It felt like the time when Claire and Tony were partners. I watched them dance as I danced with someone who wasn't him.

Tony was leading the dance while Nina followed. He was as graceful as ever. I was distracted but that didn't affect my dancing.

Hudson was doing a great job following my pace considering that this was his first time.

He made me face him by pulling my chin, "Sophie."

"What?" I asked.

"I know you're upset that you're not partners with your boyfriend, but don't you think it's disrespectful to ignore the one you're currently dancing with?"

I smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I just—"

He held a hand in front of me—a sign to stop, "Hold up. No excuses allowed, madam."

I grinned and momentarily forgot why I was ignoring said partner. I just enjoyed dancing with this carefree boy and took some time to teach him the other steps. I taught him how to twirl me or how to lift me and found myself enjoying his company. He sort of reminds me of my oldest brother. I miss being in the arms of Austin.

I forced myself not to think or else I'll get sad all again.

Hudson made not getting sad easier. He made a lot of jokes like:

"One time Damien told me that onions were the only food that makes you cry. I said that a lot of food can. He didn't believe me," he said with a cheeky smile, "So I threw a coconut at his face."

I laughed and wiped some tears from my eyes, "Oh, god. Why did you do that?"

He smiled and shrugged, "I was just proving a point."

I laughed harder at the next story he told me.

"Derek told me one time that his body was that of a greek god," Hudson said.

I rolled my eyes, "I suppose that's where the nickname 'Eros' comes in."

He smiled, "Basically, yes. But really, I had to explain to him that Buddha wasn't greek."

I probably laughed like a mad man back there. Derek saw me and raised an eyebrow. I knew Tony glanced at me too but I didn't meet his eyes.

"I had a weird experience this morning," Hudson told me.

"Why?" I asked.

"When I was on my way here, when I crossed the subway—"

"I thought you slept in your dorm?" I asked in confusion.

He nodded, "Yup, but mom wanted me and my sister home because our aunt came home. So anyway, I saw this kid who had red, yellow, and green hair. He caught me staring at him so he asked in a grumpy voice 'What the f*ck are you looking at?' I kept on staring at him as I replied 'Sorry, but when I was about your age, I had s*x with a parrot and thought that maybe you were my son.' Oh, boy did he get mad."

I laughed, "You are messed up."

He showed a lopsided smile, "I know."

I wanted to adopt Hudson as my brother. I felt like he was sent to earth so he could make me feel like my brothers were still here.

"Alright, people. Let's do the dance from the top. Boys, wait at the sides until Sophie's part is over," Delilah ordered.

Hudson smiled, "Show us what you got, Soph."

I raised an eyebrow, "Giving me a nickname already?"

He shrugged and pushed me to my place, "I'll do what I want."

I rolled my eyes and smiled, "Yeah, whatever. Now go to the side. Let the girls take over."

He smiled and bowed a little to me before walking away. I walked to my place on the floor beside Penelope.

"Hey," I greeted her.

I got a small nod and and a smile as a response. Definitely a member of the club.

I decided to make some small talk with her since I rarely do—mostly because she's always with Heather and that girl probably hates me.

"So um . . . How's it going with Amadeus?"

She shrugged and had a small frown on her face, "He's okay but he doesn't look at me when we're dancing. He's always staring at Heather."

That was probably the longest line I've heard her say. But I frowned at her words.

"According to someone I know, ignoring the person you're dancing with is disrespectful," I stated, "do you know why he's so interested about Heather?"

She pursed her lips, "Yes, but it's not my right to tell you."

I nodded in understanding, "I understand."

"Alright, get ready, girls. Make sure to show us your all. Surely you don't want these gentlemen to see you doing something embarrassing, right?" Delilah asked.

We said our fair shares of 'no's and she smiled and started the music.

My eyes found Tony's as I danced. I made sure to get all the steps right and appear amazing just to show him what he's missing. He smiled at me but I only raised a brow at him.

I noticed a lot of people looking at Psyche and Maxine. They were clearly mesmerized at the two's great dancing and singing skills.

