Chapter 1: The Royal Maid Sara and Princess Hermine
“I heard both your mother and father have passed away,” the golden angel said sadly.
Sara, only twelve years old, nodded and clutched at her chest, crumpling the fabric of the black dress she wore as mourning attire.
“You poor thing… That must have been so hard. Do you have anyone who will take care of you?”
“No, I don’t,” Sara replied. “I’m all alone now…”
“In that case,” said the angel, her face softening in a gentle smile, “you should stay with me. After all, we’re second cousins, right? I was told I had a female relative who looked just like me, and I’ve always wanted to meet her. Let’s live together from now on.”
Sara lifted her head. The cherubic angel was younger than Sara, and she smiled reassuringly as she took Sara’s hand.
“I’m sure Father will allow it. What do you say? Let’s be friends! I want us to be friends forever and ever.”
The angel’s words impaled Sara’s chest, piercing through the fresh grief of losing her parents. A faint light began to glimmer inside Sara’s heart, which had been stained as black as her dress.
And so, Sara was given a place to call home.
Princess Hermine of the Kingdom of Saleilles scooped Sara up at a time when she had not a single family member in the world to turn to.
Sara vowed to devote her life to the princess who saved it. She would do anything—absolutely anything—to keep a smile on the princess’s face.
It had been six years since Sara made that vow, and now, at eighteen years of age, she found herself being summoned by the king and given the order to marry a man from a foreign kingdom in place of Princess Hermine.
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THE Kingdom of Saleilles was located in a mountain basin in the central-western part of the continent. Compared with other kingdoms, Saleilles was considered a little behind the times because of its commitment to preserving age-old traditions, but to the people of Saleilles, their long-enduring culture was their pride and joy.
Sara stood, wearing a simple light-blue dress, in audience with the king at the royal castle of Saleilles. She looked up, her eyes wide with shock. The king was gazing down at her from his throne, and Princess Hermine quietly wept at his side.
What… What did His Majesty just say?
Sara’s hands clenched into fists as she looked at the king’s stern expression.
“May I speak, Your Majesty?”
“I will allow it.”
“So…you’ve said that I will be taking Hermine’s place in marriage…but may I know a little more about this arrangement?”
The king’s order had been gut-wrenching, but Sara had never been one to immediately acquiesce with an “Of course! I understand!” without even asking for further details.
And the king, who had appointed Sara as his daughter’s maid six years ago, was very familiar with her personality at this point.
The king nodded and ordered his prime minister, standing nearby, to fetch Sara a document lying on a pedestal.
“As you know,” explained the prime minister, “we went to war against the Kingdom of Ferrier six months ago, during which our army was routed. We subsequently entered a cease-fire agreement. This is a collection of the terms from the peace conference with Ferrier.”
The prime minister handed Sara a pair of gloves. She put them on and picked up the document.
Her heart banged against her rib cage as she read it over. As a token of peace, the document stated, Princess Hermine of Saleilles is to be wedded to the king’s elder brother, Prince Richard of Ferrier.
“Prince Richard…”
The prime minister explained the situation in simple terms for Sara’s benefit—she didn’t know much at all about politics.
“Ferrier’s current king is a young man who is only sixteen years old. They have devised to wed Her Royal Highness the Princess to the king’s biological half brother to use the princess as a deterrent against us. Ferrier is a small island kingdom, making up less than half the geographical size of Saleilles in area alone,” the minister continued. “But you do know the reason why our landing operation failed there, don’t you?”
“I do,” Sara said after a slight pause. “I’ve heard that for centuries people in Ferrier have had a higher chance of being born with some sort of ability. The kingdom may be small, but the royal family has assembled these mutants and organized them into an army squadron, and so, when faced with this mutant squad six months ago, the Saleilles army fled.”
The war broke out because after the death of their last king, Ferrier defied the wishes of Saleilles and crowned the prince, then fifteen years old, as their new king.
