Adreille rushed out of the big hall, going across the male servants with a flower pot and a jug of water. Adreille is the princess' personal maid and she was well-respected and treated in the palace because of her closeness to the princess. She was getting ready for the princess' ball party which was organized across the entire kingdom for her sake. This time around , it marked the princess' sixteenth birthday and she was going to meet a lot of people from other kingdoms with tall formalities. She had a long list of royal names to familiarize herself with in order not to forget some names of those coming, especially those from the Kingdom of Pendant. They are always targeting the Kingdom of Pearl, where they were, just because they wanted to rule the two kingdoms as one, which was an insult to the Kingdom of Pearl.
Adreille got into a beautiful garden with the entrance designed with pearls and a lot of water lilies growing in a nicely shaped pond with swans swimming in it. She then called out, "Princess, these flowers caught my attention in the large hall when i was getting you the water you requested for. Isn't it beautiful?". Then, a lovely lady came out from under a small hut in the garden in a simple white dress, with a golden crown on her head with the broadest smile ever. She quickly took the flowers and replied, " I am sure David left them earlier. He will definitely propose to me today. How can he be this naughty after a decade of not seeing him. It is really beautiful. It will replace the lilies in my room". Adreille nodded with a tease and she pushed the princess on her seat and poured her the water as she kept on admiring the flowers. After the glass of water, both ladies rushed back inside, going across the big hall, passing by several rooms till they reached a nice room with a nice wall decorations and pictures of the princess. That was the princess' room and it was big as an apartment could be. Then they heard a gentle knock and the two ladies quickly positioned themselves well as if they knew the one coming. In came an elegant looking woman, who had three ladies following her. She had a fan in her hand and she walked majestically. Adreille quickly bent her knees and the princess bowed down.
"Mother, i will soon be downstairs. I won't keep you guys waiting, I promise". The queen went closer and told her to look straight at her. She smiled and told her not to disappoint them. The ball was already starting and they could not bare to not have a good impression before the guests. "Make sure you put on the dress I've brought", then she pointed her to one of the ladies behind her who was carrying a nice gold linen with jewelries. The princess thanked her and the queen left. The queen was the princess' step mother. She is from the Kingdom of Pendant. She got to marry the King, the princess' father, on a peace agreement term between the two kingdoms. She got the chance to get close to the king after the death of the princess' mother, from a sudden illness. The princess became sad after the queen left and Adreille could tell from her face. Before then, she had decided to put on one of her mother's dresses and she didn't know what to do now. Adreille quickly helped her shower down and as she was about putting on the dress, Adreille intentionally poured wine on the queen's dress making the princess have no option than to put on the dress she planned for. Her face suddenly brightened up but she was scared for Adreille.
The ball had already started and the room was flooded with a lot of people from all over the world and as usual, the princess was late. Everyone was waiting for her, many suitors with gifts and those that were dying to see the most beautiful princess across the five kingdoms. After some few minutes, the King got a hint that she was ready to descend the staircase to the ballroom. The king called for the attention of the gathering and she announced his precious daughter. "Let's warmly welcome the lady of this palace, Princess Anastasia Detrov". The princess came down the stairs in splendor, her lovely white dress and simply tied hair showed her lovely face and neck, which supported her crowned head. She looked so lovely, in her glass slippers. She was really the lady of the kingdom. Everyone looked her way as the king himself got up from his seat to meet her. She slowly bowed before her father before the father took her by the hand to her seat. The queen fumed with anger, when she saw her dress and how the king treated her but Princess Anastasia didn't look her way.
After, few drinks and introduction, the princess had to make it to the floor and perform the custom dance of which, one of the suitors would join in to dance with her later. Princess Anastasia was really confident that Prince David would step forward to ask that she danced with him. And no one dared to ask of her to the dance with the prince around. Per the custom, Princess Anastasia finished her solo dance but Prince David failed to show up and no one stepped up leaving the princess stuck in the midst of the gathering. And this only meant a great insult to the royal family of which the princess was bound never to recover from.