As the entire group of girls silently walked behind Miss Daisy into the castle, they stared in wonder around them. Even Taylor, a princess exposed to countless scenic places, was pleasantly surprised at the beauty within the castle.

The floor was made of marble, which caused a delightful clicking sound every time the group stepped on it. The walls were carved into unfamiliar symbols and painting, which was painted with gold. The furniture in the house looked simple, and golden, making the place look simply perfect because of how everything seemed to match.

Taylor was immediately reminded of the throne room in her own castle that had a similar design. A dam of sadness broke out in her mind but she paid it no attention, going back to the magnificent palace she was in.

Even the porcelain vases on the stands had gold engravings, making it blend into the theme of the place. In front of the group, a majestic staircase climbed upwards, as though going into the sky.

The ceiling was so high that Taylor assumed it would take more than twenty people to reach it. That must have been probably how many people it took to attach the glimmering, grand chandelier that hung above their heads, its diamonds sparkling in the daylight.

“Stop staring!” Miss Daisy instructed at the dazed girls. “Follow me. We are not supposed to be here. We are going to go to the servants quarters using this staircase.”

Taylor smiled at the thought of climbing the appallingly huge staircase. Only when she got nearer did she realise that Miss Daisy was talking about a different stairway. A different, narrower staircase that lead downwards into darkness, as though they were descending into a horrendous nightmare.

Suppressing the urge to bolt out of the castle immediately, Taylor followed the crowd down the staircase, squeezing her way through and nearly bumping her head against the ceiling every few seconds.

When Taylor finally exited from that staircase into a surprisingly brightly lit room filled with dozens of other servants, she let out a huff of relief. There was no way she was going to use that set of stairs again.

Miss Daisy immediately announced, “You will all be using these stairways and its connecting staircases to move about the castle. No one is to use the main stairways. If we catch you using it, you will be severely punished.”

Taylor sighed. Wonderful, simply wonderful!

Miss Daisy droned on and on about the duties and schedules of all of them. Taylor half-listened, more ready to scarf down something filling and crash into a soft bed that did not make her back ache miserably.

Keeping the key things Miss Daisy spoke about in mind, the first thing she asked Bethany when they were free to look around the servants quarters for awhile was about food. “When will they give us food? I am extremely hungry,” she admitted.

Bethany frowned. “Gwen, as a maid, we only usually get two meals; breakfast and dinner. It is only lunchtime now, there is still four more hours to dinner. You have to hold onto your hunger till then,” she confessed.

Taylor gaped. Stay hungry for four more hours? Only two meals a day? This was the ultimate torture! As a princess, she could ask for five meals a day and the servants would happily give her. Now, she was restricted to only two? That was atrocious.

Then again, she was no longer a princess. The privileges of being a princess were all lost when Taylor donned the plain brown dress she still wore. Now, she was Gwen Chaser, and Gwen should be more than satisfied to eat only two meals a day.

“Alright,” Taylor reluctantly said, moving away from Bethany. She had spotted an empty chair at the servants' dining table a few moments ago and she was desperate to rest her aching feet.

As she plopped onto the chair with no regard of anyone around her, Taylor closed her eyes. For the next few moments, she wanted to pretend that she was back in her room in the castle, coming home from a stroll in the gardens. Her personal maid, Lyla, would have removed her shoes carefully, spreading some lotion on her feet to make it remain soft and smooth.

Taylor would have lowered herself into a bath with scented flowers to remove the slight sweat from doing some exercise and moaned to Lyla how she was going to sleep in for the next couple of days. Lyla would have smiled patiently, urging to have a nap and wake up later to have dinner and catch up on all the duties she missed while she was in the garden.

Taylor would have agreed to Lyla’s suggestions, like always, and woken up a few hours later, energised enough to deal with her parents and nosy people who she did not know or care about throughout dinner.

The image playing out in Taylor's mind gave her a sense of comfort, providing enough strength for her to open her eyes and accept her current situation. She just had to pull through the next few months.

That’s all she needed to do.

After the coronation ceremony, she would return home and pamper herself as much as she wanted to. For now though, it was essential to go through the hardships of the present to enjoy the rewards of the future.

A scream of help pulled Taylor out of her thoughts and within seconds, most of the servants were clambering up the stairs to the main hall, Taylor included.