“Pfft,” I spat the soggy pill into my hand, the violet coloring running off it and seeping through the lines in my skin.

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him,” I muttered as Ryia looked on in fear.

“Why did you do that?!” she cried out, “I know it’s only a vitamin, but don’t you want to get better quickly?”

“It’s not a vitamin,” I said matter of fact, “it’s a sleeping aid, but at this concentration, it might as well be a poison.”

“How can you tell?”

“The flavor, it tastes like the one I would take at home but stronger. It has an unforgettable taste of rotting grapes.”

“I’m sure there must have been a mistake. There is no way they would try to poison you, there is nothing to gain from it,” Ryia shook her head, certain of her words. She was partially right, I could see why Sawyer was mad at me, considering I knowingly pulled Ryia away from him, but why go as far as to poison me?

“I’ll go get the doctor so that he can fix the mix-up,” she began to walk towards the door, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“There is no use. I caught the mistake and spat it out, so there was no harm or foul. It’ll just stir up trouble.”

“But-” Ryia tried to contest, but I just shook my head. I laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Three hours in and I almost got myself killed; this doesn’t bode well for the future. I saw tiny flashes of my reflection in the crystal shards on the chandelier, and it came to my attention that I still had no clue what I now looked like. I rolled onto my side and hopped out of bed. I walked over to the vanity and sat down in the white velvet chair and stared into the circle mirror adorned with gold and gemstones.

“Wow,” I whispered to myself, gently touching my new features. I was always okay looking in the real world, enough to get by with a compliment here and there when I put on makeup, but nothing special. June’s face, on the other hand, was special, it was beautiful. June was pretty, really pretty. The author never really described her in the novel, so I have no idea what to expect, but this was much better than I could’ve asked for.

Smooth, beige skin without a single blemish, soft round lips the color of cherries sat below a slim nose, perfectly arched eyebrows, and wavy, dirty blonde hair that fell halfway down my back. The only thing that looked the same about me was my eyes. More specifically my eye color. Though they now sat in big, almond-shaped eyes with long, fluttering lashes, my cornflower blue irises were the same. Even the brown speck in the middle of my right eye remained.

“Weird,” I said, standing up and walking back to the bed. I sat down, and Ryia joined me.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, looking at me with honey-colored eyes that were complemented by the golden hour sunlight pouring into the room, “when we go back home, we should visit the duke’s mansion to thank Oliver for helping you. It’s a big relief that he was there.”

I turned my head to face hers but just nodded instead of saying anything. After a few more minutes of awkward silence, a second knock hit the door.

“Come in,” Ryia called. A maid with a trolley of food pushed through the door and stopped at the wooden table in the center of the room. There, she put down two lace placemats, placing shiny cutlery and a set of pink and golden patterned china on top of them. She pulled back the chairs, beckoning the two girls over. Once Ryia and I sat down, she whipped the tops off two silver trays and placed steaming plates of food on the table. In front of me was flaky, pan-seared fish with lemon slices, sticky rice pilaf, and roasted potatoes covered in what looked like dill seasoning. In front of Ryia was a thin steak with a pad of butter and garlic melting atop it, grilled asparagus, and garlic mushrooms. Looking at my plate versus hers, I couldn’t help but be envious. I had hated fish since I was a kid, and the fact that the one sitting in front of me was on the bone, its head still attached, made me gag.

“Is the fish bad June, you usually love it?” Ryia looked at me with concerned eyes. I pulled the plate in front of me and using a small fork, I poked around at the fish. I looked it in the eye, and for a second, I swore I saw it blink.

“It must be stress-induced food aversion,” I laughed, “it is fine, I’m not that hungry as it is.”

“Nonsense,” Ryia sliced a small portion of her steak off and put it onto a separate plate, followed by a bit of asparagus and some mushrooms.

“Here, at least try to have a bit of mine. I saw you eyeing it up, so don’t lie and say you don’t want it.”

I pulled the dish towards me and pushed the fish off to the side of the table. I still played around with the food for a bit, pushing it around on the dish, until I noticed Ryia’s big eyes staring me down, her fork now moving.

“It’s okay, you can eat without me. It’s going to take me a second to eat.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, please eat it, or else it’ll get cold.”

Ryia started to eat her steak. After watching her, I finally picked up my utensils and followed suit. It was really, really good. So, is this how eating like royalty felt? Though, the more I ate, the more a sour aftertaste grew in my mouth.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Does this taste right to you?” I asked Ryia.

“Mhm, mine is perfect, is it a little too rare for you? If so, I can have them bring you more,” she responded.

“No, no, it’s okay, but thank you for offering it. It must just be me,” I brushed it off and continued to eat. Maybe stress-related food aversion actually existed.

We finished dinner, and the trays of meat were taken away and replaced with tea and sugar cookies. I grabbed my teacup and plopped a few sugar cubes in, swirling my spoon around until they dissolved completely.

“It’s starting to get late; I hope Sawyer sent a messenger to tell my family what happened. I’m sure my father will have no complaints about this, though,” Ryia sighed, her head facing the darkening sky as small stars began to twinkle into existence, “he wants me to become a part of the royal family so badly, but you already knew that.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” I nodded in agreement, “besides him, who else is trying to worm their way into the palace? I haven’t heard much about the social climate recently.”

