Cleo was sorting through her mail. Meanwhile, Fiona was ripping apart the dressmaker.
"What are you thinking? Absolutely not! No ruffles!" she yelled, flipping through dress designs. "Not this one. Not this either. Ooh! This one's nice!"
Cleo's fingers brushed against a familiar looking seal. She carefully opened the envelope. Inside was a letter, written in a beautiful, sleek, cursive. She recognized the handwriting immediately. She smiled as she read the letter. Sighing, she softly placed the letter onto her desk.
"So you have a boyfriend."
Cleo spun around. Fiona had somehow teleported from her previous location to glowering down Cleo's neck.
"Why wasn't I notified of this?" Fiona said, an ominous tone creeping into her voice.
"Oh..." Cleo laughed nervously. "I...forgot?"
"You should've told me sooner!" the maid clapped her hands excitedly. "Now I must dress you in the absolute most elegant dress ever made!" She glared at the dressmaker. "You heard that, right? Now get to it!"
The poor dressmaker scurried off like a mouse after being threatened by a cat half its size. Cleo continued flipping through her decreasing pile of letters. Fiona looked over her shoulder. Then, she stuck her hand into the pile, pulling out an envelope.
"What's this?" Fiona said, opening the envelope.
Cleo looked up. The two girls read the letter together.
My dear Cleo,
I've missed you so much. I've missed our time together. I can barely sleep each night as your face floats inside my mind. If you would not mind, I would love it if you could accompany me to the Imperial Ball as my partner. I will make you the most beautiful flower in a garden of royal roses. I will make you the queen of my body. I will make you my only woman.
I love you so much, Cleo. Please come back to me.
The letter was signed in a swift, quick signature.
Nathaniel Chevalier
Fiona's eyes went wide. Cleo's stomach turned inside out. She realized that the letter was from none other than Nathan. The Nathan that she had known. The Nathan that she had tried so hard to forget. And now he wanted her back in his life.
"My lady!" Fiona cried, waving the letter around like a fly smacker. "I don't know if someone bonked Cupid over the head with a frying pan, but it seems that every handsome, eligible bachelor is after you these days!"
"Not necessarily a good thing."
"Oh, don't be like that!"
Cleo stood up and walked over to the window, trying to clear her thoughts. She looked down at the courtyard below. She caught sight of an obnoxiously extravagant carriage pulling up. She squinted her eyes, barely able to make out the crest of the Reinland royal family.
Reinland, a kingdom neighboring the empire, was where Madeleine was from. But Madeleine had no reason to visit her. Cleo turned around and ran towards the door, down the stairs, and almost straight into Madeleine's smug face.
"What are you doing here?" Cleo asked, gasping for air.
"Now that's no way to talk to royalty," Madeleine mocked, smacking the air with her fan as if it were an unworthy subordinate in need of a lesson. "I'm here because I have some very lovely news for you."
Cleo gave her a judgmental look.
"I'm serious!" Madeleine was furious. How could this lowly baron's daughter understand her magnificence? "You see this?" She pulled the collar of her dress down a little, revealing a series of red marks along her neck and chest.
Cleo's eyes widened and she gagged a little on the inside.
"I had a hell of a night with that pretty prince boy. Now, what was his name again...Cece? Ceril? Ah, I know! It was Cecil!"
Madeleine smirked at Cleo's stunned silence.
"Now, don't go stealing my man, honey. Unless you enjoy hand-me-downs, I guess."
Then the haughty princess turned around and left.
Cleo crumpled to the ground in the middle of the entryway. She felt betrayed. She trusted Cecil. One could even say that she loved him. She was fine with anything that he did. She did not care about all his flaws. But the one thing she could not stand was him being together with Madeleine.
"My lady?" Fiona said, putting her hand on Cleo's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Cleo stood up. She walked all the way back to her room, her eyes never leaving the safety of the floor. She sat down at her desk. Picking up her pen, she began to write a response to Nathan's letter.
***
It was the day of the Imperial Ball. The whole palace was decorated to the most extreme extent. A carriage pulled up to the gates. A boy and a girl stepped out of the carriage hand in hand.
"You look as beautiful as ever, Cleo," he said, wrapping one arm around her waist.
Cleo said nothing as they walked up to the grand doors of the ballroom. The doors opened slowly and dramatically, welcoming them. The boy gripped Cleo tighter around the waist, pulling her so close to him that they were practically a single person.
Cleo caught sight of someone in the crowd turn away.
For the first time in her life, she tasted the sweetness of revenge. But it left a sour aftertaste that loomed over her all throughout the process. Cleo was not built for this kind of ruthlessness. Desperately, she wished that he would reach for her, find her, and save her with his embrace. If only she was good enough for him.