IRIS AND HANS

Hans was coming to the palace to see his sister. He had taken after his father and was studying to become a businessman but he took time out of his schedule to come to visit his sister for a while. Hearing Hans was coming, Keia got excited and put on her best clothes.

Hans came earlier than he was reported to arrive. He wanted to surprise his sister. When he arrived, he lost his way since he didn't bring his accompaniment in order to avoid attention but only brought his strongest guard who he parted ways with, since the palace was known to be very safe. He ended up in a garden and saw someone plucking flowers for a bouquet. He plucked a rose and tapped her on the shoulder from behind. Iris turned around, startled by the man that stood before her. He handed her a rose. "Like this delicate rose, your beauty has enchanted me. Hello" He said but she looked uncomfortable. "What do you want?" She asked, alarmed. "I just wanted to say hi" He said. "Really?" She asked, a smile on her face. "Yes of course" Hans responded, almost laughing, surprised by her sudden change in emotion, realizing he wanted to say hi. He didn't want to ruin the mood so he decided to not ask her for directions which was his initial intention for approaching her.

"What're you doing?" He asked. "Gathering flowers" Iris said. "These flowers are so privileged to be your pick. That's something humans could only wish for" He said and got her blushing. "My, my, no one has praised me this much" Iris said, laughing. "Why? Aren't you a princess? I mean, you look the part" He said. "I am a princess by name, just not treated as one" She said, fighting the urge to break down. "How about I be your prince charming for a change. I'll treat you like one whenever I have the chance" Hans said and bowed his head to her. He was about to leave when she stopped him. "Wait, would you like to help me pick out flowers? I'm having trouble choosing. I need another head" She said. "At your service, my princess" He said and walked around with her in the garden to pick the flowers. Was this love at first sight? Maybe not, but they definitely had a deep connection.

After they had gathered their flowers, Hans took out a silver hairpin and put it in her hair. "I always give gifts to people if they make a significant impression on me as the first people I meet in a new environment. This is my first time actually being within the walls of the palace. I hope you accept this token of appreciation" He said. She nodded and he smiled. She looked much more beautiful with the silver hairpin. He left in search of where to go next.

He found his way eventually with the help of a maid and went to see his sister. She ran to hug him. She hadn't seen him in a few years. "I thought you'd be coming later" She said excitedly. "I missed you so much and couldn't wait" He said and took a seat. "So, what did you bring me?" She asked him. "It'll arrive soon" He said to her, getting her more excited as she wondered what kind of presents he was going to bring to her. She thought 'jewelry? Skin care products?'

After seeing her, Hans went to see his best friend from back in school, Sky. They spoke about their old times since they hadn't been in touch for a while.

They were two of some of the most popular guys back in school. One being the best with physical skills and the other with mental. They were both geniuses that many envied and they knew it. They were also the most troublesome ones in the name of "having fun". Their free spirited lifestyle, however, made them the talk of the school so they were always popular for their talent and mischief. "It's so nice to see you again" Hans said, and hugged Sky. "Where have you been? The palace was driving me crazy here" Sky said to Hans. "Your palace looks beautiful" Hans said and winked at Sky. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sky asked, suspicious. "I met one of your sisters. She's lovely" He said with a smile. "You definitely didn't meet Keia then. Do you want to cause trouble for my sisters?" Sky said playfully. "Women get jealous over everything. I can't help it, I'm too charming" Hans said, running his hand through his hair and they both burst into laughter.

They both went horse riding shortly after. When Keia heard about Hans' arrival, she went to the entrance of the royal stables, with an armor to present to him. When Hans and Sky got back and we're leaving the stables, they held their laughter because they knew the princesses were going to make a fool of themselves out of desperation for his attention but they were still surprised about how quickly it had began. When he got off his horse, she came up to him and greeted him. "Hello, princess…" He said. "I'm Keia" She said and curtseyed. She began bragging about the origin of the armor she had brought him and how valuable it was. Just then, Sky sneaked away from their midst, not wanting to be dragged into whatever girl drama Hans was about to get into. As she was speaking, Hans saw, behind her, Iris, looking through the bushes. She seemed to be desperately searching for something and Hans was distracted.

"Hans?" Keia said. "Oh, yes. Thank you so much for the gift, your highness, however, I'm sorry, I can't accept this because I don't think I'll ever need it as my forte is in business and not warfare" He said, curtseyed and walked past her, without listening further to what she had to say. She turned around and watched him walk away but didn't notice Iris since her eyes were super fixated on Hans. She had always had a crush on him, and fell in love after he saved her from drowning one day. She vowed to marry him because she believed her first kiss was going to be her prince. Hans suddenly stopped walking and tapped Iris on the shoulder, then slid to the other side. Keia was shocked at the sight.

Iris turned to the side and saw no one there, then she turned sharply to the other side, her hair running into Hans' face. She didn't like surprises but Hans was a prankster and surprised reactions made him happy, also, he had a cute smile. "Why did you do that?" Iris scolded him even as she laughed. "You seemed serious" He said. "I lost my head dress while trying to help out an entangled bird" She said, pouting. "I'll help you" He said and they both looked through the bushes. He found the head dress and put it on Iris. "You look stunning" He said. "Keep your tongue to yourself" She said cheekily at his compliments "Can I walk with you?" Hans asked. "But I'm going for an etiquette class with my madam" She said. "Can I still tag along? I want to learn how to sip tea gracefully" He said and she let out a snort, covering her mouth, realizing she could've looked ugly laughing so loud.

