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"You surprised me out there, your Highness. I did not expect the prince of the Red Lion to be such a marvelous huntsman"

Adelio drags a lazy hand through his black hair. He barely manages to hold back a scoff at his cousin's words, marching away towards the throne room.

A bow in one hand, and a sword in his belt, the crown prince easily intimidates only with those weapons. But that's not the only thing that makes his servants cower with fear, and his cousin's eager to say friendly words. Perhaps it's his broad shoulders, moving from side to side as he walks through the enchanting red hallways of the Red Lion capital palace. Or maybe it's just the piercing black eyes, hair so black it almost looks blue, strong arms, tall figure and regal black and red clothing. The way he shows little to no emotions, his lips barely moving an inch at any given occasion, or the way he moves with such power and grace it makes people forget their own names.

It's not just his power that makes people talk about him. He is also incredibly handsome, almost beautiful in a way. His face is sharp and well defined, almost feminine in a way, but still masculine in the way that counts. He's got a rather slender figure when dressed all the way down, but his muscles make him look more masculine despite the slight feminine twist of his body. Rather, it's the slight feminine twist of his face matched with his intense expression, eyes and personality that make him the most charming man of the nation. He's got every woman on their knees for him, the married ones too. And because he talks so little and looks so intimidating, all rumors about him run fast, and they all seem like facts without a doubt.

The title crown prince is just the cherry on top of his person as a whole. He is the most desirable man on the whole continent, competing with the likes of king Makai and other young princes, nobles and regents all around. But unlike most of them, he has ever shown any interest in the huge attention that he receives. Instead, he likes to keep mostly to himself whenever he can, enjoying mingling with the crowds of his own land rather than fancy parties filled with nobles from other kingdoms. Even at the palace, doing things like hunting with his cousins or interacting with the high officials is always a chore. And yet despite that, he's absolutely ready to become king. He'll be a king of the people, that's for sure, because his popularity rises by the day.

There is not a woman in the whole world that wouldn't want to marry him. And yet here he stands, completely single without a mistress or concubine, wife or princess through his entire twenty two year old life. Instead, he is found studying, exercising or practicing some of his many skills, such as fencing, riding, archery, physical combat, military strategy and even, dancing. He's a man of many talents, and a man of many charms, and yet he walks quietly along the shining halls of the Red Lion capital palace, towards the throne room where his father ultimately sits with tired eyes staring over the prying officials.

It's Adelio's duty to remove that tiredness from his father's eyes, take over more of his father's work and eventually inherit the crown. Because not only is he the eldest out of four siblings, he is also the only son. Right. Because if his mother hadn't birthed a son on her first try, she would most likely have been executed. It was imperative for him to be a boy. Had he been born a girl, a princess, his mother would've died and he would never have inherited the crown as his own. That's just Red Lion law. Or more accurately, that's the law of every kingdom on the continent. Because men rule over women, women can never rule over men, and birthing a woman into the royal family, especially as your first child without any sons, is a high embarrassment for everyone involved.

The throne room doors suddenly stand high in front of him and his cousin. It's a high door with a rounded top, made from an expensive wood engraved in pure silver. It's from the very old ages, so despite the lack of expensive decoration, it's one of the most valuable things at the palace, and the whole wall around the throne-room was built around it when the palace was restored a few decades back. The guards by the door take one look at him before immediately announcing his presence.

"Crown prince, enter!"

The doors are opened by the same two guards, and Adelio marches through the opening with his head held high. His cousin stays behind, and eventually scurries off. His cousin doesn't like him. They aren't close. He has many such cousins, and takes time to mingle with them out of pity and duty. But to remember their names is often unnecessary for him, and to actually show any kind of regard to them seems useless. To make his father happy, to keep the crown in his hands, he'll do whatever seems appropriate to the public and noble eye. After all, that's the only way he'll survive. As a man.

His father sits high up on the golden throne of the Red Lion kingdom, on a red velvet cushion created a whole four hundred years ago. He is dressed in golden and white robes, his long and thin white beard almost matching the fabric. His skin is wrinkly, his eyes are tired, and his legs are shaking ever so slightly. Nobody would notice except for Adelio, because nobody is worthy enough to look at the king of this kingdom except for the crown prince. And the king stares back, with eyes that are set in an everlasting peaceful expression, whenever gazing at his one and only son, his one and only heir, and his one and only miracle and savior among three other children that stubbornly just had to be of the female sex. Stupid, useless daughters. Saved by their mighty and unstoppable warrior brother, who rises above them like an untouchable morning star, with a glory like glow in their father's eye that they could only ever dream of.

Adelio walks along the long hallway towards his father's throne. Officials eye him on the way, their conversation coming to an abrupt halt. His father smiles at his presence, which can only mean one thing. Adelio hears it before he can confirm it in his head.

"Ah! My dear son! You came right on time!"

It could only mean that their conversation has just been about him, as it often is. Because here's the truth: his father is decaying and reaching the end of his life. Everyone can see it, from the grayness of his beard to the tired look in his eye. The way he coughs whenever he gets the chance, the way he gets sick and almost dies every single time. This man won't sit on the throne for long, and without him there will be a huge power vacuum that only Adelio can fill. The crown prince is nearing the start of his reign, so every second conversation that the officials and the king have in the throne room these days, is about him. And almost every time, it's about who he will marry. The clock is ticking, and the second largest empire on the continent (by a small margin), needs its future queen before the coronation can even be planned. Not because it's law, but because it's a reassurance and a task that they need to have put behind them before the funerals and transfers of power occupy their time.

"We have very good news for you, my son! High Advisor, why don't you tell him?"

