Chapter 37: The Princess

Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

The garden of the palace was not far from the gate but it was still well out of sight, thankfully though, it was massive so it wasn't hard to find.

It was full of a variety of brightly colored flowers and even had some that reminded me of ones from earth.

The scent that filled the air was incredible as well. -Is it just that my sense of smell is better as a dragon or do the flowers of this world just give off a stronger aroma..-

The smell in the air was quite heavy, but it was soft enough that it was still quite appealing.

Other than that though, there wasn't much else. -Not sure what I expected to be honest..-

There was a fancy fountain, some brightly colored birds and a small hedge maze, but none of that was really interesting.

To pass time, I decided to look towards the palace and look at its beautiful carvings and gorgeous architecture. -Whoever built this was both an artist and a genius architect..-

Although there was nothing too unbelievable, it had such integrity and detail, it'd put Rome to shame.

As I looked around though, I locked eyes with a young avian girl who was out on a small balcony on the 3rd floor.

She was a kid, only 9 or 10 years old but her features were flawless to the point that saying she looked like a doll would be an understatement. -She'll be a killer when she grows up..- [1]

The instant I locked eyes with her though, her bright skin lost its color and she disappeared behind the railing.

-Whats with that reaction?- She was quite far away and was well outside of my aura. -If it's not an aura thing what is it? Maybe she thinks I'm an intruder?- As unlikely as it was, it was a possibility.

-Well whatever.. if that's the princess I'll probably meet her soon anyways.-

Turning back around I started heading towards the entrance to meet back up with father and Sarah.

- Lucy Kaelallan ~

"Ughhh.. huh?" As I woke up, I looked out the window and saw the sun still just below the horizon. "Why'd you wake me up so early?" It was a very early morning for me.

As the only heir to the throne I was always quite busy, whether it was being taught politics, mathematics, history, or even magic, I always had something on my plate, but that didn't mean I always woke up early.

In fact, I was usually able to sleep in quite late.

"The missus said you need to be ready for something very important in an hour.." It was my stunningly beautiful, elven maid, Martha. She was 73 years old at the time, but looked like she just turned 30 because of her elven blood.

Although I was still extremely young, I was always jealous of it. "Hmph… What could possibly be so important that it needs me to get up so early?"

"Haha, I'm not entirely sure either, the missus just told me it was someone extremely important and that you needed to be dressed well."

-This must be one of those 'important meetings' Father is making me attend..- "Why do I have to be at those meetings now.. I don't like them.."

Martha gave me an encouraging look as she tidied up the foot of my bed. "Well, you need experience... If you are to take the throne after your father, you will need lots of experience so it's better to start young. You'll be thankful later in life."

"Hmph.." Being unable to think of a way to retort, I just pouted.

After a bit more idle chatter to try and see if I could worm my way out of the meeting, I smelled something absolutely heavenly.

Looking around to see what it was, I finally noticed a plate of egg toast covered in honey syrup on my bedside table. -Egg toast!- (French Toast)

Throwing off my sheets and springing out of bed, I ran over and sat down at the small table by the wall.

Martha gave me a warm smile seeing me finally get out of bed. "Please try and finish quickly. Knock on the door when you are ready to change."

Seeing my vigorous nod, Martha left the room and I devoured my breakfast.

*Clink*

I lightly rubbed my flat stomach as I set down my fork. -Man.. that hit the spot..-

Glancing behind myself, I saw the sun finally climbing above the horizon. -I should probably start getting ready..-

Although I was young and didn't like them, I took national affairs and politics very seriously. -Plus.. Mother might get mad if I'm late..-

Finally standing up from the table, I turned to the balcony with a refreshed smile. -It feels great outside..-

The open doors to the balcony let in a steady breeze that brought the scent of flowers with it.

Not thinking much about it, I walked out to the edge of the balcony and overlooked the garden. -I wond..-

My thoughts came to a screeching halt as I quickly noticed two gigantic columns of dense aura climbing into the sky.

My thoughts froze and my legs started to shake. -Just wha..-

Wondering what kind of beings were creating the aura, I followed the columns to the ground and saw a demihuman kid standing next to a small wolf that seemed to be his pet.

He was turned away from me so the only features I could see were his perky wolf ears, fluffy tail and his abyss-like black hair.

As I stared at the boy, I felt a deep fear, but I couldn't look away.

I had seen the aura of various incredibly strong people over the years, including several nation rank adventurers, but nothing even came remotely close to this.

-I.. need to warn someone..- Eventually squeezing out a rational thought, I tried to move but my body was simply frozen in place with my eyes locked on the boy.

It was at that moment that the boy turned around and looked at me.

His features were flawless beyond reason, a beautiful face with a well built body, but my awe was quickly squashed.

His vibrant purple eyes were truly stunning just like the rest of his figure, but they made me feel a sense of inferiority unlike anything I thought possible.

It felt as if the boy could see everything about me with a glance, I felt like an open book that he could read through at any time.

It was a feeling that caused such a deep and instinctual fear that it clouded my mind and made me limply fall to my knees.

I had seen kings, adventurers known as monsters and even priests said to wield the strength of god, but the beings on the other side of the railing.. they were rulers.. ones that not only me, but everyone would have to submit to for their own survival.

After what felt like an eternity passed, the door to my room opened. "Young miss, have you finished ea-" The instant Martha saw me, still slouched by the railing, her face paled. "Young miss!"

As she rushed over to my side, I glanced up at her with a pale face. "W..wh..o.. w..as.. t..th..that.." My voice was impossibly shaky.

"Miss what happened?!" Martha quickly reached down and picked me up in a panic before bringing me over to my bed.

"J..just w..who is m..mee..ting us.. t..to..day.." I tried to calm my shaky breath as I spoke.

"Young miss, please calm down and take smooth breaths… Please try to calm down and breathe.." Martha's face was covered in sheer panic as she darted to the door and yelled into the hallway. "Someone go get the missus, tell her to hurry!"

It was only a moment later that Mother finally got here. "Lucy, this is a very important meeting you can't ski-" As she walked through the door, she saw me shaking in bed with a deathly pale face and instantly broke into panic. "What happened?!"

"I think the young miss saw someone in the garden.." Martha gave an ashamed look as she backed away to let Mother come next to me.

"That was probably Osto.. but why.." There was a short pause before she looked like she suddenly understood something. "Did you see a big aura?"

I gave a nervous nod as I forced myself up. "I n..need to go to t..that meeting... I h..have to.." As I swung my legs off the side of the bed, Martha tried to stop me.

"No, young miss, please lay down. Your health is far more important than the meeting.." Her worry was genuine, but I didn't care in the slightest.

"N..no.. no, no, no. Y..you dont understand.." Lightly pushing Martha away, I got up and shakily ran into my wardrobe.

As I scanned through my clothes in a panic, I overheard Mothers worry-filled voice. "Did Osto do something?"

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[1] - Killer as in heartbreaker, not murderer. :)

Chapter end