Once Laura was out of sight both Eleonora and Avery stop their waving and head back inside. They look at each other, then back to the direction Laura's carriage went.
"It's gonna be a boring without Laura here."
"Yeah, it may have only been six months since we met her but it was a fun six months. Now I have no fighter to attend to."
Avery folds her arms behind her head and gives off a nonchalant attitude but Eleonora can tell she's just trying to put up a strong front.
"Do you think Laura will be alright Eleonora?"
"She'll be alright, I'm sure of it."
Eleonora answers Avery with no hesitation.
"Well if you're sure of it then there's no cause for concern. Anyway, let's go watch the rest of this fight. Maybe it'll help take our minds off of it."
"Maybe..."
Riding through the city in a carriage all by herself, Laura stares out the window looking at the people lined up on the sidewalks to greet the royal family and the rest of their noble entourage as they head back to the castle for princess Vivian's birthday gala.
After a long day of fights, saying goodbye and worrying over if she could stop the royal family from buying her Laura feels mentally exhausted. It takes everything she has to keep herself awake during the carriage ride. The fact that the entourage of carriages is moving at a snails pace doesn't help with her fatigue and drowsiness.
The sun is starting to set when the carriages finally arrive at the royal palace. Laura remembered reading about how the castle of the Kingdom of Dawn was built on such a massive scale as to symbolize how the kingdom was the closest to the heavens so it's ruler could look down upon the entire country but Laura's first impression of the castle is that the book she read didn't do it's scale justice. Surrounded on all sides by a massive castle ground and a 360 degree stairwell in the middle it gives a welcoming atmosphere while also giving off a sense of importance.
As soon as Laura sees the massive stairs she gets excited for the first time today. However Laura's carriage splits off from the rest and heads to a different part of the castle.
"Hm, where are we going?" She calls out to the driver but the driver either can't hear her or ignores her.
"Hey! Where are we going?!" She yells this time but still gets no response. Seeing that her question probably won't be answered she gives up. Her mind is too tired to keep trying so she gives up.
The carriage Laura is in goes around the back of the castle and stops outside another large building. From there the driver opens the door for Laura.
"Hey, why'd we split off from the rest of them?"
The driver looks exasperated at Laura's question.
"Well you certainly cannot be seen with the rest of the nobility while looking like that now can you?"
Laura's clothes looks dirty and torn up due to her fight with Eleonora earlier that day.
"I received orders to take you around back so we could have some of the servants clean you up and make you look presentable. You'll be present at Princess Vivian's party tonight."
"Wait what? I'm gonna be participating in a party held by the royal family? Why? How? Why? Why? I'm not prepared for this."
Hearing that she'll be participating in Princess Vivian's birthday party Laura's mind starts to stir. The driver however, seems unmoved by this.
"Of course you are, you are one of her birthday presents after all, besides every single noble attending the party has heard about you in some way so they're all curious."
"So I'm just gonna be something rare for the royals to show off?"
"Essentially yes."
"Figured."
Laura steps out of the carriage and lets herself be led through the back entrance into the servants quarters. Here she is met by a group of women who seem to be servants. They all give off such a refined air that Laura gets taken aback for a moment.
The ladies lead her to a small room with a bath and a changing area. There isn't any privacy to speak of though so Laura quickly gets undressed and steps into the hot water.
"You need to be clean and presentable before you even step one foot into the castle anything less is unacceptable."
One of the maids says this to Laura while cleaning her hair. As a result she's left with an odd feeling that she doesn't know what to say. She's confused, not just at the semi forceful reception but at the fact that none of them seem to be afraid of her. Even the maid washing her hair doesn't seem to be perturbed by her horns.
After the bath Laura is quickly dried off and changed into a new dress that doesn't have any holes or tears and is given some shoes to wear. The maid that washed her hair takes her hand and leads her out of the quarters.
"Let's go, we have barely any time to spare."
They both head towards the stair of the castle but the maid stops and rings a bell just before Laura starts to scale the stairs. At the top of the stairs a platform descends and stops on the ground in front of Laura and the maid. The maid steps on and gestures for Laura to do the same.
"Come on, hurry."
Laura steps onto the platform and it begins to scale the staircase automatically. Laura is stunned by this.
"Wh-what is this?"
"It's a magic platform the nobles and servants use to scale the stairs faster and without effort. What, you didn't seriously think you'd have to run up and down these stairs every single time did you?"
"N-no."
It was at that moment Laura figured out that her book knowledge wasn't going to come in handy all the time.
When the two arrive at the top they enter into the castle through a back entrance for servants. The maid leads her to a dressing room full of gowns and dresses that look so expensive that Laura almost passes out at the sight of all of them.
"Hm, what's wrong?"
"So... many... fancy... things...I'm experiencing whiplash."
Laura begins to sway from side to side and almost loses her balance.
"What's the matter? Do you need help?"
"No, I'm fine."
The maid then walks over to a rack of dresses and takes out one for Laura to try on.
"Hold on, I'm trying these on?"
"Of course you are. Princess Vivian wasn't sure what size you'd be or what you'd prefer so she bought a whole room of different designs and styles."
"WHA-!"
Laura, 13 years old, raised in a village in the middle of a forest. Has had her common sense shattered just by being inside the royal palace for a few minutes.
"Um hello?"
The maid starts waving her hand in front of Laura's face, trying to get her to come back to reality.
