"Oh, I fell asleep. What time is it?" Lillian shot up from her sleeping position on the floor, trying to make sense of everything around her.
Still groggy from sleep, she stumbled into the darkly lit tunnel, like one who had too much liquor to drink. Resting her hand on the wall, she attempted to steady herself.
"Why can I never have a good night's sleep then wake up refreshed?" She mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.
"So what time is it, anyway?"
Lillian waved her hand and an image of a clock appeared through the blue smoke that came out of her fingers.
"Six-thirty. So I have around forty more minutes." Lillian slid back down, letting her head rest against the wall. "What am I going to do for another forty minutes?"
This is the fourth day Lillian is going to meet the princess. Besides the nightly games, she called her to the palace for tea and lunch.
The princess still keeps her at arm's length but she is friendlier than before. Amazing what four days of showering a lonely person your undivided attention does to your relationship with them.
Her head full of curls felt soft as she ran her hands through it. "What product did I use this time? I need to remember it."
"Hey. Are you there?" A voice called from above, startling Lillian.
"Who- Who is it?"
"It's me."
"Me who? I know a lot of people that will introduce themselves like that."
What am I doing? That is obviously the princess and I am obviously going to be in trouble for answering like that. I just need time to change my appearance again.
Lillian allowed the smoke to engulf her while she kept her ear out for any more sounds.
"Pfft." Soft laughter filled the cave, bouncing off the walls and reverberating all around her.
The voice is getting closer. Luckily, it's dark.
A figure started to form in the distance, carrying a flaming torch in hand. The figure wore a long cloak with the hood over their head and came to her like one to collect her soul.
Scary. So f**king scary. Come on, hurry up. Is it just me, or is this taking an incredibly long time whereas before it took only a few seconds?
And, why is she walking her so slowly? Is this supposed to be suspenseful?
Done!
Lillian ran to the Princess, almost tripping over her, now, loose dress.
"Princess. You're early." She gasped, stopping in front of her.
"I finished my classes early today. Anyway, aren't you the early one?" The princess seems to be in a good mood right now, wonder why.
"You told me to wait for you, Princess. I couldn't afford to be late, even for a little bit." Lillian lied. "Ah, let me take that torch from you."
"Ok." The princess smiled, putting Lillian on her guard.
Holding the torch up high, Lillian asked, "Did something good happen, Princess?"
"What makes you think that?" She looked at Lillian, pulling her hood down.
Her burgundy hair looks washed out and faded from the light of the fire. This just might be because of the flames but something is off about her behaviour. Not off really, it still feels like the Princess but … different?
"-me?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked, what's your name?" The princess's smile never left her face while they made their way down the tunnel.
"Lillian."
Sh*t, I said it without thinking.
"Lillian? That's a pretty name." The princess stopped walking and held her hand out. "Hello, Lillian. My name is Vaille."
"Vaille?" Lillian asked, shaking her hand.
"YES! You are the first person that has dared to say my name to my face. It's a strange name, one that I have been made fun of for. Don't you think it's funny?" She asked, looking at Lillian from the corner of her eyes, the smile still on her face.
"I don't really think so. A name is a name, right? It's up to you what you do what that name. Right?"
"I guess so." They took a turn, instead of walking straight, and walked out of the tunnel, into a deserted pathway. The path was covered with overgrowing plants and buildings in rubbles. It is overflowing with mana, rejuvenating Lillian from her previous grogginess.
"Ah~ I miss the cool breeze on my skin. I miss the empty streets. I miss feeling I am the only one in the world. Don't you like this feeling?" She asked, turning to Lillian.
"Yes." Lillian could feel every ounce of magic that coursed through her body, filling her with more life than she ever felt in years. "What is this place, Princess? I haven't been this way before."
"You are a Magic User, aren't you?"
"H-How-"
"Oh no. Don't worry, I don't mean anything by it. I know how the people can get once they find out that a commoner has magic. This kingdom has become hell and the King is too unwell to take care of it properly." She sighed, then smiled at Lillian.
"Lillian, come and stay in the palace with me. Become my lady-in-waiting."
"Where's this coming from, princess?" Lillian asked, her skin glistening again, like the Old Sage's leaves. She almost turned back to her true form too but she managed to remain as she is.
Lillian quickly tried to hide her skin in the sleeves and dress but Vaille came to her and took her hands into her own.
"Your real skin is beautiful, Lillian." She said, running her fingers down her arm. "So beautiful."
"Uh, Princess? Is everything ok?" Lillian asked, something definitely was off.
"Wrong? Should anything be wrong? Shouldn't everything be fine and good?"
"What happened, princess?" Lillian placed her hands on her shoulder and look her in the eyes.
"There is no hiding anything from you, is there? You could have at least pretended, Lillian. I'm trying so hard to appear happy here." Vaille said, her eyes filling with tears.
"What happened?"
"It-its father. He isn't doing well at all. I don't think he has very long to live, Lillian. What am I to do now? I visited him today and he didn't even recognize me anymore."
"Just for the record, princess. How old is the King?"
"Thirty. He just turned thirty. He is too young to be like this. What do I do now?"
"Thirty? Thank goodness."
"What?"
"Nothing. Now, what is the real reason you want me to be your Lady-In-Waiting? Didn't you hate them?"
"If it's you then I would be ok with it. And …"
"And?"
"You might be able to talk to father. Bring his mood up a little bit. Do some magic tricks. What do you say, Lillian? I even revealed this place to you because I want you to know how much I trust you. No one but me and father knows about this place. You can come and replenish your magic anytime you want, ok?"
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Calm down, princess. What makes you so sure I will be able to pull the King out of his stupor?" Lillian asked, biting her tongue to keep from smiling.
I get to see the king~ I get to see the king~ And it's requested by his daughter too.
"You have this thing about you that feels really genuine. I can tell when people are buttering up to me or faking it, but you wanted to play with me and you didn't even ask for anything in return."
"Who knows, maybe I was just pretending so that I could get close to you or the King." Lillian countered.
What am I doing? This is the perfect opportunity to accept and meet the King.
But then, I don't want the Princess to grow up gullible and trust just because they are just being nice to her. Even if I don't have any malicious intent, it doesn't mean there won't be others in the future. I will feel guilty if, in the future, she gets taken advantage of because of this incident.
Why am I so nice?
"To be honest, I had a spell on me the first night we met. If you even had an ill-thought towards me, you will die. And … that spell is still there now too. Sorry." Vaille smiled, guilt in her eyes.
Lillian looked at her then quickly turned away from her, sucking in a deep breath.
"I'm so sorry, Lillian. I really am. I- Lillian?" Vaille stared at Lillian as tears flowed down her eyes.
"-ed"
"What?"
"I'm not mad." Lillian looked at her again, pride in her eyes. "I'm just so proud."
She fanned herself to try and stop the tears from falling.
"Proud? Why?"
"You're going to grow to be an amazing young lady." Lillian smiled, tears still streaming down. "I really can't wait to see what you'll do."
"You're so strange, Lillian. You talk like an old lady even if you are fourteen." Vaille laughed, taking a handkerchief from her dress pocket and wiped Lillian's eyes. "There now. Enough crying. Will you be my Lady-In-Waiting?"
"Sure." Lillian sniffled. "I would be honoured. Now if only my skin will stop being like this."
Vaille handed her handkerchief to her, "Thank you, Lillian."
"I didn't do anything," Lillian said, rubbing her eyes dry.
"No. You did a lot."