When the Daffodil Blooms

CHAPTER 3

In the middle of the night, there are two figures silently walking behind the Royal Palace. One is wearing a black swallow-tailed suit and is holding a small lamp in her right hand. The other one is wearing a hooded coat and silently following the young lady dressed as a male butler in front of her.

"Butler Dennie, is the Crown Prince doing well in the palace?" Charlotte suddenly asked.

"Yes, Lady Charlotte.” Butler Dennie simply replied.

Charlotte secretly left their mansion with Butler Dennie. She decided to meet the prince while there are no prying eyes that can notice her disappearance. Charlotte also left Annie in the mansion to pretend to her on the bed in case the Count or the Countess suddenly visits her room at night. After riding a horse for half an hour, she stopped behind the Royal Palace where Butler Dennie was already waiting for her arrival.

In all fairness, Charlotte did not expect the prince to suddenly invite her in the middle of the night. She remembered telling the prince that he can call her anytime or in case something bad happened. But it is out of her expectations that the prince will act this fast. She thought the prince will not contact her for a month seeing the whole kingdom is at peace right now.

Charlotte follows Butler Dennie as they enter an old tunnel near the garden. As they walk in silence, Charlotte takes a side glance at the female butler who is guiding her way right now. Butler Dennie is a loyal servant of the Crown Prince. She is the one who always takes good care of him and stands on his side no matter how messy the political conflict that is happening in the Royal Palace. As they go deeper inside the tunnel, the temperature lowers all of a sudden. But Charlotte ignores it and continues walking.

"Please endure the cold temperature for a while, Lady Charlotte. We will arrive inside the palace in a few more minutes."

Charlotte simply nods her head in response. She looks around and observes the surroundings. The tunnel is completely old and black. If Butler Dennie is not holding a lamp, they will have a hard time walking inside the tunnel. According to the letter Charlotte received this morning, the prince wants her to memorize this path since she will be using it a lot in the future. The cold air inside the tunnel is too cold and the walls and floor are a bit slimy with grime all over it.

"I apologized for bringing you in this kind of place, my lady. But this is the only secret passage that will bring us straight inside the Royal Palace without anyone seeing us."

"You don't have to apologize, Butler Dennie. You do not have to worry about me." Charlotte reassures the female butler.

After a few more minutes of walking, Butler Dennie and Charlotte stop in front of a huge wall. For a moment, Charlotte thought they are stuck at a dead-end because Butler Dennie lost their way and cannot remember the right path. She is about to turn around and find the right path when the female butler knocks on the huge wall. Then they heard a hollow sound. After that, the butler looks around the area until she finds the small rock at the corner.

Butler Dennie touches the small rock and twists it counterclockwise three times. When Charlotte heard a soft clicking sound, the huge wall slid sidewards revealing a metal door. Charlotte did not expect that a secret passage like this is existing inside the palace. Soon, Butler Dennie opens the gate and lets Charlotte enter first.

Entering the door, the first thing Charlotte sees inside are red curtains hanging on a huge window. The curtains are made of velvet with gold thread weaving into the red fabric. The furniture inside is made from the highest quality of wood and the high ceilings are decorated with chandeliers made of glass.

Charlotte just takes a quick glance at her surroundings before looking at Butler Dennie who is now twisting the tiger's head statue placed next to the bookshelf clockwise three times until the huge metal door closed. She can see that the door they used blends so well with the cream-colored walls of this room. Charlotte is now thinking that whoever made that secret passage deserves an award.

Charlotte is still following Butler Dennie from behind. The female butler stops in front of a door ornamented with sapphire stones and softly knocks on it. A baritone voice coming from a man tells Butler Dennie to enter. The butler respectfully opens the door and urges Charlotte to come inside first. Without changing her expression, Charlotte calmly enters the room in slow but steady steps.

The room she enters is a spacious office. Charlotte quickly scans the room with her sharp eyes. The room is painted gray, with two windows that are huge enough to see the whole sky. There is a mahogany desk with papers neatly piled on it placed in the corner, different kinds of swords carefully displayed on the wall, and a small statue of a sitting lion placed in the right corner near the windows. This room looks classy yet the tension inside is very obvious to her.

"Are you done observing my office?"

Charlotte slowly blinks her eyes before she gives her attention to the person who said those words. He is casually sitting on a huge red sofa with a long coffee table placed in front of it. He is also wearing a suit that has a design almost similar to a General's uniform. Charlotte can see another familiar person sitting on the opposite side and is also looking at her. Soon, Charlotte respectfully bows her body in front of them to give her greetings.

"I greet the Little Sun and the Little Moon that shines the most and holds the greatest power in the Gerdiva Empire." Charlotte respectfully delivered her salutation words for the Crown Prince and his younger sister.

"Don't you think it was too long for a greeting?" the prince asked with a smile.

"It is too wordy if you are going to ask my honest opinion." Charlotte replied as she stand up straight and look at the people inside.

