A big mirror twice the size of a standard doorway sat graciously in an even bigger room, it was accompanied by a queen-sized bed dressed with white sheets to match, rose scented blankets and 6 pillows. A massive picture of Lady Ursula hung right above it, while Lady Ursula herself sat on a stool behind a dressing table in front of the mirror.

She did nothing but stare lovingly at herself, tilting and shifting from side to side every once in a while. Then she'd grab a glass of grape wine and take a sip to moisturize her lips.

Unlike most other women, she didn't seem emotionally affected by her lack of hair, in fact she loved it, her gentle touches as she traced the contours of her head made that clear. Although that wasn't the only thing she loved, she loved her sly fox like eyes, her thin arrowhead nose, her long neck, her slender but curvy shape, her small breasts, her long legs and her nails, fingers and toes alike. She loved all these parts of her and more, so much so that she had to take 30 minutes out of her time everyday to properly reflect on how much she loved all these things, she called it the Self Adoration, and today, so far it was going smoothly until she heard a knock on her door.

She immediately replied without thinking, "Don't come in!"

"My Lady, forgive my interruption of your Self Adoration but a serious matter has arisen and is in need of your immediate attention." A maid replied from behind the door before opening it.

Lady Ursula was enraged, "How many times have I told you not to walk in without my permission?!"

"If it is sensitive enough, you have my permission to open the door without my consent", The maid said, unfazed by Lady Ursulas temper, "Those were your exact words my Lady."

"Hmph", Lady Ursula sighed, "You sure are stubborn as ever."

"The case is actually the opposite My Lady, you're the stubborn one", The maid replied.

Lady Ursula breathed deeply, "Alright, what is this matter that needs my immediate attention?"

"Felici Loknot, daughter of Edgar Loknot has been making a bit of a scene in front of the house for the past hour. She demands your presence, with her reason being that you lied to her."

Ursula sighed, "Let her into the waiting room, I'll be there in a short while."

"Yes my Lady." The maid bowed mildly in courtesy then left.

A while later, Felici and Lady Ursula were both seated in the waiting room. Ursula on her usual flamboyant and beautifully decorated throne, and Felici on a wooden chair with red cushions.

Felici was getting impatient so she blurted, "You lied to me!"

But Ursula wouldn't condone such unruly tone and behavior in her house, so she raised her index finger immediately, urging Felici to shut up. Then she started, "State your business with me."

Felici couldn't handle how calm Ursula was as well, "You know exactly what business I have with you! Jerome and Ravea are married and my marriage to Peter will continue as planned! You lied to me! You said you'd do something about it yet here we are!"

"As you just said miss Loknot, I said I was going to do something about the two marital unions that you are so dearly against, and that I did. I laid a plea with the council of Elders on your behalf that you may be joined with your beloved", she paused and sat up, "That you may joined with Jerome Dernewt." She said word by word, making sure not to make any mistakes. "But unfortunately, you just weren't lucky enough."

"That's rubbish!" Felici roared.

"I see you're just as foul-mouthed as your father", Lady Ursula said under her breathe. "Mind you missy, this whole business between us was only an act of kindness on my side as no goods nor services, tangible or intangible were formally exchanged between us. All I did for you, I did from the good of my heart, so don't come in here on your high horse and bellow rubbish in my house." Ursula retorted, and was about to get up when she looked at Felici's face. She was pale as a ghost, her eyes were sunken and dark and her face looked almost lifeless.

"Alright please, I'm sorry, you're the only person that can help me now so please." She sobbed.

Lady Ursula sat back down. "What happened?" She asked.

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Felici wiped off the non-existent tears from her eyes with the back of her palm, almost like it was a reflex action from doing it over and over again. "After Jerome and Ravea got married, I knew my wedding with Peter was going to continue as previously planned, so I begged my father not to let him marry me, I told him what sort of person Peter was hoping that he'd reconsider his decision, but it only made matters worse. He started off by lecturing me on how the marital union between both of our families would be beneficial to us, then proceeded to make me move in with him so we can have time to bond properly before settling down."

She paused and took a few deep breaths then continued, "The first few weeks were bearable. Peter didn't do his usual stuff, he paid attention to me, he cared for me, he even went as far as formally proposing to me, which I kindly turned down. After that day everything changed, he turned into a beast, every night he brought new girls home and drank till dawn before heading out again. One time he even went as far as making out with a harlot in front of me. I've begged him to stop, I've apologized for turning down his proposal, I started cooking for him, caring for him and even tried proposing to him but he still won't change. Everyday he makes me feel like less of a woman, he destroys my self-confidence and spits on my values. At this point I don't know what to do, I'm at my limit, I'm tired, I'm really tired and I don't think I can handle any of this. So please, please help me."

