// Hey guys, sorry for the late release. This is going to be a short chapter. I will be releasing an additional chapter later in the week to make up for it. Cheers. //
"Princess, are you ready? This will be the first time you will be meeting your brother since you were a baby."
"Yes…"
The second princess Maeve, like her elder sister Emilia and her father, had light blue hair and blue eyes. With chubby cheeks, the eight year old looked at her own reflection. Seeing her uneasy expression in the mirror, she felt even more anxious.
It was nearly a week ago, when she heard from her father about her brother's whereabouts. Although she knew of his existence, it was only in photos. Nothing about him was talked about. Although they went to visit his gravestone every year, no one in her family shared anything about him with her.
She didn't have any memories of him either and the only person who occasionally talked about him, her sister, Emilia, kept distance from her.
Unable to contain her anxiety, she turned her ear towards the maids.
"I wonder if he looks like the Duke."
"No… I heard from the head maid that he takes after the duchess in the looks department."
"I guess that might be nice as well. I bet he is as strong though."
"He is still just a child. Maybe in a few years."
"I heard he was imprisoned in the past few years. Maybe he is a ruffian now."
"Ah.. That is poss-"
"What are you all gossiping about?" Stopping the maid mid sentence, the head maid, Wilhelmina Walker, entered the room.
Wilhelmina was from the Walker subordinate noble house. The Walker house over generations played the role of the nanny/caretaker of the previous Wyte royal family for the prince and princess until they were of age. The family served as the right hand of the queen(now duchess) to help her children's education.
Lining up the maids in the room, she commanded, "just because the princess entertains you doesn't mean you can cross the line. If anything of this sort reaches my ears again, you can say goodbye to working here."
"Yes, head maid."
"Hmm.. you will receive your punishments later."
"Princess, if I may."
"Yes."
"Don't worry. Prince Noah was a wonderful child as you were when he was a child. He's your one and only brother after all. Don't be too quick to judge."
"Brother… Yes… Thank you Minna. When are they arriving?"
"It's Miss Walker. They'll be here within an hour. Shall we wait outside?"
"Yes!"
===
After a few hours of travel, the aircraft finally started to descend at the Wyte mansion grounds. Taking a hold of Noah's wheelchair, Emilia pushed behind Edwin and Trish as they deplaned.
Welcoming them were the staff of the house: officials, knights, butlers and maids and at the center was Maeve rushing towards them.
"Dad!! Mum!!"
"Please follow etiquette Maeve," Trish could only sigh looking at her cheerful daughter.
"It's ok, it's just us here," picking her up, Edwin hugged her.
"She needs to practice at home first. I need to have a word with her teacher."
"Let her relax, she is still growing up."
"I guess we need to have a talk later as well."
"Ahem… Your mother is right, Maeve. We practice at home today to become responsible citizens tomorrow," putting her down gently, "come say hi to your brother."
Moving past Edwin and Trish, Maeve could finally see a boy in a wheelchair driven by her sister. Although he had dark blue hair, Maeve instinctively knew he was her brother.
'He really takes after mum.'
Covered in blankets from neck to toe, Maeve could only wonder what happened to him.
In fact, all the staff were wondering about the same thing. Only a few were made aware of Noah's physical condition.
Receiving all the gazes, Noah felt extremely flustered. From the moment he had gotten down from the aircraft, he could feel countless gazes looking at him.
After Noah heard how he died in his previous life from Aditi, he slowly and carefully started to pay attention towards people's gazes at him. He had felt gazes of disappointment and envy at the orphanage while gazes of sympathy and care from people while he was at Aruk village. But never did he receive so much attention at once.
Looking at them, he could identify that some were just curious, many sympathetic while others with intense expectation.
Silently looking around, his eyes finally met with Maeve.
Even without any introduction, he knew it was his younger sister. She seemed to resemble his father, Edwin, more than Emilia. With her chubby cheeks and blue eyes she looked very expressive unlike Emilia.
Seeing her expression change from surprise to concern and worry and then anxiousness as she studied him, Noah grew increasingly flustered.
"Umm... Hi… Hi Maeve. I am Noah."
"..."
"Maeve, say hi to your brother." Trish gently nudged.
"Hi…"
"How are you so silent now? Come on, you can slowly get to know each other."
"Is he sick?"
"He had a little injury. So be kind to him. Don't pull any pranks on him, okay."
"Yes…"
Walking to the mansion, not for even a single moment did Maeve stop looking at him.