The house owner led the girls into a large room on the ground floor. Along the far wall stood an impressively sized bathtub adorned with marble figurines, and along all the walls, there hung an enormous mirror. It was difficult to imagine how many people could fit in it.
"Oh, excuse me, but if all of you are planning to take a bath together, then you might have to go in pairs," the girl suddenly slipped up. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about the princess; you probably have to bathe separately."
"Don't worry about trivial matters," Seleria glided into the room and placed a hand on Katrina's shoulder. "Her power doesn't work on me, so it's fine to do it this way."
"Really? That's great!! I'll go add some wood to the stove, so you won't have to bathe in cold water."
"Don't worry about it. Who do you think I am? I can heat the water myself to the necessary temperature, but you promised to mend our dresses," Seleria, having already unfastened her uniform, easily discarded it on the floor and handed it to Victoria.
"Hahaahaah!" No, she wasn't laughing; she was just choking from embarrassment. "Alright, I'll fix everything. I'll be waiting outside."
Victoria hurriedly rushed into the corridor and closed the door behind her.
"How shy she is. We're all girls, right, Katrina?"
Seleria glanced mischievously at the princess, who, in turn, removed her uniform with a dissatisfied expression.
"Don't think that I forgot about today's incident because of a couple of silly jokes."
"Uh-huh," Seleria recalled how they started hurling spells at each other because of her mistake. "Well, alright, I didn't mean to. Besides, I can prepare the bath now."
Seleria energetically ran to the bathtub and began filling it, simultaneously heating the water with fireballs.
"Well, it's not like I meant to," Katrina undressed and stood in front of the mirror, not looking as impressive as the tanned beauty enchanting the bath. "Eww, it doesn't matter. Would you please take my clothes?"
Katrina peeked out the door and handed everything to Victoria.
"I'll bring you something to change into, and I'll take these clothes to be laundered."
"Thank you."
SPLASH! A loud splash sounded from behind. The princess turned around only to see a bright red island floating above the water.
"Seleria, what are you doing? You're not a child anymore."
"Fuah," the red princess emerged from the water. "It's not for you to tell me about it. I just love hot baths so much. Besides, ever since leaving the academy, I couldn't take a proper bath due to field conditions."
"Hmm, well, I agree with you on that," Katrina approached the bathtub and tested the water with her hand. "KYA!! It's too hot!! How haven't you boiled alive yet?!"
Indeed, the water was too hot for a human.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. We desert folks are used to the heat, and we don't feel anything if we don't bathe in boiling water," Seleria folded her hands in front of her and took a deep breath, it seemed like even steam from the water entered her lungs. "Now it should be fine."
Katrina hesitantly lowered her hand again but this time didn't pull it away.
"And indeed, now it's normal. How did you manage to do that?"
"Heh-heh, it's child's play for a true fire mage. Come on in already, I'm not used to sitting in such cold water."
Katrina sat on the edge of the bathtub and attempted to step over its high side. However, she slipped on the slippery floor and clumsily splashed into the tub, drenching the red princess with hot water.
"Hmm. She used to reproach me for splashing into the tub."
"My apologies," Katrina sheepishly lowered her gaze.
"Forget about it," Seleria said, "Princess, be closer to people. For instance, I used to love wandering the streets at home and buying little trinkets I liked."
"Well, I can't do that."
"Of course, that's your problem. But it doesn't matter; if you wanted, you could always go out. You've just locked yourself in a gilded cage."
"Perhaps, but I was afraid for other people's lives."
"Are you talking about the incident with Magda?"
Katrina flinched.
"How did you find out?"
"Well, I saw that there was something between you and Leira. I tried to get it out of her, but she wouldn't talk; I thought Krito might spill the beans, but he kept it quiet too. In the end, I learned everything from Leira's father."
"Master..." Katrina's face saddened. "Why did he do that?"
"Well, we were worried about you, and you forbade Krito from telling us anything," Seleria gently swam towards Katrina and embraced her from behind. "We're a team now; there's no need to hide anything from friends."
"W-what are you doing?! Let me go!!" Katrina squealed at the unexpected touch of the red-eyed girl.
"I said there's no need to hide anything from friends," Seleria continued to examine the princess. "Hmm, not bad, quite good actually. Your uniform probably complements your figure."
"What secrets are you trying to find out?!?" Katrina snapped, standing up straight and facing the audacious princess.
"It's even better now; though I'm far from it, the prospects are good," Seleria evaluated the delicate figure with a connoisseur's eye.
"Eeek! Don't come near me, heroic monster!"
"Oh, come on," Seleria leaned back against the bathtub wall, "Now we're true friends."
"I don't want friends like you!!!"
"And what kind of friends do you want? And what's with the 'Vi'?"
Silence hung in the air.
"Still won't answer? I've always wondered; your father kept you locked up in the castle, and you couldn't see anyone. So where did this friend come from?"
Seleria was surprisingly perceptive.
