Gullible

' If he's here for what I think, then I must stop him..' Ava decided inwardly.

Since she heard from those girls earlier that Prince Kinsey kissed a girl, Ava suspected he was about to meet up with her again this time, according to the plot.

' But what if he's not a real person? Or what if I thought wrong? Maybe he's not the Prince. And even if he is, he might be out for something else.' Ava reconsidered.

She had decided earlier that she wasn't going to have any business with anyone from Luxeville or anywhere else, so long as she was not in the 'real world'.

' But what if that's the case? What if he's here to see her? I can't let something as bad as that happen...not when I see it coming.' Ava thought again.

' What if that's not the case? Then it means I've compromised for nothing. How am I even so sure things are playing out as I scripted?...ugh! ' Ava groaned grabbing a fistful of her hair in frustration with her eyes closed.

Just as she opened her eyes a few seconds later, she saw Prince Kinsey who was looking from his wristwatch, with a smile that was starting to fade, to his shoes - about to turn to her direction.

In a trice, Ava stepped behind a huge drum and squatted. It was at this moment she began observing the environment. The place looked sort of like a factory, but she had no idea what it produced.

But that convinced her all the more, that things were indeed unfolding according to the plot. Or was it way too early to draw a conclusion? Only one way to find out.

Prince Kinsey on the other hand looked around, as his thoughts finally diverted from Elle. For a while, he was absent minded.

Elle promised to show up 20 minutes earlier but didn't show up. Then she decided a change of location but she was still not in sight.

He had little time to spend outside the Palace before his absence started raising dust.

" Where are you Elle?" Kinsey muttered, glancing at his wristwatch.

Exhaling deeply, Prince Kinsey decided to call Elle for the third time.

" Hello, Elle."

" Prince Kinsey, I'm so sorry. I'm almost there, a minute more please." Elle pleaded before Kinsey could say anything else.

" I'm waiting." Kinsey said before he hung up.

Sighing, he brushed through his hair again. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt for 'undercover' so he adjusted it again, as he felt uncomfortable. Though a modern day prince, hoodies were definitely not what he wore everyday.

While the Prince was busy with all of that, waiting for Elle to show up, he was oblivious to the fact that he wasn't the only one waiting for her as well.

Less than 2 minutes later, Elle finally showed up. But for about 5 seconds, only Ava knew she did.

Prince Kinsey was facing the opposite direction when Elle arrived and so he had his back facing her. Only Ava saw her the moment she arrived. And just like Ava highly predicted, Elle had an evil glare on her face which quickly transitioned to a look of innocence.

" Prince Kinsey." Elle said, after clearing her throat. Turning around, Kinsey answered. " Elle, where have you been?"

" I'm sorry Prince Kinsey, it's just that something came up and I was..."

" It's fine. How have you been?" Prince Kinsey asked softly.

" Umm, are you angry at me?'' Elle asked, like she was concerned.

Prince Kinsey sighed before holding her shoulders, since she was a bit shorter. " No, I'm not.'' he answered.

" Thank you Prince Kinsey." Elle replied with a smile that displayed her dimples.

" It's okay Elle. By the way, I've told you to stop being so formal with me.''

" That's not right Prince Kinsey. You see, I have so much respect for you and regardless of whatever we might have going on, you are royalty." Elle answered, looking away with a shy smile on her face.

Ava who had been looking at Elle in disgust couldn't help but scoff at the devilish and pretentious Elle.

Prince Kinsey on the other hand couldn't help but smile at Elle. He was getting fond of Elle by the minute. Not because he would have felt otherwise if Elle didn't respond like she did, but he just thought everything about her was beautiful.

" It's fine Elle, really. You can feel free to call me Kinsey anytime." Prince Kinsey said with a smile. "Don't hold back." He added with a wink before dropping his hands to his side.

" You bet she won't." Ava muttered from her corner.

" So, how have you been?" Prince Kinsey asked.

" I've been good my Prince." Elle replied, twirling her scarlett hair around her finger.

" You added 'my prince' to it?" Prince Kinsey asked with a grin.

" She sure did." Ava murmured again, since that was not in her 'plot'. Elle on the other hand looked at her feet with the same 'shy' smile.

" Anyways, that's good to know beautiful." Prince Kinsey went on to say.

" How about you Prince Kinsey? How have you been?" Elle asked.

" You mean after we kissed?" he asked with a grin.

" Prince Kinsey you're being cheesy" Ava mimicked Elle with an eye roll as she seemed to remember every bit of the scene.

