SETUP

Iris took Isabelle to her room to treat her bruises. "I learnt how to treat wounds when I was in Domino. I got hurt a lot and I couldn't trust many people" Iris said with a smile as she applied medicine on Isabelle's arm but Isabelle didn't say a word, just stared at Iris. 'It must've been hard for her' Isabelle thought to herself. "Don't look at me like that, don't pity me" Iris said without making eye contact. Isabelle looked down at her bruised arm. Inna knocked and brought a letter to Iris. "Read it" Iris said, still treating Isabelle's wounds.

'Dear Princess Iris

Underneath the starry sky, after the third bell, I request the pleasure of your company for a moonlit stroll through our kingdom's gardens. Your presence would make the night truly enchanting

Yours sincerely, Hans'

Iris looked up at Inna and then back at Isabelle. "Please tell him I can't make it tonight" Iris said. "What? Why? Your highness, this is prince Hans. As in, prince Hans" Inna said. "Do you know how to treat wounds?" Iris asked Inna. "No?" Inna responded. "Exactly" Iris said. "Your highness, I'm fine. Please go. Before coming here, I used to play around with boys. I've been hurt a lot worse than this yet I still had to run errands. Don't worry, I'm fine" Isabelle said and rose to her feet. Iris smiled at her. "Tell prince Hans I'll be there" Iris said to Inna. Inna smiled and ran back to inform prince Hans

At night, she met Hans waiting outside for her. They walked through the palace gardens where Hans asked her out to the upcoming ball. She unhesitatingly accepted. It was better to be there with someone than to feel awkward and alone in the midst of other members of royalty. When she returned, Iris took her dessert which Isabelle had prepared for her, and read a book. Suddenly, Iris had a stomachache and began to itch all over, hives appearing on her skin. A physician was called in and came in to see her. The physicist told her it was an allergic reaction to honey which after making his enquiries, he realized the dessert Isabelle had given to Iris had. When the news came out, Isabelle was detained in a cell. She had only used honey to compliment the flavor of the dessert and actually had no idea Iris was allergic to it, however, no one was willing to forgive an ignorant maid, especially when there was room for suspicion as honey was rare in the capital, not to talk of the palace. Who was going to believe she brought it from the outskirts to the capital with good intention.

Isabelle was in prison the entire night. The next morning, the maids were gossiping about the news. Iris was in bed, still unwell, with a swollen face, although the hives were disappearing little by little. One thing was obvious though, that she wasn't going to make it to the upcoming ball.

Hans was in his room reading through some documents when he heard the gossip of the maids. At first, he didn't pay attention to them, but then he heard Iris' name and listened in. Hearing what had happened, he went to Sky to help him gain permission to go into the women's quarters. He barged into Sky's room and saw Sky reading a book. "Have you heard what happened to your sister?" Hans asked. "Which one?" Sky asked, putting away his book to give his full attention to Hans. "Princess Iris. I heard she was poisoned by a new maid and is very sick" Hans said and sat on the chair before Sky. "A new maid? Isabelle?" Sky asked. "I think it was Belle but I guess so. I just want you to help me get permission to go to the women's quarters from the chatelaine queen" Hans said. "I can. But do you seriously believe Isabelle did that? It makes no sense" Sky questioned. "Well, I'm no fool but I don't know everything either. Of course she might not have done it deliberately, knowing the consequences on herself and her family but perhaps it was out of ignorance. She still can't be excused. I hope she gets punished" Hans said. Sky wondered what could've happened. Although he didn't really like Isabelle, he wondered whether she had been in any way misunderstood. Hearing she was in the prison, for some reason, made him feel bad, but he couldn't help but wonder why Isabelle would've done that.

Hans went to meet Iris but Iris didn't want to let him in because of how ugly she looked with the hives all over her face. "I won't attend the ball without you" Hans said from behind her door. "Hans please" Iris said, burying her head in her pillow but Hans remained there, even as night approached.

The ball had began yet a lot of key people were missing, Hans and Sky. "You told me this would work, why is Hans still not here?" Keia asked Desperalda, upset. "I don't know. Sky isn't here either. Perhaps they went somewhere together. Besides, my plan was to stop him and Iris from coming together. I never promised you that he'd come for the ball. Plus, that brat is now in prison" Desperalda said in her defense. Keia left Desperalda in anger.

Inna came into Iris' room while she was asleep. "Your highness, prince Hans is still sitting outside" Inna said, shaking Iris to wake up. Hearing this, Iris got off her bed and sat back down, thinking of what to do. "Let him come in" Iris said to Inna. Inna went out and told Hans about the princess' decision. "Hello" Hans said as he stepped in. Iris' face was half covered in a veil. When Hans saw this, he smiled. "If I see you in your worst state, and continue to love you, would you believe my love is true?" Hans asked. Iris slowly took off her veil and kept her head down. Hans bent over and looked at her. "You don't even look that bad. Also, red is my favorite color" Hans said and giggled. Seeing his lighthearted reaction, Iris calmed down and laughed too. "I'll read this story book to you" Hans said and took a book lying open on Iris' bed to read. He smiled at Iris and helped her to lie back down.

Sky left the torches in his room on and put a dummy in his stead on the chair, dressed up as a nobleman and went out with his right hand, Cynwal Ravenspear, blending in with the others who had been invited for the ball. They waited for the right opportunity when the guards were not looking and snuck into the records library, picking the lock and opening the door. Sky took a torch and lit it up, then walked around the library, searching for Isabelle's documents from the section concerning the maids. It wasn't too difficult since she was only a new maid. "Come here Cynwal take a look at this" Sky said and gave the scroll to Cynwal. "Isn't she a little too pretty to be from such an isolated village?" Sky asked. Cynwal took a look at the painting of Isabelle. "She is but it's not totally unheard of that such beautiful people were born in remote villages" Cynwal said.

