I stood there, in complete and utter shock. Words began flying, people not bothering to whisper as all eyes were on me.

“Did she not think of anyone but herself?”

“How dare she do that?”

“She truly is uncultured.”

I grimaced, arms crossed as the people shamelessly gossiped in my face. I didn't mean to spill the drink, my hands did it by themselves! Literally!

The crowd parted as they all made way for Prince Arthur, who descended down the steps with a furious look on his face. To say he was pissed was an understatement.

“What did you do?” He growled, his eyes narrowed at me.

“I didn’t mean to,” I said, my tone matching his, failing to sound as apologetic.

“Don’t you understand? You can’t always be the center of attention,” he retorted, his brows furrowed.

“It was an accident,” I hissed, once more failing to deliver my words correctly. Can this girl not say sorry?

He sneered.

“Of course it was. With you, it's always an accident.”

“She said it was an accident, and she apologized. Let it go, or I’ll take it as a direct insult to Montfort and challenge you,” interrupted a voice. It was Nicholas, calm and collected as he stepped from behind Prince Arthur.

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him, but did not say anything back.

“Tch,” he said in reply, before disappearing into the crowd.

The duke did not take long to appear again, his face as expressionless as before. The duchess was locked into him, her eyes narrowed in my direction.

“I believe we should leave,” he said, his voice somehow colder than before.

And with that, the Montforts left just as quickly as they came.

If the carriage ride there was awkward, then the carriage ride home was cringeworthy.

Tensions were high, yet no words were spoken. I could feel every member of the house staring directly at me, their gazes boring into my soul.

The carriage pulled into the Montfort manor, the house illuminated as servants walked about. Nicholas stepped out the carriage first, followed by the duchess. Then it was me and the duke.

Not one foot out the carriage step, the duke clamped his hand on my shoulder. His fingers dug into me, imprinting his hand on my dress.

“You are to go to my study as soon as you get off the carriage,” he seethed, his tone leaving no room to decline.

I walked there, as slowly as I could muster, his eyes on me as I walked the steps into the manor, my feet leading me begrudgingly to his office. I opened the door. The room was large, like everything else in House Montfort. Its walls were filled with bookshelves, all tall enough to reach the roof. Each and every shelf was overflowing with books. In the center of his office was a wooden desk. Papers were sprawled all over it, with various stamps.

He sighed deeply, before his brows furrowed in my direction.

“Do you know what you did out there to the Montfort name?” He bellowed, his voice lacking the composure of before.

I stood there silently, eyes on the ground.

“You tarnished it. You had it seem as if the Montforts are nothing but petty attention seekers,” he said, answering the question for me.

“I cannot have you continue to act so childish. You are far too old to be causing such meaningless drama,” he scolded, his hand to his forehead.

“You are a Montfort, Alexandra!” he reminded, his voice low.

“Montforts settle their conflicts with their swords. Unless you are willing to pick up one, do not cause them,” he said finally, his eyes directly staring at me.

“Let this be the last time you lash out like this publicly,” he seethed, sending me out of his office.

I had been yelled at for something I didn't mean to do. Don’t they know that if I had it my way, I would have never gone? I don’t want to cause trouble. I simply want to live away from all of this.

I returned to my quarters, defeated.

“My lady! What’s wrong?” Maddy called, rushing to my side.

I didn’t say anything, head lowered in defeat. Maddy bit her lip, turning around to face the blond maid.

“Anne, draw her a bubble bath,” she said, biting her lip.

The blond nodded, disappearing into the bathroom.

Maddy stayed by my side, running a comforting hand down my arm until Anne came back.

“The bath is ready,” she said simply, her eyes looking at me with pity.

I walked solemnly to the bathroom, bathing in the lavender-scented waters. I don’t know why it felt so terrible to be yelled at. I thought I was over it, but I guess old habits die hard.

All I could think about was the constant yelling from my father. Not Alexandra’s father, but my father; Emily’s father.

“Why weren’t you good enough?”

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“An A-? Do better. I need you to get us out of this place.”

“Why are you such a failure?”

“I wish you were never born.”

The words came rushing back, my memories intruding my head. My mind shut down, and I wept silently into the water.

When I stopped, I came out of the shower. My maids pretended not to see my red-rimed eyes as they prepared me for nighttime. I was slid into a nightdress and my bed was prepared.

Before I could sleep, however, I received a knock.

“Come in,” I called, and in came Nicholas.

He wore a striped shirt, with flowy matching bottoms. His eyes examined me, before walking in.

“I had heard what father said,” he said simply, inviting himself into my room.

“I did not want to do that to her. My hands acted on their own,” I said quietly, not knowing why I still explained myself.

He stared at me, his eyes looking into mine for a beat of silence.

“I believe you,” he said, before turning around and disappearing into the hallway.

I slid into my sheets, quickly closing my eyes and hoping the next day would come soon. No matter how hard I tried, it never did. I laid staring into the ceiling blankly, remembering what happened before. What caused me to walk there on my own? Was it some sort of magical spell? Maybe it's some other force making sure the story is followed?

