Crystal was shocked when she saw the castle. She had never seen it from up close and it was enormous. All the people from her village could live in there, and there would still be room for more.

She, Andy and the rest of the escorts walked in through the gates and started heading towards her appointed room. Andy would go talk through the King after he dropped her off and she would be called for dinner a few hours later.

Andy led her through some corridors, passing by numerous rooms that she was certain were just as comfortable, until they finally reached her "designated" room, whatever that meant.

She felt like a prisoner from the moment she stepped in. Climbing on trees? Nah. That would be too boyish and dangerous for a princess. Horseriding? Only with supervision. Going out at the market? Of course not! She was royalty. She would be in constant danger.

It felt as if a part of her left her when she went through the doors, but as if she could also take it back. From the moment she stepped in her room, that possibility got lost. There was no return. This was her life from that point on.

She was greeted by a chubby woman, who introduced herself as Margaret.

“You have probably met my husband, Andy. He was the one that led the escort here, after all. Besides, be has visited your village multiple times! He's told me all about you and Benny... You're Princess Crystal, aren't you? I really hope I'm not wrong and embarrassing myself right now...”, Margaret babbled.

“I'm Crystal, you're not wrong.”, she forced a smile. “And you don't have to call me princess or anything... I'm not royal material. And yeah I know your husband. Nice to finally meet you! He talks a lot about you.”, she continued politely, answering all of the woman's questions.

“Oh, thank God! I was worried I made a mistake... You don't exactly look like the king, but you do look a lot like your brother, Prince Tristan, I guess. You're twins, anyway, but then again twins don't always look the same. Caroline on the other hand... There is no resemblance. None at all. She looks like your dad.”, Margaret shook her head.

“Good to know.”, Crystal laughed. It wasn't a fake laughter, but it felt a little forced. She had never been this far from the village, but this wasn't what bothered her.

Her real trouble was the fact that she knew it was permanent. She always wanted to leave and see the world, but she had always planned on returning. Now she felt trapped, and it scared her. She hated being confined.

“Oh, well... I have been babbling for so long I didn't ask about your trip! How was it? You have to tell me everything. I rarely leave the castle anymore...”, Margaret sighed in disappointment.

So Crystal told her everything, but she may or may not have forgotten to mention the boy with the gray eyes from the inn. She would have forgotten about him herself but there was something weird about the way he held her gaze. He had been her age, but there was too much sadness in his eyes. Too much pain.

It was impossible for someone so young. She had never seen that before.

Crystal couldn't really remember what the rest of his face looked like. She had only focused on his eyes.

Maybe she should have tried to talk to him and hear his story, but by the time she thought of that, she was a long way from that inn, locked in a palace for the rest of her life. She had lost that chance.

Now his story would remain a mystery.

Margaret then remembered that she had to prepare her for dinner and teach her the basics on how to act when eating. She got her dressed in clothes too tight to let oxygen flow in and out her lungs, brushed her hair until there were no more tangles and made sure she didn't smell as if she had ridden on a horse for two days in the forest and camped on the grass for an entire night, which was exactly the case.

By the time she was finished, Crystal looked as if she had been born in the palace, which was exactly what had happened, but had never left it. She could have fooled herself.

But then she remembered she couldn't really breathe anymore and started asking Margaret questions about being royal.

“Do princesses learn to live without breathing because that sounds pretty awesome, though twice as hard...”, she managed to choke out.

Margaret laughed. “You'll get used to it, even though I could make sure it's not tied as tight. Let me fix that...”, she laughed and went ahead to make some space for Crystal's lungs in the dress.

It wasn't the best, but it was a little more bearable than before.

She eventually had to say goodbye to Margaret and go have dinner with the family she didn't know she had. Margaret helped find her way to the dining room (apparently, the palace was so big that there different rooms for every meal, so this should be fun).

Crystal knocked on the door lightly, and when she heard a gruff voice letting her in, she slipped inside the room.

The man who had spoken, who she assumed was the king, was sitting in the center of the table. He had dark hair and gray eyes, but his eyes weren't full of pain, like the boy's from the inn. They seemed to be full of hatred.

On his right, there was a pale girl with very long and black hair and just as intense gray eyes, but she seemed quite afraid, despite the smirk across her face. She was staring at Crystal expectantly. She assumed that girl was her sister Coraline.

They were the only people on the table. Her brother, Tristan, was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh... Hi...”, she said awkwardly. Her voiced echoed in the large room. She bit her lip and looked down. King Alastor smirked.

“Have a seat, child. We don't bite.”, he told her. She nodded and sat down opposote him.

She proceeded to stare at her empty plate in silence.

“What's your name?”, Caroline asked. Crystal looked taken aback by this; she had asked everyone she had come across about her family and had gotten a fair explanation about who they were. Her sister didn't even know her name.

That's when she realised that she had been a nobody from a village her entire life. She had been brought up a peasant. Everyone knew the royals, but no one would care for a mere peasant. No matter her lineage, she would never fit in in the castle.

“I'm Crystal.”, she muttered.

“What was that? I didn't make it out. Speak clearly.”, the king scolded her. Well, that was a good start...

“I said I'm Crystal.”, she repeated a little louder and bit her lip.

“No need to be nervous! We're all family here.”, her father reassured her. It sounded fake, so she wasn't really that reassured. “Speaking of family, where's Tristan?”, he frowned at Caroline.