Lady Ursula wasn't surprised since she had known Marcus Jon, Peter's father since they were both teenagers, and Peter sadly took after him. His choice to have 5 wives said a lot about the kind of person he was as a youth.

"Why don't you cheat as well?" Lady Ursula asked Felici.

"What? I can't, it's preposterous. It's unthinkable for a true noble to taint their image in such a way." Felici replied.

"Yet the Jon's has made it a family tradition to do so."

"Well I don't consider them true nobles. I don't even know what the gods would want from such a man."

Lady Ursula sat up, "Mind your words. Lest you forget, I am still an Elder. I won't entertain any words that question the credibility of the gods."

"I'm sorry." Felici immediately apologized.

"Alright. I admire the standard to which you hold up the honour of being a noble. Not everyone is able to set such standards and still live by it. For that, you have my respect." Lady Ursula complimented Felici, and although it wasn't much, it seemed to brighten her mood a little bit.

"Thank you," said Felici.

"Nevertheless, I still don't know how to help you, at least not straightforwardly." Ursula crossed her legs.

"What do you mean?" Felici asked.

"Ugh, do I have to spell everything out. I know how to help you but it can only be achieved through underhanded means. But sadly, you're too much of a perfectionist with high standards to even consider such a plan." Ursula picked up a glass of wine and smirked as she took a sip from the glass. "So I think it all comes down to how low you're willing to go to get yourself out of this predicament and get what you want. That standard that you've held up so high, are you willing to rub it in the mud for this?"

Felici was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Which was more important to her? Her principles and standards or her happiness? She looked back on her life to all the times that that question had come up due to one scenario or the other. Would she rather attend an important meeting for the benefit of the village with her father or stay home and play pointless games with her friends? Would she rather hang out with a younger, naive boy that liked her or an older, possibly wiser one that would teach her a few things about life? And now, would she rather marry a toxic man for the benefit of her family or do everything she can to marry another man who although will possibly make her happy, wouldn't be of any benefit to her family. Every choice she'd made up till then had been made with her high standards in mind. So she felt it was time for a change. "Yes, yes I am", she replied.

"Good, then do what you did today", said Ursula.

"I don't understand, do what?" Felici asked confused.

Ursula leaned forward, and said in a loud whisper. "Be spontaneous."

Felici placed her hands on her knees, then scratched her temple, then placed her hand back on her knees. "I still don't understand."

Ursula sighed. "Okay, so today, according to my head maid, you, a noble, came to my house this early in the morning, half dressed-"

Felici looked at herself and noticed how bland the plane grey gown she was putting on was. It was unbecoming of her to wear such and even if she were to wear it, she would never wear it outside her bathroom. Surprisingly, she had actually borrowed it from one of the maids back home so she could leave the house unnoticed without drawing attention to herself.

"-with a bed head", Ursula continued.

Felici touched her hair. The rubber band she used to tie her hair in a big bun that morning had cut and her hair had come loose.

"-and a pair of leather sandals."

Felici looked at her feet and sighed.

"Then started making a scene in front of my house like a mad goat. Who in this entire village would have guessed that there'd be the day when Noblelady Felici Loknot, daughter of Elder Edgar Loknot, would dress like a peasant and act worse than one?" Ursula asked rhetorically but proceeded to answer her own question, "No one, that's who. I'm sure this whole thing that's going on right here-", She pointed at Felici, "-happened in the spur of the moment. It was unexpected, involuntary-", she paused and looked closely at Felici, "-spontaneous."

Felici bent her head.

"No no no, don't be disheartened. Bad as it sounds, it was that spontaneousness that made me agree to see you in the first place. If you had waltzed in here dressed all nice and fancy and had calmly requested my audience, I would have turned you down again. So you see, try to be spontaneous more often, let go off your high standards and principles for a little while and just do really stupid stuff, stupid stuff that you want to do, stupid stuff that you won't normally do, stupid stuff that'll get you what you want. Okay?"

Felici nodded her head.

"Good, now leave, I need to get back to my Self Adoration." Lady Ursula said then drank the rest of her wine.

Felici got up to leave but Lady Ursula called her and said, "Although, if it doesn't work, just let me know."