In front of the castle gate several carriages were waiting for me. And in the most magnificent, almost open carriage, Wendy's slipped face awaited me.

"What's that?" she asked, slightly stunned, whereupon my dear aunt also became aware of me.

"A selected flour sack took the privilege of falling at my feet!" I explained. Then I demonstratively knocked some flour off my dress. "An accident."

"Excuse me?" Aunt Tanja looked at me closely. Her gaze followed the flour dust that trickled to the ground.

”Accident? What did you do?"

"I wanted something to ease my nervousness and accidentally knocked over a sack of flour. Forgive me, Aunt."

"You're full of flour!" Wendy suppressed her laughter. "When you dance like that! You'll become a cloud of flour!"

My uncle sat across from us, deeply immersed in a novel. Only when the carriage started moving did he look up, wink at Wendy, and then he noticed me. "Oh. Pretty."

 I grinned. "Thank you."

"Did you bring me some flour, too?" he asked further.

"Oh, funny!" grumbled my dear, dear aunt.

“It is”, agreed Wendy.

Her mother looked at her sternly, and Wendy fell silent, still laughing.

"The flour was an unfriendly addition to the privileged flour sack." I sighed. "I think that the flour brings out my natural beauty."

"Stop joking. This is..." My aunt sighed. "I'd rather have frogs."

I smiled embarrassedly.

"Maybe your clumsiness is of some use," she said dryly instead.

"Huh?"

"Manners!" She sighed. "And please don't trickle on my dress."

"You look terrible." Wendy played with her hair, which had been twisted into curls and pinned up. "No one will want to dance with you."

Aunt Tanja laughed softly. "That's probably exactly the point... There's nothing more we can do about the flour, unless we want to be late. I'd rather avoid that. For... reasons. Naomie. Please stop this nonsense in the future." She laughed again. It sounded bitter. "Today it could be a blessing."

"Why?" I didn't get an answer to my question.

"As soon as you dance, you'll become a cloud of flour!" Wendy warned me quietly. "Maybe it looks pretty in the right light?"

"Pretty?" I grimaced. "When I become a cloud, no one sees me stepping on my unfortunate dance partner's toes. Perfect!"

"If you think though...", she mumbled softly.

"Is it safe? So conspicuous to, well..." Our carriages and the many soldiers told everyone who was on the road here. "We can't be overlooked."

"Of course." Wendy winked at me. "No one will dare to attack us."

"Really?"

But if someone did?

Aunt Tanja ignored us and read in a red-bound book. My uncle kept reading, too.

I looked at the landscape and listened to Wendy's big plans for the ball.

We drove past wheat fields and extensive meadows; I saw the small village, tall trees in an endless, barely cloudy sky. Once we even drove past a herd of deer that fled into a narrow strip of forest. The sun was shining brightly.

To my regret, we finally arrived at our destination.

No one had attacked our carriage, and in front of us were now the city gates, a high wall, and many houses.

Our carriages drove along the wide main street, past smaller, impassable alleys. People stood at the side of the road and cheered. A small orchestra played. My aunt waved to the people, just like Wendy. But whenever I moved, flour trickled down. Irritated and amused looks followed me. The carriages drove over a simply decorated fairground. There was a larger orchestra playing and even more people cheered. The journey continued until we left the city again.

The parade lasted almost two hours, as the carriages and the soldiers who accompanied us made slow progress.

On the edge of the clearly huge city, close to a forest, the fairground had been built. A tall, white, flowering thorn hedge grew along the city wall. The fairground itself resembled a sea of colorful flowers that stood in large clay pots. Colorful strips of fabric were stretched over several high wooden posts. The fabric floated above the dance floor.

Even more soldiers were waiting here and secured the fairground.

Tables and benches were set up at the edge of the dance floor. On a wooden grandstand, which was also decorated with fabric panels and flower pots, colourfully dressed musicians played some kind of medieval party music.

Blue, yellow and white butterflies danced carelessly through the air.

The guests paused when our carriages arrived.

A trumpet drew attention to us and temporarily ended the hustle and bustle.

Mostly nobles, or other important people, smiled. I could remember some of the faces and the names that went with them.

Jugglers scurried through the crowd, but bowed as soon as the arrival of our carriages was loudly announced.

 Everything seemed perfectly organized.

There was a buffet; servants carried champagne glasses on golden tablets. The air smelled of spring.

There was a separate platform for us, on which three finely upholstered chairs stood at an expensive wooden table. There we took a seat. My relatives probably looked very dignified...

A few trumpets sounded, the music stopped, and someone shouted in a hoarse voice: "Your Highnesses, the Baroness, the Baron, their daughter and the... Is that flour?" He looked at me, confused, suppressed a laugh, and then he cleared his throat. "And our beloved Crown Princess has arrived! What an honour to have the Crown Princess in our midst. Here, on this fairground of our humble city!"

Great! The arrival of the natural disaster Naomie was announced.

The man stared at me, trying to keep his composure.

Aunt Tanya looked at him with frown lines on her forehead.

Wendy snickered.

My uncle ignored everything and everyone.

I smiled.

YES! That's flour!

Wind blew a small cloud of flour into the air.

Wonderful.

My plan had backfired.

Why did my aunt think it best for me to make a fool of myself here?

What was this ball really for?

Was someone...

Who exactly was among the guests?