Chapter Text
Political engagements normally took time. You aren’t particularly versed in the world of politics, even though you really should be at this point. You would go to the House in Corbeaux to research the subject, but ever since the incident, you haven’t been allowed back. There are several libraries in town, but when you explain your address for security purposes, most explain that there’s a new policy that they don’t lend to people outside of town. You don’t blame the libraries for this. You know it comes down to the House putting pressure on them. You can’t use most public services in the town. The only thing they allowed you was medical services, and you think they would deny your people even that, if it would not result in a pile of corpses at their door.
Even with your limited understanding of politics, you know that these types of engagements could take months, even years to arrange. You thought you would have more time than you did. Not that you got much rest in your spare time.
The King went out of his way to educate you. There were rules you must follow. You aren’t sure which ones the Housemaiden requested and which one that King made up himself. Some things you knew were standard. Despite Vaugarde’s normal attitude toward polyamory, you were to take no other partners aside from the Housemaiden. The same was expected of her, as she could not simply bond with several people to worm her way into a number of alliances. Her arrangement with you was the only one she was permitted to have, and the same was true of you. Not that you needed anyone else. You would be expected to help run the House in Dormont, and eventually support her when she became the national Head Housemaiden. You were also expected to publicly convert the Change belief, but privately were allowed to practice your own faith. Of all of the rules, that one grated on you the most.
Your life had completely been turned upside down. When you weren’t getting lessons from the King, you were needed elsewhere. The tailor in the compound insisted on making you a whole new wardrobe. The hairdresser insisted on treating your hair and chopping off the dead ends, which was the most he could do without violating the King’s orders about maintaining your appearance. Any radical change was forbidden to avoid “false advertising”. As if the Housemaiden chose you for your looks.
…
Not the Housemaiden. Mirabelle. Mirabelle, Mirabelle, Mirabelle.
You wish you knew what she’s like. You know nothing about her, really. You thought that during courting, you might exchange letters. That’s apparently the norm, but your situation was rushed and you ended up not having any contact with her prior to the time that you met her. You try to picture her…
“Nille! Frin’s staring off into space all dreamy again!” Bonnie tattles on you from across the carriage.
The carriage… You can’t believe the King went out of his way to hire a carriage . Especially all the way from the compound to Dormont. It would have been a two week journey by foot, but was only four days by carriage. You feel bad for the poor woman who was hired to drive the cart. This was probably the longest journey she’d had to take. Especially for a carriage so fancy. Some things, however, are expected.
“Let them dream, Bon. It’s a long journey.” Nille is quick to come to your defense.
“Bet they’re being all gross and lovey dovey about their princess.” Bonnie sticks out their tongue in mock disgust. You decide that the window is suddenly extremely interesting
Bonnie’s too young to really understand that your engagement is political. Well, they understand on the surface, but you’ve kept it well hidden that you were pressured into it. If they knew, there was no force on this planet that would stop them from making a stink about it, and you can’t let that happen. They had to be deluded into thinking you were in love with your fiancee. You never directly lied to them, but you let them draw that conclusion. When they’re older, you’ll explain it to them. Frankly, you’re grateful that you’ll have that chance.
It wasn’t unusual for people to bring a serving staff with them during political engagements. On paper, Nille was your bodyguard and Bonnie was your errand kid. But in reality, you were just bringing your family with you. You had no intention of hiding that fact either. The idea that they might get sent away if you were dishonest… No, you would be upfront.
“Are we there yet?” Bonnie asks, a short while later. It was the final day of the journey, so you should be getting close.
“Soon, Bon,” Nille reassures them.
“I hope so. My blinding butt hurts…”
You perk up. “Language.”
Bonnie huffs. “Fine. My crabbing butt hurts."
“Changing the language doesn’t make it not swearing.” Nille is just as strict.
“Jerks. Nobody in Dormont is going to know what blinding means anyway.”
“Not a good habit to get into anyway,” you counter. “But, blinding is better than crabbing, so…”
“Hey, what did I say about giving Bon permission to swear?” Nille gives you a stern look.
You flash her a cute look. “That if they get a potty mouth you’re going to kick my butt? Right before my engagement and everything?”
“If I hadn’t spent an hour fixing your hair this morning, I would give you such a noogie for that.”
You know she wouldn’t. She’s so careful about when she touches you. She never wants to hurt you. You think the fact you flinch when touched, even if it’s less than you use to, makes her extremely careful with you. You two don’t talk about it. There are assumptions there, filled in with the things you do know about each other. She knows you were a kid that woke up in a foreign nation without anyone to care for you. You know about her parents. You don’t talk about it further.
