Chapter 7: A Year Earlier

-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; King's office-

In a very extravagant room with blue walls covered in patterns of gold, there is a big desk with mountains of paper that could easily hide most people. It was not something you would see every day, and most certainly not a situation the majority would like to find themselves in.

Sitting on the desk's chair there is a man with a canary-colored curly long beard, that reaches his chest. This man was stocky but not completely on fat, as some muscle could be easily seen at first glance. His hair of the same color as his beard, while his eyes carried a deep maroon giving him an unusual and mystifying look. He's not too tall or short, his face is somewhat rough and wild but somehow still conveys the aura of a noble.

The clothes he was wearing consisted of a high-quality red cloak, a blue long undertunic embroidered with golden threads, beige trousers, and leather shoes.

*knock* *knock*

While he was focused on the masses of paper stained at his desk, he heard knocking on the door.

*sigh*

Letting a sigh out, the man with dark circles under his eyes, slowly lifted his head from looking at the papers to looking at the door.

"Who is it?! If not for matters of utmost importance, I'm busy." The man started working on the papers immediately after answering and didn't bother to pay any more attention to the door.

"Your Majesty, it is I Lavnik, and I have brought a request from your third daughter, princess Merilyn." The person on the other side of the door announced in a firm and composed tone.

"You may come in." The King said after having heard Lavnik's response, after all, he's one of his most trusted subordinates.

The door opened and a lanky man came in wearing a black long shirt and black trousers, his posture and overall air about are elegant. He slowly approached the King's desk.

"Your Majesty, your daughter princess Merilyn has requested an audience with your Highness." Lavnik announced while bowing to the king.

"... Tell her, I will not be available until after the Hero summoning ceremony. Now, if you don't have any more announcements to make, I have a kingdom to rule." The King waved his hand and once again focused on the papers on his desk.

"Hm... My King... The third princess insisted on having an audience with your Majesty, even after I told her the same. She then said that she intends to discuss matters related to the Hero summoning ceremony." Lavnik declared as with worry in his tone of voice.

"Call her, and tell her audience request has been accepted." The King narrowed his eyes and rubbed his forehead for a bit, before responding.

Lavnik nodded his head and left with his orders.

Not long after, a girl with vivid golden hair and emerald green eyes wearing a long pink dress came in a very elegant and calm manner, her steps very light and producing almost no sound.

"I Merilyn Ven Reyha, third Princess of the Reyha Kingdom, present myself before you, my King." She bowed and didn't move an inch waiting for the King's answer.

"Enough of your foolery my daughter, what exactly brings you here?" The King had his expression stale and serious, while his eyes seemed to look directly into Merilyn's soul.

Merilyn got up and answered. "I have been wondering, why I have to give myself to the hero from another world? Not only are they not residents of Tefrat, but they could also be enemies for all we know.", She said with an expression as serious as the king's, while her voice didn't seem to waver at all despite the pressure of his glare.

"First and foremost, as a princess and my daughter, you shouldn't worry about things such as those, you should smile and appear good for the kingdom, secondly, you should at least know that heroes are very powerful individuals, especially those that come from other worlds..." The King paused and sighed then continued.

"But I do understand your worries, so I will tell you that the Hero summoning ceremony makes those evoked's minds subconsciously unable to turn against their summoners unless some special conditions are met. They won't necessarily be under our control, but they won't be capable of turning against us." The King explained while looking at his daughter.

"I now know why you trust them, but why must I be close to the heroes then? If there is no risk, why must I be with them?" Merilyn asked now with her eyebrows narrowed and had a bit of a shaky voice.

"That is, because it only lasts for the first four years of their residence in this world, and during that time you the holy maiden will get close to them and reap the benefits of being part of the hero's party, together with a few selected knights. Since after those four years, we don't have any certainties, it is crucial, to form a good relationship with them, and aside from that, you naturally belong to the hero's party as the holy maiden." The King calmly said without loosening his glare on her.

"Now, you should go to your room and wait for the ceremony, after all, there's only one year left before it takes place." The king added.

Merilyn opened her mouth slightly, but then closed it and did as her father ordered, leaving his office and heading towards her room.

Soon she reached her room, entered it then closed the door.

She slowly walked towards her bed and let herself fall on it.

