Ding, ding. The muffled chime of the midday bells echoing in the distance caused Rosemarie to open her eyes. However, all that surrounded her was darkness—so dark, in fact, that it would make no difference whether her eyes were open or shut.
(I fell asleep...)
As she counted the chimes of the still-echoing bells, she groggily arose from the patch of shrubbery where she had lain, the sweet yet bitter aroma of greenery greeting her nose. The scent was relaxing, and she breathed it in deeply. At nine strokes of the bell, she sensed someone nearby. She tensed all over.
Who could it have been? Aside from herself, only her family and a handful of other people were allowed entry into this royal villa’s garden.
“...Come now, Princess! Lady Rosemarie, where are you?” The familiar voice of her maid reached Rosemarie’s ears. She poked her hand out of her shrub concealment and waved slowly.
“Heidi, over here.” The footsteps treading on the grass drew closer; at the same time, the darkness cast over Rosemarie’s field of vision dispersed in an instant. The dazzling sunlight made her shut her eyes instinctively. The warm, gentle spring breeze calmly whisked past her cheeks.
“...Grk! My eyes, they burn...”
“They do not, milady. There you go, putting that bucket over your head again... I implore you to at least shroud yourself in a veil instead, please. Heavens be, look at these marks left on you.” Rosemarie looked on with dissatisfaction as the green-eyed maid stroked the girl’s cheek with her fingertips, brow furrowed.
“It’s not just some bucket. It carries water, soil, and grass, in addition to being sturdy enough to use as a footstool. Not only that, but if I put it over my head, it helps protect me from the sunlight and the prying eyes of strangers. So I’ll have you know it’s quite the multipurpose tool.”
“Well, I have never seen another person utilize it as headgear even once before... But, that is beside the point. Have you been off gardening yet again? You have dirt all over your dress. —Did something in this garden transpire that was bad enough to require placing a bucket over your head?” Heidi said, sighing in disappointment. Rosemarie took the bucket with the light-green ribbon back into her waiting arms and clutched it carefully to her chest. Her shoulders bobbed up and down with a twitch. She looked around her hastily, her eyes finally alighting upon the splendid violet growing just next to her.
“N-No, that’s not what’s going on. Right, Therese?”
“...While I understand that you are fond of horticulture, I would appreciate it if you would not name your violets and ask them to agree with you, milady... So, might I ask, did something happen?”
“...”
“Princess...?”
“Um, well, you see, I wouldn’t say something bad has happened... maybe that it will happen...?”
Based on appearances alone, she looked sweet as a piece of candy, with soft, flowing blonde hair. But Heidi’s expression, and her sharp eyes fixed on Rosemarie, made it abundantly clear that the young girl couldn’t weasel her way out of this with excuses. Rosemarie slumped her shoulders in defeat.
“Father, you see...”
“His Majesty has been summoning you, has he not? Ever since yesterday, might I add.” She had the words taken right from her mouth, causing her to stare in amazement while nodding her head.
“But how did you know? The court lady delivered that letter when you weren’t even around.” Yesterday, while Heidi was away from her side, a court lady brought a letter, saying it was from her father in the main court. While it did instruct her to come to his royal office, no time or date was specified. She exploited this point, as she had no desire to go, choosing instead to distress more and more over the matter.
Her father, the King of Volland, sending her a letter was a rare occurrence.
That alone was enough to make her worried that there might be some sort of issue. But seeing as how he wasn’t sending a flood of requests for her presence, she figured that it probably wasn’t an emergency.
While Volland was by no means a poor country, it didn’t have any major industries to speak of, either. It was a small country mainly focused around livestock and agriculture. Apparently, even the aristocrats lived a more reserved lifestyle than those of other lands.
Partly due to the citizens’ religious devotion and dislike for outsiders, interaction with other nations was kept to a bare minimum. And sorcerers, accepted in other nations, were reviled here—not enough to be persecuted, but reviled nonetheless.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her father. She already didn’t get to see him often, since he was so busy with his official duties. What she hated was the path to get there.
“I managed to see His Majesty’s court lady while searching for you. Oh, she was quite mad, asking how long you intended on making His Majesty wait, so this may have repercussions to my salary,” Heidi stated frankly, smiling. Rosemarie’s face went pale, and she rose to her feet.
“I will go! I will go right now, I swear!” It didn’t help matters that she was always causing issues for Heidi due to her rather troublesome physical constitution. She knew that she shouldn’t be making things any more difficult.
“In that case, let us change those clothes, shall we?” urged Heidi, as they returned from the garden to Rosemarie’s room, and she assisted the girl in changing her outfit.
“... I wonder if Father is angry with me.” The court lady had voiced her own anger, but Rosemarie didn’t think her father would be in the same mood. Even so, she murmured that thought to herself nervously. As she did, Heidi, who had been adjusting Rosemarie’s outfit, smiled softly at her.
“He is patiently awaiting your arrival, knowing full well this is always the case. It will be just fine. I know His Majesty, your family, and you, princess, all too well, after all.”
“Yes, and I am aware of that myself... but...”
“Oh, my, are you having trouble believing me? Lies and I do not mix, milady. See here, is this the face of a liar?” Rosemarie stared at Heidi, who beamed back. Her charming face with freckles from her cheeks to her nose didn’t look an iota out of the ordinary. The girl sighed in relief unconsciously.
“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“Heaven forbid, I absolutely adore that forthright side of you, milady. —That being said, might we do away with the whole bucket headdress?”
Rosemarie was just about to pick up the bucket placed on the floor, but instead let her brows fall in a worried manner.
“N-No?”
“Absolutely not. You aren’t being told to show up to an evening gala or an official ceremony. We will reach the royal office in the main court in the blink of an eye.” Heidi swiftly confiscated the bucket, making Rosemarie lower her eyebrows in disappointment.
“I hope there is no one else walking out there... Maybe if I go after sunset, or something...” Rosemarie’s murmurs, however, fell on deaf ears as she was dragged out of her villa chambers while still mentally unprepared.