The past two days have been the most hectic I've ever seen the castle. It felt like almost every person and bonded monster was in a flurry of activity, working tirelessly to prepare for the princess's arrival.
There was an undeniable sense of urgency in the air, with everyone rushing about, ensuring that every corner of the castle was immaculate and ready.
I wasn't spared from the frenzy either—Mira had been given the task of drilling proper etiquette into my head.
I'd managed to get away with avoiding etiquette lessons until now, but Mira was relentless, and there was no escaping it this time.
During one of our more tedious lessons, I learned something that completely caught me off guard—the Elven Kingdom actually has a proper name.
I couldn't believe I hadn't known this. Crazy, right? It turns out the kingdom is called the Kingdom of Eldora, and it's ruled by the Evian royal family. I couldn't help but feel a bit silly—how had I not known the name of the very place I lived?
It also turns out that our family, the Valora family, wasn't always a powerful dukedom like it is now.
We used to be just a lower-ranking noble family of knights, serving without much recognition. But that all changed several hundred years ago when my father fought alongside the King of Eldora as his right-hand man during the war against the humans.
Both my father's and my mother's contributions to that war earned our family the title of Duke.
The real question is, though… just how old are my parents? I thought, trying to piece it all together.
I knew that elves had long lifespans—that was common knowledge—but did Amazons have similar longevity? It was something I was definitely going to need to ask my mother about. There's still so much I need to learn about them.
Mira didn't just teach me etiquette—she also gave me a brief rundown of the kingdom's noble hierarchy, which, to be honest, was far more interesting than practicing curtsies and reciting proper greetings.
The Kingdom of Eldora was led by the King and Queen, but they weren't alone in governing the realm. There were two dukedoms—the Valora family in the west, and the Shorin family in the east.
The Shorin family had been around since the very founding of the kingdom and governed their territory with an iron hand. Below the two dukes were a collection of counts, viscounts, and barons—families that made up the lower ranks of nobility.
After hours of lessons, my head was pounding from all the new information. I wasn't used to sitting still for that long, and it was exhausting.
Still, I had to give credit where credit was due—Mira was a good teacher, and she was incredibly knowledgeable about Eldora's history. Even though I wasn't thrilled about learning court etiquette, I knew it would be important in the days to come.
For the arrival of the princess, I had a wide range of outfits to choose from—everything from pants and shirts to elegant dresses. In the end, I chose a black and silver dress, as those are our family colors. It sat just above my knees, and I paired it with black stockings that reached up to my thighs.
Hey, even a tomboy can decide to wear a dress and look cute sometimes.
"It's time to join the masters, young miss," Mira said, knocking lightly on my door.
"Okay, coming!" I called back.
Mira and I made our way toward the castle's main entrance, where we would greet the royal carriage. The inside of the castle was eerily quiet, as most of the staff and bonded monsters were already outside, lined up and waiting.
As I walked up beside my parents, Dad's eyes lit up. "Ahhhh, you look so cute!" he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
Dad was wearing a black, form-fitting suit with a silver tie and a silver pocket square tucked into his suit pocket. His white hair was tied back in an elegant ponytail with a pitch-black ribbon. Mother was also dressed in a suit very similar to Dad's, except she left her hair down, flowing across her back, with her sword sheathed at her waist.
"Enough, husband. Must you act so childish when we have guests on the way?" Mother reprimanded him.
"Pshh, don't be such a prude. It's just the Queen and her daughter. Besides, Lyra is the cutest," Dad said, which made me blush slightly.
Before Dad could embarrass me further, the courtyard gates swung open, followed by three sleek black carriages adorned with gold accents. Each carriage was drawn by two large deer-like monsters covered in fine green fur, which were most likely bonded in their true forms.
The carriages pulled up, and the middle one stopped right in front of us. Once they came to a complete stop, two feline-looking women seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of the carriage door.
The women approached the door and opened it gracefully for their ruler.
The Queen was the first to step out of the carriage.
She was the very definition of elegance. Standing at roughly 6'0", she had a slim figure with perfect curves. Her long, glossy blonde hair fell well below her shoulders, shining in the sunlight. Her face was flawless, with finely sculpted features, and her bright green eyes sparkled like emeralds, exuding confidence and grace. She wore a long, frilly white gown adorned with gold jewelry that perfectly matched her golden hair.
The Queen reached her hand behind her, and from the shadows of the carriage emerged a small, dainty hand that took hers. The young girl who stepped out was a mirror image of the Queen, though about three feet shorter, with slightly chubby cheeks and a shy look in her eyes.
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I thought my family was good-looking, but holy crap—the Queen is stunning, and her daughter is just too cute!
"Greetings, Your Majesty Queen Evian, and Your Highness, Third Princess," Mother and Father said in unison, bowing their heads as I offered a polite curtsy.
"Thank you," a soothing, elegant voice rang out as Queen Evian waved her hand to put everyone at ease.
"Tis always a pleasure, Caspian, Morgana," she said with a graceful nod.
"We're grateful you were able to make it here safely. I trust your journey was smooth?" Dad asked, his demeanor far more dignified than I'd ever seen.
