Still not much romance in this chapter. I feel so disappointed in myself . . . I said I'd update yesterday but stuff happened so sorry . . .

Turns out two chapters ain't enough. I guess I had too much fun writing this even though I think nothing much happens. It's more like a filler if you ask me, so sorry~ TT_TT I planned on this being a two-shot but my time on the laptop is very limited and I spent it on working on this. Luckily, I managed to construct a 3,174 word chapter. I didn't even have time to proofread so feel free to point out any mistakes.

The next chapter should be the last though, or at least I'll try. So please enjoy ~ !

". . . And that's what really happened to that wooden brat." Marco explained as the carriage came to a stop in front of the palace where the grand ball would be held. Izo was just staring at him in shock, seemingly not aware that they have already reached their destination.

"You mean to tell me that Pinocchio-"

"Yes." the blond deadpanned. "People tend to sugarcoat things. Although I personally prefer the original ones."

"Oh my God, I think I'm gonna puke." a hand flew to the crossdresser's mouth.

"Don't, you might ruin your lipstick . . . and your dress too."

"Ugh . . ."

"Look, we're here. So stop wasting time and get going."

"Alright, alright! Just give me a sec . . ." Izou started fixing his gown, tucking it and making sure it's straight. Marco looked at him, obviously confused.

"What are you doing?"

"I . . . brought something along, just in case." was the reply. "Although it's really annoying since this thing doesn't have any pockets. And it has a lot of layers too."

"What did you bring?"

"Oh, nothing. Just . . . something I could defend myself with." Now this made Marco gravely concerned, but before he could ask more Izou already got off the carriage.

Izou sighed, finally restoring his gown to an acceptable condition before regaining his composure and looking at the palace for the first time in his life. His eyes widened and he gasped at the sheer extravagance of it. The trance he was in was only broken when Marco cleared his throat.

"Well then, go on inside."

"What? You're not coming with me?" Izou asked, confused.

"Of course not, why would I?"

"But I don't know anybody in there!" he exclaimed nervously. "It's been so long since I've been with anyone that isn't a complete jerk! I need you to stick around so I don't make a complete fool out of myself."

Marco sighed. "Fine . . ."

He took out his wand again, waved it and transformed his clothes to that of a butler's. Izou smiled brightly at him, although the blond just seemed annoyed. They entered the palace and inside it was even more extravagant. The whole room seemed to light up and there was a beautiful glass chandelier at the very center of the ceiling, people dressed extravagantly and moving gracefully. Izou stared at the room in awe but somehow managed to not notice that a lot of people started staring at him.

When he entered, he literally made heads turn. Everyone was shocked and taken aback, they all seemed to admire this stranger for 'her' unprecedented beauty. People started whispering, asking who she was but of course, no one knew.

Marco was, of course, the one who noticed how Izou unknowingly caught a lot of people's attention. Although majority of the people haven't noticed their arrival since they seemed to be too occupied socializing, the ones who did notice them seemed flabbergasted and, the women at least, looked jealous. It made him smirk, he barely did anything with his magic. All he did was give Izou a gown, glass slippers and some make-up but it seemed the man had a certain charm that attracted others. He shrugged it off, since he doesn't see how this will be a problem, he thought it was best if he didn't tell Izou.

"Wow~! This is amazing!" Izou said, breath-taken.

"Yeah . . ." the blond replied with a bored tone before something caught his eye. "Hey, look."

Izou turned to the direction he was pointing at and saw that there was a long line, almost entirely composed of women. He raised an eyebrow at this, some of them seemed nervous while others were confident and trying to adjust their clothes and make-up.

"What's up?"

"It seems that they're lining up to meet the prince." Marco answered.

". . . Oh." he replied simply. "Well, I have no interest in that. Let's go see what food they're serving."

". . . That's what you're interested in?"

"Oh, c'mon! Food should always be a priority."

"I agree with him." Ace grinned.

"That's because you're always hungry, you idiot." Haruta retorted.