" I'll take that as a yes then." Kinsey responded. " And I'll say...not the same. Because I've been better." he added. Elle finally raised her head to look at his face. Though she couldn't look directly into his eyes.

Moving two steps closer to Elle, Prince Kinsey held her chin, and brushed his thumb across " I've been better since we kissed beautiful. And yes I haven't stopped dreaming, but the beauty of it is that you've been in all of them." Kinsey added in a calm demeanor.

Ava couldn't help but feel pity for the Prince who was soon going to suffer more than a heartbreak. He thought he was in love, and that he was lucky to find the perfect, pure girl from a simple background. Unlike his brother Caspian who's romance life was in shambles.

" Umm. That's...I don't know what to say Prince Kinsey." Elle replied looking elsewhere, since Kinsey was holding her chin softly which she would have easily pulled out, but it was so she would understand he didn't want her looking away. And Elle got the message.

" You don't need to say anything beautiful." he answered.

''Bu_"

Without warning, the young Prince claimed her lips, passionately.

Ava couldn't help but look for a couple seconds before turning away in disgust. A few seconds later, they were still lip locking causing Ava to roll her eyes. She was sure they must have been almost out of breathe.

Eventually Prince Kinsey broke the kiss, with his hands glued on Elle's cheek.

" You're so beautiful." Ava mimicked Kinsey with an eye roll again.

" And you're so handsome Prince Kinsey."

" Yeah I know. I'm the most handsome in all of the palace." said the young Prince with a grin. But silence ensued afterwards. Elle simply wore a smile on her face, holding her right index finger with her left hand - looking away of course.

Sighing again, the Prince dropped his hands to his side before speaking. " I still have a little time to spare. So tell me, what's the matter?'' Prince Kinsey asked.

" Huh? But I didn't say_"

" Beautiful. The look on your face says it all. Tell me, what is it?" The prince asked again.

" Well, the thing is I_ I wanted you to come with me for...''

Quirking his brows, Prince Kinsey asked, "For what beautiful?''

" The thing is, I need your help with_ Umm.. I don't know if you wouldn't mind accompanying me to a.... actually it's_"

" Just tell me what it is."

" Ok. Umm, I don't want you to take this the wrong way but I was forcefully registered in a competition. The thing is I lost a round in the competition and now... I have to bring a partner with me to the finale. It's_"

" What kind of competition is that? Why do you have to bring a partner along with you?" The young Prince asked with a look of amusement.

Elle went on to tell lies like, it was a competition to win some cash prize on behalf of one's select foundation. It was in 4 stages - according to her, and she made it to the final stage.

In addition to her lies, she stated that she wanted the prince to be proud of her. And so she thought it was going to come as a surprise to him but unfortunately, she couldn't take another partner.

" Hmm... okay. I'm glad you chose me as your partner though.'' The prince answered with a smile.

'" You don't have worry about anything Prince Kinsey. There's a proper disguise. The thing is I didn't bring it with me. I didn't want you to think I expected you to agree." said Elle.

" What? is it like right now?" Prince Kinsey asked in surprise

" Yes prince. It's past 4PM already." Elle replied.

Exhaling deeply, the prince went on to ask " So what do I have to do?" Elle then told a cooked up lies about the rules of the competition.

Prince Kinsey on the other hand bought into her lies and decided to follow her. Her wasn't so enthusiastic about it, but he didn't want her to take another partner.

As for Ava, who's legs was growing numb at this point, sighed sadly at her poor plot. Because there was no way he should've bought into all of that, and agreed to the impromptu competition. It was all thanks to her bad plot...

Well, it's ever too late to cry when the head is cut off.

And so with that in mind, seeing the how prince she envisioned, turned out to look so innocent and naive, Ava decided she was not going to let him get hurt.

' You must do something Ava. You wouldn't let a character in a video game get hurt would you? No. You wouldn't. So just help this foolish character of yours....' Ava thought to herself in encouragement.

After a few words, the prince agreed to go with Elle. Sighing, he replied " Ok then beautiful. I hope it won't take long?''

" No prince Kinsey. It won't." Elle replied.

For some reasons, the Prince who was so excited to see Elle, didn't feel... happy about going with her. He didn't want to turn her down and more importantly, he didn't want her to take someone else with her. Even if what they shared at the moment was not a relationship, they still had feelings for each other - Prince Kinsey's thoughts.

'' Let's go then." he said, gesturing Elle to take the lead. But just as they turned to leave, a voice came from behind,

" Not a step forward."