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WE arrived at the border just past noon. There, Patricia and I would be parting ways with the Myulan knights and servants; the two of us were to cross the border on foot, along with Patricia’s dowry items.
“The Vaxwald convoy is already waiting for us on the other side,” I called to Patricia, who was still inside the carriage.
Similar to the Myulan cavalcade, the Vaxwald convoy was flanked by horseback knights on both sides, with a passenger carriage for the Princess in the center. There appeared to be a crowd of Dragonkin onlookers forming in the distance—nearly a hundred people, if I had to guess.
“Looks like you’ve got quite the turnout, too. It seems the people of Vaxwald have come to welcome you,” I told her, my tone encouraging.
“Really?” The tension faded from her expression ever so slightly. As she stepped out of the carriage, the gerbera daisies spilled out with her. “Well then... Let’s be off.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.”
With a final farewell to the Myulan servants and knights, Patricia slowly crossed over the border. I quietly followed along after her, admiring my own handiwork from behind.
Today I had given her a more refined, polished hairstyle: all of it—bangs included—pulled up into a high fan-shaped bun with a tiara perched in front. It was the sort of look that would go well paired with a wedding dress, and it complemented her large earrings, too. As for myself, I had chosen to keep my hairstyle comparatively plain, with no hair ornaments. I didn’t want to distract from Her Highness, after all.
As we approached the Vaxwald convoy, a middle-aged knight near the front of the procession hopped down from his horse and knelt before Patricia.
“From here, we, the knights of Vaxwald, do humbly swear to protect Her Highness Princess Patricia and bring her safely to Prince Dario in the castle. Come this way, if you please.” The man rose to his feet and led us to a lovely pale white carriage.
But before Patricia made it inside, the crowd of commoners began to shout:
“ANNUL THE MARRIAGE!”
“What?” Startled, I turned back to look at them. I’d thought they’d turned out in support of Patricia, but on further inspection, the looks on their faces didn’t seem very welcoming at all.
“Send that spoiled princess back to Myulan!”
“We don’t want some gold-digger spending our tax money on pretty dresses!”
I couldn’t believe what they were saying. Spoiled? Gold-digger? Where did this come from? Patricia certainly didn’t have this sort of reputation back in Myulan. If anything, she was viewed as the nation’s “little royal sweetheart.” Granted, she still had a child’s sense of self-interest, but she was kind at heart. And while she was known to purchase expensive dresses and accessories, she was a princess. Surely that much was to be expected.
“What’s going on...?” Patricia asked, her eyes wide, her face white as a sheet.
“ANNUL THE MARRIAGE!”
Incensed, the crowd began to close in faster and faster until they were nearly running at her.
“Board the carriage, Your Highness. We’ll handle them.” The middle-aged knight ushered us inside, then quickly shut the door behind us. “On you go, now!” we heard him tell the coachman, and so the carriage began to move, with knights protecting us on all sides.
But just a few steps later, the procession once again came to a halt as the crowd of protesters moved to block our path.
“Get out of the way, all of you! Doing this will accomplish nothing! The engagement has already been decided!” one of the knights shouted somewhere outside.
“You call yourself a knight?! Don’t you care about the future of Vaxwald?!” a protester shouted back. “Surely Prince Dario can find a better queen than that!”
“ANNUL! THE! MARRIAGE! ANNUL! THE! MARRIAGE!” the crowd chanted in unison all around us.
At first this protest seemed relatively peaceful, but the argument with the knight had added fuel to the fire, and the carriage shook slightly as someone outside gave it a hard shove.
“I’m scared,” Patricia whispered next to me, nearly on the verge of tears. Gritting my teeth, I pulled her into a tight embrace. I could only imagine how the Myulan knights and servants must have felt right now, powerless to do anything but simply watch the spectacle from the other side of the border.
“Don’t touch the carriage! Arrest him!” a knight thundered.
Though they may have apprehended the one protester, the crowd quickly devolved into a full-scale riot, and the carriage continued to buck and jolt. Were people inadvertently bumping against the conveyance in the scuffle, or were they actively trying to tip us over?
“Why is this happening?! What did I ever do to them?!” Patricia wailed, shrinking into a tiny ball.
What if these protesters try to board the carriage? I thought in a panic. What do we do then?
Surely they’d have the sense to keep their hands off another country’s princess, or so I hoped. As for me, however, I was fair game—
Just then, the low roar of a beast shook the carriage. No, not just one—multiple. And I could tell they were coming closer.
“What was that?!” Patricia shrieked, clapping her hands over her ears in fright. The cabin of the carriage seemed to vibrate with every growl, and for a moment I wondered if it might shatter the windows.
“Dragons?!” I shouted over the earsplitting roars. “Maybe someone’s transformed!”
Was it the knights, or was it the protesters? Regardless, we were in danger. If this was to become an all-out clash of full-sized dragons, our carriage would surely be crushed underfoot.
Then, out of nowhere, the scene fell silent—deathly silent, with no trace of a dragon’s beastly cries.
“What happened?” Patricia whispered, and a split second later, the carriage door flew open. I dove in front of the Princess, shielding her.
“Your Highness! Are you all ri—”
Who should walk in but a golden-haired dreamboat—I mean, Ray Alide. The guy who dumped me.
You know, it’s ironic that a mere knight would look more princely than the actual prince, I snarked internally.
Meanwhile, Ray took one look at me and froze, eyes wide.
“Hi,” I greeted him casually.
“What are you doing here?” he growled.
“I’ve come along with Her Highness as her personal hairstylist.”
“I personally requested her company,” Patricia explained.
Ray glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then looked back to me and implied, “You didn’t decide to...chase after me or anything, did you?”
Mind you, I’m not usually the type to lose my temper, but boy, did that ever set me off. I leapt to my feet.
“As if!” Furious at the mere thought, I glared and laid into him, “I don’t give a rat’s ass about you. I came here to do my job. Get over yourself!”