the next night, akira didn't show up.

and she didn't show up for the rest of the week.

yet, anton constantly checked the time on the clock, perking his head up whenever someone the bell rang and he remained staying at the store past midnight in hopes that she would show up again.

he was confused, concerned, and worried as to why she suddenly just disappeared. he recalled what she mentioned a few days ago about how her parents found out she was sneaking out and thought that maybe they found out that she was sneaking out past midnight. he was utterly worried that she was in trouble.

anton dreaded coming to work over the past few days, just because the person he looked forward to seeing wasn't there. what worth was it to get ready for work, to tidy himself up in the morning only for her not to be there?

his close friend, sohee noticed that he wasn't acting like his usual self and took it upon himself to try and comfort his friend.

"what's wrong anton?" sohee asked, dragging a chair to sit beside his friend.

anton let out a sigh and rested his head in between his crossed arms, "nothing's wrong sohee,"

sohee rolled his eyes, "come on now anton i know you. something's clearly wrong. i can tell that you've been feeling out of it."

"what would you do if someone you liked suddenly just disappeared?" blurted anton, taking sohee by surprise.

"suddenly disappeared?" repeated sohee, "well i would be confused and hurt. and worried of course. i'd try to find out what happened. search every part of town for her if i could,"

anton brought his head up from his arms, "search every part of town for her? why haven't i thought of that?"

anton immediately stood up on his feet at sohee's response and hurriedly took off his work apron, grabbing his messenger bag and slinging it over his head.

"woah there where do you think you're going?" sohee followed suit, placing an arm on his hip as he watched anton fold his work apron.

"i'm going to town to search for her," sohee's jaw fell open, astounded that anton actually took his words to heart, "wow she must be really something,"

anton nodded sheepishly, "please tell the owner that something important came up,"

sohee gave him a thumbs up, "good luck anton!"

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anton let out a sigh, realizing that this was already the second time that he passed by the same bench again. he had walked around the town, discreetly checking the neighborhood, parks, stores, and restaurants in hopes that he would bump into akira.

"where could she be?" anton asked himself, his eyes observing the area around him.

as he walked past the fountain which was located in the center of the town, his ears perked up at a conversation shared between a group of teenage girls.

"did you hear? they're holding a ball this friday in honor of the princess!" squealed one of them with short hair.

"i read that she was to be engaged to prince wonbin. isn't he the dreamiest? i heard that they were childhood friends as well. it's such a love story. i wish i was a princess," cooed the other with long blonde hair.

"oh i'd love to be princess akira. she's living the dream,"

anton froze in his spot.

"princess...akira?"

he repeated it over and over again. princess akira. princess akira. princess akira. princess akira. princess. akira. suddenly he felt like his knees were growing weak and that he was seconds away from falling onto the ground. he was hit with a realization that made him physically dizzy.

everything made sense now.

she always wore a hood, to hide herself from the public in case someone recognized her. she had a specific curfew because she was sneaking out. her parents didn't want her to go out. she wore a different dress nearly every single day, and her hair was always neatly tied. she always had a pristine, royal aura that was indescribable.

everything made sense.

the reason why she stopped appearing was most likely that her parents found out that she was sneaking out again or that there was something else going on that anton didn't know about.

anton rushed over to the group of teenage girls, "she's to be engaged to prince wonbin?"

the girls looked at each other, startled by his sudden appearance.

"have you read the paper? apparently, she's to be married to prince wonbin. their parents have been friends for ages and they were planning on expanding their kingdom," explained the blonde girl while her friends furiously nodded in agreement.

