Chapter 455: Homecoming

As a modest princess, I didn’t expect fanfare on my return home. After all, it was only natural that I admire the sights of my kingdom.

To embark upon a royal tour while seeing to the needs of the people was the duty of all princesses, and to be celebrated for it was as needless as welcoming me back to my bedroom after several hours spent in the bathtub. 

As such, only a small celebration consisting of trumpets, several dessert tables and a unicorn ready to carry me the rest of the way to bed was all that I needed.

A curious thing, then.

Because right now, I didn’t see any trumpets.

I didn’t see any dessert tables. And I didn’t see a unicorn ready to gracefully hoist me away.

In fact–

All I saw were tourists.

“Oh, I can’t believe I get to peek inside the Royal Villa! This is so exciting!”

“This is my second time already! They keep opening up new rooms and places to visit!”

“I heard they’ll let you have a picnic in the courtyard if you ask nicely.”

“Please, please, please … I really hope the gift shop has restocked … I just need the Crown Prince’s special limited edition coaster to finally finish my collection …”

Yes.

Tourists.

Commoners who held neither the rank nor the right to visit the Royal Villa. And yet here they were, gathering in what was either a haphazard queue or the start of a peasant mob.

These were not dignitaries from afar or even countryside barons from their hovels. If they were, the various members of the aristocracy wouldn’t be paling from behind the windows of their carriages. 

It was an unprecedented destruction of etiquette, for to gather and socialise before the gates was both a rite of passage and a mark of distinction.

Those who arrived first were also the first to enter the chamber once the soirée began, and thus my family were more likely to be awake to acknowledge them.

However, while their indignation almost made this acceptable, the truth was that for all their drunken hooliganism, the demands of nobility were a known quantity. 

Commoners were not.

A gift shop even less so.

That was something I didn’t expect in the Royal Villa.

It was something I expected in a hidden library in Ouzelia–as did Coppelia, standing on her tip-toes as she peered excitedly over the crowd.

“That’s amazing,” she said, turning to me with the most impressed smile she’d ever worn. “You guys just opened up a gift shop and you already have queues? What’s your secret? I need to tell Fleur! If she knew there was a way to get this many customers, she’d never have resorted to kidnapping the big guy.”

All I could do was groan.

“Coppelia … I am officially confused.”

“Well, me too. It’s not like all of Fleur’s ideas were bad. Otherwise she’d have gotten the head bonk ages ago. But not even selling a horse at a 97% discount was enough to bring in as many customers as you. That was one of her best ones.”

Apple snorted as memories of being practically given away in a gift shop returned.

I agreed with him.

“Firstly, she had no right to sell Apple. Secondly, she had no right to sell him at any discount. Thirdly, we should not have any customers at all. The Royal Villa is not a … a …”

“A tourist trap? A brochure bait? An overpriced postcard stop?”

“A public attraction. But yes, all of those things as well.”

I frowned at the busy gates.

Something was wrong.

I could feel it like an unwanted gaze. A whisper in the shadows.

Yes … my fabled princess senses were tingling!

The Royal Villa was a symbol of the kingdom’s regal status. It was as hallowed as any cathedral and as solemn as any hidden library. 

It was neither where tour groups were led nor where souvenirs were purchased. And yet if that was all, then perhaps I could have turned a blind eye to it.  

However, this sudden mercantile venture along with the unexpected news of tax relief, cat shelters and whatever else I was missing was highly irregular.

Frankly, I couldn’t tell if we wished to earn crowns or squander it.

“... Tour Group F, please gather behind the line and have your tickets ready!”

My unease only hardened upon seeing the maids weaving amidst the crowd.

Wearing frilly uniforms similar to what Coppelia would soon be caught in, the maids of the Royal Villa were the cogs which kept the kingdom functioning. 

Except now they were spinning in a direction I was unfamiliar with.

Wielding little flags, the maids tasked with accidentally spilling drinks onto nobility were absent from their important duties. They were instead cajoling the many commoners, their voices almost lost amidst the excited chatter. 

“... Soooooo, where do we get our tickets?” asked Coppelia, so aggrieved she somehow forgot how to look distraught.

“Inside,” I replied, tugging on Apple’s reins. “It seems I’m due another dinner conversation with my mother and father regarding ways to keep the noise from our guests down.”

A moment later, the sound of anticipation turned to customary huffs as Apple trotted his way through the crowd.

As the commoners duly parted, more of the gates came into view, revealing the waiting courtyard beyond and the walled garden I would soon never be leaving again irrespective of my royal duties. 

Especially if this was the response I’d receive upon my return.

A blank stare.

Standing directly before the gates, a group of handpicked knights were taking turns to disappoint me. The gate captain held a clipboard while looking between it, me and Apple as we came to a stop.

I was appalled. 

My knights had two jobs. They were to bow and to cause my eyes to roll. They were only doing one of them.

“Salutations,” I said, offering a regal smile nonetheless. “I’m delighted to say I’ve returned. Please inform my mother and father of this excellent news. You may open the gates now.”

