Dear Lady Kara,

 I, the King, invite you to my daughter's coming of age ceremony. It will be hosted at the struck of the third moon, by the sea, and land. Please bring the biggest smile and a nice gift for my daughter as she is soon on her way to take the throne. Let bygones be bygones and call this a truce. My daughter wants all the noblemen and women to attend, that includes you. You may bring along two guests, and only two guests. The party is a masquerade ball, so please bring an appropriate mask and please wear something that isn't such an EYESORE.

You have my 'blessings'

Sincerely,

The King.’

Typical. The King never fails to show how much he and I don't get along. He invites me to a party, and then he goes and insults me as if the invitation was nothing more than a mere threat. Don’t get me wrong, I used to always go to the palace to play with the twins when they were still alive but about eight years ago they sadly passed away during the war. It was heartbreaking to hear the news but even so, I didn’t even know the old man had another child, and suddenly I'm being invited to his apparent daughter’s coming of age party. What a hassle.

I weakly tossed the letter to the side and plopped down onto my bed. The soft feeling reminded me of freshly warm face towelettes. The best thing in the whole entire world. Well, second best thing in the whole entire world. The number one best thing throughout the whole entire world is me. Kara Grapp.

The daughter of the most richest and famous duke and duchess. Honestly, I find it hilarious when the other children of noblemen and women think they can outrich us. They scamper around trying to see if they can steal our title but they always fail in the end. The only people that have outshined us is the Royal Family. The King and his apparent daughter. I don't even know the poor girl's name but that really isn't important. She's the daughter of that horrible prick that got my friends nearly killed. 

Starting a war out of nowhere and rushing people to fight is no way of a king. A good king that is. He's nothing but a waste of talent and muscles. The only sad portion besides my side was him losing his two oldest kids. His daughter apparently has more common sense than the whole kingdom, from what I overheard when I went out for tea with the Marchioness. Well, If she's ‘so smart’, why hasn't she solved any of the problems going on within this kingdom? She can't just convince her dad to help people out more than what he’s doing now? 

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on my bedroom door.

"O-Oh! Come in!"

My door soon swung open and I was greeted by my personal maid, Silfi. Silfi has been my personal maid ever since I was about five. She’s such a sweet soul towards me, and only me. Everyone else was like dust underneath her feet, well everyone else except my father, The Grand Duke. 

Father on the other hand was a cold man towards everyone, including me. Ever since my mother, The Duchess, died from an accident, my father became distant towards me and the world he lives in. Every now and then he would invite me to lunch but those tiny events only lasted a couple of minutes before he fell back into a broken heart and disappeared into the west wing of our mansion. As the thoughts began to cloud my head once again, I heard Silfi's voice break the barrier, her thick russian accent killing all the thoughts in my head.

"My Lady, with all respect, you have been spacing out for a while now. Spacing out won't bring you to the dress shop and it most certainly won't bring back any scones for you. Now off the bed and go wash up."

Scoffing at her words, I slumped myself off of the bed and onto the floor, having my maids practically drag me towards the bathroom.

I sat in the hot water as the bubble began to consume my body. The scent of lilac and vanilla filled my nose as my body melted into the world of peace. The long awaited bath that I had desired was finally happening. 

I've been outside all day, looking for dresses, looking for a mask to wear, and signing so many autographs for the people. I never knew I was that popular with the town's folk. 

"Well, I guess this is what I get for being such a hottie."

I chuckled at my little comment before draining the bubbly water from the tub. I glanced at myself in the mirror and grinned at my beauty. Soft peachy skin, pink tainted lips, green irises, and long orange hair that reached my waist. 

"Now then, time to get dressed and ready for bed. I got a party to crash."

After an hour of bathing and getting ready, I was finally dressed, a beautiful green silky Victorian dress, emerald and gold diamond earrings, green heels, and to top it all off, a beautiful golden crown with emerald jewels smelted into the middle of the crown. I was truly looking my best and I wasn't going to deny it. Silfi brushed my hair up into a ponytail but left two strands of my hair out to represent bangs. I was definitely going to be the beauty of the ball. Silfi placed a bow on the top of my ponytail before handing me my white silk gloves and a matching mask. I glided out the room and headed down the stairs towards my father's carriage that was awaiting me outside. I got into the carriage and sat in silence as my father gazed at me. I thought of what would await me at the kingdom of the awful King.

"You look beautiful, Kara."

I stiffened and turned my attention towards my father, who looked rather dashing.

"Thank you father, you look rather handsome as well."

My father gave me a slight nod before closing his eyes, dozing off into a deep slumber. I sighed before paying attention to the stars in the night sky. I wished mother was still here, she would've loved this stary skin. She would've sung a whole song about how beautiful the skies were when the sun went down and the moon had risen. As I thought of my mother, I began to hum the song she used to always sing.

