Everything was different compared to yesterday. Usually, people wandered around the square and castle looking at their feet or just pouting. But today they wished a good day to each other and smiled. Today is the day their King had born twenty-nine years ago.

Everyone was excited because of an old tradition. The tradition was to celebrate the ruler's birthday by a ball. Or well you can't say, everyone, because the birthday hero himself hated that day. It is just a reminder for something he wants to forget. Because people have noticed during the years that today is the day The King is grumpier than usual, no one has yet said a word to him.

Workers in the castle ran around the castle like their asses were on fire. Everything is to be held on time, and if not there will be a punishment.

The same lonely guard as a day earlier was walking, but not like yesterday. Today he was walking in the borders with other soldiers.

"Did you heard about the witch?" His friend asked. Their job was to check the outsides of the borders for any kind of changes that might have happened during the last night. Now it is five o' clock in the morning and they were walking in the woods.

"What witch? No, I haven't."

"Well." His friend smirked. "Yesterday there was a witch in border screaming that she needed to see our King."

"Really? Didn't she know that it is almost impossible to meet him at this time."

"Apparently not."

They continued their walk until the curiousness opened the lonely guard's mouth. "What happened after that?"

"She fled when the guards tried to catch her. The Guards ran after her but they never saw her again. No one knows what happened to her. In my opinion, she was just some kind of junkie who wanted money."

"But if that is the truth why did she flee?" There was something in that story that wasn't public information, the lonely guard could feel it. Because who would risk her own life only to get a few seconds to speak to The King.

"I don't know. Do I look like a witch to you?"

They continued their way for thirty minutes talking about the celebration that is going to happen in the evening. Both of them were excited to get some real food and eat it until they couldn't walk. But of course they would be there as guards but no one will notice if they take some food.

"Just out of curiosity. Do you know my sister Alexandra?" The other guard mumbled. His little sister has had a crush on his colleague for as long as she can remember. And when Alexa heard that her brother is going to patrol with the lonely guard. She forced her brother to say some good things about her.

"I'm not sure." There is a good reason why they call him as the lonely guard.

"Well, she has noticed you."

"Really?" Not that he really cared.

"Actually she thinks you guys are mates."

"I can promise you that it isn't true." Girls have never attracted him, so he preferred to be lonely.

"Hmm." Now his sister is going to kill him. She never ever wanted the lonely guard to know about her feelings or that she thinks he is her mate. But now her own brother just spilled her darkest secret to the only person he shouldn't have. She is going to skin him alive and eat his limps to the pigs.

Few minutes passed before they witnessed something they probably shouldn't have.

"Umm, you remember the witch we were talking about?

"Yep."

"I think we found her."

There she was laying on the ground. An arrow in her forehead and guts outside of her body. Eyes like ghost stared at the guards.

"Are you sure?"

The other guard glared at him. How fucking stupid does he think he is?" Let's just say I'm sure." After that, both of them started to run towards the castle.

How on Earth Maeve could have known that Cory is afraid of mice? How could have she anticipated that?

And now Cory has been avoiding Maeve. She is afraid to see that flea nest again and she knows that it is with Maeve. So there is no other way to than to avoid her. But to Maeve, it is a mystery, why Cory is avoiding her.

"Do you know T-Tommy w-why Cory is a-avoiding me?"

The mouse squeaked.

"S-she's probably just scared of mice."

Maeve had heard that today is the birthday of The King. It is a weird thought that there is a big ball today and no one has really invited her. There is also a rumor that there will be different species of supernatural but no humans. But Maeve is going to break that. She will be in there and only The Devil himself can stop her. But first she has to find a dress and because Cory is avoiding her. She has to do it herself.

The maid had said that the dress Maeve is wearing right now is from the laundry room. So that is where the human girl will be heading first. But there is a little problem on her way, Maeve has no idea where the laundry room is.

So that is the reason why she is again in the hallways trying to find something.

She tried to ask the path from a few servants, but all of them ignored her. But that didn't stop her. Maeve was accustomed to that. They didn't like her, because she is different from them. And she had accepted that. There is nothing she could do to change that expect to treat them like she would want them to treat her.

Then another boy servant was walking towards her. His hands were full of clothes, so he must be coming from the laundry room. When he was right next to the human, she opened her mouth.

"E-excuse me, Do y-you know where t-the laundry room i-is?" But the boy didn't expect her to say something so he got frightened and dropped all of the clothes on the floor.

"Oh I'm s-sorry," Maeve mumbled and started to pick the clothes. After all, it was her fault that the boy dropped the clothes.

