Plan A

A week soon passed by, and Eva wondered if the time had flowed fast or slow. Neither Alastor nor Diana nor the Queen had come to visit her after that eventful day but Eva was extremely grateful for it. She didn't want to meet anybody but today, she was going to meet probably the the whole place all at once.

As soon as her eyes blinked open on the chosen day, she didn't sit up immediately. Lying in the bed, she thought of all the things that could go wrong today. What would she do if Theodore didn't manage to arrive in time?

Try to escape and run away, she thought with a sad smile. And if she failed to do that, then...

She didn't know. She hadn't made a plan C even though her plan B was as absurd as anything. She didn't have the will left to fight anymore, not after what she had just lost. The family who had taken care of her and loved her... all gone in the blink of an eye.

She touched her cheek and realized that the wetness was her own tears. As she stared at her wet hand, Eva could see her bones poking out of every angle. The past few days, she hadn't eaten anything and given the food back after making the maid promise that it wasn't going to be thrown away and wasted.

Her previously curvy, perfect hourglass-shaped body was now thin, with almost no body fat visible anywhere at all. If someone compared her to her previous self when she had stayed at Xandria, they could identify the difference clearly enough to know that she had lost a lot of weight.

Each day she was greeted with the faces of her mother, father, and sister and in her regret and self-loathing, she had created an abyss in which she was now stuck. Eva didn't know how to get out of it and with no food for her to eat, she grew thinner and paler day by day. Her figure had transformed into a bony one that made her look almost sick with depression and misery, which she didn't know how to get rid of.

It was good, she thought as her feet touched the ground, a sick-looking bride what was they would get.

After only having a glass of milk for breakfast, she strolled around the room as her normal daily routine. Sometimes she would lay on the bed and gaze up at the ceiling, drawing letters and pictures with her forefinger. She would try dancing now and then, but it didn't feel like that day in the gardens, among the stars with the soft feeling of grass underneath her feet. She didn't feel like doing anything except closing her eyes and never opening them again.

There was a silence to her soul; she was fall leaves under frost. Eva felt the chill in her blood, coldness bringing the synapses of her brain to a stand still. Part of it was pain, yet one she could endure, one she could sleep through night after night without the anesthesia of false hope. He was her hope, and she was unsure whether to place her full trust in him.

Considering the time that had passed, Eva considered it to be noon by now. A few hours passed in silence and isolation and soon she could hear the bustle of feet behind her door. A knock echoed through the room just as Eva got up and said,

"Come in."

A maid entered with a white dress in her hands.

Then another.

And another.

And then they kept coming in one by one.

Eva's mouth dropped open as she stared at the various objects in their hands including a veil, boxes full of jewelry, makeup holders, and a few bathing necessities along with a few hair accessories and flowers.

"Is that all going to be needed for such a small wedding?" asked Eva hesitantly, and the maids all looked at her as if she was the dumb one here.

"Milady, people from all four kingdoms have been invited. It is not a small wedding."

Eva's reaction made one maid stifle a laugh behind her hands. She looked as if she had no clue of the wedding arrangements but the maids didn't know that she had been locked up in here for a whole week without anything but the four walls to keep her company. It was a miracle that she hadn't gone insane yet, but that was mainly hope that she would be rescued sooner or later.

Or she would have to save herself this time too.

"Milady, we need to bathe you in these herbs and flowers. It is tradition for a bride to prepare fully for the wedding night." the head maid spoke and Eva blinked as the surrounding girls blushed at the thought of what happened after the marriage ceremony.

"Okay." she reluctantly agreed and watched as the maids brought in buckets full of warm water to spill into the bathtub, which had only been facilitated with cold water.

A few maids accompanied her to the tub and handed her a thin white gown to cover herself when she got into the bath.

Eva stared at them for a second or two before they got the message to turn around and give her some privacy. Stripping herself from her nightgown, Eva sank her body into the warm water and almost let out a moan. It was the first time in these weeks that she was being bathed with such relaxing water, and her muscles eased as she drowned herself in deeper.

The rose petals which were soaked in the bath added a flowery scent to her body while the herbs helped purify it. After making her soak in the water for more than fifteen minutes, a maid entered to wipe her body with a towel, which Eva instantly refused. She was perfectly capable of doing it on her own while the maid looked surprised with her behavior. This lady was the first one who didn't act like a lazy brat as the other nobles did.

After stepping out of the bath, Eva's eyes fell on her new wedding gown and jewelry as she let out a tired sigh and looked down at the wooden floor.

This was going to be a long, long day...