"Princess Mira, it is time to get up."
"Hnghh."
The girl let out a groan as if she was protesting. Her maid, who was trying to wake the girl, let out a sigh.
"Princess, please get up. It is already noon."
"Ngh…"
After a bit of time and a lot of nagging, the girl finally sat up. The girl rubbed her eyes as she greeted her maid.
"Good morning Emma…"
"It is… uhm… noon already, Princess."
"Oh? Good afternoon Emma."
"Good afternoon, let us get you ready, Princess."
"Hmm."
The girl nodded her head as she stood up from her bed. She lightly shook her head to try and wake herself up more. As the maid moved to help the girl get dressed, she frowned at the girl's state.
"Princess, why did you not change your outfit from last night? You are still wearing the dress from yesterday."
"Huh?"
The girl looked down at herself and she was indeed still in last night's dress. In the wake of the prior day's events, it seemed that she had forgotten to change into a more appropriate night time attire.
"Oh? I'm sorry. I-I was too tired to change last night."
In response to the girl's apology, her maid merely sighed at her.
"Did Kara not help you change?"
"What? N-no. I… sent her away when we got to my bedroom."
"Why did you do that Princess? Not changing out of such a dress would cause it to wrinkle, ruining the dress. P-please refrain from sending Kara away before she finishes her duties."
As the girl was being scolded, she remembered Emma's words yesterday. She had forgotten due to just waking up but with this she had remembered.
These people dislike her.
"I-i'm sorry. I'll keep that in mind Emma."
All the girl could do was apologize more.
"P-please do, Princess. It would be best to not ruin more dresses like these ones."
Though the girl had apologized, it seemed to her that they fell on deaf ears.
After finishing up with her nagging, the maid helped the girl out of her old dress, and into a fresh one for the day.
"There, please move towards the mirror now princess."
The girl moved toward the mirror as instructed. As she sat down by the mirror, her maid started to comb her messy bed hair. The girl was still on the sleepy end as she was rubbing her eyes.
"You said you were tired last night princess?"
"Yeah… I felt really tired."
"Then, did you have trouble sleeping last night Princess?"
"No? No, I… don't think so."
"Is that so? Then why does it look like you only slept a few hours earlier?"
"Huh?"
"You still look sleepy, princess. Would you like to sleep in more today?"
Her maid covered her mouth, as if almost instantly regretting her words. They were already behind schedule and this would only cause a further delay. But it seems she could not help herself from suggesting it as the girl looked really tired.
'Should I? I really want to.'
It was incredibly tempting for the girl to go back to sleep. Especially since her maid had suggested it herself. It was the perfect excuse and had this happened a day earlier, the girl would have absolutely taken it.
"N-no."
Though it was tempting, the girl had resolved herself last night to try and better herself.
The maid's eyes widened slightly at the girl's response. She had fully expected the girl to say yes to the option of going back to sleep even if it was noon. That was just how the maid saw the girl. Seeing her reject the option was a pleasant surprise.
"I… I need to prepare more for teacher Syrias' lesson for next week."
"..."
It was an unbelievable thing to hear coming from the girl. Not once had she shown any interest in her studies and now she was suddenly saying she needed to prepare. It was not an attitude that fit the girl's image, but it was one that fit a proper princess.
"A-as you wish Princess."
The maid had wanted to ask what prompted this, but she knew better than to jinx things. Everyone had days where they felt like they should be more productive. Perhaps this was one of those days for the girl. Still, such a thing was positive and the maid could not help but smile as she continued to brush the girl's hair.
After some time, the maid stopped brushing the girl's hair.
"There. All done princess."
The girl opened her eyes to see how she looked in the mirror. It was a red dress with black highlights here and there. The dress looked good enough that one would think the girl was going to a ball.
At least that was what others would think. To the girl, the dress was simply something for everyday use. While she was checking her looks in the mirror, something in her reflection looked a bit… off.
'Has..,. has my hair always been this light?'
Her combed hair was tied up in a ponytail and seemed lighter than she remembered. The pitch black hair she was used to seemed to have whitened albeit slightly. The girl thought it was a little odd but came to the conclusion that it was always like that.
"Thank you Emma."
As they had finished preparing the girl for the remainder of the day, they stepped out of her room.
"Nice to see you up and about princess."
Standing outside in the hallway was her other maid, Kara.
The girl silently stared at her maid for a bit. Normally she would greet her, but after yesterday she was unsure of how to act around her. Her image now was vastly different from the one that she saw in the library. It was almost like they were two different people.
"H-hello…"
That was all the girl could muster to say to her. Such a response felt slightly strange to the maid but she decided not to dwell on it too much.
"Hello princess. Would you like to have some brunch?"
"Yes please."
"Of course. Follow me princess."
