"Hh…" Before even entering the room, the woman in the blood-red dress already had a hunch that the situation must be pretty bad. Whatever the reason was, it seems like a while ago their kingdom just lost a few acres of land in the north.
"Where have you been, Olivia?" Asked the king as soon as his second daughter entered the main room of the palace.
"Just checking out some areas in town." Olivia answered lightly while pretending to play with her long black hair. Meanwhile, Elisa, her personal maid, could only panic because she knew that Olivia had actually been to an auction, which god knows it was legal or not.
"The meeting with Yuria's royal party, shouldn't you be the one attending?" Asked the king again.
"That's true!" Add the first princess, Elena. Unlike her sister, her black hair seemed to be curled all over. Similar to the shape of her pink dress which also looks perfect. "While I was there, they kept asking about Olivia and didn't seem satisfied while I was there. Agh, they were so annoying!" She continued angrily.
"But I definitely told them that I can't come. And that Elena will replace me." Olivia replied again. "Right?" She continued to look at Elisa who immediately nodded vigorously.
Though of course Yuria's kingdom was not happy when they heard the news, and had insisted that Olivia herself had to come. But well, the auction was more important to Olivia, so…
The king was silent for a moment, but then his anger suddenly exploded. "Who?! Who messed up the princesses' schedules?!" He started shouting while looking at the maids behind his daughters. "You two! You should have organized Olivia and Elena's schedules properly! Look what's happening! Twenty acres—"
"Calm yourself." Said the queen while approaching the king.
Accordingly, the king took a deep breath and lowered his voice again. "You two are fired. Then Olivia and Elena, you are also punished and not allowed to leave the palace for two weeks."
"Wait, not leaving the palace is fine, but why did my maid have to be fired?" Elena protested. "It's all Olivia and her maid's fault."
Hearing that, Olivia glanced sharply at her sister. But instead of getting angry, Olivia also started giving disapproving looks at her father. "Northern region…" She's starting to speak again. "Isn't that just an empty territory? Why is everyone always like to exaggerate things?" She complained.
"What…?" Said the king who couldn't believe what he just heard "What the… How can you say that?"
"I mean that territory doesn't even worth much, yet we get punished like this?" She replied. "It's so unfair, right sis?" She continued while looking at her sister.
"...D-Don't look at me." Elena replied while averting her eyes, trying not to admit that she somewhat agreed with that. "Although of course, I still do not agree with the punishment either."
"See? She agrees with me." Olivia chirps again. "After all, something like that is just like transferring a territory, right? In my opinion, as long as there's no war I don't think we even had to hold this kind of meeting—"
"Olivia, stop." The queen interjected quietly.
"I'll be quiet if you annulled the punishment." She replied immediately. Beside her, Elisa's heart was about to blow out of anxiety, but her princess weirdly looked so serious today, of all time!
"M-Me too." Elena also added.
For a moment, the air in the room grew heavy as if they were getting ready to point their swords at each other's throats. Even though this wasn't the first fight in their family, somehow this time it felt really serious. Perhaps it was because the two princesses had so openly disobeyed their father's orders after a while.
But in the end, it was the King who relaxed his shoulders first. He sighed, but still narrowed his eyes again. "You are not allowed to leave the palace for one month, while you look for new assistants."
"Father!" Elena protested.
"Take them to the room." King ordered again.
In a second, the knights who were there were about to drag the two of them away. But it turns out that Olivia is still speaking again. "Forget it." She said, causing everyone to pause and listen again. "I'd better just get out as well."
"...Olivia, what do you mean?" Asked the queen who started to feel something worse is coming.
But instead of answering immediately, Olivia just reached into her little pocket. And she took out a shining golden badge, the badge of the palace. It's not even just a badge of the palace, it's a special badge of the royal family that's only owned by 4 people at the moment.
"I don't want to be a princess anymore."
Shocked, everyone immediately glared at her with open mouths. "Olivia, are you crazy?" Elena said first.
"I was going to say it on my birthday next month, but well..."
"What… are you willing to do this all of a sudden just because of the punishment?" Asked the king in disbelief.
"You didn't listen to me? It's not out of the blue." Olivia replied while playing with the badge in her hand. "Though I have to admit, bothering my maid is a bit too much. Everyone should know that I'm very picky about assistants, but it seems you don't."
"Princess Olivia, no." Elisa said, this time pulling Olivia's arm "I don't mind getting fired. So don't even—"
"Plus! Next week someone will propose to me again right?" Interrupted Olivia who didn't want to pay attention to Elisa. "I can't believe I have to be proposed to every single month. Like, I already said I don't want to get married yet but you guys keep calling strange princes, with very strange behaviors!" Olivia raised her voice even more.
"I weirdly also have too much work, even though many ministers can obviously take care of it. I can't play outside too, because the bodyguards keep following me like a leech! To be honest when I heard that I wasn't allowed to leave the palace for one month, I really almost fainted!" She continued babbling at length until she needed to stop first to take a breath.
"I'm weird too myself, I know! So for the world's sake, trust me, it's better if I stopped being a princess anymore."
"B-But even so, you can't suddenly…" Said the queen who started to choke. "We can cancel the proposal, and your job can also be reduced! Your Highness, quickly say something too!" Said the queen who started to panic.
