Chapter 1: The switch
"Please! Help me!" The pleading of the royal girl was pitiful. Cassie was seen as a tough girl, but in the end, she was nothing but a marshmallow.
"Get up, come on!"
"I don't want to go back!" The Princess was on her knees, her hands raised in a prayer display.
"Give me a good reason, then." Cassie had her arms crossed in front of her chest, frowning deeply.
"I don't want to get married! I want to… I want to live!" Now, her eyes were sparkling, full of expectations.
"Can't you tell that to your parents? I mean, you're a princess…"
Zohreh Mokri was the bright and beloved princess of Rigel Kingdom. Her parents and she were visiting Quasar, in order to make alliances during the great Olena's Festival. Now, the noble and beautiful golden haired girl was begging a servant for help. Her bright Cobalt-colored spinel eyes were full of sorrow and Cassie couldn't just ignore that.
'You don't understand." The princess said, looking down. "Our Kingdom is powerful, but now, only in name. Its wealth is coming to an end and, for that, my father is looking for a marriage. For me, of course, his only daughter."
"I see…" Cassie said. She wasn't a very knowledgeable person in those royal matters, but she understood what it was like to be sold. The king of Rigel was doing that to his child, shamelessly. "And how can I help you?"
Zohreh sighed deeply with a smile on her lips and got up from the floor, not minding her dirty dress.
"I just need you to do me a favor. I am to be of age in a few months. I won't be married until then. And the preparations for the wedding ceremony will take place a year after the announcement of the engagement, you would need to be in my place for a year." She explained it with a very clear and soft voice, full of hope.
"Wait… let me see if I got it: You want me to pretend to be you for a year? A whole year?"
"Yes!" The Princess said.
"Ok, smarty-pants, now answer me: how will that happen? People will know we are not the same."
"First of all, we always wear a veil in front of our face in my land, which means people won't see you, in fact. And, of course, I know you and I are very, very much alike."
Cassie raised her eyebrows at the Princess and chuckled.
"You and I are alike? Ok, sure."
"I swear to you!" The Princess said. "You may not see it because I am all dolled up. But.. Please, we can take a test. Please! Just give me that chance! I promise you I'll come back after a year and I will marry or do as my father ordered. But I need to live before I can fulfill my duties."
Having lived a whole life doing what she had to, and never what she wanted to, Cassie knew more than anyone how the Princess might feel. Having the money to travel and not being able to do as she wanted to must hurt more than having no means to achieve one's goal.
"Fine. We can make a test, although I believe it will not work."
Zohreh jumped in excitement and opened her arms to hug Cassie, but she stopped midway. The girl was terribly dirty.
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Cassie was biting her lips, nervously. She was inside the litter, going to the Castle of Quasar, where the banquet was going to take place. The Princess told her it was no big thing, very simple. She just had to bow, be polite and that was it! She didn't even speak. And with the veil on her face, it would be more than easy to go unnoticed.
Before Cassie had to dress up, Zohreh made her take a shower, brushed her hair and made her wait for the maids. The servants could see the princess' face inside her chambers, and , as it seemed, nobody noticed that the young woman was not the princess, but another servant, even lower than them.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she thought that nobody would say she was Cassiopedia, the stove girl, or the pig girl, or whatever low services had to be made. As an orphan with absolutely no one to look after her, she was to do all the services nobody wanted to do, including cleaning the latrines.
"Everything is ready, Your Royal Highness." one of the maids said and Cassie didn't realize someone was talking to her, until the same servant approached her. "It is time…"
"Oh, oh, sure! Sorry… I was.. daydreaming." Cassie answered. "Could you give me a minute, please?" She asked and the maids bowed and left the room. Then, the real princess came out of the blind in the room.
"My, my. You look astonishing!"
"Ha! Very funny. I look just like you." Cassie said. "How's that possible?"
"I've heard, once, that people have a perfect looking pair in the world. You must be mine." They were both in front of the mirror and nobody could deny their similarity. They were like clones. "Good luck!"
"We have arrived, Your Royal Highness!" A man said outside the litter. Cassie was breathing hard. She was regretting that decision. But then... that was too late to regret.
'I'll be free after a year and able to fulfill my dream!'. With that resolution, she finally left the litter to enter a new world.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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