The king sat up high on his throne, looking down skeptically at his son, who had gotten down on one knee with an arm draped over his leg and a fist digging deep in to the royal red carpet. "Do you understand?" The king boomed in his deep voice, his tone angered.

"Yes, I understand," the blonde prince whispered; his voice was barely audible. His light lavender eyes glimmered sadly as he bowed his head even further to the ground. "I will obey at once. When will the ball take place Father?"

"On the night of the new moon," he said. Just a few days away, the prince thought.

"The princes of the other kingdoms will come too, as well as other princesses from farther kingdoms. And of course all of the nobles from near and far will be arriving as well. I've heard that your prince companions are searching for a bride as well," the King concluded.

"Father," the boy dared to lift his head. "what if I cannot find a bride suitable to my standards?" He faced the king evenly, a dare in his eyes but also a glimmer of fear.

The king glared down at his son. "Then I will have to pick one for you. Be grateful Tamaki. Most parents just do an arranged marriage for their children, especially us nobles. Take advantage of this gift I have given you."

Tamaki lowered his head. "Yes Father," he murmured.

"Now go. I must proceed to send out invitations for the ball."

The prince stood up and left the castle, no more words being exchanged between them.

Hello friends! I am LionshadeSC, just call me Lion. (waves and bows courteously) thank you very much for joining me for this new fanfic the Prince and the Pauper i've started. As you will notice there may be some incidents that are very much similar to the anime/manga, some romantic and others. . . not so much xD but thank you for coming! I hope you will stay with me all the way through the end of this story! :3 Now for some "brief" info about the setting.

This takes place in the middle ages (like, in Europe forever ago). The host club members are all princes of their own kingdoms, Central, East, West, North, and South. Their positions will be explained later. Haruhi is still a poor girl living out in the country with her father running a farm. Enjoy the story! ^-^

Somewhere farther away in the Central Kingdom, a poor girl worked on a farm. Her long brown hair fell down over her shoulders and she once again tried to tie it in to a bun. She hated having long hair. Just because she wasn't a boy she had to keep it long. Why was that anyway? It would be so much easier to take care of if she would just cut it . . .

"Haruhi!" her father called out. He had come out from the small house that they lived in. "Finish up there and come inside! I made dinner!"

"Yes father!" she called, standing up to her full height (which wasn't very much) and lifting some of the crops in to her basket. She carried them over to the house and placed them outside. Haruhi Fujioka lived with her father as a famer's daughter. Her mother had died several years ago and sometimes the young teen had to work herself to help her father bring in enough money. While other girls her age were running off wearing beautiful gowns and dresses, getting married, having children and developing a future for themselves, Haruhi was living with her father on the family farm dressed like a boy and working like one. Her trousers were a bit loose for her and her long white work shirt was her fathers; it was stained with the soil from the fields and she didn't look like someone who was the daughter of the master of the house.

"Father you could have let me make the dinner, you know how bad a cook you are," she said, brushing her hands against her pants as she came to the fireplace and looked in to the pot. It was stew, and nearly burned. She removed it from the fire and brought it to the table, placing it on a pot holder. Her father went to retrieve the wooden bowls and spoons as she sat at the table.

He sat down and smiled at her. "Yes I know but you've been working so hard today. I wanted to surprise you."

"Thank you father. I was surprised but you don't have to worry about making the food. That's my job, and that way I can be sure that the food won't be burnt or undercooked."

"And it'll be good," her father laughed, starting to serve some for himself. "I'm envious of the man who marries you sweetie. I'm going to have to move in to a hotel if I want good food."

This made Haruhi pause. She looked up as her father continued. "I want you to find someone to be with dearie. You're my only daughter and I want you to live a happy life."

"I can live a happy life with or without a husband," Haruhi said. "I can't just leave you to fend for yourself."

"I can take care of myself," he smiled at her kindly and Haruhi looked away. Her relationship status teemed to be a frequent subject the pair talked about at the dinner table. It was starting to annoy her honestly, but she was touched that her father would value her happiness so much. They both kept eating in a quiet silence and he finally said, "You know, maybe you could have the day off tomorrow. Go in to town and have some fun."

"Who would I go with anyway?" she asked, looking up to him. "I don't really have any friends." She had friends when she was little but as she grew older she had begun to work more and more so she had less and less time for her friends, who then started to disappear. Besides, those friends were probably married and taking care of kids of their own for all she could know. Actually all women her age were either married or running the family business, like she was, running a farm and selling their crops at the market every weekend.

"Hmm, true," her father said sadly. "Is there no one you could go with?"

"Probably not. I'll just stay here and work Dad, it's okay." Haruhi began to scoop up the rest of her stew in to her mouth.

"Yeah, but-" he began to protest.

"Dad, don't worry about it," she smiled. "It's okay. Lots of girls go all through their lives without marrying anyone. It isn't the end of the world if I'm one of them."

