65 In love and in anger, people do whatever they are told!

It was the ball day. The party which the king has announced in the honor of Alyssa. And before the party, Alyssa had to attend the press conference. Alyssa arrived at the castle around 9 a.m. in the morning. The press conference was supposed to begin at ten' o clock. Alyssa got into her dressing room which was near the washroom in the activity hall. She had already picked up her outfit. It was a black, high waist suit pant with a navy blue blouse and a black jacket. She had her hair in a high ponytail. She was looking very beautiful and very professional.

The makeup artist who was waiting inside the room obviously recognized her and greeted her warmly. Alyssa to replied politely.

"I... I am your big fan, Princess Alyssa." The makeup artist said in excitement.

"Thank you very much," Alyssa replied politely. Honestly, in reality, Alyssa was shy with people coming and praising her. It was making her self conscious. This was the only thing that has not changed in Alyssa after her graduation. All she was doing was putting up a pretense that she was fine with it and it was normal to her. Like she was used to this kind of treatment.

"I never got your name," Alyssa asked the makeup artist.

"Oh, Uh, sorry, umm... it's Natasha." She said shaking her hands with Alyssa.

"I am Alyssa," Alyssa replied and shook her hands.

"I know…" Natasha chuckled nervously.

"So, let's begin," Alyssa said moving towards the dressing table.

"Ok, so you still have bruises on your face. So, what kind of makeup do you want?" Natasha questioned.

"Honestly, I don't know. Just keep it natural and please cover these bruises as much as you can." Alyssa suggested.

The makeup artist began her work.

"Umm… I also upload videos on the internet. It's basically about celebrities, home remedies, exercises, etc., etc." Natasha spoke.

"Oh, cool. It's very vast. Generally, people upload only one kind of content. I bet yours would be interesting." Alyssa smiled and complimented her.

"Umm... it's called Nutzasha, my channel name. I was wondering if you could give an interview on my channel." Natasha spoke nervously.

"Sure, why not. There is a lot of time before the press conference, we can do after the makeup is done." Alyssa suggested.

This was a good scope for Alyssa too. The press conference was a sham. It is better to give an interview honestly to a video channel than to lie in a press conference.

"Really? Now? I mean I have no camera and no dress. There are no questions. No sound. I don't know if I could do it now." Natasha said panicking.

She wanted to take that interview so badly but it seemed luck was not on her side today.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Ok. Everything is alright. You just need to relax and think about the solution, not the problem." Alyssa calmed Natasha.

She had managed to calm Natasha down.

"How much time will you take to do the makeup?" Alyssa asked.

"Around half an hour give or take," Natasha replied.

"Good. Now, do you have your friends that can bring your camera and write questions for you?" Alyssa asked.

"No. I do everything on my own." Natasha said sadly.

"It is alright too. we will record our video with my phone. Its camera quality is the best among the best. And for questions, we will get a copy of the questions what reporters were about to ask." Alyssa said smiling.

"You are so smart." Natasha chimed in. All her worries were dissolved in a second.

"Hey, why don't you make the interview live," Alyssa suggested.

"What? Live?" Natasha was shocked. "Can I do it?" She asked nervously.

"Of course, you can." Alyssa chuckled.

After the makeup was done, Alyssa and Natasha start preparing for the interview. Suddenly somebody knocked on her door and before she could say anything the door was pushed open with a bang.

"Who do you think she is that you have to knock on her door." Alyssa heard a familiar, loud screeching voice from outside the door.

She heard tapping of heels on the floor, and the owner of the voice was in front of her.

Alyssa smiled and stood up from her place along with the makeup artist.

"Lady Norrell." She greeted the owner of the voice.

Salvia signaled her assistant who was standing there cowering under her gaze. She was the one who got scolded just right now.

"Princess Alyssa, these are the questions that the press will ask you and these are the answers that you have to give." The assistant said passing two folders to Alyssa.

Salvia's face scrunched upon the address of Alyssa by her title but she didn't rebuke the assistant then. It seemed that this assistant of hers was new because her old assistants would have never addressed her as a 'princess'.

Alyssa's mother, Lady Salvia was the manager of the event. It has been always like this. Actually, the stuff like these is arranged under the order of the queen but ever since the queen had died, Lady Salvia has taken this responsibility of it upon herself. It was not because she wanted to share the burden, it was because it was the only way for her to make herself superior and noticeable. And she can easily swindle the money too, filling up her bank account.

"Thank you. You are very sweet." Alyssa replied kindly to the assistant making her blush a little.

Salvia's face got worse upon noticing their interaction. She glared at her assistant then at Alyssa.

"You better memorize the line and say everything exactly as it is written." She said harshly to Alyssa and left.

Alyssa didn't have to compliment the assistant. Just saying 'thank you' was enough for her but she likes riling up her mother. She likes seeing her mother's riled up angry face. Because that's shows that the ball is in her basket, not her mother's. She likes taking control over her mother.

In love and in anger, people do whatever they are told. At that time, they lose their capability to think.

Alyssa chuckled at this thought. If this was the old Alyssa, she would have done anything in her power to make her mother happy and get some kind of recognition from her. but now she understands that even if she takes her heart out to give it to her mother, there will still a frown present on her face.

Alyssa sighed and sat on her seat. She flipped the pages and gazed over all the answers. The more pages she flipped, the more her smile grew big. At last, she couldn't control herself and she erupted in laughter.

This was ridiculous.

This façade was totally ridiculous.

There was a question, how did you find that it was Count Bright's son, Victor as a killer?

The question was, "I didn't. It was Violet who told me. She was in their house to check on Victor's health when she heard growling noises from inside. She checked it to find it was Victor eating a person. She wanted to stop him but Count Bright kidnapped her and locked her up so she couldn't tell anyone."

Alyssa was clutching her stomach and laughing at this answer. The answer was so absurd. It was pointless. How would Violet deliver the message that Victor is a killer if she is locked up?

The rest of the answers were like this only.

Alyssa had thought that she has to sing praises of the court and the king, but she was so wrong. She has to sing praises of Violet and Leonard.

She has to say, it was them that found everything out and relied upon this information to Alyssa and Alexander. They wanted to come to King's Town too but were attacked by Count Bright's men. Violet is now discharged from the hospital but Leonard is still in critical condition. Having no choice, the King send Alyssa and Alexander to complete the task and arrest Count Bright.

Alyssa was at a loss of words.

Even though she was laughing, tears blurred her eyes. She didn't know why her mother hates her so much. She was her flesh and blood but why she is treated like this?

She was so close to death just a few days ago. The whole nation watched this and prayed for her safety, but her mother. Instead of hugging her, she wanted to give all her hard work once again to Violet.

Alyssa's heart was aching. She was feeling suffocated. She felt like crying. She was again thrown in the past and saw her past self-getting bullied by everyone else. She was left alone in the corners whereas Violet stood in the middle of the podium with a flashlight on her. She was shining like a star. And was surrounded by 'HER' parents.

She ripped the answer sheet in half and threw it in the dustbin at the corner of the room.

She stubbornly wiped her tears and with determined eyes, she said, "Natasha, let's finish our interview."