Author's note: Hello! I'm so, so sorry this took so long to develop! You guys are so patient! I'm very fortunate to have great readers like you. We are winding down to the final chapters, so bear with me as I find the proper way to have this all come together. As always, I absolutely appreciate any feedback you give me.

Enjoy chapter 15!

If Greyson was being honest with himself, he was not shocked at Ella's running away from him. If anything, he was even slightly amused by the pattern and the fact that the baker could not seem to catch a break. He had not had the best of luck with winning over Ella's heart. He had planned to tell her his feelings at the ball, which did not work out due to the prince. He had then decided to tell her in person, a plan which also failed due to the obnoxious customer. And just now in a grand panic he had gone and kissed her! He could only blame himself for the recent fault.

The baker's mind kept drifting off to the memory of the kiss as he watched the town square empty out. He had no other kiss to compare it to, seeing as he had always been too caught up with his work to make time for romance. However, he knew that by any standard, it was exceptional. She had, much to his surprise, kissed him back! Did this mean that she returned his affections? Or was she merely caught up in the moment? Greyson couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if the two were not interrupted by the trumpets…

The trumpets! The king's royal announcement! Greyson had almost forgotten! The prince had declared his affections for the mystery princess, which Greyson know could only be Ella. The prince wished to marry her. Greyson let out a frustrated groan as he made his way back to the bakery. This was another layer to the complicated mess, a layer he really did not need. He wished that he could've proclaimed his love as easily as the prince had. Maybe his life would be easier if he had his own royal messenger. Then, this whole thing would have been sorted out by now. But no, bakers do not have royal messengers to decree their affections on their behalf. Bakers must do things on their own.

The messenger had announced that the king's royal guard would be on the hunt for Ella. "Good luck with that," Greyson mused. He was her best friend and not even he could keep up with her. The guard had a difficult search ahead of them. They were to try Ella's slipper on every eligible maiden in the kingdom. This seemed a bit unusual to the baker. If the prince so loved Ella as had been declared, shouldn't he remember what her face looked like? Greyson couldn't image forgetting Ella's face. Maybe the prince's love wasn't exactly what could be defined as true love, but more of an infatuation of sorts. Perhaps that was the one thing the baker had going for him when compared to the prince: his love for Ella was true. It was unyielding, unconditional. It was the kind of love that made you want to run toward the girl who was always running away. The prince could never offer that.

So it was Greyson's love versus the prince's power, riches, and charm. Wonderful.

Ella felt a bit winded as she finally approached her home. She was completely overwhelmed by all of the events that continuously occurred before her. She was not yet ready to face her step-family, so she sat down in the lush grass with her back against her property's wooden fence. Ells tried to take a mental inventory of her day.

First, she felt a new feeling of jealously as she saw a woman acting particularly cozy with Greyson. Then, she learned that she was merely an obnoxious customer and she felt very confused. In the midst of that, Greyson had suddenly kissed her. This made Ella feel something new entirely. It was an odd mixture of pure happiness, with a bit of relief and a bit of desire for more. It was a truly wonderful sensation. Unfortunately, it was cut short by the king's royal messenger, which brought forth another emotion: panic.

So, the prince had chosen her. Out of all the maidens and all the princesses in the world he had to pick her out: a simple farm girl who had no dream nor intention to catch his eye. And yet he wished to make her his wife. Ella had never felt so unlucky. The messenger had said that the prince loved her. How could he? They had only interacted for an evening. He didn't even know her name and yet he wanted to marry her? How could it really be love? Ella didn't know whether or not to be flattered by this notion. Surely, though she had never been more than a passing face in the crowd before, Ella was now the envy of every last girl in the kingdom, for she was desired by the prince. She knew that at this moment, every eligible maiden was prepping their feet for when the prince and his grand duke arrived to fit the slipper. So many women right now were hopping that somehow, the slipper would be placed on them and they could live a lie, pretending to have been Ella all along. Ella could not help but hope that maybe, if she was lucky, some other girl would end up marrying the prince.

Ella fully understood that it was logically foolish to not accept the prince's proposal. If she had any sense in her, she knew that she would turn herself to the palace right away and make herself known. The prince could give her anything she wanted. The finest clothes, the rarest jewels, the most exotic food. She would never have to work a day in her life. All of these chores that she spent her life laboring over would be nonexistent. She would never have to look at the terrible face of the Lady Tremaine ever again. All of this misery that came with being Cinderella would be no more, for she would be Princess Ella. Princess Ella would never have to sleep next to the cinders of the fire in the cold basement. Princess Ella would have a grand bed in a royal palace. Princess Ella would have everything she wanted.