"Brynmore, I have never heard of that village. There's too little information about her. And don't you think it's weird that the only people associated with her are dead now and even their bodies could not be found? How is that so when they were all at the same riverside? I need to look more into this case. It just doesn't make sense. If the bodies were drifted out to sea, why couldn't the rescuers find the others, yet these ones weren't even severely wounded. This case is similar to that of the Rhydderc assassin I read about in the forbidden section once. He hid all traces of his history and no one could trace his roots. According to Isabelle, she doesn't play with girls but with her brother and other boys? Looks to me like they needed less witnesses to cover their tracks well" Sky said. "Perhaps this was a quick mission she needed to finish, that's why they rushed her" Cynwal said. "Yes, that's what I'm thinking too. When Iris was younger she nearly died after taking honey. I'm guessing her body got stronger due to the herbs she takes but otherwise, this would have literally been an assassination. I'm guessing she didn't ran because she failed and can't return so she's putting up an act to save herself. She has a brother, right? Find me his file" Sky said and sat down as Cynwal searched. "Isabelle…am I over thinking this? It's better to over think than to ignore a potential threat" Sky said to himself as Cynwal brought Isauro's records before him. "They do look alike" Cynwal said. "We'll know more with time but for now, we can't let her out of our sight. If I'm right and it is Rhydderc behind this, there must be something bigger going on. Such a group wouldn't be involved in minor issues. Why Iris? She holds the least value as a member of royalty" Sky said. "But she holds the most value as family" Cynwal said. "I don't know what you're talking about" Sky said and kept reading on Isauro. "You learnt how to fight to save your sister while she was still a hostage. I had seen you a few times, when we were only about eight, training at night, even when you were tired. Back then, you had never even seen her before…" "Are you done? Now put this book back and let's leave before anyone else comes in" Sky said and threw the records book at Cynwal, then they snuck out.

Sky gave a letter to one guard to deliver to Isabelle in her cell. 'Why did you poison Iris? Poison? Who's asking this?' Isabelle asked herself and threw the letter out of the cell. She laid her head to sleep, trying to ignore the ongoing hunger within her. While she was sleeping, she felt water splash on her and woke up, completely infuriated, but when she saw the guard standing there, she quickly backed down. "You're finally awake" A voice beside her said. She turned around and saw Sky. "You? What are you doing here?" She asked. Sky signaled for the guards to leave and they did. "Did you really poison Iris?" Sky asked, his eyebrows furrowed. For the first time Isabelle sees his intense gaze, a very intimidating one. She turned away from him, not just because she was intimidated, but because she was unsure of how to tell him what had happened since she had no way of knowing what his reaction would be. "Did you?" Sky asked again. "I…I did, but…" Isabelle said in almost a whisper "Why? Why did you? What did you seek to achieve?" Sky asked, grabbing her by the arm. She wanted to do or say something, but she understood his pain.

"I didn't know she was allergic to honey. I know ignorance is not an excuse so I will accept my punishment" Isabelle said, without making eye contact. "Your punishment? Do you even know what they're going to do to you? Do you think just because my father was kind to you once he'll have mercy on you?" Sky asked, holding onto her arm tightly. "I will accept it anyway because I have made a mistake" Isabelle said. "Even if you die?" Sky asked. "Even if I…" Isabelle came to a halt when Sky took out his dagger and held it to her throat. Fear gripped her. Although she had experienced a close call once before, it still terrified her. She swallowed as much saliva as she could and closed her eyes. Sky pressed the dagger onto her neck slightly, so she wouldn't be injured. "Do you care so little about your life?" Sky asked her. "There is nothing I can do about it anyway. This would be much faster and less painful anyway. Do it already" Isabelle said, her eyes still closed. Sky got up and left, leaving Isabelle still there with her eyes closed. Despite realizing he had left, she couldn't move as fear had paralyzed her.

After seeing her in the cell, Sky went to Iris' room to ask her to plead for Isabelle. At that time, Iris didn't know about what had happened to Isabelle, since she had been in her room, alone until Hans came in, or until food was served. When she found out about what had happened to Isabelle, Iris felt bad. She felt at fault. Had she not fallen sick, this wouldn't even have happened. The next morning, she rushed to the king, asking for a pardon for Isabelle. Hearing this, the king was infuriated and dismissed her. Iris went back to her room, hopeless. "What do we do?" She asked Inna and Nadia but there was nothing they could say to help.

Early the next morning, Sky went to his father. "What do you mean?" The king asked Sky. "I want her as my maid father. I had told you this earlier but you didn't listen to me and now, you're just going to kick her out just like that? If she can no longer serve in the princesses quarters, let her serve me then " Sky said. The king stood up and walked to him. "Who raised you to be like this? You're a prince, you can't be chasing after women like that, it's improper" The king said angrily, in an attempt to change the mind of his son. "You failed your promise to give me my reward and now that I'm asking, I'm suddenly the wrong one? Did you not teach me to never give up? You took away what's rightfully mine" Sky complained. "Why do you always have to get your way, Sky?" The king asked him. "Because, father today it might simply be a maid but tomorrow, it'll be the nation. I'm training myself for the future of this kingdom" Sky responded and the king burst into laughter. "Hmm, I've heard you" The king said, which was Sky's reassurance that his wish would come true.

Later that day, after she was interrogated, they took her to the punishment grounds, where she was lashed ten times and then released. She was taken back to the maids quarters by Inna and Nadia. When she got there, she was given the royal decree, assigning her to prince Sky.