If the Duke's Manor was obnoxious, the Royal Palace was obscene. I had yet to see any buildings, but the garden I saw through the carriage windows was grand and definitely expensive to maintain. If all that land was used to grow food, instead of flowers…
Well, that was something I could bring up to my father when I met him. Today. Within the hour.
Aiyah~, what am I going to do?
I knew it would happen eventually. Ever since I became Theophania, I knew I would one day meet the King. I thought I was ready. Now that it was actually happening—!
I looked down at the hand wrapped around mine and followed it up to Freddy. He didn't look at me, but I could feel the agitation rolling off him in waves. His mother and father sat across from us, watching with laser focus.
"Stop that," he said out of the corner of his mouth.
Ah. I pulled my hands out of his grasp and scowled at them. I was picking at my fingers in anxiety and now my nails looked painfully raw and torn. Not that they looked all that pretty to start with. I hadn't exactly lived an easy, labor free life, after all.
I clenched my fists and settled my hands in my lap. "Apologies. I'll try not to let my nerves embarrass your House."
"That's not—." He sighed. "Never mind." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window beside him, shoulders tense.
I didn't understand him. A glance across the carriage at his parents assured me I wasn't alone in that. My uncle, especially, looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. It was only my aunt's hand on his arm that seemed to be holding him back from scolding Freddy.
As entertaining as it was to watch, it almost made me glad I wouldn't be living with them anymore.
Almost.
The carriage came to a halt and Freddy all but threw himself out the door. Was I that hard to be around?
Hmph. Whatever. He was only a minor villain in the first act of the original series, anyway.
…that didn't keep it from stinging, though. I thought we were at least on neutral terms.
I sighed and followed after my aunt and uncle, gathering up my skirts in preparation to step down. A hand was thrust under my nose and I reared back in surprise, losing my balance. My stomach lurched as I fell, but Freddy caught me with startling ease for someone so much shorter than me. He looked almost constipated as he helped me regain my footing.
"Watch it," he groused. "You almost did something really embarrassing." Truth.
Excuse me? And whose fault was that?
My irritation must have shown on my face because the infuriating idiot had the audacity to smirk. I straightened my back and glared down at him with the full force of my stigmata and stepped past him—and on his foot. What was it about this stupid cousin of mine that made me so irrational and childish? I was an adult before waking up in Theophania's young body, so I was at least his father's age, internally. I should be able to resist the petty impulses he inspired in me, and yet…
The pained twitch of his lips was so gratifying, though. Surely, this much was allowed?
It didn't matter even if it wasn't. Who would dare scold a Saintess over something as small as this?
Not Freddy.
I smoothed my skirts as I approached my aunt and uncle. My dress this time was much more to my taste—by which I mean, it was almost an exact replica of the acolyte's robes I wore at the monastery. The fabric was much higher quality and black, instead of white, with golden embroidery along the hems and belt, but it was ultimately a religious garment. Anyone who looked at me would immediately recognize who I was and what position I held. A Saintess, but also a Princess.
Freddy and his parents were dressed in their customary grey, fading into the background and placing me center stage even as they supported me. If I didn't know better, I'd think they'd rehearsed the way they walked around me, the Duchess taking my hand while the men stood behind us. If…if I looked more like my mother, if I didn't resemble my father so strongly…maybe I could have believed their affection was real. I didn't need a mirror to see the way I stood out like a sore thumb, though. That—and twenty years of pain and neglect—made it clear that I could expect no more than this. A show of support, and a conditional one, at that.
I set aside my melancholy thoughts as Taylor came to join us. Her head was bowed and her hands clasped demurely at her waist. A picture perfect maid.
And she was mine.
It was selfish of me, I know, to take her away from the Manor where she was born and raised—imagine my surprise when I learned generations of demons had served my mother's family; did her stigmata not identify them for her the way mine did for me?—but I couldn't find it in me to feel guilty about it. Surely, I was allowed this much.
Seeing her eased some of my nerves. Having someone I could trust by my side would make living in this viper's nest, however temporary, much easier.
And what a viper's nest it was. I looked up the grand—marble—staircase which led to a large—marble—courtyard, in the center of which was a towering—marble—fountain covered in—golden—statues of the gods. Chiefest among them was Kynigos, God of the Hunt and patron God of Acan. He stood at the top of the fountain, a horn raised to his lips and a fierce hound—the very hound that my family claimed as the symbol of their House—at his side.
How obscene.
Freddy made an odd noise behind me and I turned to glare at him. He had a hand over his mouth and was looking up at the sky. My uncle looked very tired standing beside him.
My aunt tugged on my arm. Her lips were tight as she smiled up at me. "Come. We mustn't keep His Majesty waiting." Truth.
Mustn't we? Surely he had other things to do. There was no way a king had that much free time.
Maybe, if I stalled, he would get impatient and cancel our meeting!
Aiyah, what was I thinking? There was no point in delaying the inevitable. It would only make me more anxious.
Better to rip the bandage off in one go! Let's do this!
I smiled at my aunt. "Of course. Please, lead the way."
Despite her words, my aunt kept a sedate pace as she guided me through the increasingly gaudy building. I knew from the original novels and the few limited lessons I received at the Manor that this was most likely the main administrative building, not a residential palace. Why did a glorified office building have to be so fancy? There was gold on the walls. What was the purpose of that? Who were they trying to impress? OSHA?
I had to stifle a snort at my own silly thoughts. In all honesty, the amount of wealth on casual display was overwhelming. How expensive were the tiles I walked on? The brilliant paint on the walls? The gold encrusting every pillar and baseboard? Even the giant double doors which my aunt stopped in front of were covered in useless golden decorations and embellishments. The doors were so ostentatious, I almost overlooked the servants standing timidly on either side. Then again, that was probably the point.
It made me sick.
"You may announce us." My aunt's voice was colder than I'd ever heard it and I almost flinched away from her. I couldn't afford to mess up now, with so many eyes on me. I could feel them, boring into my skin from every angle. Piercing through to the heart of my very essence. Did they know? Could they tell? Would Theophania's father take one look at me and denounce me as a fake and kill me now, rather than letting the Demon King take me?
The doors swung inward in open defiance of the panic growing within me. I fought against the instinct to cower and look at the ground as I had in the monastery and was greeted by an…interesting sight.
The first thing I noticed—aside from even more disgusting gold statues and filigrees—was his outfit. It was black and gold and frilly and ridiculous on a man of his stature. He was too tall, too imposing for an outfit like that to suit him. Ruffles of lace hung from his sleeve cuffs and a lacy cravat was tied tightly around his throat. The clothing was just like the building around us, ostentatious and garish. His face though…
Who was it who said Theophania resembled her father? Hey, author! Explain yourself! What resemblance? This man, Theodore Albrecht the First, King of Acan, was just Theophania with a beard!
I stared at him openly, all my fears and unease gone in the face of…that face! It was my face! He had my face! Wait, no. I had his face? Oh, this was ridiculous! Someone could have warned me!
Aiyah~, now I'll never be able to look at my reflection the same way, again! How could you do this to me, author!!