“Well, besides me, there is the other Count’s daughter, Vidalia. Her family is in direct competition with yours, so it must be killing them that their rival’s daughter is serving my family. Most of the lower aristocrats are vying to become part of the dukedom; there are rumors that it may grow more powerful than the imperial family. I’ve heard my dad whisper about it in his office, but you can’t tell anyone that I told you that.”

“My lips are sealed,” I said, pretending to zip my lips and throw away the key.

“What was the movement you just did?” Ryia gave me a quizzical look.

“Oh it is just something I picked us as a child, it was from a maid so it isn’t something aristocrats would know. It’s supposed to show you zipping your lips and throwing away the key,” I quickly came up with an excuse about it.

Ryia copied my movements, and through closed lips, she muffled, “like this?”

“Yes, perfect,” I let out a small laugh, which Ryia then returned.

“It’s nice to see you laugh,” her smile was followed by a long yawn, “I guess it is getting pretty late, do you mind if we share the same bed? I’d prefer that over being alone in a separate room. I promise I won’t toss and turn so much that it’ll wake you up.”

“Of course, you can stay,” I said. Besides, it’s not like I was going to be able to sleep tonight, so any tossing and turning on her end didn’t matter.

“Okay!” she skipped over to the bed and fell onto the comforter with a thud.

“Do you think there are clothes for us to change into?” I asked, looking at the long blue dress I was still wearing. I was surprised I hadn’t already been offered a new dress, considering that this one was covered in dust.

“There should already be some in the closet. The royal family always keeps spare outfits around for guests,” she crawled off the bed and pointed to a pink wardrobe. I walked over, opened it, and began to rifle through the puffy dresses and underskirts hanging up.

“Oh, check the drawer. They are made of thin fabric, so they won’t have them hanging up the same way.”

Sure enough, when I opened the second drawer from the top, stacks of folded silk were revealed. Blue, cream, pink, bows, no bows, lace, no lace, tie-ups, and buttons. There was every possible option.

“What color do you want?”

“Do they have a pink or purple lace one?”

I rustled around for a little while, but eventually found one that matched the description.

“Is this one good?” I held up the little silk garment for her to see.

“Perfect, thank you! Is there a matching one in a different color you can wear?”

“I’ll check,” I found a similar-looking blue dress, pulled it out, and brought it over. I laid them both onto the bed, and Ryia snatched hers up.

“Do you need help getting out of your dress?” I asked hurriedly. That was something ladies in waiting were supposed to do, change clothes, right?

“I’m okay, but thank you,” Ryia untied her fancy dress with ease and shimmied out of it. I, on the other hand, struggled to unbutton even the first button on my back. Watching me, Ryia laughed and as soon as she got her nightdress on, she walked over and helped me out.

“I feel like the roles are supposed to be reversed right now.”

“Oh shush, you’re my friend. Lady in waiting is just an arbitrary term that the nobles give to people,” Ryia’s fingers quickly unbuttoned my dress, and she lifted it up over my shoulders. I was almost taken aback by how nonchalant she was when the eyes of others weren’t on her. I remembered her being prim and proper throughout the entirety of the novel, but behind closed doors, she wasn’t much different from any other young girl.

“There you go,” she handed me my dress and sat back down on the bed. With a small yawn, she snuggled under the covers.

“I hope you won’t be offended if I fall asleep right away instead of staying up to talk. I can’t explain it, but it was almost like all the energy was drained from me.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” I laughed, getting under the comforter as well.

Within minutes, Ryia was out cold. I tried to sleep, but my mind was speeding like a runaway train. The gold swirls on the ceiling looked dull when hit by the faint moonlight. I traced them with my eyes, over and over again, as I tried to figure out what I was going to do from here on out. I turned over and gently tapped Ryia on the shoulder, but she didn’t even flinch.

“Huh, you must’ve been really tired,” I mumbled, “I wish I was too, but I just can’t stop thinking. I mean, what am I supposed to do here. Everything in my life is gone. Every second of hard work to get into college and get a job, none of it matters now.”

Seriously, everything I had done in my real life might as well never have happened.

“I wonder if time has stopped there, or if I just died, and everyone around me kept moving on with their lives. Maybe my existence was just totally erased. I hope someone takes care of my goldfish,” I snickered, imaging the little orange fish swimming in circles, chubby cheeks bouncing around.

“Whatever, it’s not like I can change this.”

I heard a rustling sound, and turned my head, afraid that my thinking aloud had woken Ryia up, but she was sleeping soundly, the only movement being the occasional flutter of her lashes. The sound continued, and I sat up in the bed. Suddenly, I heard the door creak open, and golden light flooded into the room. Through the embroidered patterns in the mesh drape, I could see the figure of a man, a candle in hand.

“What are you doing here,” I called out, my voice shaking slightly. The man stepped closer, heavy boots pounding against the floor until he was a few feet away.

“You shouldn’t be awake right now,” his deep voice echoed, and I felt the temperature of the room drop almost instantly. I looked up and our eyes met.

The golden eyes in front of me seemed to glow orange as they reflected the flickering flames.