"Thank you. I will do that then. I think I should actually be heading out Alex. Should we meet up here tomorrow morning to start looking at the blueprints?" I ask him.

"I think that sounds like a good idea. I live on the second floor of the shop so it should be pretty easy to get my attention."

"Okay I will hold you too that. I think it would look a little silly if I have to resort to throwing rocks at your upstairs window to get your attention." I tell him and give him a warm smile.

"Have you ever done that before? The throwing rocks at someone's window to get them to sneak around outside with you at some late hour?" he asks.

"Haha, can't say that I ever have. I don't lament that though as I probably would have ended up breaking the window with my luck." I tell him and laugh at myself good naturedly.

"Did you want me to walk you home?" he asks me. I think about the way that we would react if I had him drop me off at the castle.

"Thanks, but I'm okay."

"I'll walk you to the door then." he says. We both get up off of the plush and comfortable chairs and he walks me to the door.

"Goodbye Aria, goodbye Sir Blizzard. I shall see you on the morrow." he gives a tiny little bow. Without thinking about it I give him one back, causing the both of us to start laughing.

On the way back home, I can't help but think about what a nice change of pace it was speaking with Alex. No preconceived notions from either of us, no expectations. I didn't raise his suspicion bar the entire time I was with him and managed to raise his affection bar a little higher.

"Did you have a good day Blizzie?" I ask him as we get closer to home.

"Mrow!" he says emphatically. I guess it was a good day if you cut out the dying parts. I try to look at the day from his perspective. He got food, met some people that seemed to really like him, and got a new bag for me to carry him around in. All in all, not a bad day to be a cat.

I open the door to the back of the castle and make my way inside. I don't pass by anyone as I make my way to my room. I hope that Poppy hasn't eaten yet as I didn't end up eating dinner while I was out. I think I want to try to turn Poppy into an ally so it would be nice to eat together.

I walk into my room and see Poppy sitting on a chair in the corner of the room engrossed in a book. She looks up from it when I walk into the room and set my bag down on my nightstand.

"Have you eaten yet Poppy?" I ask her.

"No. I was actually just about to go make something after I finished this chapter. Seems like you have good timing!" Poppy says cheerfully, setting her book down the chair.

Checkpoint!

Oh no, I got a checkpoint. Does that mean that I am about to die again? I would like to get through a checkpoint without dying.

"I do have good timing, don't I." I say and flash a bright smile at her.

"Did something good happen today?" she asks, studying my face.

"I met someone. I will tell you all about it while we eat. What are you planning to make?" I ask her.

"Some pasta with fresh vegetables in a red wine sauce." she says.

"That sounds good. Can you bring in something for Blizzie as well?" I ask her.

"Well obviously silly. You know how much I adore Sir Blizzard. He is just the bestest, most cutest, most adorable little kitty in the entire world. Aren't yooouuu." she says, bending over and cooing at Blizzie.

"Mreeeoow!" he says and begins to purr. Oh, he knows what a loveable little guy he is, doesn't he.

"Yes, yes he is the bestest boy." I say and stroke Blizzie's head. He crawls out of the bag, hops off of the nightstand and curls up on the bed, exposing his belly.

"Ah the forbidden fruit." Poppy says and lightly brushed the back of her hand over his belly. She pulls it away before he could catch her hand with his claws. "Well, I am off. I will be back with food."

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"If you find me napping, please feel free to wake me. I do so enjoy food." I tell Poppy.

"Okie dokie!" she says and skips out of my room. I wonder if she is just excited by the thought of new gossip. Okay, Poppy likes gossip and compliments. Noted and memorized.

Once Poppy is out of the room, I go to the closet instead of my bed and pull out the diary. I flip it open to a random page and begin to read.

Today started out as a good day. Poppy and I went shopping and I got a few new gowns, really stunning ones. I bought one for Poppy as well, to thank her for all the hard work that she has been doing, as well as for her continued loyalty. I hate feeling like I have to lie about being mean, but if that is the way that I have to keep someone loyal, then that is what I will do.

While we were walking back from shopping, I saw something out of the corner of my eye then someone falls down in front of us. Just collapsed into the middle of the road. I consider helping him up but realized I shouldn't bother. No one accepts my help anyways. I have learned to try to be okay with this, as that's just how it is.

"How dare you trip me!" he shouts as he gets up onto his feet. He keeps moving towards me, shouting about how I tripped him.

"Think what you want. And don't take another step towards me or I will do a lot worse than trip you." I told him to make him leave us alone.

Once he is out of earshot Poppy leans towards me and asks how I did it. How I did it? Couldn't she tell that I didn't trip him? I've never used my magic to trip anyone! Is he clumsy, or did someone frame me? No, I bet he fell down all on his own and decided to blame me instead of letting people think of him as clumsy.

Oh well.

Oh well? It seems like this hatred has been going on for a while. I wonder when and how it all started. I flip to the most recent page.

Having my birthday bash on my actual birthday? April 17th, the day my stepfather is trying to sell me off. What does he think he is going to get out of marrying me off? Money? The relief that I will be out of the castle and out of his life?

