Cinderella's POV

(Author-chan here. It's the third night of the ball.) 

The next day (after going through an entire extra three hours of my stepfamily yapping off my ear), I finally went to bed late, woke up cranky, and still managed to clean my house to perfection. Good thing Lucifer didn't wait for me to call him this morning, or else I would have fed him soap for a week.

Yes. I am that cranky.

Going on, I had to keep myself away from my stepmother before "accidentally" trying to kill her. I avoided her like a plague and kept at least twenty feet away from her if we happened to be in the same room. 

Right now, I am mending Drizella's ball gown which she had miraculously caused a huge rip in the skirt. Anastasia and Drizella were whining about how all their jewelry was old-fashioned--hey, do you want to read what they're saying? Here you go. 

"I can't believe how much nicer the other girls have such stylish necklaces!" My younger stepsister complained. I rolled my eyes at that one.

"I wish I could have the finer ones," she continued on. "I mean wouldn't it be fabulous to wear large necklaces, more than twenty bracelets on each arm, each finger having a different ring, and wearing a pretty headdress! Ohhhh!" She squealed dramatically. Girl, you'll turn into a walking jewelry display.

"I'd like gold and silver beaded necklaces, too many to count," Drizella said dreamily. "Wouldn't that catch the prince's attention?" The only attention you're going to get is the stares who think you're crazy. Then again, other girls might be thinking the same thing, so I don't really know.

"I'd be all gold and silver, and when he twirls me around, and oh," Anastasia sighed. "Wouldn't that be a beautiful picture?" I came close to stabbing myself with my needle. Luckily, I didn't.

"And did you see Prince Arthur? Isn't it strange how no one has seen him?" 

"Well, at least Prince Edward is around. He's sooooo charming...." Anastasia gasped in delight. 

"You mean, how Prince Edward is going to dance with me," Drizella snapped, breaking both her sister and herself out of their once peaceful dreamy state. Oh no, here comes the fights.

"What do you mean?" Anastasia growled, her face red with anger.

"I mean what I said! The prince is mine, so hands off!" Her sister snarled.

"And I'm outta here," I said to myself, getting out of the room. Not five seconds later, and the two siblings were back to kicking, screaming, and fighting again in Drizella's room (yes, the three of us were there).

Just then, Stepmother came into the picture, and everything was out of control.

"CINDERELLA!"

You know what? Author-chan, take the readers to the time when everyone goes to the ball.

(Sure thing, Cinderella-san. Author-chan here. Let's have a little time skip.)

I finally sighed in relief when my stepfamily left. Arthur said my dress would be ready today, so that's what I am hoping for. (The dress is in the picture above.)

"Come on girl," I whispered to my horse. "Take me to the palace?" She neighed in response and took me there in a short amount of time (no, she didn't take me by herself, I obviously directed her). 

I reached the palace courtyard and dismounted, handing the reins to the stable boy. At first, he was reluctant about my appearance (hey, I'm still dressed as a maid), but he let me off after a low order was given to him. A tall figure stepped forward in front of me and took my hand, giving it a gentle kiss.

"Hello, Cinderella." 

"And hello to you, Arthur," I greeted friendly. "Are we going to go in?"

"Why certainly." He escorted me through the back and led me through the labyrinth of halls before directing me to a room. "Your dress is in here. Go ahead and change."

"Thank you." 

After changing, I was struck speechless, yet again. 

"Can't find any words to say?" Arthur teased gently, coming in. I felt my face go hot and turned from the mirror to get a better view of his outfit. This time, it was red and navy blue. 

"Unfortunately no," I said, letting him escort me out. "But tell the seamstresses that I love the dress." 

"I will." We walked in silence into the gardens, and this time, we headed to the pond, which had enormous tiger lilies on its surface. 

We talked together for a few hours, fetched some drinks, and had one dance before eleven o'clock. The entire time, Arthur never left my side and made sure to steer clear of his younger brother. 

Finally, the clock struck twelve o'clock. Since we didn't do anything much, other than talk about our favorites, our personalities, and our past, I told Author-chan not to write about our conversations. 

"Come on, I'll escort you home," Arthur said, pulling me up. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug, and he chuckled before hugging me back (I have a thing for hugs). 

"Okay then, lead the way," I responded, following him out.