This is a BMP2 story of 'Cinderella'! Basically, the MC (me) is 'Cinderella' in the sense that her two wicked neighbors are constantly putting their chores on her, and combining that with her job, the poor girl can't get a minute to breathe. Then the ball for all of the princes in the game starts, and while the MC would love to go, her neighbors - who are a pair of gold-diggers - push all of their housework onto her. The MC does, in fact, complain about this and makes her stance known, but they don't listen to her.
At her workplace, her fairy godmother - or rather, godfather, Yosef - sees her plight; with the help of May, the MC's best friend, they cast a little magic for her. And then the story is set! There will be a few twists, though.
Now, who will be her prince? That's for me to know, and you to find out!
Once upon a time... In the land of Nobel Michel... *Record Scratch Noise* Alright, alright! Let's not drag this out in a classic manner, okay? So, let's start!
In one of the apartment buildings in the country of Nobel Michel, dawn was beginning to break. It was a typical day in Nobel Michel, and through the town, everyone was waking up to the beauty of the sunrise.
Especially one young lady, who was waking up at dawn, knowing exactly what kind of day it was going to be for her. Rising up out of bed, the young lady, named Carly, woke up with slightly messy, long, brown hair, and matching brown eyes. She draped her feet over the bed before standing up, stretching, and rubbing her eyes.
"Another day, another painful amount of extra work I don't need..." She said, as she started to get dressed before getting breakfast.
About half an hour later, the young lady ate a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, a bowl of strawberries, and a glass of milk. She had finished her breakfast, and just put her dishes in the sink, when...
*Ding-Dong*
She looked to the door and shuddered a bit. She knew who it was at the door at this time of the morning.
Opening the door, she saw two women, who both looked very refined and elegant. These women were her neighbors. One was a woman who was at least a head taller; she was blonde, with her hair in lose curls down her back, grey eyes, wearing elegant jewelry, a black cocktail dress, and a jacket. The other was a head shorter than the first woman. Her hair was raven in a bob cut, green eyes, and she also looked very elegant. She was also wearing a cocktail dress, this one in red, and her jewelry was also quite refined.
"Giselle, Marie," The young lady said, greeting her neighbors limply. "What can I do for you?"
"Carly," Giselle, the blonde, said, as she handed Carly a bag. "These are all of my linens; wash, mend, and have them all sorted in my room by tonight."
"But I..." Carly began.
"By. Tonight." Giselle said, as she leaned in to Carly's face and got in her space. "Or do you want trouble?"
"No..." Carly began. "But I have my own work to do. You shouldn't do this."
Giselle merely shoved the bag into Carly's arms before turning her back and leaving. "By tonight! Hear me?"
Carly subtly rolled her eyes in response before putting the bag down.
"As for me," Marie said, as she shoved a sack into Carly's arms. "This is a bag of all of the food items I need for an elegant dinner tonight; I'm having a prospective, rich man coming into my apartment tonight, and I promised him I would cook."
"We both know you're hopeless in the kitchen..." Carly said, as she tried to reason with her neighbor.
"That's where you come in, Carly," Marie said. "Cook all of the recipes provided in the bag by six."
"But I don't get out of work until four! I don't think that will be enough time!" Carly protested.
"Don't care; not my problem," Marie said. "Get cracking."
Marie also sauntered away, causing Carly to moan in annoyance.
"It is your problem! These are your chores, not mine!" Carly complained.
On the verge of tears, she slammed the door to her apartment and started to get to work on the linens. She took out a sewing needle and thread before getting started.
On top of her dream job as a pastry chef, Carly was also forced to do chores and work on a daily basis for her two neighbors, Giselle and Marie, both of whom were scornful of her. Giselle and Marie were both women with prestigious jobs, but due to their lack of financial smarts, were more into spending money on the things they wanted rather than paying the bills. While they had plenty of cash on them to keep living in the apartment, they often had more debt and liabilities than assets and extra cash. The two women were not only hateful towards Carly because she was happy with her lifestyle and her ability to make ends meet with a job such as a pastry chef, but they also were loathsome because while she was far from rich, she was capable of taking care of herself and being able to charm almost every person she would meet. Even some of the wealthiest gentleman had their eyes on Carly rather than Giselle or Marie.
So, as a result, Giselle and Marie came up with a plan; they keep Carly busy and make her do all of their housework while they went and tried to catch a very wealthy man to be wed to, and move up in class. And once they did that, they would leave Carly alone, only to keep mocking her at every chance they would get.
Carly, on the other hand, was not as concerned with marriage or getting wealthy as she was living happily. Carly was not alone, though; she had some friends outside of her apartment to help her out when she needed it; and she would always make quick work of anything Giselle or Marie would throw at her.
About two hours later, Carly managed to rush to her workplace before the clock even reached the next minute. She was in quite the rush.
"Sorry, Yosef!" Carly said, as she came into the bakery through the back. She started to breathe heavily.
It was five minutes before she needed to be at work; however, she always liked to be early just in case.
"Your neighbors drop a load of housework on you again?" Yosef asked.
Over the years, Carly and Yosef grew a father-daughter bond with each other, and Yosef would always be there to help Carly whenever she needed it.