Although unfortunately the king actually made the situation worse. "A princess said something like that, what a disgrace! Guards, quickly take Olivia to her room and make sure she doesn't come out of there!" Ordered the king firmer.
Because the atmosphere was too tense, the guards seemed to hesitate for a second or two. But in the end, they all obeyed the king, and they started to approach Olivia.
The queen and even Elena looked like they almost moved to prevent it, but they were also confused about what to do when the situation ended like this.
So in the end Olivia had to handle it herself...
ZRATT! A moment later, Olivia had used her magic and made huge icicles point towards the necks of the guards so they couldn't get any closer to her.
Everyone was stunned to see that. It was surprising, but not the magic part--which actually common. Especially in the palace, where ninety percent, especially members of the royal family, could do magic.
It's just, the fact that Olivia dared to use her magic in this situation… Her actions could be taken as if she was an insurgent.
"Maybe it's not too obvious, but earlier I've tried to say it carefully ..." Said Olivia who still looked frowning. "But if you force this much, I want to oppose it even more."
And sure enough, the king gritted his teeth even more furiously. "Olivia, how can you act like this! Don't you know that your actions can be considered as rebellion?!" He snapped.
But strangely when she heard that, Olivia even raised an eyebrow as if she thought of something. "...If I'm deemed to be a rebel, shouldn't I be kicked out of the palace after all? If that's the case then ok—"
"Olivia!"
"Enough! You guys stop!" Interrupted the queen again. "This problem can be solved slowly. Don't fight like this!" She said.
And while the queen was trying to comfort the king, Elena slowly approached Olivia and pinched her arm. "Are you crazy?" She said. "I understand what you feel, but this is too much!"
Looking back at her sister, Olivia's gaze suddenly turned doubtful. "...Elena, how about you just come with me?"
"..." Somewhat surprised by the invitation, Elena was silent for a moment. But then the angry look returned again. "You can't just leave here!" She said grumbling. 'And leaving me alone!'
But Olivia couldn't reply anymore, because she focused her gaze back on the king and queen. "But I'm serious. So whether you want to take it as a rebel or whatever, I'm still getting out of here." She said seriously.
Seeing the usually carefree Olivia turn serious like that, everyone fell silent. Even kings and queens. Although of course they still can not agree to it. "No, you can't." Said the king.
But hearing that, Olivia just sighed softly, as if she knew she would get that answer. "Then let me show you one more thing." She said then. And after that, she started reaching out to his necklace. Until the necklace glows and throws out an object.
A golden cube.
Everyone had just gasped in shock and confusion, but Elena noticed it first. "That--?!"
"I stole it a few months ago." Said Olivia outspoken.
"That's the thing in the magic item room? How come?!" Elena said, still sounding very surprised. "Apart from father, no one should be able to enter that room."
"Well, I can." Olivia answered without turning her head because she was back focused on her gold cube--until the cube started turning into dozens of small blades floating in the air.
Spontaneously, everyone immediately became wary again. But it turns out that Olivia only used one of the knives to destroy the royal badge she dropped to the floor.
THUD! The badge briefly released a magic barrier, but the next second the barrier shattered, as well as the badge. The badge that used to be the proof she was a princess.
And right after doing so, a smile returned to Olivia's face. "I've always wanted to try it." She said somewhat satisfied.
The whole room was still watching Olivia in silence, but then the king spoke again. "That cube… You can use it?" He asked a little dumbfounded. "But it's been almost a hundred years since anyone has been able to use it..." He continued to be confused.
But Olivia just curved her lips and gave the same answer. "...Well, I can." She replied.
"But at this rate, not only have I become a rebel, I've also become a royal-level thief. So it's clear that my status as a princess must be revoked and expelled from the palace, right? Or, well, if you want to imprison me first, that's fine. I'll just have to run away later."
"Olivia... You really are serious about all this?" Elena said as if she's still processing it..
"I've been saying that since—"
"You can't! You really can't!" Cut the queen who started to panic again until she ran towards Olivia.
"You can't leave the palace. That's right! You maid also doesn't need to be fired. Being punished is also unnecessary. That cube too, since no one can use it, it deserves to be yours. Anyway, everything is fine, but you can't leave the palace. You can't! What about… Me? You can't leave me…" The Queen said, sounding very desperate while holding Olivia's hand tightly.
Even so, Olivia let go of the queen's hand slowly. "It's fine. Elena's still here." She said, making the queen unable to reply anymore as if everything seemed to be over.
"No one's protesting anymore? Then I'll be going soon. I'll bring the cubes, okay? Elisa too, prepare your things." She continued to Elisa.
Elisa seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, but she finally decided to bow to the royalty one last time and follow Olivia.
"..." Feeling resigned and confused to let their second daughter just go away, the king and queen could only suffocate in their respective places.
But unexpectedly, Elena looked so angry that she clenched her fists in annoyance before finally shouting, "Olivia! You just want to leave all your work to me, right?! You lazy bum! I hate you!"
As they continued walking, Olivia only turned her head slightly and revealed a small smile. "What is she talking about? Everyone knows she likes to work."
'And that she loves me.'