"here look," the short-haired girl shoved the newspaper into anton's hand.

right there on the front cover of the page was a photo of her and the said prince. she had a delicate smile on her face which mirrored the one the prince had as well, their arms linked. he had a gorgeous face and it was evident that god really took their time making his face. as much as anton wanted to deny it, they looked perfect for each other. anton felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. a wave of uneasiness clouded over him and his mind was in disarray. there was a gnawing anguish that terrorized him, misery written all over his face. he felt the tears well up in his eyes and he forcefully tore his gaze away from the paper.

anton handed the paper into the girl's hand and walked away before he started to pick up the pace and started sprinting, eyes blurring with tears. he needed to go home.

anton fell onto his bed, an arm over his eyes as he tried to swallow the information. he couldn't believe it. he didn't want to believe it. the photo of them together was haunting his mind, making his insides clench together.

she was to be married to a prince. and anton was far from a prince. he didn't live in a castle, he didn't have a kingdom, he was just a normal teenager working at a bar, serving customers and selling instruments. he didn't stand a chance against wonbin who was a prince. he was just a nobody. a normal person. and akira was a princess. someone who was at a much higher status than him. he didn't even deserve to be in her presence.

the whole time that they hung out together he could only ask himself, why did she hide the fact that she was a princess? why couldn't she ever tell him? was all the secret smiles, the fluttering heart moments they shared for nothing?

anton's body wracked with the force of his sobs, his chest was hurting from trying to breathe. he was heartbroken. he was hurt.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ::✼✿　　✿✼:ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

it was the night of the ball and anton was curled up in his bed, listening to the sounds of the wind blowing, the loud music that was playing in the bar a few miles away from him, and the sound of his quiet sniffles.

"anton? are you in here?" sohee asked from the opposite side of the door, "come on anton you can't stay in your room forever. i've run out of excuses to give to the owner!"

"go away sohee," mumbled anton, just loud enough for sohee to hear.

"i'm not going to go away until you tell me what happened,"

anton removed the blanket from his legs and trudged his way to open the door to his room. sohee nearly tumbled down to the ground as he was leaning against the door.

"well you look like you've been going through it," sohee cleared his throat, noticing how disheveled his hair looked and his tear-stained cheeks.

"it's over sohee. can you believe it? im in love with the princess," anton whispered sitting on his bed there was an evident tone of sadness in his voice.

sohee's gaze on him softened as he took a seat beside him, "so she was the girl huh? who would've thought that a princess would've been visiting our store,"

"she's to be throned to someone else. a prince," anton whimpered, "how am i supposed to compete with a prince? he's probably proposing to her right now,"

"maybe she's not in love with him. just because he's a prince doesn't mean that she's infatuated with him. for all i know maybe she's in love with you too. haven't you thought about that?" started sohee, patting anton's back, "it doesn't matter if she's a princess, you love her for who she is right? and if you never let her know how you feel, you'll live with that regret."

anton wiped his nose with the sleeves of his shirt, "i think that might've been the wisest thing you've ever said to me,"

sohee threw his head back laughing, his eyes forming crescents, "i feel flattered. thank you. now come on, you have to tell her how you feel before it's too late."

"but how? how the hell am i supposed to get into the castle?"

sohee grinned deviously, "oh anton, leave that to me,"

⭑･ﾟﾟ･:༅｡.｡༅:ﾟ::✼✿　　✿✼:ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

anton fell onto the luscious fresh grass with a thump. he got back up on his feet, dusting off the grass off his pants and wiping his hands on his shirt.

sohee knew of a secret passageway to the castle garden that he accidentally came across a few months ago. and luckily for the two of them, there were no guards in their paths or people. however, anton did have to crawl through a passageway that nearly crushed his body as well as climb over a wall.

anton cautiously walked around the garden. there were rows and rows of flowers such as roses, lavenders, and daisies as well as wall bushes that made the garden feel like a maze. anton found himself at a secluded part of the garden where there was a small fountain in a shape of a heart, as well as a figure sat on the edge of it, head in their hands.

anton took a sharp inhale of air, his heart hammering against his chest.

"akira...?"

the said princess stood up in a rush, eyes widening as she watched anton walk closer to her. for the first time, her brown hair wasn't tied and instead, it was let down in waves with a dainty tiara sitting on top of her head. she wore an off-shoulder pale rose-colored dress with layers of ruffles going down to her ankles. a crystal necklace wrapped around her neck, glimmering under the moonlight. her eyes were teary, indicating that she had been crying previously but despite that, she looked more beautiful than ever. there were no words in the dictionary that could describe how beautiful she was.

anton felt underdressed considering that he was only wearing formal pants as well as a fitted blouse. in this moment he felt like he wasn't suited to be in the presence of a princess.