But the real Ella - the one who sat in the tall grass of her family's simple estate while she caught her breath - that Ella knew what she wanted. She wanted a simple baker. She wanted the man who wore his father's old apron and who always seemed to have flour in his mud brown hair. She wanted to be in a bakery that wasn't too big and never totally spotless. She wanted the welcoming arms after a difficult time and the warm pie after a great talk. She wanted the man who had kissed her out of confusion and desperation in the middle of the town square. She wanted Greyson Fitz, and deep down, she felt that maybe Greyson Fitz wanted her too.

However, before she could look into confirming her theory, she had to avoid the prince's royal guard. If they were to try the slipper upon every maiden in the kingdom, that meant they would eventually find her. What was she to do? What if she had no choice but to marry the prince? How awful would that be, being married to someone you had no real affection for? How terrible would Princess Ella's life be if she had not look upon her husband's face every day wishing he were someone else? She had to prevent this future.

Ella finally gathered her strength and went inside. Her stepmother was absolutely livid that she had returned with no bread and demanded to know the reason for this. Ella made up a quick fib, saying that the bakery was closed due to a shortage of flour. Much to her relief, the Lady Tremaine chose to believe her. It was then that Ella decided to inform her of the royal announcement. She was sure to leave out the less than minor detail that it was she who the prince was searching for. Tremaine was aghast at the news. This was another chance for her daughters to marry into the royal family. She quickly dismissed Ella and called her daughters down to hear the exciting news.

The girls were, to say the least, ecstatic.

"I can't believe it!" Drisella shrieked in eardrum-popping volume.

"The prince is coming here!" screamed Anastasia in equal loudness.

"The slipper will fit me and I will be his bride!"

"The slipper will fit me and I will marry the prince!'

"You will not!"

"I will too!"

"He won't marry you, he'll marry me!"

"No he won't! He'll marry me! I'm the prettiest! Besides, your toes are too big to fit in the slipper!"

"Well you're heel is too wide to fit in the slipper!"

The verbal battle raged on and Ella once again found herself feeling sorry for the girls who seemed to be forever trapped within their own vain and greed. She wondered if there could ever be a way where both could be happy without having to make the other feel miserable, if there as a way they could live life without tearing each other apart. Another part of Ella tried to imagine how the sisters would react if they ever found out that it was she who the prince was in love with. How would they feel knowing that the girl who they had worked so hard to feel unhappy was in fact the mystery princess. Suddenly, she felt her arm being grabbed by the Lady Tremaine, who brought her closer so that she could speak to her discreetly.

"Listen to me, girl," she hissed, "I will not have you spoiling the future I have in place for my daughters. I will not risk this opportunity at any cost." She looked at Ella intensely with her cold, icy eyes. "You are to stay in your attic until after the prince has made his visit and has chosen one of my girls, do you understand? You are not to leave! No one must know of your existence! I saw how dazed and happy you seemed after we returned from the ball without you and while I am not going to give in to my suspicions, I cannot take any chances with this. So get!" and with that, Tremaine shoved Ella in the direction of the stairwell.

When Ella got to her attic, she sat at the windowsill, contemplating what this second house arrest situation meant for her. In a way, it seemed to be a blessing in disguise. With her trapped in the attic, the prince could not find her. If he could not find her, he could not try the slipper on her. If he could not do this, they would not have to marry. And with the Lady Tremaine so desperate to achieve the royal family's wealth, Ella was sure that she would find a way for the slipper to fit either Drisella or Anastasia's foot. Then, after the wedding, they would all likely move into the palace. Ella would have her home again! In addition, she would be free of the Tremaines' awful treatment. She would be able to live her life again, to see Greyson whenever she desired. The two could finally work out this messy situation that had unfolded before them. This banishment was actually the perfect thing for Ella. She felt incredibly lucky.

As Greyson kneaded dough back at the bakery, he silently hoped that the royal guard was taking their sweet time with the shoe fittings. He prayed that they were triple checking their research as to take up as much time as possible getting to Ella, so much time that they might even give up their search before they got to her little estate. But the baker could only dream as he continued to knead his dough. It was just then that he heard the doors to the bakery open. Greyson wiped the flour off of his hands with his rag as he made his way to the shops main counter in order to see what customer had arrived. Much to his great surprise, he found himself to be face to face with the prince.

Greyson only had one thought running through his mind: this can't be good.