---Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! I'll still be posting tomorrow but I thought I would post an extra chapter this week for the Holiday!---

I wore a large cherry turtleneck sweater with long brown boots over a pair of navy blue jeans. I had pulled out my ponytail to let my hair fall loose over my shoulders and had styled my hair to look presentable enough. Grabbing a small purse, I left my room and headed to kitchen to grab Prince Nikolas's lunch. I walked into the dining room, and my casual attire caught the attention of several servants. I quickly scanned the room for Luke, but to my dismay he was nowhere to be found.

"Cassie!" A cheery voice said, and I turned my attention to Charlie who was waving at me. "Where's your uniform?"

"I am helping Prince Nikolas get around the Autumn Festival today," I told Charlie. "I'm picking up his lunch before I leave."

"I see." Charlie tilted his head. "Well, what do you think of Prince Nikolas?"

I glanced at my watch—I could spare a few minutes. I sat across the table from Charlie and countered his question with one of my own. "Why did you go around telling everyone about my Sky Land date with Luke?"

"Oh, that?" He smiled sheepishly. "I didn't realize it was a secret."

I sighed. "It wasn't explicitly a secret, per se, but I didn't expect you to go blabbing your mouth off to everyone!"

Charlie held up his hands. "Well it just came up in casual conversation!"

"No it didn't." A sweet little voice off to Charlie's left piped into the conversation. It was a maid named Mindy. "You just walked up to a lot of us and said, 'guess what?'. And then you told us about Cassie and Mister Lucas."

Charlie stared very hard at Mindy. "Can't you mind your own business?"

"You're one to talk!" I chortled.

"Okay, so maybe it didn't naturally come up all that naturally, but I didn't realize it was a burning secret!" Charlie defended himself.

"I just didn't want to make a big deal of things."

"I think Ethan is heartbroken now," he said.

"Well that's just great, Charlie," I scowled.

"But are you dating Mister Lucas?" he pressed.

"Not officially, no."

"Not officially?" Charlie leaned forward against the table, his eyes sparkling. "So, unofficially then?"

"That's not what I meant."

"So what did you mean?"

"I—I don't know."

"So...you don't like Mister Lucas, then?" Charlie said.

"I never said that!"

"So you do like him?" A Cheshire grin spread on his face.

I grimaced, and stared straight into Charlie's eyes. "Well. Would you look at the time? I've got to go."

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Very funny. But don't you want to hear the latest on Mister Lucas?"

I sat still—was this a trap? "Yes..." At that moment I glanced down at caught a glimpse of the time. I suddenly sprang up. "Oh gosh!" I cried. "I actually do have to go!"

I flew into the kitchen, and Chef Jonathan could barely say a word before I grabbed Prince Nikolas's dinner tray and scurried to his room. When I opened the door, I nearly dropped the tray out of surprise. Prince Nikolas wore a plain green hoodie over a pair of simple faded jeans. His hood sat limply on his back, revealing light brown colored hair where pale blonde should have been. He glanced at his cheap-looking analog watch, which replaced the Rolex-looking watch he normally wore.

"You are late," he said simply, not even addressing the fact that he looked completely different.

"Sorry," I said, quickly placing his platter on the table. "Your highness!" I added entirely too late.

"Ivan used temporary hair dye that will wash out immediately," Prince Nikolas said. "Now go eat your lunch and return."

As Ivan and I headed down to the dining hall, I spotted Luke entering our hallway from a different corridor.

"Luke!" I called, and sprinted towards him.

"Hey, Cass," he said, a smile splitting his face.

'Cass.' That's new. I thought.

But I liked it.

"What's this?" he asked lightly, tugging at my sweater sleeve.

"After lunch, I am accompanying Prince Nikolas to the Autumn Festival. Apparently he's got it all planned out, but he wants me to come along for my accent," I said.

Luke rose an eyebrow, and a crooked smile rose on his face. "Your accent?" he asked as we started walking along together.

"Yes. He doesn't want people discriminating against him because of his Russian accent, so I'll be doing most of the talking."

"That makes enough sense, I suppose," Luke said, then sighed dramatically.

"What's that sigh about?" I asked.

"Well," he started. "It is the first night of the Autumn Festival."

"Right..."

"And, well, I suppose I'm rather jealous of Prince Nikolas." His tone was light hearted.

"Jealous? How so?" I asked coyly.

"Yes," Luke said. "I was going to ask if you'd like to go to the festival with me tonight, but I suppose he beat me to punch."

Well, speaking of punches, I felt like my heart had just been punched.

Are you KIDDING ME? I thought angrily. I have to go to this frick frackin' festival with stupid snooty boring Prince Nikolas when I could have gone with Luke?

"Were you really going to ask me?" I questioned.

"I was."

My mouth dropped open. "Well...well I could probably do something later in the evening. Whenever he's done."

"So I'm just your second choice then? I see how it is," Luke said, shaking his head.

"You're being a butt."

"Didn't know Prince Nikolas was your type," Luke continued.

"Oh haha very funny," I said. Despite Luke's friendly teasing, my heart still churned bitterly at the fact that I had to go with Prince Nikolas instead of Luke.

"Was it his baby blue eyes that did you in?" Luke asked.

"Oh my gosh." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, I'll bet it's the sexy accent."

I paused for a moment, then held my hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'll admit it. If you must know, Mister Lucas, it's the way he says my name. It's swoon-worthy, really." I cleared my throat, curled my lip into a sneer, and did my best to impersonate him. "Cassie," I said in a low and aggressive voice.

Luke laughed. "I mean, I've never been into guys, but if he said my name like that, I don't know that I could resist."

"It's all about the tenderness in his voice," I said.

Luke whistled. "And I thought Prince Coleman was the Casanova."

I laughed, and turned to look at Luke as we walked along. He seemed different than before. Perhaps he was warming up to me; he wasn't so shy and reserved. He was more relaxed, more talkative.

"What?" He asked as he caught my stare.

I smiled. "Nothing."

"Anyways, do you want to go with me to the festival tomorrow night, then?" Luke proposed.

I guffawed. "After all your whining I assume tonight was the only night you could."

Luke grinned. "No, not at all."

"Well, I suppose I'll go with you, but only because I'll already be separated from my dear Prince Nikolas."

He laughed. "Aren't I lucky?"