The tests would be taken the next day, in the presence of all available nobles. It would take more than a month to plan a coronation celebration, but that was a formality to be had later, where each would individually be able to swear their allegiance.

Pipperly stoically, and silently panicked as she allowed Sophia to run a comb through her hair at the elegant vanity.

This is real...

I’m really here...

“There-!” Sophia cheered quietly as she finished and shifted a soft purple shawl around her Lady’s shoulders. “All finished. Would you like anything else, Your Highness?”

“Hn- oh,” Pipperly snapped out of her daze with a flinch, before offering Sophia a hesitant smile. “No thank you, Sophia. I appreciate your help.”

Sophia inhaled deeply, her nose burning red as tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

‘Lady Pipperly is so NICE-!

‘Soooo much better than Princess Vivian-’

‘No.’ Sophia thought, with a touch of wicked pleasure as she put the items back in place to tidy up. ‘Lady Vivian, now.. She’s no longer going to be a princess once her Highness takes the tests..’

Sophia gave a small, self-satisfied fist-pump once she was finished and was quick to hurry to help tuck her Lady in, seeing the brunette’s flustered, tired expression and feeling unbelievably charmed by it.

“Thank you, Sophia,” Pipperly whispered.

“It was my pleasure,” Sophia gave a curtsy before dismissing herself, humming softly under her breath as she left the room.

Her body gave a strangled squeak as she left the exit, however, when she noticed a shadowed, lurking figure directly outside the door.

Her hand flew to her chest as she bent over, letting out a pained moan of both resignation and embarrassment.

“Sir Zorion-! You scared me half to death-!”

“My apologies,” the raven-haired knight murmured, reaching out a hand to gently steady her shoulder. “I’m keeping watch for the night. Please rest well for tomorrow, her Highness will need all the support that we can offer her.”

Sophia, recovering from her scare, felt immediately pumped, clenching her hands into fists at her chest and giving him a firm, serious nod. Her eyes were sparkling.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help her Highness-! Just give me the word if I’m needed.”

Pipperly woke up several times throughout the night but managed to drift away just as the grandfather clock in the corner read 3:22.

She awoke to the curtains being thrown open around the bed, Sophia’s bright, cheery voice breaking the quiet of her morning.

“Good Morning your Highness-! It’s time to get up and greet the day-! There’s much to do and little time-! Up-! Up-!”

Pipperly clawed her fingers into the sheets, but she was no match for the maid’s unnatural strength, feeling the fabric of her nightgown snagged in the next instant so she could be dragged out of the bed like an unwilling cat.

The set of ten maids holding hair combs, towels, trays, and tweezers was a horrifying sight to be witnessed and subjected to, first thing in the morning.

Shitshitshit-AH-!

A rosebud bath, a full-body waxing, and a lotion treatment.

A shoulder massage while her nails were done.

Her hair was teased into a dozen different styles, some even reasonably horrifying.

Finally, her hair was simply put up into a regal bun-looking type of style that made her hair look lush and elegant.

Her nails weren’t painted, but they were given a clear, protective gloss and filed neatly.

As were her toes after a foot massage.

Her face was made up with a soft powder, her lips given a small pink tint with a berry-based mixture.

Her eyes were lined in kohl and her bangs teased to frame the sides of her face.

She was given another gown, this one in a rich, dark purple with a black corseted bodice. The sleeves were the same large puffs at the upper arms and slim-fit to her wrists and knuckles. Around the end of the corset, partitioning off the lush, voluminous ruffled skirt, was a slim belt of silver inlaid with clear crystal, perhaps diamond.

Pipperly couldn’t tell the difference to save her life.

She was put into the dress, laced up, and sat down so matching purple slippers could be put on her feet. Odilia, who had drifted into the room an hour into the process with a clipboard and a severe expression, hovered and made marks on her paper with a slim black pen, quietly telling which girls to do which job and occasionally correcting a style or process.

“Miss Odilia..” Pipperly called out, very much awkward with addressing the person she had basically birthed from the memory and spirit of her beloved elderly neighbor from high school.

“Please call me Odilia, Your Highness,” Odilia was quick to remind her, not for the second time.