You stick out your tongue. “Yes, because my looks are what make me appealing.”
“Well, it’s not your personality.” Bonnie never misses the chance to make fun of you. “Unless the princess likes dumb puns.”
You grin at your chance. “I think my jokes are…”
“No!”
Nille laughs before you even finish.
“ Punderful .”
“No!!! Bad!!!”
You don’t know when you picked up bad puns. It was something that made Nille smile. When you first met her, she was so serious, a ball of stress that was on the verge of a breakdown. You would do anything to make her laugh. Somehow, it became a part of your personality, something to make you feel real. There were days where you still felt like a fake person, empty, but seeing your family laugh or groan at your jokes makes you like a person.
“I think if the princess has any taste, she’ll love Siffrin’s jokes.” Nille smirks. “Apparently she doesn’t have a type. She likes all people equally.”
That makes you very uncomfortable. The type of person who isn’t picky… It makes you think of pushy creeps at the bar. That’s a mean comparison. Maybe she was just friendly.
“Do… You know much more about what she likes?” Your tone is timid when you ask.
“Not much. Apparently a while ago, some company leaked her dating profile. It was big news, and they got into serious trouble. I tried to get as much info from it as I could, but, well, it makes me feel a little gross diving into what was supposed to be private.” Nille sighs. “Even if it was supposed to be a public profile. It was meant to be shared with other people interested in dating her, not the whole nation of Vaugarde.”
And probably other places too…
“I guess, it’s a little unfair to ask,” you admit. “I would like to know more ab-”
“Look!” Bonnie interrupts you, pressing up against the window on their side of the carriage. They gesture to a decently sized city in the distance.
Nille whistles. “That must be Dormont. They weren’t kidding when they said the place expanded…”
“Expanded?” you ask.
“Apparently, it used to be a podunk little place in the middle of the country. Which is why it was so shocking that its Head Housemaiden got elected as the new head of faith. But, since then, I’ve heard that they’ve seriously expanded it. I wonder if it even resembles what it used to be like.” Nille pauses. “Frin, you seriously gotta start paying more attention to the world around you.”
Your cheeks burn. She doesn’t use that nickname often, since she used to say it was weird giving a nickname to someone so much older than her. However, she uses it sometimes when she thinks you’re being foolish. Makes you feel like you’re getting scolded by a kid.
“It’s almost as big as Corbeaux!” Bonnie exclaims. “They really did this in only a few years.”
“Craft makes building pretty quick. Especially if you have a lot of people flooding into the area…”
You wonder what the housing situation is like. In all likelihood, you’ll be living at the House, but you have no clue if they’ll let Bonnie and Nille live with you. Maybe they can find an apartment close to the House. You wonder if the Housemaiden will let you work outside the House to help them pay for their rent. Nille will have a job, but you know that the King will not be sending money to pay her, and you doubt the House will be willing to pay someone they didn’t even hire…
“...Nille.” Bonnie tugs their sister’s sleeve. “Frin’s looking sick.”
Oh. You need to get a better grip of yourself.
“Got it.” Nille knocks on the front of the carriage. “Hey, we need some air! Can you take a quick stop?”
“Yes, mademoiselle.” A tinny voice echoes through the carriage. Slowly, it rolls to a halt, and you’re able to get out.
Nille holds out an arm and escorts you out. “You want me to walk with you?”
“I’m fine,” you promise. “I just need a little air.”
“If you’re sure…” She turns to Bonnie. “Bon, you need the bathroom?”
“No! I’m not a baby!”
“Uh huh. How come you needed to go right after we got into the carriage last time?”
Bonnie puffs up their cheeks. “...Fine, I have to go.”
“Good kid.” Nille releases you. “I’ll go find a good spot with Bon. You sit down and do your weird breathing thing.”
Does she need to call it weird? You give her a thumbs up and wander off a little. You’re glad she went with Bonnie. Even though Sadnesses are rare, you don’t feel safe leaving the kid on their own. You, however, should be fine.
You find a small field of flowers nearby. If you had the free time (and Nille wouldn’t kill you for messing up your hair), you probably would have flopped in the center and took a nap. You bet it would have been relaxing. Instead, you sit down and look at the flowers.
The petals are completely dark. It’s a surprise to see such a nice flower growing wild out here. Of course, most flowers were once wild flowers, but this one would not look out of place in someone’s gardens. You think you’ve seen this kind in vases in the House in Corbeaux, back when you were allowed inside. However, that’s as far as your knowledge on this flower goes. You know a thing or two about edible wild flowers, as well as which ones are poisonous, but this seems to fall outside of both categories. At least, you hope that’s the case with the latter.