"What did you call me?!"

"Now, now. Don't fight." Thatch chuckled.

"Hey, Thatch. What happened to his step family when they arrived?" Haruta asked.

"Oh, them? Well . . ."

"Tsk. He didn't even spare me a glance." Baby 5 complained. "He just looked bored!"

"Well, there are a lot of people here. So I guess it would be hard to get his attention." Sugar mumbled, also feeling disappointed. Eating her favorite grapes didn't seem to help cheer her up at all. "Aw~! I was really looking forward to becoming a princess, too."

"Oh, don't be upset. The both of you are still princesses in my eyes . . ." Diamante said.

"Shut up, Daddy!" Baby 5 snapped. "I wanted to become a real one!"

"W-well . . . I suppose it can't be helped." he said, unsure. "But you know, the prince still hasn't decided yet. The two of you still have a chance."

The two girls perked up at this.

"Y-you're right! There's still hope!" Baby 5 grinned. "I guess it had been a mistake to fall in like with those other women. It just made us look like commoners! We have to prove that we're better than all these other ladies."

"We just have to get his attention somehow." Sugar said. "But how are we going to do that?"

"Why don't you dance and show the prince how graceful you can be?" Diamante suggested.

"That's it!" Sugar grinned before they ran off. "You're a genius, Daddy!"

This made the man sigh in relief. Finally, he'd be able to actually socialize and enjoy himself. His daughters can be such a handful sometimes.

"Hmph. I doubt the prince would just notice them just because they dance 'gracefully'." Haruta commented, crossing her arms.

"I doubt they'd be able to catch his attention at all. At least, I hope they don't, for his own good." Ace said. "I sure wouldn't want to marry someone like them."

"I'm sure you won't Ace." Thatch said.

"But, who knows, I guess?" Haruta shrugged. "Maybe there are people who like those kinds of people."

"What? No way!" Ace said.

"Yeah! My homeroom teacher, Ms. Robin, told me that everyone has a 'type'. And it's different for everyone."

"Well, the prince would be really weird if they're his 'type'."

Thatch cleared his throat. "Okay, why don't we get back to the story?"

They both nodded and he smiled at them.

"Well then, if you're interested about the prince, then I'll tell you about him . . ."

The prince was a strong man who trained with his soldiers. He has been training hard ever since he was a child and was determined to make the kingdom a safe place to live in. His father, the king, often scolded him and said that he shouldn't be among such commoners and that he was of high nobility. Being born with such a status requires some dignity that he should preserve, but the prince didn't not listen to his father's words. He believed that a leader should work with his people to create a better place where people may leave in peace. He believes that in order to be a good leader, he must first learn more about what his people is going through. Of course, his father did not agree with him but he chose to ignore him most of the time.

He did not get along with the king, in general. They disagreed when it comes to a lot of things. But what the king had suggested only a few days prior was crossing the line, it was just ridiculous.

Finding a bride.

Of course, he found it ridiculous. He had no interest in finding one, but he was left with no choice but to attend to the grand ball his father set up so he could find someone 'with potential'. The thought made him sigh, his father can just do whatever he wants, he didn't care anymore. He had spent hours introducing himself to dozens of ladies who wanted to be his bride. He knew that most, if not all, of them only wanted the status and power that comes with it so he didn't bother paying attention to their names. He just let his servant, Coby, remember them.

He personally didn't enjoy his status, although most were envious of it. He didn't like to be addressed as a 'prince'. But most of the time, he asked others, like the servants, to just call him by his name; Smoker. Yes, it was a strange one, but unique names seemed to be common in their kingdom and no one seemed to question it. Coby had the most normal name of anyone he ever knew so far.

Anyway, during public events like this, no matter how much he hated it, he had no choice but to acknowledge his status. Otherwise, he'd just get a scolding from his father and he'd rather avoid that.

