The sound of muffled sobs greeted Celia's ears as she stepped into Keira's room early the next morning. She, unlike most of the other servants about the castle, had just been informed about Keira's arranged marriage to Edwin and was hoping that she'd be in a happy mood about it, though the crying she was hearing seemed to tell her otherwise. Her eyes wandered over to the source of the crying and widened when she saw Keira sitting in the center of her bed with her face buried in her pillow, quieting her sobs.

"Keira what's wrong?" She asked as she quickly rushed over to the bedside.

Keira simply continued to keep her face up against the pillow.

"Keira…?" Celia asked quietly.

She only began to cry harder as she tightened her grip on the pillow.

"Keira what's wrong?" Celia asked again. "Why are you so upset?"

Keira raised her head and wiped her tears away before staring at her with her puffy watered eyes.

"M-My parents… my parents…" She told her, choking on her words. "They… they're…" She shook her head and buried her face in her pillow before shouting. "They're forcing me to marry Edwin!"

Celia, seeming to have forgotten about what had happened the other day, didn't understand how this was making her upset. "What… what's wrong with that?" She asked cautiously.

Keira looked up at her appearing to be mad. "W-What's w-wrong with that?"

Being cautious with her actions once again, Celia slowly nodded her head.

Keira's expression changed to one of heartbreak. "Celia… if I have to marry E-Edwin… then I'm going to be forced to stay here in the castle forever… I'll never see Jack again!"

Celia let out an annoyed sigh. "You're worried about not seeing that commoner again?"

Keira's expression only worsened. "Celia… were you even paying attention yesterday…?"

Celia looked away a little embarrassed. "Well I…"

"Did you see that we both care about each…?" Keira asked.

Celia's eyes focused back on her. "Well…"

"Do you even understand how much he means to me?" Keira asked in a heartfelt tone.

When Celia refused to answer Keira looked away and diverted her eyes out towards the small viewable sliver of the forest outside the window beside her bed.

"It doesn't matter now anyway…" She muttered. "My parents said I'm forbidden from leaving the castle… There's no way I can see him anymore…"

"Are… are you sure…?" Celia asked in an attempt to raise her spirits.

Keira looked away from the window and down at the ground as she nodded her head. "They have every guard informed and stationed around all the castle gates and throughout the town. There's no way I can get out…"

"Now Keira, it'll be alright." Celia told her still trying to cheer her up. "Maybe…" She seemed to be at a loss of words for a moment. "Maybe marrying Edwin is for the best."

Keira's head immediately shot up as she formed a hollow expression. "No…" She replied in an empty voice as she shook her head. "I won't allow my parents to trap me in this castle for the rest of my life…"

"But Keira you said yourself that they have all the guards out in order to make sure you don't leave." Celia reminded her. "Just how exactly do you plan on going against them?"

Keira entered a silent state of thought for a moment as she looked down at her feet peering out from the bottom of the pillow she was holding out to. "I… I don't know…" She replied in a sad tone.

"You see Keira? There's no way you can go against your parents. It's best if you just accept the fact that your future is here in the castle." Celia advised.

Keira sighed and tightened her grip on the pillow as she rested her head down on it. "But I can't… my future is out there… with Jack…"

Celia sighed. "Just please promise me you won't do anything reckless."

Keira silently nodded her head.

"Alright then." Celia said quietly.

She turned around and headed back towards the door heading out into the hall before turning back around.

"Please Keira," She said. "Just try to be happy."

Keira remained silently and watched her finish exiting the room.

Later that afternoon, Keira, having gotten all the crying about the news of her wedding out, was standing out on her balcony once again but instead of looking out at the forest like she so often did she was instead looking at the white brick wall sealing her inside the grounds. If it wasn't for that wall she could simply run through the castle's garden beneath her room and swim across the river beside it in order to so easily gain that freedom she desired and not have to try and devise a plan in order to sneak past the guards, all of which would, in her mind, fail at some point. Suddenly, she began to her the sound of her door opening and walked into her room to watch as Edwin stepped inside.

"E-Edwin…!" She greeted a little surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Well after what happened yesterday I just wanted to make sure you were alright." He replied.

She sighed at the memory of the argument that had taken place in the throne room the previous day and turned back towards the balcony. "I'm fine…"

He took a step towards her. "Are you sure?" He asked. "After… what your father did… I'd understand if you weren't in the mood to talk."

"No, it's alright… my… my father's actions were… justified…" She told him, cringing at every word of her lie. "I… I have been a bit… reckless…recently with my behavior…"

"Well you certainly didn't seem to think that yesterday." He remarked.

"I've had some time to think about it alright!" She snapped in a surprising burst of anger. "I thought it over and realized I was wrong!"

Edwin backed away from her. "Well alright, there's no need to get touchy though."

