The chime rang after the door to the bookshop had opened to reveal a young woman with long golden hair. She was clutching a book to her chest as she smiled broadly at the woman sitting behind the counter.

"Hello, Nine!" Estelle greeted and joined her there.

"You hadn't visited for a week, is everything going well?" The woman greeted back.

Estelle's smile waned for a little bit, "Yeah... I was just busy with something," she muttered.

The woman's eyes glinted for a moment.

"Hmmm..."

Changing the topic, Estelle looked around them to find the black cat which was always lazing around the shop but found nothing.

"Is Luna not around? I don't see her," she said..

"Oh, you know that cat. She likes to stroll..." The woman answered as she leaned on the edge of the counter.

"Ah right. I was going to return this book that I borrowed last time. It was a great read! Very interesting!" She then placed the said novel in front of Nine while she gushed-- "The whole thing about a person being transported to another world while they are sleeping was a fresh idea. I have never read anything like that before!"

She was brimming with excitement as she talks, seemingly amazed by the story.

"I'm glad you liked it," Nine remarked.

There was a knowing sparkle in her eyes as she watched the young lady mouth off the part of the novel that she had liked the most.

"Are there any more books with the same genre?" Estelle breathlessly inquired.

"Of course," was Nine's reply.

Estelle bit her lower lip, "Can I also borrow them? If it's okay..."

"Sure," then snatched a few books inside a compartment on the side shelf before putting it in front of Estelle.

The latter then wasted no time and browse through them. There were four books in total, thick and lengthy and had came from the same author.

As she did that, Nine asked her.

"Shouldn't you be preparing for the upcoming Founding Ball? It's almost time..." she said.

Estelle wistfully looked down at the book then glanced at her.

"I don't think I can..." she mumbled.

"Why? Every citizen of the empire is invited," Nine pointed out.

Estelle traced the golden letters on one of the book covers, "It's complicated..."

"Are you being harassed again?"

"No! Not like that. It's just... there's this thing about the dress and then some other issues... I mean, I could probably wear my old dresses that could pass for the event but..." she was hesitant to finish her sentence so she trailed off.

Right. She wants to go but there's a lot of circumstances that is holding her back.

"Aren't you planning to talk to a person with higher power? You do know that you wouldn't be able to if you just kept moping around, don't you?" Nine commented.

Estelle got silent. That was the exact same thing that Vivienne had told her before when she was encouraging her to come.

Contrary to her, Vivienne, a daughter of a Baron, can easily go to the ball if she wants to. The cost of the dress would be handled well as long as it's not as extravagant as everybody elses. She had offered to chip in to buy something for her too, but she refused.

She felt bad taking her savings money just because of something so trivial as a ball gown.

Moreover, a gown is not the main issue. It's her family she's thinking of, particularly her stepbrother. He would surely be against it, given that he's a passionate anti-royalist who despises the current royal family.

She doesn't understand why and she would never probably ask for the reason.

"If you really want to change your current situation, you should take the risk!"

That's what Vivienne had quoted to her.

She had confessed about her plans with her best friend way before but didn't exactly tell her the reason for it.

For three years, Estelle had been plagued with dreams of her future.

It's one thing that the dream was a positive one that shows prosperity, but it wasn't. Over and over, she would relive everything, watching her life unfolding within her dreams.

At first, Estelle thought of it as something surreal. Then she noticed how all events in her dreams, leading to now, had occured exactly as it showed.

She knew that she would end up miserable if she continued ignoring it. A year from now, as the battle for the Crown Princess position was at its peak, there would be a political conflict between two warring factions.

Their business would face bankruptcy and the Forester house would fall from grace. Her father would die from a heart attack after a whole night of drinking and he would leave a mountain of debt behind.

Her brother, Idjet, would marry her off (the better word would be selling her) to a count where she would experience all kinds of hell.

Just remembering that part made her shiver. If anything, she would rather not meet, nor be around the said count until her death. He was her nightmare.

So now, she's planning to change it. She's going to change it.

The founding ball would be teeming with people, and she's sure that it would be a gathering of influential and powerful families.

She had made her research thoroughly, asking everyone she's in good terms with and listened to the gossips. Most of it was about a certain noble lady though. A name that she had never heard before, even in her dreams.

Anyway, there were four people that stood out to her most and they all held significant powers.

Estelle had go over them, coming up with ideas. She had based it all from her knowledge in the dream, giving her four options to choose from.

She was supposed to be a Count's wife and her husband had always pushed her to attend all of the occasions from the nobility. She witnessed a lot, heard a lot, and it was a really great advantage for her.

She still couldn't choose from any of them but if she could attend the ball, she might be able to after seeing them in person.

'Only if I could...'

While Estelle was mulling over it, the woman was silently watching her with a small smile on her lips.

"You should go," she cajoled.

Estelle was pulled back from her thoughts upon hearing her talk.

She smiled at Nine who was cheering her on.

"Are you going as well, Nine?"

"Maybe," was her response.

Estelle let out a resigned sigh and sifted through the books again, not really reading the content because her mind was elsewhere and couldn't focus.

"Go. Who knows, some good samaritan out there might give you a dress to wear and you'll probably meet the person who would save you in your current predicament. Why waste a perfectly good opportunity?" Nine added.

Estelle blinked before shaking her head lightly.

"I don't know about that good samaritan giving something to me though..." she muttered.

She only had one person that she could consider a close friend. The others are acquaintances who really wouldn't do a thing like that for her. So yeah, it's impossible.

"Well," Nine's lips quirked upward, "Life is full of unexpected surprises."