"Since His Majesty is preoccupied..."

"I understand, but I think Her Highness could use some rest," Miyuki sighed.

"I agree."

Miyuki and Ingrid made their way to Charlotte's room, discussing her hectic schedule along the route.

Ingrid had stepped in early today to assist with Charlotte's classes, given that both the Emperor and Kuro were unavailable.

Ingrid was tasked with the responsibility of mentoring Charlotte in etiquette, geography, navigating aristocratic society, mastering ballroom dances, understanding hierarchical structures, and refining swordsmanship skills.

Ingrid's position as the heir to her esteemed Marquess family under the Golden Royalty, coupled with her upbringing in the finest noble environment, further bolstered her ability to mentor Charlotte effectively.

*Knock Knock*

"Ingrid Konstantinou, Your Highness."

"Come in."

"Your Highness, I'll be assisting you today instead of-"

As Ingrid entered first, with Miyuki following closely behind, the scene that greeted them took both the maid and the knight by surprise.

"Um...I...uh...I am sorry, but pardon the intrusion," an unfamiliar figure stammered, flashing a sheepish smile.

Inside the Princess's bedroom, a youthful girl with indigo hair, appearing no older than Charlotte, sat awkwardly on the floor. Her palms pressed against her knees, and her eyes conveyed a sincere sense of remorse.

Across from her, Charlotte reclined on the sofa, her posture relaxed and her legs crossed casually. She twirled a fork between her slender fingers absentmindedly, her gaze reflecting her customary disinterest in her surroundings.

Ingrid and Miyuki faces couldn't look more confused, their eyes fixed on the unfamiliar visitor. Meanwhile, the stranger girl fidgeted awkwardly, her gaze darting back and forth between Charlotte and the two others, her lips sealed in silence.

Ingrid broke the awkward stillness with a gentle address, "Your Highness?"

"There appears to be an uninvited guest," Charlotte remarked in her usual nonchalant tone.

Lifting her gaze from the fork, Charlotte fixed her cold eyes on the stranger, whose body visibly flinched under her scrutinizing stare.

"I initially thought of the possibility that it might be a form of surveillance from His Majesty," Charlotte commented casually. "However, after two weeks, it seems that's not the case."

The indigo-eyed girl's nervous gaze darted around anxiously, small beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

"Would you honor us with an introduction, hmm?" Charlotte's lips curved into a smile, though her eyes retained their chilly demeanor.

"I, uh, I was...I didn't mean any harm!" The girl stuttered, scrambling to her feet and bowing deeply. "Please forgive me!"

"How could someone breach all the safety measures and the secrecy of this place? Who are you?" As Ingrid understood the situation, her brows furrowed in a display of stern concern, her hand instinctively reaching for her sword as she took a decisive step forward.

"Ah! Please keep that away!" The girl pleaded, on the verge of tears. "I mean no harm! I swear!"

"Tell me why you're he-"

In an instant, the girl metamorphosed into a small indigo bird, darting swiftly towards the window.

However, just then, a glinting fork sliced through the air, narrowly missing the bird's beak by a hair's breadth, lodging itself in the window frame.

Mid-flap, the bird's wings froze in sudden stillness, and it plummeted lifeless to the floor, succumbing to the shock of the near-fatal encounter.

"Is she...dead?" Miyuki ventured closer to the motionless bird sprawled on the floor, her keen gaze inspecting it more out of playful curiosity than genuine concern.

In an instant, startling Miyuki aback, the bird underwent a swift metamorphosis, reverting to her human form as she lay lifeless on the floor.

Ingrid sighed, her fingers pressing against her temples, "She fainted."

*****

"Anticipate your opponent's moves, your highness."

Charlotte tightened her grip on the sword, her eyes narrowed in focus.

The clash of steel echoed, Ingrid showcasing her experience while guiding Charlotte through each parry and strike. Dust kicked up as their blades met in a flurry of movements.

In the training yard, the sun stretched shadows across the ground as Charlotte squared off against Ingrid, her mentor for the day in the dance of swordplay.

Swordsmanship was the sole class where all three of Charlotte's mentors provided guidance and assistance.

