Another Cinderella

Chapter 3: The Invitation

The sound of a rooster shattered the morning silence in the vicinity of the château, which is located just behind the heart of Erchantia .

The sun had yet to show its lights, but Archen was already awake. Again.

And for the umpteenth time, Archen already resigned himself. Hoping that what had happened to him was just a dream, already faded away.

After waking up for the 30th day in a row with the same view each time : the ceiling with wooden beams and walls infected with mold. Alongside the narrow bed draped in blue with a musty Kapok pillow that hadn't been changed for who knows how long. It's all the same.

So, now, want it or not, he already resigned to his fate. He just need to.

After returning with the woman named Cinderella and losing his way home cause he doesn't even know where he is.

Out of pity, Cinderella brought him back, and since that day, he had been staying here, in the servants' quarters within the estate inhabited by the Tremaine family.

The servant quarters were tucked away behind the grand estate, almost hidden from view cause of the sprawling gardens and towering trees.

Its exterior was weathered and worn, the paint chipped and faded from years of neglect. The roof sagged in places, and the shutters hung askew on their hinges.

Here, he found refuge while contemplating his fate.

'Mae, Ren, Ash....Icha..how are you doing? You must be freaking out naa when I'm just gone like that... I hope they don't tire themselves out searching for me... oh God...

'Mae...guys.... I miss you... isk'

"Hey Archen, hurry up, we need to make the fire for cooking," someone called, interrupting his reverie. Archen turned to look.

"Ah... yeah, okay, I'm coming," Archen quickly got up, following in the footsteps of the man before him.

The man, who introduced himself as Phu Vinh, was one of the servants still residing in the estate.

Why did Archen specify "still residing"?

It's because many servants had been laid off due to financial shortages, as a result of the extravagance and arrogance of the homeowners, who squandered both family fortunes and left the once beautiful château in despair.

Yes, the Tremaine family. Cinderella's step family.

And because of them, he was increasingly convinced that he had been drawn into this world.

A world that he had only known to exist in fairy tale storybooks whom he just read to Icha, and now he had become a part of it without knowing his way out.

He is in Cinderella's world.

"Hey universe, if you want to transmit me to another world, at least put me in a video game or some action movie, so I know the quest or whatever for me to solve... But a fairy tale... what am I supposed to do..." he muttered.

That figure, Cinderella, whom he only knew after reading the fairy tale book to Icha on his birthday night, was now with him, carrying water in a wooden bucket to pour into the large pot that Phu Vinh had lit earlier. Archen helped by adding some firewood to ensure the dwindling fire didn't go out and the water could be boiled perfectly.

How was Archen so sure that this Cinderella was the same as the one in the book?

Well, because of the two faithful mice accompanying the beautiful girl wherever she went, named Gus and Jaq, just as he knew from the book, and her cruel step family, with names exactly as in the book, Lady Tremaine and her two daughters, Anastasia and Drizella.