Ugh, it’s so hot.

  I peeled the blanket off, grimacing as the fabric clung to my sticky legs.

  My hair’s a mess, my skin’s all sweaty, and dull throb pulses behind the eyes.

  I can’t even remember what I dreamed about, just that it felt… weird.

  "I'm sorry if His Highness objects to an early breakfast," I heard Cinderella calling to Lucifer in the corridor outside my door. "It's certainly not my idea to feed you first. It's orders."

  Oh, you're too loud! Stupid servant! Why does Mama insist she feed him so early? He’s just a stupid cat.

  Thankfully, it went quiet again. I was still terribly tired, so I closed my eyes and drifted back into sleep.

  "CINDERELLA!!!"

  I jolted awake a second time to my dumb sister Anastasia’s screeching voice. Oh! Nobody in this house has even a minimal sense of consideration! And I was still hot and sweaty all over. Oh, this was just the most awful morning!

  I reached up and gave the bell-pull cord a good yank to make the little bell in the scullery ring. I needed to call Cinderella too, or else she might only bring breakfast to Mama and Anastasia—she’s done it before!

  "CINDERELLA!" I added my shout to the choir.

  A bowl of porridge and some tea might calm me down. Right now, with my terrible sleep and these wicked disturbances, I desperately needed something to help!

  "Hang on, I'm coming!" I heard her voice from below.

  I waited for what felt like half an hour! It was only porridge and tea, for pity's sake! Not a banquet of quail eggs and truffles.

  Finally, the door opened, and Cinderella stepped in. The morning light from the window shone upon her figure. Her golden hair caught the sunbeams, making her pale skin practically glow. I stopped thinking momentarily and just gazed.

  I simply didn't understand it. She was a servant girl, draped in shapeless, tasteless rags—so how could she look so perfectly beautiful?

  And her expression... she was clearly annoyed and exhausted, yet somehow you could spot an effortless grace in her features. Did that even make sense?

  It was like this every single morning. Maybe it would be better to make do without this damn tea and porridge, just so I wouldn't have to look at Cinderella's stupidly perfect face first thing in the day!

  "Good morning, Drizella," Cinderella said. "Sleep well?"

  "As if you cared!" I snapped angrily. "Take that ironing and have it back in an hour. One hour! You hear?"

  She set the silver tray down heavily on the small bedside table and took my woven basket of clothes for the ironing.

  "Yes, Drizella," she sighed, and slipped out the door.

  What was with the sigh? We took Cinderella into our family even when her father died; couldn’t she help around the house without the constant, pitiful sighing and the tragic martyr act?

  "Good morning, Anastasia," I heard Cinderella say from the adjoining room.

  "Well, it's about time!" Came Anastasia’s squeaky reply. "Don't forget the mending. And don't be all day getting it done, either!"

  "Yes, Anastasia."

  She probably entered Mother's room next, but mother spoke quietly, so I couldn't hear. I focused on my porridge and took a bite. It was… okay-ish. A meager comfort for my empty, rumbling stomach.

  I went to take a sip of tea, and—

  "UUAUAAA!!"

  Anastasia screamed so loudly I nearly spilled my tea all over myself.

  “Oh, Mother! Mother!” Anastasia was shouting in a pure panic. “You did it!” Anastasia yelled, probably at Cinderella. “You did it on purpose!”

  Ooh, what was that about? Something interesting, probably! I was instantly thrilled and curious, leaping out of bed to check it out.

  "MOTHER! MOTHER!" I saw Anastasia hurrying toward Mother's room, while Cinderella just stood there in the hall.

  "Now what have you done?" I asked Cinderella as I rushed past her. I was dying to know.

  "Ohh! She put him there!" Anastasia cried out. "A big, ugly mouse, under my teacup!"

  No way! I smiled, my eyes wide. She couldn’t have! But did she? Did she really have the guts?! Oh gosh, just seeing Anastasia's horrified face made my morning a notch better.

  "Cinderella!" Mother barked. She then signaled for me and Anastasia to leave the room.

  "Yes, Stepmother," Cinderella answered, stepping inside.

  Oh my, Cinderella was in serious trouble now!

  "Huh!" I scoffed at her as she passed me. I had nothing better to say, really.

  "Are you gonna get it!" Anastasia added maliciously.

  "Close the door Cinderella," Mother commanded.

  Oh, dang it! I needed to hear this! I tried to peek through the keyhole, but my stupid sister thought she could do it at the exact same time. There’s only one keyhole and two of us, you dork!

  Well, at least we could hear well enough through the wood.

