FOR FIVE YEARS OLD ANDREA, every pink thing was ugly, unicorns didn't really exist but kids her age were dumb enough to be obsessed with them, barbies were nothing but porcellian dolls with a weird smile plastered to their faces, watermelons were annoying and so were boys.

She pretty much didn't like anything at all. Except she did.

She loved pulling pranks on others.

The little girl seated at the edge of the indoor lake of the living area grinned mischievously—her hazel eyes twinkling, palms rubbing against each other as her devilish mind worked the way it always does when she's bored.

She had a fun plan in mind.

But she needed allies.

Lucein, maybe? But her elder brother by two years wasn't really the fun type. He was very obedient. Which was boring, really. But she loves him anyways.

Maybe her cousins?

Andrea shook her head cutting the thought immediately.

Dorian screams thousand times before really doing anything. Elizabeth was cool but she was also a lot like Lucein. Which meant no allies at all.

Sighing, Andrea ran her hand through the icy water in the lake. Giggling at the tingling sensation the water currents created due to the chilly weather, she dived her hand deeper.

Soon enough, the water was sprayed everywhere and the little girl was inside the lake—jumping and squealing.

"Teeeheee. This is so fun!" She sprayed the water in her palms above her head which fell upon her like a shower, dripping upon the already soaking girl.

The maids and servants passing by smiled at the princess shaking their head in the process.

Princess Andrea was a troublemaker. But they adored her like their own. She simply had that kind of effect on everyone. No one could not like the mischievous bundle of joy.

"Why's Andrea playing in the water like a wild cat? Is she not a princess? She never acts like a proper princess. " A little boy who was one of Andrea's castle school classmate scrunches his nose up.

The boy, Charles Delacourt, is the son of the late Duke Duncan Caprielle Delacourt. He is here for his class which the princess is not even interested in going. Unfortunately, they had to pass the living area with the lake so as to make it to the stairs upto second floor where the class had been set up by the royalties.

While the little boy's uncle shuts his nephew's mouth and tries to flee from the place with his nephew before getting caught, Andrea perks her head in the boy's direction.

"What did you say?" Little Andrea wants to know.

She brushes off her brown hair that's sticking on her face and gives the boy a challenging look—the kind of look her father, the vampire king gives his neglects.

"He's really sorry, your highness. He'll ask for your forgiveness. Right, Charles?" The boy's uncle gives him a stern look asking—commanding—his nephew to apologise.

But instead of obliging, the little boy feels spited. Doing the opposite of what his uncle asks was by far his favorite thing to do.

And he does exactly that.

"I said you are nothing like a princess. You act like a wild cat." The boy, Charles, says jutting his tongue out at her.

It makes Andrea see red. This is why she hates boys. They're very annoying.

Hopping off the lake's edge in a rougish manner, Andrea skips over to the boy. A path of wattery mess following her trail as they drip down her yellow sundress to the wooden floorings.

"A wild cat, is it?" She asks the boy once she's in front of him.

Seeing Charles nod despite his uncle's warning glance, Andrea grins wickedly.

"Let me show you how a wild cat acts."

And then, there's a huge angry gash drawn on the boy's face by the princess' sharp nails.

Andrea blows down on her nails in a dramatic manner looking at them contendly.

The woman who just happens to pass by the main hall gasps.

"Oh my goodness, Andrea!" Elina, her mother covers her mouth in horror looking at the little boy.

Surprisingly, Charles didn't cry or even say anything or even fight back. He just stands there, quietly. As if he knew this would happen but he willingly did it.

For the first time, Andrea felt dejected after acting reckless.

She was sure she didn't scratch that bad.

The red mark on Charles' face glared back at her making her take her words back.

Okay, maybe she did scratch that bad. But why was he so silent? She was sure she didn't kill him atleast. Or turn him into a statue either. As far as she knew, she didn't possess that kind of abilities. Very sad. It would've been fun if she did.

"Andy, say sorry to Charles." Her mother said sternly.

Andrea pouted making puppy dog eyes.

She didn't like saying sorry. And to boys? Never.

"That look won't work on me, dear. You really hurt him bad. He's so shocked. Say sorry, now."

At Elina's words, Andrea turned towards Charles who was still rooted on his spot.