"You're right. After the incident with Magda, my father locked me away. But I couldn't live there all alone. I never left my room; the servants brought me food and ran away before I opened the door. The castle's security was increased; I saw guards from my father's personal guard, as well as paladins and inquisitors."
"How cunning of your father to lock you up and give you the key to the doors. He didn't keep you captive by force but by instilling fear of harming others."
"It's not like that! I wanted to live like that myself; if no one came near me, no one would get hurt, that's what I thought. But, of course, I felt lonely," Katrina lowered her head, and tears glistened in the corners of her eyes, "but four years ago, everything changed. I was sitting by the window that overlooked the fortress courtyard and saw a newcomer, a paladin knight who got lost in the inner garden. He wandered among the trees for about ten minutes, unable to decide where to go, and eventually tripped over the roots of a large tree. His helmet rolled off, and he stood up, rubbing his bruised nose. His behavior amused me, and I laughed."
"Let me guess, it was our common acquaintance?"
"Yes, it was Victoria. Upon hearing laughter, she got scared that someone saw her, but when she looked up, she saw a little girl in the window. At first, I got scared and hid, but then I felt sorry for her. I drew a small plan of the castle on a piece of paper and threw it out the window. She thanked me with many bows. But that's not all. Her shift was once a week, and every day after duty, she came to visit me. Perhaps she already knew who I was and why I was guarded, but she came every day and did something: performed magic tricks, drew pictures, even organized a small puppet theater. Of course, we were not allowed to meet or talk, but she entertained me as best as she could. And in the end, she always showed me the V sign, I didn't know what it meant, so I simply called her 'Vi'. Well, a year ago, she disappeared."
"They removed her from her duties because of her games with you?"
"No, no, it wasn't that bad. She returned this spring, wearing new shining armor and wielding new weapons. She had been promoted to the captain of the royal guard. It seemed she spent all her free time training and participating in tournaments to earn recognition. But when she finally achieved her goal and became the youngest captain in the history of the royal guard, she lost something dear to her. She could no longer be my guardian; now she served the king himself," Katrina paused for a moment, "when she met me after the long separation, she knelt down and introduced herself: 'Victoria Stering - captain of the royal guard'. She cried tears of joy that she could see me again. She told me about her life: how she used to live in a monastery and at the age of ten, she decided to devote herself to rigorous training to become a paladin. When she met me in the inner courtyard back then, she didn't get lost; in fact, she had wanted to escape because no one took her seriously. Female paladins are still a rarity. But after meeting me, she inquired about the guards and learned my story. She said she was amazed by my dedication, and every encounter with me gave her strength to continue fighting for her future."
"Wow, you inspire people to greatness. I'd also love to have such a strong swordsman in my guard, and it's much easier to deal with girls in many matters."
"When I called her 'Vi', she was quite embarrassed but agreed to let me call her that. After all, we were now friends. She didn't just come to me without a reason back then; my father summoned me to meet him," Katrina smirked, "after so many years, he 'decided' my fate."
"No, Katrina, please don't tell me."
"Yeah, he became disappointed in me as his heir and wanted me to bear a new heir to the throne."
"A marriage of convenience? What about your ability?" Seleria emphasized the last word.
"You're not the only one who can touch me. Father found candidates who could resist my power. And for me, my father's words were law; I didn't even want to resist them."
"Then why did you go to the Academy?"
"Vi helped me. She said I shouldn't live according to what others want and that I should find my own path. If Vi had listened to all the ridicule from others, she would have never become a captain. The little girl living in the cage but not losing her kind heart inspired her to achieve great things. But it took her a long time to make me understand. Thanks to her words, I finally resisted my father. I told him I would go to the Academy and prove to him that I'm worthy of ruling. If I gain recognition within this year, he will reconsider the marriage proposal."
"You're a brave princess; I like you even more now," Seleria rushed to embrace Katrina. "Let's be friends."
"Oh, my goodness, Seleria, please let go!!" Katrina lowered her voice. "And please don't tell anyone."
"Not even Krito???"
"Especially not him."
"Sigh, you need to be more honest with yourself. With such abilities, you could achieve so much."
"SELERIA!!!" The girls struggled in the bath for a while before heading to the table.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Victoria apologized profusely, trying to hit her head on the floor again. "I didn't think about this; my wardrobe only has such dresses."
Seleria and Katrina, wearing simple dresses resembling the house owner's attire, stood after the bath. Plain, without embellishments, gray and white dresses. Now, they looked least like princesses.
"It suits you; I used to wear similar ones when I lived in the village," Ragni smiled happily at the sight of the princesses.
"Sorryyyy," Victoria continued to agonize.
"They're normal dresses," Katrina tried to lighten the mood, "Seleria, you said to be closer to the people."
"But not this close!"
"Sorryyy," Victoria repeated, "we should stop this."
"Oh, come on, don't torment poor Victoria. It suits you very well."
"But I look like a simple village girl. I even hesitated to wear my gold rings and earrings with this dress," the red-haired princess pouted unhappily.
"Like a very beautiful village girl," Seleria turned away, but I saw how her ears blended with her red hair.