Lisa's POV
"You greedy piece of trash," the words hurt me as I stood up and began arranging my bedspread. It didn't seem like my adopted parents would stop hating me, it definitely didn't seem so. I didn't even know what they derived in making my life miserable every single day.
After my parents' death, I stayed on the street when everyone refused to take me because they felt I was a bad person who killed my parents. It was really hurtful because I would never do anything to hurt anyone.
"Get down here, you animal." Aunt Linda's voice came from downstairs, she was obviously angry. She was the one who married the man that adopted me.
I quickly ran into the bathroom, rinsed my face and legs with water and wore my clothes. Running out of the door, I climbed down the stairs.
They were all staring at me surprised. "And why do you think you'll be going to the Academy today?" Mr Jones asked, he was my adopted father who once liked me but still followed the footsteps of his wife.
I was confused. I was supposed to be at the Academy. "Yes sir."
A slap landed on my face and it dawned on me that they had other evil plans for me. "We'll send our daughter instead of you... You're not our daughter so you're worthless to us."
Tears gathered at the corner of my eyes as she made those terrible words. I wondered what kind of person she was. How was she able to insult someone without even thinking of my mental health? It was really bad of her, I could never do that to anyone.
"You're going to stay here and do the whole house chores. My husband and I would be attending the masquerade ball, Zoe would also be attending the masquerade ball. You'll just be the only one at home and you can't even meet the Prince if you're at home." She mocked.
I was speechless but managed to stutter, "Y-yes ma'am."
I had honestly forgotten that it was the annual masquerade ball tonight. I had always wanted to meet the Prince but it seemed like my plans were not going to work. They were never going to let me go to that Ball.
These people were heartless.
"And yes, before we forget, we actually made a list of things to do." She dipped her hands into her pocket and brought out a long list of things to do.
I became utterly shocked when I read the whole list. How was I able to do all these things by myself? It wasn't even possible. My hopes of sneaking out of the house to actually go to the Masquerade Ball was dashed without mercy.
It wasn't going to be possible with the amount of things to do on the list. This was even more frustrating as she included things that didn't concern me in the list. How was she able to do this freely to me without any conscience? Why was she so evil and wicked?
"Make sure you complete all these before we return at night, we do not want to hear any stories. We want everywhere to be sparkling clean before we arrive at midnight. The party starts at exactly 8PM and we're sure you wouldn't have completed most of the works on that list before that time." Mr Jones told me and headed for the door..
Megan walked down the stairs in a normal simple gown, her outfit was in the car and she didn't want to ruin it so she decided to dress simple for the event since it wasn't starting early.
"Hey Lisa, make my room clean. I scattered everything while looking for my clothes. I don't want to see a small stain on my bathroom door. I had my period and it probably did stain everywhere. Make sure everything is sparkling clean before I come back." She ordered and I nodded.
Why wasn't that surprising? It was not like I expected a snake to give birth to a frog. Staring at this evil family, I just felt like killing myself. How were they able to make my life miserable each time?
As soon as they left the house, I slumped down on the sofa and took a deep breath, I didn't even know where to start from. I didn't know what to do, I was just tired and sad.
Standing up, I climbed the stairs and walked into Megan's room. It was like she intentionally made her room scattered and dirty. There was no space to walk, I had to step on her clothes to get to her bathroom.
Opening the bathroom door was the worst thing I've ever done in my life, it was full with tomato sauces. She knew that if she had not cleaned her period blood, I would have casted a spell on her. She was just so wicked like her parents.
I didn't know what to do, I was feeling sad about everything. How was I going to be at the Masquerade Ball when I had a lot of work to do here? I stepped out of the bathroom and began picking her clothes one by one. I picked for over 30 minutes but I wasn't even done with half.
I was careful not to mix her dirty clothes with the clean ones, I didn't want her issues. I heard a knock on the door and rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs, it was Zoe.
Zoe was my best friend who had always helped me. She had always made sure I was happy each time she visited.
Opening the door for her, she noticed my stressed face and walked into the house. "You're alone in this mansion?" She asked, surprised as I slammed the door shut.
I nodded. "As expected, I was given a lot of house chores to do. Today's the Masquerade Ball at the King's palace and I'm not even sure if I would be able to go."
There was a moment of silence before she finally asked a question. "Do you have your outfit for the Ball?"
I didn't even have any outfit but I could make something, I was very good at designing gowns to look gorgeous. "I don't but I think I can do something about that. Why are you asking?"
