Of Princesses and Bright, Lovely Days (Reni)

It all started years after Princess Melissa’s untimely death. The loss of the nation’s beloved princess had added unease and distrust among the people of Esteria. But as time went by, the society accepted her death and moved on.

Renielle, however, never did. How could she, when her sister’s body wasn’t even found? It was as if she had simply disappeared into the thin air. Oh- how wonderful would it be if she were to appear before Renielle as suddenly as she had gone!

“Princess...?”

Renielle turned her gaze away from the window showcasing the dreary clouds outside; by now most of the stalls out in the town square would have closed down due to the increased probability of rain. Not like she was specifically going out to visit those stalls; the once savory treats now felt like bland, stale bread. It didn’t feel the same without her.

Renielle felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie. Claire, her handmaid, was looking at her at intently.

“Princess. You don’t have to go out, you know.”

“A plan is a plan, Claire. If I don’t act on it, how will I ever achieve my goal?”

“What? That’s not what I-” Claire immediately paused and shook her head, “you know that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that if today is hard for you, you can just go tomorro-”

“And what? Risk getting married off to that vicious prince? I would rather act now.” Renielle blankly countered, opting to stare at the rumbling clouds outside. Behind her, she could hear a soft sigh.

“You’re not getting married tomorrow, my lady. Stop overreacting and take some rest today.”

But Renielle took a deep breath and steeling her nerves, she turned around, facing the maid directly. Claire, was admittedly shorter than Renielle, but that didn’t make her any less intimidating. In fact, her steely gray eyes and high cheekbones only made her look more menacing. It didn’t help that she had pulled back her blond hair in a sleek bun today, thus giving her eyes a resounding sharpness akin to an eagle hunting for its prey.

Renielle internally gulped; sometimes her best friend was scarier than the king himself. Nevertheless, the princess was determined, and so: no maid nor a dreary weather could dampen her motivation today.

“Nonsense!” Renielle grinned at her friend (whose eyes seemingly narrowed at the princess’ sudden change in demeanor), “today’s a lovely day for a nice walk, and I shall go for it.”

“But-”

Renielle held up a finger. “Nuh-uh, you just help me look my utmost best, my dear.” Moving away from the window, Renielle tottered over to the large mirror beside her dresser. Moving closer face-to-face with her own reflection, she spotted signs of would-be dark circles beneath her eyes that was the color of a ancient-old emerald that had lost its shine. The rest of her pallid face was surrounded by countless strands of ginger-colored hair that refused to settle down no matter what newest cosmetic she used. It wasn’t usually as frustrating, but today was a special day-- and that included pinning up her bangs with an absurd amount of clips.

The thought of adding even more made her head ache. Renielle groaned; she looked more like a homeless drunk swarmed with a towering debt, rather than a distinguished princess of a wealthy country.

“Claaaaire, my hair’s getting in the way again.”

Behind her, she heard a sigh and then quick movement; a pair of hands gathered the rest of Renielle’s fly-aways and braided them away neatly. Claire only paused as her hand looked for a stray hair clip lying on the dresser. Once the clip was set in, Renielle felt relieved at the lack of tickling on her face. Claire stepped back to admire her work, a smug look already setting at the corners of her lips.

“There, I may have secured your hair nice and tight, but there’s no knowing when it will all come loose.”

Renielle lifted her the hood of the cloak she was wearing, “Even if I cover it up with this?”

“That, we will find out soon,” the handmaid replied.

“You mean, I will find out soon.” Renielle corrected, to which Claire rolled her eyes.

“Yes yes, of course, princess. How could I even dare to ask to accompany you? Because that would imply I actually worry and care about you.”

The sudden, air-piercing sarcasm only made Renielle glare at her friend who, still upset at not being included in the little adventure, had turned away briskly to fix the bed (which was already clean and tidy)-- meaning Renielle would have to fix her cloak by herself.

Scoffing, she pulled her cloak tighter around her commoner-clad figure. ...Commoner-clad still seemed a title unfit for her, as the very-ordinary dress still had subtle bits of laces and embroidery around the hems of her dress and sleeves. Said embellishments were done at the persistence of an old village seamstress, who refused to make the dress “so simple” and “disgraceful”; saying that it was “outrageously dishonorable” for a seamstress to gift the princess a dress akin to women of the village.

Renielle had simply thanked the old lady and paid her double the original amount. This was also why she preferred cloaks and disguises to openly prancing out in the broad daylight. It wasn’t as if she disliked the attention and love her people gave her, it was just... too overwhelming for her sometimes.

Anyways-- she had things to get done. She gave her reflection a final look, nodding at the snug cloak that hid the most of the fancier parts of the dress, and covered her head with the hood.

“Alright, Claire,” she announced to the maid wiping the window (it was already, as you guessed it, sparkly clean.) “look after my room for me, please! I’ll be back before dusk.”

When her friend made no comment and continued cleaning the glass panes as if Renielle wasn’t there at all, the princess simply sighed in defeat and left the room begrudgingly.

Looks like she’ll have to make up with Claire after she gets back. Lovely, another thing to add to her already crumbling amount of “things-needed-to-be-done”.

“Well,” she quietly reassured herself, slipping past the guards with the help of an emptier hallway, “that ought to wait. I’ve got more pressing matters to deal with first.”

Like getting out of this godforsaken country, for one matter.