Cinderella hurried off to start her daily chores. She entered the elegant hallway leading to the rooms where her stepmother and stepsisters slept. The carpet was plush and purple, and the chandelier, ornate and grand, twinkled from the high ceiling. Cinderella opened the velvet curtains of a huge window and the hall was flooded with light.

Cinderella tiptoed toward her stepmother’s bedroom door. First on her to-do list was to feed her stepmother’s nasty cat, Lucifer. Sneaky and mean, Lucifer loved to stir up trouble but hated to be stirred himself. The overfed cat slept curled in a ball on his own soft, frilly bed in Lady Tremaine’s room. Cinderella opened her stepmother’s door and politely summoned Lucifer for breakfast. With a stretch and a yawn, Lucifer stood up, turned away from Cinderella, and sat back down. He did not want to be disturbed.

“Lucifer, come here!” Cinderella said in a loud whisper. She wanted the cat to obey her but did not want to wake her sleeping stepmother. Lucifer was startled and jumped up. Since his cozy slumber was officially over and there was food to be had, he gave in and unhurriedly made his way out of the room with his head held high.

“I’m sorry if Your Highness objects to an early breakfast,” said Cinderella to Lucifer as he slowly strutted behind her. “It’s certainly not my idea to feed you first. It’s orders.”

Meanwhile, Jaq and Gus stood close to the wall, watching Lucifer follow Cinderella down the stairs. Jaq tried to warn Gus about the mean old cat. But Lucifer didn’t intimidate the newcomer at all. Gus laughed and put up his little fists, then stuck out his chest and made to march toward the fat cat. Jaq pulled Gus’s tail and dragged him back to the wall. He tried to talk some sense into his new friend. “Lucifer is not-a funny,” he said to Gus. “Lucifer is mean.”

Cinderella and Lucifer made their way to the kitchen. Bruno the dog was growling and running in his sleep on a rug by the stove. Cinderella woke her old dog.

“Dreaming again?” she asked as she started to boil water for tea. “Chasing Lucifer?”

Bruno smiled. He and Lucifer did not get along at all. The smug cat was always trying to gain the upper hand.

“You’d better get rid of those dreams,” Cinderella said to Bruno. She knew that if Bruno made too much noise and fought with Lucifer, her stepmother would throw him out of the house. “Just learn to like cats,” she suggested, making Bruno groan.

As Cinderella placed cups and saucers on a tray, she tried to think positively of the cat. “There must be something good about him,” she said to Bruno, shrugging. Lucifer scowled at Cinderella. Bruno was quite amused. But Lucifer would have the last laugh. He slyly looked at Cinderella as she started to pour his milk. He slid under Bruno on the rug and scratched him. Bruno reacted angrily and growled. But the sly cat lay on his back and meowed at Cinderella as if he were the victim.

Cinderella stopped pouring the milk and went to intervene. She opened the door and let a defeated Bruno out of the house. “I know it isn’t easy, but we should all at least try to get along together,” she said to him. Cinderella put the dish of milk down in front of Lucifer. “That includes you, Your Majesty,” she added.

Lucifer swirled his milk with his paw. With a hateful look, he watched Cinderella head off to attend to her other morning chores.