"Yes," Carly said. "I can't take it much longer; I wish they would stop."
"How many times have you just flat-out refused to do what they demand of you and just follow through with your threat?" Yosef asked.
"..." Carly did not answer.
"Hm... Maybe a little more assertiveness might be the key," Yosef said. "But now, let's get to work."
Meanwhile, at Nobel Michel Castle, there were eight men in a room, all wearing the royal clothes, with consisted of sashes and badges. They were all princes, and they all had responsibilities to their kingdoms.
One of those responsibilities: marriage.
"I can't believe they're holding a ball and inviting every gosh-darn bachelorette in Nobel Michel to attend." One prince complained.
He had brown hair, amber-brown eyes, fair skin, and was wearing a uniform. His uniform was black with gold accents, and a red sash, with badges on his sash.
"C'mon, Kuon," Another prince said, a little more cheerful. He had reddish-brown eyes, short, wavy auburn hair, fair skin, and was smiling cheerfully. "Girls aren't going to like you if you act like that."
"It's nearly impossible to know when you are joking or not, Oliver," Another prince said. He was a blue-eyed blonde with fair skin, and his uniform was white with a red sash, and several badges. "But regardless, meeting a girl who could see me for who I really am would be a miracle."
"Prince Hayden," A green-eyed brunette wearing a royal uniform with fur accents said. "Finding your destined lover is a lot easier said than done, especially if you're a royal."
"Prince Kevin's right," Another of the princes said. He was a green-eyed, platinum blonde with a teal uniform with a red sash and badges, as well. "Which is why I'm not too picky; I just need a woman who can handle herself in Sanct Sybil's climate."
"Come on, Ivan," An older prince, wearing a blue uniform with red accents, and had silver hair slicked back on his head said. "It's going to be harder on me to find my own cute princess. Me being an old man, and all."
"Prince Max, don't sell yourself short," A tan-skinned prince with a blue-gold uniform, bluish-black eyes, and black hair said, as he drank his tea. "There may be a woman out there who really doesn't care about your age. I may be the youngest one in here, but I myself really don't care about this whole 'marriage' thing."
"Aslan..." Kevin said, trying not to complain too much.
Growing up a commoner, Kevin had a hard time coping with the idea of marriage as being more of a nuisance and just a chore than a beautiful, happy thing to someone.
"Sieg, come on, back me up here," Oliver said. "What about you?"
"Just a bunch of harpies." A man with purplish hair, violet-blue eyes, wearing a white uniform with a blue sash said, scoffing.
"I have to admit there are some women like that," Max said. "But I doubt they're all like that."
"He's right," Kevin said. "You really shouldn't assume a girl is like that until you really get to know her."
"I'm just excited for tomorrow night," Oliver said. "I can't wait to meet an adorable girl to become my queen."
With the exception of Max, the others just sweat dropped in annoyance at Oliver's comment.
Later that afternoon, Carly got out of work and met up with May, her best friend from college. She and May met up with each other on the street and have been in touch ever since. They were the best of friends as well as each other's greatest confidant.
They were going to Carly's favorite bar in town, and it was away from the apartments, so they were confident that they would not run into Giselle or Marie while there.
"Again? Those two never know when to stop, don't they?" May asked, as Carly told her what her neighbors did again.
"That's why I flat-out protested this time; they still pushed it on me," Carly said. "So once again, I did what they asked me to do."
"More like you just gave in to their demands," May said. "Carly, you need to grow some backbone. Either that, or find an apartment near Patisserie Brown that you can move into to get away from them."
"I know, May, but I haven't enough money saved for the down payment of a better apartment," Carly said. "But with those two on my backs, I don't know if I'll ever get any peace."
"Come on, you gotta stand up to them," May said. "Why not just not do what they demand of you for once? Just put the items they give you back on their doorstep and show them you won't stand for it anymore?"
"There's an idea," Carly said. "Better than just letting them push me around."
"That's the spirit!" May said.
The girls shared a high-five before paying the bill and leaving for the night. Neither of them knew what would happen that night.
That evening, Carly found something in her mailbox: an envelope with the crest of Nobel Michel.
Knowing her neighbors were nearby, she quickly closed her mailbox before running into her room. She did not want Giselle or Marie to see her.
She shut the door to her room and locked it before opening up the envelope and silently reading the invitation.
'Recipient,
You are cordially invited to attend a ball in the names of Their Highnesses, the Princes of the eight nations.
All unmarried women, or women not in a committed relationship must be in attendance. This is a requirement.
Please bring this invitation with you to the party to ensure your admittance.
Nobel Michel Castle'
"Oh, wow..." Carly muttered, quietly. She quickly shoved the invite into the envelope and hid it somewhere so her neighbors would not suspect her getting invited.
'Me... going to Nobel Michel Castle to attend a party... That would be a dream come true...' Carly thought.
Unbeknownst to her, May had gotten the same invitation. However, May had a boyfriend, so she knew she would not be in attendance.
"Poor Carly... Knowing her neighbors, they'll just make it too hard on her to go," May said. "But I think I have an idea..."
May took up her cell phone and dialed a number; she knew whom to call to help Carly out.
To be continued! I can't wait to see what you think!