And there they were; a human and a servant on the ground gathering the clothes.

When Maeve lifted her head and saw the boys face she was amazed. That boy held a pair of eyes that were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. One eye was emerald green and another was as blue as the ocean. His face looked so scared and innocent that even a newborn baby would have looked like a knight compared to him.

When they had gathered all the clothes Maeve gave the part she has gathered to the boy.

"Thank you." He muttered and started to walk away from her. He had heard rumors about the human who sleeps in the castle. They say she is The Kings mate, and if someone says one wrong thing to her or hurt her, The King will kill you or worse. And no one wants to be on his blacklist.

"Hey, w-wait!" She screamed after him.

The boy froze.

"D-do you know w-where the laundry r-room is?"

The servant was in shock. Why on earth does The Kings mate want to know where the laundry room is? It is that place where no one with higher status will never set a foot.

"Turn right and take the steps down." He said and ran away.

"Thank you!" She yelled after him.

"Well h-he wasn't weird or anything", Maeve muttered to herself. It seems like Cory isn't the only service that is avoiding her. But at least he was kind enough to tell her where the laundry room is. Now she can only hope that she will find a dress that is suitable for a ball.

One hour later when she finally found the room she had been looking for and stepped inside of the room everything stopped. The maids that where washing or sorting clothes stopped. Whew, servant boys that were in the room looked down quickly and walked away.

They stared at her. Some looks were curious and some angry and full of fear.

"C-continue," Maeve said. She couldn't understand their reaction. Yes, she is a human and yes, she is different. But why did they stop everything and after she said 'continue' everyone started to do their jobs. Even those servants that walked away returned. It seemed that they almost are scared of her. And that if something is crazy. Who can be afraid of a small human girl in a castle full of werewolves? There is something that they know but Maeve doesn't.

But that wasn't the reason Maeve came inside of the room. She needed to find a ball gown and that is what she will do.

Few hours went by while Maeve tried to find a dress from the box. She couldn't find a dress that will fit her and be a dress that is suitable for a ball.

There was one dress that was so beautiful that Maeve couldn't understand why it was in the box. Unlucky for her the dress was way too many sizes too big for her. Not even Cory and her sewing skills would make that dress small enough that it would fit Maeve.

The human could feel tears forming in her eyes.

Her dream has been as long as she could remember to participate in a ball. And finally there is a chance for her to do it but she couldn't find a dress. Maybe she should ask help, but everyone just ignored her or avoids her.

"You're looking for a dress?" A voice asked behind her.

She turned around and stared at a pair of different colored eyes.

"Y-you."

"I know where you can find a dress for the ball." The servant boy said.

"Really?"

"Just follow me, milady."

Maeve stood up and started to follow him. But there is one thing that troubled her. He called he 'milady' and everyone with eyes can clearly see that she is no lady. More like a peasant that have rolled on mud and then ran through woods. There is no single feature in her that would scream ladylike. But at least he hasn't called her a bitch, so that is a change at least.

He led her into a room with the biggest closet she has ever seen. It was full of beautiful dresses and shoes. There was even a shelf full of corsets.

"Choose something from here. I'm sure no one will never notice that your dress is from here."

Maeve was still in starstruck and didn't first notice that he was talking.

"Y-you are nice t-to me?"

The servant boy sighed, "I have seen that almost everyone is mean to you and we have never even met and you helped me with the clothes. That is something I won't forget."

And then Maeve hugged him.

"Thank you." There were no words to describe how happy she is right now. Her dream was almost broken but he saved it in the last second.

"It's nothing." The boy mumbled as he felt the blood rising on his cheeks.

"No, truly t-thank you from the b-bottom of my heart."

Now the servant boys cheeks were even redder than tomatoes.

"What's y-your name?" The human asked.

"Roy."

Maeve smiled, "Well, Roy, I'm Maeve a-and it's n-nice to meet you." Maeve took a step back and started to stare at the clothes.

Roy noticed her stare and said, "You can try them on If you like."

"w-who's closet is t-this?" She did not want to steal clothes from someone. Her sister used to steal her dresses all the time and she doesn't want to do it to someone else. When Maeve lived at home all the girls had two dresses; one simple and one solemn.

"You don't have to worry about that. The person who owns all of these is far away from here." After saying that Roy walked away. He thought that Maeve wanted to get some peace while trying them on.

Maeve rushed towards the clothes and started to touch them. All of them were so beautiful that Maeve doesn't have words to describe them. She took Tommy from her pocket and put him on a stool.

