THE PRINCESS RACE | ZB1 RICKY FF

1.

"This is a scam." Elise said as she looked at the TV which was above her head at the convenience store she worked by, her younger sister Mary looked mesmerized by the advertisement to the upcoming reality show of the year.

"What do you mean? You can become a Princess!" Mary said dreamly as Eliza scoffed " Have Netflix dating shows lost their touch? This is completely unoriginal." Elise argued as Mary scrunched her face up angrily. "Only you can make everything sound bad, what a hater." Mary remarked as Elise shrugged.

"We all born haters."

"But, it's a shame I'm not old enough otherwise i would be on that show and you'll see the Prince Quànrui put a ring on my finger." Mary said emphasising "the" as "theee". She went over to the fridge at the back of the store and took out the Zizi banana milk. Elise shook her head as she watched Mary approached the counter. "What?" Mary said innocently batting her eyelashes.

"You are not buying that poison." Elise said pointing to the banana milk as Mary rolled her eyes "It's the Prince's favourite drink!" Mary argued as she pointed to the cut out by the door of Prince Quànrui holding the banana milk while striking a charming smile. Elise's face soured up.

"That's not the Prince's favourite drink but the marketing technique to get us to tune into the show." Elise deadpanned as Mary's shoulders slumped. "You no fun!" Mary commented as Elise grinned.

Some time later, Elise was at the counter watching a drama on her phone when the door opened up, her best friend Zai Zai entered in , smiling widely, Eliza rose an eyebrow

" What got you smiling so much? Is it a boy? Who must i kill?" Elise warned as Zai Zai furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "What! No, there's nobody to kill.. unfortunately." Zai Zai said softly before she put a card on the counter. Elise looked at it weirdly.

"What am i looking at exactly?" Elise questioned as Zai Zai giggled "You looking at the new staff member of the Princess race." Zai Zai confirmed as Elise's groaned "Not you too Zai Zai!" Elise said distressed as Zai Zai scoffed

"I don't care of marrying the Prince, staff members are gonna be making fortunes." Zai Zai said as Elise's flashed a wide smile. "Well that mean, that you're finally taking me to Thailand?" Elise said hopefully as Zai Zai looked at her before shaking her head "No, not quite."

"Then I'm not interested." Eliza deadpanned as Zai Zai punched her arm causing Elise to wince in pain. "It will be beneficial to us, you know that but just in a different way." Zai Zai promised as she reached over to Elise bringing her into a hug "That i promise!" Zai Zai screamed as Elise winced

"Okay you can let go now, please!"

As the day turned into night, Elise was still at the store bored out of her mind once her phone died and she had to charge it. Her chin rested on her hand as she looked at the cut out of Prince Quànrui by the door "What?" Elise said as she looked at the cut out which obviously said nothing

"You got everyone acting crazy, what a joke." Elise said as at the moment, a person came in. It was a man who wore all black and had a mask on. His hoodie covered his head. Elise's eyes widened as she fixed her stance when the man looked at her.

Elise watched the man go to the fridge and unsurprisingly grabbing a Zizi banana milk, he walked up to her as he put the drink on the counter. Elise looked at him before saying "You obsessed too." Elise said as the man looked up at her , his brown eyes piercing into her soul as Elise looked at the drink scanning it.

"What?" The man said as Elise hummed "With the Prince, you obsessed with him too." Elise said as the man cocked his head to the side.

"That'll be 10 yuan." Elise said as the man digged into the pockets of his black jeans before giving Elise the money. Elise gave him his change before saying "Thank you, come again."

"Can you..accompany me to the bus stop?" The man asked as Elise looked at him confused "Huh?" Elise asked as the man cleared his throat "The bus stop, can you accompany me there?" The man said as Elise slightly debated before saying "Are you new to the city? If so i can accompany you to show you where the bus stop is." Elise said kindly as the man nodded

"Yes I'm new."

The two walked in silence as Elise looked away awkwardly as the road to the bus stop felt awfully long today. "So, where are you from originally?" Elise asked as the man looked at her "Guangzhou." He answered as Elise nodded and hummed in understanding "So you came to Shanghai to study right?" Elise questioned as the man nodded "Yeah."
Elise nodded again, feeling awkward once more.

Once they reached the bus stop, Elise gestured to the bus stop . "Here it is, the next bus is set on coming in 30 minutes." Elise said smiling as the man bowed "Thank you."

"No! It's really okay." Elise said, stopping the man mid-way his bowing.  Elise walked away back to the unattended store increasing her pace as she walked.

The man watched her leave before sitting down on the bench of the bus stop. At that moment, a black Rolls Royce pulled up, the man removing his mask smirking.

It was the Prince himself.