I am Nutcracker, and one day I will be King.

This is what I believe, and this is what keeps me sane.

This, and my dearest Marie, of course.

Ah, my dearest Marie. How I have let her down. I had believed that when I killed the Mouse King, I would become human once again. But despite the great bravery of my sweet Marie, that was not to be. I was allowed access back into the Kingdom, into my Kingdom, but still I remained a wooden Nutcracker. I could bring Marie here to enjoy its pleasures, but I could do no more. I couldn't make her Queen yet.

"Nutcracker, are you alright?" Marie's blue eyes peered anxiously into mine as we danced.

I nodded, the smile fixed on my face growing even wider. "Of course. I was simply distracted. The sugar candy you pounded was quite delicious."

"Really? I'm so glad!" Marie replied happily.

We finished the dance before stopping for a while. Immediately, my future subjects crowded around Marie, chatting easily with her. I waved my hand, and one of the servants brought a plate of food to her.

"Thank you," Marie said. She took a candied orange and handed the rest out to the adoring crowd surrounding her. She bit into it, grinning sheepishly at me all the while. "I know, I'm eating so much today, but I didn't have more than a bite for dinner."

"Why not?" I asked, concerned. "Are you ill? Would you like to return home?"

Marie shook her head. "No, no. Don't worry. I was only distracted talking to Herr Schmidt— that's Fritz's friend — and he was so interesting I forgot to finish what was on my plate. Good thing Mother didn't notice." Marie finished eating and noticed my sister walking around. "Please excuse me everyone. Clara, would you like some help?"

I stood in a daze. Herr Schmidt? Who was he? Marie had never talked of other men before. And she spoke of him with such a happy and familiar tone as well.

There was a sharp pang of jealousy in my chest.

A sharp pang? That was impossible! I was the Nutcracker, the cursed royal doomed to never feel pain nor hunger, to never breathe fresh air nor hold my nose at the stenches of the human world. All I could do was see and hear. Yet, as surely as the fact that one day I will be King, I felt a pain in my heart when I thought of Marie and Herr Schmidt.

As I thought back about it, I realised that this was not the first time. There were times when I felt this feeling in my chest while dancing with Marie. Could it be a heart? I was not sure. But it must have meant that the curse was not permanent.

I walked towards Marie. "Demoiselle Marie, are you ready to go? My apologies for calling you away mid-conversation, but I have a prior engagement I must attend to."

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1 - I'll be back with the first part of Chapter Two on Friday. Do like/comment/add the book to your lists if you enjoyed the story so that more people can find it! By the way, if you want to read the whole story without waiting, you can buy a copy at https://books2read.com/TNK or subscribe to my mailing list (http://eustaciatan.blogspot.jp/p/subscribe-to-my-mailing-list.html) and get the whole story for FREE (the link to the book is in the confirmation email).