The dining hall was just a ten minute walk away from the girl's bedroom but it felt much longer for the three. It never felt like this before but because of yesterday, her perceptions of their actions had all been warped.
The girl could feel them staring at her hard as if they were judging her. As she was racking her brain, she came to the conclusion that it was because she had slept until noon.
The girl was not trying to stay up last night but because she had vowed to work harder, she inadvertently thought of the proud smiles the people around her would make upon looking at her again. Such a fantasy made the girl unable to sleep.
But feeling their stares now, cold water had been poured on her. She had yet to change so it was only natural that they looked at her like that, but it still felt bad.
'How long has it been like this?'
The girl was oblivious to it all yesterday but knowing their true feelings now, made her feel it all the more.
'Hoo… it's alright. It's alright. I can just work harder now. Yeah. They'll be proud of me soon.'
The girl hypnotized herself into such thinking.
While the girl was talking to herself, the maids were whispering amongst each other.
"Does the princess feel a little strange to you, Lady Em?"
"She's a lot less talkative today, that's for sure."
It was a strange situation to look at. The girl who usually chatted with everyone, had been unusually silent. It was difficult to call it a bad thing, but it was just as difficult to call it a good thing. It was just something different.
"Maybe… maybe she really is just tired, Lady Kara."
"But from what? She never did anythin' that was particularly tirin' yesterday."
"I heard from Count Syrias that they had a small argument. Maybe this is from mental exhaustion."
"Hmm. Maybe."
It was hard to say what happened but for the time being, it seems like things would be quiet for a while.
****
The dining hall was almost entirely silent as the girl ate her meal. Only the occasional sound of silverware clinking against each other could be heard. As the girl ate, she never uttered a word to anyone. She just ate quietly. Had it been anyone else this situation would be slightly weird but not too out of the ordinary. Some people just had days where they were like that.
But the girl had never had days like that before this. She had always been chatty even when she had a mouthful of food. So such a situation made everyone who saw it feel slightly uncomfortable.
'Did somethin' happen yesterday?'
'She's being really weird today. Hmm… '
While they felt slightly uncomfortable at the situation, there was no change in their expressions. But as the girl silently ate, she felt like they were judging her. From their appearance, there was no reason anyone would get that feeling from them. But the girl felt like that anyway.
As the girl looked at their faces, their eyes met. It was only for a moment but in that moment the girl felt like she saw their thoughts. Behind their expressionless eyes, she saw annoyance and anger towards her. She knew her maids' true feelings about her so she had some idea as to why they were looking at her like that. But for them to look at her even when she was just eating, it made her feel awful.
'Is there something I'm doing wrong or is that just how much they hate me?'
The girl thought it could honestly be either one or maybe even both. That thought made her sad. And as much as she wanted to ask what she was doing wrong, she was scared to hear what answer they would give.Though she felt bad for the chef and the food, she put down her cutlery not wanting to make any more mistakes.
"Is something wrong princess?"
"No… I'm just… not that hungry Kara."
"Is that so Princess?"
A voice came from behind the girl and turning around, she saw the chef that had cooked her meal.
"Was there something not to your liking Princess?"
"N-no, it was very good. I'm just… not hungry."
The chef looked at the food that was left on the table and frowned. There was still a fair bit of food on the table. Though his sight was concentrated on the food, the girl had thought that such a gaze was directed at her.
'He's probably mad at me. He worked so hard to make that food and it'll all go to waste now.'
"I'm sorry."
That was all she could say to him. While he was slightly disappointed that there was still a fair bit of the meal he cooked, it was never gonna go to waste. Either he would turn it to feed and give it to the animals or he would just eat it himself. No matter what, the food would be consumed by something.
"It's alright Princess. It doesn't matter."
The chef took away the food that was on the table and left without saying anything more. Though there was no deeper meaning to his words, the girl once again thought that such a remark was directed at her.
'Does my apology mean nothing now?'
The girl clenched her small hands. She wanted to get angry but she decided not to. In her mind, such behavior towards her was justified and getting angry would do more harm than good. She pushed down such bad thoughts and tried to focus on improving herself.
'Hoo… it's alright. I can make up for my mistakes.'
The girl stood up from her chair and turned to her maids.
"What's the rest of my schedule for today?"
It was a simple question but considering who was asking, the maids' eyes were wide. The girl who had no regard for her schedule was suddenly asking about it. They were a little dumbfounded at first, but it only lasted for a moment. And though they could control their expressions rather well, a small smile crept onto their faces at the pleasant surprise.
"Uhm… you have an etiquette class with Lady Nova and then Lord Felix is set to come. As for the rest of the day, there is nothing on the schedule."
"I see… Ok. Just Miss Nova and Felix then."
The girl started to walk towards the door and then turned back to her maids as she realized a small problem.
"Uhm… which room did we have her class in again?"