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Sunlight poured in through the clear roof tiles like golden mist, making the golden hall seem like an ethereal abode.

“Hurry up, hurry up.” The urging voice of a lovely young girl echoed in the hall, breaking the illusion of the ethereal abode.

“Geez, can’t you work faster, Miss Sheila?”

The woman known as Miss Sheila, a middle-aged woman dressed in black-and-white servant dress, smiled helplessly. “Your Highness, I’m already working as fast as I can but this is a matter of great importance for two nations. We can never be overly prepared for such an important event. Please be more patient.”

Since it was an order from the princess, the head of maidservants still did her best to accommodate. She clapped. Two teams of young and beautiful maids slowly entered through the side doors of the hall, and began helping the young girl in front of them to change into a gorgeous dress.

The young girl appeared to be slightly upset with being treated like a mannequin. However, those royal dresses were so crazily extravagant that it was impossible for one to put them on without any help. So, she could only give in and allow others to do whatever necessary, while wondering who in the world would be bored enough to invent something so troublesome.

“Gorgeous,” Miss Sheila could not help but exclaim as she watched the young girl getting more and more beautiful as the other maids were dressing her up.

“Of course, no need to state the obvious.”

Lesiah smiled as she twirled in front of a full-length mirror, the hem of her dress bloomed like a blossoming iris.

Perhaps unhappy with the extravagant hair ornament that lacked elegance, Lesiah shook her head slightly. The golden hairpin that held her hair together in a loose twist fell out, causing her long silver hair to come down like the Milky Way in the sky.

Although Miss Sheila had seen her fair share of beauties, her breath was still taken away by the beautiful scene.

“How strange. When did you become so eager to visit other nations, Princess Lesiah? I thought you have always seen it as your most troublesome duty.”

Miss Sheila gently adjusted the collar of Lesiah’s dress, with a knowing smile and teased her, “Or Your Highness is actually not looking forward to visiting that place, but… someone?”

“I-Is… is it now? How come I don’t know?” Lesiah’s eyes were shifting uneasily.

“You’re blushing, princess.”

“Hmph, how dare you tease me, head of maidservant, Sheila. Do you believe I’ll make you do the laundry for everyone in the palace?” Lesiah threatened.

“Alright, alright. But if I’m going to do the laundry for everyone, no one will look after you, Your Highness.”

“Is that so? In that case, I’ll be lenient. You’ll just have to do my laundry.”
“Well, thank you for your kindness, princess. But I’ve been doing that for you since you were a little girl.”

Looking at Lesiah’s increasingly radiant face, a relieved look also appeared on Miss Sheila’s face.

“You’ve changed, princess.”
“Have I? I don’t think so.”

“No, you’ve changed a lot. Or should I say, I’ve only seen you looking like this when you’re secretly reading adventure story books alone back then.” Miss Sheila sighed. “You would even grin absent-mindedly sometimes. I can’t help but wonder what happened when you were at St. Caroline Academy.”

“W-What! Why do you always pay attention to strange things, Miss Sheila?!” Lesiah huffed, throwing a small tantrum for once.

“Haha, indeed they are strange things to pay attention to, but in my humble opinion, those are most important.”

Miss Sheila lifted her head and gazed upon the clear sky through the clear roof. Nostalgia filled her eyes.

“Your humble servant watched you grow up, naturally I know best how you were like in the past. After the late emperor’s passing, you have no choice but to force yourself to change. I’ve seen it all and my heart ached for you. Yet, there is nothing I can do because I understand that this is a journey that you must go through and a responsibility that you must bear.”

The head of maidservant turned her gentle gaze back to Lesiah. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were clearly visible, but they made her look even more motherly.

“But now, I am slightly relieved to see that you’re looking more like you were before… No, you look even more radiant than that little Princess Lesiah who had no responsibilities back then.”

