Farah and Asna.
“Princess, it seems that the members of the Baldia family have arrived at the guesthouse within the castle.”
“…I see.”
With a demeanor that suggested little interest, Farah responded quietly to her companion, a dark elf who addressed her as “Princess.” This young girl appeared older than Farah and donned a Renalute military uniform in shades of black. The combination of her uniform and her sharp green eyes exuded an aura that seemed to intimidate those lacking in resolve.
Her hair bore a pink hue mixed with hints of red, tied into a braided style at the back. Yet, it was striking how long and thick her hair seemed, with the braid reaching down to her hips. With a concerned expression, she gently addressed Farah.
“If it’s alright with you, would you like to meet them now?”
“Thank you, Asna. But if I were to meddle unnecessarily, Mother would scold me. Besides, I don’t think everyone in the castle would appreciate it…”
“…Understood.”
Upon hearing Farah’s words, Asna nodded with a hint of loneliness. The two of them were alone in Princess Farah’s room. Asna served as Farah’s personal guard, always accompanying her, even when moving within the castle. At first, Asna had various thoughts about becoming Farah’s personal guard. However, as she learned more about Farah’s situation as a princess, Asna realized her own initial thoughts were shallow.
Asna hailed from the prestigious Count family in Renalute, renowned for their martial prowess. Her swordsmanship was said to be genius-level, with no one in her age group able to match her. She possessed such skill that even adults would struggle to be her match.
However, Asna’s talent was met with disdain from her own family. Her brother saw her as a threat to his position. Of course, Asna harbored no such feelings. If she could just hone her swordsmanship, that would be enough for her. Then, one day, her father told her about an important matter: the duty of being the princess’s personal guard.
Asna was familiar with Princess Farah. There had been rumors circulating about the princess, such as her eventual marriage to someone from Magnolia. Whether the rumors were true or not remained unclear, but if they were, then being the princess’s personal guard would be quite the inconvenience. If the princess were to go to Magnolia, Asna would have to accompany her. In other words, her father had given in to her brother’s demands.
Why was she made the princess’s personal guard out of jealousy, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong…? And worst of all, did she have to go abroad? Initially, Asna felt resentful. However, she thought that being the princess’s personal guard might allow her to wield her sword without having to worry about anything else. With that in mind, she accepted the position without saying anything.
Afterwards, until meeting the princess, the consequences of neglecting the maid education had caught up, but that’s another story.
When Asna first met Farah, she was surprised by her mature demeanor, which seemed beyond her years. Asna wondered why a girl younger than herself would be so mature. However, the answer to her question soon became apparent.
On the day she attended Farah’s various lessons as her personal guard, it was much more rigorous than one would expect for the education of a princess. Any mistake was met with stern criticism from Farah. When Asna tried to intervene, she was reprimanded in turn, being told, “It’s His Majesty and Lady Eltia’s instructions.” Farah reassured her with a smile, saying, “It’s okay. It’s always like this,” leaving Asna speechless.
Even recalling her own education as a maid, Asna had never experienced such strictness. What surprised her even more was Farah’s thorough study of Magnolian culture. In Renalute, this was quite unusual. While there had indeed been some past events indicating Renalute’s friendliness towards Magnolian culture, what Farah was learning went beyond mere cultural exchange. She was being educated about the very foundation of Magnolia as a nation: its nobility, territories, and more, a curriculum not typical for a girl of such a tender age.
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Classes lasted all day, until late at night. Farah was always required to review the day’s lessons and prepare for the next day in her room. As a result, Farah’s bedtime was always late. Looking at her schedule for the day, Farah had no spare time at all. It was as if there was no time available.
It had been several days since Asna started spending her days as Farah’s exclusive guard. Farah was indeed going to marry into the Magnolia Kingdom, as rumored, although the true reason was unclear. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to go through all this.
Farah had been enduring these grueling days every day, even before Asna became her exclusive guard. Asna wanted to become someone who supported Farah by spending time with her every day.
At first, it was awkward, but recently Farah had started to confide a little of her true feelings to Asna alone. There was a time when Farah let slip a bit of her true feelings to Asna.
“Every day, it’s okay to endure difficult and tough things. I just have to endure and do my best. But no matter how hard I try, it’s a little sad that Mother and Father don’t pay attention to me…”
Asna felt her chest tighten at the words of the younger girl. However, Asna also felt puzzled by it. No matter what Farah did, neither His Majesty nor Eltia praised her. Rather, there were times when they avoided meeting her. In the end, the reason was still unknown.
And recently, there had been a change in the environment surrounding Farah. It was suddenly decided that she would marry into the Magnolia Imperial Family or an equivalent noble family. If Farah were to marry at her age, there must be some movement between the countries. Asna thought that as long as Farah was happy, it would be fine.
However, contrary to her expectation of marrying into the royal family, the candidate who came to visit was the son of Reiner Baldia, the border count of the Magnolia Empire. Asna felt indignant. Why would the son of the border count come for a marriage with the princess of Renalute, instead of a member of the royal family? Even if it’s equivalent, shouldn’t there be a marriage proposal from the royal family first? This meant that Farah’s hard work until now would go unrewarded.
However, Farah simply smiled and said, “No matter who I marry, I’ll be fine, so don’t worry. Right?” Asna felt frustrated that she couldn’t do anything and wondered if she could at least evaluate the son of the border count for Farah’s sake. She kept thinking about such things.
“Asna? Are you listening, Asna?”
“Eh? Ah, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“Never mind…”
Seeing Asna’s flustered face, Farah seemed a little exasperated.
“More importantly, I suddenly thought, let’s decide on the clothes to wear tomorrow, okay?”
“Eh? Y-yes. Understood.”
Asna was slightly surprised by her unexpected remark, but she agreed to choose a dress together. Although Asna was Farah’s exclusive guard, she also served as her maid.
“Do you think this will surprise him?”
“…Princess, I think it’s inappropriate for a royal princess to wear a maid outfit.”
“Is that so? It’s because Magnolia’s attire is in fashion, so the maids prepared it for me.”
With an exasperated expression, Asna stopped Farah from wearing the Magnolia maid outfit.
“Even if it’s a Magnolia design, shouldn’t a princess wear normal attire for an audience… Let’s just choose a regular dress.”
“Aww… How boring.”
Farah showed a discontented expression at being pointed out. Asna sighed softly as she watched her. Although she was wise beyond her years, she sometimes said nonsensical things. Therefore, there were unexpected moments when she couldn’t take her eyes off her.
“That’s it! What if I wear the same military uniform as Asna? How about that?”
“Please absolutely don’t…!”
After that, the two spent some time choosing dresses and enjoying themselves. However, the next day, a dress arrived from Farah’s mother, Eltia.
Unfortunately, the dresses they had chosen the day before were not used for the audience.
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