Tao’s heart was beating painfully as he walked away from Prince Yixing’s office.  He honestly didn’t mean to eavesdrop on the last of their conversation, but his curiosity got the best of him.  The moment he heard that Kris will be taking his leave back to the castle, he literally sprinted back to the front gate, letting a maid fix him up a bit.

                Prince Yixing favors him? The thought made him give out a dry laugh.  He’s nice to everyone, so it’s probably an act.  He probably pities Tao for being the youngest butler among the kingdoms, and he views Tao as a child.  Tao curled his hands into fists. 

                “Tao.”

                Tao nearly jumped when Kris’s cool voice drifted towards him.  Snapping his head towards Kris, he quickly moved towards the car and opened the door for him, letting him slide in and closing the door right after his prince.  With a sigh, Tao hopped into the driver’s seat and instantly began driving hastily back towards the empire, ignoring Kris’s cries for him to slow down.        

                -

                “Hurry, your Highness,” Tao ordered him with a stern tone. “Your ball begins in thirty minutes.”

                “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying,” Prince Kris reassured him, shrugging on his dress shirts and all the other regal clothing.  He let out a deep sigh as he draped the sash over his chest, making sure it’s perfectly on his shoulder-plate things.  He grinned as he forced himself to laugh.

                He’s been a prince for twenty or so years, and he doesn’t even know all the parts of the clothing.

                “Quickly, your boots,” he heard Tao snap.  Kris smiled and tugged on his boots, letting the maids tie them securely.  He ignored the slight discomfort from the tightness and how the fabric underneath made him slightly uncomfortable. 

                Kris stood up, feeling his emerald green cape falling behind him and draping the floor, “How do I look Tao?”

                He watched his butler inspect him with serious eyes.  Tao had his knuckles to his lip as his eyebrows furrowed, looking at every angle possible on Kris.  What Kris least expected was for his eyes to meet his, because the way Tao looked at him sent shivers down his spine.

                “Hana,” Tao said, still looking at Kris’s face, “Powder his face a little more.”

                “Yes, sir,” the maid instantly powdered Kris’s face, and that caused him to scowl.

                “Don’t scowl, your Highness. It makes you have wrinkles faster,” Tao snapped, “But let’s hurry.  You have five minutes.”

                “Twenty five minutes passed already?” Kris exasperated.

                “Well, you aren’t the fastest person when it comes to changing,” Tao replied flatly.  His tone started getting on Kris’s nerves and it made him…sad.  What happened to the happy Tao all of a sudden?  He started becoming stoic and boring the moment they returned from Vultaria.

                Kris grunted, signaling for Tao to follow him.  The butler heeded his prince’s orders and followed behind him quietly, carrying a clipboard.  As Tao followed behind Prince Kris, he gave orders to the other parts of staff, telling them lucid details on what to do, how to act, and making sure that the security is top notch.  Kris grinned as he listened to Tao.  He’s so orderly and organized!   Kris felt grateful to have a sharp butler like him, but it makes sense why Tao is so serious about tonight.

                It’s the night where he himself has to pick the woman he shall spend eternity with, but he already knows who it shall be.

                Kris prayed that Prince Yixing will arrive tonight, because Tao opened the doors leading towards the ball room and the lights were on him.

-

                “Tao!”

                “Yes, your Majesty?” Tao was by Kris’s side in an instant.

                “Have the Zhang’s arrived yet?” Kris asked him quietly, turning his head away from the other royalty.

                “Not yet, sir.” His butler replied in the same hushed tone.  Kris frowned but nodded, relieving Tao.

                Tao’s heart seemed to break more throughout the night, but he knew that feelings for Kris are pretty much inane.  Hell, the thought of ever being with his prince will cause him to get hanged or even burned, and the last thing Tao wants for Kris is to feel guilty.  Kris’s reason for marrying Princess Mei is understandable, and Tao respects that.

                He respects Kris, even though it’ll break and destroy him in the end.

                “Sir Tao!”

                Tao heard his name being called from the other staff, so he muttered his excuse and made his way towards the entrance hall.  There, stood the security and door boy holding a clip board.

                “What is it?”

                “The Vultaria and Siegfried kingdoms have arrived,” he responded in a serious tone. “You told me ahead of time to tell you when Vultaria does.”

                Tao nodded his head in acknowledgement, “Thank you, Joshua.”

