Morning arrived with sunlight and noise and far too many people awake too early. The sitting room smelled of tea and warm bread, and the long windows were open to let in the breeze.
Lady Beatrice sat straight-backed on the sofa, inspecting a letter as if it might misbehave.
Cinderella poured tea with careful grace. Drizella lounged across a chair like a cat that had stolen comfort from the world.
Anastasia tried very hard to be invisible.
She failed.
"So," Drizella said, stirring her cup with exaggerated slowness, "you came in late last night."
Anastasia nearly dropped her spoon. "Did I?"
Cinderella's smile was gentle, but her eyes were bright with curiosity.
"You weren't in your room when I checked. I thought maybe you'd gone for a walk."
Lady Beatrice glanced up. "A walk at midnight?"
Anastasia cleared her throat. "Fresh air is healthy."
Drizella leaned forward, eyes glittering. "Fresh air with legs? And a voice? Possibly orange hair?"
Anastasia's face heated instantly. She focused very hard on her teacup.
"You imagine things."
Cinderella tilted her head. "You look happy. And worried. At the same time."
"That's just my face," Anastasia said quickly.
Drizella laughed. "No, that's the face you make when you trip over something unexpected and then decide you like it."
Lady Beatrice set her letter aside.
"Enough teasing. We have matters to discuss. Some work to do. And a stewardess to tackle."
Cinderella nodded. "Things will get busy too after the results are send to the selected candidates. And preparation for the final selection starts."
Anastasia's heart gave a small, nervous twist. She smiled, but it felt stiff. Inside, thoughts tangled. Everything was moving forward. Too forward. Cinderella's path was supposed to be simple. The shoe would be found. The owner revealed. Marriage would follow, neat and shining.
But it hadn't. Not yet.
She pressed her fingers together beneath the tablecloth.
Drizella noticed. "You're quiet."
"I'm thinking," Anastasia replied.
"Dangerous," Drizella said cheerfully.
Cinderella reached across the table and squeezed Anastasia's hand. "Is something wrong?"
Anastasia hesitated. She didn't want to say it out loud. Saying it made it real.
"I just don't want things to… go wrong."
Cinderella smiled softly. "They won't. Things always find their way."
Anastasia wished she could believe that without reservation. She looked at Cinderella, so calm, so kind, so patient. The girl who should have had her happy ending by now. The girl who didn't even seem to be waiting for it.
Lady Beatrice rose and straightened her sleeves.
"Whatever happens, remember this. We adapt. We do not panic."
Drizella grinned. "I panic stylishly."
Cinderella laughed.
Anastasia laughed too, a little breathless. Inside, the worry curled tighter. What if the story was changing? What if it was her fault? What if love, once nudged, refused to stay in its assigned place?
She sipped her tea and told herself to breathe. Just because things were different did not mean they were wrong.
But as she glanced out the window toward the palace towers, her heart thudded with the quiet knowledge that stories, once touched, never stayed exactly the same.
And that scared her more than she wanted to admit.
* * *
The training yard woke early, washed in pale light and the scrape of boots against stone.
Prince Adrien arrived smiling, which was unusual enough that two guards paused mid-stretch to stare. He rolled his shoulders, picked up his sword, and hummed under his breath.
Rowan noticed immediately.
"You look pleased," Rowan said, tightening the straps on his gloves. "That is suspicious."
Adrien grinned wider. "Good morning to you too."
Rowan stepped closer, eyes sharp.
"You're never this cheerful after punishment."
Adrien twirled the sword once, careless.
"Perhaps I've learned to enjoy pain."
Rowan snorted. "Unlikely. Why are you smiling?"
Adrien lifted his chin. "Beat me."
Rowan blinked. "What?"
"In a match," Adrien said lightly. "If you beat me, I'll tell you."
Rowan studied him for a long moment, then nodded.
"Fine."
They took their positions. The bell rang. Rowan advanced with calm precision. Adrien lasted three exchanges before Rowan disarmed him with a neat twist of the wrist. The sword clattered to the ground.

Rowan raised a brow. "That was fast."
Adrien laughed, breathless but unbothered. "I never said it would be difficult."