Introductions were finally finished and he immediately took a seat, not in the mood to socialize. Although he can sense all the woman who had their eyes on him, staring at him longingly. He decided to ignore them though, since none of them really caught his interest.

"Your Highness, the king has humbly requested your active participation in this important event. He believes that it is essential that you socialize more with our guests." the other servant, Helmeppo, said after bowing. Smoker only scoffed at this.

"I swear . . ." he stood up and made his way through the room. He didn't really plan on socializing, he just thought that if he roamed around a bit it would get his father off his back. But as he passed the buffet table, he bumped into someone.

"Excuse me-"

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" he heard a voice said before looking at the person. His eyes widened at the beautiful stranger smiling apologetically at him.

"I-it's okay." Damn, why did he stutter? He mentally shook his head and reminded himself that this woman was probably like all the other women here. But to his surprise, she just walked away. Normally, people would be embarrassed or at least try to converse with him but she just acted as if he wasn't a person of high stature. That was a first.

"Eh? H-how rude!" Coby said, also surprised by her behavior. But unlike him, Smoker was not offended.

"Coby, who is she?" this made the servant blink in confusion before pondering on it for a bit.

"Now that I think about it, I don't really know, your Highness. She didn't come to introduce herself."

"She didn't?" Smoker asked, even more shocked.

"No, I'm fairly certain that I've never seen her before."

A few minutes earlier . . .

"Well, I gotta admit . . ." Marco said, taking a bite of chocolate cake. "You humans have the best ideas. I remember when you first invented chocolate, and it's by far the greatest idea in history."

"I don't even know what you're talking about, but yeah the cake's good." Izou nodded, he looked around after finishing his cake, looking for something fun to do when something- or better yet, someone- cat his eye.

"Oh, my~!"

"Hm? What? What is it?" Marco asked.

"Would ya look at that." the crossdresser tipped his chin up, motioning ahead and Marco's eyes landed on a silver-haired man roaming around although seemingly not paying attention to where he was going.

"Ah, if I'm not mistaken, that's the prince."

"The prince?" Izou raised an eyebrow. "Well his looks sure are something befitting royalty."

". . . what?"

"Like damn, I'd tap that for free."

"Okay, look. Normally, I wouldn't be able to care less if it weren't for the fact that this is the prince you're talking about. Do you have any idea how stuck-up and violent royalty can be? They can be really merciless if they want to."

". . . And then the conversation continued on, but I'm gonna skip on that because it pretty much turns PG-18 from there." Thatch said.

The two kids blinked in confusion.

"What did he want to tap?" Haruta asked innocently.

"Is it something you have to pay for?" Ace added.

". . . I need to remember that I'm telling a children's story." the man sighed. "Anywho . . ."

There was an indescribable silence as Marco stared at Izou with an unreadable expression while said man only smirked at him. This went on for quite some time until the blond finally spoke up.

"I did not need to know that."

"Oh, c'mon~."

"I've only met you a few hours ago, Izou. I did not need to know all you weird fetishes."

"Well, I suppose it's just one of those things that comes with being my friend."

"Since when were we friends?"

"Since you told me about what really happened after the princess kissed that frog."

Marco thought about it for a second before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess that isn't something you tell to just anyone."

"See?"

"Oh, hey. Look at that, the prince's coming this way."

"Seriously?!"

"No, don't look." the fairy stopped him."You'll make it obvious that we're talking about him."

"Oh my God, how's my hair? Is it alright?"

"You look fine." he waved it off. "Okay, listen. There's some fruits behind you, casually reach for them and that way you'll be able to look around without looking suspicious."

"Okay, good plan." Izou made a move to turn around but then caught a glimpse of the prince. "Oh, dear lord."

"Tsk, I swear . . ." Marco sighed, taking his wand out of nowhere. "I have to do everything by myself, don't I?"

He waved it inconspicuously and Izou found himself turning around, seemingly without any control over his body and walking towards the man. This made his eyes widen.

"Marco . . !" he whispered harshly.