Isabelle and the other maids were chatting and Isabelle told the girls about her life before coming to the city, her life with boys but of course, she left out the part of Madolika being a sorcerer. She missed them. Her mother, her brother, even picture perfect Madolika.  The other maids sympathized with her. Although they grew up in the city, they could relate to being away from family for a long time. Unlike Isabelle, they had been around for a minimum of three years and could understand how difficult it was, especially in the first year so they kept her company, not wanting her to feel too lonely and Isabelle appreciated them.

In the middle of the night, Iris woke up with a scream, she had had a nightmare. One guard went and informed her maids and they all went to attend to Iris. She told them she had that dream again. "that dream" was the recurrence of Iris' traumatic past where she was taken hostage by the Domino kingdom several years back and was abused in that country. She never recovered from that trauma, which was what triggered most of her panic attacks. The two maids had already told Isabelle about that. They prepared a bath for her and she left to take her bath. The two maids went out before Isabelle, to return to bed while Isabelle stayed behind to finish her morning duties before it was officially day break. It took her a good amount of time to finish but that was when she realized she had stayed for too long, but she was too tired, and decided to rest for a bit before leaving. She however ended up falling asleep there.

Keia was upset and went to see Desperalda.

She barged into Desperalda's room while Desperalda was painting, causing Desperalda to spill the pain by accident on her work. An irritated Desperalda turned around, feigning calmness. "How can I help you princess?" Desperalda asked. "It's Iris. I was completely right about her. Now, Hans is all over her. He even ignored me, me, Desperalda!" Keia shouted. "What? You can't be serious" Desperalda said and rolled her eyes, still facing her painting, her back facing Keia. "I know, even I can't understand. What did that bitch do?" Keia said, walking around. "How about you calm down first, Keia, then we think of what to do?" Desperalda said and finally turned around. She put down her paint brush and held Keia's shoulders, assisting her to take a seat. She poured a glass of water and brought it to Keia but Keia pushed it away in anger. "I'm sorry" Keia said. Desperalda rolled her eyes again while Keia wasn't looking, fed-up of the princess' tantrums. She poured another glass of water and gave it to Keia. Keia sipped the water and kept going on and on about her anger over what had happened earlier.

The next morning, Ivan, Iris' younger brother, who was twelve, came to see her after hearing about what had happened to her the previous night. He snuck into the ladies' quarters and went to his sister's chamber. When he got there, he saw Isabelle coming out of there. "Miss…" He whispered to Isabelle. He asked for her help to see his sister. Isabelle, feeling nostalgic, went in and told Iris about her brother and Ivan was let in. On her way out, she saw Sky with Hans, leaving their quarters, laughing. She leaned on the door and wondered how it was possible for the undeserving to be given such rare talents. She left to go and freshen up at the maids quarters. It was enough that the princess hadn't scolded her sleeping in her chamber. The princess had even covered her with a blanket and all. After getting prepared, Isabelle came out to join the other two maids. They walked with Iris until she got to her etiquette class.

The madame was an old woman. She looked stern. All the princess were getting seated. The maids left after it was time for their lessons to start. They all stood outside the door, waiting for the princesses to end their classes. One of the princesses who bullied Iris, princess Pearl's maids approached Isabelle, Nadia and Inna. "I heard you angered princess Keia. I wonder if she'll reward me if I punish you on her behalf" The maid said. "Even I would like to know what you're made of that makes you so gutsy" a maid of a different princess said. "Come here, I want to see the color of your blood. Maybe you're superhuman" one of princess Keia's maids said. Isabelle didn't move, knowing very well that if she did, they'd hurt her. Seeing this, one maid pulled Nadia away. "We'll start with her first. Perhaps next time, you'll advise your colleagues better" A maid said. "No! I'll come with you" Isabelle shouted and ran to them. "Aww, looks like not all heroes wear capes" A maid said and they mocked Isabelle.

The maids went to a part of the palace with an enclosed space and began to hit Isabelle. Isabelle tried to fight back but she wasn't strong enough. She also couldn't risk using the emerald beads. "the princesses are almost done" One maid shouted and the remaining ran back to the entrance of the classroom. Isabelle remained on the floor, crying. Nadia came to assist her to walk to the door. After the princesses had finished studying and came out, they saw Isabelle, hurt all over, and her clothes torn on many sides. "Who did this!" The etiquette madame shouted. "Them!" Nadia responded, pointing to Keia's maids. "How dare you? Were you trained to be barbarians?"  Keia shouted at the maids, who couldn't look up. "I'll discuss this with the head maid when I get back from Scarlon" The madame said and walked away.

When Keia got back to her room, she was angry and punished all her maids to crawl on their knees. "Do you know how much you have all embarrassed me today? Now the Madame's going to think that I can't keep my maids in check. Do you know what it means for a princess' maids to be punished by the madame?" Keia shouted, pacing around, monitoring them as they crawled. "Keia, I told you not to get angry so much" Desperalda said, walking to her side. "I didn't want to but apparently, I have fools serving me!" Keia said. "I don't necessarily think they are fools. They just wanted to take revenge for you. I'd say they're just loyal" Desperalda said. "Well they still made me look bad" Keia said. "You should calm down first. Your birthday is tomorrow. You have to be in a good mood for the party tomorrow" Desperalda said. "What's the use to being excited for a party when Hans will bring Iris to my own ball" Keia said. "What if, I told you a way to kill two birds with one stone" Desperalda whispered to Keia.