"Yes, I suppose," he said sullenly, looking dejectedly at his bowl, the stew starting to cool unhappily. He looked up and dug in to his pocket before standing up and walking to her, opening his hand and showing her a few silver coins. "Take these. Go buy something for yourself."

She looked up at her father, her dark brown eyes wide in shock. "Wh- But Father this is your entire month's earnings!" (about 12 American pennies in our time).

He looked down at her ever so gently. "It's okay Haruhi. We're poor. It doesn't really matter anyway. And I want you to have fun, some time to yourself without having to worry about me. You know how much I worry about you. Don't grow up too fast."

"I'm a woman now Dad, I am not a girl anymore." Even if my chest is as flat as a cutting board, she thought to herself.

"As long as you live under this roof and remain unmarried, you are still a young girl to me."

She looked up at him skeptically and moved her eyes away. She turned back to him as he grabbed her hand and placed the coins in them before enclosing the fingers around the small coins. They felt unexpectedly heavy in her hand. "Take these, and go have some fun, okay? I can take care of the farm fine, don't worry about me. Now," he stood up, "up to bed. It's late. Go on."

"Yes Father," Haruhi gave him a kiss on the cheek before going to her room and closing the door behind her. Randa stared at the closed door and looked down sadly, whispering:

"After all, tomorrow is your birthday."

The next morning Harhui woke up at her usual time and grabbed the coins from her bedside as she got dressed in her usual clothes, some trousers and a large white shirt. She brushed her hair rather hurriedly and tied it again in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in her way. Several bangs fell down over her eyes. Honestly what was the point of putting her hair up if it was just going to stay in front of her face?

Sighing irritably she pulled a cloak around her shoulders and walked outside, her bare feet sliding along the dirt. She didn't have enough money for any shoes and socks, maybe she could buy a used pair somewhere. It would be nice to come home after a hard days of work to not find her feet scabbed and bleeding.

It took a few times for Haruhi to get on to the horse since she was so short. Her small hands scrabbled at the saddle and at last managed to pull herself up. She let out a shaky sigh of relief and began to speed the horse along in to the town.

When Haruhi got there she tied her horse with some others at a stall and merged with the people. The town was in full swing this morning with booths set up with different kinds of food, clothes and even some things for children, like toys. She looked at the dresses only fleetingly, knowing that she didn't have enough money to buy one and even if she could, there was no way she would be able to wear it. It's not like she was ever invited to any parties.

Haruhi walked around and finally used a small portion of her money to get her hair cut. The man looked down at her. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," she told him with a smile, a smile that told him it was alright.

Sighing in relief, the girl looked at her self in the mirror. Yes this was much better.

She had just gotten to the shoes when she looked up upon seeing people starting to hurry forward and form a ring. Curiosity edged her and she began to go after them. The girl got to the rim of the circle and started to squeeze in past them. She was way too short to see from back there.

It wasn't long before her small frame made it to the inner rim and was close enough to see what was going on.

A guard was beating up a man without mercy, the peasant tried to fight back in vain but only received another good bunch to the jaw. He fell back, knocked out and once again tried to stand up and fight his opponent. The guard however was raising his arms in victory and looking down skeptically at the man. The peasant was helpless. Haruhi watched as he started to scramble away from the guard, terror washed over his face. "Please!" he started to beg. "Please! Please don't hurt me!"

"You've opposed a man of the law who works for the king. You must be punished."

"It was just one tiny apple!"

"Whether it was an ordinary apple or a golden apple you must pay for you crimes!"

This man is a thief? She thought in confusion. Haruhi looked at him. No he wasn't. She knew this man. He was the most honest person in the town. Why would he steal an apple?

The guard cracked his knuckles and the peasant pleaded, "I didn't even steal anything!" he begged.

"But that other man did!" the guard hollered. "Because you didn't enforce the law on him I am enforcing the law on you."

"It was just an apple!" the peasant pleaded again.

Oh. I understand, Haruhi thought. Someone tried to steal an apple from his booth and he got caught. Then this man gave it to him and said it was okay. So now this guard is angry at him for showing the man kindness and mercy I suppose. He hasn't done anything wrong.

Surged by a fiery determination, Haruhi ran forward and placed herself in front of the peasant right as the guard was about to bring down his fist once more on the innocent man. "This man has not done anything wrong!" Haruhi yelled.

The guard looked down in anger. "Get out of the way girl! This is not your problem!"

"He is innocent! Should he not be allowed to go home and heal from his injuries?"

"This is an outrage!" the guard yelled. He glared evilly down at her. Haruhi kept up her glare, returning it. His face turned beet red and he yanked his hand forward, grabbing her small and skinny arm in his huge pale one. "You're coming with me!"

"Wh-What?" she whimpered. The guard pushed through the crowd as they approached a horse. He grabbed her around her waist and lifted her up on to it, him climbing on after her. "We're going to the castle," he said gruffly. He whipped the reins and the horse sped forward, "We need to punish you for your insolence."