With a sigh, the princess decided to say sorry. But before she could, the boy who suddenly seemed to be jolted back to life ignored Andrea and walked past her towards the stairways.

'What? For the first time, she decides to say sorry and the boy walks away! How infuriating. This is why she hates boys.' Andrea huffs in her mind and stomps towards her room but not before,

"Mommy, guess Charles doesn't want my sorry. Good riddance." The princess shrugs.

Elina stares at her daughter's retreating silhouette.

My little troublemaker. She thinks with a shake of her head.

"Sorry for my daughter's behavior, Mr Delacourt." Elina addresses the man.

"You should be." The man feels great at being asked for his forgiveness by the queen herself.

"I never said what your son told to my daughter was right."

And then, without another word, the queen turns around to walk out of the room leaving a mouth hanging agape Mr. Delacourt.

☆¤☆

Later that day, after their school is done, Andrea roams around the main hall again.

She just seems to like the lake a lot. And the place is often isolated and bare of annoying people, hence more the reason to like.

Besides, she needed peace after showing up to those boring classes and listening to teachers talk straight for two hours about boring old creatures that had nothing to do with her.

As her eyes automatically moves to the lake, she sees someone gazing down at the water body with fondness in their eyes. But the person's small lone figure disturbed her.

Scrunching up her nose in curiosity, Andrea stealthily walks towards the little boy at the edge of the lake.

Her footsteps are careful, hands in front of her in an alert stance as she sly-foots her way behind the boy.

"Boo!" She whispers into the boy's ears who in startlement, trips over the edge of the lake.

Before the boy could fall inside the pool of water, Andrea stretches her hand forward to grab the boy's outstretched arm.

With one powerful tug from the little girl, the boy is jerked back on his footing.

Charles pants heavily through his mouth, his heartbeat accelerating in the terror of drowning still clawed at him.

He loved water. But he was never thought to swim.

His uncle sent him to castle school just so that the elderly man could associate himself with the royals. It had nothing to do with his nephew's sake.

He didn't like Andrea because she got everything in a silver platter and still acted haughty enough to not take advantage of them.

'But she saved you.' His inner voice reminded him.

Charles looked at Andrea who was grinning.

Why's she always grinning?

"You're so clumsy." The princess giggles before extending her hand forward for a handshake?

"I'm Andrea Davies." She says in a form of introduction but realises it was dumb of her to say her name.

She's the vampire princess. Who doesn't know her name? Everyone does.

"Friends?" She asks this time with uncertainty.

Ofcourse, she didn't like making friends. Atleast not who are boys. She loves to be alone. Besides, she had her brother and cousins.

But maybe making one friend wouldn't hurt? The boy looked lonely.

Charles doesn't retort to her words nor does he see her face. His eyes are glued to Andrea's extended hand.

"I'm not gonna bite you, you know." Andrea mumbles with a roll of her eyes.

"After scratching my face earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if you bit me next." Charles didn't know he had muttered it out loud.

Andrea lets out a groan, "Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm saying sorry to a boy for the first time so you better accept it. And my hand is still hanging here."

She could imagine her mother give her a look and say that's not the right manner to apologise.

But she didn't care. She said sorry and that was a big thing in itself.

Charles lips twisted into a smile at her words.

The princess was still the same haughty girl. But she wasn't all that bad.

"Charles Delacourt." He gives her hand a firm shake, "And yeah, I'd love to be your friend, your highness."

"You can call me Andy." She grins up at him before an idea pops in her head, "So now we're friends, right?"

On seeing Charles nod, her grin widens.

"Friends do things together. So Charles, do you wanna help me set up a prank?"

Andrea's wide grin that almost looked creepy at that moment combined with the evil glint in her eyes reminds Charles just why he kept his distance from a certain princess.

But now since they're friends, he'd have to be the perfect friend. Especially when she's his first friend.

"Sure." He says with an equally bright grin.

"Yay! I finally have an ally!" Andrea squeals before pulling Charles into a bone-crushing hug.

Who knew these two would become the best of friends from that day onwards.

______♤______

So...how do you like the chapter?

I left a hint in this chapter regarding Charles' parenthood, did anyone happen to find it?👀

Hehe. That's all for this chapter. Hope to see y'all again with a new chapter about another princess or maybe a prince?👀

Bubye for now:)
Until next time! ^.^