Lucille's Letter

Eliza approached me. “A letter, Your Highness.”

“From who?”

“Baronetess Lucille.”

“Hmm.” Her second letter had been a bit earlier than I had expected. The summer gatherings of aristocracy wouldn’t begin for a few more weeks. This letter was too early to use those celebrations as an excuse to send me a letter.

I opened the letter. “I apologize for my overbearing behavior, Your Highness.” It was a surprising start to say the least. Lucille began her letter denouncing her previous opportunistic tone and stating her wish to talk to communicate with me in a more honest manner. Apparently, her true intention when sending the first letter was to discuss with me a play that she had written in collaboration with my mother. She claimed that my mother had intended for the play to be performed at this summer’s gala and was to be her first step in repairing our relationship. I felt a bit aggravated reading that, but I continued.

Mother had told her to keep the production a secret until this upcoming summer and Lucille had found that agreeable. At that point, the production was still coming together and Lucille didn’t want to risk having to announce an early cancellation. The circumstances changed, however, when my mother died. The production that they had spent all this time on was now read, but Mother had never officially confirmed her troupe’s performance.

“I shall make no attempt to paint this as a noble act.” The Baronetess’s dilemma was great enough for her to beg. She had not sent me these letters for my mother’s sake, but for her own. The intention of her production could never be hidden from the staff who worked on it. If it were to face rejection or indifference from the queen-to-be, that news would surely be leaked by the staff and spread through the aristocracy. Her business would be devastated. “For the sake of my theater’s continued success, I request that you confirm the Heartland’s Troupe’s performance with your father.”

After reading this, I can understand why she’s been petitioning me rather than my father. She doesn’t have enough proof to confirm her deal with my mother and there is nothing to be gained politically from having her troupe perform. Having to get approval from my stone-faced father in this situation was almost the same as the production already being cancelled. I was her only hope.

Putting the letter down, I turned to Eliza. “How did you know?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Your Highness.”

“How did you know about Lady Lucille’s production?” If there was one thing I could trust Eliza to be, it was competent. She’d never let such a letter reach me without good reason.

“I did report to your mother from time to time. She was the one who assigned me to this position, after all.”

“She told you about the play?”

“I do recall her asking me if you enjoyed the performance whenever the Heartland’s Troupe visited.”

That was close enough to a confirmation. “What else did she tell you?”

Eliza performed a quick bow. “I am sorry, Your Highness, but I am your mother’s servant before I am yours.”

I took a conscious breath. “Very well.” At the time, I didn’t feel inclined to dig up the words that the dead wanted buried with them. What mattered was that the Baronetess really had been working with my mother and that my mother had a message for me. But now that she was dead, I wasn’t sure whether it made a difference or not if I heard it anymore.

Physical Fitness

Training with the guards and Florian has been humbling. Years of dance lessons made me confident in my stamina, but training beside the royal guard made me realize that I was still lacking. As a consequence of this revelation, I decided to have Siegfried, the guard instructor, train my general fitness so that I may regain some of my lost confidence.

On our first day together, he had me do a slew of exercises. Sprinting, running, climbing, and lifting things were all included. The whole process was exhausting and I admit that I felt some regret having put myself through it.

“Pretty good for your first day.” Siegfried said. At least I had performed well enough to be praised.

“Thank you.”I said once I caught my breath. Washing off the layer of sweat I had built was sure to be a joyous event.

“You know, if you keep this up and take archery lessons as well, you’d be able to join the hunting party in the King’s Forest.”

“I would think that the qualifications required to join the hunting party are more than I should be aiming.” We highered the best hunters in the valley after all.

“The qualifications are lower for the royal family. You only need to be good enough to run and climb up a tree.”

“I’ll give it some consideration.” Juggling three physical studies was beyond what I had originally planned to do, but it would keep up variety. I decided to come to a decision on the matter another day.