Cinderaen (BxB Cinderella)

Chapter 5

The minute the carriage arrived home I sprinted inside to change. With Mother's help we had erased all evidence of my excursion just as Kat and Vicki arrived home.

As I put away their travel wear I asked a few polite questions so I didn't raise any suspicions. Did you see the prince? Who did you like dancing with the best? Were there any popular ladies?

"Well, Prince Ethan was gorgeous as always, but disappeared. I do with he gotten to see my dancing." Vicki whined.

"Oh, Raen... You should have seen Sir Leon Clodan. He was absolutely dreamy." Kat cooed. "But he couldn't seem to take his eyes or mind off the Lady in Blue," She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Lady in Blue?" I asked innocently.

"Oh yes, the nerve that lady had! She must have had half the men drooling at her. But did she humor them in a dance? Oh no, she was too good for such simple play!" My sisters seemed to be both in awe and envy of the "mysterious" lady.

I laughed to myself in my head and though, Well, the Prince is sure to find out something about me. Whether I want him to or not.

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A week passed without any word about the ball. Then one day a messenger from the palace arrived in town with a message from Prince Ethan himself.

"The Lady in Blue has lost a shoe
Made of glass and crystal clear
I hope it's twin shall appear
If you are that lady whom
I talked to in that secret room
Meet me there at the time you fled
For it is you who I wish to wed."

Of course this message caused a huge commotion throughout the entire kingdom. So many unanswered questions were asked and so many bribes were given to castle servants. What secret rooms are there inside the castle? Who would want or wear a glass shoe? But most of all, Who was the Lady in Blue?

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That night my stepmother and I readied my gown once again and came up with a plan. Still, despite the new plan I worried about what the prince would do when I told him the truth.

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I sighed as I waited in the secret garden for Ethan to arrive. When the clock tower chimed midnight and the prince still hadn't shown up I began to worry even more.

What if he had forgotten? Maybe someone else had gotten to him first... What if it wasn't even me he meant the message for? What if it was a different girl dress in blue, a real girl?

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice when Ethan walked up behind me. When I finally did notice I fell to my knees, the guilt over powering me.
"My lady, what's wrong?" Ethan asked, stroking my long hair. At his touch I lost it and started crying, much to my embarrassment.

"Hey, hey... What's upsetting you?" He lifted me up so I was standing and hugged me to his chest, wrapping his arms around my body. "You know, you still haven't told me your name..." He murmured into my forehead.

"C-Cinderaen..." I whispered, "But p-please, your h-highness. I'm r-really n-not who you th-think I am."

"Oh, you aren't are you? Then why don't you sit down and tell me who you really are, okay?" Ethan said gently, lowering us both down onto a near by bench.

Trembling I realized I completely forgotten the plan Mother and I had made earlier. Panicking, I looked straight into his eyes and said, "I will tell you, b-but you have to believe me w-when I say that it's the t-truth." I put my hand over his mouth to stop him from saying anything.

"You may h-hate me or think my disgusting and vile a-after, but I swear I never wanted o-or asked f-for any of this." He nodded, not breaking eye contact.

And so, starting from the very beginning I told him my story. Who I truly was, not the person my father had created me to be. Ethan sat silently and absorbed every word, never looking away or interrupting. Once I had finished neither of us said anything for several minutes. And then he opened his mouth to speak.