The Princess took one long look at her new room. It was on the topmost floor, next to Heinrich's wives' rooms. She shrugged, knowing all of it was a lie anyway. She thought that Killian was taking it too seriously.
After the little trip to the Royal Palace, the Princess hadn't been able to see Heinrich again. The servants had mentioned before that seeing him was difficult. The Princess didn't know that it would be this difficult. Heinrich had made it seem like she could talk to him whenever she wanted. But then he wouldn't even show up to the breakfasts every morning.
The Princess sat in front of the mirror while broiling her thoughts. From head to toe, she was adorned with luxurious ornaments. She looked like herself; Princess Sofia. Could this be Heinrich's intention? Maybe he only wanted to restore her status somehow. If that was the case, Heinrich was an angel.
But even if he was an angel, he had still not returned the thread to the Princess. She stood up excitedly. She had an excuse to see him.
The Princess left her room only to face Killian, who was busy guarding her room.
"Killian?" The Princess called him in surprise.
"My lady," Killian replied politely.
"What are you doing here?"
"Keeping watch?"
"At a place like this?"
"I am keeping watch because of a place like this."
Killian didn't trust a single soul in the mansion and it showed. The Princess helplessly shook her head and walked past him. She felt like a princess, now that her clothes fit her title. Even though the title wasn't the same, as long as she felt the same, it was alright.
She walked down the stairs to see Kaspar at the reception.
"My lady," Kaspar greeted her first, totally different from the first time he had greeted her.
Maybe being the fake mistress of the Great Father wasn't all that bad.
"I need to see the Great Father." The Princess shamelessly said.
Killian, who was standing right behind her, didn't seem happy about that.
Kaspar looked at the two simultaneously with confusion written all over his face. He shrugged and cleared his throat.
"Um," He was even hesitant, the Great Kaspar! "I do not know what kind of rules you have to follow because the Great Father has never ever had Mistresses before." He explained. "But his wives do not get to see him unless he asks for them."
"There is no such rule for me." The Princess said confidently. No rules were broken down for her. Therefore, she didn't feel the need to follow any.
"I see," Kaspar nodded, "Has the Great Father mentioned it himself?"
"Yes." The Princess nodded.
Kaspar nodded, "I shall escort you outside. The Great Father is out of town for some business. You should go with your bodyguard. He is not that far."
The Princess agreed and followed Kaspar. Killian followed them sheepishly as he had no say in any of this. Kaspar explained where Heinrich would be while escorting them outside. He bowed to her the moment they were outside and went back inside. Everything was so different all of a sudden.
The Princess was thrilled to step outside. Moreover, she was going to see Heinrich. She wondered if he was going to act differently now. There were a lot of things she was curious about. Therefore, she needed to see him quickly.
Except, the broad daylight and swarmed marketplace distracted her. She stopped at every single stall and vendor. Their first paycheck after the journey to the palace was quite hefty. There was no way she wasn't going to spend all that money. Plus, mistress or not, she was still a registered ambassador for the Royal Palace.
"Killian, this place looks far more prosperous than Miraculum." The Princess said, brushing her hand against the ornaments on a stall.
She always used to love strolling across the marketplace, dressed as a commoner. The markets here were far superior to the ones in Miraculum.
"They have not seen an apocalypse, that is why," Killian said bluntly.
"That is wrong," A familiar voice behind them said.
The two looked back instantly to see Heinrich mounted on a horse, looking over them amusingly.
"We have, in fact, our apocalypse." Heinrich continued. "But before I get to that, a stroll?"
Before Killian could say anything, the Princess beat him to it. "No." She said, "I was looking for you."
"And you?" Heinrich looked at Killian and asked.
"I was merely accompanying my lady," Killian said truthfully.
"Is that so?" Heinrich said, "Then go back to the mansion." He added, slowly slipping down the horse.
Killian looked at him with both anger and surprise. Heinrich looked back bluntly, then shifted his gaze to the Princess and offered her his hand.
"Would you like to see the town?" Heinrich asked while his hand was out in front of her.
The Princess was hesitant because of Killian's striking gaze. But she held onto Heinrich's hand regardless. Heinrich gave a small glance to Killian, gesturing to him to leave. He helped the Princess mount the horse. She placed her foot on the handle then he pushed her up gently, grabbing her waist to support her.
Heinrich then mounted the horse himself with the Princess sitting in front of him. He loosely held the reins of the horse and the horse slowly walked along the streets, away from Killian.
Killian bitterly left but not for the mansion. He wanted to look around the town himself, wanting to figure out if there was any other way to get out of it. Like mountains. The town was surrounded by mountains anyway.
Killian wasn't ready to accept this place. They belonged to Miraculum. He belonged to Miraculum. He didn't belong to some man pretending to be the oldest man out there just because he could travel through time. This was a disgrace to Killian.
But the Princess felt a sense of belonging from this man.