A small, plump woman with tightly pinned-up white hair and wrinkled skin blinked at us in surprise. She wore gold jewelry, which seemed to shine on her dark skin. Her gray eyes looked at us. It was the seamstress who had often come to the castle and sewed almost all my clothes. She always came in person.

The yellow dress I wore was not one of her works.

"Your Highnesses!" the lady blurted out, smoothing out her colorful apron made of scraps of fabric and making a clumsy curtsy. "I didn't expect you. Otherwise I'll always be called into the castle. What brings you here?"

"The flower ball!" Wendy was already prancing around between the draped clothes racks and tugging at the colorful robes. There was really everything: From simple but very high-quality garments to the noble dresses, suits, and robes that the nobility wore.

I noticed fine coats, colorful aprons, stockings, blouses and shirts, long skirts and embroidered trousers. The material of some clothes was not particularly expensive, and yet it looked like high quality. I even saw a shelf with sturdy shoes and very simple jewelry. She probably sold this to simpler customers.

"Flower ball...", the tailor murmured softly. So far she had not moved from the spot. She stood between two somewhat overloaded clothes racks. "But, Highnesses? Why are you coming personally? I would have come to the castle with some suitable clothes. I am well aware of your Highnesses' tastes."
"But that would have been half as much fun," Wendy objected blithely. "And Naomie has never left the castle. I wanted to show her the village."

"Of course. I heard about the spell that prevented her from doing so." The seamstress nodded and finally stepped towards us. "Of course I have always remained true to my duty of secrecy," she added, slightly nervously, and looked at both of us.

Wendy nodded contentedly. I, on the other hand, blinked confusedly.

Now I had learned, just by the way, why exactly I had never left the castle. I gave Wendy questioning looks, but she didn't notice. So I would have to ask her about it later.

The seamstress sighed. "Fine. I will show you both the robes in your sizes. Fortunately, I am always prepared. I had actually expected to be called to the castle. I had already wondered. Usually I am always called early. Sometimes you both have requests for changes. But now that you have come yourself... At least I have already sewn some things for both of you that you might like. I will show these to you. It is an honor for me to welcome Your Highnesses to my humble shop." She curtsied again. This time elegantly.

Yes. The seamstress knew our tastes, measurements, and favorite colors. I liked her very much. When I was little, she told me little fairy tales while she equipped me and Wendy with new clothes. At that time, my aunt still decided mostly.

She took us to a few clothes racks in a modest back room. The security guard followed quietly and discreetly. We hardly noticed him. Unlike the seamstress, who repeatedly gave him embarrassed looks.

The clothes racks here were hung with clothes that were intended only for us. Coat hooks covered with fabric protected the fine fabric. Wendy immediately began to rummage through the clothes intended for her. Rusty orange and wine red, dark blue, and brown were her favorite colors. My cousin also preferred firm, sturdy fabrics. She didn't have to ask what clothes she was supposed to choose from.

I, on the other hand, stood a bit perplexed in front of the many dresses in pastel shades.

What happened to the clothes we didn't buy?

I had never questioned it.

"Undecided again?" The little woman had appeared silently next to me. Startled, I turned to her. Her old face smiled at me, unbothered. "You've always been like this, princess. Unlike your dear cousin. I'm afraid she'll tear one of the dresses in her high spirits. You, on the other hand, always had problems deciding. As if it were the hardest task to look at a dress and choose from many. May I help you?"

Without waiting for an answer, she began to show me the many dresses. One of the dresses was incredible. It consisted of several layers of airy, delicate fabric in different colors. It was also embroidered with iridescent pearls.

"Elven silk. A very precious fabric. Light as air," she explained to me with a wink.

"Elven silk?" Wendy had listened in and looked over one of the clothes racks. "How did you get this fabric?"

"Relationships, my dear." The old woman grinned conspiratorially.

"Is it that expensive?" I asked.

Wendy shook her head. "Rather rare! Elves never really sell it. Besides, no one would be so stupid as to want to trade with them. They're too dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" I had imagined elves more as small, cute figures with colorful butterfly wings.

"Well. However, I bought this fabric. I didn't buy it from the elves. Not directly... A merchant sold it to me. I was thrilled when I saw this fabric. And then, exactly in the princess's favorite colors."

"The dress is really cool!" I announced, without thinking that such expressions were rather foreign to this world.

"Cool? You like it, I suppose?" stammered the seamstress. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Will you take it?" she asked, smiling expectantly at me. “I assure you that it won't need any changes."

I nodded again, took the dress from her, and held it close to me. On one wall was a mirror into which I now looked. "Looks like it would fit perfectly!"

"Of course." The seamstress laughed.

"Oh! That's perfect for the ball! Only four are missing!" Wendy shouted and turned her attention back to her selection of dresses, which she tugged at a little too violently. I sighed. Wasn't that perhaps a bit too wasteful?

"What happens to the clothes you don't sell to us?" I asked.

"Oh! I sell them for a higher price to eager nobles who are willing to buy." The seamstress stroked a white robe. "Of course the price is higher then. The dress was intended for a princess. It is then worth a real fortune. And it also has to be adapted for the new owner. You are so petite; hardly any girl fits your clothes, and the ladies bring their own tastes."

