Surprisingly enough, the girl took the news of me having forgotten everything about myself very nonchalantly.
"It's okay," she says as she pulls the white uniform blouse over my head, helping me get ready. "Last year my brother tripped and hit his head on the cobblestone. Couldn't remember a thing afterwards." She smiles, but I can see she's worried regardless of how calm she's trying to act. "I'll try to guide you along the best I can, Ada. Nobody should find out you've lost your memory, lest we both get sacked. Do you undertsand?"
I nod as she hands me a bonnet, pointing to my head.
"Tie your hair up and hide it underneath the cap," she says as she fixes her own hair in the mirror.
When she looks at me and sees that I still haven't gotten to it, she frowns.
"Well, what are you waiting for!?"
I smile uncertainly. "I don't know how to to tie this thing. Could you-Could you help me out?"
She sighs and glares at me, but doesn't refuse as she walks behind me and starts bundling my hair up. She ties it discreetly with a thin cloth before putting on the white cap over the bun.
"There," she says, inspecting her handiwork with a smug grin. "Doesn't that look so much better? Now we must make haste, for the princess awaits!"
_________________
As we rush through the extravagant corridors of what the girl tells me is the 'Azure Palace', she decides it's the best time I know her name.
"Ridley Owens," she says, leading me by the hands so I don't wander off. " And your name is Adalynne Cleaver, of the House of Cleaver. Remember that, now." Then she stops.
I bump into her back and stumble, rubbing my nose.
"Hey!" I cry. "That hurt."
She turns to look at me, frowning. "Ada, what's my name?"
I blink, dumbfounded because I hadn't been listening very well. I was too busy admiring the large windows and the breathtakingly beautiful chandeliers.
"You weren't paying attention!" she accuses me, a worried expression on her face. "You mustn't be so careless, or else both of us will be found out and chucked off to the streets! Now remember by name: Ridley Owens. And yours."
"Ridley Owens," I nod solemnly. " And Adalynne Cleaver. I won't forget."
Ridley finally breaks into a grin and with a tug on my arm, we're running again.
"It's so beautiful," I whisper as I look around, trying to catch everything as we rush by it.
"Yes," Ridley says. "The Azure Palace was built almost a thousand years ago by the founder of Serling, and it still stands today, as extravagant as ever."
"Serling?" I say, puzzled. The word struck a chord in me. Had I perhaps heard it somewhere before?
"The Empire of Serling," Ridley explains, "is where you live. Our home. And it is the monarchy of Serling that you've sworn yourself to."
Slightly taken aback, I try to smile not letting it show on my face how much I'm overwhelmed by all this. "I see." But there's something tingling inside of me, a feeling of faint recognition. Serling. . . Azure Palace. . . It all sounds so familiar.
But I can't seem to place it.
"And what about this princess you speak of?" I say as we round a corner.
Ridley looks back at me. "Oh, you mean Princess Delphine? Just wait till you see her, Ada! She's the most gorgeous woman you'll ever see. People call her 'The Beauty of Serling' for a reason.'"
My eyes widen in surprise, not because of the princess' title, but because of her name.
Delphine. . . Serling. . . Azure Palace. . .
It all suddenly clicks.
A gasp escapes my lips and I stop dead in my tracks as I realize where I am. Ridley stops short, too.
"What now?" she asks, sighing.
I turn to her, and my expression must have conveyed the confusion on my face because Ridley's turned worried.
"Is everything alright?"
"Quick," I say frantically, "tell me the Empire's name at which Serling is at war with."
Ridley frowns. "At war? Do you perhaps mean Xek?"
"YES!" And then my knees go all wobbly and I almost slump down on the carpet, in the middle of the vast corridor. Ridley catches me before I hit the ground and ushers me to a chase lounge near the wall.
Xek! The Empire at war with Serling. It's all in a book I read years ago, one called 'My Secret Alliance'.
In it, the famed beauty of an Empire called Serling, the Princess Delphine, who is described in the booka s someone with a 'goddess like lure', falls in love with and marries a commoner off the streets who turns out to be the archuke of Xek.
Because of this significant alliance, and everyone lives. . .how do you say? 'Happily ever after!'
But where do I come in all of this?
I pull at my apron and frown. If I had to be isekai'd, why not awaken as a princess? Why do I have to be a maid, someone who isn't even mentioned once in the book?
As I silently grumble about my misfortune, Ridley tenderly pulls me up so that we're standing again. Then she leads me away before I give us more reasons to be late to the princess's summons.
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