Corina wore a frown as she walked between Nadine and Jeffery. There were a lot of questions she wished to ask someone, but she was unsure who she could trust.
After Alexander had left her side, she spent an hour looking through the book. She had lifted her dress to compare herself to the book's images.
Queen Amelia had raised her to be a princess, to wear pretty dresses and mind her appearance and manners, but according to what she saw in the book, she did not resemble a woman at all.
It made her question the reality she lived in. Did her brothers have the same body as her? If they did, why did her mother tell her she was a girl?
Corina didn't feel like a boy. She very much believed she was meant to be who she was, but she wondered if it were only because of what her mother had told her during her short years of living.
Maybe there was a mistake?
She knew who she was. Her name was Corina Nightshade. She was the tenth child of Crystalia's king and queen! The couple had only one daughter, whom they planned to marry off to the Duke.
Surely, if she weren't a girl, someone would have told her. Wouldn't they? Why would anyone keep it a secret? She hadn't the slightest clue, but it made her heart ache to think her parents would have lied to her about her very existence.
A sigh escaped her lips as they entered a large shop filled with racks of clothing. Mirrors lined the walls, and in the center there was a large, curved oak desk with layers of fabric haphazardly laid out across it.
An elderly woman sat behind the counter, her fingers working skillfully with a needle and thread to mend a blouse. Her silver hair was in a messy bun on top of her head.
The woman adjusted her glasses, the wrinkles around her eyes creased as she greeted the party of three with a smile. "Good morning, Nadine. Who have you dragged into my shop?"
Nadine approached the counter. She casually rested her arms across the top and leaned in to whisper, "The Princess of Crystalia, Corina Nightshade. You should be on your best behavior if you don't want to face the fury of the duke."
"Pfft," the woman rolled her eyes. "That boy couldn't hurt a flea."
Nadine sighed. The woman, Matilda, was not wrong. Duke Alexander was the complete opposite of the man who ruled the village before them. "It might just be inexperience," she smiled in response. "Who knows—in a few years he might have you exiled or executed for your words!"
"Uh-huh," Matilda muttered as she placed the items down on the counter. "I'm cowering in fear," she smirked. "I wet myself. Oh, wait, that was because of my feeble bladder, not fear."
Nadine smacked her own forehead, then looked toward Corina. "We seek your services. The princess needs a dress made for her wedding."
Matilda stood. She approached Corina. "I see," she replied, placing her fingers on her chin as she examined the woman from head to toe. After getting a decent enough look, she raised a brow. "Girl, come with me."
Corina nodded, not knowing what to expect. She followed Matilda to the back of her shop, into a private room. Nadine had followed close behind, but Matilda glared at her when she noticed her enter the room with them. "Not you."
"What?" Nadine scoffed.
"This is private," the old lady hummed with a smile.
"Why is it private?" Nadine placed her hands on her hips. "I'm in charge of taking care of the princess."
Matilda placed her hands on Nadine's back, pushing the taller woman out of the room. "And here is my shop. I'm in charge of her dress. Get out of this room."
Nadine shook her head in disbelief, but followed the orders of the feeble old woman. Her steps were heavy and loud against the wooden floor as she stepped back into the main area of the shop, flopping onto a sofa in the corner of the room.
"The audacity!"
Jeffery smiled and shook his head, taking a seat next to Nadine. "What's gotten your bloomers in a bunch?"
"Matilda kicked me out of the room," Nadine growled. "Can you believe that?"
Jeffery shrugged. "It's Corina's outfit. He grinned, which annoyed the lady-in-waiting. "It really has nothing to do with you," he said.
"But-"
"No buts; trust her to work her magic," Jeffery commented. "Corina's a grown woman. Didn't you tell me Matilda is the best tailor in the village?"
Nadine crossed her arms against her chest. "Sure. Whatever."
Meanwhile, in the back room, the elderly woman had her hands on Corina's waist, her hazel eyes looking up and down.
"Ah, t-thank you for helping me today," Corina stammered nervously as the woman looked at her.
Corina had never felt such an intense examination of her features. It made her wonder if she was always like that with her customers. Back home, the tailor she had been used to never examined her body to such an extent.
Her posture was rigid when Matilda finally released the grip on Corina's waist. "You're a boy," the woman flatly stated.
Corina's blue eyes were huge as she looked down at the woman. Her mouth hung open, and a deep, scarlet hue crept onto her cheeks. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she tried to verbalize her thoughts.
"I-I-I... really am?!"
Matilda nodded, furrowing her brows. "Did you not know? How would you not know? Were you trying to deceive the duke?"
Corina shook her head. Tears began to roll down her cheeks in heavy streams. She placed her palms against her face and started to sob. The feeling she got from the book must have been correct.
Matilda sighed. She placed a hand on Corina's back, gently rubbing in soothing motions. "No. I guess not. I don't understand how this happened. Who in their right mind would send a boy, dressed as a girl, to marry into the royal family of Luminairea?"
Corina kept sobbing. She didn't have any of the answers. She also questioned her decision to dress as a girl when she was actually a boy. "W-Why?" Corina gasped out through her tears.
"That's what I want to know," Matilda commented. "You seriously had no clue, did you? Poor thing."
The elderly tailor took Corina's hand and led her to a chair off to the side. She urged the princess to take a seat.
Corina looked up at the woman through a teary gaze, sniffling as she spoke. "M-Mother said I was a beautiful princess..."
Matilda placed her hand on her head and scratched. "This doesn't make sense," she groaned. "Did nobody tell you that you were a boy?"
Corina shook her head.
"Did nobody teach you about your body?"
Corina shook her head again.
"How absurd!"
Nadine had thought she heard the princess crying, so she quickly rose from her seat, making her way back to the room. "Corina?!"
The woman quickly rushed to the crying blonde's side. She wrapped her arms around the princess, pulling her into a close embrace. Corina broke down completely against the woman's chest. She clutched the fabric against Nadine's chest and sobbed against her breasts. "N'Nadine!"
Nadine glared at Matilda. "What did you do to her?!"
"Nothing!" The old woman scoffed. "I told her the truth. "Apparently, Crystalia's king and queen enjoy lying to their children and the rest of the world!"
"Shut your trap!" As she held Corina, Nadine yelled out. "That's no way to talk to a princess!"
Corina sniffed, then looked up at Nadine. "N-No, she... she's right," she breathed out.
Nadine had a look of confusion on her face. "Princess?"
Matilda nodded snuggly, her eyes narrowing on the lady-in-waiting. "I take it you also didn't know? They didn't even tell their own child what she was!"
Nadine looked down at Corina with a worried expression. "Were you adopted? The child of a mistress?"
The woman couldn't imagine a scenario that involved the words that were going to escape Corina's lips.
"N-No."
"It's worse," Matilda commented.
"I-I..." Corina paused, then stammered out her response. "I-I'm a boy!"