Chapter 16: A Girl and Her Hair
ONCE I had received first aid treatment in the infirmary, Ray took me back to Patricia’s quarters. There, I found Rebecca and Mona, as well as Prince Dario and, of course, the Princess herself right beside him. Sari was nowhere to be found—likely in the knights’ custody, if I had to guess.
I rushed over to Patricia. She was still sitting in her chair, staring at the floor with an empty expression. “Your Highness!”
“Oh, Mayna...” When she looked up, I could see the pain of losing her hair written all over her face.
From there, Dario and Patricia listened quietly as Ray recounted to them everything I had told him about Kirion—that he was not a Dragonkin but a Shadowkin, that Kazarth had hired him to put a stop to the royal wedding, and so on.
Meanwhile, I undid Patricia’s braids so I could get a good look at the damage. Sure enough, approximately half of the left braid had been severed from her chin down. Angry as I was, I was still convinced we could manage somehow. After all, it wasn’t as though the hair had been pulled from her head entirely. With the remaining length, I could still style it up—and once it was up, no one would be any the wiser.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. We can still do the wedding hairstyle like we planned. I can just style it so no one will see the shorter strands,” I explained to Patricia once Ray had finished telling them about Kirion.
Admittedly I had been worried for her emotional well-being, but as it turned out, the young princess had much more mental fortitude than I gave her credit for...and she had already made up her mind.
“No... There’s no need to hide it.”
Ray, Dario, and I all looked at her in surprise.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I want you to cut the rest of my hair to the same length. That’s how I’ll wear it for the wedding. I mean, think about it—there’s simply no way we could keep a scandal of this size hidden forever. Surely half the castle is talking about it by now. And from there, it’ll spread to the commoners. So I may as well own it.”
In a blink, warmth had returned to her eyes—the fire of determination to spite those who had done her wrong.
“Plus, this way I might win some pity points. I just know they’ll all feel sorry for me, having lost my precious hair! Not only that, but if I wear it short to the wedding, they’ll see that I’m quite down-to-earth and not at all fussy... Then they’ll realize the rumors were false, and they’ll all start to like me!” she declared quietly, yet firmly. “I’m tired of constantly worrying about what other people are saying about me, and I refuse to suffer in silence. So this is where I take a stand. I’m going to change their minds about me!”
I was incredibly touched. I had only been her personal hairstylist for two years—had she always been this strong?
Thinking back, she used to be a bit more innocent and childlike. And while she had her moments of naiveté, I knew her to be a smart and responsible girl... Yes, there were many times over the years when I thought of her as strong, but it wasn’t until now that I realized just how much she had matured. Oh, how I wished her parents were here to see this... The thought nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Meanwhile, Patricia pouted her lips. “I admit, losing my hair really broke my heart at first...but now all I feel is anger. Sari and Kirion had better watch their backs! I’m not going to let Kazarth have its way. The wedding’s going to be a total success! They’ll see!”
“It appears my bride-to-be is more formidable than I realized,” Dario commented with a grin.
At this, Patricia seemed to snap back to her senses. All at once, her face flushed bright red.
“Anyway, she’s right,” he continued. “I think telling them is smarter than trying to hide it. I’ll have the newspaper run an article on it... I’ll tell them Sari was tricked into doing it by a Shadowkin assassin from Kazarth. Oh, and I’ll tell them he was the source of all those rumors, too. Then I’ll have them put the paper out tomorrow morning, before the wedding. They may criticize us for hiring Kirion without the proper background checks, but so be it. At least Patricia’s reputation will be restored,” he finished with a sheepish smile.
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Patricia told him, then turned to me. “Mayna, I want you to know, I never would have found the courage to lop off my hair if it weren’t for you. I trust you to give me a good cut...and a lovely style tomorrow morning.”
Her faith in me warmed my heart, and I vowed to myself not to let her down. “Of course, Your Highness. I’ll turn you into a beautiful bride, short hair and all.”
“Just be mindful of your injury,” Ray cautioned me quietly.
Ignoring him, I began to brainstorm potential short hairstyles for tomorrow.
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ON the morning of the wedding, I arrived just outside Patricia’s bedroom to find Ray staring at me with his eyes so wide, they threatened to pop out of their sockets altogether.
“Mayna... Your hair!”
I laughed. “Does it look bad?”
“No, no, it’s rather fetching...but still...”
With a smile, I opened the door and walked into the room, where Rebecca, Mona, and even Patricia herself all had the exact same reaction.
“Mayna...? What happened to your hair?”
As of last night, the Princess was already sporting her new cut...and now we matched.
“I cut it!” I answered cheerfully.
You see, after I finished cutting her hair and retired to my quarters last night, I decided I would cut my own hair, too. Not quite as short, mind you—just above the shoulders, but slightly shorter in the back to add depth. Currently I had tucked one side behind my ear.
It was actually really challenging to cut my own hair. For the back of my head, I’d used two mirrors to check my work countless times. Plus, my injured hand had really slowed me down...and as such, I was a touch sleep deprived.
“Mayna... You didn’t have to do that!” Patricia frowned, looking deeply guilty.
“Why wouldn’t I? Does it look bad?” I asked casually.
“Well, no. It looks quite lovely on you, actually. Very dignified.”
“I know, right? Not to sing my own praises, but I think it turned out great. So please, don’t blame yourself for my haircut. If anything, you helped me discover a new hairstyle that looks good on me, and now I’m completely smitten! This is the first time I’ve changed my entire cut rather than just my style!” With that out of the way, I continued, “Your Highness, we’re about to start a short hair trend all across Vaxwald. It’s not something I can accomplish on my own, but with your help, I can. There are bound to be hundreds upon hundreds of women in this country who are sick of dealing with all the maintenance long hair requires but feel they have no choice due to societal norms... Together, we can set them free.”
“Oh, Mayna...!”
“Chasing trends is for commoners. But us?” Gazing into her eyes, I put a hand on my chest. “With one first-rate hairstylist and one royal celebrity, we can make our own trends. And starting now, short cuts will be the cutting-edge fashion.”
Patricia broke into a big, bright smile. “I declare, I can never compete with you, Mayna. Yesterday I felt it was rather daring of me to have my hair cut so short, but afterward I actually started to regret it...and now you’ve made me change my mind all over again!”
“You know, short hair doesn’t look as masculine as I thought it would,” Rebecca mused. “I actually like it quite a lot. Maybe I should cut mine, too.”
“Yeah... Long hair is really hard to take care of!” Mona chimed in. “It damages super easily, and it takes so long to wash and dry... It’s just such a hassle every day! Personally, I’d love it if short hair came into vogue!”
Grinning to myself, I rolled up my sleeves and turned back to Patricia. Regardless of length, her naturally curly hair had volume in excess, so my plan was to give her a half-up style that would look good with both a tiara and a veil while letting the lower half of her hair hang free.
“Now then, let’s get to styling!”