I blinked my eyes, and suddenly, I was in the middle of a meadow. I heard the noise of sheep, felt the blow of winds, and saw the great blue skies. The atmosphere in that meadow was relaxing, and I was so confused because a minute ago I was in the office and now I was in the middle of the meadow. I looked around and noticed that my clothes had changed from my job uniform to a white gown.
Back then, I worked overtime for a provincial government building project; there was no one in the office, so I took some sleep to take a rest. But now I was in the middle of the meadow. I heard horse footsteps so fast and saw a horseman come towards me.
“What the hell? That horseman ran towards me.” I panicked and ran away, but that horse kept chasing me.
My running was not a match for that horse, and that horse was already in front of me. The horseman stopped and stepped out of the horse.
“Your Highness, so you are here.” with a worried tone and uncontrollable breath.
Highness? Am I a noble of the royal family? What was he talking about? I was looking around; there was no one there. Is he addressing me? I was so confused right now.
Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder and stared into my eyes with a worried expression. He checked my dress to see if there were any scratches, shreds, or anything else.
“Your Highness, are you alright? Is there something wrong? His Majesty, Father, the King, is worrying you.” His face seemed so worried and panicked.
Whoa whoa, my father is a king? Is there a mistake here? Is this a game?
“I’m sorry, but can I ask you a question?”
“Yes, Your Highness, what is that?” looked at my face.
“Where am I, and why did you call me Your Highness?”
The horseman was astonished by what I said, confused, and giggled at my question.
“We are in the Aushtage Kingdom, and you are the Princess Caroline of Aushtage. Your father is the Majesty King Onfroi, and your mother is the Majesty Queen Isabeau.”
Dumbfounded by what I heard from him, I was surprised. “YOU ARE JOKING, RIGHT?”
I am just a mere accountant in the civil service who is 33 years old, and now I am a princess with the name Caroline. Wait, this body? I looked at my hands and touched my body. This body was like a child or teenager; maybe I am turning into a 15-year-old princess.
The man was confused about what I was doing and walked to me and said, “Just come to me because your father is worrying you so much.” He smiled with sincerity.
He helped me get up to the horse, mounted the horse, and led with a rope. Looking at him from up here makes me feel uncomfortable because he was walking while I was riding this horse.
“Why are you walking and not riding it with me? There is a room for you in here; I feel horrible to see you walking to lead the horse.”
He looked at me and just smiled. I felt an honest smile from that smile “You are so kind; I never expected you to be that kind. Maybe our kingdom will be better in the future with you, Your Highness.”
I just smiled at him. “What’s your name, Mr. Knight?”
“Your Highness, I am not a knight; I am just a squire.”
“A squire? What is that?”
“A squire is a knight's servant; we have a duty to prepare what knight needs or be a substitute knight; as you can say, I am an apprentice of a knight.”
“Well, I hope one day you will be a knight..” I was thinking, “Or maybe my escort knight.” I showed my smile to him. “And what’s your name, Mr. Squire?"
“My name is Louis; I hope Your Highness remembers this lowborn name, and I will live up to the princess’s expectations and not disappoint my princess.”
I sense the spirit of this man.
“I will engrave your name in my mind and always remember it, no matter.” A wind breeze blew into my hair and made my hair flutter with the wind. “If you are lowborn or have no name, I will appreciate all of you because all of you are my subject, right? I will never leave them alone.”
Louis stopped suddenly. I saw that he stared, fascinated by what I had said to him.
Wait!!! What I said to him seemed pretty embarrassing to me.
“Louis, how long will this trip go?”
It seemed he was still fascinated by me
“Louis, Louis, Louis, can you hear me??”
Finally, he snapped to reality “I am so sorry, your highness. I was just amazed by what Your Highness said and by your appearance. Your white hair seems to glow when the wind blows, like a goddess. It is so rare that a noble like your royal highness will engrave a lowborn name in their mind.”
What an exaggeration from him, me a goddess! And he said my hair was white?
I stroked my hair and saw that it was really white, like silver.
“Louis, you still don’t answer my question: how long will this trip go?”
“My apologies. It’s just a short ride, Your Highness.”
On the road, I was riding the horse, but Louis was just walking. Yeah, this is a short ride, but when I saw him leading the horse, I felt horrible.