Once Laura was out of sight both Eleonora and Avery stop their waving and head back inside. They look at each other, then back to the direction Laura's carriage went.
"It's gonna be a boring without Laura here."
"Yeah, it may have only been six months since we met her but it was a fun six months. Now I have no fighter to attend to."
Avery folds her arms behind her head and gives off a nonchalant attitude but Eleonora can tell she's just trying to put up a strong front.
"Do you think Laura will be alright Eleonora?"
"She'll be alright, I'm sure of it."
Eleonora answers Avery with no hesitation.
"Well if you're sure of it then there's no cause for concern. Anyway, let's go watch the rest of this fight. Maybe it'll help take our minds off of it."
"Maybe..."
Riding through the city in a carriage all by herself, Laura stares out the window looking at the people lined up on the sidewalks to greet the royal family and the rest of their noble entourage as they head back to the castle for princess Vivian's birthday gala.
After a long day of fights, saying goodbye and worrying over if she could stop the royal family from buying her Laura feels mentally exhausted. It takes everything she has to keep herself awake during the carriage ride. The fact that the entourage of carriages is moving at a snails pace doesn't help with her fatigue and drowsiness.
The sun is starting to set when the carriages finally arrive at the royal palace. Laura remembered reading about how the castle of the Kingdom of Dawn was built on such a massive scale as to symbolize how the kingdom was the closest to the heavens so it's ruler could look down upon the entire country but Laura's first impression of the castle is that the book she read didn't do it's scale justice. Surrounded on all sides by a massive castle ground and a 360 degree stairwell in the middle it gives a welcoming atmosphere while also giving off a sense of importance.
As soon as Laura sees the massive stairs she gets excited for the first time today. However Laura's carriage splits off from the rest and heads to a different part of the castle.
"Hm, where are we going?" She calls out to the driver but the driver either can't hear her or ignores her.
"Hey! Where are we going?!" She yells this time but still gets no response. Seeing that her question probably won't be answered she gives up. Her mind is too tired to keep trying so she gives up.
The carriage Laura is in goes around the back of the castle and stops outside another large building. From there the driver opens the door for Laura.
"Hey, why'd we split off from the rest of them?"
The driver looks exasperated at Laura's question.
"Well you certainly cannot be seen with the rest of the nobility while looking like that now can you?"
Laura's clothes looks dirty and torn up due to her fight with Eleonora earlier that day.
"I received orders to take you around back so we could have some of the servants clean you up and make you look presentable. You'll be present at Princess Vivian's party tonight."
"Wait what? I'm gonna be participating in a party held by the royal family? Why? How? Why? Why? I'm not prepared for this."
Hearing that she'll be participating in Princess Vivian's birthday party Laura's mind starts to stir. The driver however, seems unmoved by this.
"Of course you are, you are one of her birthday presents after all, besides every single noble attending the party has heard about you in some way so they're all curious."
"So I'm just gonna be something rare for the royals to show off?"
"Essentially yes."
"Figured."
Laura steps out of the carriage and lets herself be led through the back entrance into the servants quarters. Here she is met by a group of women who seem to be servants. They all give off such a refined air that Laura gets taken aback for a moment.
The ladies lead her to a small room with a bath and a changing area. There isn't any privacy to speak of though so Laura quickly gets undressed and steps into the hot water.
"You need to be clean and presentable before you even step one foot into the castle anything less is unacceptable."
One of the maids says this to Laura while cleaning her hair. As a result she's left with an odd feeling that she doesn't know what to say. She's confused, not just at the semi forceful reception but at the fact that none of them seem to be afraid of her. Even the maid washing her hair doesn't seem to be perturbed by her horns.
After the bath Laura is quickly dried off and changed into a new dress that doesn't have any holes or tears and is given some shoes to wear. The maid that washed her hair takes her hand and leads her out of the quarters.
"Let's go, we have barely any time to spare."
They both head towards the stair of the castle but the maid stops and rings a bell just before Laura starts to scale the stairs. At the top of the stairs a platform descends and stops on the ground in front of Laura and the maid. The maid steps on and gestures for Laura to do the same.
"Come on, hurry."
Laura steps onto the platform and it begins to scale the staircase automatically. Laura is stunned by this.
"Wh-what is this?"
"It's a magic platform the nobles and servants use to scale the stairs faster and without effort. What, you didn't seriously think you'd have to run up and down these stairs every single time did you?"
"N-no."
It was at that moment Laura figured out that her book knowledge wasn't going to come in handy all the time.
When the two arrive at the top they enter into the castle through a back entrance for servants. The maid leads her to a dressing room full of gowns and dresses that look so expensive that Laura almost passes out at the sight of all of them.
"Hm, what's wrong?"
"So... many... fancy... things...I'm experiencing whiplash."
Laura begins to sway from side to side and almost loses her balance.
"What's the matter? Do you need help?"
"No, I'm fine."
The maid then walks over to a rack of dresses and takes out one for Laura to try on.
"Hold on, I'm trying these on?"
"Of course you are. Princess Vivian wasn't sure what size you'd be or what you'd prefer so she bought a whole room of different designs and styles."
"WHA-!"
Laura, 13 years old, raised in a village in the middle of a forest. Has had her common sense shattered just by being inside the royal palace for a few minutes.
"Um hello?"
The maid starts waving her hand in front of Laura's face, trying to get her to come back to reality.
