The doorknob turned and Aurelia turned to stare at it, eagerly waiting. It seemed to take an eternity to open. Aurelia grew nervous about the gold. What if Letholdus found fault with it?

The door flew open. Letholdus' eyes immediately lit up after landing on the stack upon stacks of spools of glistening, gleaming gold.

"Marvelous!" The king exclaimed. "Fine work, Aurelia!"

Aurelia curtsied politely at the king's compliment, knowing it was the respectful thing to do. Maybe she hadn't been the one who spun straw into gold, but he thought she was so she had to at least pretend to play the part.

From behind Letholdus Aurelia spotted Lucas hiding, beaming at her. She flashed him a slight grin back. They were conspirers, know that she had told him her secret.

"Aurelia, you have a fantastic talent! One more night in here and-"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but one more night? I've already turned two rooms full of straw into gold." Aurelia's voice was almost shaky. She had stayed up all night for two nights now. She was tired.

"This will be the last night, I promise." Letholdus told Aurelia.

Aurelia sighed. "One more night and I can go home?" She strolled towards the door.

"Well, actually I was thinking you could stay longer than that. You won't have to spin gold anymore, of course!" Letholdus stated.

Aurelia eyed the king warily. She folded her arms over her chest and her eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"What are you suggesting?" Aurelia asked. Why would he want her to stay there? Was he offering her a job or something? She had no clue.

"If you succeed in spinning straw into gold for a third night you shall marry Prince Lucas as I cannot think of a finer bride for him than a girl of your talents." King Letholdus sounded quite excited about the idea.

"WHAT?" Aurelia and Luke wondered in unison.