Not Happily Ever After

There Was A Princess

"Princess! Princess where are you? Princess!"

Lucy looked up as the flustered maid emerged from behind the bookshelf. The blue-haired woman looked around searchingly. Her eyes passed over the blonde girl sitting there before she suddenly locking onto her. Her startled face went slack with surprise, but a moment later she was frowning. Her cheeks were flushed brightly, enhancing the blue in her dark eyes.

"There you are!" She gasped, sounding out of breath. The smoothed her ruffled skirts and latched the girl with a glare. "Your presence is being requested in the dinning room. Juvia has been looking all over for you! Your father will be very upset when he sees you!" Despite ranting, Lucy caught the maid's eyes drifting towards the book in her hands. "What book is that?"

Lucy smiled and held it out to the girl. The maid froze and then gingerly took the book from her hands. She examined the cover and smiled. "Romeo and Juliet? Juvia didn't take you to be such a hopeless romantic, Princess."

"How many times have I told you to call me Lucy?" The blonde girl asked, rolling her eyes and standing up. The maid opened her mouth to protest about political correctness, but her words turned into a shriek when she saw what Lucy was wearing.

"Princess! What kind of dress wear is that? That's no type of dress to wear in front of your father!" Lucy blinked and looked down at her dress. It was a faded pink color that went out from her waist to her knees in soft, flowing patterns. It wasn't any fancy ball gown, but her mother had given it to her. Lucy preferred it over much of her other wear.

"It's not like it matters," the princess sighed, patting the dust off her skirts. "My father won't be there anyways."

"His majesty requested for you himself!" Juvia humph-ed, looking offended on her boss' behalf. Juvia was a new maid, just recently assigned to Lucy's side. She hadn't been around the castle long enough to understand what was going on. Lucy sighed. "Why Juvia has never met such a disrespectful princess! Who would deny her father—"

"Alright," Lucy relented, and Juvia closed her mouth mid-rant. She blinked, surprised by the princess's sudden willingness. She'd been fighting with the blonde all day. His majesty had warned her when she applied that Lucy was a wild and hard-headed girl, but Juvia had never come across a princess—any girl, really—who disregarded politics and formalities as much as this one did.

"To your chamber then," Juvia recovered briskly. Lucy nodded and started forward, letting her skirts drag behind her. Levy's eye twitched and she grabbed them in a bunch, jerking Lucy back. "At least try to walk correctly!" Lucy rolled her eyes.

"And there you go! A perfect Princess!" Juvia exclaimed, pulling back and examining her work. Lucy was a very beautiful girl, even without the fancy dresses and make-up, and Juvia couldn't help the pang of anger when she realized the make-up made her almost duller looking. "Well, almost," she said with a frown and Lucy groaned.

"My face feel stiff," the blonde complained, reaching up to rub her cheeks. Juvia slapped her hand away, tutting.

"If you do that, you'll ruin it!" She chastised, biting her lip. The princess was right; she did look stiff. Like a doll, Juvia realized with a cringe. A beautiful, fake doll.

"I feel as if I am wearing a mask," Lucy admitted honestly, shifting in the seat. "And this is a death trap, not a dress."

"You're too used to wearing loose gowns," Juvia sighed, smoothing Lucy's probing hands away from the waist. "Didn't your mother ever teach you how to dress properly?"

Lucy went stiff, making Juvia look up curiously. She was surprised to find the girl staring off to the side, her eyes suddenly very distant. "My mother always said that a woman comfortable in her own skin is the most beautiful." She looked at Juvia, her eyes refocusing as she scowled. "I am not comfortable at all."