Ignoring the idea of rest, you scour the little patch of flowers until you find one that’s completely blemish free. You carefully cut its stem with your dagger. You wish you had a vase or a ribbon to tie it with, but a loose flower is probably fine. The Universe is on your side today, it seems. You had brought a courting gift for the princess, but it was something picked out by the King that you don’t even know what it is. You want to give her something personal.
In truth, you don’t have any expectation from your impending bonding. The best you can hope for is tolerance. Maybe even friendship, though you think that’s unlikely. You know what will be expected of you. Your stomach twists at the idea of…
You find your breath speeding up and notice you’ve squeezed the stem of your flower. You curse under your breath and trim the stem enough that the crushed parts are cut off.
It’s not her fault that you are the way you are. You can’t blame the princess for probably wanting things you never want to do with anyone. She was stuck with you. It wasn’t unfair to her to deny her. So, you’ll give her what she wants. You can’t imagine you’ll be able to hold her in any fondness after, though.
You wish you had more time to prepare. If you had been a real prince, you would have had an entire lifetime to come to terms with that fact that you’d be forced into a political arrangement. With it suddenly coming up, you haven’t had time to settle your feelings.
You take a breath, as Nille suggested. It’s not going to be long now…
The Dormont House of Change was nothing like the House in Corbeaux. It was huge, which tracks for the new capital of Change. More than that, though, it was a decent distance from the city. Even as Dormont apparently expanded, there was a gulf of hills between the city and the House itself. Probably for the best. You know how crowded things could get. Especially if Dormont was still expanding.
You tucked your flower into your cloak as you neared the House. Apparently, there was to be a welcome party for you. You understand that this was because it was a political arrangement, but you hardly felt worth the effort. It would be one thing if you were the prince of a rich nation, but you weren’t. You were just the “prince” of a small group of less than a hundred people. Yet there were protocols, and standards that meant that you would be treated the same as a diplomat would. Even if you lacked the power to back it up.
A bit back, you pulled down the curtains on the windows, leaving you blind to the outside world. This was more so that you had time to put on a happy face. Your heart was pounding in your chest. Somehow, since the last stop, Bonnie and Nille had moved to your sides. Nille, careful as always, put a hand on your shoulder when the carriage rolled to a halt.
“You’re going to do just fine,” Nille promises.
“And if that dumb princess thinks you’re not good enough for her, we’ll fill her pockets with cheese!” Bonnie cheers.
“Why cheese?” you ask.
“Cause cheese is gross!”
You should have known. It makes you smile a little, though. No matter how this goes, your family is here. And that means, you’re going to make this work. You take a breath.
“I’m ready.”
“Knock her dead!”
“Yeah!”
You give your siblings a smile and slowly, carefully, push the door of the carriage open.
There’s a fan of people waiting about ten feet from the door, leaving you enough room to exit the carriage without getting in their faces. The four people on each of the sides are clearly housemaidens. You know the brooches well enough. To your surprise though, the woman in the center is flanked by two people without the Change symbol, a large muscular man who was half a head taller than Nille, and a woman with star shaped crystals hanging from her glasses. Both of them are looking at you suspicious, the woman openly and the man clearly trying to mask it.
The woman in the center, however…
Your first thought is a little lightless bunny. It’s because of the bow she’s wearing. The two sides of the ribbons make you think of bunny ears. The second word you think when you see her is soft. Everything about her looks… Cute. She’s cute. She’s unbearably cute! You wish you thought of her as cute in an attractive way, but no, she was more like a plush bunny in terms of cuteness. She was clearly also a housemaiden, based on the fact she was wearing a pair of Change brooches on her shawl. While most everyone else looked to be in their formal, if not dressy outfits, she was clearly dressed up, wearing a fine silk shawl and a long puffy dress. It makes her look like a real princess.
So here she was Trainee Head Housemaiden Mirabelle… She was not anything like you pictured. Until now, you have imagined a stern looking, refined princess. And while Mirabelle matches the look of a princess, she’s anything but stern looking. While she was currently frowning, it was more that she was looking you over as if she had to memorize every detail of you. It was… Cute.
You need to stop calling her cute before you said it allowed.
Her attention lapses only when someone else steps out of the carriage behind you. That would be Nille. Bonnie comes last. She seems surprised to see them.
“Oh dear, the letter only mentioned the prince and the coachwoman,” the princess mutters.
Oh. “Is that okay?” You can’t help but worry.
Realizing how it sounds, Mirabelle snaps up to attention. “Of course! You can bring as many people as you want! I just wasn’t aware! I’ll just have to have rooms set up for them right away.”