Rowan offered a hand to pull him up. "Talk."
They moved to the edge of the yard where the sun warmed the stones. Adrien wiped his brow and looked out at the garden beyond the arches. His smile softened into something quieter.
"I went to my room last night," he began.
"After punishment ended. I saw Anastasia in the garden."
Rowan stiffened slightly.
"She was crying," Adrien continued.
"Because she thought Kit was gone. Because she thought he'd been dismissed."
Rowan's jaw tightened. "I told people he was dismissed."
"I know," Adrien said gently. "You were protecting the disguise."
Rowan crossed his arms. "Go on."
"I ran to her as Kit," Adrien said. "She told me she liked me. Then she cried more. Then she told me everything she regretted not saying."
Rowan closed his eyes briefly.
"I chose her," Adrien said. The words landed solid and sure. "I told her I choose her."
The yard seemed quieter suddenly. Rowan opened his eyes.
"Adrien," he said slowly, "you understand what that means."
"I do," Adrien replied. "That's why I'm smiling. And why I'm terrified."
Rowan exhaled sharply. "Did you tell her?"
"No," Adrien admitted. "Not yet. She doesn't know Kit is me."
Rowan's worry sharpened into full alarm. "That is dangerous."
"I know."
Rowan began pacing. "You have crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed. She will feel betrayed."
"I didn't lie to hurt her," Adrien said. "I hid to breathe."
Rowan stopped. "Intent does not soften impact."
Adrien nodded. "I will tell her. Soon."
Rowan looked toward the palace towers, expression grim.
"The court will not accept this easily. The queen will ask questions. Advisors will circle like birds."
Adrien smiled faintly. "Let them."
Rowan turned back to him, studying the man he had trained since boyhood.
"You're serious."
"I've never been more serious."
Rowan sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "You've fallen in love at the worst possible time."
Adrien shrugged. "I fell in love as myself. Not as a crown."
Rowan shook his head. "You will need to choose how to reveal this. Carefully. And you will need to prepare her."
"I will," Adrien said. "I won't run from it."
Rowan studied him one last time, then nodded. "Then we start planning."
"If anything goes wrong with mine then I'll make yours wrong too. Simple! " Adrien winked toward Rowan.
"What?! "
Adrien picked up his fallen sword, smile returning. "I mean, You worry too much."
Rowan allowed himself a thin smile. "Someone has to worry. You're busy being happy."
"Just like you."
And for the first time in days, that didn't sound like a weakness at all.
* * *
Evening light spilled softly into the guest wing, turning the tall windows gold. Cinderella was brushing her hair, Drizella was half-arguing with a cushion she had tripped over, and Anastasia sat on the edge of her bed, lost in thought, when the door opened.
Lady Beatrice walked in, still in her neat palace uniform, eyes bright with restrained excitement.
"Girls," she said, clapping her hands once. "I have news."
Drizella turned at once. "Good news?"
"The best kind," Lady Beatrice replied. "I've been given three days off from my work as the stewardess's assistant."
Drizella gasped. "Three whole days?"
"Yes," Lady Beatrice said, smiling. "So tomorrow morning, we return home. We'll check the house, see how everything is, and rest properly for once."
Cinderella beamed. Drizella cheered and nearly knocked over a chair in celebration.
Anastasia smiled too, but slower.
Home.
The word tugged at something deep and quiet inside her. The small house. The creaky door. The first night she had woken up there, confused, scared, and very aware that this world was not her own. Back then, everything had felt sharp and unreal, like walking inside a dream that refused to end.
Now, that same place carried warmth. Safety. Memories she had built herself.
Lady Beatrice kept talking, planning meals and repairs, while Cinderella and Drizella chimed in eagerly. Anastasia listened, fingers curling into the fabric of her dress, feeling a strange mix of comfort and ache.
She was excited.
But part of her also knew she had changed.
And going back meant facing the place where it all began.
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SIDE NOTE: My results will be out this week and I hope that will as good as possible. Wish me luck.
If you like my story then give it a star and share it with your friends, this will help me to keep motivated and write new stories.