                Tao made his way out of the entrance hall and down the stone steps towards the dropping off zone.  There, he caught sight of Jongdae and Minseok.  He watched his fellow butler’s open the passenger doors, revealing Prince Luhan and Prince Minseok. 

                Tao bit his lip nervously, eyeing the Vultaria vehicle.  Prince Yixing gave his acknowledgement to Jongdae and started walking towards Tao’s direction.  He watched Jongdae turn back around and hold his hand out, a hand popping out of the vehicle and shiny black hair following afterwards.

                Tao’s eyes went wide as Princess Mei came into view, and cameras started capturing her eternal beauty.  She whispered something to Jongdae and he nodded, closing the door after her.

                “Hey, Tao.”

                The young butler jumped at the sound of Minseok’s voice.  He turned and was face-to-face with him, Prince Luhan standing behind him.  The little-deer prince grinned when Tao made eye contact with him, but smiled when Prince Yixing caught up to them, his arm linked with his sister’s.

                “Follow me, if you may,” Tao instructed politely and the two royal families followed him without a word.  Of course, they gave their occasional greetings to the media, but once they entered the entrance hall, Tao whispered to Minseok and Jongdae on how to arrive at the ball room before quickly departing, pulling out his phone and hitting speed dial.

                “Yes, Tao?”

                “Vultaria has arrived.”

                “Both?”

                Tao let reality hit him in the face, “Yes, both.”

-

                Tao watched as the King of the Lao Tien Yeh Empire made his way to center-stage with the Queen, earning instant silence from the hundred or so people in the ball room and their undivided attention.

                “Ladies and gentlemen,” he started with an all-powerful voice that was at the same time gentle, “Thank you for arrived at my son’s engagement party.”

                The guests all clapped and it took around ten seconds for it to die down, “It’s truly a father’s and mother’s dream to watch their son find someone to spend the rest of his life with, and tonight is that night.”

                “We shall begin the main event,” Queen Amelia commenced, and soft music filled the halls. People started to part as Prince Kris made his way towards a familiar dark-haired beauty and Tao had to hold in his laughter as the other princesses grunted their hatred towards Mei.

                “It’s personalities like yours that makes you incapable of marrying,” Tao heard Prince Luhan sneer at them, and Tao caught a glimpse of Minseok coughing in place of his laughter. “Keep your insults to yourselves, ladies.”

                The princesses, obviously dumbstruck, nodded and stepped away from them. While watching them leave, Luhan and Minseok both high-fived each other silently and watched as more princes and princesses joined Kris and Mei in their dancing.  Tao grinned and tried to ignore the fact that Kris and Mei are happily looking into each other’s eyes, and Kris had a smile on his face that is rare to see.  Jealousy hit Tao like a brick and he felt his fingernails dig into his skin.

                He excused himself from the reception, taking a glass of champagne as he made his way to the balcony.  The music wasn’t as loud out here, and all the emotions that were growing rapidly inside of him finally let loose.

                “A man crying,” he whispered to himself angrily, wiping his eyes with his sleeve and drank his glass of champagne in one go.  Being a light-weight, he already felt the alcohol take its toll on his body and mind, but not enough for him to forget everything.        

                “I’m pathetic,” he murmured, slamming his fists against the stone railings.  Images of Kris and Mei flashed in his mind and he wished he had more alcohol, but he couldn’t go back inside looking like a pathetic idiot.

                He heard footsteps behind him but Tao didn’t acknowledge it. “Tao?”

                Letting out a puff of breath, the drunk Tao whirled around, face-to-face with Prince Yixing.  He clumsily bowed, “G-Good evening, your Highness,” he slurred.

                “You idiot!” Yixing scolded, realizing that Tao’s drunk, “Did you forget you were a light weight?”

                Tao grinned sheepishly, “But it helps erase all the pain away, your Highness!”

                Yixing tilted his head in confusion, ordering Jongdae to grab him a glass of cold water. “What pain?”

                Tao didn’t even think twice before spilling out his feelings, “Love is painful, your Highness!  It twists and breaks you, but it’ll never come back together!” He laughed, dizziness hitting him. “But why did it have to be him, of all the millions of people on this planet?  Love—love—“

                “Tao,” Yixing spoke softly, placing his hand on his shoulder. He heard Jongdae returning and he turned around, retrieving the water from him.  Whispering for him to go and asking for privacy, the Vultarian butler obliged and left, closing the doors behind him.

