01: This Seemed Rather Important

"Wake up, sleeping beauty!"

The birds chirped outside the glass window of the room of Anderson mansion which belonged to none other than, Zaria Smith. The rays from the hot sun glazed the window glass, greatly.

Too shiny! 

It made her stir in her sleep as she quickly yanked the light pink quilt over her head. 

She was seconds away to close her eyes again when she heard her maidservant, Elizabeth Jones, commonly known as Lisa in her friends, called her out.

"Ria, come on, get up! It's afternoon already." Of course, it was a lie. Madam Anderson had told Lisa to wake Zaria early today. Lisa knew Zaria would not awaken that easily. 

Elizabeth and Zaria were the best of friends of the same age. They did not care about the master-servant relation between them. What mattered to them the most was their strong friendship which had been built for the past couple of years with their close bond of sharing things.

In a nutshell, both girls had each other's back. 

Elizabeth was brought five years back in the Anderson mansion for Zaria as her playmate. She was timid at first but came out of her shell when she immersed herself among the lives of people living in the Anderson mansion, and vice versa. 

"Lisa, please, let me sleep. I was awake the whole night for that eyesore assignment. I want to rest. No, I need some rest!" Lisa only shook her head. 

It was common for Ria to say this every morning.

And, for every subject. 

But, Physics was something Zaria despised with her whole being. No matter how much time she invested in it, she could never be able to understand the subject, but she did get good grades.

She also had some prejudice against Isaac Newton and apples. Oh her rotten luck!

"No means no. Madam Anderson has instructed me to wake you, so get up." Now Zaria had opened her right eye a little.

Lisa smiled. Finally!

'After all the hard work.'

Madam Anderson was the best friend of Zaria's late mother, Cassandra Smith.

Madam Anderson was a kind woman who had always treated Zaria fairly and had given her the love of a parent from the moment she brought Zaria home with her when she was informed that her beloved best friend had left the world along with her husband in an accident, leaving a bundle of sunshine alone in this cruel, selfish world.

At that moment, Madam Anderson wanted to protect her from all the evil in the world.

Madam Anderson, who was also known as Mia Anderson had never forced Zaria to call her mother, instead, she told Zaria that she could call her whatever she would like, so Zaria insisted on calling Madam Anderson, her aunt.

Aunt Mia and her husband, Master Anderson, her Uncle John had always treated her like she was their own, and so was Zaria.

They were like her parents and meant the whole world to her. She could do everything for them.

It was rare for Aunt Mia to request her presence at the breakfast table this morning as she always had told Zaria to take her time in getting up, as well as Master Anderson.

The Anderson couple knew Zaria was getting spoilt with such concessions, but the loving parents in them always got in between and told them to give everything she wanted.

If she wanted any dress, she could have it. If she wanted any perfume, she could have it. If she wanted the whole world, the Anderson couple would give it to her without missing a heartbeat. That much, she was loved by the Anderson couple.

But waking her up in the morning, seemed rather important. It aroused her interest.

"Why, is something the matter?" Zaria's voice was still groggy as she had not woken up clearly.

Lisa shrugged, "I don't know. She hasn't told anything to me yet, but I heard the other servants talking about some high esteemed guest coming here over today." 

"Oh," Zaria said plainly. Some guest coming here at the Anderson mansion was nothing special to her.

It was the most common thing. Meetings, discussions, eating with business partners.

It was not like her childhood sweetheart was coming.

Since her aunt had told her to, then naturally she had to attend. She yawned and outstretched her body, getting up from the bed. Her white sleeping gown had creases, resulting in changing of sleeping positions the whole night. 

Did she care? 

No.

The world was not perfect anyway.

Her thick hazelnut wavy strands blocked the sight in front of her and she stumbled across the bedpost. She had a lavish four-poster bed like a princess, just like her name. 

Lisa was horrified. This girl...

Not a day would pass when Ria had not been clumsy. 

She was clumsy and she was born clumsy, and she was proud of that.

"Heavens! Ria, you're a young lady. You need to watch your steps when you walk. What if something happened?" Yes, one thing in Lisa was, she was always that melodramatically naggy.

If Zaria was conscious enough, then she would have rolled her eyes at Lisa, but she loved Elizabeth like her sister, her closet confidant. 

"Yes, yes." Zaria waved her hand leisurely and proceeded to move to her attached bathroom for a quick shower.

She had the habit of taking showers whenever she woke up. At any hour because it kept her fresh.

Around 20 minutes later, she came out from her bathroom with her hair and body wrapped up in a pure white towel. Her face was still flushed red due to the warm water. Some water droplets were falling from her hair strands on the ground. 

A dress was already prepared by Lisa for her. It was a teal pink floral dress for her, her favourite colour.

Pink had always been her favourite colour. No matter what shades.

It gave her a princess feeling.

She made her way to the staircase and her gaze tried to find her aunt, but aunt was nowhere to be found.

Hmmm, then maybe she was at-

She took her route to the kitchen.