Despite having the ballroom scene, it never mentioned that Alexandra was yelled at for it. This probably isn’t the first time either. Sleep did not come for me, and I found myself tossing and turning as memories of my old life blended with Alexandra’s.

I don’t remember falling asleep, but apparently I did because the next morning I was awakened by my maids.

“My lady, please wake up. Today, we’ve decided we’ll take you into the town square,” Anne said, shaking me softly.

“We need to cheer our lady up!” Maddy chimed, pulling my covers.

“I don’t want to go,” I said, hiding my face under the pillow.

“Nothing good comes sulking, my lady,” Anne said, trying to peek at me through a small gap I left to breathe.

They don’t give up, do they?

“We’ll go today to all of our lady’s favorite places,” Maddy sing-sang, trying to appeal to me.

Seeing that the only way this will end is with me going, I stood up.

My maids looked at eachother, grinning widely.

“That’s the spirit,” Anne cheered, high fiving Maddy.

“I’ll go and draw you your bath, my lady,” Anne called, walking away giddily.

And so, they pampered me. They bathed me, despite me insisting to be alone. I was dressed in a beautiful plum gown, full of frills and a ribbon tied around my waist, with a bow in its side. I walked out my room, skipping breakfast and walking straight outside. The carriage was there, waiting for me and my maids. I stepped inside, Maddy and Anne followed suit. The ride was nothing like last night. It was filled with happy chatter from Maddy and Anne as they raved about a new dessert shoppe and the last time they had gone to the square for shopping.

I didn’t even notice when the carriage came to a halt, it was only when Maddy pointed out that we arrived that I stepped out.

Despite being a Monday, the square was full of people walking about. All types of people; young and old, couples, nobles, and town folk. Maddy and Anne walked by my side, commenting on the scene.

“My lady, we must walk into the jeweler. New stock has arrived from the Northern mines,” Anne said, leading me into a store.

“I don’t need jewelry,” I said, trying to walk away.

“Nonsense! A lady never has too much jewelry,” Anne remarked, taking my hand and leading me back to the store.

“Yeah, my lady. Besides, all your pieces are summer. Everyone knows we need finer chains for the winter,” Maddy agreed, also trying to take me back into the store.

And so, by the strengths of my maids, we walked into the jeweler.

One of the workers immediately noticed my presence. She was young, not much older than me. She had dark auburn hair and dazzling green eyes. She curtsied upon me stepping a foot in the store.

“Our greetings to the Lady of Scarlet,” she said, head lowered.

“Ah! One of our most loyal customers,” a voice called.

Suddenly, a head popped out from under the display case. He was a seasoned old man, with a silver beard and a shiny bald head. He had a monocle on his right eye, which was clinging to his firmly-pressed suit.

He curtsied as well, quickly lifting his head to greet me.

“Lady Alexandra, I have reserved some merchandise especially for you,” he beamed, revealing a small box to me.

The necklace was dazzling, its chain made up of equally cut diamonds. In its center, a beautiful ruby as big as my nose stared back at me.

“It’s gorgeous,” I marveled, my mouth slightly agape. This is the type of thing Alexandra could afford?

“My lady, you must get it!” Maddy chimed, her eyes wide as she stared at the necklace.

“I’m not sure if I-”

“I’ll pack it up then,” the man said, grinning widely.

The man laughed a hearty laugh, deep from his belly as he packed up the necklace.

They didn’t even ask if I wanted it! They just assumed I did. How would I pay for this?

Almost as if reading my mind, Anne passed the man a bag with a lump of gold coins.

“Keep the change, sir,” Anne said smiling, holding the delicate bag in between her fingers.

We walked out into the street, being careful not to bump into anyone.

“My lady, look!” Anne exclaimed, pointing towards a small store. It was brick building, like most buildings in the plaza. However, it was painted a pastel pink. It had a striped pink and white tent canopy to match. Despite being little in size, it had a large line. It wrapped around the block, full of chattering people.

“That’s the new dessert store! Miniature Delights,” Maddy gushed, hands clamped over mine.

“We must go,” she begged, her eyes pleading silently.

“I guess we can stop by. I didn’t have breakfast after all,” I said, shrugging as we walked towards the store.

We stood in line, waiting for an hour to go inside. It seems that nobles don’t have any special privilege at Miniature Delights. When we finally got a chance to order, I ordered all three of us some small cupcakes, which claimed to be an original invention of the bakery. When we received it, I realized its name was quite literal. It was a small piece of cake, but in a small silver cup with frosting on top.

“These are amazing! It’s like having a slice of cake but in a cup!” Maddy marveled, her smile so wide I wasn’t sure a person could feel such happiness.

“It is quite delicious,” Anne conceded, holding the door open for all three of us. We walked back into the streets, realizing most of the time we had was spent in the line for the shop. The frosting on the cupcake had started to shift with the wind, and so I lowered my gaze to try and adjust it, and suddenly, I made contact with something.

The frosting of the cupcake had flown off on impact, landing on something, which I then realized was someone. I raised my gaze, eyes widening at who I managed to bump into.

It was Arthur, and my frosting had landed all over his suit.