“The crown princess has escaped!”
“Your Highneeesss!”
Ah. Another lively day at the palace, I thought as I picked out my dress for tonight’s soiree. It was quite the hassle to find one I hadn’t worn yet that would suit my mistress.
Lady Leticia, the daughter of a duke, was the young woman I served. I’d been caring for her ever since she was a little girl.
Thanks to Lord Nadir’s machinations, I was kept apart from Lady Leticia for some time, but His Highness Prince Clarke had arranged for me to stay in this palace as her handmaiden even after her marriage to him.
“Have you found her?!”
“She’s not here!”
“Where has she run off to today?!”
I smiled. It would seem the mistress was on the run today yet again. This scene had become quite commonplace.
Before marriage, she’d always had the habit of trying to escape, and that goal had often dictated her actions. The habit had never gone away, even after the wedding. As soon as she found an opening, she would merrily run off.
I felt sorry for the poor soldiers who had to search for her, but I did also think this was good exercise for them during such peaceful times as these.
Perhaps pink for today.
With my chosen dress in hand, I now needed accessories. As I went to the corner of the dressing room where they were kept, I spotted the familiar head of a certain someone, who was crawling on all fours.
“Lady Leticia?” I called out.
“Hyah!” she yelped, jumping in surprise. “Gosh, Lily! Don’t scare me like that!”
That was my line. “My lady, what are you doing?”
“It should be somewhere around here!”
“What should?”
“A secret passage.”
Oh dear.
“That’s weird. I know it was marked on this castle’s top secret blueprint!”
“And just where is it that you found such a thing?”
“Hee hee!” she chuckled, puffing up her chest. “I found many things over those ten years, I’ll have you know!”
That was not something to brag about.
“Lady Leticia, there is such a thing as excessive tomfoolery.”
“It’s for my freedom, okay?!”
“You have quite a bit of freedom now, do you not?”
“That’s not what this is about!” Lady Leticia exclaimed, shaking her fist. “It is true that my princess lessons are over. I mean, I’m already a princess! I’m now putting it all into practice. And, well, there aren’t quite as many balls, and I don’t have much official business to tend to, so I spend my days busy with fishing and climbing trees and napping and so on, gracefully might I add, but still! This is a separate issue! Okay?!”
I nodded, and she seemed satisfied. Well, I did suppose she didn’t have much privacy, and therefore did not feel truly free.
“Still! With my constant escapes, my reputation must’ve taken a hit!” she said optimistically. “Maybe it could lead to a scandal ending in divorce!”
“I doubt as much,” I replied immediately. Lady Leticia puffed her cheeks out.
She thought her reputation had taken a hit, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Lady Leticia performed her official duties in exemplary fashion and her conduct was flawless. Her ten years of princess lessons hadn’t been for nothing—she was only mischievous within the castle. And yes, she did have a habit of escaping, and spent her days in a leisurely fashion, occasionally sharing the fish she caught with the soldiers, but nonetheless...
She was originally known to the people as the future crown princess, and due to her diligence, she commanded a lot of trust among them. They had no complaints. Not only that—thanks to Miss Brianna, word had spread about how harsh her princess lessons had been, and how wonderful Lady Leticia was for having endured them, further increasing the numbers of her supporters.
Her reputation was, in fact, soaring. She was so well-liked that her habit of attempting escape wasn’t an issue at all.
Completely unaware of all this, however, Lady Leticia seemed dissatisfied. Still, as someone who had known her for a long time, I was aware that she didn’t truly wish for divorce.
“Ugh, I can’t find the passage,” she said. “Maybe I should crack the floor open.”
“Please do not say such terrifying things.” Damaging the royal palace? What a frightening thought.
“Oh, you’d be surprised how often things are hidden beneath the floor like this! Ooh, I’m excited now! Cracking the floor open, it is!” she said with sparkles in her eyes.
“Please don’t.” Sparkly eyes or no, I simply could not allow this!
“Lettie?” came a voice from behind me.
Lady Leticia began to tremble. “L-Lord Clarke? Good day to you...”
“Say, Lettie, I hear you ran away again.”
“Oh! Perish the thought! I was but conversing with Lily.”
“About finding a secret passage out of here?”
Oh my. He knows.
Lady Leticia’s face went pale.
“You think I don’t know everything you know?” the prince asked with a terrifying chuckle.
Perhaps I should leave before I take collateral damage.
“I’ll be excusing myself, Lady Leticia,” I said, taking a number of accessories and stepping out of the dressing room.
“Nooo! Don’t leave meee!” I thought I heard her cry out in despair.
Perhaps I’d imagined it.
I decided to simply pull myself together and prepare for tonight’s soiree.