Suzy’s mistress was testing her.

  There was no other explanation for her behavior this morning. Why else would she act like she was waiting for a reaction from Suzy?

  Instead of calling out 'Enter' from her bed like she normally did when Suzy came to her room in the morning, Lady Blythe had greeted her back without granting her permission to enter the room. Of course, she wouldn't simply go in without getting the green light from her mistress.

  So she had waited outside, wondering what was happening—if her mistress was feeling cranky, it was typically evident from her tone and expression. However, Lady Blythe had never once denied her entry in the mornings on account of a bad mood. In fact, when that was the case, she often snapped at Suzy to 'hurry up and stop taking your sweet time'.

  Then she'd opened the door and peered out as if she hadn't known it would be Suzy who would be waiting on her. When Suzy had greeted her again, wondering what it was that her mercurial mistress wanted this time, Lady Blythe had simply stared back at her without giving her any orders. Just as she'd braced herself to receive a tongue-lashing for not reading her mistress' mind and doing what she wanted without having to be given a command, said mistress had asked, "Yes?" as if she were an equal who'd come to seek her company.

  She’d finally allowed Suzy entrance upon having her question of what she was here for answered, which convinced Suzy that she was being presented with a test.

  But the more pertinent question was, why was she being tested in this manner? She’d been Lady Blythe’s personal maid for two years now, and she had to have been doing a satisfactory job given that she hadn’t been fired from her service yet. All the other maids had been sent crying to another estate or another part of the estate after barely withstanding a few months of serving her.

  Having grown up tough in a poor household full of abrasive brothers and overworked parents who prioritized income over everything else, cruel remarks or severe punishment alike slid off Suzy like water off a duck’s back.

  At the age of twelve, she had come out to make a living as a maid in noble households and had landed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve in the House of Ridge after a couple of years. Her hardy personality made her impervious to all kinds of criticism, fair or unfair, and she was happy to take on overtime work as long as she was compensated for it. The House of Ridge was very generous with the servants’ pay, especially when it came to Lady Blythe’s personal maid, so Suzy was determined to hang on to this job for as long as possible.

  For her, money was of the utmost priority. She just hoped she hadn’t failed her mistress’ test—she needed this job.

  Her coworker Bethany announced Prince Magnus’ arrival outside Lady Blythe’s bedroom door, and Suzy prepared herself to receive her next instructions from her mistress.

  Her two years under Lady Blythe had taught her not to get ahead of herself with regard to her morning routine. Before learning this, Suzy had once made the mistake of getting her mistress’ school uniform ready early when she’d in fact intended to skip school that day.

  “Did I tell you to bring this to me?” she’d snapped. “Do you think you know better than me now?”

  After Suzy had apologized, her mistress had ordered her to bring out the specific dress she’d had in mind. From then on, Suzy always awaited further instructions to cater to her mistress’ fluctuating whims—for all her shortcomings, Lady Blythe was always specific and clear in her requests.

  ???

  “Okay,” she called out to the servant outside her door.

  Mira had to think about it. If Prince Magnus was waiting for her in the drawing room, that meant that he was waiting for her to come to him, right?

  For the first time since she’d woken up this morning, she looked down at the light blue nightgown she was wearing. It was very long, cutting off at her ankles, and loose-fitting. She was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to meet Prince Magnus in something like this. She had to find something suitable to wear.

  Suzy, standing at her side, had both hands clasped together as though awaiting further instructions. Mira wondered what Blythe normally said to her in situations like these.

  Confused brown eyes followed Mira as she hopped off her chair and walked uncertainly towards the white double doors. She hadn’t seen a wardrobe in the room, so her best guess was that a walk-in closet lay behind those doors.

  She could ask Suzy where the wardrobe was, but then she’d have to deal with arousing unnecessary suspicion. Then again, this was all just a dream, so maybe it didn’t matter.

  This is just a dream, Mira chanted over and over in her head.

  As she was about to pull the doors open, Suzy scurried over and reached for the handles herself.

  “Allow me, my lady,” she said, glancing at Mira in a way that could only be described as cautious.

  Realizing that the real Blythe would’ve probably ordered Suzy to open the doors for her, Mira winced inwardly and hung back without comment.

  The doors swung open to reveal a walk-in closet at least three times the size of Mira’s bedroom. Racks of clothes lined the walls and took up floor space in the various parts of the room, seemingly dividing the closet into sections based on the clothing type. Considering the fact that Blythe was the daughter of a very wealthy and influential duke, this didn’t come as a surprise.

  Mira walked around the room, casting her gaze around for something suitable to wear.

  Her eyes landed on a forest green dress that was modestly designed but clearly made from high-quality fabric—she rubbed the sleeve between her thumb and index finger, feeling out the soft but sturdy material.

  Then she paused. Would the real Blythe tell Suzy to find her an outfit, or would she find one herself? Her personal maid, who was watching her every move carefully, seemed to have an expectant look on her face.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “So …” Mira began, noticing the way Suzy’s eyes instantly darted to her face.

  She bowed her head. “Yes, my lady?”

  Mira hadn’t misread the situation. She was definitely awaiting a command of some sort.

  Trying not to let her hesitation show, she said in the most commanding tone she could muster, “Find me something to wear.”

  Suzy seemed to freeze.

  “Yes, Lady Blythe?”

  Mira frowned. Was there something wrong with what she’d said?

  The silence between them stretched into seconds. Suzy was waiting for something, but Mira wasn’t sure what it is.

  Confused and panicked all at once, she cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes at Suzy.

  “Suzy. Did I stutter?”