Sara was incapable of judging which kingdom was at fault, but the fact of the matter was that Saleilles, displeased with Ferrier for pushing forward with its own plan despite its lowly status as a small island kingdom, landed their troops on Ferrier soil in an attempt to rattle them. After the ensuing conflict, however, Saleilles was forced to flee.
Many soldiers in the Ferrier army possessed strange powers, like the ability to shoot fire out of both hands or to incapacitate an enemy just by touching them.
But there was one among these mutants who was particularly strong—the one with the ability to control a black beast. Half of the casualties from the conflict were said to be the victims of this terrifying creature alone.
Talk of their pitiful defeat seemed to bring back painful memories for the prime minister, who grimaced slightly as he nodded.
“Because of that defeat, it was determined that Saleilles would recognize Prince Edouard’s ascension to the throne, as well as offer Her Highness the Princess to be the prince’s consort as a token of peace.”
“And so…I’ll take Princess Hermine’s place?” Sara asked, glancing up at the king and princess on the raised platform.
Hermine was covering her mouth with a handkerchief, shaking her head back and forth. Her beautiful blonde hair—very similar to Sara’s own yellowish hair—rustled with every shake of her head.
“I always wanted to do anything I could for the sake of this kingdom,” began Hermine, her voice as lovely as a delicate musical instrument. “But when I thought about marrying into the Ferrier family, with all those mutants over there, I felt so terrified and frightened…”
The two girls’ facial features were incredibly similar, but it would be difficult for Sara’s vocal cords to mimic Hermine’s sweet voice. She might be able to vaguely imitate it if she tried very hard, but she would almost certainly injure her throat in the process.
Sara could completely empathize with Hermine’s fears. The mutants’ abilities were terrifying powers.
Long ago, there were mutants all over the continent, too, but now, they were rarely born outside of Ferrier. Perhaps the island kingdom was particularly loved by the spirits. But for whatever reason, people born in Ferrier were very likely to possess some kind of special power.
There were even stories of one mutant in the past that could annihilate an entire platoon of a hundred soldiers in mere seconds.
Of course Hermine would be terrified of marrying into that kingdom—and one that had just driven out her own kingdom’s army merely half a year before, at that.
After all, Hermine was a sweet, sheltered girl with very weak mental fortitude. Sara had been living with her for six years now, but Hermine still always walked behind her. Hermine was a very delicate girl, too, spooking at the faintest sound of the wind.
His Majesty the King deeply cherishes Hermine. That’s why he ordered me to take her place. But…
“Your Majesty, may I ask a question?”
“I will allow it.”
“Princess Hermine saved me six years ago… It would truly be an honor to offer up myself for the sake of this kingdom. But…if I marry into the Ferrier family, won’t someone realize the truth?”
Throughout the years, Sara’s very essence had been forged to work for the sake of the kingdom—or more precisely, for Hermine. So although Sara felt some hesitation toward becoming her master’s body double, she knew refusing the order would be impossible.
Sara was more worried about someone from Ferrier discovering the truth. There seemed to be so many different kinds of abilities at their disposal, and it would take just one person with the ability to read minds for them to realize she wasn’t the real princess.
“Those worries are unnecessary,” the king simply replied. “As long as you act the part of her stand-in perfectly, no one will find out anything. There may be many different types of abilities, but no power exists that enables someone to see into another’s mind. And in any case, not a soul in Ferrier knows what Hermine’s voice sounds like. They may have a portrait of her, at best. So as long as you conduct yourself correctly, no one will ever realize something is amiss.”
At the king’s words, a single, small drop of emotion fell into the depths of Sara’s heart. Whether this emotion was understanding, resignation, or sorrow—she couldn’t tell.
Regardless, Sara couldn’t refuse the king.
And if this means I can repay the kindness His Majesty and Hermine have shown me…
“Sara?” the king called.
Sara nodded and returned the document to the prime minister before deeply bowing her head.
“I would be honored to accept this post. I…I exist for Saleilles.”
If Sara could endure this—if she could give it her all—then Hermine would get to keep smiling.
Even though she would be deceiving everyone in her new family, Sara could carry on for Hermine’s sake.