At king Otis palace
'It has been a day already,father why is Elliott still not here to give a report? I'm sure the girl would have been sleeping by now'.
"Be patient my daughter it will not be easy for him to sneak out with that lousy horse of his".
'He should have abandoned the horse and walk.He is soldier for something' princess Diana rolled her eyes.
"Don't be harsh.I have always told you to be kind"
'I can't always be kind father,i should have threatened that girl to not to marry Ephraim then she would have disobeyed your order and then she would have been punished by hanging' she smiled evily.
"You should stop with all the crazy ideas running in your head i don't want the prince to cancel the alliance if anything bad happened to the girl" her father commanded her.
'Announcing the presence of knight Elliott to your royal majesty and her highness' the eunuch outside announced.
'Evening your majesty and her highness' Elliott curtsyed.
'Go straight to the report' the king commanded.
'Today we went to meet lady Euphorial's childhood friend who works at the town's end.He is also a noble and is popular among the girls.It seems her friend has feelings for her,he was planning to get engaged to her after Euphorial's eighteenth birthday' Elliott concluded.
'Why didn't that bastard engage her before she came to the annual Ball' princess Diana said in an angry voice she added 'if he had asked her hand in marriage before the ball Ephraim wouldn't have chose her instead of me since she would have been engaged already' she grinded her teeth.
'Calm down daughter i don't want anything bad to happen to the girl before the prince arrival.I don't want his trouble at all' king Otis repeated to his daughter.He then faced Elliott 'you can now go back since you have to be at the girl's mansion before she wakes up'.
'Excuse me father I'm already late for my sleep' princess Diana excused herself so as to go after her guard.
'Meet me in my room Elliott' she said to him
"Okay my princess".
In princess Diana's room
'I need you to make her go to the market the day after tomorrow if she insist on not going tell her that she needs to buy things like clothes for her marriage.Make sure you convince her to go to the market the day after tomorrow.When she is attracted to anything that she wants i need you to stop guarding her and vanish from the place without her suspicion' princess Diana commanded her guard.
"Okay my princess" Elliott answered in submission.
'I don't want anything to go wrong with my plan.You can now go back to your duty'.Elliott bowed and sneaked back to the Cross mansion.
After Elliott left,Diana called her spy and said in a whisper 'i want you to secretly pay those market thugs tomorrow.Their work is to instigate a fight between the villagers and Euphorial Cross the day after tomorrow,you are dismissed until i call for you'.The spy then went to do as her princess said when morning came.
At Cross mansion,
"Baby i will be going for a business trip in order to be available for your wedding" her father told her before kissing her forehead.
'I will be at home expecting your return Father' Euphorial said in a sleepy voice when she heard her father's retreating footsteps.
"Don't sleep to much or else you will become fat" came here father's distant words.She smiled at her father's choice of words.
'Good morning' Euphorial greeted the royal guard.
"Good morning Lady Euphorial" Elliott greeted back.
'You don't need to follow me today i will be going nowhere as from now until pri-Mr.Ephraim comes' Euphorial chastised herself for the mistake she almost made.
"But your father asked me to escort you to the market tomorrow so you can buy the necessary stuffs for your wedding" Elliott lied to her.
'Ohkay then we will be going to the market tomorrow' she said as she walked towards her house library to read the books she secretly bought.
The market day,
Euphorial and the royal could be seen walking in the market.
'Elliott are you going to buy anything?' She asked the guard.
"No i won't be lady Euphorial" he answered.He looked at his full hands and said to her ''lady Euphorial i need to take this things to the carriage".
'Okay i will be waiting for you at the market square' she said as she walked towards the center of the market.
Meanwhile the spy that has been looking at Euphorial from afar signaled to the paid thugs to start their work.
As Euphorial walked to the market square she felt a person no five people following her.She got to the market square and turned to face those who have been following her.
'Oh my!!! Is this not the rumoured witch?' came the attention seeking voice of one of the thugs which is the most frightening one among the five.
'Yes it is the village scum' another one agreed.
'What is the dirty gal doing here?' another one added.
'Ain't you afraid that we will burn you or what are you doing here do you think we wouldn't recognize you witch?' Another one asked her threatingly.By now the town people are gathering round her and Euphorial shivered in fear.
'Do you think that now that you have accepted the black market owner marriage proposal we couldn't do anything to you but guess something your fiance won't be able to do anything to us since there is power in alot of people's voice' the last thug who seen to be the ring leader said suggestedly to the villagers.