Silence and blinking met me.

It was broken the moment I raised my finger to begin the mass firing.

“Y-Your Highness!” said the gate captain, finally bowing so low his chin almost reached his knees. “My apologies! I’m … well, I’m not accustomed to seeing you outside the Royal Villa’s walls.”

“Yes, well, that won’t be an issue in the future. Rest assured, I’m never leaving again. It is quite frightful out there.”

“So it is, Your Highness! Did you … Did you not take an escort with you? I see none of my knights in accompaniment.”

“There are no knights accompanying me because I left on my own. I’m surprised you weren’t aware of that. I’d imagined that my manner of departure was widely known.”

“T-Truly? My apologies again, Your Highness! I was not informed of this. Did you have an urgent matter to see to in the village?”

“The village?”

“Yes … or was there somewhere else nearby that required a visit? I’ve no wish to overstep my bounds, but as a knight sworn to your defence, I feel strongly against you leaving the walls without an escort, no matter how close to the Royal Villa you might be. It is, as you say, quite frightful out there.”

“Close?” I tilted my head slightly, uncertain if I completely understood what he was saying. “I’ve travelled to all four corners of the kingdom. I would hardly call that close.”

The knight stared at me. He looked at his fellow knights.

“You … You did?”

My smile quivered.

“Hm? Excuse me, but what is that highly scandalous look of confusion for? Do you possibly mean to suggest you didn’t realise I was gone?”

“Uh, my apologies, Your Highness, but this is new information to me.”

I nodded.

A moment later, I threw up my arms in exasperation.

“What do you mean it’s new?! How could it be new?! Why would you not know if I was gone?! Didn’t you just say you were sworn to my defence?! I have not been in for many weeks, months even!”

The knights recoiled as one. I could hear the gulping.

What I didn’t hear, however, was an apology for this absurd oversight. 

Indeed, this was outrageous!

It was beyond ridiculous that the knights tasked with defending the very gates of my home somehow were unaware that one of the princesses residing there wasn’t present! What if I had been Clarise? Would they have stood idly by while my delicate sister melted to the sun? 

Why, there was nothing that could adequately explain this collective failure of duty!

“Y-Your Highness, I beg your forgiveness! … But, well, you are quite known to keep to yourself and … uh, it’s not unusual for you to hide for significant lengths of time, particularly when Madame Levasseur is seeking you out. You also instructed us never to help the madame if we suspect you are in the process of avoiding her. Should we no longer do that?”

A pause.

“I … I see! My, perhaps my mother and father opted not to inform every knight of my royal tour! How very prudent! The fewer are aware that I’ve left the safety of the walls, the fewer chances there are that some roadside vagrant hears of this and finds me instead! Perhaps only the knights sent to retrieve me know of my absence?” 

“That … may very well be the case, Your Highness,” said the knight, his words hesitant. “... Although if I may ask, are you quite certain you travelled to the four corners of the kingdom? The realm does extend further than these fields and–” 

The gate captain fell silent as I raised my finger of firing. He gulped and turned to his knights.

“Ahem … Her Royal Highness has returned! Open the gates and inform the king and queen at once!”

A flurry of motion followed.

Bows were offered in synchronised belatedness, followed by a scampering of boots as a knight rushed to inform my parents that the dessert table would need setting up at once.

And then …

The gates of my home swung open.

Yes.

Home.

I was finally home.

Tall white walls rising like marble cliffs, beckoning me with the warmth of a hearth. Sparkling rooftops glittering in the sunlight, each crowned with the royal flag fluttering in the breeze. 

A domed observatory studying the mysteries of the stars. A tower for every princess. A courtyard flourishing with the colours of every season.

Indeed, it was as I remembered it. 

Here was a place of sanctuary, where only falling shortcakes threatened the sky and the greatest schemers were the hedgehogs burrowing under my petunias.

There were only a few differences.

Why, I’d left alone.

But now I’d returned with Coppelia by my side. That was a marked improvement.

Meanwhile, somewhere already within the grounds were those I’d personally hired–all of whom would need seeing to just to make sure nobody had been accidentally poked with a dessert knife by a terrified chef upon arrival.

But first things first … 

Rewarding my noble steed!

Thus, as I directed Apple through the gates, it wasn’t towards my orchard I was first heading, but rather the royal stables where he could have his fill of as many premium apples as he desired!

… A problem when he stopped at the very first bundle of flowers the courtyard offered.

He began nibbling.

Yes, this was going to be a slight issue.

The Royal Villa had many gardeners. They really didn’t need his help pruning. 

Still, this was also Apple’s own way of offering me an important reminder. There was something I needed to do. Especially since the sound of a teacup being dropped and a pair of hurrying steps was somehow cutting through every other noise. 

Somewhere, a king and queen had sensed that their daughter had returned. 

I hopped down from Apple’s back, took a deep breath ... then raised my arms and spun several times, before finally smiling at Coppelia.

She was already mirroring everything, spinning and all.

“Welcome to the Royal Villa,” I said brightly. “A place where nothing bad ever happens.”