When I was younger, he used to spend time with me. He would take me on what he called Daddy-Daughter dates. I thought it was fun and I felt like the most special girl in the whole world. He was genuinely interested in the things I liked, the things I didn't like so much, and everything in between. He never made me feel bad or ashamed of my interests, or the life I had been living before we moved into the castle. He told me that any man I marry in the future should treat me just as well.

I wonder when all of that changed, when I started to be a problem in his eyes, and not something that brings him joy. I wonder if he ever loved me or if he stopped somewhere along the way. I know I am not the best daughter and that I keep finding myself in trouble, but he used to believe me when I told him that it wasn't my fault. I guess all of the coincidences became too much for him and he just couldn't keep believing or trusting me at some point. I miss the relationship we used to have.

I put the journal back into its hiding place and go lay on the bed. As I stare up at the ceiling, I wonder about the words I had just read. I used to have a good relationship with the king? It reads like he is a good man, one that tried to do right by his daughter until he couldn't trust her anymore. How many nights did she cry alone because of this? Or maybe she didn't and I am just projecting my own feelings onto her. I wonder what happened to my mother? There is no one here that I can ask. I guess the next time I die I will have to speak with Alias about it. I can't think of another way to find out. I wish I didn't have to die to be able to speak with him.

Without meaning to I do end up falling asleep while waiting for Poppy. I guess the day left me feeling tired. It feels like no time passes before I am woken up by the smell of food and a light touch on my arm.

"Wake up sleepyhead!" she calls to me. I glance at the bars above her head and am relieved to find that the affection bar had risen, and the suspicion bar has gone down. I wonder when that had happened.

"Thanks for waking me up, Poppy."

"Of course! It's nice to know some things will never change, like your before dinner naps!"

"What can I say. They make the food taste better!" I tell her and flash her a bright smile.

"Oh Aria, you are so silly. Now come sit down and eat with me." Poppy says and beckons me over to the table.

"Looks like Blizzie didn't want to wait up on us slow humans." I say to Poppy and we both look at Blizzie, face shoved into his food bowl as the table, doing a happy little butt wiggle as he eats.

"He sure does like his food. Ever since he was a kitten." we smile as we watch Blizzie eat for a moment before sitting down to eat our own dinners.

"I believe you said that met someone?" Poppy asks me in between bites of food.

"I did. He is the owner of a magical items store. I guess he just moved here a few weeks ago. His name is Alexander Ludus."

"Oh what a fun name! Does he play the lute?" Poppy asks me, leaning forward, just barely not sticking her elbow in her plate of food.

"You know, he told me that he didn't while giving me his introduction. I wonder if he gets asked that a lot." I tell her and laugh a little before twirling the noodles and popping another bite of pasta into my mouth.

"He sounds fun! Tell me more tell me more!" Poppy says in a singsong voice.

I eat another bite of pasta before I continue telling her about my meeting with him.

"He has these large comfortable chairs and serves tea. His eyes are deep like the ocean, and his hair is blue and green to match." I tell her, picturing him in my mind. "He has a quirky personality and is so animated that you can't help but become entranced when he is talking." I tell her.

"Sounds like you have a little cruuuush." Poppy sing speaks again.

"I don't know, I just met him. But I will have a lot of time to get to know him better. We are going to make a rare sort of magical item together."

"I take it you won't be home much these next few days then?" she asks me.

"Seems that way. I know it is my birthday week but I was also going to go to my shop and do a little bit of crafting there as well. I feel inspired to be creative." I tell her.

"Seems like tradition! You always get really creative during your birthday week, like you can't sit still or something. I mean, I guess there is a lot of pressure being put on your birthday. Being the king's stepdaughter has always meant large parties, but this one is going to beat out all of the others by far!" Poppy says, throwing her hands up into the air to accentuate her words.

"You are right. I guess I want to be as uninvolved in the planning as possible, leave some things as a surprise." I tell her, trying to come up with a believable excuse.

"I understand. Make sense." Poppy says, nodding her head a few times. "That doesn't take up all of the time you were out. What else were you doing?" she asks.

"Well I ended up making a love potion for our friend the baker." I tell her.

"Oh who is he in love with?" she asks, deeply curious.

"I don't want to tell you because I want to see if you can figure it out on your own. I need to know how well my potion worked. And your keen sense of observation is perfect for such a task. Can you do this?" I ask her, looking her right in the eyes.

I think that it is important to make a person feel important when you are asking them for something. This something just happens to be one meant to keep her away from noticing any of my odd behaviors.

"Anything else happen today?" she asks after we let a lull in the conversation happen so that we could eat some of our food.

"I went into the smithy." I tell her casually.

"What in the world were you doing in there?" she asks, sounding a bit confused.

"I did say that I was going to go talk to the men that might be coming to my party. Scoping them out early." I tell her.

"Oh! That's such as a good idea! I mean, keeping them aware of your presence. Making them feel special. Also, I have to admit, Samuel is quite the looker. If you don't want him, I wouldn't mind snatching him up." she says a bit eagerly.

"Well let's wait until after my party is over. You will have your pick of pretty men. Hopefully I'll get my choice of one as well and not be sold off."

"To us choosing!" she says and I lift a glass to her.

Once we finish Poppy helps me change my clothes for bed. When she is finished gathering up the dinner dishes and we say our goodnights I plop down onto the bed. I pat for Blizzie to join me and we fall asleep together. I quickly fall into a dream.