First, she tried on a beautiful light blue satin dress with white details on it. She loved the dress but the sleeves were way too long for her. She started to wonder what kind of monkey hands does the owner of these dresses have?

Second dress that she tried on was a pink dress with bows on it. It was beautiful in the hanger but on Maeve, it looked like a pink wedding cake. It even made Tommy to ran away from the stool.

There are no words to describe the dress number tree.

Before trying on dress number four, Maeve took a corset from the shelf and put it on. It was way comfier than her own.

Before even putting the dress on she could feel it. And after it was on her there was no denying it. This was the dress. The color of the dress was light pink with ruffles falling from the waist. Her shoulders were also covered with ruffle.

It looked like someone would have only made it for her. It fitted from every line and curve. Even Tommy had come back from his hiding place.

"W-what do you t-think?"

Tommy squeaked. And if a mouse can nod his head then that is exactly what Maeve thought that Tommy did.

She took the dress off and put on her old one and started to walk towards Cory's room. She didn't know if even Cory was in there but she needed help with her hair and if being honest, Maeve can barely brush her own hair without having to cut it.

Tommy being inside of her pocket, she wished that Cory doesn't notice him.

The room Cory lives in is a room that holds four other maids too. When Maeve was in front of it she knocked and hoped that Cory is inside of it.

A few seconds later a red-haired maid opened the door.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"Is C-cory here?"

The red-haired maid rolled her eyes and yelled. "Cory there is some bitch asking for you!" After that, she left Maeve alone.

When Cory saw Maeve standing in the door hole she was surprised and scared if that mouse will suddenly appear from somewhere.

"Maeve?"

"I n-need your help."

"Okay, with what?"

Maeve showed the dress in her hands to Cory and said, "I need y-you to make my hair a-and help me w-with my d-dream come t-true."

***

And Cory did help her with her hair. She put it on a large bun with all kind of braids running through it. She even left a few strands of hair framing her face.

The maid also put a little bit of blush on the human's cheeks and pinched her lips to make them redder. But because that didn't work she found some lip paint from a room that belonged to one of The Kings mistresses and put that on Maeve's lips.

"You look beautiful," Cory said.

And that is exactly what she looked. For the first time in Maeve's life, she felt like she was truly beautiful and not a wallflower with mud on her cheeks.

She felt tears falling on her cheeks. And Cory noticed them.

"What's wrong? Did I do something that you don't like?"

"N-no. Everything is p-perfect." She couldn't even recognize herself if she didn't know otherwise.

"The Ball has started. You should go there if you don't want to miss it."

"You a-aren't going?" Maeve asked.

Cory shook her head. "No, we servants don't go in there. After the celebration, the food that wasn't eaten is given to us and the citizens."

"Really?" Maybe this Kingdom is not that bad as it looks. Because it seems like someone in here has a heart and wants to share it.

"Yes, it has been a tradition for years."

"But now you should go. Go live your dream and remember to enjoy every second of it, because it will always end too soon."

Maeve nodded and started to walk towards The Great Hall. Today is the day her dream is coming true and like she said only The Devil can ruin her day.

The walk towards The Hall was long but when the guards opened the door for her it felt like she was in heaven.

The last time she saw The Great Hall was weeks ago and now it looks so different compared to the last time. That if Maeve hadn't been sure she is in the right place she would have believed that it was a totally different place.

The chandeliers are lighting the whole room with golden light and it looks like the whole room is golden. Vines are decorating the walls and window frames. An orchestra is playing music and people are dancing in the middle of the room. Tables are full of different kinds of food and air is full of their smells.

The King is sitting on his throne and drinking wine. It's the only thing that keeps him sitting on the throne and not walking away from The Great hall. He doesn't look happy but he doesn't look angry either.

Maeve tried to find Cato with her eyes but failed. The Hall is full of people that Maeve has never seen before. And there probably is also creatures she has never even heard of.

The orchestra stopped playing the song and people clapped. A few seconds later they started again but with a different song.

"Mother I w-wish that you could see me now." The human muttered to herself. Her mother's dream has always been to attend a ball too but she never got the chance. Now Maeve promised to herself that she will enjoy the night for both of them.

She truly felt like a princess.

Then her eyes landed on a glass full of red liquid on the table. It looks like the liquid she got when she was in the cell from Caspian. And hopefully, it is the same liquid. It felt like the night couldn't be any better.

Maeve started to walk towards the red liquid when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

She turned around and saw Ethen. In that same second, she felt like all the color from her face vanished.

"You look truly mesmerizing." Then he took her hand and kissed it.

"May I have this dance?"