As I came to an end with my humming, I realized that I had tears forming within my eyes. I wiped away my tears as the view of the castle came into my point of view. The carriage came to a halt and I gently shook my father, who had a single tear streaming down his face. I felt a pain in my chest, but I pushed it away as my father woke up. He stared into my eyes before he got out of the carriage, helping me out afterwards. 

As we made our way into the ballroom that was decorated in blue and purple banners, roses, and much more, an announcer yelled out our names.

"WELCOMING, THE GRAND DUKE AND HIS DAUGHTER, DUKE GRAPP AND KARA GRAPP!"

That's when I heard the whispers that I craved to hear. The attention was finally back on me, its rightful owner.

"Look at the Duke and his daughter!"

"She looks stunning."

"I want her to marry my son!"

"Look at how beautiful they look"

"They should be our ruler, not this bastard and his unknown waste of a daughter."

My father walked towards some of the other dukes, while I walked over towards the princesses of other kingdoms and the noblewomen within this room. I did a little curtsy and smiled at them. They all glared at me before scoffing at me. They knew I had all the latest news about everyone throughout every kingdom and cranny. 

"Why hello there m'ladies, lovely night we have tonight."

They all nodded their heads before taking out a fan. I chuckled slowly before talking about my weekly drama and gossip. I spoke for a while and just when I was getting towards the highlight of one of the stories I overheard I was interrupted by the sound of trumpets. After the trumpets died down, a low but powerful voice greeted the room.

"PLEASE W-WELCOME, OUR KING AND HIS DAUGHTER, KING BLOUSS AND PRINCESS KEIN!" 

All eyes went onto the two royals entering the ballroom, they easily stole the attention that was once on me. I watched as the bastard himself walked down the stairs and waited at the bottom. He was served a glass of red wine before he cleared his throat and spoke.

"MY DEAR CITIZENS AND FRIENDS! I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOUR FUTURE QUEEN! MY DAUGHTER, PRINCESS KEIN!"

The bastard motioned a hand towards the top of the stairs and music suddenly cued in. I took a glass of cider before noticing a tall slim yet curvy woman standing at the top of the stairs. She was too far to see but I knew it was the Princess. The woman came down the stairs and grabbed the bastard's arm and they began to walk down the ballroom. As they got closer I noticed how the King's daughter looked. She was tall indeed, almost a foot taller than me, and I’m only five feet tall. She had light caramel skin, dark purple lipstick, long black gloves and a skin tight black dress that sprawled out at the bottom. She had a huge black rose on the side of her dress, and her dark violet eyes pierced into mine as her long lilac hair flew against the dress, grazing the floor. 

"Boobs..."

I turned my head towards one of the princesses.

"Huh? Boobs? What are you-?" I was rudely cut off by the Princess pointing towards the King's daughter. Well her chest to be exact. My eyes followed her gaze and I realized that she was very gifted when it came down to breast. I blushed a little before shaking my head to get the image of her breasts out of my mind. As my eyes began to trace upwards, I noticed something from the corner of my eye. I focused my attention on that, and that is when I realized it. Some woman was launching something at the Princess, but sadly the lady had poor aim. So, I was the one getting attacked with whatever the lady was throwing.

I yelped and covered my eyes with my hands, bracing myself for the impact of the substance, but it never happened. I slowly cracked open my eyes and saw the King’s daughter looming over me. Her hair was soaked with a substance that smelled like red wine. Everyone gasped at the sudden action she did. She took out her handkerchief and dried off parts of her hair. 

She sighed before turning away from me. She grabbed the woman who threw the wine by the hand. The Princess then raised her hand before landing a firm slap against the woman’s face. The woman screamed in pain as the Princess continued to slap the woman until the lady fell onto the floor. The Princess then placed a heel onto the woman’s chest as she pressured the heel down. The woman’s screams filled the room.

The Princess took a glass of wine from one of the trays nearby before raising it towards her lips. She took a small sip before sending a chilling glare around the room. She then cleared her throat and spoke. A deep yet seductive voice spilled from her mouth.

“You all better know from now on that I will not tolerate this bullshit from anyone! You all may think I’ll go easy on you all because of me being a princess or a girl! Well guess what?! You all are going to cry when I’m queen!”

She then laughed wickedly before pouring the remaining wine from her glass onto the woman with a disgusted look on her face.

“Because, I am far more wicked than my father.”

The Princess removed her foot from the woman’s chest before walking towards me. She handed me a spare handkerchief before walking towards the two thrones that sat at the top of the other set of stairs.

My chest tightened up as I watched the princess. She was strong, mentally and physically. Her eyes were slanted and cold, it made my eyes feel like warm pools of lava. I have to admit, she’s by far not what I expected.

“She’s hot.”

I heard one of the noblemen whisper behind me. I spun around and threw him a nasty glare.

“Oh dear, is that you Count Villar! I don’t think your wife would enjoy hearing that you have eyes for a lady who is nearly twenty years younger than you!”

Count Villar scoffed before stomping away, causing my glare to fade away.