|02 : A regular day

A peaceful morning awaits Azazel who awoke from her long slumber, the sun's rays flashing her underneath her eyelids "Close the blinds..." Her voice croaked turning away from the blinding light covering her eyes with her forearm.

"But, your highness. It's 8 am. You specifically asked us to wake you up at that time" Azazel slowly opened her eyes, sat up, and then rubbed her eyes "Oh right... Sorry" she yawned stretching her arms and legs before getting up.

"Did Mother assign me any tasks for today?" Asked the princess heading towards the bathroom, the servants glanced at each other sharing a silent discussion before answering her question "None, your Highness" Azazel nodded turning the bathroom door's handle, she took a step into the bathroom turning her head to them.

"I'll handle the rest, you can leave now," she tells them closing the bathroom door, the door letting out a loud thud. Azazel let out a yawn, taking her nightgown off with one swift move along with other clothing like her undergarments before throwing them into the laundry basket and then hopping into the shower.

The gentle hiss of the shower greeted her ears. The water cascaded from the showerhead, splashing rhythmically against the tiled floor. Steam arose, swirling in the air and fogging up the mirror.

The steady stream of water created a soothing, almost hypnotic, background noise, reminiscent of a soft summer rain. She stood in the shower, letting the warmth and the water envelop her before she did her shower routine.

She got out of the shower leaving the bathroom with her bathrobe covering her body and a head towel wrapped around her hair. She headed to her closet, pulling the closet door open revealing the rows of clothing she had. Azazel traversed through her clothes, handpicking pieces of clothing she wanted to wear for today.

For today, she decided on a white long sleeve with a high ruffled collar adorned with lace details, small white buttons, and a purple ribbon tied to a bow around her collar as her top for today.

For her bottom, she decided on a dark purple high-waisted jumper dress with a fitted bodice that had a lace trim at the top adorned with a bow and golden buttons.

Lastly, she wore some black sheer tights and black Mary Jane heels.

She hummed, walking around her bedroom while brushing her wet hair, and untangling knots in her hair. Brushing it till the hair ran through the hairbrush seamlessly, Azazel sat down on her vanity desk chair placing the hairbrush down, resting her arms on the desk staring at herself in the mirror.

"Hmm" She rests her head on her hands staring at herself in the mirror, bright green eyes staring back at her. She analyzed herself analyzing her features, staring at her long wavy brown hair and the freckles that scattered across her "Hmm..." Her eyes turned to the drawers underneath her desk, hands resting on its knob pondering to herself.

She slowly pulled the drawers revealing her collection of makeup, all coming from the same brand: Flower Knows. She picked up the makeup brush and then got to work on pampering herself for today.

"Your Highness, your Mother awaits your arrival in the Dining Room" Azazel nods returning her makeup to its drawers before getting up and leaving her bedroom.

Her footsteps echoed through the long and big corridors illuminated by the rows of windows giving the space light, Azazel headed down the stairs greeting passing servants doing their assigned tasks. Once came face to face with the dining room's large doors, the guards pried the door open letting her enter "Good Morning," she greeted her family, receiving a greeting back as she headed towards her assigned seat beside Rapunzel.

"You're up late," her mother commented slicing through her eggs. Azazel glanced at her Mother, a pregnant silence present in the huge dining room before Azazel finally picked up her utensils "...Mhm" Azazel hums serving herself a plate of eggs and toast, she looked away taking a bite of her toast.

An eery deafening silence returned once again, so quiet you can hear a needle drop.

The atmosphere was awkward yet so tense, the sounds of utensils moving echoing throughout the dining room. Rapunzel was unpleasantly aware of this, her eyes darted toward her family's faces seeing their stoic faces devoid of any emotions.

"So... Mom, tell us about the thing you're making me do this weekend," Rapunzel asks her mother smiling hoping to spark a conversation amidst the chewing and drinking they were doing. Azazel's head perked up turning her head to look at her mother curious to know what it was she was planning.

"Right, Our kingdom will be hosting a Proclamation—" Azazel's eyes widen, her grasp on her fork suddenly tightening at the realization of what her mother meant "That Rapunzel will be next in line for the throne once she comes of age"

"Oh..." Azazel mutters, reality slowly setting in.

"That's great," their Father comments, face filled with genuine joy. Rapunzel giggled agreeing with their father excited at the ceremony coming up "I know right? Isn't it amazing Azazel?" Rapunzel asks turning to her little sister, smiling brightly. Azazel stared at her older sister for a moment before nodding agreeing with her statement "Yeah, definitely is..." She replies giving her sister a thumbs up.

