Madoka had to attend to Princess Fiara early today. She had barely gotten used to the girl's strange behaviors, but has made a few mental notes on the quirks of Her Highness. Firstly, she was quite prone to tantrums, but for the oddest things. Madoka could not list all the things that she became troublesome over, but they were not like the other Nobles' demands. Second, the girl simply said things that she had never heard any other person say. The princess had queer thoughts, but more terrifying to Madoka was the fact that she was not afraid to tell the maid them. She was not allowed to be near most Nobles and Royals anyways, but for some reason the Princess did not seem to recognize this important rule of etiquette. Fiara approached her without restraint or disdain. She also no longer had any daily panic attacks at least, nor did she seem afraid of everyone.

Her Highness began to carry herself as a true Royal should, but that was not exactly what made the maid sense her uniqueness. She was breathtakingly normal. Child-like. Still, there was another important thing that made her feel like the princess was different. It was exactly... Madoka realized her hand was already knocking on her door. She could not describe what this odd feeling about the princess was anyways.

"Forgive my intrusion, Your Highness," she called to the princess. Upon entering, she noticed Fiara was standing in front of the mirror on a stool. Immediately, alarms rang in her head, since the princess never got up before she arrived unless she was up to something. She had to say something to quell her impending tantrum. "Y-You are quite lovely today, Your Highness."

Princess Fiara did not respond, instead Madoka realized Her Highness's beautiful blue eyes glanced at the maid before returning to her own reflection. She still stood in front of the mirror in silence.

"You're lovely," the girl retorted. She fell silent afterwards. That was the oddest compliment she had ever received from her, though it sounded like an insult. "I hate it. I hate here."

A heavy silence filled the air as the princess ruminated.

"You don't mean that," Madoka sighed. She had to get this girl dressed and the worse her mood got, the harder it would be to accomplish the task. Princess Fiara snorted, but suddenly became animated. Her arms flailed, but Madoka immediately buried her head on the ground before her. The maid realized she involuntarily and instinctively did this, since she had been hit a lot before by Nobles. How much worse would a Royal do to her? Madoka begged and could not stop herself. "F-Forgive me!"

Fiara stopped, while the carpeted floor became blurry in Madoka's vision. She was sure her heart was in her throat, since the damn thing was pounding loudly in her head and it was hard to breathe. Had she been too comfortable with the princess? She was a Royal, after all, and her whims could spell the end for Madoka in an instant. A sigh chilled all of her anxiety to a halt.

"I hate this," she repeated herself. "What cruel prankster put me here with all this power? All this because I had a bad life before? As if this is all some kind of... Compensation? Why? I don't even think any of this is real, just a slipping nightmare before I die for real. You're trembling as if I could take your life away and I hate this. You're not even real. That's what I tell myself. Because I actually can kill you in an instant if I say it."

"F-Forgive me," Madoka sobbed, but hiccupped for a moment in her sputters. She was just a simple servant. She barely knew what Fiara was talking about. She saw a pair of small feet in the edge of her vision and too her horror, she realized the princess sat down before her. A tear trickled down her cheek, but why? She took back her previous thoughts and assumptions on Her Highness from before. She could not understand her at all. "W-Why are you sitting? The floor is dirty."

A chuckle caught her off guard, then a sudden giggle emitted from the princess. Madoka heard disbelief and actual joy in Her Highness's voice. For whatever reason, it eased her own tension.

"I didn't mean to scare you," she continued. "I just— You just caught me in a bad mood. I'm sorry."

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"D-Don't apologize to me," Madoka pleaded. That was blasphemy! "I'm not worthy at all for such words."

"Hmph," the strange princess seemed to consider her words, which was also odd to Madoka since she usually insisted on being equals or something even more ridiculous. She had truly no idea what to expect Her Highness was going to do next. "Okay, then I take it back. Now, get up. Get up, get up! I have more to complain about!"

