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AFTER I bid a heartrending goodbye to the iridian whiteshell accessory, the two of us were walking down the main street when I suddenly spotted a small crowd forming in the nearby plaza. There, a newspaper stand had opened for business, and a line of people were waiting to make their purchases. Reading the paper struck me as a good way to stay up to date on the latest Vaxwald happenings, so I walked over—
“Come one, come all! Get the scoop on the truth behind the royal rumors!” the vendor proclaimed.
Frowning, I got in line. Once it was my turn, I took a coin from my wallet and handed it over to the vendor.
“Thanks for stopping by!”
I took the newspaper—more of a flyer if anything—and stared down at it, brow deeply furrowed. Behind me, I felt Ray reading over my shoulder.
Sure enough, the article was definitely about Princess Patricia, but at no point did it clarify that the rumors were false. To the contrary, it was a scathing, libelous takedown completely in line with the rest of the smear campaign against her.
“We received exclusive testimony from a Myulan servant who has worked for Princess Patricia for years. According to her, ‘the Princess is every bit as immature as she looks. She’ll fly into a violent rage at the slightest mistake, and she’s been known to throw vases or hit people during one of her tantrums.’ Our anonymous informant reported that ‘Patricia LOVES to spend money on new, shiny things. You name it, she buys it: dresses, jewelry, furniture, carriages... She’ll get bored and buy new ones every other week. She’ll even replace her pets once they stop being small and cute.’ One can only hope she won’t start looking to replace Prince Dario once the novelty has worn off.”
As I read the article aloud, my voice grew steadily lower and lower. Who could this “informant” possibly be? Or was that fabricated, too? I had worked for the Princess for the past two years, and at no point did I ever hear of her hitting anyone. We had our fair share of gossip rags back in Myulan; surely they would’ve been all over a story like that, assuming it had actually happened.
Not only that, but this “testimony” about “Patricia’s love of spending” was blatantly false. Sure, she was tuned in to the current trends and bought her fair share of new things, and maybe she didn’t always wear the same dress more than once, but was that really so different from any other princess? Surely even Dario had outfits in his closet that he’d only worn once.
“Replacing older pets? She doesn’t even have any pets!” I growled.
But everyone else in the plaza was having a completely different reaction to this article:
“She throws vases at her servants?”
“Oh my god...”
It wasn’t clear whether they actually believed what was written, but not one of them was openly declaring the article to be codswallop. Perhaps this was only natural, given that no one here knew the Princess on a personal level. They didn’t have the details required to make an informed decision on the subject.
But I did.
I stormed back over to the vendor.
“Did you write this? Were you the one who interviewed this Myulan servant?”
“Lady, I just sell the papers. That’s all I’m paid to do,” the man replied flippantly.
“Then who was it that wrote this tripe?”
“One of our reporters. But if factual accuracy is your problem, then take it elsewhere. In this business, sometimes the news is the honest truth, but other times, the news is whatever sells.” He laughed.
Furious, I puffed myself up, but Ray held out a hand to stop me. “The Sun Guardian is nothing more than a gossip rag. Their reader base knows it full well, and as such, they don’t take these articles as gospel—”
“I refuse to accept that this woman is going to marry our Prince Dario!” a woman exclaimed nearby.
“...Generally speaking,” Ray finished awkwardly.
I summoned up all of my courage and thrust my copy of the Sun Guardian into the air.
“Listen up, everyone!” I shouted across the plaza. “Please, don’t buy into this muckraking! The Princess is not the sort of person these rumors make her out to be!”
I wasn’t accustomed to making public speeches, but this was no time to be shy or embarrassed. I fought to keep my voice calm and level as I continued.
“When Her Highness left Myulan, she was forced to leave all of her friends and family behind. She came here with only her hairstylist at her side. She was so anxious about Vaxwald, she broke down in tears—but she didn’t let her fear stop her. Instead, this sixteen-year-old child chose to put in the effort to form a strong connection to Prince Dario, all for the sake of their two nations. So please, try to see her for who she is and draw your own conclusions. Don’t let someone else dictate your opinion for you.”
