Prince Gain stood in front of his mirror and grimaced.

Damn, I hate dressing up. And, dressing up for her is the worst. 'Make a good impression on the Princess!' I can't do this!

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened, and an unusually cheerful Clarissa appeared. She almost skipped across the room and sat on his bed.

"Okay, Clarissa. What do you want."

"Mother sent me. She wanted to see if you needed any help."

"No! I don't need any help! Dammit! Do these buttons for me!"

Clarissa smiled and buttoned the sleeves of Gain's shirt.

"Mother also wanted me to remind you to be respectful of the Princess."

"I will be respectful enough!"

"...respectful of all women when the Princess is around."

"I am not Abel!"

She laughed. "No, you are not Abel!"

"You are enjoying this!"

"Well, I know it won't last. But, yes, I am enjoying this! To speak, and to be heard! It's like a dream!"

"I always hear you just fine!"

"Yes, you're not Abel, but you aren't His Majesty either."

"Oh, so you heard."

"Heard what?"

"Father has decided to make Abel Crown Prince."

"No, I didn't know..."

"Then what did you mean by that crack, 'you aren't His Majesty'!"

"It was not an insult! You aren't Father—-I mean His Majesty. Stop trying to be him! You can be better!"

"You talk too much! Let's go! We can't be late for the Princess!"

Clarissa laughed at her brother's 'enthusiasm.'

*****

Well, Father sure is putting on a show! Putting on the pomp for a distinguished guest was not unusual. But, his sister and mother were rarely expected to attend to such affairs, and even then, they were always hidden somewhere in the back. But, not today. The queen was standing just left of the King, Gain stood to his right, and Clarissa stood next to Gain. They even managed to find a few female bodies to pretend to be council members. And, now I am a clown in the show! Your win again, Princess. Well, at least I look the part! This dress uniform is ridiculous!

Gain stood at attention as the drawbridge to Castle Lykos lowered and the gate raised. The enclosed Imperial carriage approached. She's being escorted by Remno troops —and only Remno troops? Surely there has to be someone from her famed "Princess Guard" accompanying her! Does she trust us that much? Well, I guess she trusts 'him' that much. The carriage came to a stop in front of the King and his entourage. Two soldiers literally rolled out a red carpet to the door of the carriage. His brother stepped out of the carriage first. That stupid chickenshit —No, he's not a chickenshit. A chickenshit doesn't stand that tall, that confident. Abel is a rival—more than that, he's a winner.

She—that thing— the cause of his brother's transformation—and his own misery—has to be next. Yep! That's her. Wait, what the hell is he doing! He's giving her his hand! Great Lobo's Ghost! It's just a damn carriage! it's not like they are climbing a mountain or anything! The Great Sage can't get out of a carriage without help? And now he's bowing!

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"Thank you, Prince Abel." The Princess smiled and offered her own elegant curtsy.

Well, that was gross.

Who else is with her? That soldier I heard so much about, I bet— Dion, or something. Nope! It's that red-headed maid that seems to follow the princess everywhere. But, she's not dressed as a maid... she's dressed like a lady! What the hell! Isn't she a servant? A commoner? Why isn't she dressed like one? Anyway, that light blue dress—is not a bad look for her—better than a maid uniform, anyway—especially with her hair up like that. Yeah, Abel, why don't you offer your hand to her, too! What are you even thinking, you groveling piece of...

Abel did offer his hand to the red-headed maid... but, the maid just laughed, "Oh, don't mind me! It's not like I am climbing a mountain or anything!" —and she hopped out of the carriage on her own!

"Bwah! Ha! Ha!" Gain exploded! That earned Gain an elbow to the ribs from his father. Gain managed to regain a semblance of control, still smirking —and with tears in his eyes—but at least avoiding complete laughing fit.

Abel escorted Mia to the King and queen. Gain bowed at the waist, and Mia tugged at her dress and performed an elegant curtsy. Anne, who was standing behind Mia also curtsied.

The King motioned for the three to rise.

"Thank you for visiting our Kingdom, Princess Mia Luna Tearmoon!"

"It is an honor King Remno and queen Claudia Remno."

This resulted in a light murmur among the attendees. While they knew the Princess would be addressing the King, it was unusual for the queen to be addressed at the same time. Really it was unusual for the queen and the princess to be present at formal gatherings at all— they were essentially servants with titles—titles that were used infrequently at best. Mia, of course, didn't notice anything unusual at all. In fact, it was all very reminiscent of how things were done in Tearmoon—there were fewer female advisors among the attendees, but they were there, and there weren't any females among the military present, but Mia knew that Tearmoon tended to be a little bit more forward-thinking in that regard— if anything Tearmoon was more of an outlier among the Continent's kingdoms. Abel, on the other hand, seemed lost—literally. He began to wonder if the carriage made a wrong turn somewhere, and they were now visiting a completely different kingdom, a kingdom where his mother and sister were treated with respect, and women could pursue careers at all levels of the government. No, this had to be Remno, his family was standing there right in front of him—even Clarissa, who almost never smiled, was almost glowing—and her eyes had a spark that he'd never seen before—and they were staring straight at Mia!

Once the formalities were over Abel walked over to Clarissa to ask what was going on. But, before he could say a word, his usually quiet sister started.

"The Princess is here!"

"Yes I know the Princess is here, but what is goin..."

"Who is that with her? Is that the Duchess Tiona?"

"Duchess Tiona? Tiona is not a Duchess! And that's not Tiona! That's Miss Anne!"

"Anne, as in The Lady Anne!"

"Well Anne is a lady, but I don't think that's a title or anything. Maybe we can talk about this in the Parlor?"

"Oh no, we can't go there. Mother has put together a party for the Princess in The Grand Ballroom! That's where we are going next."

"'Grand Ballroom?' We don't have a Grand Ballroom! And, we don't have parties! None of this makes any sense."

"Well, it used to be the War Room, but Mother said we needed a ballroom if we were going to have a party."

"So, now the 'War Room' is 'The Grand Ballroom?'"

"Well, I guess it's really just the 'Ballroom' since it's the only one, but 'Grand Ballroom' just sounds so romantic—don't you think so?"

Abel was completely confused. The War Room was now the Grand Ballroom, and his listless sister had become this glowing bundle of energy.

"Okay, I will bring the Princess and Miss Anne to the War Room..."

"Grand Ballroom!"

"Right...were those women in the Council?"

"Yes! I picked them out myself!"

She picked them out herself! Each question that he asked resulted in an answer even more surreal than the last. He finally gave up and started to make his way back to Anne and Mia, who were chatting with the members of the council. A wrong turn couldn't explain all of this, he began to wonder if he hadn't fallen into some sort of alternate reality all together! An alternate reality, now that's just silly!

Abel made his way back over to Mia, who was being mobbed by the council—eleven men and three women—but, what the female members lacked in numbers they more than made up for it in enthusiasm. Yes, it was exciting that a woman was being welcomed to Remno with such fanfare. And, it was exciting that this woman had earned the titles of Great Sage and Great Saint. But, the Princess brought more than excitement—she had brought change to the Kingdom. For the first time, the misogynist nation of Remno now had women on the King's Council—and they were appointed by their own princess Clarissa. In just a week's time princess Clarissa was already working with the council directing new projects—and it was not just the women on the council that were empowered, but the council itself. Instead of just providing some sort of superficial validation of the King's decisions, they were independently working on solutions to real problems. Mia was more than a visiting royalty from the powerful Tearmoon Empire, she was a phenomenon that could change the unchangeable and move the unmovable.