"anton? what are you doing here? h-how did you get in here?" she asked frantically, taking in the sight of the person in front of her.

anton didn't answer her question but instead sat at the edge of the fountain, "why did you just disappear without saying anything?"

the two were embraced in silence as akira sat beside him, fiddling with her fingers.

"ever since that night, a lot of things happened. i- i wanted to tell you about who i was. i really did but i couldn't find the right time to do so. i was afraid that you'd see me differently or treat me differently. i would've hated for you to change the way you acted just because i'm a princess. i didn't want you to see me as royalty," akira started, her voice quiet and honest, "the store was my only getaway from this place. this castle. i've been cooped up here nearly every day of my life and it felt so suffocating. that was until i sneaked out one day and stumbled upon you and the store. it was like a breath of fresh air to finally be somewhere where i was treated like a normal person. where i could be myself and not have to worry about my duties, my parents, and everything else. i really did want to tell you anton,"

she took a deep breath before she continued, "but my parents found out that i wasn't in my room during the afternoons and i was watched over by the maids. so i could only sneak out during the night when everyone was asleep. that night that i was supposed to see you, they found the tunnel i used to sneak out. it was barred and there were people taking guard so i had no way to see you. it was frustrating and i didn't know what to do. and on top of that, i had to prepare for the ball today. i really did want to see you anton. i'm glad i got to see you again,"

anton felt his heart slightly at ease that she didn't get into deep trouble by sneaking out. but there was something else that bothered him.

"what about prince wonbin? i heard that you were to be throned to him," he stammered, biting his lip.

"prince wonbin? oh no i only see him as my friend and nothing more. though it is true that i was supposed to be married to him, we both agreed that it wasn't something we wanted. i don't see him as a lover," anton felt the heavy-hearted feeling leave his chest and he could finally breathe again. he felt so relieved.

at this point, anton wasn't really sure what she was talking about anymore. something about how wonbin and her were childhood friends and their parents being friends. but his focus was on her facial expression, how she was furrowing her brows and grimacing at the thought of dating him, how her plump lips were moving, the sparkle in her eyes, and how the moonlight made her look so angelic. he felt bad for not paying close attention to what she was saying.

when akari was done rambling, she noticed the soft tender look in anton's eyes, as well as the smile that was displayed on his face. he looked adorable. she swore that she had never felt butterflies in her stomach until now.

anton slowly closed the distance between them so that their shoulders touched. his pinky reaching out for hers.

"can i kiss you?" breathed anton, his voice quiet and shy. but he couldn't help himself. to be with her was all he wanted right now. his heart was pounding so loud he could only hear his heart ringing in his ears.

anton caressed her face, as she leaned into him, closing the distance between the two as their lips collided with each other. once they separated, anton's face flushed, looking away. he felt like his heart could burst at any minute.

building the courage to look back at her again, his heart raced even faster as she laughed at him, her cheeks as rosy as the roses in the garden.

hearing the sound of the ensemble finally playing, akira stood up, offering her hand to the boy, "would you like a dance with me?"

anton rolled his eyes jokingly, grinning as he accepted her hand.

"just so you know, i've never danced before," confessed anton, placing a hand around her waist and the other on her shoulder while both of her hands rested on his broad shoulders.

"well i'm glad to be your first then," smiled akira as they swayed to the music, basking under the moonlight.

"you're everything i've ever dreamed of, princess," gushed anton.

"don't call me that," snorted akira. she leaned her head against his chest, hearing the fast pacing of his heartbeat.

"is it okay? for a person like me to be in love with you. i mean. i'm just a normal person," spoke anton, a hint of sadness in his voice, "i work at a bar and you...you're a princess,"

"i'm just a person like everyone else. and i want you to see me as me," akari stopped swaying to the music and lifted her head to face anton. she brushed away a long strand of hair that covered his face, "and besides, i love you as you are my prince,"

anton felt like he could've died happy right there and then. if it was even possible, he was blushing even harder.

"and i love you as you are,"

tilting his head down, anton closed the space between them again, his soft lips meeting hers as he brought her closer by the waist.