  "Oh, please, you don't think that I—" Cinderella started. She sounded so innocent. Cinderella always sounded innocent!

  "Hold your tongue!" Mother cut her off. "Now... It seems we have time on our hands."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "But I was only trying to—"

  "Silence! Time for vicious practical jokes," Mother continued smoothly. "Perhaps we can put it to better use. Now, let me see... There's the large carpet in the main hall. Clean it! And the windows, upstairs and down. Wash them! Oh, yes... and the tapestries, and the draperies."

  "But I just finished—"

  "Do them again!" Mother barked. "And don't forget the garden, then scrub the terrace, sweep the halls and the stairs, clean the chimneys. And of course, there's the mending, and the sewing, and the laundry. Oh, yes, and one more thing..." Mother paused, then added, "See that Lucifer gets his bath."

  Cinderella stormed out of the room, almost hitting me and Anastasia with the doors as she threw them open. She stomped angrily down the stairs to start the endless list of chores Mother had just handed her. She was really ticked off. It was rare to see Cinderella like this, and honestly, it was somewhat hilarious.

  Anastasia and I went back into Mother’s room.

  "Could you believe her, Mother?!" Anastasia ranted. "She’s gone too far! Who does she think she is?! After all we do for her! And that mouse! So large and ugly! I swear he tried to bite me, too! He could give me some horrible mouse disease and—"

  "Oh, stop it," Mother cut her off coldly. "It was just a mouse. I have already punished her."

  "But—"

  "Finish your breakfast," she ordered us both, "and get dressed already! After that, we have our music lesson. Make sure you are ready."

  We left Mother's room.

  "Who does she think she is?" Anastasia kept murmuring under her breath. "Just a stupid servant."

  I went back to my room to finish my porridge and tea. Ugh... it had all gone cold! Well, at least I wasn't the one who got the mouse. The look on Anastasia’s silly face was priceless. Who knew Cinderella was capable of such villainy?

  Wait! I suddenly had an awful thought. Could it have been me who got the mouse!?

  She couldn’t! But... she actually could! What if she does it to me next time? What if Cinderella decided on some kind of revenge because maybe she happened to feel she receives a... disproportionate share of the household burdens?

  If she does something of the sort to me! Oh! I will not let it pass with some punitive chores! If she puts a mouse in my food, or maybe... a snake!! Oh, I hope it wouldn’t be a snake!

  I bet that right now, instead of doing her chores, she was scheming her next prank for me! I decided to sneak up on her and find out.

  But where had she gone? This house was far too big! I couldn't find a single scheming servant anywhere.

  Then I heard her singing. I followed the melody, and there she was! Cleaning the sweeping staircase in the Grand Foyer.

  She cleaned and sang beautifully and looked... calm and happy? It didn’t look like a punishment at all. But I shouldn't have been surprised. Cinderella always did her awful chores with a relaxed, happily dumb expression, as if sweeping the floor was as leisurely as a game of croquet.

  "? Oh, sing sweet nightingale. Sing sweet nightingale... ?" she sang.

  The song was... so pretty. How? How could she sing like that? I didn’t understand it at all. She hadn't taken a single singing lesson, not that I could recall. Well, she was always practicing her singing while working, but was that really enough to get this good?

  The song... oh god, why was it so darn beautiful?

  I closed my eyes for a moment and just listened. I could get swallowed up in singing like that.

  Maybe I was overthinking things. Maybe she wasn't planning a mouse or snake attack on me. Maybe she only really hated Anastasia. And honestly, that was perfectly understandable. I didn’t like her much either.

  "Drizella!" Mother's voice echoed up the stairs. "Come here!"

  Oh right. Stupid music lesson.

  I hurried to our music room. Anastasia and Mother were already waiting, and Lucifer was sleeping lazily on the couch. I gave him a good rub on the head, like you're supposed to do with cats, and he hissed at me—he liked the rub.

  "So nice of you to join us," Mother said coldly, sitting behind the piano. "Well, girls, what will it be today?"

  "I want—" Anastasia started.

  "Sweet Nightingale!" I cut her off. "Yes, let's do that."

  I wanted to sing like Cinderella did! I knew I couldn’t, but maybe the song was just really easy to sing. Maybe I could make it sound beautiful, too.

  "Okay," Mother said. "We've practiced this one in the past. It's simple enough... ready?"

  We nodded. Mother started playing the tune on the piano. Anastasia joined her with... some tune on the flute. Gosh, she was making my ears burst. I chimed in at the exact right moment.