The conversation went on, topics like what food should they prepare and what flowers should they use for the ceremony for which Azazel would only show approval but not give that much input. Once she was done eating her food, she excused herself and then immediately left the dining room.

She stood outside of the dining room, the voices of her family discussing the ceremony seeping through the doors' crack making Azazel let out a deep sigh before she walked away heading back to her bedroom.

She turned the doorknob of her bedroom door pushing the door open, she stood there staring at her bedroom. A sense of impending melancholy tugging her before she brushed it off entering her bedroom to grab her dark blue cloak and her satchel.

She left her bedroom again, throwing her satchel over her shoulder before she threw her cloak on. She's gonna head out to Golden Goose Avenue again.

-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-

Azazel stepped into Golden Goose Avenue, the overwhelming sounds of people chattering away calming her nerves. Azazel pulled her hood down letting the cool breeze hit her face as she wandered around the avenue.

She walked passed the crowds and vendors looking around the avenue for something that might catch her attention.

On the other side of the avenue, Jack was in a jewelry store chatting with one of the jewelers he knew "With the news of you and your pals being dwarfed, are there any ladies seeking you lot to kiss you all?" The jeweler asks, turned away from the young prince who was leaning against a wall. Jack shook his head 'no' taking a sip of the wine the jeweler poured him.

"No, surprisingly," he responds taking his hand mirror out of his pockets, looking at his human self's reflection in the small mirror. Slim, fair-skinned with an upturned nose and grayish blue eyes "Why not?" The jeweler asks, his attention focused on the rock he was carving.

Jack inspected his reflection looking for any potential flyaways in his short blond hair that he neatly coiffed and swooped up on the front right side "I rarely leave the headquarters," he simply replies, switching his attention to watch the passerby walking outside the store.

"Obviously, why do you think-" Jack rolled his eyes taking a long sip of his wine, watching the people outside out of the corner of his eyes till he saw a familiar brunette walk past the shop "That's why—" Jack almost choked on his wine, coughing very loudly causing the jeweler to turn to look at him transforming Jack dwarf to his dwarf self.

"Easy there! Go easy on the wine Jack!" Jack cleared his throat, glaring at the jeweler before fixing his composure "Silence. I just saw the princess I was talking about earlier" he spat at him placing the empty wine glass on a nearby table, the jeweler raised his brows in utter confusion "Princess?" The jeweler asked the disheveled prince.

"The brunette princess! With the blue cloak!" Jack exclaimed, eyes darting to the outside of the store back to the jeweler "You mean the Princess of Fleurmont—" Before the jeweler could finish his sentence, Jack excused himself leaving the store and running after the princess.

The prince stood in the streets, eyes wandering around the place looking for any signs of the princess.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw that familiar dark purple skirt and dark blue cloak walk into an alleyway. He sprinted to that alleyway, expecting to see her but she was already gone "Where'd she go?" Jack mutters going through that alleyway, wandering around searching for the brunette princess around the streets.

So their little marathon began, Jack would see her in the corner of his eyes and once he got there, she was gone like she evaporated out of thin air. This tiring cycle continued getting Jack exhausted and restless, running around corners and alleyways for any signs of her yet he came empty-handed.

Azazel, on the other hand, was in a thrift store looking through the trinkets section. Eyes wandering around the display for anything interesting "You're back again," a voice snapped Azazel back to reality, she turned her head seeing her friend, Nina staring at her.

"Wanted to buy something," Azazel nonchalantly replied, looking through the piles of keychains that the store displayed in a bowl "Again? Does being a princess mean you have unlimited money?" Nina questioned hanging newly curated clothes on the rack, Azazel hummed holding 2 keychains she liked.

"...No, we have a specified budget we're allowed to spend" she turned to Nina, coming face to face with her naturally tired face "Which one should I pick? The one with the lily of valleys or the heart locket?" Nina solemnly stared at the keychains, a whole 2 minutes passing before Nina made her choice.

"Heart locket, you look like a person who would put your lover's pictures in those corny things" The princess tilted her head to the side confused by her comment "Don't you have a heart locket with your partner Viktor in it?"

"Yes, and?"

The two locked eyes, silence surrounding them before Azazel spoke up again.

"Nevermind, can't you ring this for me?"

"Yeah sure"