"You'll thank me later." the blond said before turning back to give his full attention once again to his cake.

Izou walked forward, trying to remain calm as to not draw any unnecessary attention. Only when he bumped into the silver-haired man did he recover control over his actions. Man, he was going to kill that damned fairy! But for now, he had to make sure he didn't make a fool out of himself so he quickly regained his composure.

"Excuse me-"

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" Izou managed to give him a apologetic smile, he could only hope that the man couldn't see how nervous he actually was.

"I-it's okay."

Izou vaguely wondered about how the confident-looking man just stuttered but he just brushed it off and walked away, deciding that if he walked back to where he came from then it would look a bit suspicious. He couldn't wait to find the dumbass who almost made him make a fool out of himself though.

As if on cue, Marco appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere. His eyebrow was raised along with his arms, looking like he didn't know what to say.

"What the hell was that?"

"I should be asking you that." Izou glared and hissed at him. "I didn't ask for your help, Marco. I could've handled all that myself."

"I beg to differ." the blond sighed. "You could've at least tried to talk to him."

"I came here to have some fun, not to flirt with good-looking men. Although it would be nice to spend some time with him, heis the prince. The man has better things to do, this ball is being held so that he could find a bride, after all."

"So . . . you're not interested in him, after all?"

"Of course, I'm interested in him. He's totally my type, but I'd rather not waste my time in someone I don't have a chance with." Izou sighed.

"Ouch, that's a bit harsh."

"Life is harsh."

"So what if the prince asked you to dance with him."

Izou raised an eyebrow in confusion before thinking about it. "Well, I guess that's not something I could say no to."

Marco hummed in understanding and the brunette's eyes widened before glaring at the fairy.

"Don't you dare use your magic!"

"I won't! God, you have so little faith in me."

This made Izou cross his arms. "Well, you can't really blame me, can you?"

"Excuse me." they were interrupted when someone tapped at Izou's shoulder and he turned around to look at that person with a clearly annoyed expression. But his eyes only widened when he saw who it was.

"Y-Your Highness." Izou made a move to bow, but then he remembered that he was technically a woman during that moment and, instead, curtsied. He sensed Marco bow behind him. The prince only smirked and Izou couldn't help but blush, finding the expression attractive on the man and also embarrassed, but unsure why.

"So you do know me."

"I-I do apologize for earlier." Izou said, making sure that his voice sounded as feminine as possible without it sounding forced in any way. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"No, there's nothing to apologize about. I wasn't paying attention either."

Marco watched all this, trying to hide how highly amused he was. Looking around, he could see a lot of people staring at them. All the women were glaring at Izou, obviously in jealousy. He resisted the urge to smirk, well he did hear that the prince hasn't made any effort to approach anyone tonight. He only spoke when spoken to, specifically during introductions earlier on. So that means Izou must have caught his eye, why he didn't exactly know.

"Would you mind sharing a dance with me?" The prince asked, holding out a hand to Izou who's eyes widened at the invitation.

"B-but your highness, surely there must be other women here who you would rather have as company."

The prince raised an eyebrow at this. "You're the first person I met who hasn't jumped at the opportunity to be with me."

"Oh, I don't mean to offend you, your highness-" The prince waved it off.

"It's fine, you seem like you'd make fine company. So won't you accept my invitation?"

Izou hesitated a bit before sighing and taking his hand. With that, they made their way to the dance floor with Marco smirking at them.

I hoped you liked it ~ !

It was so weird writing Marco as a fairy and Smoker as a prince. I also wanted this chappie to have more romance or at least be funny but not much though. -_- I think I did get rusty from not writing for so long. I'll try to make it up to you on the next chappie though!

P.S. There's a typhoon here in the Philippines and classes have been suspended. Please pray for us! Hopefully, it's not that strong but classes have been suspended still. Who knows? Maybe it'll give me time tomorrow to finish this.

Anyway, Please review ~ !

~ RnR ~ !

~ RnR ~ !