“Thank you, Miss Sheila.” Lesiah gently embraced her nanny, who had long ago replaced the mother whose face she could no longer even remember in her heart. If Miss Sheila had not been by her side and supported her without fail, Lesiah might have collapsed from stress during the toughest period of her life.

“Geez, I’m already an old lady. I didn’t expect I’d feel emotional over someone who managed to change our princess.”

Miss Sheila wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

“I told you there’s no such thing.” Lesiah’s cheeks turned as red as an enticing ripe apple. “Why do you always like to talk nonsense, Miss Sheila?”

“Fine, fine. Our princess is always right.”

The head of maidservant smiled, but obviously not listening to even a word Lesiah had said.

She could not help but wonder… Just what kind of person it was, to be able to capture the heart of someone as smart as the princess.

Based on the princess’ taste, he must be an extremely outstanding young man.

He must at least be tall, handsome, charming, loyal, courageous, intelligent, gentle and powerful—a perfect man without any flaws…

Yes, only that kind of person is worthy of our princess.

……

“Hey, brat. Which way to the crown princess’ bedchamber?”
“Who are you?”

In a sunny courtyard, a young silver-haired girl warily looked at the blonde loli who was acting arrogant while she was clearly in the forbidden part of the royal palace. She hugged her doll tightly in her arms and nervously asked, “Why are you looking for my sister’s bedchamber?”

“Sister?”

Lilith’s eyes lit up. She scrutinized the young girl who seemed to be about seven or eight years old, then realized that she indeed bore some resemblance to the person whom she wanted to meet.

She clapped her hands delightfully and exclaimed, “Oh, what a coincidence! I didn’t expect to meet my adorable sister-in-law while asking for directions! …Ahem, is it too early for me to be calling you that…?”

The young silver-haired girl tilted her head to the side and asked, “Huh? What is a sister-in-law?”

“Well, a sister-in-law is…”

Lilith’s eyes moved around as she looked for an answer. She then smiled and said, “It means little sister.”

“Little sister?”

The young girl pouted. “But I only have one elder sister.”

“For now.”

Lilith patted the young girl’s shoulder and said seriously, “Maybe things will be different in the future.”

The young silver-haired girl had a look of confusion on her face. “I still don’t get it…”

“You don’t have to.”

Lilith pulled out something thick and long that no young girls could resist out of nowhere, then smiled evilly.

“Want a candied fruit skewer?”
“Yes!”

With such a tempting thing in front of her, the young girl immediately lowered her guard and tossed her doll away. She took the candied fruit skewer from Lilith with her little hand, while drooling.

“Call me Big Sis.”
“Big Sis.”
“Good girl~”
“Heehee.”

Bringing the candied fruit skewer closer to her mouth, the silver-haired girl took a piece into her mouth. A satisfied look immediately appeared on her face.

“You like it?”
“I wuvv it!”

The little girl answered with her mouth full of candy. “But they won’t let me eat this, and keep saying confusing things, like how a princess should protect their image and not eat street food.”

“You can’t even eat candied fruit skewers? How unfortunate.”

Lilith patted the silver-haired girl’s head. With the blessing of the great god of candied fruits, she was thinking of getting closer when she suddenly sensed danger approaching her.

As soon as she moved slightly to the side, an arrow flew past her at high speed, almost grazing her shoulder.

“Who are you! Release the princess at once!”

Unbeknownst to Lilith, more than ten tough-looking women had surrounded the courtyard. Despite being dressed in maid uniforms, they were all armed with weapons.

Looking at those women who were obviously good fighters, Lilith showed no signs of panic. She rubbed her chin and asked with great interest, “You are…”

“We are the Crown Princess’ bodyguards, the Maids of White Stockings! The little princess’ safety is our responsibility. If you understand me, then release her at once. Hands behind your head and crouch down facing the wall!”

“Maids of White Stockings?” Lilith gave them an odd look. “I didn’t expect Lesiah to like this kind of thing.”

Her lips then curled into a strange smile. “But… I like it.”