Chapter Text
The party was supposed to be something nice for Mia.
The king and queen had held a grand birthday party for their princess, inviting other royalty and nobility with the promise of a possible prize if any of their children befriended their Mia. To the adults, it was a chance to be better in the eyes of everyone else. To the children, a hassle as they didn't particularly like being forced to befriend someone they barely know. To Mia, it was a total nightmare.
The princess wore a lovely light green dress, white lace trims on the hem of the shirt that flowed past her knees. A tiny tiara perched on her head after the maids styled her long blonde hair into twin tails. Mia wasn't quite fond of having to interact with the other children. She would much rather stay inside and read, or if her parents wanted her to interact so much, she'll make friends with the bunnies in the garden. Yet, here she was, standing in front of the crowd like a challenge, a problem to be solved. There were people crowding the garden and Mia finds it so, so difficult to breathe. She could already see the other children, staring at her with mixed reactions.
The king and queen then leaves her be, to which Mia takes as a chance to immediately run off to a secluded spot in the garden. Just as she was running, she trips on an overgrown root of the old tree in the garden. She let out a yelp ass she falls forward, dirtying her green dress. She hears laughing from behind her and turned around to see some of the children. Mia sat up and dusted some of the dirt off her dress before she noticed that she had also dropped her tiny tiara. She reached out to pick it up but a foot stepped on it, making her gasp out loud, looking up at the owner of the foot. She was met with a smug smile of another princess from one of the neighbouring kingdoms, piercing pink eyes looking down on her as she flipped her magenta hair.
"Mia, Mia, my god, Mia!" She started off with a low snide. "A princess that needs her mother and father to give away prizes in exchange for friends, how sad."
"I didn't ask them to."
"And you think that somehow makes you less sad?" Sofia's response was followed with laughter from the other children. Mia looked at the few other children, recognizing them as the other noble children living in the kingdom Sofia's a princess of. Makes sense why they're just following her. Mia blinked back tears. This was exactly what she was hoping to avoid. Being seen like a pathetic princess and being reminded of it.
"Please remove your foot."
"I don't want to."
"Please." Mia didn't want to fight. She wasn't one for conflicts, her little heart can't handle that. Sofia noticed the tears brimming in her eyes and leaned forward, a satisfied smile on her face. "Cry, and I might."
Mia gripped on the skirt of her dress when Sofia pointed out her tears. She could hear the snickers of the other children, making her eyes go back to their faces. Some were enjoying the scene Sofia was making, some were already pitying her. Mia held her head low, staring at Sofia's foot and watched the tiny tiara start to bend.
"Please."
"I said, cry."
Mia reached out to push Sofia's foot away but a dirty rag came flying out of nowhere, landing on Sofia's foot.
"AAHH!!" She backed away immediately, shaking the rag off of her feet. "Get it off! Get it off! Ew, ew, ew!!" She stomped her feet in tiny little stomps, kicking the dirty rag off her foot. She looked around to find where the dirty rag had came from and frowned when she saw a redhead standing there. Judging from the peasant top and patched brown shorts, Sofia could immediately tell that the redhead doesn't belong to neither royalty nor nobility. "You!"
"Must've slipped off my hand."
Sofia was fuming. She pointed at the redhead, stomping towards her and her little posse followed her.
"You lowly, little, peasant! You dare throw that dirty rag on my beautiful shoes?"
"I'm terribly sorry, Princess Sofa, but as a lowly little peasant, I can't tell the difference between your beautiful shoes and my soap bucket. They're both so big." The redhead shrugged, her words were humourous enough for the other children to laugh at. Sofia furrowed her brows and scoffed before glaring at the children who had laughed, silencing them immediately.
"I'd have you thrown in the cellar had this been my birthday party!"
"Well, should I be thanking god it's not?"
"You have such a potty little mouth for a servant's son."
"You have quite porky legs for a princess."