You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.
“Wait, we aren’t sharing with Frin?” Bonnie attempts to whisper, but being a child, is loud enough for the others to hear.
“I-I don’t mind sharing with them!” You scramble to cover this social faux pas.
“No, no! I can’t ask you to do that. We, ah, set you aside a room with one bed, right next to mine, and I’d never ask your, friends..?” The princess pauses for you to fill her in.
“Family,” you correct.
She seems to relax a little. “I would never make your family sleep on the ground. Would you prefer to all be in a family style suite, or would you rather separate rooming? We don’t have any suites in the hall set aside for diplomatic visitors. Would staying in the housemaiden quarters be alright?”
Oh. She was so cute and soft looking that you had immediately underestimated her. Some hopeful part of yourself even thought that, perhaps, she would be as lost and floundering in this situation as you are. But you were wrong. She was picked for her position for a reason. The easy, confident way she managed the surprise arrival of two extra people made it clear. She was capable.
Take this seriously, Siffrin, or you’ll ruin this.
You bow your head to her. “A family suite in the housemaiden quarters would be perfect. I apologize for our failure to inform you in advance of my family’s arrival. We are in your debt for this swift accommodation.”
The words felt… Wrong in your mouth. They felt like some prince’s words, but not yours. But you had to play your cards right. You had to cover this mistake immediately.
The girl blinks. “Oh, it’s more than alright! I’ll have someone set up a room for you right away. Antoine, Elise, could you please?”
Two of the housemaiden standing at attention gave little bows.
“Of course.”
“Leave it to us.”
They quickly trotted off to make arrangements.
The princess let out a little breath. You wonder if this was stressful for her, even though she handled it well. “Unfortunately, it’s going to take a few hours for the room to be ready. W-would you like to, maybe, join me for tea until then?”
She looks at you with nervous eyes.
“Of course.”
“Thank you, S-” And then she freezes. “Oh no! I forgot to formally greet you!”
You shake your head. “No, no, that’s my fault.” It was actually more Bonnie’s than yours, but if anyone dared blame your kid, you would kill them. …Kill was an overstatement, but you would be extremely unkind. “I should have greeted you properly.”
“It’s nobody’s fault.”
You give her a bow, putting a hand up to catch a hat you’re not currently wearing. You wish you had been allowed to wear your hat and normal cloak, but though you were allowed to bring them, they were deemed too plain for a first introduction to your betrothed.
She curtsies in return, it’s a bit awkward, but less so than your bow. “I’m Mirabelle, Mirabelle Chevalier.”
“I’m Siffrin, no last name.”
She shoots up straight, nearly falling how quickly she drops her curtsy. “Oh! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”
“No, no, it’s fine, you didn’t know-”
“But I did know. I shouldn’t have said that, I’m so sorry.” Poor girl looks incredibly stressed.
“I’m used to it!” you promise. “You didn’t insult me. It takes a lot more than that to get under my skin.”
But she seems off kilter now. You can’t help but feel bad about it. Maybe you should do something to clear up this situation. But you’ve never been gifted with words. Ah! You know! You reach into your (too fancy) cloak, and pull out the flower you picked earlier.
“Flower for you!”
She freezes, and looks at the flower. Then she looks at you. Hesitantly, she accepts the gift. “Dark carnations…” She mutters something else under her breath but you can’t hear it.
You feel your face become a little hot. You really hope you didn’t break some kind of taboo! “I saw a patch on the way here, and thought of you, so…”
“It’s… Lovely. Thank you Siffrin.” She smiles, but you can tell she’s incredibly nervous.
The woman in the glasses behind Mirabelle clears her throat. “Mirabelle, Prince Siffrin. I would suggest we move to the garden for tea. The coachwoman needs to unpack the carriage and she can’t do that with us in the way.”
Oh!
“Ah! I’m sorry, I completely forgot!” Mirabelle looks to the carriage driver. “I’m sorry. We’ll get out of your way.”
“It is fine, mademoiselle. Please, do not rush for my sake.” The driver is calm, though you imagine it’s likely a cover. She’d been working for nearly four days straight and likely needed a rest.
“It’s alright. We needed to move locations anyway. M-my fellow housemaidens will help you unpack and help you to the stable.” Mirabelle gives a nod, and the remaining housemaidens break off to start unloading your luggage.
“Siffrin, could you please follow me?”
With a smile, she leads you into the House. Your new home. The thought unsettles your stomach, but you force your breathing to remain calm. You need to do this. You’ll be okay.
Besides, how badly could a tea party go?