Ingrid wielded a blade with knightly precision, adhering strictly to textbook techniques. Kuro, on the other hand, favored a mercenary approach, blending pragmatism with skill to adapt to various combat situations. As for the Emperor, his swordsmanship emanated unrivaled power and strength.

On certain days, one mentor would take the lead, while other times, all three would convene at specific intervals throughout the day.

Ingrid's polished technique began to assert dominance in the spar, gradually gaining the upper hand. However, as Ingrid executed a complex maneuver, Charlotte surprised her with an unexpected counter.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

As a sharp glint flashed on Charlotte's eyes, their blades locked, and for a moment, Ingrid wore a look of genuine surprise.

Putting a little more effort than needed while dealing with a beginner, with a swift sequence of moves, Ingrid again gained the upper hand.

Their blades clashed and Ingrid's precision and experience prevailed.

Ingrid, now in control, brought the practice to a halt as she pointed her blade at Charlotte's neck, and the yard fell silent.

"You have showed great improvement, but there's always more to learn, your highness."

Both of them, clad in their fitting training attire, bore the marks of their rigorous practice - sweat-soaked and dust-covered, dedication pouring into mastering the art of the sword.

"Thank you."

With a polite nod, Charlotte headed towards Miyuki, who handed her the towel, while Ingrid followed her with her gaze.

Amazement filled her as she witnessed Charlotte's rapid improvement. In just three weeks, Charlotte's focus and critical thinking during sparring had become so sharp that the difference was truly remarkable.

'It's almost scary.' Ingrid mused to herself as she made her way towards the towel.

Ingrid was certain that if Charlotte continued improving at this pace, in few months, she herself would no longer be suited to spar with her.

Was it because the Emperor himself was the one teaching her personally?

Ingrid pondered that Charlotte's rapid progress was also influenced by the Golden power that flowed through her veins.

Nevertheless, Charlotte was undeniably a born prodigy, a fact that Kuro had once pointed out to Ingrid.

"The girl has awakened, Your Highness," Miyuki's words captured Ingrid's attention.

Nodding, Charlotte turned to Ingrid and inquired, "What is to happen with her?"

Ingrid couldn't get in touch with Kuro, so the situation with the unknown girl had yet to reach the Emperor's ear.

Ingrid gazed at Charlotte while weighing the actions which would bring the most favourable outcome.

The girl was now confined in a room with no means of escape. Charlotte, at first had suggested the idea of chaining the unknown girl, in a manner so nonchalant, taking Ingrid aback.

As weeks passed in teaching Charlotte, Ingrid came to realize that, personality-wise, Charlotte wasn't particularly bright for her age. Her nonchalant and unfeeling manner sometimes made her feel weird.

"I would like to try talking to that girl," Charlotte declared as she walked towards the exit.

"Understood, Your Highness."

As Charlotte exited the training ground, Ingrid's eyes caught the blood staining the ground, and suddenly, Charlotte's bandaged hand flashed in her mind.

"Your hand is bleeding, Your highness!" Ingrid followed after Charlotte in a hurry.

She had totally forgotten that Charlotte's hand was yet to completely heal, and despite it, Charlotte went through the rigorous training without saying anything.

Due to the continuous injuries on her hand, not once had Charlotte's hand completely healed.

"Could you bandage it again, Miyuki?" Without a backward glance or a look at her injured hand, Charlotte asked flatly.

"Yes, Your Highness." Miyuki too hurried off behind the Princess.

*****

"Um..can I go home?" The girl seated on the chair asked nervously with a forced smile.

"What is your name?" Charlotte inquired while Miyuki attentively tended to her hand.

Miyuki had treated Charlotte's wounds so often now, that she felt like she was mastering the art of nursing.

Ingrid stood by Charlotte's chair, completely vigilant in the presence of the unfamiliar girl.

The girl seemed harmless, yet there was an air of suspicion, and certainty was a luxury one couldn't afford.

"I'm Kana...Kana Hikō"

"Hikō? You're from the Hikō family?" Ingrid asked in suspicion.

"I am," Kana nodded hesitantly.

"What is it, Ingrid?" Charlotte asked.

"The Hikō Family is under the Black Royalty's rule. It boasts a long lineage, claiming to be direct messengers of the Black Court, but..." Ingrid furrowed her brows as she continued, "I believe I've never heard of your name in that family."