The people in the plaza had all turned their attention to me.
“The royal wedding is right around the corner. On the big day, I hope you’ll all come and visit the castle, or even just watch from a distance. Just wait until you see the smile on Prince Dario’s face whenever he’s with her—that alone should be proof enough that she’s not the monster you’re all dreading. And when you see her in all her grace and dignity, you’ll realize that she’s fit to be Queen.”
I’d never been more resolute in all my life.
“She’s not the person you see depicted in this article. I’m begging you, please...don’t reject her before you ever get to know her.”
By the time my little monologue had come to an end, I was completely out of breath. Silence fell over the plaza. Then, after a moment, someone started clapping. Two people. Three. Eventually the entire plaza was drowned in applause.
“That was a great speech!” a middle-aged gentleman said to me. “You don’t look like a politician, but you seem to know the Princess very well... Are you her advisor or something?”
“No, I’m just a hairstylist,” I answered.
As I stood there, other people chimed in:
“I can tell you care deeply for Her Highness.”
“Perhaps we ought to think more critically about the rumors.”
It was such a relief to hear. Of course, I knew it wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to stop the smear campaign in its tracks, but nevertheless, I was proud of myself for taking action...and I wasn’t done yet.
I took out my pamphlets and started passing them out.
“This is the trendy new hairstyle Her Highness wore at a recent soirée. It’s easier than it looks!” I explained, wearing my most professional smile.
The people in the plaza each took one and peered down at it curiously.
Ray smirked as he watched my antics. “I never knew you were so strong-willed.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I replied.
He grinned, then turned to the newspaper vendor, who was balefully watching my pamphlet trump his paper in popularity.
“The Sun Guardian has been crossing the line a lot lately. Clearly you must think these libelous articles are what sells when it comes to news about Her Highness.”
“Come again, pal? Like I said, I only get paid to sell the papers.”
“Yes, and I imagine you’ll be penalized accordingly. Prince Dario plans to take action against any publications that write defamatory statements against his future Queen, and the Sun Guardian is on his list. Keep vilifying her and you won’t like what happens next,” Ray threatened, his gaze icy.
A pair of knights rode up on horseback. One of them was clutching a copy of the Sun Guardian in his hand. “You there! Are you selling this publication? I must warn you—”
“Crap!” The vendor promptly took off running.
“Hey! Wait!”
But the knights didn’t give chase; evidently their goal was merely to get him out of the plaza. Perhaps Vaxwald was like Myulan where the concept of lèse-majesté had fallen out of fashion, so they wouldn’t be able to arrest him for it.
“Was the Sun Guardian the source of all the rumors?” I asked Ray.
“It’s possible it was originally a publicity stunt to sell papers...but the investigation has yet to turn up anything substantial. You see, Prince Dario thinks there’s a chance it’s all a Kazarth psyop.”
“You mean Kazarth is trying to manipulate Vaxwald?”
Kazarth—a small nation sharing borders with both Myulan and Vaxwald. Myulan had never been on very good terms with them, so I couldn’t claim to have a favorable opinion of them, myself. Kazarth was known for tiptoeing around Vaxwald in everything it did, probably to avoid a full-scale dragon onslaught.
“Think about it. If this wedding happens, the alliance between Myulan and Vaxwald will be made even stronger. I doubt Kazarth would like that.”
He had a point. To Kazarth, a union between our two sizable nations would make us even more terrifying...but they were probably right to be nervous, considering the marriage itself was almost certainly a deliberate tactic to keep them in check. The little nation had been stepping on a lot of toes over the past few years; if anything, surely they should have expected this result. In my opinion, they had no right to complain.
That said, there was no proof that Kazarth was the true mastermind just yet—but in my view, they certainly had the motive.