1 Chapter 1: The invitation to the king's ball

As twilight depicted, a duo of fragile feet slammed the ground as it ran toward a building. "Father… Father…" The tiny girl retained a letter in her hand.

The head of the Berton household, Mr. Berton, who was telling a tale to his two other girls, looked up at his little girl. "What's it, Marianne?"

"Look here, A letter with the king's symbol." Her optimistic tone was ostensibly showcased throughout the entire house.

"What does the letter say?" Tessa asked. Her eyes were crammed with joy.

Marianne quickly unlatched the letter. "It's about a ball!" The two girls exclaimed in surprise. "And he's inviting all the young ladies in Berton's household. Oh, what a privilege."

Tessa and Marianne did a happy dance and rotated with happiness.

"When is the ball commercing?" Mrs. Berton asked, her eyes shining with pride.

"Wait… this letter arrived six days ago! How didn't we know?" Marianne exclaimed after looking thoroughly at the letter. "And the day of the ball is tomorrow night, an hour to midnight."

"C'mon girls, we've got clothes to sew." Their mother said, "We just need the right fabric to purchase."

Her suggestion made Marianne grumble. "You wanna sew dresses for us? Not a chance mama. Why can't we just buy a dress? Or rent one?"

Mrs. Berton glared at her. "The cost of a dress is worth an entire month's budget for running the house. And we aren't renting, people renting out these dresses would also be at the ball. I don't want my girls to be seen as cheap."

Marianne facepalms. "Oh, this family is embarrassing." She sighed.

"Who's gonna get the fabrics? Oh, let me do it," Tessa pleaded.

"Don't worry, Heidi will do it. She has keen eyes, far better than you both when it comes to dressmaking." Mr. Breton bragged, earning a pout from Tessa.

"Heidi," Mrs. Berton called. She had noticed her being quiet since the letter came in. "Are you alright? You've been quiet."

"I'm fine, mama," Heidi answered politely. "It's just… I don't like attending such places."

Mrs. Breton's heart warmed. She leaned to match the same height as Heidi who was on the ground. "You don't have to feel forced, Angel. It's not odd not to like such places, don't feel compelled to be there when you aren't comfortable." She advised. "At your age, I hated all crowded places."

"We need to find a suitor for Tessa, and Heidi is the one with keen eyes. And we need those eyes to find a better one." Mr. Berton said. "But I'm not forcing you, it's your choice if you wanna stay at home or attend the king's ball."

Marianne waited impatiently for the boring conversation to finish. "We don't have time for chit-chat, we have less than a day for two dresses, we better start working. Or we aren't gonna be wearing clothes to the ball."

"Actually, three dresses. It'll be boring being alone all by myself." Heidi said, bringing a smile to their faces. "I'll go get the fabrics, we don't have time."

Tessa looked outside, it was dark. "But it's nighttime, all the shops must have closed." It was a quarter past nine.

"Mrs. Tisha stores the best fabrics at home, and her house isn't far from ours."

"I'll come with you," Marianne suggested. "It's dark, and mother won't be at ease knowing you're out there alone."

"Don't worry, Marie, nighttime is my best hour of the day."

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Heidi walked in silence through the cold night to Mrs. Tisha's house. She wasn't scared walking along in the darkness, not when she likes to move unseen. Her hair waved to different trends, bringing a smile to her lips.

Then it hits her.

Tomorrow was a full moon. Midnight is when the moon is high and big, and the king's ball is at midnight.

Since the new king ascended the throne, no one has seen his face. But they knew he was a big male.

She had heard rumors about the king's ball two days ago. And it was something about the King revealing his identity. So lame.

As she walked for what seemed like minutes, she finally arrived at her destination.

"Mrs. Tisha?" Heidi called out as she knocked. The door cracked a little and then opened. Revealing Mrs. Tisha.

"Heidi dear? You're out this late?" The woman asked with concern in her tone. "Aren't you escorted by your sisters?" She opened the door wide for Heidi to come in.

"Did you hear of the king's ball?"

Mrs. Tisha nodded. "Yeah, a few days ago." She thought for a moment. "You're here to get the fabric to make dresses, aren't you?"

Heidi smiled.

___________

The next day, the entire house was busy making three dresses as there was no time.

And by 9 pm, two dresses for Tessa and Marianne were ready, Heidi's needed a little more touch.

"You guys can go, I'll be there as soon as I can," Heidi assured them.

Among the three sisters, Tessa was the oldest, 21, Heidi second, 19, and Marianne the youngest was just 17.

The two girls went for the ball, leaving Heidi and her mother to apply the final touches to her dress.

"Why don't you go take your bath while I finish off the dress." Her mother suggested.

"We both know how far from completing this dress is. A tiny mistake could have us restart."

Her mother sighed. "I was being so attentive to Tessa's and Marianne's that I forgot to pay attention to your dress."

"It's not your fault, mama. I told you I wanted to make the dress myself, so it's my fault for being neglectful."

It wasn't until some minutes to midnight did Heidi get to finish off her dress. She contemplated staying at home since it was too dark. But she had promised her sisters she would be there. She wasn't one to go back on her words.

So she bathed and got dressed. She checked the time again and realized it was five minutes to midnight. Then she set out for the party.

She had no idea her life changed as soon as the clock struck twelve.