a corner and ran through the nearest side door, heading out into the court yard. Those guards weren't gonna catch me - at least, not without a fight, though I'd prefer there not to be one.

Okay…Where now? I stopped and looked around, well aware that I was being caught up to.

"Chels! Quick! Over here!" A call alerted me to the blonde girl waving her hands wildly.

I smiled, dashing past and diving into an empty horse stall - well, save for the huge pile of hay. I eyed it for a second, decided I wasn't covered enough and crawled into the centre of it. I saw Julia roll her eyes before she was hidden from view.

Plenty of people do that when they realise I'm the princess - well, you can tell they would if they could, eye rolling isn't very polite, you see.

Princesses are expected to have long, uncommon names - like the name of a jewel, for instance.

Princesses are expected to have long, blonde hair, huge, innocent blue eyes and fair complexions, free of any imperfections.

Princesses are expected to take pleasure in doing activities such as sowing, ball room dancing and piano playing.

Princesses are expected to wear beautiful gowns made of lace and satin, in shades of pink and white…Oh, and they're expected to enjoy wearing them, too.

I couldn't be any more different if I tried.

My hair is brown and mid length, and I prefer to wear a bandanna on my head than a tiara. My skin, whilst peachy, is freckly, especially across my nose. Admittedly my eyes are blue, but they're not innocent, more curious and mischievous.

As for the activities and the dress wearing? No way. Sowing is annoying and time consuming. Ball room dancing is okay, I suppose, but it's nothing compared to some of the folk dancing I've seen people in the village do. I can't get a decent note out of a piano, so that's a no go zone. The dresses are too frilly and impractical. Give me jeans any day!

My name isn't anything special either - Chelsea. It means 'chalk landing place' or 'seaport'. Pretty plain compared to something like Sapphire or Ruby, huh?

Even though I'm practically a lost case, the palace people insist of making me behave like a proper princess. It isn't that fun, so I usually end up sneaking out to explore the village, or hanging out with Julia and Natalie in the stables. Jules is the daughter of Mirabelle, who looks after the horses and other animals we keep here. Nat's mom is Felicia, one of my ladies-in-waiting. She's practically like a mother to me - apart from when she's turning a blind eye to me leaving the palace in secret.

"You there! Have you seen the princess?" Ugh, great, the guards had turned up. Would it kill them to learn the names of some of their fellow workers?

Carefully, I shifted a few strands of the hay. Julia was leaning on a broom, blinking confusedly.

"Princess Chelsea? Her Royal Highness? Why would I have seen her?"

I saw the guards all glancing at each other, believing her innocence. Who wouldn't though? Out of the two of us, she's the one with the princess-y appearance - butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Really.

"Because she…Never mind." The leader of the group turned his back on her and began walking away, stopping to say over his shoulder, "If you do, tell her the king wishes to speak to her."

With that display, they left. I waited for Julia to give me a signal that I was safe to come out. She winked and I stood up, hay clinging to the folds in my clothes and strands of my hair.

Brushing it off, I sighed. "Geez, why can't they give me a break? It's not like I won't see dad. He'll just complain at me throughout dinner instead."

My best friend simply observed me, still leaning on the broom. "They seemed worked up. What did you do this time Chelsea?"

"Oh, just the normal. I went into the village," I smiled elfishly, one hand in a salute. "It was so fun! You know the dinner on the west side? I went there to eat. Julia, they do the best noodles ever!"

"It's called, 'Luke's', right? I've been there before. It was good," she agreed. "The café is nice too. The tea there is the best!" She paused before adding, "You should check it out sometime. Maybe next time I'll come with you!"

I pulled a shocked face. "Is Julia encouraging my escaping? I never thought I'd hear the day," I teased, sticking out my tongue. "Nah, in all seriousness, it sounds nice. I will definitely bring you with me. And Nat too."

Julia nodded, her own smile warm.

I noted the broom in her hand and held out my hand. "You got another one of them? I wanna help."

"You don't have to-"

"Jules, please," I said, exasperated. "You know how much I hate being me. Everybody insists I don't do anything. I really want to help you."

She teetered for a millisecond, finally pointing to the far wall, where another broom stick was indeed leaning.

"Thanks!"

The stable was my favourite place in the entire palace. There was straw everywhere - it covered the stone ground and the floor of the stalls - along with other unpleasant stuff whose smells mixed together to give it a unique scent. Whenever I came here, I always found a friendly face - in the workers and the horses. I liked helping out here. It kept me feeling normal, like I was escaping from my actual life. Dare I say it, I felt like I actually belonged here.

Like I was home.

I grabbed the broom and ran back to join Julia in sweeping, only to see she was talking to somebody. As I got closer, I could see that that someone was a guy.

He appeared older than me, but only by two years at the maximum. He was taller than Julia, with silver hair protruding from under a brown and black Stetson, mouth set into a tight line. His eyes were purple and frowning. His attire reminded me of a cowboy.

Jules and grumpy-cowboy-guy ceased talking when I took my place next to the blonde girl.

"I got the broom," I said, lamely gesturing to it.

"I know." Julia gave a giggle. "I'd better introduce you. Chelsea, this is Vaughn. He's my cousin, and he's going to be helping out here every Wednesday and Thursday from now on. Vaughn, this is Chelsea. She's…" She stopped, openly wondering to tell him about me being the princess.

I shrugged. "You might as well. It's not a secret around here," I added sarcastically.

"Right. Anyway, Vaughn, this girl here is Chelsea. She's the princess."

Vaughn looked me up and down, disinterested. My eyes went wide.

"Didn't you hear her? I'm the princess!" I wasn't saying it because I suddenly realised the power I welded, it's just his reaction was the first of that kind I've ever seen. Normally people gasp or bow or something along those lines, but from his face I could tell that he-

"I don't care."

- Yeah, that.

"Vaughn!" Julia scolded. "You shouldn't say that to her-"

I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'm not upset. I'm fine!" Better than fine, actually…That's the only time somebody has blatantly not cared about my status!

"If this is done, I'm leaving," Vaughn muttered, pulling his hat further down. His eyes met mine and I'm ashamed to say I felt a little breathless. "Bye." He didn't hang around for a response, leaving the moment the words were out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry about him. He's real cold. Just ignore him if he's being mean."

I shook my head, jerking myself from the daze I'd suddenly fallen into. "No problem! Now, let's get sweeping!"

Julia laughed at my eagerness. "Yep."

I didn't pay full attention to the job at hand, still in awe. For the first time in my life, me being a princess hadn't evoked the 'kiss-ass' persona in somebody. Vaughn had said he didn't care, and I could see it too. Did this mean that I'd be treated like somebody else straight away, rather than having to show people that I don't give a damn about my title? I hoped so. Even if it didn't, I was determined to get something out of this.

Although back then, I didn't realise just how much of a challenge this could be…

end of chapter

on chapter: i've wanted to write an au hm story for a while now but wasn't sure how to tackle it. i've got rough ideas down for this, so i think i'll be able to do it! this is also my first multi chaptered story that ISN'T a parody or crack fic, but i'm up to the challenge.

please review! it will help me a lot!

expect the next update the day after tomorrow - that'll give me time to write up the next chapter and maybe even start the third!

until then, bye!