  "? Oh, sing sweet nightingale. Sing sweet nightingale, hi-i-i-i-igh above me. Oh, sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet nightingale... ?"

  I tried my best. Really, I did.

  Lucifer immediately jumped off the couch and fled the room. Oh, go on then! Who needs cats for an audience anyway?!

  I kept at it. I ignored Anastasia’s horrible caterwauling, closed my eyes, thought of Cinderella singing, and really tried to hit that tone she had.

  "hi-i-i-i-igh—"

  Suddenly, my cow of a sister got her finger stuck in her flute. She tried to yank it out, and while doing it, she smacked me right in the chin with the instrument!

  "High-igh-igh-igh-igh-igh-igh!"

  "You clumsy!" I shouted at her as she finally managed to pull her finger free. I snatched the flute from her and smacked her on the head with it. "You did it on purpose!"

  She ripped the flute back from my hand and hit me back. It hurt, too!

  "Be silent, you!" my sister yelled.

  "You're always—"

  "Girls, girls!" Mother scolded, cutting us off.

  "It's her fault, Mother!" I informed her.

  "Remember, above all, self-control and..." A sudden knock on the door made Mother slam the piano keys in surprise. "YES?!" she barked, losing her prized composure.

  Cinderella entered the room.

  “Cinderella,” Mother seethed. “I warned you never to interrupt while—”

  "But this just arrived from the palace," Cinderella said, holding a letter in her hand.

  “From the palace!?” Anastasia and I called out in unison.

  I went and snatched the letter from Cinderella. I meant to read it too, but my savage of a sister tried to snatch it from my hand! She almost tore it in half, too! How barbaric!

  "Give it here!" I demanded.

  "Let me have it!" she cried.

  "No, it's mine!" I said.

  "NO!" cried Anastasia.

  Then Mother stepped in and snatched the letter away from both of us.

  "I’ll read it," she said, scanning through the lines. "Well... There's to be a ball."

  “A ball!?” my sister and I said in unison.

  "In honor of His Highness, the Prince!" Mother continued.

  “Oh, the Prince!” we called out.

  "And, by royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend," Mother finished.

  "Why, that's us!" I said excitedly.

  "And I'm so eligible!" Anastasia sighed dramatically.

  "Why, that means I can go too!" Cinderella said suddenly.

  The very thought of Cinderella—a simple, often dirty servant girl—in the company of actual royalty was hilarious.

  "Ha!" I giggled. "Her, dancing with the Prince!"

  “I'd be honored, Your Highness,” Anastasia said in a mocking voice, bowing low. “Would you mind holding my broom?” She offered me the flute as a mock-broomstick.

  I took the flute, and we did a ridiculous, little dance together. We were laughing so hard; it was really funny!

  "Well, why not?" Cinderella asked annoyingly. "After all, I'm still a member of the family. And it says, 'by royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend.'"

  Oh, so now Cinderella was a lawyer, too?!

  "Yes… so it does," Mother said calmly. "Well, I see no reason why you can't go... if you get all your work done."

  What was that?! Was Mother really considering it?!

  "Oh, I will! I promise," Cinderella said happily.

  "And if you can find something suitable to wear," Mother added.

  "I'm sure I can!" Cinderella beamed. "Oh, thank you, Stepmother."

  She ran out happily.

  I couldn't believe it! To think of her! Cinderella! The annoying servant, accompanying us! It was unthinkable. she was not a lady. She was a scullery maid with absolutely no concept of courtly etiquette!

  And... what's more... a dark thought snuck into my head. What if she did have something nice to wear? What if everyone saw us beside her, and what if, compared to her... beauty... we... I...

  No. I couldn't have that!

  "Mother! Do you realize what you just said?!" I snapped.

  "Of course," Mother said in a quiet, creeping voice. "I said, 'if.'"

  "Oh... if," I repeated, a slow smile spreading across my face.

  Mother didn’t actually intend for her to come. We would just make sure she never completed her tasks! And she obviously had nothing fit to wear anyway. Mother was sneaky like that.

  Cinderella wouldn’t come! She wouldn't steal the show from us! I felt a wave of relief wash over me, and I laughed.

  We are going to the ball! And I will look my absolute prettiest, and I will impress the handsome prince!

  And maybe... maybe he will ask me for a dance?

  Oh, I pictured it perfectly. What should I say? It will be a little embarrassing. I guess I will just smile sweetly. Umm, maybe add a slightly mysterious smile, too, while taking his hand for the dance.

  Ohhh... it was so exciting. I absolutely could not wait for that ball!