  Her maid leaped into action at once, hurrying down the aisles and examining the clothes on display.

  “Pardon me, my lady! I’ll find something at once.”

  Mira sat down on one of the plush couches set against the wall, pinching the skin above her wrist this time. She hissed at the immediate sharp pain that bloomed. Redness began gathering at the same spot when she moved her hand away.

  This didn’t feel like a dream.

  Her brooding was interrupted by Suzy approaching her, holding up a deep green flowing dress with a cream-colored sash for a belt and a pair of deep green pumps. Honestly, Mira would’ve worn anything.

  “W-what do you think about this, my lady?”

  It was her first time seeing Suzy look so timid. Mira could only infer that Blythe rarely asked her to pick something out. Maybe she’d made a mistake ordering her to do that.

  “Acceptable,” she said, waving a hand and standing up. “Well done.”

  Suzy paused again before bowing. “Thank you, my lady.”

  She set the dress aside before stepping forward to pull Mira’s nightgown up. Out of reflex, Mira nearly shoved her away—her hands were on Suzy’s wrists before she realized it. Nonplussed, her handmaid stared at her.

  Right. Right, of course her handmaid would help her get dressed.

  She cleared her throat and dropped her hands, raising her arms so that Suzy could help her out of her nightgown. Mira kept her eyes scrunched shut the entire time.

  When she finally felt Suzy take a step back and give her some breathing space, Mira opened her eyes and looked down to check herself out.

  She sensed movement from the corner of her eye and raised her head to see Suzy, her head bowed, walking backwards in a deliberately curved path, as if leading Mira in the same direction. Upon following Suzy, she was rewarded with a full-length mirror affixed to the wall between two racks of clothes.

  The long-sleeved dress, with its ruffles on the ends of the sleeves and hem, reached down to the middle of her calves and was flattering on her svelte form. Blythe really was beautiful—as were all the other characters in Waiting for Fireflies.

  With that settled, Mira went back out to the bedroom. It was time to find out what Prince Magnus wanted.

  As she headed for the door to leave the room, Suzy bowed and went ahead of her to open it.

  This detailed dream was getting really long.

  Mira struggled to keep her face from crumpling into confusion. She desperately wanted to believe this was a dream, but all five of her senses had been thoroughly engaged with everything she’d interacted with so far. She could see, smell, taste, hear, and touch everything so clearly.

  How could this be a dream?

  She took a step out of the room, almost dizzy with the numerous thoughts flooding her mind. Suzy seemed to be waiting for her to take the lead, because she was standing at the side after having closed Blythe’s bedroom door, but Mira had no idea where the drawing room was.

  If this wasn’t a dream, she couldn’t afford to expose herself to a maid that Blythe had almost certainly not endeared herself to.

  Inhaling deeply, Mira drew herself up and turned to look sharply at her.

  “Walk in front of me,” she ordered.

  Almost as if she couldn’t help it, Suzy’s head inclined towards her as her eyes widened.

  “Pardon?”

  “I said, walk in front of me.”

  The bewilderment on Suzy’s face gave way to determination immediately, and she stepped forward to obey Mira’s command.

  “At once, my lady.”

  Suzy began setting off in a direction that Mira assumed would lead to the drawing room, allowing Mira to look around in the large palace-like place they were walking in. The ceilings were outrageously high, with beautifully elaborate chandeliers hanging from them. As she walked, her low heels clacked away at the polished hardwood floors. Many maids bustled around with stacks of towels and various cleaning supplies. It made sense that a place as large as this would require a large amount of upkeep.

  Mira focused her attention back on Suzy once more, being treated to the sight of her back this time since she was walking ahead of her.

  If this wasn’t a dream, how did those game-like screens pop up earlier?

  She tried piecing out the circumstances around their occurrence.

  Both times, it had happened when she questioned who she was looking at. Mira narrowed her eyes at Suzy’s shoulder-length brown hair.

  Who is this? she thought experimentally.

  Immediately, the same pink game-like window from earlier appeared out of thin air before her eyes, suspended in the air like a hologram.

  The moment Mira averted her eyes from it, the window vanished.

  Fascinated and horrified all at once, Mira practiced her newfound ‘ability’ on Suzy, watching the information window repeatedly pop up and disappear.

  They came to a stop outside the drawing room before she even realized that they’d reached her destination. It was then that Mira realized that she hadn’t yet given thought to what she would do or say once she was faced with Magnus.

  Her heart began pounding in protest against her ribcage, and she opened her mouth to ask Suzy to stop, but her personal maid was already pushing the door handle down. Her stomach dropped.

  There, in the middle of the lavishly decorated drawing room, sat Prince Magnus on a long plush burgundy couch, looking every bit the handsome crown prince that he was with his golden-blond hair that fell into his striking blue eyes.

  At her entrance, he raised his head from the teacup he’d been staring into. The hard look in his eyes as they locked onto Mira’s made a shiver roll down her spine.

  In her mind’s eye, she could still see it: Favorability: -102.

  She made her way towards him, stopping several feet before the couch he was sitting on. The teacup made a clattering noise when he set it down on its saucer.

  Mira tried to recall what people in the game usually did when greeting him.

  “Good morning, Your Highness,” she said, curtsying before him.

  Before she could even think to say anything else, Magnus was already on his feet and scowling at her. He truly was six foot, two inches tall—Mira had to bend her neck upward to look at him. Ire permeated the intimidating aura exuding from him.

  “What,” he said through gritted teeth, “are you up to now?”

  At his strange reaction, she stared at him in shock. Red light flashed across her vision, and a small window popped up.

  Was this for real? She hadn’t done a single thing yet!