Today officially marks the day I turn ten years of age.
For the nobility in this world, a child's tenth birthday is very important.
Your tenth marks the very beginning of your adult life as a noble, you'll be introduced to many of your duties, and it is the age where you'll finally be able to attend the bi-annual geas ceremony.
In my case, I'll be attending the geas ceremony in two months from now. I'm excited to finally take a step into my adult life in this world, and also have more freedom to move around the kingdom.
On that note, I need a good outfit for today.
Thankfully, Sophie doesn't have us work out on our birthdays or holidays. This gives me more flexibility in how I spend my mornings. For instance, I can spend a longer amount of time picking out my apparel.
I open the sliding door to my large closet to find a vast array of custom jackets, pants, shirts, and shoes I created using magic and my knowledge from my original world.
The clothes here are quite… uncomfortable, to say the least.
The clothes I made, however, do share some similarities to the clothes of this world, since I didn't want to stand out too much.
As I think that, I pull a crisp white turtleneck sweater from my wardrobe and set it on a nearby desk.
While I did make these for comfortability, I had also used light magic to enchant them with different buffs and abilities. For example, the turtleneck I had just set down enhances my speed by 0.5. While it's not a lot right now, in the future, I'm hoping to enhance my abilities nearly tenfold.
As I continue picking out clothing items from my closet, I end up choosing a pair of white dress pants, a thin white jacket, and a pair of white sneakers and socks.
While I was there, I also chose some comfortable undergarments.
Seeing as how the light was shining through my window, it seems I spent well over a few hours picking my clothes.
I quickly slip into my outfit and move in front of the mirror to check my appearance.
"You look splendid, my prince." I hear a soft voice from behind me as I pose in front of the mirror.
I turn around to find a beautiful young maid with short brown hair with piercing reddish-brown eyes smiling at me. She stands just a few inches taller than my current self, partially due to her maid heels, also partially due to my young body.
"Thank you, Esther," I return her smile and rush forward to wrap my gloved hands around her.
Today was the day she'll be retiring as my personal maid.
It is an unspoken tradition for royalty to lose their personal maids at age ten, in order to develop their own skills in the real world.
I don't want Esther to leave though. Her service as a maid, no, as a close friend has been essential in my life. She's always been there for me when I was down, or when I was bored, or whenever I've been exhausted. She was always by my side to comfort me.
She gives a soft sigh as she returns my hug, "It's your big day, my prince. Please don't trouble yourself with my problems, alright?"
I frown a bit as I look up at her from my embrace, "I don't think I can do that, Esther."
"Fine," She gives a small smile, "I guess you don't want my gift then."
She pulls away from the embrace and looks away with her finger to her cheek.
"Wait, what gift?" I ask inquisitively.
"That's a secret~" She spins around playfully before moving to the exit, "Now, come. The king has much planned for today."
With that she exits the room, leaving me alone with a confused expression.
I quickly grab a pair of tinted glasses I had created off of my desk and rush out the room to follow Esther.
After a bit of a walk, we both end up in the throne room, where there was a notable amount of castle staff members in a frenzy.
Father, Mother, and Stella all holding clipboards wearing casual attire while talking to different people.
When they finally notice my presence, they stop what they're doing and wave me and Esther over.
"Son!" Father exclaims jovially, "It's your big day today, how are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling quite good." I say with a slight smile, "It's pretty busy here."
"That's because today's event will be bigger than expected." Mother spoke up in her usual monotone expression, "We've got a massive influx in gifts from not only our citizens, but other kingdoms as well. We're currently trying to comb through them to find any hazards."
"It should be fine though," Stella chimes in while directing a few staff members, "We've already gotten through a fourth of the gifts. We should be done by tonight."
Mother, while expressionless, seems to be quite annoyed. Stella has her exhausted expression covered up by a forced smile. Father, on the other hand, seems to be quite gleeful.
"Also," He speaks up, "quite a few nobles from other kingdoms have daughters that have their interest in you."
A massive aura of killing intent suddenly shoots out from both Mother and Stella, causing father to go pale in the face.
"B-but, we've denied any sort of requests like that of course." He quickly finishes.
"On that note," Mother sighs while rubbing her forehead, "Sylvia will be arriving later today."
She looks over to Stella and she nods, "Ah yes, I will be having Esther over here escort you both on a shopping trip while we have the party set up. Please, Esther, keep those children safe.
"Yes, ma'ams," Esther bows to both Mother and Stella, "they will be safe in my hands."
The two smile before dismissing us.
As we exit the throne room, Esther sighs in relief, "Alright, shopping it is."
She looks over to me with a confident smile and pats me on the head. I could feel my face get slightly warm at her touch.
As she's rubbing my head, I notice her face and sharp ears slowly reddening.
When she realizes this, she immediately pulls her hand back in embarrassment and lets out a soft laugh, "A-anyways, if it's fine with you, I need to prepare for later today."
With that she hastily speeds off after those words, her face flushed a bright crimson.
I could feel my own face reddening, and I quickly shook my head to gather my thoughts. There's no way, I can't feel that way, not about Esther, not today.
I rub my face and begin walking through the hall.
From the beginning, my intention was to see Esther as my maid. She was supposed to be 'generic maid' in my mind. When did that change?
Images of Esther over the past four years popped up in my mind. The times she's dressed me, the times she's put my head on her lap, the times she's held me in a tight embrace and her small breasts pressed against my face.
My face was beginning to burn even hotter.
Why did it take me this long to realize these feelings?
I find myself stopping in front of the door to Esther's room.
For a moment, I contemplate entering. But only for a moment.
I take a deep breath, a good long breath, before exhaling. My thoughts are slowly beginning to organize themselves.
What am I thinking? She said she wanted to leave, who am I to keep her here selfishly?
I walk away from her door and back to my room to wait.