Pipperly looked visibly unnerved by that but powered on with a grimace as she was put through another round of hand-washing while two other maids quietly sorted through the available silver jewelry in a gorgeous royal blue carrying case.

“M-.. Odilia.. Where exactly are you getting these dresses and jewelry with my exact measurements..?”

“Ah,” Odilia pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and nodded only once. “I put in a rush order for this gown and several dozen others last night. The previous gown was quickly tailored and mended from the direct workshop of the nearest dress shop. I took into account your coloring to decide the shades but have set aside a date in the future for you to purchase and decide the contents of your wardrobe with the assistance of a royal fashion advisor and a court lady or two, at your discretion.”

Pipperly shivered at the flash of the woman’s glasses but forced herself to buck it up and continue her quest for answers.

“Duke Whitehall.. Did he have any complaints about the tests last night?”

“He only smashed a few vases, before calming himself and shutting himself in his room, so his reaction was fairly mild,” Odilia saw no reason to sugar coat this, and Pipperly inwardly cringed as she immediately knew what the man was going to propose after she took the damn seat.

‘Marriage..’

‘UGH-’

‘He is going to use my age against me- saying that he had the ruling experience and that I’m getting on in years to have a child of my own while he had plenty--’

‘I’m gonna throw up--’

“You look green, miss, would you like some tea to settle your nerves?” It was Marie’s quiet, hesitant voice that brought Pip out of her horrified daydream, and the Queen-to-be nodded quickly and accepted the cup as soon as it was offered.

She practically chugged the thing down, silently wishing it had been spiked.

“Odilia,” Pip’s voice was sharp, compared to the gentle wavering it had been, and even a few maids paused at the seemingly uncharacteristic seriousness. “I want Zorion and Taelison to guard me for the tests. And please assign some time after the tests to first meet with the Head of the High Council, the Grand Mage of the Magic Tower, and the Grand Knight of the Knightsguard.”

Odilia seemed more than a little taken aback, furrowing her eyebrows but making a note of the requests all the same in the corner of her notes.

It seemed, at least, Lady Clementine was forthright enough with her child to prepare her for her responsibilities within the Onyx Castle..

“Of course, Your Highness,” Odilia gave a slight bow. “I’ll send out the notices as soon as you sit upon the throne.”

“Good,” Pipperly whispered, closing her eyes against the headache that threatened to spread throughout her entire skull.

She needed to fire a LOT of people, promote a LOT of people, and get her affairs in order to not die.

Zorion was able to get two hours of rest when Taelison came to relieve him at the door to the Monarch’s chambers, but the stress of the coming trials had him waking only an hour after he laid to rest his eyes. He spent the next hour pacing and going over the case notes he had gathered in defense of his father and Lord Rowley.

‘I don’t know if she will even give the case a glance..’ Zorion grit his teeth and tied back his hair with a black leather cord. ‘But I have to try... For Father... For Mother... For Garaile and Izar...’

He spent the morning in a state of listless anxiety, alternatively pacing and cleaning his armor and sword respectively.

It took another three hours for a respectable hour to be upon him so he could reasonably leave the room to check up on the young woman before his shift started.

He showered quickly while the empty communal Knight’s washroom echoed with his steps and movements. The frigid water did wonders in waking him up, and he slapped both cheeks for focus before washing and rushing to dress again.

He was attaching his sword to his hip on his way to leave the barracks when a pallid-faced servant appeared, dressed in a standard pale blonde wig and large lavender colored beret. His blue eyes looked exhausted but his face was rigidly blank. The child only came up to his sternum, if hardly that.

They held out a note with two hands, and Zorion immediately recognized the scrawling cursive of Odilia’s handwriting.

Zorion,

I write to inform you that Her Highness requests your presence as a guard for the duration of the Monarch Tests. Please give this note to your commander to be certain that you are excused from your morning duties.

Regards,

Odilia Bryton

He let out a quick sigh and opened his mouth to thank the servant, only to find the kid long gone and disappearing into the door at the end of the hallway.

Zorion could feel his life expectancy shaving off several years as he stared at the now shut door, awkwardness lining every feature of his face before he snapped back into focus and turned on his heel to march to his Commander’s office.