"Naomie!" Wendy called happily and pushed past the maid to hug me warmly and boisterously at the same time.

"Oh. Naomie. You're finally back here. Suddenly, you just disappeared!" She jumped a little. The excitement was unmistakable. "Well... that was because of the dissolving spell, but... I didn't expect that. Whoops, and you were gone. Mother said the spell had finally dissolved. But... isn't that wonderful? Now you never need to go back! I heard Mother scold! The world must have been terrible. And you're no longer a walking shadow. Your body used not to be completely transparent here, but... In the last few weeks?" She shrugged. "Magic is strange, isn't it?"

To be honest, I didn't think that was as wonderful as Wendy did. My dear cousin also squeezed me a little too tightly. A little? No. Far too firm.

"Wendy!" I coughed, "I'd like to breathe!"

She paused for a moment, fortunately loosening her grip. "Sorry?"

"You don't have to kill me right away as a greeting," I explained and pushed her away from me. "But yes. I'm happy to see you too. I was transparent?"

Transparent? How creepy.

Never going back?

But I wanted to go back.

"I’m sorry... You have to hurry!" She waved her hands hastily and sent the maid away indignantly, as she hadn't moved from the spot so far and had listened to us. Something that didn't bother me, but Wendy all the more.

"Hurry?" I asked. Wendy moaned in annoyance and shook her head.

"Naomie. We're going to celebrate hard tomorrow! Have you forgotten? We have to make preparations!" she said slowly and smiled at me invitingly.

Of course. I had almost forgotten it! The unpleasant horror that was to await me tomorrow:

Wendy was once again thinking of only one thing... Partying!

And in this case, the object of her euphoric and tireless desire was the flower ball! An event I would have liked to do without.

"Preparations? Wendy, what are you talking about? Please don't try to teach me how to dance. I can't do it and I won't!"

Dance teachers had failed to teach me.

In both worlds.

Mom once had the glorious idea of signing me up for a dance class.

Not a pleasant event.

But now I knew why she had done it, although I protested courageously at the tender age of seven: A princess must be able to dance, of course.

"Silly!" Now Wendy laughed again with all her heart. "I'm not talking about dancing! We have to shop! We talked about it. Did you forget that? Why else am I wearing this?" She pointed to her dark blue dress, which was anything but simple. A dress with which she could dance at a big ball. Shopping clothes looked different in my opinion.

"Now that you say it... The divine knowledge hits me right away... I already feel it coming." I rolled my eyes. "Just let me quickly put on a magnificent robe that must not be infested with dirt under any circumstances."

"Nonsense! Let's go now. We're going to the seamstress down in the village. A dress for tomorrow and the rest for pleasure! With a carriage and only a few guards. I fought hard for that! Now that you can finally leave the castle!" Almost prancing, she took me by the hand and pulled me out of my room. "Why are you wearing this horrible dress?"

"Out of euphoria." ... Leaving the castle...

"I get the feeling that you're being sarcastic."

"Rightly so. How much do you plan to buy? And what do you mean we're going? Isn't the seamstress coming here?" There was no escape. But if I hadn't misheard...

"Naomie!" Wendy hugged me again. Again, a little too tight, but luckily only with one arm, as she was still pulling me. "Didn't you listen to me?"

"Yes..."

"You can finally leave the castle! This needs to be celebrated. Unfortunately, we have to take a few guards with us. 5 each, with Mother's permission obtained."

"5 guards?"

"Dresses!"

"Ah. So 10 pieces? Isn't that a bit much?" I stopped. "It's a ball. One day!"

"If you have money, you should waste it," Wendy warbled, tugging at my hand energetically and pulling me further and further away.

"Wendy!" Until now, outside of my dreams, I had bought all my things in the used clothes collection. Not a luxury, but purposeful. My parents didn't lack money, but they liked to live modestly. Probably for pretend, I thought. Could a princess really leave the castle just like that? Would no tailors come here?

"Come on! A carriage is waiting. Let's go on an adventure!"

"I've really never been outside the castle," I murmured. "Fine. I'm in." In fact, I was more than curious. Not about the clothes. No. About the world outside my dreams.

"I never expected anything else", Wendy replied and winked at me briefly.

We got into a simple carriage. Nothing pointed to the royal family.

The coachman was dressed just as simply, and two guards dressed in civilian clothes accompanied us. Everything was inconspicuous.

Except for Wendy and me.

But behind the curtains, no one would see us.

"We're going to stand out!" I whispered to her as the carriage slowly started moving. "As soon as we get out."

"The people have never seen you before." Wendy shrugged her shoulders. "Most commoners, if any, have only seen me from afar. We will be considered rich daughters."

The village was different from what I expected.

It was very close to the castle. The coachman therefore took a detour, past several fields and farms, so that we could approach unnoticed. Through the window, I saw the small city where the flower ball was to take place, until we finally reached the village.

In this village lived mainly farmers, bakers, craftsmen, and tailors, who worked a lot for the royal family, but did not live on the castle property and were only allowed to enter it to a limited extent. If at all. As large as the property of the castle was, we unfortunately did not have an endless amount of space.

The houses were built of rough stone and kept quite simple. Nevertheless, they looked very chic. The streets were well-kept and tons of flowers adorned the windowsills of the small houses. The air smelled of summer.

The carriage took a paved path towards the market square.

"The market square is the heart of this village. There is a small market here every day, where the inhabitants of this village get their supplies... Merchants from the city sell fabrics, baskets, yarn, spices and so on. In addition, most of the small shops are located there. Even the seamstress!" Wendy announced cheerfully. "A few influential trading families also live here. And on the outskirts of the village is the best inn in the area. Noble families live there occasionally. But mostly other guests who are called to the castle but are not allowed to spend the night there. And those with enough money who want to be near the castle. This village is a popular travel destination. At least... It used to be."

"Hm." I nodded as I looked out the window, fascinated. "Used to?"

"Things are a little ... more difficult now," Wendy murmured. "But today we're having fun!"

The carriage drove past the marketplace. Cheerful voices penetrated the carriage. Merchants in colorful clothes sold their goods, farmers sold part of their harvest, children played, and a girl sold flowers. Most people were dressed simply.

"The marketplace." Wendy smiled at me cheerfully. A few people looked curiously at our carriage. I waved at them. Two small children waved back while their parents frowned. Wendy was right.

They didn't recognize me.

"And where exactly is the seamstress's business?"

"We're almost standing in front of it!" Wendy pointed to a small house on the opposite side of the square.

"You'll be thrilled!" she continued. "I've only been here once, but the selection is incredible. Much more than the seamstress always brings to the castle! Well, if you can afford to buy or order from her!"

A little later, the carriage stopped in front of the small, brightly painted house. A shiny gold sign indicated that this was the royal seamstress. 

Wendy opened the door, and we entered the house.

One of the two guards stopped at the door; the other accompanied us inside and positioned himself near a large window. He frowned briefly until he noticed that I was watching him. He nodded at me and smiled.

We came into a colorful room in which many colorful robes hung on wooden stands or lay in open chests of drawers.

In front of the mostly small windows hung white lace curtains. The walls were painted light blue with real-looking ivy tendrils. There was a dark brown carpet on the floor. It was clean and bright.