Keira let out a disappointed sigh. "I'm sorry for yelling. It's just that I'm still upset about my parent's decision to have me wed." She admitted.

"What's there to be upset with?" He asked a little disheartened; obviously upset himself at the fact that she wasn't completely satisfied with the thought of marrying him.

"I-It's not you." She answered quickly. "It's just…" She paused. "It's just that it came as such a sudden surprise to me, especially since I had no say in the matter."

"Well are you alright with their decision?" He asked curiously.

"W-Why of course." She lied. "Their decision for us to get married is…" She cringed again. "Great…"

"Are you sure?" He asked in a way that seemed to tell her he might be able to tell she was lying.

"It's a great idea." She replied. "It's… I'm just going to have to get used to the idea, that's all." She told him before smiling.

"Alright…" He said a little uneasy, possibly due to her strange fake smile. "Well, I'll leave you to… take in the news of our wedding."

Keira nodded her head. "Thank you." She said before resuming her smile.

Still appearing to be a little uneasy, Edwin nodded his head before slowly backing away from her and turning around. Keira continued to smile at his back as she watched him leave and once he stepped into the hall and began to shut the door behind him she turned around and began to head back out onto the balcony, unaware of the fact that the door had not completely shut.

Back out on the balcony Keira looked back out at the forest before putting her hands together and looking down.

"Harvest Goddess…" She began in a rather loud voice. "Please…" She looked up at the sky. "You have to help me… you have to help me escape this wedding so I can be with Jack…" She felt her eyes begin to get a little watery again. "Please…"

Only then did the door to her room finally shut.

Towards the end of the day, Keira was making her way down to the dining hall for dinner when she one of her family's maids walking down the same hall caught her attention. She was doing anything out of the ordinary, simply walking through the hall, but Keira seemed to have realized something. Quickly, she changed directions and began to head towards one of the castle's other gates made specifically for the use of its servants and maids. When she arrived at the closest one she hid behind one of the stone columns placed in the room around it to avoid being noticed by one of the guards stationed there to make sure that she didn't leave. Carefully, she waited and watched for one for something and when she finally noticed as one of the castle's maids walked through the gate without even a glance for the guards she leaned back against the column and exclaimed.

"Yes!"

Happily, she ran from her position behind the column and in the direction of the servant's quarters on the other end of the castle and just as she had hoped Celia was busy cleaning up her portion of the room she was assigned to when she arrived.

"Celia!" Keira exclaimed as she ran up to her.

"K-Keira?" Celia asked in a surprised tone as she turned around to face her seeing as it was unusual for Keira to venture to this part of the castle. "What are you doing here?"

Keira looked around the room and when she saw that it was empty she leaned in closer to her. "Celia, I need one of your maid outfits.

Celia lowered her eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

Keira clapped her hands together. "Please, I need one of them."

"What do you need one of my outfits for?" Celia questioned.

"The servant's exit." Keira answered. "The guards won't stop me if I use the servants exit."

"But you're not a servant." Celia told her.

"And that's why I need one of your outfits." Keira replied. "If they can't recognize me they won't stop me."

Celia shook her head and backed away. "No… you can't be serious."

Keira shook her hands like a beggar. "Please Celia; I have to get out of here for a while so I can tell Jack about my parent's plans."

"Keira… I… I can't…" Celia replied.

"Please Celia! Please!" Keira begged.

Celia silently stared into Keira's puppy like eyes for a moment.

"Fine…" She finally sighed before turning around and heading to her dresser.

She opened one of the drawers and shuffled through it before pulling out a red dress, along with a white apron and headpiece.

"Here." Celia said as she handed the pile to her.

Keira smiled at her. "Thanks you Celia… now… do you, er… mind?" She asked as she motioned towards the door.

Celia sighed. "Not at all…" She muttered before stepping out.

A few moments later Keira emerged from the room in Celia's outfit while carrying her clothes which she then handed to her.

"How do I look?" She asked.

She then made a quick spin to show off the dress.

"You look… well, like a maid." Celia answered. "But where's your hair?"

Keira turned around and raised up the bottom portion of the white headpiece hanging down her neck to reveal that she was wearing the dress over her hair.

"Is it noticeable?" She asked as she turned back around.

Celia shook her head. "Not at all." She answered honestly.

"Thank you Celia." Keira said as she gave her a quick hug. "I'll be back by tomorrow, promise."

Celia then silently watched as Keira began to make her way down the hall towards one of the servant gates. She knew there was a chance her plan could fail but she did have a small hope in her heart that she would be able to get out of the castle unnoticed, she was her caretaker and always had to hope for the best for her. Once Keira was around the corner she turned around to reenter her room when she suddenly bumped into the body of another person.

"Celia… I'd like to ask you where that friend of yours is heading."