We arrived in a small village. This village had just been pillaged, and the people had slim figures and were in bad shape.
“Louis, is there any recent conflict here?” looked around.
“There is no recent war here, your highness, but we are still in a small conflict with the Travunia Kingdom.” Louis' face showed some concern.
Travunia Kingdom? I need to learn about this world geography.
“But this village is horrible; it's like it just got pillaged and the people are in bad shape.”
“It’s just the normal condition of this village, Your Highness.” He trembled his hands.
I saw his hands grip so tightly; it seemed like he held a grudge.
When we walked into the village, I sensed all the stares from all sides. All the villagers stared at me with hate, cynicism, viciousness, and envy. Even Louis could not look at their faces, like he felt ashamed of what he did.
I could see a big castle and the city surrounded by a big stone wall, so this village was so close to the castle and the city, but why was this village so dreadful? I looked at Louis, and I sensed his tenseness and his hands trembling so much. I think he hated this kingdom so much. We kept continuing our trip.
Upon arrival at the front gate of the city, I saw a sign on the road that showed the name of the city.
I never see that type of word; it's more like a rune than a word or alphabet. Suddenly, it changed to the alphabet so that I could read it.
Now that I can read it, it is called 'Hallgerd'. What the hell is happening? Hallgerd was the name of the city. We stepped into the city. Finally, I can see the city of this world.
I saw a lot of things; the buildings in the city seemed so interesting. There were buildings made from stone and dark wood and buildings made from bricks, but the colours were grayer. The rooftops of all the buildings in the city were variant; there were buildings that used straw as the rooftop, and there were already used roof tiles made of clay. There were a lot of signs that identified the building; there was a sign with a big glass of ale; that was the tavern; there was a sign with anvil; there was the blacksmith; there was a sign of herbs; and the roads were made of stone. It was like a fantasy story.
In the middle of our trip to the castle, we passed through the market. There were a lot of unique tents that merchants or vendors used. There was the town plaza after the market; a lot of people gathered there, and there was a fountain in the middle of the plaza.
Finally, we arrived in front of the castle gate. I looked around; there were a lot of guards around here. After we passed the gate, I was fascinated by how big the garden was and the fountain in the middle of the garden. We walked around the fountain and saw some maids waiting for my arrival, and one of the maids brought a towel in her hands. The entrance of the castle was already in my sight. Louis reached out his hands to help me get down from the horse. After I stepped on the ground, all the maids immediately approached me. The maid who brought a towel in her hand immediately appeared in front of me, and I saw all the sweat and tiredness from their appearances and their faces. They were waiting for my arrival all along in front of the entrance all day.
The maid who brought the towel gave me the towel, but I refused it.
“I’m not tired; maybe you can keep it for yourself.”
Looked at their faces; they were confused, but I saw their expression, and there was something hidden across their expression. Louis guided me to the main throne room and was followed by the maids at the castle entrance.
What on earth is happening with my life?
I looked around, and there was a lot of lavish furniture. To become a princess has been my dream since my childhood, but to suddenly be in a world that I didn’t know at 33 years old
Wait, if this is a sign, am I a saviour? Ah, that’s impossible.
First, I needed to behave like a true princess; after that, I needed more information about this world. Louis in front of me was so nervous that I could sense it; it was not just him; the maids behind me were as nervous as him. The big door was made of steel in front of us. I noticed that behind that door was the main throne room, where the king and the queen were.
Let's meet this body's parents.
The door was opened by the two guards, and the main throne room was revealed.
The king, who was my father, had a round body and was slightly short, giving the impression that this man was not capable of becoming king. The queen, who was my mother, has a slim body, white hair like this body, and a beautiful face. I had never seen a beautiful woman like her. In the throne room were not just the king and thequeen;, there were some nobles in here too, and their eyes kept staring at me. Stunned by the glamour of the room, I did not notice that I walked beside Louis alone; the maids stopped in front of the door.
Louis bowed in front of the king and said, “Your Royal Majesty, Her Highness Princess, has arrived.”
And followed by every guard, maid, and noble in the throne room bowed to me and the King. I gazed at the king standing up from his chair, and suddenly the black force smashed into my face.
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