Thomas had taken off her leg before she fell asleep, and he had clearly had some maids change her into some sleepwear. It wasn't very long and her amputation was clearly visible. Villain looked over at the maid who clapped her hands over her mouth. 

She looked pale, in fact, all the maids looked pale. She had almost forgotten it was unusual to be like this, the maids back in the county had never said a word about this or seemed affected. Villain supposed it would be disturbing if you had never seen such a thing before. Especially on a child. 

Villain scowled, "Are we done gawking?" She asked straightforwardly, "Y-Yes!" The maids stuttered out. They stood there and Villain sighed, "Get Thomas." She ordered sharply, "But my lady he's a man..." The maids tried to argue, "He's my head butler and he's obviously got more brains than the three of you combined." Villain snapped, Thomas was fetched very shortly, and the butler came in looking prim and proper as ever. 

"Countess, what's the issue?" He asked, Villain, looked at him, "I need to get ready but these women are incapable of assisting me." Villain shot a dirty look at the women who flinched, Thomas didn't even bat an eye and picked her up. Carrying her over to the vanity he grabbed a brush and wordlessly started fixing her hair. 

Villain sat there as the women stared, "What are you doing? Get me a dress that's suitable for dinner." She ordered, "Nothing too orientate, the countess has reserved tastes." Thomas added frankly holding a hair tie between his teeth. The women all three rushed off leaving, Villain sat there as Thomas brushed her hair. 

Villain was dressed in something far more comfortable and her hair was pulled back into a simple but neat ponytail. Her hair was shiny and smooth, Villain wondered if there was a difference between the quality of brush she had at home and the one in the palace. 

She was dressed in a well-crafted evening dress. It wasn't showy and looked appropriate for dinner. Villain couldn't help but wonder about the cost of this, but one of the imperial maids informed her that it was being covered by the emperor. 

She and Thomas were escorted to the dining room, a bit early, but the maids were worried by Villain's condition after seeing it. So Villain sat there at her assigned seat across from Thomas. The butler seemed perturbed that she had to sit across from him and not next to him. But he didn't say much. 

"I'm here!" A childish voice announced as the large doors on the other side of the room opened. "Princess it isn't lady-like to shout!" An older woman scolded, Mary, laughed ignoring her nanny as she ran through the room with her arms out.  "I'm ready to eat!" She exclaimed happily finding her seat and plopping down in it, the complete opposite of Villain who had to be assisted in sitting down. 

Villain didn't really think badly of the princess for behaving like a child, "Princess why can't you behave like the Countess you two are the same age!" The nanny scolded looking exhausted, Villain felt her eye twitch, "Loud children are children that feel safe." She spoke up, "The princess's behavior speaks well of the Emperor and Empress making her feel safe." She spoke calmly. Mary sat up looking over at Villain surprised, "Please be more forgiving to her, children are never children for long." The nanny paused looking over at Villain, it was a familiar expression she got from adults.

A certain amount of disturbance as well as sadness. No child should ever speak like Villain did, the young countess felt inclined to agree. The exhaustion of being an ill-equipped adult was not an easy weight to be carried by a child.  "I'll..." The nanny spoke carefully, "I'll take your words into consideration." She swallowed before speaking, she left the room soon after that. 

Mary was staring at Villain from across the table, her bright pink eyes were fixated on her. Villain gave her a gentle nod before looking away. Just then prince Maxis entered, and much like most of the royal family, his hair was white. Something that the Dukedom of Hamilton shared due to the current Duke and the Emperor being cousins. His eyes were more like his mother's a brilliant green like his mother's the Empress. He sat down three chairs down from Villain towards the head of the table. 

His hair was longer than Michael's pulled back into a short ponytail he looked over making eye contact with her. "Who are you?" He asked sharply, Villain was unsurprised by such a response, even in her dreams Maxis had a terrible personality. "Countess Villain Ness your highness," Villain replied politely unbothered, she happened to glance over at Thomas who seemed annoyed by the rude behavior of the princess. 

Maxis snorted, "A countess? Aren't you a little young?What did your parents die? " He asked snidely, "Yes." Villain replied frankly, the rude laughter that came from the prince ceased and he looked startled. "What?" He asked in a much smaller voice, "My parents died, that's how I became Countess." Maxis looked at Villain and then to Mary for confirmation. 

