She swiftly tied the bow at her back and stared in the mirror on display in the little or well big compared to where she lived room; her hair fell down like the gentle tempest of the sea, and her eyes glimmered so darkly yet so delicately.

For a moment, she looked as if she could be a queen, could afford to live in an extravagant place such as this, and for a moment, she didn't have to worry about making ends meet for her sick father and trying to make sure that her younger siblings and her mother would get food to eat.

She was old enough to marry yet knew that she'd never marry well due to her social standing and knew even then that if she were to marry, she couldn't manage to take care of her family.

For now, she'd sneak to steal minor intricacies from the castle walls or other places and would work odd jobs that could hide the occasional female worker.

She'd even pretended to be a boy a handful of times.

For just a moment, Alya could see herself as a queen or a princess of some sort and not as some nobody snooping around the palace for priceless jewels to sell that no one would immediately recognize and remember.

There was a merchant, just a little south west of here, that would buy anything stolen from the royal family and sell them amongst other merchants or even send a loyal merchant of his out to sell it.

Sometimes he sold them to small general stores that would buy anything and everything; he'd either wear a disguise when he sold them or send something not quite affiliated with him or aware of who he was to sell it to them. They rarely got caught.

Alya sighed, already dropping the dress down to her feet, and stepping away from the far too big mirror to grab her own clothes, ones that always made her look a little tomboyish and in the best case scenario like a boy.

The door opened, and she half screeched as she dove to hide, already hearing the voices from the other side of the door.

"You can't become a designer or sew clothes, you know that. It's not befitting for a princess or a soon to be queen, and on top of that, no man wants to marry a seamstress. Your fingers will grow worn and weary from working the needle, and you'll slowly rot away from old age." A voice scorned whoever they were talking to.

"I know, I know." The woman sighed, and suddenly Alya caught sight of her.

Princess Marinette stood in a beautiful and elegant, black dress that looked like nothing of the fashion of the time, revolutionary and possibly a little bit scandalous.

The black dress looked soft and smooth to the touch; was that silk that adorned the dress?

There were numerous black bows and ribbon tied all around it, several left loose and hanging for a moment as she stood tall, blue eyes darkened and glistening from the black of the dress.

"Holy smokes." Alya barely suppressed anymore sound from escaping as she slapped her hand over her mouth.

The princess spun around to face the door that she'd entered from, long blue black hair cascading around her, looking like a smooth waterfall, probably just a little shy of soft to the touch.

"If you can excuse your highness, I have to step out of my design." She smiled as if she wasn't about to check the washroom for a stowaway and ushered the assistant, possibly a handmaiden, away from her side.

Princess Marinette was met with strong protests though she shut the door behind her and peeked down to chance a glance at Alya, "Oh, hi." She took a deep breath, and Alya was once again lost in the beauty of this girl though her dress still revealed more of her leg than many would be comfortable with and looked like a corset based top or at the very least like it could be untied at any moment and fall apart in her hands.

"Hi." Alya gulped, realizing that she was still in her undergarments which weren't much more than underwear as she couldn't afford any more than what she was wearing; she wished that she was still standing in that caramel, brown dress that hugged her chest and made her look much less tomboyish and that the bow at the back was the only bow and how the dress complemented her hair and skin so well and made her stand out like a beautiful princess even though rationally she knew that the princess owned the dress that Alya had previously tried on.

"What happened?" The princess seemed gentle which felt as if it were a dream come true and pressed closer, eyes alight with some blaze of curiosity.

"I-I-I shouldn't be here." For once, Alya was at a loss for words; she'd always had a clever lie to back her up or some quick handed words to ensure a clean escape from whatever may entrap her, but for today, she was stuck in her undergarments, practically nude, in front of the princess that would undoubtedly rule the kingdom one day.

"That's fine." Princess Marinette smiled, and she never looked more angelic in her life though black had never been a color to be associated with angels.

"I-I was trying to steal from you." Alya barely let the words hiss out of her throat.

"You were trying on a dress and letting yourself feel and look beautiful for once, and you had to have been planning to steal from me for a good reason." Marinette shrugged, looking less like a princess and more like just a beautiful, possibly well dressed woman.

"I-I had a good reason." Alya couldn't dare say it; it jeopardized her family's lives way too much for the words to be spoken aloud.

"I trust you." Princess Marinette smiled though she stepped in to the room further and starting untying her dress, and surprisingly, it didn't fall into her hands in the least once she finished. Princess Marinette instead pulled the dress up over her head and stepped out of it, slipping out of her fancy shoes in the next instant.

She reached for the brown dress, already placing it on, tying the bow behind her with a practiced and effortless seeming ease that left such a beautiful bow in place. It was magical to just see.

The light brown hues of the dress left her skin looking paler in contrast which done wonders to an already pretty woman, and her eyes literally popped under the brown color contrasting against their delicate blue, and her hair fell like a dark curtain across the ruffles and making each ruffle appear to have more floof to it than it being straight or flat as her hair was straight, not curved or even curly unlike Alya's.

"Wow." Alya murmured, eyes drawn to the gorgeous princess before her.

Marinette smiled though looked somewhat nervous as she offered Alya to try on her black dress, and Alya obliged if only to avoid getting sent to jail or executed or perhaps by the casual beauty of the black dress and imagining what it would be like if a princess dressed her up.

Alya stepped into the dress and let the princess tie many of the bows around her, still leaving some loose, and smiling at her.

She grew surprised to see how her chest look a little more pronounced under the black fabric and the way it curved her sides and brought her waist in just a little bit; her hair contrasted sharply with the mostly straight fabric, and her ankles peeked out perfectly from the dress like a beacon of perfect light. Her eyes were darkened to an almost exotic brown color from the black fabric, and her skin tone was lightened just enough for her to feel as if she had some resemblance to the much paler princess.

"You're beautiful." Princess Marinette smiled, and perhaps that's why Alya felt almost thankful to have met her this day and been at the palace for so long.

Alya offered to escape the way the dress made her feel, so that she could hide her gender and escape and was pleasantly surprised that Marinette had slipped her some sweets and a little bit of money to survive off of until they met again.