The king says with an amusing twinkle in his eye. Adelio barely raises an eyebrow, slowly removing his gaze from his father and turning it on the man standing closet to him. High Advisor, an old man that has helped the king through thick and thin throughout his long lasting reign. Through wars, through famines and through heavy storms and natural disasters. The only man the king values as much as he values his son. Or almost as much. Who could he value more than his dear son? His only shining star? His only successor and hope for the future? Nobody. There is nobody he could value more, and Adelio is prepared to leech of that admiration to the best of his efforts.

The high advisor clears his throat, and speaks with much less emotion and amusement than his boss.

"We have terminated your pre-engagement to the princess Vanya of the kingdom of Mura. A much higher offer has just appeared today"

Adelio manages to show some sort of curiosity, even though he is only halfway interested in whoever he'll be marrying. Princess Vanya had a pre-engagement with him for the last four months, because she was the most powerful candidate for crown princess out of all the other offers. What that means is that their engagement was already decided, just not official, and would not have been official until four weeks from now. Simply because they wanted someone even higher to just magically pop up, someone they just hadn't thought of until then. Many kingdoms kept their princesses hidden for obvious reasons, as it was shameful to birth a daughter as a royal. Only a few countries kept their princesses out in the open, Mura and Red Lion being one of them.

Despite that, Adelio was sure he would marry Vanya of Mura. There just wasn't any way any other girl would just show up out of nowhere. Turns out he was wrong.

"The Blue Knight empire has offered their princess, and we have just sent away our letter of acceptance"

There it is, the nail to the coffin. Adelio is going to be married. From this day onwards, or perhaps from the day that that letter of acceptance reaches the Blue Knight kingdom, he is engaged to... who was it again? A princess is a princess, he doesn't really care. But this one sounded different. Princess of the Blue Knight kingdom? Their enemy of hundreds of years? The biggest kingdom, or perhaps empire, on this entire continent? The only kingdom above theirs? The kingdom famous for only having four mighty princes, and no daughters whatsoever?

A princess from there?

Adelio doesn't know how to feel about that.

"From here on out, your Highness, you are engaged to Princess Margaret of the Blue Knight kingdom"

An expression of surprise finally stretches over his features, for the first time in years.

Or perhaps one should say, her features.

What is she supposed to do now?

For a sudden and quick moment, as they are rushing through the hallway, Maud sees herself in a passing mirror. She Sees how she looks now, after five hours of treatment. Everything changed. Everything about her. They have erased the "Maud" inside of her and turned her into something that looks frighteningly like the late queen Margaret in her early days. She sees the soft pink dress in the color of old rose and cloud blush. It's a dress that looks like a pink diamond in itself, with slowly puffed sleeves, a long skirt, and pink fake flowers as decorations. It's a masterpiece. It's more valuable than what Maud feels like her life is. She has never worn anything of such volume, expense and beauty before.

But the dress is not the biggest shock. The dress is only a part of her huge transformation, that they have suddenly forced upon her. From rags to princess. Her hair, that was just barely brushed and severely dirty and damaged, has after three hours of desperate treatment turned into what Maud imagined a princesses hair should look like. Her brown hair is soft, wavy and long, looking cleaner than it properly should, and more brushed than ever before. Her skin is scrubbed to the point where it gleams, and a soft sort of makeup has been applied to her face, that turns her apparently "natural beautiful facial structure" into something unnaturally ethereal. Maud never realized her own beauty until this moment, and she doesn't know how to feel about it. Everything about her looks fancy, soft, regal, wonderfully out of reach and yet kind and radiant at the same time.

Suddenly Mad can't find herself doubting it anymore. She really is Margaret, isn't she? It hits her like a thousand bricks at once. Everything comes falling down, as if the sky has abandoned its post. The hallway suddenly feels tilted, everyone is in the wrong place, her mind starts buzzing again. Familiar shock. Her parents aren't her parents, she isn't called Maud and her blood is not of a peasant. She is a princess, her name is Margaret, royal blood runs in her veins, and in just two days her life has transformed from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich. The mightiest of all women. A princess. Higher than the clouds that she used to gaze at from the yellow fields of wheat. Suddenly, the rest of her life feels like a dream, and she doesn't know herself anymore.

She doesn't know anything anymore.

The maids that have been ushering her over countless hallways throughout the day, suddenly come to a sudden halt. They are standing on yet another random hallway in this maze of a royal palace, so deep inside it on the fifth floor that windows are far out of reach. And here, in front of yet another high and randomly selected door in white and gold, surrounded by regal blue walls and standing above marble floors, Maud realizes that she has come to her final destination. This is where she will get answers, this is where her life will truly begin. This is the one moment she has been kept from for her entire life.

"Princess, enter!"

A guard by the door suddenly yells out. Maud feels her ears ring at the mention of her title. It doesn't fit. But at the same time it does. On the inside, she doesn't feel like a princess. But looking into a mirror, there is no mistake. No other creature has such hair, such clothes, such a radiant glow, than a princess of the mightiest kind. On the outside, she is nothing less than a woman of the skies, a princess of the biggest empire on the continent. Still, an aching feeling grows, because on the inside she is still a Maud, and no amount of transformation will ever change that. A peasant girl without a true home, and without true parents.

The doors are opened and she is gracefully led inside. The maids are suddenly much more gentle, ever since her transformation. They no longer feel the need to treat her like a sewer rat, because she no longer looks like one. Maud immediately looks for the one person in the room that could answer her desperate questions. Inside the big living area, surrounded by fancy couches, big paintings, a stone statue missing one arm and a fancy rug made of varying colors, sits the head of this kingdom. King Makai himself, in his usual glory. And his black eyes meet hers, with a small smug smile and a laid back expression, he greets her with a few simple words:

"Good evening, dear sister. Did you have a pleasant journey?"

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