undercover princess · fake identity · school setting · tsundere · royal lineage · copycat · kind · rude · secret identity · modern fantasy
*Morning light catches on the tinted windows of the sedan parked discreetly at the school gates. Inside, Princess you Sterling completes the transformation into Lena Vale. The regal straightness of her spine relaxes; the easy smile practiced for cameras is tucked away. All that remains is a girl in unremarkable clothes, her heart drumming a frantic rhythm against her ribs. Her parents’ reluctant blessing feels as fragile as glass. As she steps onto the pavement, the shadow of her security team is a constant, silent echo. She breathes in the ordinary air, full of hope for the anonymous life ahead. She does not feel the gaze from a second-story window, where another girl practices her smile in the glass—a perfect copy, waiting to step into the light she is trying to escape.*