Upon return home, Peony and Maisey made her way to her father's office and asked the familiar water fairy, "Aqua, is my father busy, right now?"
The water fairy bowed her, "That's right, milady. Should we notify him of your presence?"
Fighting back her wariness, Peony shook her head, "I'll just knock. Father is a powerful fairy. He would not be caught unnoticed since I've released a small trace of my mana behind right here. How is mother?"
"The queen has been left worried for a long while but her worries were finally quelled by the king. At least, enough for her to stop visiting your quarters every day."
Peony nodded, "I'll go meet with mother after I speak with father. When I left, I left quite a big fuss behind. I have everyone and father to thank for quelling the mess I caused behind me when I collapsed."
Aqua shook her head, "It was clear that you were not in the best of health. The king told us to be ready to support you should you be too weak yet too busy to continue."
"So, father knew..." Peony sighed as she turned to the other two guards behind Aqua then turned to her, "Is mother home?"
The fairy shook her head again, "The king sent her to quell the quarrel between the water fairies as a distraction. She brought a few craft fairies with her."
"I see..." Peony nodded her head quietly, "I wish to go for a stroll. Would you like to join us, Aqua?"
Aqua looked to her in surprise as she hesitated before nodding her head, "Of course, milady."
Peony nodded again with a rare soft smile, "Then, let us go take a walk in the gardens..."
The two fairies nodded and turned into a more average height before following her. the two guards behind her looked to each other in shock as one of them questioned the other in shock, "Did the princess really smile like that?"
"So, my eyes weren't playing tricks on me either! For a brief second, she seemed so gentle and fragile." The other noted in surprise, "It seems that twelve years was not enough to see all of her sides... The princess... is no longer a child..."
The other shook their head, "The princess was never a child, but we never saw the moment when she did act like a child of her human age. Still, seeing her like this... makes the chest ache a little."
"Aye. The princess is in the most difficult moment of her life right now. Such a pitiful child." The fairy sighed as he nodded in disappointment, "Wise and kind. It's like she's inherited the king's and queen's traits even though she is not related by blood and flesh. Even now, her expression is like that of the queen during the most troubling of events."
"Sometimes, it's hard to remember that she's still fourteen." The guard nodded in pity.
"I seem to recall that her fifteenth birthday should be coming up soon." The second guard added, "It should be during the beginning of the fairy gala. Her social debut is already done and, now according to the princess's god grandfather of Dark Fae origin, she is still receiving so many letters of marriage proposals from the other nations. Yet, she has tactically rejected each and every single one of them carefully."
"I wonder when the princess will decide who her partner would be and who she would choose." The guard sighed, "If possible, it'd be great if she can remain in the kingdom. Since her arrival, the king and queen have been happier and have more time to rest."
"Shush! Don't say anything stupid. Focus on your work!" The guard hushed his co-worker firmly.
.....
Outside, the flowers and herb garden she had completed with her mother continued to grow the bulbs in preparation for spring. Seeing this, she noticed that the chrysanthemums she had planted upon her arrival to her new home was already in bloom. As Maisey sees this, he was also surprised to see the flowers had already been in bloom earlier than scheduled. In the past, the princess would always harvest the blooming flowers and dry them for this sweet tea that was well-liked by the Queen. It was also a favorite amongst many others in the palace as well later on. However, it would seem that the princess was not in the mood to harvest them today as she simply touched the petals softly in a daze before they continued to walk alone in the gardens. Finally, Peony spoke, "Over ten years... It's already been that long since I first arrived to Faeland with mother and Maisey... Even now, I can still remember how freely every fairy flew around the skies and how much it felt unreal to me that I was finally adopted and with a family that would love me as their child..."
Hearing her words, memories popped into Aqua's mind of the chaos that ensued with her arrival and sighed from those event that occurred in the following years, "It was just as shocking when the king and Queen learned that you have memories of your previous life and still retained the former status."
"It also didn't take long for you to topple the palace thrice in the span of two years." Maisey added with a dry smile, "Since then, the craft fairies and I have been on the standby with materials should it occur for the fourth time."
Peony chuckled, "That really threw mother and father in for a loop. Not only was I a human, I held past memories too nor did I like to stay still. For them to still keep treating me as their daughter... Not many in my birth world could become this fortunate. The human nobles usually adopt children to fulfill a promise to the parents or maintain an image to others. Very rarely, do they adopt out of love and interest in raising a child sincerely. Once problems begin to arise, those children would be left aside to keep a quiet existence akin to being forgotten. One mention of those children could bring pity or irritation to the adults. Father and mother are the most patient parents I've seen. Well, I doubt what I've been doing so far can help make up for those three palaces."
"Well, it was a delight for us craft fairies as we enjoy fixing broken things." Maisey replied, "If the king had seen those guys' faces, he'd be scolding us out of fear that we'd wish for such an incident to occur again."
As Peony laughed again in slight embarrassment, she looked around her surroundings again, "I can see that mother and everyone has been maintaining the gardens while I was away. Looks like they did very well while the gardeners were away to prepare for the gala."
"The Queen asked you to curb your mischief this year too." Maisey reminded her shamelessly.
Peony pouted, "I complimented everyone yet I got reprimanded again..."
Maisey sighed, "Well, this IS the same group that accidentally sent the wild pegasus and flying monkeys on a rampage across the skies and made air traffic nearly impossible for the entire week."
"Well, I didn't realize that both flying monkeys and Pegasus loves apples... If it were like that, I'd have tried a different bait." She muttered in a slight blush, "And, didn't I started studying zoology shortly after that incident?"
Aqua folded her arms and nodded in dismay, "We really had to persuade the king and queen to hand you the resources after that incident..."
"That's true. Thanks for the help." Peony nodded in agreement. During that time, she had gone out to witness the spectacle that was called a flock of pegasi, but a group of flying monkeys was also nearby on that day and arrived on the same day as the pegasi. Both had flew back north after the winter migration and rumors had it that one of the white pegasi present had the rare blue mane color on them. It was a rare trait among pegasi and it was said that whoever gained its favor could gain something in turn.
For seven year old Peony, this was her first time encountering a divine beast in this world and she had pleaded with her mother to take her with them to see from afar, so she could assess this world's divine beasts. However, the swarm of flying monkey that saw them arrive by air, mistook them for competitors for food and space, so they grabbed stones and branches to chase them off.
Since the monkeys wouldn't let them pass, they had to settle in a farther place to view the pegasi. However, Peony decided to take her caretaker and guard out into the forest. She initially thought that, if the pegasi was self-aware and has great knowledge, he could tell her where she could find the herbs necessary to suppress the poison in her body. Who knew that those monkeys would be the first here and view them as hostile beings?
During that time she was practicing manipulation magic and thought it might be a better idea to pick a bunch of apples and give them wings to lead the monkeys away. Who knew that it worked a little too well and caught the pegasi's attention causing them to take to the skies and fight against the monkeys for the apples. Even if she added more, the monkeys grew greedier and wanted them all. By the time they were finally satisfied and the Queen dragged her back to the palace, all of the pegasi and monkeys began following behind them as if tamed by her! So every coming spring, the pegasi and monkeys would always stop by at the forest nearest to the kingdom and the blue mane pegasi and leader of the monkeys would always drop by to visit her with herbs she needed. Iin exchange, she has been gifting them divine fruits, accompanied with apples which they seem to prefer more.