"She lost her leg too," Mary replied in a dead honest tone. Her elbow rested on the table as she used her hand to rest her face on. She seemed amused by Maxis floundering. The prince's face slowly became a dark red with shame he quietly sat down refusing to make eye contact with Villain. 

 It was an awkward moment as the table fell into a brief silence then Prince Michael entered the room, his nose was in a holy book and his nanny steered him around objects in his way. "Your highness please watch where you're going!" his nanny spoke worriedly, Michael looked up and smiled, "If I have you nanny I don't need to." he said with a charming smile before spotting Villain.

"Countess!" He spoke looking surprised and happy to see her. He waved at her from the other end of the table, Villain waved back quietly and shot a dirty look at the glaring Thomas. The older man glowered and sighed turning his head, he seemed to dislike the prince because of the actions of the emperor.  

The empress and emperor entered shortly afterwards and dinner was served. Villain ate her food calmly finding that she much preferred other's company when she ate. Though not much was said, it was nice to have company when eating. Villain was eating calmly until she felt someone poke at her leg. She froze slowly sitting her fork down. 

Carefully looking below the table she found Mary, "Oh this one's real." Mary spoke looking amused with herself. She froze when she and Villain made eye contact. Villain looked up clearly seeing Mary sitting at the table and then she looked back down. 

Two Marys? 

Villain eyed the other Mary sitting at the table and noticed she looked almost like a doll. With glassy eyes and slightly off center hair. Villain tilted her head confused until the doll landed face first into her food. Michael used his book to shield his face. "Mary!" The Emperor shouted. "Not again!" Maxis groaned.

"Marionette!" Villain exclaimed surprised, the entirety of the dinner table looked at her. She felt her face burning, "Marionette?" Michael repeated the word, "It's... It means puppet with strings." Villain replied feeling embarrassed she had just blurted it out. "I like it! It has my name!" Mary exclaimed popping her head out from under the table. 

"Mary! What in the world were you doing under the table!?" The empress shouted looking horrified. "I was touching Villain's leg!" Villain felt her face burn darker. "Oh sweet merciful heavens...!" The empress nearly fainted, "It was my false leg your highness, honestly I didn't feel it." Villain spoke up, "It's really well made! But it's not flexible! I want to make one that works like one my dolls for her!" Mary exclaimed, Villain looked over surprised, she never knew that Mary had such a hobby.

In her dreams Mary was the healer of the group, she didn't seem interested in puppets or dolls. Maybe it was a hobby she was forced to grow out of as she got older? Villain couldn't help but wonder to herself. "Mary you're creeping her out." Maxis complained, "Well at least I didn't ask if her parents were dead." Mary replied snidely, the emperor and empress looked horrified hearing this.

"Why would you do that?" Michael scolded giving his brother a dirty look. "She's too young to be a countess!" Maxis tried to defend himself. Fighting ensued amongst the royal family, Villain sat there stunned as the three siblings argued with their parents. Villain looked over at Thomas who shook his head continuing to eat. 

A bitter smile formed on her lips, she almost forgot... She almost forgot how loud family dinners could be. 

In the silence of the night, Villain sat on the couch in her room looking out the window. Her prosethic leg sat on the coffee table and she was dressed once again in sleepwear. The double doors to the balcony were open and the thin curtains swayed in the night air. 

Her residual leg rested on a pillow, she felt the dull throb at the end. The scars were still rather sensitive after all. Though the condition her leg would've been in had she not had it cut off... It would've been much worse. The other her suffered with pain and body image issues. She became obsessed with wanting to be married, especially to Baron Raymond. 

Villain sighed chewing on her lip, in some respects she could understand why the other her behaved the way she did. But as she dreamt more and more about Leon... She couldn't understand why the other her and everyone around him treated him so poorly. They always complained about Leon's weird purple eyes in her dreams. But Villain personally liked them, they looked like gems and his eyes sparkled when he was happy. 

Now that she thought about it Ib and Ub had purple eyes too. Maybe that's part of the reason why Villie had liked them so much. They had the same eyes as Leon. Villie leaned against the back of the couch sighing, she missed Ivory. She'd visit soon, Villie decided, with Thomas. She'd also have to introduce Taylor and Kelly after all, Villie smiled.

She had Ib and Ub registered as their aunt and uncle on the family registry.