9 Chapter 9 underneath

With that being said, the maiden became calm and allowed Mira to do as she wished but what she wasn't sure of was if she would like her to assist her in bathing. She thought that she had already annoyed her enough that morning so she allowed her to stay on her own. Afraid not to provoke her further, she retreated backwards and stood with the rest of the maidens.

Mira sighed in relief as she felt the coldness of the water on her feet. That was exactly what her body needed and she just wanted nothing more but to soar into the depth of its soothing touch. Maybe, just maybe she might be able to forget her sorrows. The last thing she needed at that moment was to have anyone stand beside her or with her in the bathroom – she wanted to be alone. She wanted to be able to cry her hearts out without anyone watching her.

''Leave,'' she said abruptly and without hesitation the maidens left the bathroom. Hearing their fading footsteps, she immersed herself completely inside the water and stayed underneath. This was a practice she usually did whenever she was in a distressing state. Inside the water, she felt as though she was in another world – a place where there was no existence of any human nor selfish desires, it was also a place she found solace. Because of how she was used to staying inside water, she was able to hold her breath for up to 5 minutes. As she closed her eyes and remained underneath, what she thought would happen didn't happen – she thought that she would feel consoled and safe but the opposite was what was happening to her. But then there was something else. Him. The man she saw in her dreams, the exact scene of what she saw in her dream played out again before her – the rain, his presence, his mighty but dark aura, everything played out before her. They were just tiny flashes of him but she knew that he was the one – the same person that she saw in her dream. Yes, it was him.

Mira opened her eyes as she didn't seem to understand what she was seeing and what the significance of it was. Could it be that the strange man was going to save her from her nightmare? Could it be that God was giving her a sign? Was this a sign of hope? But the confusing thing about it was that she didn't know who this man was neither could she see his face.

…

After what seemed to be eternity, the princess walked out of the bathroom and entered her room where her maidens were still waiting. She gave them another hot glare as though they were the cause of her problems before she presented herself before them to do with her as they wished. The maidens really felt pity for her and wished that they could do something to help her but they knew that they were nothing but servants and their duties were to run errands and serve. They had already spent enough time with the princess and still they hadn't dressed her up and if the queen was to meet them there, they would be punished. First of all they ensured that she was completely dried up before they started to help her with her dress.

Mira could feel their tension and immediately understood that they were afraid of her mother and what she would do to them if she finds out that they hadn't prepared her yet. She wanted to calm them down but was unable to, after all she wasn't in a good state of mind as well. They helped her to put on a thin satin wear before presenting her princess gown for her. Mira was surprised because she was expecting to see a white wedding gown instead and so she inquired of them.

''I thought that I am going to get married today. Where is the wedding gown? Is this it?'' her eyes wandered surprisingly as she stared at the pink princess gown that they were about to put on her.

''Yes, my princess, you are indeed getting married today but your wedding gown isn't here but at the hotel.'' One of the maidens replied to her.

''And why is that? Did Alvarez also request that I dress up in his presence too? Or let me guess, he commanded that I should dress up in the presence of the entire people of Divaria.'' She scoffed, turning her face away in disgust.

''Not at all, your highness. Its just…'' words to further say to the princess was nowhere to be found, ''we were only asked to dress you up in this outfit. I guess you will be dressing up there.''

''Whatever.'' Mira didn't seem to care anymore and so she just allowed them to dress her up in the gown that they held out to her. After they were done dressing her up, they made her sit down in front of her mirror and they started to dress her hair and put ornaments on her. The next and final thing to do was her makeup and they already knew that she wasn't a makeup type of person. In order not to offend her they asked for her permission to do her makeup.

''your highness, please permit us to do your makeup.''

''As if I have a choice. You are free to do whatever you want to do to me. You can also feed me to the vultures if possible.'' She rolled her eyes away from the mirror. Not long after, Queen Margaret stormed inside the room. She was as one who was ready to rain inferno on the entire building. Her eyes widened and a deep frown was settled on her face as she swiftly turned her gaze to each of the maidens and then to the princess. Mira didn't bother looking at her as her gaze was concentrated on her reflection in the mirror.

''Why isn't the princess ready yet? I can remember sending you in at exactly 5am so what is going on?'' she asked in a heavy tone.

''Don't blame them, mother…'' said the princess even though her gaze was still fixated on the mirror. ''It is my fault and not theirs so put the blame on me instead.''

''Oh my dear…'' Margaret's voice simmered down immediately as she turned her attention back to her daughter. ''You know that today is your big day and your husband to be, King Alvarez and the entire people of Divaria is waiting for you.''

''Husband to be indeed. You seem to be more excited than the king himself. Maybe you are even more excited about marrying me off to that octopus than the fact that the kingdom would be saved. I want you to understand something, mother. I will rather die than be married to that ugly king. I don't need to avoid going to that palace but I assure you that the universe wont allow me to be married to him.'' Mira said sternly.