"It's so unfair how he never lets me even try to make my own decisions, everything is decided for me and I have to smile and be happy about it... Am I even living my life at this point?" Merilyn immediately started talking to herself and complaining about her life.

She turned herself around and was now looking at the roof of the room. "I can't even choose what I can and can't like, I must be that perfect little doll... I wish I could run away but this place is a better prison than a palace... All I want is control over my life, give me my freedom!" She ranted to herself as she slowly went silent until she fell asleep.

-The next day-

Sleeping on her luxury bed, princess Merilyn was snorting and even had a single line of drool coming out her mouth, she looked nothing like a perfect princess at this moment.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Princess Merilyn, it's time to wake up, your Majesty and the Queen will be mad if you're late for breakfast again." A soft voice from outside her room could be heard.

"Hm! *yawn*" Merilyn yawned and felt really tired, despite the fact she had slept for quite a long time.

"Wait... What time is it?..." Merilyn said as she looked at an hourglass standing on a nightstand.

"It's only 8:00 o.m.! Breakfast is at 11 o.m.! How evil must you be to wake me up so early?" Merilyn had messy hair and a dissatisfied expression while her tone of voice carried happiness.

A maid with orange hair and eyes came in with her black long dress and a white apron, and her physique had nothing special or noticeable, she was quite average looking and wasn't too tall.

"Sorry young lady, but you know the rules." She smiled as she said.

"I know... Thank you for waking me up every day. I heard you've been punished for being late for your duties, you don't have to go through that because of me." Merilyn said while she twirled her hair.

"Don't worry, those matters have nothing to do with you. Now it's time for your bath, then your etiquette lessons, history of the Reyha Kingdom, geography, then breakfast followed by magic lessons, elegance, dance, arithmetic, art, administration, politics, and basic self-defense for the morning and then the lunch break followed by the noon classes and early night classes after dinner." She slowly enumerated the parts of Merilyn's schedule for today.

Merilyn reluctantly went out of her room with the woman and followed her schedule as said before.

-Later-

Once it was time for breakfast, Merilyn sat in her place right next to her older sister Lumière and the meal was going well.

Then a maid brought a tray with jelly spheres covered on what seems to be sugar and put it down next to the king.

"Your majesty, the royal chef finished the new dessert, just as ordered by you, and asks that your Majesty's approval to add it to the menu for the banquet after the Hero summoning ceremony." The maid explained with a wide smile.

The King didn't bother answering and just grabbed a fork and pulled a piece of the jelly sphere and ate it.

Having swallowed it, the king looked at the maid and said.

"It's too sweet, order Brito to make a less sugary version of this one, so that it can properly be appreciated by our guests." The King expressed his opinion on the dessert, before giving an order.

To his words, the maid nodded and left.

At that moment, just like a student in a classroom would, Merilyn raised her hand in the air slowly and shakily. She easily became the focus of the room, as everyone was now looking at her.

"Speak your mind, my daughter." The king said calmy.

"...."

Merilyn didn't say anything for a while after her father answered to her raising her hand. The silence made the atmosphere slightly awkward.

Taking a deep breath, Merilyn finally found the courage to speak.

"I… I… I…" She stuttered.

"I…would like to… to…. solicit permission to… hum… to…" She tried buy the words just wouldn't coms out.

"Merilyn Ven Reyha! Behave yourself! Your father gave you permission to speak! Use it!" As Merilyn was having trouble, her mother scolded her.

"I just want to try t-the... the… the…" As she continued to have trouble, her younger sister, Shiveria was about to interfere but was immediately cut.

"No! She has to say it! If she can't even speak to her father, what will the nobles and the Kingdom think of the royal family?! Let's not even mention the other kingdoms! Merilyn speak up!" Luciani, Merilyn's mother once again urged her to speak.

"The new dessert! I want to try it!" With an awful amount of effort, Merilyn was able to communicate.

Hearing this, the King looked at the Luciani.

"My love, you know the rules. A young princess like yourself can't eat those things, it will do you no good to eat like a peasant. Also, you have to deal with your speech impediment as fast as possible, it's unsightly and not adequate for someone of your status." Luciani answered instead of the King with a smile.

After that Merilyn was quiet and didn't say anymore.

The rest of the year continued in a similar manner with Merilyn following her schedule.

Chapter end