Her soft silky dress clung to the snow white skin of her breast which jiggled as she tries hard to get rid of the berry stains from her dress. The sun was setting as Esmeralda hung her favourite dress for it to dry. It was the only high-priced dress she had managed to preserve since her father passed away. It was a deep red dress made from the finest of silk, it might have gotten a little small, but it was all she had. She needed to look presentable enough for the royal family to hire her as a cleaner. She was eighteen and since her father left her mother's health was failing, she needed enough money to treat her. She can't afford to loose her only family, she sold berries for little money, and no matter how much she saved, it didn't make up for enough food for the weekends. She cried everyday realizing her mother was in a sickbed dieing slowly and she wasn't getting enough money for her treatment.
She had been overjoyed when she heard about the ball for the crowned prince which had requested every young maiden to be there. Although she lived faraway from the Palace, in a little cottage, as long as she could make it to town every morning to sell berries, it wouldn't be hard to get to the Palace.
Esmeralda saw the Ball as a golden opportunity to plead with the Queen to hire her. Meanwhile others saw it as a chance to become the Queen. She only cared about her mother's failing health and stuck to the simplest solution. She couldn't hope to be the future Queen, there are a lot of beautiful girls in town, there would be more than enough for the prince to choose from. She only wanted to be hidden in the crowd and sneak up to the Queen with her request.