Reincarnated as an Ugly Step Sister

Chapter 3

5. Cinderella lives happily ever after

I swallowed nervously as I realized I really didn't know much. Other than the basic outline of the plot, there were still a lot of grey areas where alternate stories contradict each other or details are left out. Even if I treat Cinderella well, what do I do after she gets her happy ending? I will end up alone with nowhere to go. There is no way I want to end up third wheeling with Cinderella in her massive palace either. Next I wrote everything I had learned.

1. My sister is unintelligent

2. My mother is surprisingly young

3. Cinderella may be a bit of a pushover and an airhead

4. Magic exists in this world and it's readily available to the public

5. A lot of magic is generally frowned upon

6. I may or may not have befriended a cute guy who goes to the market ;)

I grew dizzy at the sight of this short list. How could I have learned so little in the 6 hours I've been here? Perhaps I could pull some information out of Poppy without her growing suspicious.

I went up to our luxurious bedroom where I found Poppy sitting on the bed holding two poorly made paper dolls, one of herself and one of a boy dressed in very fancy clothes. She violently smashed their faces together.

"What are you up to?" I asked her, slightly frightened by the horrifying scene displayed in front of me.

"I'm making myself and Prince Nicholas fall in love!" she said before turning back to her dolls. I quickly added to my list.

7. Poppy has an obsession with 'Prince Nicholas'

I sat on my bed facing her but she continued to stare blankly at her two figurines as they 'kissed' repeatedly. "So, Poppy," I began, "what do you like about the prince?"

"Everything," she giggled childishly. "He's so rich and handsome." She was blushing furiously at the dolls. "He's just so charming!"

"What does he look like?" I asked her even more confused than I was to begin with.

She shrugged. "Only people who work at the palace know. Miriam, our dressmaker, said her mom is a maid there and apparently the prince is blonde!"

I stared at her stunned, for a few seconds. "How could you like his looks if you don't even know his hair color?" I was growing concerned about Poppy and her unhealthy obsession with someone she never met.

"I just said he was blonde, idiot," she sneered at me. "Besides, he's a prince so he must be super charming" She clasped her hands together as she looked at her dolls dreamily.

I was already sick of Poppy. I got up from the bed and walked to the other side of the room, wondering how anyone could be so stupidly shallow.

I decided to take another look at the dresses in the closet. I furrowed my brow as I thought about how uncomfortable the frills and lace would be. I took a light pink dress from the back. If I could just make a few key adjustments maybe it would even be wearable. I piled a few dresses, skirts and blouses from my closet over my arm and wandered down to where Cinderella was. She sat by the window in the kitchen, the sun casting a lovely glow upon her flawless skin as she embroidered a piece of fabric with forest green thread.

She finally looked up from her stitching, "How may I help you?" Her expression faltered and she put on an unconvincing tough face. "I mean, I will not help you." Her emotions were easily given away as her expression changed to one of a worried bunny, her eyes watering as if she might cry. "I'm so sorry, I'll help you! What do you need?"