"You have too many guts to answer the future emperor like that. Are you not afraid that I will order the knights to cut your neck right this instant?"

"If you are confident that you can protect this empire without me, then do whatever you want."

This answer made the Crown Prince laugh in delight. The princess in front of him did not say anything and just watch her brother laugh. This is already a familiar scenario to them. Charlotte did not say anything and just observes the two royals in front of her.

Although she has the same age as the Crown Prince, he still looks younger than her and quite energetic. His pink hair is neatly combed upwards. His eyes are pointed and he has a pair of silver eyes. Aside from his eyes, Charlotte is thinking that everything about the Crown Prince is normal.

"Take a seat first." the prince said and pointed to the empty chair next to the princess.

Charlotte follows him and comfortably sits on the sofa. Butler Dennie pours her a cup of tea and served a small plate of snacks. She did not pretend to be polite anymore and grabbed a piece of cookie from the plate before eating it.

"Is it par to your liking?" the prince asked.

Charlotte shrugs her shoulder in response.

"It was okay." she added.

Though the cookie is edible, he still prefers the cookies served in the orphanage.

"Charlotte, I heard—"

"Rovira." she interrupted the prince. "Please call me Rovira tonight, Your Highness."

Instead of getting mad at her, the Crown Prince smiles at her instead.

"Alright." he said. "First of all, I just want to express my gratitude for eliminating the pests in the Eastern region."

"It was nothing, Your Highness. After all, it was my duty and we had a deal that you will do the paperworks for it in my stead."

"Heh, that's right. But that is not the only reason why I called you here."

"Then what is it?"

"Rovira, I just called you here today to tell you some important news. The Solaris Knights finally have a new General Commander. This news is only known inside the palace and still not spread in the whole empire."

"Is that all?" Charlotte asked. "You can simply tell me that news through a letter and let Annie send it to me."

"If I do that, then I have no more reason to see you for the whole month."

Charlotte looks at the prince and he only gives her a smile.

"...You are now the Crown Prince." Charlotte gently reminded him.

"But it will never change the fact that you are our savior."

Charlotte did not give him a response in the meantime. She leisurely drinks her tea first and savors its taste. But Charlotte soon feels the princess's movement as she slowly moves closer to her. Right after she puts down her cup, the princess did not hesitate to jump in her arms and tightly hug her.

"Princess..."

Butler Dennie tries to pull the princess away from Charlotte thinking that she is disturbing her. But Charlotte shakes her head at the butler before putting a hand on the princess's back. Then she gently rocks her body while giving the princess a soothing rub on her back.

"Are you alright, princess?" Charlotte asked in a soft voice.

The princess shakes her head in response.

"Is there something that is making you feel uncomfortable?"

"...Cold."

"Oh."

Charlotte just needs to look at the female butler to convey her orders. Butler Dennie bows her head before walking towards the fireplace and adding more firewood to it. The weather these past few days is indeed cold. Thinking that the princess might get sick in this weather, Charlotte gently removed the red crystal pendant she was wearing and put it around the princess's neck.

"This is a fire crystal, princess. Wear it all the time so you will not feel cold again." Charlotte gently said.

The princess carefully holds the crystal in her hands before rubbing her cheeks on its smooth surface.

"Warm..." the princess murmured to herself.

"I'm glad that you like it."

"Like it."

"Hmm."

Charlotte hesitates to give the princess a rub on her head. So she just put a hand on her shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze. After that, the princess continues hugging Charlotte. The princess rests her head on the young lady's shoulder and closes her eyes.

"I'm sorry about my sister. She was just upset tonight because her favorite dress was ruined." the prince said while looking at them.

"Oh? Is someone trying to mess up with the princess on purpose?" Charlotte slowly asked.

"No. Andrea did it herself. She accidentally poured tea on her dress Countier. But the servants cannot remove its stain anymore so she got upset and started sulking again."

"It was unfortunate. But I'm still glad no one is trying to do any tricks on the princess inside the palace."

"They wouldn't dare."

Charlotte looks at the Crown Prince but she did not say anything.

Nineteen years ago, the Emperor raised a huge celebration in the whole Gerdiva Empire to welcome the birth of his twin children. It was said that the twins will bring peace and prosperity in the future. The firstborn is a boy while his twin is a girl. The emperor named them Prince Marius Iryl and Princess Andrea Violyn. Everyone in the empire celebrated the birth of these twins.

But...

"Enough about us. What about you? Are you doing well with your family?" Prince Marius asked.

"It's good." Charlotte simply replied.

"Oh? But I heard you have a stepsister now."

"Her name is Roselyn. My parents adopted her thirteen years ago."

"So it only took them a year to..."

Prince Marius quickly shut his mouth after realizing his blunder.

"I apologize—"

"There's no need for that, Your Highness." Charlotte stopped him.

"...Alright. Then are they treating you right?"

Are they? Maybe. So far, Charlotte can still freely move into their mansion. No one is also restricting her movements. At least she is not being monitored just like what she was expecting before returning to her family.