"Mama, mama! Look what I found!" The little girl broke free from her father's hold and raced towards the bed where her mother lay. "Mama look!" She proudly held the lilac for her mother to see. Upon earning no response, the girl grew worried and started shaking her mother so she'd wake up. "Mama? Mama!" The little girl kept shaking her mother who didn't respond in any way.

"Come now, dear. Mama needs to rest." Her father tried pulling her away from her mother but she wouldn't budge.

She looked at her dad in horror when she saw the tears running down his cheeks. It could only mean one thing." No! Mama! Wake up Mama! You're not dead!" She wailed, tears already cascading down her rosy cheeks. "You can't be dead!"

"MAMA!"


"So which dress would you like to wear to tonight's ball?" Elesis asked her.

"Um… I thought this was mother's room…" Arme said softly, taking a quick glance at the closet full of beautiful dresses and gowns.

The red head looked at her for a while and laughed. "Oh yeah! It is! Well too late for that now. Tell you what, Amy and I'll help you with the chores so you can come later."

Amethyst eyes widened. "I- I… Thank you Elesis!" She exclaimed and hugged her stepsister. "You're the best!"

"I know." She chuckled, ruffling Arme's dirty lilac hair. "Now I wonder where Amy might be…"


Inside the castle was a state of beldam. Servants were running everywhere, carrying trays of food, arranging the flowers, designing the ballroom and cleaning up the walls and floor for tonight's ball. In the midst of the chaos was a woman with forest green eyes and long blond hair. She was in charge of everything concerning the ball.

"Is the banquet ready?" She asked.

"Yes, milady."

"Are the invitations sent?"

"The Royal Guard Master made sure of that, milady."

"Are the gardens presentable to the guests?"

"As they always were, milady."

"Are the guards well informed of their duty tonight?"

"Yes, they are, milady."

Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from the kitchen, followed by a series of shouts, shrieks and curses. Pots and pans can be heard crashing about and plates and glasses being broken.

"Elena?" She spoke calmly, despite of the pandemonium in the kitchen.

"Y-yes milady?"

"Where's Ryan?"

"Last I saw him, milady, he was heading towards the kitchen."

"And you did not stop him?"

"N-no, milady." Elena looked down, knowing she might get fired. Everyone knew that Ryan must absolutely not go into the kitchen, being the tree-hugging vegetarian that he is.

The emerald-eyed woman sighed and proceeded to the kitchen. "Make sure everything goes as planned by the time I come back or you're fired."

"Y-yes, milady."


Going through the mansion, Elesis and Arme searched for Amy. As they passed through the halls and rooms of the house, Arme couldn't help but notice how clean they are. Finally, they arrived at Arme's room to see the rose-eyed girl busy cleaning.

"Oh, you're here~!" She said. "Took you long enough."

"You… Amy… I… How…" Arme stuttered.

"What's wrong shorty? Luna got your tongue?" Amy giggled.

"That's so corny pumpkin head." Elesis retorted.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. So Arme, have you chosen a dress yet? I finished all your chores so now all you need is a dress. I've got a lot of dresses in my closet~! I could lend you some or you could borrow Elesis' or we could go shopping now and-"

"Wait! What? Stop talking continuously and rapidly." Arme looked at her tiredly, "How were you able to finish all my chores so fast? It's still teatime."

"Well, I had some help…" She walked over to the window and waved. Curious, Elesis and Arme peeked outside and saw a group of people waving back.

"You called your fan club over?" Elesis eyed her incredulously.

"Of course not!" Amy said defensively. "They're just passer-bys who happen to know about me and agreed to clean the house in exchange for my autograph~"

"Figures." Arme giggled.

"So what are you guys waiting for? Let's go shopping!" Amy grabbed her two sisters and dragged them towards the door. "This'll be so much fun!"

Arme an Elesis exchanged worried glanced with each other. Shopping with Amy is anything and everything but fun. It's torture…


Staring out the window, the prince sighed. "I wish this day would be over soon."

"Excited for tonight are we?" A blue haired man spoke.

"Hardly." The prince rolled his eyes. "I don't even want to attend the stupid ball."

"Unfortunately for you, you already promised His Majesty that you would go. No turning back on your word now." He teased.

"Yeah. Must suck to be you, eh Lassy?" A crimson haired man with gleaming saffron eyes joined the conversation.

"Shut up. And don't call me 'Lassy' dammit! Seriously, if you guys weren't my friends, I would so have your heads on a silver platter right now."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Watch your temper Lass." A female voice spoke. The three of them turned to see a blond woman holding the ear of an orange haired man in her grip,

"Ow, ow, ow! Lire, let go! It hurts! Argh!" He winced as Lire pulled his ear.

Crossing his arms, Lass looked at the poor guy and sighed for the thousandth time that day. "What did you do now, Ryan?"

"I… I-It was the chef's fault! He brutally murdered animals! I saw him! I was just trying to avenge the souls of those who died, that their struggle might not be in vain and— Ouch! Lire! "

"Save your speech. The chef was only doing his job, Ryan! Now, listen to me when I say stay out of the kitchen or else!" She said, letting go of Ryan's ear.

"Or else what?" He challenged.

"Or else I'll break up with you." She said bluntly.

"You wouldn't…"

"Try me." She glared.

"I… Sorry Lire." He said, head drooping like a sad puppy.

"Aw… That's ok Ryan~" She cooed, kissing his cheek.

"Ok, eww! Gross! Barf! Go do stuff like that somewhere where I can't see ok?" Lass coughed.

"Aww… Lassy's affected." Ryan teased.

"I'm not!" Lass shouted.

"Stop it both of you." Lire said as she pushed Ryan away from Lass "Anyway, as I was saying earlier, that temper of yours will be a big problem someday. I suggest you fix it."

"And how do you suggest I fix it?" Azure eyes glared at her.

"Well, clear your mind for starters. Go get some fresh air or something. Ronan and Jin will accompany you. Won't you?" She smiled at the two who knew better than to argue with Lire.

"Yes of course! I know a good place where we can go." Ronan said.

"Absolutely! C'mon Lassy! You need a disguise!" Jin said a bit too enthusiastically.

"No wait I- Hey! Look I don't-" Lass tried to protest but got dragged along by Jin and Ronan. "Damn you Lire!"

"Have a good time!" She smiled and waved. "Oh and don't forget to be back here by six!"


A/N: Chapter 2 :D Elesis and Amy are the stepsisters. Can anyone guess who the stepmother is? Hehe.. I'm thinking this might take more than just 3 chapters to finish… -_-