[Third pov,]
Clara was over the moon as she knew she would look pretty in those dresses. She was dancing on her way back to the princess Mitchell's chamber little did she know that all her happiness was going to be crushed by the evil Mitchell.
Clara had her hair down. She had really long hair. Her mother never bothered to shorten them up for her convenience. It was difficult for Clara to comb her hair, it took quite a bit of time to comb her long, luscious hair. She had a good volume and length. And she liked her long hair, even though they required a lot of care and time.
As she came and greeted Mitchell she saw that Mitchell's maid was combing her hair.
Mitchell noticed the silky, shiny, long hair of Clara. Mitchell felt jealous of her hair.
She ordered Clara to come closer. As soon as Clara stood in front of Mitchell, she felt a strong force was pulling her hair.
"Aah leave my hair, please, your highness it hurts, " Said Clara.
No I won't, I don't like your hair, so we need to do something with it. What do you think we should do? Oh I know what we should do clearly. See how smart I am, " Mitchell said as she grinned while still pulling her hair.
Clara got frightened. "No please don't do anything you are thinking your highness please, I beg you fest is near, please, "Clara begged.
Shut up you wench, said Mitchell as she snatched the scissors from the hands of one of the maids.
You can not have long hair just like me. Only I can have long beautiful hair. Look at you, you are so poor that you wear what I throw in the garbage, you only have long hair that makes you look good, but I want your long hair, won't you give them to me? I am your friend after all. And I give you toys to play with and food to eat and I gave your mother a job to work here. I can fire her whenever I want so don't try to resist. Said Mitchell as she glared at Clara.
Thinking about her pitiful mother working so hard Clara gave up resisting and let Mitchell do whatever she wanted.
Mitchell cut her hair ruthlessly. Her long hair was falling on the ground one by one in a mess. Clara saw the scene and started to sob, her tears started falling down her cheeks. Clara was upset but she could not do anything about it.
Mitchell was laughing the whole time.
The maids felt pity for Clara but they could not do anything to stop the princess.
Clara's mother Wendy Brown, was passing by and saw the complete scene. She ignored her daughter's cry once again and left her daughter in misery to deal with it on her own. Rather she was pleased by how Mitchell mistreated Clara. She thought that a princess must be strong hearted and not someone who would cry easily on small things like Clara. Clara was not fit to be the princess, only Mitchell deserved to be the princess.
She wanted Mitchell to be strong and cruel so that she can kill her enemy at ease in future without feeling any guilt or emotional trauma.
As Wendy Brown turned around she saw the empress coming towards the princess's chamber. So she rushed forward and stopped the empress and tried to distract her with matters of the fest. She knew if the empress saw Clara and Mitchell now, she would definitely punish Mitchell for her treating Clara badly. As she is not behaving like a lady at all.
The Empress was getting annoyed and impatient and as she was going to pass Windy a knight suddenly appeared out of thin air and reported to her that important envoys from other countries had arrived and the emperor was asking her to come and welcome them together with him. So the empress left. The empress felt a bit uneasy about the earlier behavior of the maid, she found it suspicious and she wanted to know what the maid was trying to hide but she did not have time to do so now. But she knew something must be related to Mitchell. So she decided she will come and check later.
As soon as the empress left, Windy Brown took a breath of relief. And she also left the place
Clara saw her mother coming and ignoring her and saw how she tried to stop the empress from coming here so that the princess would not get punished. Clara felt Disheartened. At that moment she realized that her mother had once again betrayed her for the princess. She was not able to understand why her own mother did not love her an ounce but loved the princess dearly.
As soon as Mitchell had cut all her hair unevenly she ordered Clara to pick her hair and scram.
Clara left the room with her hair in her hands. As she was walking in the corridors of the palace aimlessly, she bumped into Miss Lilian.
Oh my holy Lord? What happened to your hair? Who did this to you? Miss Lilian asked Clara as she hugged the little girl.
The tears that dried earlier started flowing down her cheeks again. She started crying profusely. Clara had no words to utter at the moment. Her voice cracked.
Miss Lilian used the teleportation magic and took Clara to her room. She then calmed Clara down. And then Clara told everything that happened. It made Miss Lilian angry. She decided that she needs to teach Mitchell a lesson for her misconception. She was in no position to punish Mitchell but she was her teacher so the next time Mitchell makes any mistake in her studies then she is going to punish her really hard.
Miss Lilian gave Clara another hair cut. This time she made all the hair even. And gave her little curls at the end. She cut her bangs. Now Clara still looked cute. Someone who had not seen Clara in long hair will not think she ever had long hair. This hairstyle suited her even more. It highlighted her facial features more.
Clara then decides she will not come in front of the princess till the fest ends. She does not want the princess to cut her hair even more and make it unrecoverable. She decided she will not go home and her mother is not even bothered about her anyway so she will not look for her.
