Shelly started to say maybe, but then she thought about Pearl’s home. It was the biggest, fanciest shell in all of Trident City. For the first time in her life, Shelly was embarrassed by where she lived. She didn’t want Pearl to see that she lived in such a small apartment. She wasn’t proud of herself and didn’t like the feeling, but she couldn’t help it. “No, my grandfather and I have royal business to discuss,” she lied.

“Oh, of course,” Pearl said, looking at her bowl of black-lip oyster and sablefish stew. Shelly was shocked. She had told a lie. She didn’t have anything to talk about with her grandfather . . . or did she?

That afternoon, when she swam into the People Museum, her grandfather looked at her with surprise. “I thought you had Shell Wars practice today,” he said.

“I’m going to quit the team. It’s not very princesslike,” Shelly told him. “Grandfather, when will I be moving to Neptune’s Castle? Will you be coming with me?”

“Move? Neptune’s Castle?” Grandfather Siren said. “We have lived here nearly all your life.”

Shelly looked around the huge museum. She had always liked the massive old ship before, but now it seemed a bit run down. “Do you think it is a good place for royalty to live?”

Grandfather glanced at the tiara on Shelly’s head. “So that’s what this is all about. I wonder who gave you these ideas.”

“I was talking to this girl named Pearl today,” Shelly said.

“Is Pearl a friend of yours?” Grandfather asked.

Shelly shook her head. “Well, not exactly. I mean, she really just started to be my friend.”

Grandfather’s furry eyebrows went up, and he patted Shelly on the shoulder. “I see. Just remember: With great privilege comes great responsibility,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you must set a good example. You must show people the right way to behave and not think you are better than anyone else.”

“But Pearl says I am better,” Shelly blurted out without thinking. She put her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t believe what she had just said. But then she added, “Everyone at school asked for my autograph, and they wanted me to eat lunch with them and invited me to join their clubs.”

“Yes, but what of Echo and Kiki?” Grandfather asked.

Shelly felt guilty about not sitting with them at lunch, but surely they understood that being a princess was hard work.

“Everyone wants to be around important and famous people, even if they don’t truly know them,” Grandfather said. “But they aren’t your real friends. Real friends like you even if you aren’t a princess, and they don’t care where you live.”

Deep down inside, Shelly knew her grandfather was right, but she couldn’t admit it. She was so confused.