                “Tao,” Prince Yixing repeated to him, more clearly this time.  Even drunk, Tao looked up at the fierce and handsome prince, feeling somewhat intimidated. “Listen to me.”

                Prince Yixing took a deep breath and made eye contact with the broken butler, “Love involves being hurt, even by the one you truly believed that was meant to be yours, but was never yours to begin with.”      

                “Yixing—“Tao called the prince by his first name but corrected himself, “Your Highness, I—“

                “Let me finish, Tao,” Yixing gently cut him off, and grinned when Tao nodded. “We only have one life, and throughout this life we breathe we will encounter obstacles, one of the hardest being love but the hardest of all, is in my opinion, growing up.”

                “As we grow up, we learn new things but from the start we learned about love from our parents, relatives and friends,” Yixing sighed and leaned against the stone railing, letting the moonlight soak his skin. “Little did we know is that love is the best thing to happen to us, but as a consequence it also hurts the most.”

                “The pain is nearly unbearable, right?” Tao nodded, and Yixing continued. “It hurts.  We’ll ask ourselves, ‘what did I do to deserve this’ or even, ‘don’t leave me’.”

                “But the best thing about it is that love has no boundaries,” Tao’s eyebrows lifted as he looked up and met Yixing’s eyes. “Despite titles and social class, we’re all human.  Our hearts decide who we will be happiest with, and no one can decide that for us.  Forcing ourselves to be happy will only make us worse.”

                “As humans, we all fall in love.  It could be with a prince and a pauper, or even the princess and butler,” Yixing grinned, looking at Tao’s now glassy eyes. “But in today’s society, we all firmly believe that there are walls blocking us from our happiness.  We let people decide who we should be happy with without a fight.”

                Tao felt a tear streak down his face and he quickly rubbed it off, “Are you implying something, your Highness?”

                Yixing smiled, but Tao saw that it was sad. “I am.”

                Tao straightened up, feeling the alcohol wear off. “What is it?” He could tell that the almighty prince was hiding something.

                “You may think I’m crazy, or probably even irrational, but it goes along perfectly with my lecture.” Yixing ran a hand through his hair, ruining it slightly.

                “You could never be crazy, your Highness.”

                “Tao.” Yixing said his name sternly.

                “Y-Yes?”

                “Call me by my real name.” Tao’s eyes went wide. “Please?”

                His sincere tone made Tao’s heart flip, but he couldn’t argue. “Y-Yixing.”

                The prince of Vultaria smiled and Tao’s eyes widened on how radiant it was.  He’s never seen him smile so passionately. “That’s much better, but do you agree with me, Tao?” The butler tilted his head, a little confused, and the prince chuckled. “With my view on love and how it has no boundaries.”

                All Tao wants is Kris to be happy and to be with Kris, but he….Tao sighed. “I agree.”

                Yixing got up from leaning against the stone railing and stood right in front of Tao, holding his hand up and putting it underneath Tao’s chin.  Tao’s weak heart started pounding frantically as he wondered what the great prince of Vultaria was doing.  Well, what was he doing?

                “Good, because I have a confession to make.” Yixing smiled, feeling himself slipping into Tao’s beautiful eyes.

                “I am undeniably in love with Huang Zitao,” Yixing leaned closer and felt his heart clench as Tao’s eyes went wide with surprise. “I always have been.”

                Tao felt Yixing’s breath tickle his face and felt time freeze at his next words. “But I know you’re in love with Wu Yi Fan, and I respect that.”

                _____________________________________________________________

Yay! Confessions are the best! ^-^

                I know this story seems rushed, but it IS a short story! The next chapter will be the last, but I’m thinking of adding a twist to this story.  It’ll be interesting, I’m sure of it! ^-^

                Please, COMMENT AND VOTE! ^-^

                Well, anyways,

                Involving the incident of Kris apparently leaving EXO (NOTHING is confirmed) I will not stop writing about Kris.  Sure, he isn’t one of my biases but I still love him as a fan.  I shall respect whatever decision he decides to make, and I will always support him.  If he really were to leave EXO permanently, I won’t be affected whatsoever because the life as a KPOP idol is tough.  Sure, I’ll miss him but I won’t beg for him to stay.  If it’s what he believes is best for him, then I, as well as everyone else, should respect him.  Kris is human too, but he knows what he has to do with his life to ensure it’ll be healthy and worth living.

                Thanks guys! <3

                                -lilly