Swan didn't know how long it had been since she lost consciousness. The moment she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a tall ceiling, with a chandelier hanging in the middle.
She looked to her left and right and noticed that she was on a comfortable bed—so comfortable that she thought she was dreaming because laying on a soft bed was only possible when she was in such a deep sleep with a beautiful dream.
Yet, she knew it was true, especially when she felt the cold night wind blow from the window and made her shiver.
She got up from the bed, looked around once more, and got even more confused.
Obviously, this was a castle used for defense. Swan overheard the conversation between the knights that they hated the garrison because they had to live in a cold and dark castle in the winter.
So, why was she here and not with her new husband?
'Does that mean I have been—' Swan didn't want to complete that line of thought. She got up from the bed, but she couldn't stand without her crutches. She began to look around in panic, hoping to find anything she could use to support herself as she wanted to get out and find out if she had been abandoned by her husband.
Since she couldn't find anything, she decided to just drop herself from the bed, making a creaking sound as she squeaked in pain.
The door was slammed open and Swan saw two women with cat ears and tails gasping.
"Princess!" They said in unison as they rushed towards her.
Swan's body stiffened, mostly because it was a bodily reaction. She had been conditioned to stay still in case servants were approaching her, because the more she struggled, the worse the beating she would get.
Yet, all they did was put her back on the bed and cover her legs with a blanket.
They stood next to the bed and said, "Please just call us if you need anything, Princess. We are always on standby outside, except when His Majesty wants us to leave."
"Pardon, who are you two and where am I?" Swan asked bashfully. "Sorry, I slept for too long..."
"You are in the beastmen's castle. The carriage arrived five hours ago, and His Majesty carried you into his room, Princess," one of the shorter maids replied. "He told us that you are exhausted after a long journey. That's why he forbids us to check on you until you call us."
"We are the maids in the castle and your attendants now. My name is Myra, and this is my sister, Maya," the taller maid introduced themselves. "Pardon us if we are not up to your standard, Princess. We're not used to the courtesy in Holy Achate."
Swan was relieved after they introduced themselves as maids, which meant their status should be similar.
"M-my name is Swan. Please don't call me Princess. We are the same," Swan tried to smile as she humbled herself.
Myra and Maya gasped at the same time, staring at Swan with their eyes wide open.
"Princess! Did we do something wrong? Is this a greeting from Holy Achate that we don't understand?!"
Swan was just as flustered seeing their reaction.
Shouldn't they show their authority after she humbled herself? At least it was what Swan expected.
"N-no, I just want to introduce myself. We will work together, right?" Swan muttered.
The maids gasped once more. Hearing Swan's words made them so scared, thinking that they had offended the princess somehow because there was no way the First Princess of Holy Achate would lower herself to mere beastmen maids.
Myra and Maya fell on their knees as they wanted to show their submissiveness.
"Please forgive us, Princess!"
Swan was stunned by their reaction. She quickly scooted away from them as she got scared by their reactions.
"G-get up. You two shouldn't bow at me. I-I'm just Swan…" Swan said, thinking it could help. But the cat maids were unmoving, and they were stuck in this awkward and confusing situation until they heard a deep and commanding voice from the corridor.
"What did you do to my bride?"
Swan shot her gaze at Gale who walked from the corridor into the room, and stood with a stern gaze at the two cat maids.
"I heard that you two apologized to her. So, what did you do to my bride?" Gale repeated his question.
Myra and Maya turned towards their king at the same time, still in their kneeling position, Maya replied, "P-Princess told us that she has the same position as us. She also forbids us to address her as Princess and call her by her real name."
"We don't know what we did wrong, Your Majesty. Please pardon us," Myra added.
Gale returned his gaze at Swan, "Did they offend you? I can punish them if you want to."
"N-no! No offense!" Swan exclaimed in panic. "I was just greeting them! Since we are the same! They are good to me!"
Gale was just as confused as the rest of them, but since Swan said so, he decided to trust her.
"Fine. You two are dismissed. Learn the etiquette of Holy Achate from the soldiers that we captured before. Make sure not to offend my bride twice," Gale warned.
Myra and Maya excused themselves and scurried out of the room. They closed the door, giving their king and his bride a private space.
Gale was still wearing that blindfold, but Swan knew that he was staring at her.
The chandelier helped to give Swan a somewhat clear look at his expression, and it seemed that he was nervous for an unknown reason.
Nevertheless, Swan did what she did best.
"I-I'm sorry for sleeping in the carriage. Please forgive me…"
Gale sighed. He walked to the bed. He wanted to get closer to her, but when he saw her scooting further and further from him, he decided to just sit at the edge of the bed.
"Are you alright? Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?" Gale asked awkwardly. "I can call the doctor if you are hurt."
"I'm alright…" Swan replied. "But I need my crutches. I need to go."
"Where do you want to go?" Gale frowned. "It's almost midnight. If you want something, you can get it tomorrow."
"Uhm… but I need to go to my real bedroom," Swan replied. "This is your room, right? I-I will ask the maids where their rooms are, so I can sleep with them."