Terror nearly seized Madoka again, but she had to obey no matter how hard her legs trembled. The Princess surprisingly got up by herself — another blasphemous thing to Madoka as she should have assisted her— and moved over to the closet, too quick for her to attend to properly. Madoka found herself quietly standing behind the princess, who folded her arms as she inspected the room. Could she be dissatisfied with the way they were arranged? Were there not enough dresses in there?

"What in the hell is with all this crap?" The princess suddenly thundered. The maid nearly flinched as Fiara waved her arms in exaggeration over all the dresses. Was this the reason she was like this today? "This so-called closet is bigger than a damn house!"

"Is... Is it not to your liking?" Madoka asked and pleaded. "Shall I call upon His Majesty to make it larger for you?"

A disgusted look flashed on Fiara's face, making her worry if she said something wrong.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" She groaned. "There is an actual ladder in there, Madoka. A ladder! The fact that it's there implies that there's even more dresses above my head up there somewhere! Why should it be even bigger? Do you want a staircase in there?"

"T-That's just for your dresses, Your Highness," Madoka worried that she was in trouble for something. She could not understand why the princess was mad about her own clothes.

"Just for my— I think if I travel deeper in this closet I could probably find Earth again, do you understand me? Ugh, you don't get me. Watch this," Fiara stepped inside and held her hands up around her mouth. "Hello! Hellooooo! I'm literally in another world and the closet is going to eat meeee! Waaah hello!"

Madoka flinched from the girl's outburst, but realized she heard the closet echoes repeat the strange princess's ramblings, growing distant as her calls traveled. Fiara turned to her with a horrified look on her face.

"Closets shouldn't do that, Madoka!" She shook with a disturbed look. Madoka could not understand what the closet was doing, but she remained silent. "The dresses don't even dampen the sound! The heck do I need all these clothes for!"

"Well," Madoka at least could answer that question for Her Highness. "That row is for ceremonies, the row next to it is for balls, those up there are for dinners, here are the ones for lessons, these are for outside, the ones over there are for tea—"

"What in the hell are you? Some kind of inventory management NPC? How do you know all of this stuff?" The princess looked genuinely bewildered, so Madoka decided to guide Her Highness out gently. The closet was the thing that upset her, making her realize that she actually did not want to go outside to join the meeting today. "I just want a pair of yoga pants. Or something comfortable! Decision paralysis is a real thing, you know!"

Moments later, the dejected princess was finally in Madoka's hands. She had to quickly get the girl ready, but noticed how strange this whole incident had been so far. Even more bizarre was the fact that the princess now was not speaking at all, since at this point she would fuss the most.

"My mother," She murmured as Madoka stuffed her in a corset. She had never heard the princess said anything about her own Mother, Her Majesty, but continued her work. "She said all the stuff would burn."

Her hand stopped at this new point. Madoka heard that the Queen passed away when she was born, but she did not say anything again. She recognized that Fiara was talking more to herself than to her anyways.

"But still, she kept all the stuff in the house anyways," she chuckled bitterly. "Dad couldn't even get his boat in the garage."

A boat...?

"My Mother here, I hardly hear anyone talk about her," Princess Fiara said mysteriously, but quieted down. "Do you think her closet's even bigger than mine? That's... so scary to think about!"

"His Majesty is keeping Her dresses, of course," Madoka corrected her. The girl shuddered as the maid tightened the dress's silky straps.

"I didn't know he was like that," Fiara had a shocked tone in her voice, but even curiosity did not prompt Madoka to ask her what she meant. She decided to continue her explanation. "Nae waah..."

"He is simply saving the dresses for you when you grow older," Madoka explained. She left out that she herself was not allowed near that part of the Palace, since that was for the Upper Maids and the Head Maid only. She felt the princess's shoulders relaxed.

"O-Oh, right," she sighed. "Makes sense."

Madoka wondered why she wanted to hear the girl's perspective on her Mother, but still carried her work dutifully. She did not remember her own parents, assuming they sold her or died somewhere. Yet that was all the girl revealed for now. Madoka realized this mysteriousness set this Royal apart from the others, though it terrified the maid considered some of the things Her Highness said were real.