She decided from Now on she will not put any hope on her mother and she will look after herself on her own, she will not wait for others' care and love from now on. She will be the most cruel to others for her survival. She knew she could not rely on others.
The Royal Family was really busy with the fest and they had given their utmost importance to the fest. All the ministers and dukedoms were also busy with the fest. Nobody knew the plight of the little girl named Clara. Who would bat an eye to the daughter of a maid and get on the bad side of the princess of the nation after all. Clara was on her own.
In the stillness of the night, the cart continued its journey. Raven, once full of excitement, succumbed to drowsiness and nestled in Sofia's lap. She tenderly stroked the raven's head, cherishing this anticipated moment. Gazing ahead, Sofia's gaze met the unsettling stare of a knife, causing discomfort to course through her.
"Your gaze seems intent on invading my privacy," Sofia uttered, her teeth clenched so as not to disturb the slumbering raven.
The knife remained speechless, struggling to form words, caught in a pause of its own.
Sofia persisted, her voice a mixture of assertion and inquiry, "So, this is proof that you were deliberately fixated on me."
The knife cleared its fake throat, giving a cough-like sound. "Yeah, I admit, I was admiring you."
"Admiring me? Seriously? Don't start making up stories, Knife," Sofia retorted.
"I didn't agree to come on this trip because of your nonsense. It was…" She paused, glancing at her son. "It's because you'll do anything to get what you want. If I hadn't come along, you'd find a way to involve this little one."
"Yeah, you seem to have all the answers. Clarifying things feels like hitting myself with my own axe," Knife conceded.
"That would be a lot more effective," Sofia remarked.
"Is it because of this boy that you're being so rude? You care about him that much?" Knife inquired.
Sofia gently lifted the raven's head from her lap and placed it on the seat.
She moved forward, her glare fixed on the knife's eyes. "You and I both know what is the main cause behind the changes in me. not this boy, so stop dragging him into your mud schemes," Sofia asserted.
"Huh! Mud indeed. You took on responsibility for him, and if I'm in the mud, you're not exactly sparkling clean, Sofia," the knife responded, tightening his finger against her arm.
Sofia endured the discomfort, aware that any sudden movement could awaken the raven and disrupt their fragile peace.
Knife observed that the more he tightened his grip, the more determined she became, her teeth clenched.
"Sofia, you certainly know how to push my buttons," Knife remarked, finally releasing her arm.
"Sofia, you just know how to get on my nerves," the knife remarked before releasing her hand.
Her hand bore the marks of the ordeal, bruised and marred with visible fingerprints.
"Enough with this childishness. Just go and sleep! Act how you always do," the knife commanded.
"Like a plastic doll!" Sofia retorted, her voice cracking.
"No! I didn't mean..." Knife's words were cut off as the cart wheel suddenly got stuck, causing a jolt that sent Sofia tumbling onto the cart's surface.
Sofia's face was red from crying, but she fought to hold back any sounds.
Their eyes locked in a charged moment. Unexpectedly, the knife's eyes turned a soft blue, and he kissed Sofia as their lips accidentally met due to the jolt, his emotion taking over.
The kiss felt different, almost like the knife was drawn to Sofia's blood. She realised what was happening and tried to push him away, but he persisted. Finally, she managed to push him back and slapped his face.
"You're a monster!" Sofia's voice trembled with anger. "You never stop taking advantage of others."
"It's not what you're thinking!" the knife countered.
Sofia's attention shifted as she heard a noise. She hadn't noticed the raven on the seat, rubbing its eyes.
"What sound?" Sofia inquired.
"A slap sound," the carriage suddenly sprouted eyes and a mouth and spoke.
"Who slapped whom?" the curious little raven asked innocently.
Both the knife and Sofia were left speechless, exchanging uncertain glances.
"I'll explain," the cart offered.
Before it could reveal the truth, the knife cast a silent spell on its mouth, rendering it mute.
The carriage struggle and it's try to shake his zipped lips but it didn't work with pitiful eyes carriage looked at raven.
The raven stood up, its small frame exuding a surprising seriousness and looked at the carriage. "Don't silence him, You don't know how wrong that is," the raven chided.
It's okay, darling," Sofia reassured.
"You both are hiding something! Did this man slap you mom? I will make him pay!" the raven exclaimed, ready to throw a punch with his tiny fist, but before he did that sofia intervened.
'I slapped him ' said sofia in one breath and after saying this it's all over her face that she is way more embarrassed.
"Wait, Mom? You slapped Sir Knife?"
The carriage's eyes gleamed with excitement, finally getting the truth without any words. However, its enthusiasm waned when Sofia passed off the slap as merely a fly on his cheek.
knife clearly unimpressed by the weak excuse. He knew the raven was clever and wouldn't fall for it.
Raven looked at them and said, "I don't believe there's a fly in a carriage, but if you say you slapped him, that's alright." Saying this, the raven fell asleep again.
Knife was utterly stunned and muttered, "What a handful!"