Amadeus had eyes only for one girl—you guessed it, Heather.

I tried not to be disturbed at the two stares I was receiving. One was Derek who calculated my every movement. Waiting for the time I was going to fall. I didn't let him get the chance to see what he wants.

The other one was Tony. Who was so confused as to why I didn't return his smile. I decided to let him die of curiosity on what he did wrong.

When I was singing, I fought the urge to laugh when Hudson started clapping and yelling compliments to me. Delilah was so irritated at his brother that she literally got her handkerchief, rolled it into a ball, and stuffed it at his mouth. This didn't stop him from encouraging me, though.

Finally, the instrumental was about to happen.

"And when I see you there with her," I sang, "holding her hand like lovers. It makes me always wonder if your promises would be gone forever."

The boys circled around us with both hands on their backs. I was the only girl kneeling down and was at the center. Hudson lifted me off from the ground and into the air like the others. Although it was hard for him to fo that since unlike the others who were standing, like I said, I was at a kneeling position.

With a grunt, he put me back to the floor.

I smiled, "Was I heavy?"

He scoffed and showed his non-existent muscles, "You were like paper."

I rolled my eyes and continued the dance. There was another part where the boy is going to lift us but this time, it would be longer and higher.

I prepared myself to be lifted into the air. I placed my hands on his shoulders and waited fir the moment.

But it never came. Due to his super muscular arm, I stayed rooted to the ground while he slipped to the floor.

I laughed. Everyone else joined in—Delilah laughed the hardest.

Delilah shook her head with a smile, "Ah, my dear brother. Still have sticks for arms, I presume?"

Hudson scoffed and glared at her, "No. Sophie is just really heavy."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Heavy? What happened to calling me 'paper'?"

"Stacks of papers," he corrected, "the point is, we have to set the partners to their corresponding weights. I'm pretty sure Sophie is the heaviest."

The one with brown hair—Benedict?—raised an eyebrow and made his way to me, "I doubt that. Look at her, she's really thin."

I crossed my arms—slightly offended at his words, "I'm not that thin."

Tony smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets, "But you're still thin."

I glared at him, "I thought you said I wasn't as thin as I was before," I said as I remembered the time when he told me I was getting heavy.

He shrugged, "You aren't, but that doesn't mean you're not thin anymore."

The others were giving us odd looks, clearly confused as to how we knew each other.

Benedict put his hands on my waist, "Let me try lifting her."

He said that after he lifted me. Being caught by surprise, I screamed as I was momentarily thrown into the air. When I say 'thrown', I mean 'thrown'. I almost hit the ceiling from the force of Benedict when he accidentally threw me.

Hudson stared in shock as I fell to the ground. Luckily, Benedict caught me and safely put me down to the ground.

"What the actual h*ll. I never thought she was that light," Benedict commented.

I glared at him and put a hand on my wildly beating heart, "You threw me into the air!"

He shrugged, "I needed to try how heavy you were."

Justin raised an eyebrow at Hudson, "You said she weighed heavily."

Hudson shook his head, "This dude is huge! Of course he can lift her! I swear, she has the weight of an elephant!"

The one with light blue hair laughed, "I'm sure you're just weak."

Hudson crossed his arms, "You look about my size, why don't you try it?"

Adrian shrugged and approached me. He placed his hands on my waist.

"Please don't throw me," I whispered.

He laughed, "I'll try."

He lifted me off the ground with ease. I was glad he didn't throw me to my death.

Hudson had his mouth wide open, "B-But—I swear she's heavy!"

Delilah shook her head, "This won't do. Girls and boys, arrange yourselves by weight. Justin, get the weighing sale from the infirmary. Hurry now."

Justin sighed and left the room. The rest of us looked at each other and argued on who was heavier or lighter.

"What's your weight?" Psyche askdd Maxine.

"Last time I checked it was 47," she replied.

Nichola stared at her in shock, "47? Are you serious?"

"How old are you again?" Alyssa asked Maxine.

"19," she answered.

