Some distance away, in the kingdom of Terresaine, a land in the east, lived a young princess named Annabelle. She was the only child of the country's reigning queen, Queen Adalina, and the east's most beloved, adorable princess. Moreover, she was loved very much by her mother, who wanted only the very best things for her, in addition to becoming a very strong and capable ruler like herself, who is loved by all.When Princess Annabelle turned 12, Queen Adalina began to tell her stories about the great princess of Morado, the reason being that the queen saw the princess of Morado as the perfect model ruler for her daughter. After a while, Princess Annabelle became quite a fanatic of the princess of Morado and vowed that she would one day become just like her, much to the delight of her mother.About a year later, Princess Annabelle came to love the princess of Morado so much that she wanted to meet her in person, so she began asking her mother if they could travel to Morado for the honor. However, the first few times she asked, her mother would always say "no" because of apparently being too busy, something that didn't faze Princess Annabelle until the next few times she asked. Her mother continued to give her the same answer, even when she didn't look stressed or busy. This eventually made her very upset, so she stopped asking about going to Morado, but she also decided to take matters into her own hands, deciding that as a young princess, it was time for her to work on cultivating herself as her kingdom's future ruler.The following year, Queen Adalina became sick with an unknown illness, and was bedridden for months. It wasn't until about a month after Princess Annabelle's 14th birthday that the queen began to succumb to her illness, nearing her end, leaving her daughter as the country's next ruler.A day before the queen's death, she spent part of her final moments with her daughter at her bedside."Annabelle, you know I've always loved you, right?" said Queen Adalina."Yes, Mother," said Princess Annabelle, "I do.""I want you to be the country's best ruler, even better than I ever was. And continue our country's legacy. Can you please promise you'll do that for me?""Yes, of course, Mother.""And please promise me that you'll care for and listen to the people. Do your best to make sure they have what they want and need. When the people are happy, the country is happy.""Don't worry, Mother. I will be the best ruler in our country's history. After all, I do have a certain role model to look up to."Princess Annabelle then held up a small drawing of the princess of Morado."...Thank you...Annabelle."After her mother's death and funeral, Princess Annabelle attended an assembly where she announced that she would rule the country as princess, postponing her coronation until a later date. Shortly thereafter, when the princess returned to her room, she pulled out a large, purple book from a secret compartment she had in the floor. It was revealed to be a book on the history of the land of Morado, and its princess's accomplishments and laws."This shall be my bible," said Princess Annabelle, "With this, I will become just as powerful and effective a ruler as Morado's princess. Nothing can stop me."The beginning of Princess Annabelle's rule was concentrated on emulating the style of the princess of Morado. Similar laws against the people of the west were put in place, and women were now encouraged to be stronger and more independent. A few new maids were even hired, with the most trustworthy one being a maid named Seraphine, to emulate the princess of Morado's loyal ladies in waiting. Moreover, as an act of personal reverence, Princess Annabelle decorated her room with portraits of the Princess of Morado.The first month for Princess Annabelle was going well until one day, she overheard two of her subordinates talking among themselves about her, complaining that she was going to run their country into the ground by imitating another ruler and no longer being original. They also complained that she was treating Morado's princess like a god, seeming to focus on her more than her own people and customs of her own country. Seething with anger on the inside, Princess Annabelle immediately began to think of how to deal with the matter when she was interrupted by one of her servants, who appeared in order to introduce a new servant to her."Greetings, Your Highness," said the servant, "Please allow me to introduce you to Alexiel, a new member of the staff.""Uh...hello, Your Highness," said Alexiel."...Hello," said Princess Annabelle before walking off, prompting an awkward silence between Alexiel and the servant who introduced him."...Don't worry about it," said the servant to Alexiel, "She's really a nice person. She's probably just in a bad mood.""...Yeah, you're probably right," said Alexiel, smiling, "I won't worry about it."The next day, there was a commotion in the castle among the servants, maids, and other royal staff. The previous night, two royal staff of Princess Annabelle were sent to the guillotine for unknown reasons. Everyone was in a bout of confusion bordering on panic until Princess Annabelle called a special meeting involving all the staff. Once everyone was assembled, the princess appeared and spoke."Attention all," began Princess Annabelle, "It has been brought to my attention that some of you don't like the way I rule. In address to your concerns, I intend to bring in a new era for the people of Terresaine. I'm giving Terresaine a uniqueness never before seen by many other lands, and I want my people to be above everyone else in just about every aspect. Moreover, in regard to my reverence of the princess of Morado, I'll have you all know that I simply admire her as a strong and capable ruler, and I'd like to use her as an example to follow in regard to the care of my own kingdom, and its people. With all this being said, from this moment on, each time someone has something to say about my way of ruling, the princess of Morado, or anything else, that person will be sent to the guillotine."The next day, Princess Annabelle was seated in the dining room, waiting for her breakfast to be served. When it was finally brought to her, she angrily pointed out that some of her silverware was missing."How