Guess he really is the man of the house, technically, I thought, amused by his formality.
"Of course, we had no issues. As always, your estate is beautiful," the Queen replied.
"We're honored you enjoy our humble estate, Your Majesty. Would you care to join us for some tea?" Dad offered.
The Queen gave a slight nod in response, and we turned to head toward the meeting room.
When we reached the meeting room, my mother, father, and I sat on one couch, while the Princess sat directly across from me, with the Queen seated in front of Dad.
Once tea was served, Dad dismissed the maids, leaving just the five of us in the room.
"Introduce yourself, dear," Mother said once we settled in and began sipping our tea.
"Oh, right!" I stood up to introduce myself.
"I am Lyra Valora. It's a pleasure to meet Your Majesty the Queen and Princess," I said with practiced etiquette, offering a curtsy and holding the corners of my dress.
"My, my, look how tall she is. She certainly takes after you, Morgana," the Queen remarked.
"That she does. I'm quite proud of her in that regard," Mother said, smiling.
"Why don't you introduce yourself, dear?" Queen Evian said, patting her daughter's head gently before encouraging her to stand.
"G-greetings, I'm V-Victoria Evian, third princess of Eldora and fourth in line for the throne," the young girl said, nervously squeezing the fabric of her dress while looking down at her feet.
"Good job, my daughter," the Queen said lovingly.
"With introductions out of the way, let's drop the formalities, my friends," Queen Evian said.
"Haaa, finally! I didn't know how long I could keep that act up. You had me guessing, Evie," Dad said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Does it really kill you to maintain a noble demeanor?" Mother said, giving Dad a side-eye.
"Stop being such a stickler, dear. You know I hate putting on an act," Dad said, grinning.
"But never mind that—Evie, your daughter is just so adorable, she's truly your spitting image."
"Haha, yes, she really is," Queen Evian agreed. "I'm just glad I can always relax around you guys."
During their conversation, Victoria shyly hid behind her mother's back.
"Are you guys friends?" I asked Mother curiously.
"Yes, something like that. We actually adventured with the King and Queen before he ascended to the throne. It was a time when we didn't have a care in the world," Mother explained with a nostalgic smile.
"Indeed, it was," Queen Evian agreed, sighing. "Now it's all politics and dealing with foreign nations."
I wonder what 'adventuring' really involved, considering what I know about how this world works, I thought, quickly brushing away that line of thinking. I really didn't want to imagine my parents like that.
"Alright, let's not bore the kids with all this old talk," Dad said with a smile. "Would you two like to go play?"
"Um, sure!" I replied enthusiastically.
"O-okay," Princess Victoria said hesitantly.
We both stood up, and it was immediately clear that I was a whole head taller than her, despite us being the same age.
We walked out of the room and closed the door behind us, leaving us alone.
"So, what do you like, Princess? We have a courtyard and a garden if you'd like to go there," I offered.
"Umm... do you have a library? I l-like reading..." the princess shyly says
"Of course we do Princess lets go" I said
We walked through the castle, pushing open the double doors, which closed softly behind us as we entered.
"Your library is beautiful, Miss Valora," Victoria said, her shyness easing a bit as she admired the room.
"It really is, isn't it? And by the way, you can just call me Lyra. You don't have to be so formal, Princess," I said, smiling.
"V-Victoria, call me Victoria then," she replied, blushing slightly. "I don't really like the whole 'princess' thing—it makes me nervous with all the attention."
Wow, how can someone be this cute? Seriously.
"Sounds good, Victoria. So, what do you like to read about?" I asked, noticing her blush again when I said her name.
"U-Um, I really like magic and learning about all the different monsters," Victoria said excitedly.
"Oh, really? I've noticed magic around me, but I haven't learned about it yet," I admitted.
"Really?! That's so cool! I've just started learning too, and it's all so fascinating," Victoria said, almost shouting in her excitement.
It turned out Victoria was really, really smart. She knew so much about magic and monsters—even more than I did, and I hadn't thought that was possible for someone our age.
We sat at a table and just started talking. We discussed different monsters, their strengths, weaknesses, and how they behaved. We talked about magic—how it was everywhere, and how we each had an organ that absorbed it, strengthening us over time.
We even chatted about our daily lives. It was easy to forget that we were just two five-year-olds having this conversation.
"It looks like they're getting along well. It's been hours—I almost forgot about my little girl," I heard Dad say over my shoulder.
Victoria and I both turned, suddenly realizing how much time had flown by.
"It's time to go, Victoria. Did you have fun?" Queen Evian asked.
"Yeah, Mom, I had so much fun! We talked about so many interesting things! Can we come back sometime?" Victoria asked, her previous shyness completely gone.
"Well, dear, that's not up to us, is it? Who should you ask?" the Queen teased.
Victoria turned to my parents and asked, "Can I come back sometime and play with Lyra some more?"
"Of course you can! It would be a pleasure to have you, Princess," Dad said with a cheerful smile.
With that settled the First meeting between Vitoria And I came to a close