Chapter 5

As the day of the fest approached, Clara grew even more excited. She had learned a poem from Miss Lilian to recite if she got a chance on the stage.

However, she still did not have a dress. She wondered what color dress her teacher would get her and if there would be lace design on it or gems like stones and rhinestones to make it more shiny and glittery, making it look prettier. She had many questions in her mind.

"Ah, I still do not have shoes to wear with the dress. I do not have any good shoes. I hope the dress is so long that it covers my feet so that no one will see my tattered shoes," Clara said as she talked to herself while lying on the green grass in the Royal garden.

"I wish I had money to buy the things I like when I grow up. I am too poor to buy even a pair of shoes," Clara said to herself again, taking a deep sigh.

"Hey Clara, what are you doing here?" asked Princess Mitchell.

"Oh, I was just rolling over the grass, Princess Mitchell," said Clara.

"Get up, let's go and play something," said Mitchell as she extended her hand for Clara to hold.

As soon as Clara tried to get up and hold the princess's hand, Mitchell took her hand back and sneered in her heart, thinking how could the daughter of a maid think that she can hold her hand. Disgusting, thought Mitchell in her heart.

She turned around and ordered Clara to follow her inside the palace. "Come quickly, Clara," Mitchell ordered.

"So, have you heard about the fest?" asked Mitchell.

"Oh yes, I heard there is lots of delicious food, fun games, and people from different places coming to the city centre of Manchester," said Clara.

"Oh, it seems to me that you know everything, you are well-informed. Good, maybe maids have a lot of free time to discuss something they cannot go to. I think I should give them some more chores to do," said Mitchell, clearly showing her displeasure about how well-informed Clara is.

"Ah, don't do that, Princess, please. My mother will have to do even more work; she does a lot of work already and has no time for me. If you increase their work, then I will not be able to see her at all. And other maids did nothing wrong, it will be wrong to punish them," said Clara.

"Ok, I might change my mind if you beg me," said Mitchell.

"But.." Clara started to say, but Mitchell cut her off and said, "I will count till three, if you still don't beg me, then I will make the lives of the maid hell! Understand?"

"What? But why?" asked Clara.

"I am sorry, Princess Mitchell, if I offended you in any way, but please let the maids go. I beg you, please, I beg you," Clara said as she kneeled down on the ground with her head bowing.

All the other maids saw the scene, but they did not dare to offend Mitchell as they clearly knew that a calamity would fall upon them if they upset the princess. Everyone knew that Princess Mitchell was a cruel person behind her beautiful and adorable face. She pretended to be good in front of her parents and teachers, but she bullied the maids pretty often. So nobody wanted to come on her bad side.

"Fine, I forgive you for begging me so much. Now remember your place and do not talk nonsense in front of me," said Mitchell as she turned around and went to her room.

Clara followed Princess Mitchell into her room.

"So, do you know about the ball?" asked Princess Mitchell.

"Uh, I don't know," Clara lied as she did not want to upset her best friend.

"Oh, so there is something our intelligent Cara does not know?" asked Mitchell with a twisted expression.

"Anyway, let me tell you, the ball opens every decade. And I have heard that the ceiling of the ball is transparent and looks pretty at night. It looks like you are dancing in the starry galaxy. And I will be going to the ball as the high and mighty princess of the empire. There is a beautiful chariot prepared especially for me. It is really pretty and comfortable, just like how I want it to be," said Mitchell proudly.

"There will be goblins, vampires, werewolves, us humans, fairies, and mermaids. All the different races will come together. It will be so much fun to be there. And do you know? That I will be the one to start the ball as it is the first ball after my birth, and we are the host as it is located in our Empire."

"Huh, how will you know this? You are, after all, just a maid," Mitchell said arrogantly.

Clara wanted to tell Mitchell that she will be going to the fest too, but she did not want to break her pinky promise to her teacher, Miss Lilian, so she kept her mouth tightly shut and smiled politely before asking to leave the room and go look for her mother.

Her mother really did not care about her; she just brought Clara to the palace and took her home at night. She did not check on Clara even for a second. She just followed the empress's order to bring Clara to the palace. She hated bringing Clara to the palace. On the other hand, she poured all her energy, all her motherly love on Princess Mitchell. She, at times, took the punishment for the princess by the empress. It looked like she was the mother of Princess Mitchell, and it pissed the empress sometimes, but seeing how dedicated she was to the princess, she let it slide. After all, the princess needed a dedicated and loyal maid, and it was difficult to find loyal people no matter what the time period was.

An old man in his 60s entered the butler's room with a pot. Lord Knife, who was sitting on the sofa holding his head and closing his eyes, was undisturbed as Butler Smith poured the blood into an empty cup.

"It's fresh," said Butler Smith.

Head Knife opened his eyes and held the cup. Before he took a sip, he noticed Butler Smith's obnoxious look, indicating that he wanted to say something but couldn't. Head asked, "Is there something you want to say?"

"No, it's... nothing," said Mr. Smith hesitantly.

Lord Knife placed the cup on the table and turned towards the butler. "You know I can smell the lie in the air, so tell me."

Butler Smith snapped his fingers, and the door closed on its own. He said, "My lord, you know exactly what happened with Claude and Raven, and at that time, there was no witness."

"So you're saying that man was lying?" said Knife.

Butler Smith remained silent.

Head stood up and said, "Your silence tells me everything. Don't worry; that's all he said, as I told him to."

"What? Why?" Butler Smith immediately said, then shut his mouth.

"Butler Smith, I like your straightforwardness," said Lord Knife in his husky yet calm voice.

"To tell you the truth," the lord knife's voice turned panicked, "the rumors about the boy are getting worse, and it's making Sofia more puzzled day by day."

The butler smiled. "You still like Lady Sofia; it's all over your face," said Butler Smith.

Head gave a side look to the butler. "Don't get me wrong. You know she is important to me, nothing else!! You know her blood is rare."

But Butler Smith couldn't hold himself, and tears of joy slipped down his eyes while Head turned to the other side. "Butler Smith, two days later,

I'm taking my black horse cart wheel, so make sure it's checked before the travel."