The statement had everyone gasping. The children looked at Sofia with hands covering their gaping mouth, while the princess herself started to control her tears. She stomped and let out a frustrated yell before stomping away from the garden area. The redhead watched the princess leave, her posse following her close and yelling out praises to make her feel better. The redhead muttered under her breath after watching them all leave. She turned her head back towards Mia, then stepped closer to her, kneeling down to be on the same level as the princess.
"Are you alright, your Highness?"
Mia looked up at the redhead, her green eyes making the other a little captivated by how much they resembled the leaves that surrounded flowers. The princess then looked back at the tiara on the ground, reaching out to hold up the bent tiara.
"It's bent." The redhead said, making Mia nod at the obvious remark. The princess sat there, holding her bent tiara with glassy eyes. Her parents would see this and her dirty dress, and she would only be seen as a disappointment. She can't even make friends after her parents had taken the initiative to make a grand party for her to mingle around with other children. She really is... pathetic.
As a tear dropped down her cheeks, a slightly calloused hand wiped away her tear, the action gentle and carrying such a pure intention of simply wanting to comfort her. Mia glanced back at the redhead and stared into those pools of kindness paired with the sweetest smile she's seen on someone.
"I hope you don't mind my dirty peasant hands comforting you, your Highness."
Mia's heart clenched when she hears the redhead call her own hands dirty. The princess immediately took her hands, proving to the other that her hands doesn't bother her one bit. The redhead was a little taken aback with the princess' action, her heart beating loudly in her chest.
"Yo-Your Highness-" she stuttered.
"I don't find your hands dirty. Not a part of you are. I've met a lot of people and yet you're the first to ever touch me without any hesitance and if anything I find your hands to be beautiful." Mia says with little sniffles in between some of her words. "Comfort me more."
The redhead could feel her own cheeks heating up when Mia stared at her and uttered those words, her eyes holding nothing but adoration for her. The redhead blinked for a bit before nodding her head, agreeing with Mia.
"Duly.. noted, your Highness."
The princess and the servant's child stood there, hand in hand until a few moments had passed. The redhead shook her head and focused on the current problem at hand. The bent tiara and the dirty dress. The redhead used a cleaner piece of rag that she had in her soap bucket and tried to clean off most of the dirt that was still stuck on her dress. It didn't completely clean everything but the dirt were less visible now. The redhead then went around the garden and plucked out a few flowers, to try and make a flower crown. Clearly she wasn't very good at it, her attempts at least made the princess laugh. As a last resort, the redhead picked a few more flowers in the garden instead with a new idea in mind. The redhead stuck the small flower stems through her hair, messily braided into the blonde locks while slightly bigger flowers were then placed on the base of her twin tails. She tightened the hair ties, securing the flowers on her head.
Mia wasn't sure what she looked like, but seeing the proud look on the other's face, she assumed she look nice. The princess smiled wide, for the first time in a long while, she smiled for a friend.
"Thank you, uhm.."
"Joni. You probably don't know me but my mother is one of the servants in the castle."
"Joni." Mia repeated her name a few more times in her heart. Joni stared at her for a bit longer, remembering the other children who had bullied her earlier. She frowned, promising herself that no one would ever do that to her princess ever again.
"You'll grow to be a better princess than her." Joni voiced out. "And I'll make sure you do."
Mia watched as the redhead looked through the remaining flowers on the ground and picked up a dwarf sunflower. She then kneeled on one knee, holding the flower up. Mia felt her cheeks burn at the sudden action, then Joni spoke again, "From today onwards, your happiness will be greatly tied to me as responsibility, I shall be the one making sure that you find it in your life. Every obstacle you face, I will strike it down. Every judgement you face, I will be there taking it for you. Princess Mia. I will be yours eternally. I swear to it."
The princess was speechless at the vow, feeling her heart beat faster and every beat was because of Joni. She smiled, taking the sunflower in Joni's hands and held it close to her heart. The soft wind blowing against Joni's face made her look charming. The princess took Joni's hand, standing close to her. She was young but she was very much aware of she's getting herself into. Joni will be her happiness. She promised.
"Mine."