"My Aunt and her friends are cleaners so I can plead with them to come here quickly so they can help you... I'll also call an exterminator in case there are any insects in the house, they'll get rid of them."
That was a good idea, she was about to save me again. I was going to be able to go to the party and I couldn't stop being excited.
I got up and hugged her. "Thank you Zoe, you've been the best person in my life so far. I love you so much."
Lisa's POV
As soon as I arrived at the party, all eyes were on me. Thank goodness I was able to get a mask, it would have been terrible. I heard people talking about how gorgeous and amazing my Cinderella gown was and it made my self-confidence increase a little bit.
I looked around and quickly noticed Megan in her beautiful outfit. One would think she had a beautiful attitude too, they wouldn't know that she was ugly inside. I was hardly recognizable due to my mask and it made me move comfortably in the hall.
Cheers erupted from the people as the King's family came out from the Golden door. I saw the Prince, he was the only one not wearing a mask and he looked so handsome.
I felt my heartbeat increase as soon as he looked in my direction. His gaze was fixed on me and I became scared and uncomfortable. What was going on with me?
I looked in another direction and tried to behave like I knew people from the royal family, I didn't want to behave like a wretched person.
"Hey gorgeous," I suddenly heard his voice and found him staring at me. I didn't even know when he walked towards me.
Oh God, what was I supposed to say or do? I was so confused.
I bowed down my head with a smile on my prince. "I'm pleased to meet you, my prince."
He winked at me, giving me a flirtatious smile. "Even though your face is almost completely covered with a mask, I can still see how beautiful you are."
A huge smile plastered on my face. "Thank you for your compliment, my prince."
He stretched out his hands. "Care to dance?" He inquired.
I couldn't even dance, I definitely wasn't expecting him to ask me to dance with him. This was surprising.
"I can't dance." I murmured, loud enough for him to hear me.
"You should try, my family is expecting me to pick someone to dance with." He explained.
I didn't want to lie to him, I still couldn't dance and I would only embarrass myself if I tried dancing. I complained. "But I can't dance."
He seemed to sense my uneasiness and guided me to the dance floor where everyone stopped dancing and looked at us. Some girls looked at me with jealousy and I almost lost my self-esteem.
My knees buckled and for a moment I thought I would faint. I was in front of everyone with him but it just felt like we were the only two people in the world.
I whispered. "Everyone's looking at us."
He chuckled softly, squeezed my hands slightly and smiled. "They're admiring your beautiful Cinderella dress,"
The music began suddenly, he grabbed my hand firmly as we began to dance. He slightly narrowed his eyes and let out a small chuckle. "You're a bad dancer."
I laughed. "At least I didn't deceive you, I couldn't pretend to be a professional." My voice sounded thin with stress. I didn't even know if my face also seemed pale. I was stressed up, I shouldn't have come..
"Are you okay?" He asked. He seemed to notice the discomfort on my face.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just feel a little bit tired."
"I should kiss you."
I frowned and raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't kiss ...."
He leaned down to kiss me, just a peck and I heard gasps from the guests.
I ignored them as the music suddenly changed, our pace quickened and I was trying to meet up with his dance steps but it was impossible. My dress was getting in the way and my heels made my steps clumsy.
Noticing that, he pulled my body closer to his and my eyes widened. I stared into his eyes and temporarily forgot everything, I missed a step and fell on the floor.
Laughter erupted from the corners of the hall and I felt embarrassed. This was what I was trying to avoid, I knew I should have refused to dance with him. I would only get myself in trouble. I probably disgraced him too.
He helped me up and I looked into his eyes, I could see sparks in his eyes and at that moment, I felt a huge connection I never thought I'd feel for anyone.
"My name is Prince Richard and you are,"
I didn't know if it was a great idea to tell him my name but I just had to do it, "My name is Li...."
The bell rang and I looked at the clock. Oh no, it was time. Megan's parents would be back home any minute from now and I had to go back home, change into another dress and get rid of anything that would make them suspect that I came for the masquerade ball party.
"I have to go, I hope we'll meet again." I quickly told him and ran out without letting him say a word. He was shocked that I just left but what could I do? I didn't want to get into any form of trouble with my adopted parents.
I ran all the way back home and sneaked into the compound. My adopted parents were just arriving and taking the main door, I took the back door and ran straight up to my bedroom.
Zoe was in my bedroom when I got there. She helped me undress while I wore my simple blue gown. "We have to hurry." I told her as she packed everything in her bag.
"They're done cleaning the whole house and it looks clean now. How was the party?"
I frowned at her. How could she even ask about the party when she knew that these people were already in the compound?
