Chapter 1
Deep in the royal castle of the Conrad Family, the sounds of groans could be heard in Princess Audrey Conrad's room. She was supposed to wake up early for the horseracing events her parents organized for young noble ladies. She protested not to go but she wasn't granted the rights to choose not to go.
The maid didn't even care if she was tightening the corset belt very well or not. Audrey wondered why she had to wear corsets if she was also going to the event, not as a spectator but also as a participant.
There were two maids in the room waiting for her to be done. Their heads were bowed and they never said a thing. She was bored and tired, this was not how it had always been before she was labeled a weird and strange princess, but the thing was that she was always been herself.
Finally, the corset belts which held her waist were finally done. She was already bustier, so she did not need a longer corset. The maid seeing that her job next was to wear the crinoline for her, immediately brought it and caged it around her waist before slipping the long summer dress with dotted pink spots on her body.
All this while Audrey just looked at the mirror. She hated not being able to talk to anybody, even when she had a lot of servants, maids, and male servants, it pissed her off and made her frown.
Finally, the round-necked dress fitted snugly to her body and the maid quickly left seeing that her job was done. Audrey took her summer hat and pinned it to her hair.
She was a beautiful blond and had a wavy hair with striking blue eyes and red heart-shaped lips… but her eyes were what made her the odd one because she was the only girl with blue eyes in the whole Thaerith kingdom. Her parents just deemed her special but the whole kingdom had other thoughts on mind.
She grabbed her round purse plus her hand fan which she used to cover her nose to her chin and left her chambers. The maids followed behind her silently and she reached a long hallway and her eyes met with her aunt, Claire, who was just at the end of the hallway.
This was the only person that was close to her as she kindhearted and also caring. Audrey felt that she was so lucky to have such an aunt. Claire was married to the Nupean kingdom count, so she was now titled as a countess, but she chose to run down here and take care of Audrey.
Claire wore almost the same dress as Audrey, but the color was ox blood with a white corset fixed in front of her dress. Her hair was also tied in a bun while Audrey's hair was styled to just be flay and curvy.
When Audrey finally reached her aunt, the latter bowed down politely, "Greetings, your royal highness of Thaerith." She didn't bow too much before Audrey quickly used her fan to block her head from going down.
"There is no need for that Aunt. Lessen the formalities, for we are all family." Audrey politely said in a soft feathery tone. Claire straightened back up and flashed a warm and innocent smile.
"Alright, you do know this event is like a competition between all the kingdoms and your father is the ruler of these seven kingdoms, so you have to come at the same time with the king." Her Aunt enumerated. Audrey shivered when she heard her father's name, then she stuck her tongue out.
Claire giggled and mouthed "Oh you." before she opened the big large door and walked out gracefully. Audrey followed and she joined her aunt in the last carriage that was on behind another carriage, which belonged to the king and queen.
The Coach seeing that the princess finally arrived announced it to the other carriage and they started moving, it didn't actually take long before they reach the large stadium, which was divided into seven compartments with their own compartments being grander.
Since the king was the ruler of all seven kingdoms, with supporting kings stationed in the remaining six, when they all stepped down from the carriage. Audrey wanted to rush into the stadium, but because of the glare her mother, the Queen, gave her, she had to stop halfway and walk gracefully into her own compartment and sit down on the seat next to the Queen. Claire did the same and sat next to the princess.
Since she was also part of the king's family, and deserved a high seat, The seats at the back were for the royal men; the royal advisor and some dukes and They stood up and bowed, to welcome her but she ignored them before sitting herself in her grand chair.
The King and Queen addressed the stages of the seven kingdoms before the race started. Audrey was just sitting there and looking at all the six kingdoms' stands. Some pretty Princes were there, and most of them nodded to her when her eyes met with theirs. Some did choose to give a smug look and turn to look somewhere else but Audrey couldn’t care less.
She found it very tiring to sit in one place and decided to make an excuse to leave the stand, with her maid following behind her.
Audrey was uncomfortable with the maid following but this was the culture for royals. She scouted around the stadium until she found a particular pine tree. The area was full of trees and also some green low grasses.
She walked and approached the tree, whereby she noticed the snicker of some children who were hiding behind that tree as they poked their heads out giggling at her. She found out that it must be some noble's children playing in the dirt.
Proudly walking towards them, when all of a sudden something snapped and she fell into a pit. It turned out to be a trap and she squealed as she fell and with a loud thud, she was on the floor.
She groaned in agony as she tried to stand up, Her milk dress had some grass stains and dirt as a result of the pit being dirty. she was glad she had used her fan to cover all her face, or it would have been dirty again.
She used her hands to brush off the dirt on her clothes and hair. She was glad she wore her silk hand-gloves, which turned dirty and unclean when she was done cleaning the grasses on her dress.
The children ran towards the pit looked down at Audrey who was still making a fuss. They burst out in laughter and made fun of her. Audrey cursed under her breath as she saw the way the kids mocking her. She was covered up in the dirt and wondered where her maid went.
"Do you know who I am, you dare to treat your princess like this?" she roared at the kids but they kept on laughing. Then one of the younger girls, who should be around 10 years old, showed a mocking smile before covering her lips with her little fan.
"Are you sure you are even worthy of being our princess? My mother says you are a witch and you don’t deserve the title of a princess." The girl jeered as she harrumphed and left the place.
The other kids also laughed and quickly left the place. Audrey was left alone with only the whistle of the wind to care about her. The sky was still bright and the sounds of screams coming from the stadium was heard.
"I bet they are all having fun" Audrey murmured, as she then roared to the sky.
"Is anyone there? Please help me!! I’m stuck in this pit!!" she screamed several times but no one came to her aid. She could not even pick up any sound from any incoming person.
"Is this what a princess is supposed to be facing? Why can't anyone hear me?!" she murmured as she crouched to the floor and tried once again to climb up the big pit, but it was useless. she would always fall repeatedly if she tried so she gave up.
After five hours of staying in that pit, it was finally the break of dusk. She looked up at the darkened skies and when she noticed that the roars coming from the stadium had reduced, she began screaming again but no one came.
She felt both hungry and angry. ‘was this how a princess is supposed to be? In a pit for over five hours with no one looking for her?’ she thought helplessly but she soon she heard the sound of shoes trampling on grass and she dragged her tired body to the middle of the long deep pit so she could look up at whoever was coming.
The person looked into the pit. It was a man. He wore a ( describe his Noble attire) which indicated that he was one of the noble's sons. He looked down the pit with his deep dark eyes and saw the young and helpless little Audrey.
"Please help me" Audrey begged, the man rolled his eyes and seemed to turn back as if he was going. Seeing this, Audrey kept on shouting for him to come back and that she was Princess Audrey, but the man didn't turn back.
She was devastated and she continued waiting. ‘Will anyone ever come for me?’ she thought helplessly as she crouched on the ground and shed tears.