The next day, Scarlet got ready for the party she was attending with Ian and Alana. A party was usually a headache for Scarlet but it would be a nice break after all that happened recently.

News had already come out about Lord Kingsley being killed by his wife who in turn killed herself, but Scarlet was yet to hear from Ian to know how the night went. Was he without any wounds or did it go as planned?

She could only wait until it was time for him to pick her up.

"You’ve outdone yourself again, Florence. Am I paying you enough?" Scarlet wondered as not only was Florence wonderful as the head maid but her way of picking dresses was extraordinary.

"You pay me enough. I think it is far too much," Florence replied. She liked working for Scarlet and guiding all the maids so she didn’t need any more money.

"I will bring a gift from my travels with Ian. You are to be given one for taking care of the princess while I am to be away and looking after the estate. You must be there to guide her about the men of this town when my mother is not present. I do not want her to marry a man not fitting for her," said Scarlet.

Florence carefully hooked Scarlet’s necklace. She had been seeing the princess speaking with her guard lately. The best person to help send men away from beside Alana was her guard. Who better to know which men to keep from near the princess than another man?

"I will do my best to look after the princess. She’s already been receiving quite a few invitations to go on walks but she has turned most of them away. Shall I burn those as well?" Florence asked as she could use more gifts to put in the furnace.

Florence was starting to miss having the pleasure of throwing away all the gifts sent. Now that it was out in the open that Scarlet was with Ian, her gifts had drastically decreased. There were only a few men who seemed to be waiting for Scarlet to get married to then give up.

"You may. It is beautiful," Scarlet said, touching the necklace. "They have been finding such pretty jewels. I must send necklaces to everyone. Remind me to do it when I return. Please take care of Sunny for me. I would take her with me but she has not warmed up to Ian yet."

"I will watch over everyone. Let me get your purse. It is nearing the hour for Ian to arrive," Florence said, giving Scarlet’s appearance one last look and then she moved to get the purse.

Florence wished to be able to attend the party to see if her thoughts were right that Scarlet along with Alana would be the most beautiful diamonds at the ball. They had both endured so much in different ways and yet they remained with their heads high up.

The town would see tonight that after all that they had thrown at these two women, they had survived it.

The doors opened and Alana walked in dressed ready to find a husband. She wore a tiara Scarlet had made for her. It was the perfect tiara to suit a princess. Alana wore a yellow dress which was to show off one of the Castro colours.

Though Alana no longer lived in the palace she was not going to let anyone forget that she held the Castro last name for now.

Alana touched the tiara and said, "It feels so strange to wear one of these. I keep touching my hair wondering what is poking me a little. I am nervous."

This would be the first party she attended without walking with the other Castros. She could hide behind Luke in the past but now she might be the centre of attention.

"You will be fine. This is what you wanted so take some deep breaths now and you’ll find that when you reach the party, you are nervous for nothing. You look like your mother right now. She always loved to wear yellow dresses, didn’t she?" Scarlet asked.

"She did," Alana replied, looking down at her dress. "This tiara, did you have it made with jewels similar to the crown my mother once wore?"

"I did. You might not be able to get your hands on your mother’s old crown as it is up to the current queen to decide what to do with it. I hope that tiara is enough to remind you of it. You should get a portrait done of you in this dress and get your mother’s portraits," Scarlet said as then they could see the resemblance better.

Scarlet didn’t mind adding Alana’s mother’s portraits to the wall since she was a close family friend. Her portraits were safer here than being left in the palace.

"I would love to get them. I need a moment," Alana said, turning around to leave before her tears started. She didn’t want the night to be ruined by Scarlet having to comfort her over something so small.

Alana rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe away any evidence of her tears. She would like her mother to be present during this time so she could experience what every young woman got to by having their mother attend balls with them.

Her father wasn’t present in the palace as often as she would like and her siblings were hard to get along with.

"Oh! I’m sorry," Alana apologised to the person she bumped into. "It’s you." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I’m a little hurt by your response princess. Were you hoping to bump into someone else? You have not made it to the party and you are already crying. This is going to be a long night, isn’t it?" Dawson asked, wanting to be replaced by another guard.

He had to put up with title-hungry men trying to surround Alana while it was his time to guard her. It would be fun to watch if he wasn’t the one who had to chase them away.

"I am not crying because of that. I was thinking of my mother. I promise to not cause you any trouble tonight. For once, I will need your help as I do not want my time wasted by men who will not make a good husband. You must know something about some of the men in this town," said Alana.

"I do but should I give what I know to you free of cost?" Dawson asked and then waited to see what she would offer.

"As your princess, I order you to tell me about the men who will approach me."

"Well, if the princess gives an order, I can’t say no," Dawson replied.