𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 ✔

Chapter Five

The next three weeks went by quickly and the bruises on my ribs had started to hurt less and less. Once my new things arrived, all the splotches of blues and purples had started to fade away into yellows, then nothing, as if they had never existed. But whenever I looked in a mirror, the scars remained in my mind and haunted me still.

Mrs. Lattesworth ended up sending a few extra dresses free of charge alongside the others, which only angered mother. Though, before she had known about the extras, she had already forbidden me from wearing any of the dresses and accessories that she had ordered specifically for my time at the palace. So, if were not for Mrs. Lattesworth's kindness, I would have still been wearing my older, smaller and very worn-out clothes instead.

Other than the few undergarments that were not off limits, I was fine with only being allowed to wear the free dresses. In truth, I was just happy to wear things that fit me in general. Because slowly, but surely, I had started to feel somewhat free. Though, I knew it was far too early to actually think any of it would last and tried my best to not get too attached to the thought of actually succeeding and finally escaping.

Mother and Adela hounded me day in and day out about things I already knew and things I did not. And by the end of the last three weeks of training, I knew every member of the royal family, many of the other girls I was to be competing against, and how to garner attention from men without looking desperate.

For the most part, it was fun spending time with them at first. However, that feeling had been short lived, and once they started being rude towards me, unprovoked of course, I began to dread our lessons.

I was not interested in their belittlement and hateful remarks, nor their very obvious restraint when it came to certain topics. And yes, their lessons were helpful, and I did my best to remember everything that they did share, but in all reality, they needed me, not I them. They were the ones who wanted something from me, and they were not in the position to push things too far or treat me too horridly.

Because for once in my life, they were, all of them, scared of me.

All I had to do was refuse, send a letter to the palace in secret, or tell everyone in town that mother refused to obey the King, and Adela would have been forced to go instead. They did not know me, however. I did not want to do any of those things, and if they had taken the time to learn something about me, then, they would have known that sending me instead was the worst mistake that they could have ever made.

The day of my departure, all of the servants were running around frantically, making sure my things had been packed into one of the fanciest carriages we owned, as well as assuring that everything was happening according to schedule. Everyone had been panicking, even Mother who tried her best to hide it.

For someone who was always in the know about everything, mother was far too nervous. The thought of the unknown ate away at her for the entire three weeks leading up to the event, slowly unraveling her confidence and putting her on edge. She knew sending me was a very large risk, but, despite that, for some reason she was willing to suffer for Adela's sake.

An hour before I was to leave, Cordelia came into my room. In her hands was the dress that mother had specifically ordered weeks ago for that very day. I knew nothing about it prior to its arrival and had, before that moment, still not seen it nor any of the others. Mother had me blindfolded for all the fittings.

I was stunned.

The bodice was a rose pink, V-shaped, square necked corset, which was embroidered with pastel colored silk flowers and had trumpet sleeves. The skirt was solid rose pink, allowing the top of the dress to be the focal point of the entire ensemble.