The Count's Manor immediately went busy as soon as Anton said those words. The Mistress was delighted by the news and immediately ordered the maids to dress me up quickly as she stayed with Anton to talk as they waited for me.
I do not understand how I got to this situation. I must've missed something during the party that made me deserve what is going on at this moment.
I felt my body react to the warm water the maids had poured onto me. I might have made a mistake coming to see Anton wearing my maid's uniform. But that isn't the case. Now that I have been invited to the palace, I have to go through the same process all over again.
The endless scrubbing made me feel like I was being skinned while awake. I see bottles flying up in the air. Unlike last time, they are doing my hair and my body all at once to save time. And it became even more excruciating than last time.
"A little bit more and we're done," Martha said as she was rinsing my hair.
When I got out of the tub, I was brought to the vanity room where I was dressed while being styled with hair accessories and makeup. I didn't have enough time to breathe as the process went on.
The corset dress clung too much to my skin, and I couldn't breathe enough air. This time, I am dressed in a blue dress decorated with white flowers. The dress reveals my shoulders onto my upper arm and covers the rest of my arm and also has a cuff on each of my wrists. The blue material drapes and covers the back of a white ruffled dress revealed in front. The print and designs on the dress scream kindness and compassion.
My hair goes down to my back and is decorated with a flower matching the blue on my dress. My neck is accessorized with a band that has the same flower as my hair. They finished the look with light makeup that covered nothing on my skin but only added a little bit of color.
"You're beautiful as is, Alliyah. There's no need to add more makeup," they said. "Now go and take the Prince's heart," she added.
I cringed. I don't even know how I got into this position. I may have become a little bit lucky but I refuse to believe I'd be luckier than this. I would stand as an audience and come back here with nothing for sure.
Up to this hour, I still don't know what that small interaction has done to his mind so he suddenly invites me back to his home. I can still clearly remember how he disliked ladies in his household. Their voice, their smell--
I put my hand on the bottle Martha was aiming at me. "What's the matter?" she asked me.
She was also in shock at what I just did.
'No perfume,' I said.
"What--why? The Mistress will be furious if we don't put it on you," she insisted and was just about to spray when I stopped her again.
Telling her that the Prince doesn't like womanly smell would only give birth to another question. I've been hiding my interaction with the Prince up to this time and her question would only unravel a lot of secrets.
'I'd feel nauseous, I don't want to pass out in front of the Prince.' I said knowing well that I was doing this to not let the Prince catch any more scent out of me.
"Well then," she said and put the bottle down.
It is now time to go back down and meet Anton in the receiving area. It took a little bit of time to get there with the shoes I was wearing. It is my size but the structure is just not right for walking downstairs.
"Oh, here she is, our lovely Princess." I almost cringed in front of her when she called me a Princess. I saw how Anton reacted to that before turning his head back to look at me.
His expression shows how fascinating it is to look at someone who was dressed up in a dirty rag just a few hours earlier become a girl unrecognizably beautiful. "Isn't she beautiful?" the Mistress added.
"She is, Madame." the old man answered without taking his eyes away from me. "Well then, we shall take our leave," he said. "Let me guide you to the carriage, my Lady," he said.
He extended his hands for me to put my hand on. I gave the Mistress a glance before accepting his offer. She gave me a meaningful look before grinning at everybody. "So beautiful, see you later my dear. Please take care of our Princess," she said and let out an aristocratic laugh despite making me show up in my dirty maid's uniform just hours ago.
"You can leave that to me, Madame."
The carriage was silent. Anton sits right in front of me as I sit quietly in my seat adjacent to his. He's examining me and must be wondering about my role in the Count's manor or the reason behind the Prince choosing me for an audience. As we grew farther from the manor and closer to the palace, I did nothing but avoid his gaze.
"We have arrived," a man outside the carriage said. I knew we had arrived when I saw the familiar colors of the palace's exterior outside the fancy carriage. I've never sat on such a comfortable seat in my whole life.
Anton took my hand as I stepped out of the carriage. My legs wobble as the pain I have been enduring on my shoe builds up as I step my foot on the familiar marble floors. "This way, my Lady," Anton said.
I kept my hands in front of my stomach as I followed him to the place to act as formally as possible.
I'd never seen this part of the palace when I went here just the other day. The Prince's palace is huge. If it is this huge then I wonder how big the main palace would look like. The whole place screams elegance. I see the extravagant details on the palace's exterior as we walk outside to another entrance.
The grounds were huge. There is a front garden where I see statues and fountains scattered around the place. There were carriages and horses and men standing around and greeting Anton as we walked by.
It seems that we walked to another side of the room as we went into another entrance. We went into a hallway occupied by the bright sunlight. All the windows were opened and I could see a garden outside. A garden with many different kinds of flowers of different colors. It extends to another part of the palace where stood another building with very much the same exterior as the one we were in.
It took us minutes to get past that hallway. And when we did, it revealed a pathway in the middle of the garden where stood a huge statue in a fountain. A statue of a woman dressed in a simple cloth with her head down as the water flows from her pedestal. The details of her hair and the flowers on it caught my attention. It's not just a simple statue.
Well, this is a Prince's palace, what should I expect?
We then went to another building. It is a bit smaller than the ones in front but it still screams the same energy.
"We're close, my lady," Anton said. We better be. Because my feet have been working for so long it hurts.
We went to an extravagant receiving area and went to the side where another garden.
I tried not to close my eyes as the soft wind touched my face and carried my hair as soon as I stepped out.
It took me time to realize there was a table set up in the garden. The tea table was filled with different kinds of food and a set of tea and cups for two people. There was a seat adjacent to a familiar person sitting on the table.
His hair flows with the wind as he sits calmly in his seat. He doesn't seem to notice us standing a few meters away from him, or he pretends not to. Instead of looking our way, he fixates his eyes on the cup of tea in front of him. He circles his fingers along the rim while staring at it intently.
"His majesty awaits you to join him, My Lady," Anton spoke as I stared at the beautiful man dressed in a simple white cuffed shirt with 3 buttons down, and a pair of black pants as black as his hair.
The sight of him was just breathtaking enough to steal away the remaining oxygen in my lungs. The feeling worsened as he shifted his gaze on me without moving his head.
His deep red eyes swallow me out of my ground.