Chapter 71
“Greetings, Princess. From today, I will be the one to serve you here. My name is Annie.”
“…Greetings. I look forward to your care.”
“Why do you speak to me so formally, Your Highness? Please call me Annie, and address me casually.”
“Oh… yes, um…”
Quite suddenly, she even had a personal maid. Was it truly because she was a princess? This too was an unexpected turn of events.
Both the knight who escorted her and the maid assigned to serve her addressed Prina with the utmost formality. Yes, nothing would happen here. Clearly, this was a situation far too different from what had happened with Sir Arthur.
Annie undressed Prina, helped her bathe, and then dressed her in an elegant negligee. Unlike the clothes Hunter had once put on her, this was the sort of attire a more mature woman would wear, and merely having it on her body made her feel self-conscious.
Having finished her duties, Annie gave a respectful bow.
“Then please rest, Your Highness.”
Annie seemed considerate, wanting Prina to relieve the fatigue of her long journey. She lit the wall lamp, then closed the door carefully behind her. Prina, still unaccustomed to being addressed so deferentially, found herself dipping her head slightly to Annie without realizing it. The awkward gesture embarrassed her, but she thought she could fix it little by little with time.
“Lucky. They say this is where we’ll be living from today.”
Khiiiing.
Lucky wriggled against her chest in response.
It was strange. Though this was her first time here, it felt oddly familiar. Perhaps because it was a stone tower, the room was cool even in midsummer. When winter came, it would surely be bitterly cold, but she had heard that palace matters would be settled soon. She would not be staying here long.
Prina scolded herself for feeling regret at the thought. Compared to her cell in the convent, this place was far more than she deserved. A room just for her, a bed, furniture, clothing. She must not compare this with what Hunter had once given her in the forest mansion. Even this much was more than enough.
“Lucky. You’re my roommate here too, aren’t you?”
Khiing.
“Let’s continue to take care of each other.”
Prina grasped Lucky’s soft paw and gave a small handshake. Then, after glancing around the room a little more, she lay down on the bed. Having traveled such a long way under constant tension, drowsiness overcame her at once.
The moment her tension eased, Prina slipped into sleep without realizing it.
How much time had passed?
“Prina.”
Prina awoke at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. She blinked groggily, realizing that it had grown dark outside.
Before her sat a middle-aged man in an elegant nightgown, resting in an armchair. Thinking she must be seeing wrong, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
It wasn’t a mistake. Nor was it a dream.
Who was he? The knights had said they would be guarding this place, so he could not be an outsider. There was only one person she could imagine would be permitted to enter here. Though the situation was, admittedly, a little strange.
“Your Majesty…?”
“Yes, Prina.”
Her first meeting with her father came in a completely unexpected way.
Even if she had been hidden away in an unofficial location, she was still royalty. She had assumed there would be formal introductions and proper ceremony.
She had thought it would be a matter of days before such a meeting took place, after Annie had told her the schedule and dressed her in the proper attire. She had worried whether she would even be able to act in accordance with etiquette, not wishing to disgrace herself and be turned away again at her very first greeting. She had wanted to know everything, whether she would truly live as a member of the royal family now, why she had been brought here, whether she really was his daughter, and yet she could not decide if she dared to ask.
But now, this was nothing like the vague images she had imagined.
It was neither a formal banquet nor an official audience. It was late at night. Prina herself was in her nightclothes, and the King too wore only a nightgown.
Even if they were father and daughter… to meet for the first time like this. Wasn’t the situation somewhat strange?
The subtle dissonance scraped at her nerves.
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