Psyche's eyes widened, "Aren't nineteen-year-olds supposed to have 50 or something?"

She shrugged, "I have a controlled diet."

"She's an idol, that's kind of normal, don't you think?" I prompted.

They all stared at me because of my statement.

"What?" I asked, "isn't it right?"

Alyssa shook her head, "Of course not!"

Nichola nodded, "Even if we're idols we still need to be healthy."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "I thought that people like you should be like paper thin."

Delilah sighed, "That's for the other countries. Our great queen refused to let us be like them."

"The late queen?" Tony asked with his voice breaking at the end.

My heart ached as I glanced at his broken eyes. He hid it well, really, but not too well to hide it from me.

Delilah nodded and sighed, "It was a tragedy she and her husband died. They were great rulers. And their sons?" She sighed again, "they could've been more brilliant."

Tony pursed his lips and put his hands behind his back. He nodded slightly at the woman's words.

"Why did that Gabriel have to interfere?" Nina asked.

"I don't know. But he's the rightful heir, right?" Fiona replied.

"Yes," Hudson answered then shrugged, "I think?" He added.

"We can't be sure if he's really the true heir to the throne," Adrian stated.

"He's the real heir to the throne," Tony whispered but it was loud enough for all of us to hear.

Derek raised an eyebrow at that, "How can you be sure?"

"He has the crest of Illéa," he replied.

Psyche shrugged, "So? What if he just stole it? And besides, all of us know that Illéa doesn't have a crest."

Tony shook his head, "Illéa does have a crest. It was years ago when the founder of our country made it. He made three. One for each son. The first one was burned when the owner died and was replaced by the Schreaves. The second one was lost in the ocean when the youngest brother died. But the last one," he took a deep breath, "the last one was with the second brother. All of us knew that he died before, but he escaped and raised a family of his own. Hence, Gabriel's surname of Illéa. I can only guess that his forefathers passed down the crest with the sole purpose of retrieving the throne if necessary."

Amadeus furrowed his eyebrows, "How do you know all of this?"

Tony shrugged and showed a fake smile that only I could recognize as fake, "I like history."

"I like reading too," Nina commented.

Amadeus looked at Tony sharply, "I visited every library in Illéa and not once have I encountered a thing about this crest."

Tony shoved his hands into his pockets, "Then perhaps you haven't visited every library in Illéa."

"But I have," Amadeus insisted.

"Have you visited the library in the palace?" Tony asked.

Amadeus stopped and froze.

Tony smirked a little, "I thought so."

"Can we stop talking about politics now?" Nichola asked and put her hands on her forehead, "I'm getting a headache."

Delilah glanced at her watch, "What's taking Justin so long?"

At the same moment, the door burst open with Justin holding a weighing scale. A look of panic painted his face.

Maxine raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Why do you look scared, scaredy cat?"

Justin glared at her before saying, "There are palace guards outside."

My eyes widened, "What?"

I was sure the others also had confusion evident in their faces.

"Why?" Delilah asked, seemingly calm.

"I don't know," he replied, "but they're requiring everyone in the building to gather at the hall."

My heart pounded and I glanced at Tony who looked afraid. I forced myself not to look panicked and took a deep breath.

When I controlled my emotions, I spoke up since no one wanted to, "Let's go then. It's not like they can harm us, right?"

Tony pursed his lips and nodded, "Sophie's right. Come on, let's see what they want."

Psyche made her way towards me and linked her arm through mine, "Why do you think they're here?"

I shrugged, "Probably to show off."

Psyche frowned, "I think it's about the news."

"What news?" I asked in confusion.

"Remember the former crown prince of our country?" She asked and I nodded, "well, they said that he hasn't been captured yet, along with his lover."

I tasted a sour flavor in my mouth as I said, "And they're here to check if the two of them are here."

She nodded, "That's what I think. But who knows? They might just really be here to show us their power over us."

I nodded, the uneasiness increasing with every step closer to the hall, "Right. To show off. Nothing to worry about," I said and unconsciously gripped on Psyche's arm tighter to prevent myself from falling.