"Good." At least the clothes were not destroyed. "I'm glad to hear that."

In the end, we both found what we were looking for.

5 dresses each. When I would be wearing the four more dresses was still unclear to me. Wendy assured me that there would be opportunities. She also wouldn't let me leave the store without four more dresses, so I had given in. She really annoyed me.

I liked the beautiful dress made of elven silk the most of all, but it was meant for the ball. The flower ball...

I shook my head.

"We're sending some servants to pick up the clothes!" Wendy said to the seamstress as she paid. The security guard took over this task. The old woman just nodded and stowed the bag full of gold coins in a small chest.

"Thank you very much. As always, it was an honor," she finally said and bowed deeply.

Shortly afterwards, we left the store.

There was still a lot of merry activity in the market. Wendy refused to leave immediately. Instead, she pulled me to the small stalls. No matter how nervous the guards got, Wendy remained stubborn, and no protest managed to convince her to leave.

As I said, Wendy could be wonderfully annoying to get her way.

She talked incessantly, and we looked at the different stalls.

She chatted with the sellers, joked with other customers, everything as if she belonged there. To this marketplace. Between all the people. She even flirted with a baker.

When we looked at a booth with a lot of jewelry, I saw HIM for the first time:

He stood at a stall with woven baskets and watched me with an indefinable expression on his face.

His eyes shone strangely. Greenish.

This glow was hard to describe: like the flickering flame of a candle, perhaps.

Or rather, glaring like colorful neon light? Something was moving in it. Even from a distance, I could see it. Scary.

His dark hair was cut unevenly, a bit disheveled, and covered his ears. He wore dark clothes. He grinned mischievously at me for a moment.

"We're being watched!" I whispered to Wendy.

"Of course we are. Everyone is watching us..." she murmured, not taking her eyes off the jewelry. "You're beautiful! You'd be adorable in a flour sack, too."

"No. Look!" I urged her and shook her gently by the arm. But when Wendy finally looked up, the young man with the tousled hair, a Mister Tousled, I thought for a moment, had disappeared. I had only looked away for a moment, and he had already vanished into thin air. "What?"

"There's no one there..." Wendy grimaced.

"He's gone! But... He had strange eyes..."

"Well... At least he's not here anymore... Strange eyes? In what way?" Wendy turned her attention back to the jewelry. She reached for a pearl bracelet.

"Luminous. Somehow."

"Ah." Wendy nodded and asked the salesman for the price. The bracelet, wooden beads and leather, cost hardly anything. "I've seen someone with shining eyes before. Maybe it was the sorcerer's apprentice? The one who was recently with mother? The one I told you about."

In that case, I could understand her excitement recently. Eerie eyes.... Disturbing. "Do you think so? But... Why would he watch us?" Why would he watch me? It was a mystery to me.

"You're pretty." Wendy shrugged. "He wouldn't be the only one staring at you. At me, too. After all, I'm gorgeous!" Playfully, she pulled on one of her orange-brown braids.

"You are," I agreed. "Are you buying the bracelet?"

"Yes. For mother. She's going to hate it!" Wendy winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. Wendy liked to tease her mother for entertainment. Especially with gifts. But I knew that my aunt would roll her eyes or complain, but every gift was lovingly stowed away by her in a small chest. She might even wear this bracelet.

In the meantime, a few musicians had gathered on the market square and began to fill the air with cheerful music.

The village seemed to be a carefree place.

Everywhere I saw happy faces.

I actually imagined a subjugated country differently.

Everything was idyllic here. There were no signs of any tyrant or anything like that. So far, everything has been perfect here. Peaceful.

 And this flower ball.

(Which I didn't want to go to, because I would only embarrass myself there. Dancing was not one of my strengths in any world! Toads, even the ones withcute little crowns, don't dance.)

Everything around me was too perfect. Too carefree.

Good. Maybe a trip to this village was not enough to be able to assess the overall situation. After all, I only knew life in the castle. Basically, I knew nothing about this world. Nothing about its inhabitants, its cities, the traditions outside the castle walls...

I only knew life in the castle. Isolated from everything.

I only knew the many castle balls in the past, the privileges, the strict etiquette with which I was clumsily rather at war, the monotonous topics of conversation in which it was always only a matter of being in a better light than the others. That was the only thing I had gotten to know here.

That and respect.

Everyone had respect for the crown princess, no matter how clumsy she often was.

At some point, my aunt stopped organizing balls.

Because I became 'transparent', as Wendy had told me?

"Wendy? You said earlier that I never left the castle because of the spell?"

"Yes. Yes. But. I don't know much about it either. Hilde said that the magic was just like that. That it would only exist within the castle walls. You couldn't leave the castle grounds. But you never wanted to leave the castle either, did you?"

"No. I've never thought about it. That there's a world outside the castle," I admitted.

Why should I? I had only thought it was a dream... "Wendy?"

"Yes?"

"Do I have to go to this ball?"

Wendy sighed.