We heard a noise at the door and Zoe quickly ran out of my room and went out through the back door. I sighed in relief and sat down on the bed.
Thanks to Zoe, I was going to be free from their problems tonight, I didn't know what I was going to do without her.
"You little piece of shit!" Aunt Linda suddenly screamed from downstairs and it meant that I was in deep trouble. What happened?
Richard's POV
I was baffled, I could barely sleep throughout that night. I was thinking about the lady I danced with. Who was she? Why did she leave without telling me her name? How was I going to find her again?
Standing up, I raised the curtains up and picked up her neckline from the cupboard. It came off her neck when she fell down during the dance.
I didn't know how I was going to find her and I was really bothered. I dropped the neckline on the cupboard and walked out of the room.
I went down the stairs and found everyone at the dining table. "Hi son," my dad called out with a smile.
Sitting down at the dining table, I smiled at him. "Good morning, dad. I hope you slept well."
"We thought we should ask you that question. After last night, we thought you might not be able to sleep. We've sent out words to the whole people to look for the girl and we'll find her before you know it." My mom assured me.
I really hoped they would find her and I just couldn't wait for them to travel out of the country. It was supposed to be today that they would leave the country and I didn't know why they hadn't said anything about it.
They could leave the country for now, I didn't care about the girl either. I just wanted to have fun and get great sex slaves when they leave. I've been deprived of sex for a long time and I just couldn't wait to find a sex slave.
"Thank you Mom." I murmured
My dad cleared his throat as he took his bread and tea. "We'll be leaving this afternoon and we don't know when we'll be back but it might take up to two weeks and more. Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
Definitely no! Why would I even think of going with the old man when I wanted them to leave? I couldn't do what I freely wanted and it was very bad.
"No, I'll stay here just in case they find the girl from the ball last night. It's best if I stay here."
They nodded. "Yeah, it's a smart idea. We'll just leave you to handle things here and we are sure you can do it."
I was so glad they trusted me and it helped. After the dinner, I went on a walk with my special adviser and best friend James. He was one of the people I trusted in the palace and he helped me with anything I couldn't do.
"Any news about the sex slaves I need?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "I've discussed it with someone and they know a family who wants to sell their daughter to us."
I was surprised. What family would want to sell their own daughter to become a sex slave? "How much?"
"Not much, they don't even mind if you take her for free."
Now this was more surprising. She definitely wasn't their daughter and that was why they wanted to get rid of her. She could be their adopted daughter or their housemaid.
"I don't think they gave birth to her. No responsible family would want their daughter to be a sex slave."
He gave my words a second thought and nodded. "I think you're right. They're probably not the parents of the girl, I'll be discussing with them tonight and if everything works out well. We'll bring her to the palace this evening to be your sex slave." He replied.
I was finally glad I was getting a sex slave after many years. I couldn't do without sex and I couldn't leave the palace to get any. I didn't even have a girlfriend and I wasn't that interested in relationships.
I went back to the palace and found a maid. I didn't want to be too violent on her but I was so in the mood. After calling her, I discovered it was a bad idea and sent her back to room.
This was really a huge burden, I just couldn't wait for my new slave to arrive. I wondered if I was ever going to see the girl at the party again, I never really saw her real face because of that stupid mask. Why did they have to make it a masquerade ball?
I didn't even know if I was going to see her again. I felt a sharp connection the moment I set my eyes on her. It was like she was different from all the girls in the hall, her beautiful gown just made her surpass the rest of the girls.
And dancing with her couldn't have been any more fun, I felt it as a way to get to know her but I didn't know why she ran out that way. It was too early and I wanted to get to know her more.
Few minutes later, my dad came in pulling his luggage behind him. He was here to bid goodbye and probably advise me. I wished he didn't come but there was nothing I could do.
"Hey Dad, are you about to go?"
He nodded and gently sat on the bed. "Yes, my son. I want you to take care of the palace, I don't want you to do what other princes are doing. I want you to get married before you have sex with anyone because I'm sure you're still a virgin."
Okay, this man was kidding me right now. A virgin? I had never been so embarrassed and I tried desperately to hide it. I was never a virgin and this was the truth.
"Of course dad, I would never give up my virginity for any reason. I love this palace so much that I would only do that when I get married to the woman I love."
He smiled.
This was one of the reasons I was so impatient for him to leave with Mom. I could do no or less things when they are around. It was like a prison instead of a palace.
And now, they were traveling for weeks and I couldn't be happier. I was going to dominate everyone in the palace and show them my strength and abilities.