Chapitre 7: Chapter 7

For the next month, Annabel would have at least two lessons a week with Countess Winter which would be followed by a dress fitting. At this point three months had passed since waking up in this world and she was starting to get use to how things were here. At least that was what she thought, but oddly enough things weren't. But what she couldn't seem to get used to was... The maids making a fuse as they were going through clothing which had been brought by a tailor called to the palace. It had been ordered by the Emperor Maximus, who came to state that to celebrate the reawakening of his daughter a ball was to be held in a month time.

After her lesson and lunch, Annabel had began trying outfit one after another. "Your highness, you are absolutely adorable!" Standing in front of the mirror was the girl in the new body all dressed up. Her dress was white with a short white winglike shawl and elbow-length blue translucent sleeves with a hole on the shoulder. The bodice had white and cerulean with a translucent part and a white collar. Around her waist, a cerulean sash was tied on the left attached to a white wing with white and gold ribbons. The skirt had white and lined in cerulean that was longer in the back with a white blue layer underneath. Her shoes were sky blue and cerulean with dark blue droplets decorating it. She wore white feathery cuffs with a cerulean wrist strap and blue droplet-shaped earrings that completely the set. Then there was her hair that was pulled into a ponytail with two strands decorated with gold beads. There was a headpiece was a small blue pearly tiara that matched the jewellery she had.

This was definitely something a princess would wear and it didn't look bad on this body. Though it appeared that someone thought it was far more then not bad as he was on his knees in tears. "My daughter is an angel!" Maximus was crying loudly in front of Annabel who couldn't help but look at him in slight disbelief and discomfort. "How is the paintings?" The idiot emperor turned towards a painter he hired to paint Annabel all day long, in case he missed anything attending to meetings and what not.

"Here you are, Your Majesty." Some of the servants had held up a painting that been finished. It was of Annebel sitting in the library reading in the window frame.

"It's..." The room had began getting tense as they witness the Emperor shaking. No matter how you look one would think he was angry. "It's perfect!" But once again he fell to his knees in tears, this time in front of the painting. "We will hang it up in the Palace at once! Find the best spot for all to see!"

"Of course, Your Majesty!" And with that single order the male servants had taken off to find this place.

Seriously, there was something wrong with this man. How could someone love another so much? Or maybe that was just Annabel's thoughts due to her upbringing. A child that completely lost hope in ever being love. So the Emperor's love was causing her to feel a sense of discomfort at this. But perhaps this discomfort was caused by his over flowing love that was directed at her, which should have been for his daughter.

As Annabel was deep in her thoughts that caused her to show an upset expression, Maximus glanced over at her. A sad smile appeared across his face as he saw a silhouette of a woman wrapping her arms around the small child. No one saw this and in fact it was nothing more than a memory of his from long ago.

Before anyone knew it, the month had come and gone, with the ball taking place tomorrow with a parade for the arriving nobles from all across the empire. That would last for a few days before the ball taking place. Annabel was now on the balcony at night, looking out to the city below that was holding a festival for the upcoming event. All this fuse over a single person… This felt so strange to Annabel, being loved by people who she's never meet before. However, this love was most likely due to Emperor Maximus's rule, which allowed the people to have peaceful lives. Even the homeless didn't remain that way for long as he had plans that help them get back on their feet. Even former criminals that are released and rehabilitated are given a chance to change. However, where there is light, there is also darkness… The end of the world was this darkness and these once happy people will feel nothing but pain and despair in the end.