Kana smiled nervously as she spoke, "I'm the youngest out of the five children. And well...I'm not quite favored."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, it's like my ability hasn't fully developed, and I'm not powerful, so..."

"You do seem like an awfully petite bird for someone from the Hikō family." Ingrid deadpanned, causing Kana to slump.

"That's mean, but I can't deny." Kana smiled dejectedly.

"So, this Hikō family has the ability to transform into birds," Charlotte flexed her hand in thought as Miyuki finished bandaging her hands.

"Please don't do that, Your Highness," Kana's curt voice resounded. She was fed up with the persistent smell of medicines that lingered in this room since the day Charlotte began her training.

"Sorry," Charlotte's flat apology lacked any remorse.

Ingrid glanced at the peculiar pair of the princess and her maid, sighing internally.

Miyuki's naturally blunt and curt way of speaking would usually be considered rude towards a noble, let alone a royal member, but thankfully enough it was Charlotte whom she served.

Ingrid had observed that Charlotte seemed to prefer Miyuki over other maids, even though Miyuki rarely ever engaged in conversations unrelated to work, unlike the other maids who tried their best to initiate short and friendly conversations with Charlotte.

Well, Ingrid could see that this was precisely why Charlotte preferred Miyuki.

"Is it magic they use?" Charlotte asked, barely giving Miyuki any attention, who scrunched her nose while handling the medicines.

"Not really, Your Highness. They are capable of transforming into huge indigo birds, but they lack the ability to use magic. Instead, they employ blessings and curses."

Charlotte eyebrows raised slightly.

She had learned from Kuro that not everyone in this world could use magic, contrary to what she had thought.

In this world, around 20-25 percent of the population could use magic, and 10-15 percent possessed the ability to work with blessings and curses. Some fortunate individuals were born with one or two supernatural abilities, while the rest remained ordinary common people.

Charlotte's wide range of novel interests had made her quite familiar with fantasy elements, yet everything in this world seemed more mixed up than anything she had encountered in novels before.

Curses and blessings could be potent enough to bring someone to death's door or rescue them from it, but they couldn't cause death or revive someone back to life.

The severity of such curses and blessings seemed to depend on how creative a caster could get.

"My aunt had been cursed to cluck like a hen each time she saw a bird," Miyuki had once stated all of a sudden while serving tea, as Charlotte was flipping through a book on curses and blessings, hefty enough to knock out an adult for some days.

Going through all the supernatural and magical systems, hierarchies, rules and regulations, mythologies and what not, while committing them to memory, Charlotte hadn't suffered through countless nosebleeds for nothing.

Somehow, she wondered, she seemed to be more physically weaker here in this strange world than she was back in the simple and normal world she had lived in.

"Are you capable of it?" Charlotte asked the girl.

"Casting curses and blessings? Absolutely not my forte," Kana replied with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of her head.

"Hmm...well, let's get back to the main question, shall we?" Charlotte leaned sideways on the chair's arm, her hand on her chin, "Why were you spying here?"

Kana gulped nervously, feeling the weight of three intense gazes fixated on her.

"...I can swear on my life that I had no ill intentions."

"Your life doesn't appear to carry much value to swear on."

Kana dramatically pivoted sideways, clutching her chest theatrically as she flashed a forced smile, acting as if Charlotte's word pierced through her heart.

"We don't have all day," Ingrid's voice reached an icy tone, the coldest the others in the room had ever heard. Her patience was hanging by a thread.

If anything went wrong while she was in charge of looking over the princess for the day, her life wouldn't be enough to pay for it.

"...I...I-I..." Kana stammered, her eyes cautiously glancing at the imposing knight. Her voice, already shaky, descended to a whisper, "I...I-I'm working on it, Lady Knight-san."

"Pass me the fork, Miyuki," Charlotte's voice rang out as she rose, and just then, there was a sudden *THUD*.

Ingrid took in a long breath, massaging her temples in annoyance.

Miyuki's typically straight brows furrowed, and her lips betrayed a subtle twitch.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, seemingly unfazed, once again cozily settled into the sofa, her brows raised in slight amusement.

The peculiar girl, Kana, had fainted again.