could you possibly forget something so simple?!" yelled Princess Annabelle."I-I'm so sorry, Your Highness," said the maid who brought out the food, "If I remember correctly, all of the silverware was definitely there a while before. I-I don't know what could have possibly happened, but I can assure you that the missing silverware will definitely be replaced.""Your Highness! Look out!" yelled Alexiel as a fork came darting towards the princess out of nowhere. She managed to avoid the fork just in time before it struck the wall behind her. She stared at it in horror as it stuck out of the wall. She thought all was well at first, but when she turned back around to face her staff, one of them was staring hard at her, pointing a knife in her direction."You...you bitch," said the man, "You demon! Because of you, my brothers were killed for no reason! No reason at all! How could you possibly still comfortably have a large, luxurious breakfast after what you've done yesterday?! How do you have the nerve to severely punish someone for something as small as expressing a little criticism? Someone like you will ruin our country! You won't get away with this! When I'm through with you, you will be unrecognizable!"The servant then charged towards Princess Annabelle, knife raised above his head, preparing to stab her, before being hindered by Alexiel, who appeared in front of him, his right hand raised to stop the servant's attack, the princess safely behind him. And instead of stabbing the princess, the servant accidentally sliced at Alexiel's right hand. Shocked at the sudden intervention, the servant dropped the knife and backed away slowly."Wh-what the hell are you doing?!" said the servant, "That bitch killed my brothers! You know that?!""S-send that man to the guillotine right away," said a flustered Princess Annabelle.As commanded, the servant was dragged away as he continued to curse at the princess, never to be seen again. Noticing Alexiel's wound, Princess Annabelle immediately commanded that he be attended to, before also commanding that everyone return to their normal duties.Right after breakfast, Princess Annabelle returned to her room, still upset about that morning's incident. At the same time, she was also grateful that her new servant protected her. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, prompting her to summon her favorite maid, Seraphine, to her room."I want you to investigate the family of the newest servant," said Princess Annabelle, "Give me any and all information you can get."About a week later, Alexiel receives word that his family mysteriously went missing, news that worried him very, very much."Oh, my god," thought Alexiel, "What am I supposed to do? I can't leave the castle. I have a task to complete. Wherever they are, I can only hope and pray that everyone is okay. But at the same time, I can't let them down."In the midst of pacing alone in the servants' quarters, Alexiel was suddenly summoned to Princess Annabelle's room, something that greatly surprised him. Either way, he left the servants' quarters posthaste. Upon entering Princess Annabelle's room, he found her standing near a window, her back to him, gazing out at the bright, sunny day there was. Before announcing his presence, Alexiel couldn't help but to stare at and admire the princess, thinking to himself how beautiful she looked in the sunlight that enhanced the beauty of her golden hair. it wasn't long before Alexiel regained his composure to say something to the princess."Um...hello, Your Highness," said Alexiel, "...You called for me?"Turning from the window, Princess Annabelle gave Alexiel a warm smile."Why, yes. I have," said Princess Annabelle before walking towards Alexiel. She stopped walking when she got very close to him and only stared at him without a word, making Alexiel a little uncomfortable."I like you," Princess Annabelle said suddenly."Wh-what?" said Alexiel as his cheeks turned a bright shade of red, a detail that made Princess Annabelle burst into laughter."Ha ha. Oh, don't worry," said Princess Annabelle, "I don't like you in a romantic way. I'm engaged to a prince already. And besides, even if I wasn't engaged, I could never be in love with someone as timid as you."A subtle wave of disappointment and embarrassment came on to Alexiel, as he didn't quite know how to feel about the princess's remark."How is your hand feeling?" asked Princess Annabelle."Oh...It's a lot better now. Thank you for asking, Your Highness," answered Alexiel."Look, I want you to know that I greatly appreciate you protecting me this morning. If you weren't there, I don't know what could have happened.""Oh...yes. Of course. It was a real honor to protect you, Your Highness."Princess Annabelle gave Alexiel another of her warm smiles."And for that reason," Princess Annabelle began, "I've decided to promote you. How would you like to be my new personal attendant?""...Your...personal attendant?" said Alexiel."Yes.""I...I'm not sure...I'm not sure if I would be capable of living up to that title, Your Highness.""...Listen. It's been brought to my attention that your family has gone missing. As gratitude for you saving me from harm this morning, I'm more than happy to assist in searching for your family members...The thing is, I'm scared now. I'm this country's new ruler, and I'm only doing my best to make good decisions and become a good ruler. But if people are going to try to threaten my life when I only want good things for them, I won't know what to do. I need someone I can trust to keep by my side to help me with things and protect me. Can you please do that for me? Your bravery today proves that you truly are capable of being my personal attendant.""...Well...if Your Highness truly believes that I am worthy...then I'm honored to accept your proposal as your new personal attendant.""Wonderful. Oh, and what's your name again? I tend to forget names easily when it comes to new staff.""Oh...It's Alexiel, Your Highness.""Alright, Alexiel. You are dismissed for right now. Thank you so much for your time.""Oh. Of course. Farewell, Your Highness."Alexiel happily left Princess Annabelle's room, thinking how nice of a girl she was, and therefore refusing to believe any bad rumors about her that would happen to circulate.