Caroline, who was already pale by default, paled even more. “He must have slept in. He worked really hard to arrange dinner.”, she said clearly, even though it was obvious she was nervous.

“I thought I assigned you to arrange tonight's dinner, Carol.”, the King growled. Caroline flinched.

“Yeah, but I have been thinking of making Tristan my advisor once I become queen, and thought that this would be an appropriate test.”, she tried to say confidently.

“I don't care about what you thought, Carol."” Alastor said "Carol" as if it was an insult. “I care about what I told you to do.”

“Excuse me, sir, but since Caroline is going to be queen, she should do what she thinks suits her and the kingdom best. She needs to have her own judgement, or she will be weakened by the fact that she can't make her own decisions and act impulsively if needed.”, Crystal joined in the conversation. She regretted it the moment she opened her mouth, but it was too late.

“Crystal, dear, you're new here, so I'll explain to you how things work here. I say something and you do it the way I ask. You don't act on your own and you don't do it the way you see fit. You do it just as I say, and most important of all, try not to be emotional. It's a sign if weakness.”, he hissed. Crystal frowned and wanted to talk back, but decided she shouldn't get off on the wrong foot with her father, so she bit her lip and went back at looking at her plate.

Caroline gave her a knowing glance, full of sadness, but every trace of emotion disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

“How was peasant life, Crystal? I suppose you're much happier here, at the palace and with your real family.”, Alastor smirked with an evil glint in his eyes. Crystal didn't quite get where that came from, but didn't think much of it either, because all she saw was red after that question.

“First of all, you could have said "peasant" without making it seem as something offensive. Peasants are the majority of your kingdom, so if I were you, I would show some respect. You wouldn't want them overthrowing you, would you, your Majesty?”, Crystal said with a newfound aggressiveness. “Secondly, I wouldn't call being taken away from my home without my consent and forced into an entirely new life a source of happiness. I had a wonderful life back at the village and this is a huge change, which brings us to number three. I'm sorry if this is insulting, and I don't mean to offend you, but my "real" family, is the man who raised me and whom you took me away from. Last, but not least, coming here isn't really a dream come true, because being trapped in a fancy prison full of rules and clothes that don't allow you to breathe is too fancy for a peasant, like me, who would rather climb on trees, have a mud-war and ride horses. I'm sorry, but I won't be attending tonight's dinner.”, she ended with a sickly sweet smile, before storming out of the dining room. She caught a glimpse of Caroline smirking in approval, before slamming the door behind her.

She lost her way to her bedroom. Eventually, she gave up, sat down by a wall in an empty hallway and started sobbing.

She missed home, she missed Benny, she missed her freedom and she hated Alastor Cornel. She wasn't going to give him the pleasure of calling him "father". He didn't deserve it.

Couldn't he see that Caroline was terrified of him? Crystal noticed it from the beginning. Caroline didn't even try to hide it. He probably already knew and was proud of that.

Alastor Cornel ruled by fear, and his family was no exception. To him everyone was equal, but he was superior to them.

Crystal ignored the footsteps coming up the hallway and kept her head buried in her knees.

Someone sat down next to her.

"Hey.", she heard a guy say. She hadn't heard his voice before, but when she looked up she knew exactly who he was. It was like looking at a male version of herself. “I'm Tristan.”, he extended his arm. She shook it.

“Crystal.”, she sniffled.

“What's wrong? Am I really that ugly?”, he joked. She laughed a bit at that. It was the way he said it; like he meant it, but at the same time he knew it was a lie.

“Nah... You're good.”, she smiled weakly.

“So you're my twin, I guess. Right? I'm not mistaking you for anyone else. Please tell me I didn't just embarrass myself.”, he rushed. “Excuse my awkwardness, I have a hangover.”, he added.

“What's with everyone thinking they're embarrassing themselves?”, she sighed in exasperation. “And yeah, I'm your twin.”

“Okay, I know we just met, but we should set some rules first, okay?”, he said it so seriously, she furrowed her eyebrows. “First of all, I'm the handsome twin. You're not allowed to be more good-looking. Not that you can, I mean look at me.”, he laughed. She burst out laughing, she couldn't help herself.

“Are all your rules going to be like this?”, she raised an eyebrow.

“Well... yeah. You caught me.”, he shook his head in fake disappointment.

“Drama queen...”, she rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile.

“Oh, I'm plain drama. Caroline is the queen. Don't get us mixed up.”, he clarified. She laughed again.

“Do you know where the stables are?”, she asked out of the blue.

“What kind of question is that? I grew up here. Of course I do. I know this palace like the back of my hand.”

“Do you always talk this much?”

“Yeah. It distracts people from the fact that I'm thinking of what to say next.”

“Good tactic. Smart. I might use it.”, she smirked.

“Copy-cat.”, he rolled his eyes.

“As far as I know, I was born first. You stole my good looks, so you're the copy-cat.”

“I didn't steal your good looks. I'm the improved version of you.”

“Oh, really?”, she raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you think there's two of us? Mom probably looked at you and thought "hmm... let's try again", so here I am.”

“You're impossible.”

“To dislike? I know. I get that a lot.”

«I meant to deal with but whatever let's you sleep at night.”, she rolled her eyes.

“Do you want me to take you to the stables, or will you keep attacking me with words?”

“I think I wanna do both...”, she seemed to be thinking about it.

“Well, I say we go find the horses, so let's go before you find another comeback.”, he rushed and helped her up.

“Lead the way.”, she laughed.