The footman dropped Alison off back at her house and she went inside. To her surprise, Frederick was actually in the kitchen. He was rummaging through the cupboards when she walked in.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Alison mentioned before yawning. Frederick nearly jumped out of his skin as she sat at the dining table.

"Alison," Frederick whispered, as if he just then remembered that he had a granddaughter and that she was staying with him for the foreseeable future. Alison yawned again. "Were you out all night?"

"No, I went up to the castle. What about you? Shouldn't you be at the town hall? Doing mayor things?" 

"Generally, yes, but I needed to find something important."

"Important?" 

"Yes, I-" he began before looking at her again. "Is that the same dress I saw you in a few days ago?"

"Yes, what about it?" she asked, glancing at the clock. She didn't have time before her next shift to wash her clothes.

"Why didn't you look in the closet? There are still some of your mother's dresses from when she lived her all those years ago," he suggested.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I figured that you would find them and put them to use," Frederick shrugged before continuing to look through the cupboards. Alison sighed before getting up. She walked upstairs to go find these dresses that her grandfather were talking about.

As she opened the closet door, she found that her mother had left quite a few dresses. Mostly were in blues and purples, but there was a red dress that caught Alison's eye. She slipped it on, and was surprised to find that it actually fit rather well. With a smile, she went back down the stairs to show Frederick. However, he wasn't there. He probably had found the thing he was looking for and went back to work.

With a sigh, Alison straightened her dress and left as well. She would be a little early to work, but she guessed that they would be able to use her regardless. She closed the door behind her, and went off into the town.

After living there for a few days, Alison grew more comfortable with her situation. She still couldn't wait to be back home, but she could appreciate the quiet town for what it was. There was no threat of bombs or invasion. It was peaceful, and she welcomed it.

"Alison?" Andrea called as she gave an order to Puck. Alison waved as she made her way to her coworker. "You're early."

"Yeah, I had an appointment with the queen this morning," Alison answered.

"The queen?" 

"Didn't ya hear? Alison got invited to the ball!" Puck informed loudly before disappearing back into the kitchen. Alison curled her lips inward, wondering if Chester had told them.

"Invited? But no one gets invited," Andrea recalled. "That means she probably wants to make sure you're there."

"That's what Chester said," Alison sighed.

"What did you meet with the queen this morning for, then?"

"She wanted to get me into a dress. She's having the royal tailor design one."

"Are you kidding? Why aren't you more excited for that?" Andrea nearly screamed. "I mean, I'm not going because that's one of my only nights off, since Puck usually goes. If I had a proper princess gown, I would go in a heartbeat."

"I mean, I'm excited, but I guess I'm still trying to get used to the way things are around here, I guess."

"Fair enough. Nearly the whole town will be there, so there's at least some comfort. At the very least, you'll have Chester and Puck there with you."

"Chester's going too? I never thought he would be interested in such things," Alison murmured.

"He always goes. I think he likes the queen's wine, which she serves at every party."

"Does Frederick go?"

"I don't know, actually. I would assume that he has the day off, the workaholic. I wouldn't be surprised if he spent it in his office nonetheless," Andrea mentioned. Alison sighed again as she grabbed her apron.

"I guess that makes sense. I saw him at his house for the first time since I've been here."

"He owns a house? I would never have guessed," Andrea teased before Puck called out orders again. She picked them up and left for the tables while Alison started helping customers.

A few hours had passed, and Alison had started counting down the hours until she could go back home. She hadn't expected to get up so early, and now she just wanted to go back to sleep. 

"Hello!" a cheery voice sounded behind her. She took a silent deep breath before turning to see Chester.

"Hey," Alison smiled, relieved that it was him and not another customer. "What brings you in today?"

"Lunch, actually. Frederick let me take an hour off, so I came to eat at the best place in town."

"Frederick let you take an hour off?"

"Well, he didn't say that, but he seemed pretty alright on his own."

"As long as you're not giving him more work to finish. I saw him earlier for the first time in his own house. I think he forgot I was living there," Alison informed, making him laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds like him. Anyway, how did the meeting with the queen go?" 

"It went fine. The tailor was excited to have a new project that was a little different from the norm."

"I told you that you would get a new dress," Chester laughed.

"Alright, you were right. I just thought that it would be easier."

"Artemisia loves dressing people up. Before the king disappeared, she used to help him get dressed every morning. You could tell, too, because his style slowly changed after they got married."

"I'm not too surprised. The way she dresses up her daughter," Alison added, smiling.

"Poor Wisteria. I hope she develops her mother's fashion sense, otherwise war will ensue," Chester teased as he sat down at a table. Alison took his order and dropped it off at Puck's kitchen window.

Alison continued to help and serve the patrons before Chester called her over again. She filled up some water glasses on her way over to his table.

"What can I do for you? Is the food good?" Alison wondered.

"The food's delicious, actually," Chester replied. "I actually forgot to ask you something."

"Something important that you had to wave me down?" she chuckled.

"A matter of life and death, in fact."

"Oh really?"

"Indeed," Chester answered. "What color is your new dress?"

"From what I remember, I think it's going to be bright blue with some light blue accents. There were so many different types of fabric," Alison laughed, remembering the sea of cloth that Gwen insisted on swimming in. "Why do you ask?"

"More curious than anything," Chester answered with a cunning smile. Alison nodded, confused, before leaving to help her other tables.