My eyelids were heavy from lack of sleep, as I'd been awake for the past two days. Luna, my stepmother, had been even harsher and more demanding than usual this week. Because according to the whispers going around, the royals were stopping by our classy hotel. The princes and princesses from the four provinces were meeting up at our hotel, and would be staying for a whole week.

It was a comely, clean place. But since Luna was a money hoarder, she fired almost all of the staff and instead forced all the chores and jobs onto me. It's been like this since she adopted me - for this very reason - when I was seven. Now, I'm sixteen.

I survived this long because of my positive outlook on life. My endurance, my appreciation of the little things. My parents had been murdered in front of me as a child. I'd lived in a trashy, abusive orphanage for years. It wasn't much different than Luna's hotel, of course, but at least the other maids here cared for me. And when I went to town, all the villagers tried to help me out. They gave me free food, tried to put ointment on my cuts and bruises.

It was because of what my mother said as she lie on the cold stone floor, blood pooling around her figure, that led me to be the strong willed girl I am today. My father was already dead, beside her. Once the attackers had gone, she'd slid open the hidden trapdoor where she'd hidden me the whole time. Then she'd whispered to me: "Always be strong, even if times are tough. Always smile. Help others. We'll always be watching over you. We love you, Mikan. We always will."

Meanwhile, I was sprawled across the tile floor, washing them with worn rags and soap. I could feel my vision blurring, and minutes later, I blacked out and crumpled onto the damp ground.


I was beaten awake.

My eyes jolted open, perhaps an hour later, when I felt the handle of a broom whack my back. I muttered apologies, trying to get up, but another whipping sent me crashing to the floor again.

"You pathetic child!" Luna screamed. "I give you food and a place to stay, and you do this? Sleep on the job? You're as pathetic as your parents."

She gave me one last hard whack, and then kicked me against the wall. I whimpered, but I did not cry. I never wanted to give Luna the pleasure of seeing me cry, no matter how painful her beatings were. I cried later, when she would leave for town or something, trying to tend to the disgusting bruises that would then rack my body.

Luna threw me a fresh set of clothes, and spat: "I want this back later. Get dressed and try to look presentable for the royals tonight. The other maid will help you, since you're absolutely useless."

I nodded and scrambled away, running to my room. It was the smallest one in the entire hotel, being on the highest level, where it was mostly storage/laundry rooms. Only eight other hotel rooms were on that floor, and both of those were probably four times as big as mine.

The maid, Annabelle, saw me in my disheveled state and shook her head. In this hell, she was like my substitute mother. "Poor child. Luna again? I don't understand why she only beats you! She's a devil."

I nodded numbly, shutting the door. I held up the outfit - a pretty white dress with a pink satin sash tied across, knotted at the front. It was actually a decent dress, so I wasn't surprised that Luna wanted it back. She probably just wanted me to look presentable.

"The wretched woman. She's going to pretend to be a loving caretaker, even though she treats us all like dirt! But the woman forgot about all those bruises she marked on you and gave you a short-sleeved dress. She'll be found out soon enough!" Annabelle exclaimed fiercely. It was a hopeful statement, that she would be thrown into jail for abuse, but it was a statement that was said almost every morning. It never really did happen. The clients that stayed over never noticed us being trashed around because (1) Luna never showed her demonic side in front of them, and (2) they were usually busy with their own affairs. By now, the fire behind the words had been smothered into dead ashes.

She led me to an already prepared bath, and I sunk into the water. I almost fell asleep, actually, it was so relaxing. But too soon, Annabelle pulled me out, dried me off, and slipped the dress over my head.

She dried my hair and set it down, softly curling the edges. She fixed a couple pins into my hair, applied a sheen of lip gloss, and set a mirror in front of me.

I stared at my reflection in amazement. I touched my face. I looked beautiful, save for all the bruises on my arms and my legs. Supermodel beautiful. And it was a natural type of beauty. A beauty that glowed and resonated.

"Wow, Annabelle! You really know how to cover up my ugliness!" I exclaimed.

Annabelle looked at me sadly. "My dear, I didn't cover up anything. I just revealed the beauty that Luna's been trying to hide."

I raised my eyebrows. "Hide?"

"Though not successfully. She gives you rags, beats you until you're black and blue. Yet you still resonate purity. And remain beautiful," Annabelle sighed. "Let me tell you one thing. It's the heart that counts. Nobody can change your heart. Even if you have the curviest body, if your heart is cold and cruel, it shows. Like Luna. That's what she doesn't understand. Though she's anything but pretty."

We stayed silent for a while, but the distant sound of horns jolted us out of our daze. "The royals?"

Annabelle nodded hastily. "Hurry. We have to be in the lobby soon."

We fled down the stairs, because going in the elevator would probably result in facing Luna, who considered the stairs "too much effort." When we got to the lobby, other maids were lining up. Luna stood at the doorway barking orders. Her eyes flickered outside regularly, and when she saw the royals drive into the parking lot, she suddenly plastered on a fake smile.

All the other maids looked completely dead - tired from lack of sleep, scared, fragile from not enough food. But they all looked better than me. None of them had bruises; none of them received half of the scolding and screaming that Luna gave me.

A collective breath was taking in around the room as the royals came into sight, surrounded by bodyguards and streamers.

Luna greeted them with a fake smile, her voice dripping with sweetness. "How are you doing, Prince Ruka? Princess Hotaru?"