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Today is the day.

Such a common thing to say. That is what a peasant would say. That is what the old maud would've said, on such a day like this one. But Maud needs to think bigger now. Bigger than the farm, bigger than a peasant, no matter if that hurts or not. She needs to think of others like her now, royalty and nobility, who's every decision in life is impacted and impacts politics and the climate around them. Maud needs to think like them, because she is one of them now. A princess.

Which is why she won't say, today is the day. Today is a day of great grievance for her. She will say that instead. As a princess, today is a day of celebration and victory, but for her as a person, it is a day of sorrow. An era comes to an end today. Maud would've thought that her era ended when the soldiers came knocking on her door, but in reality it ends now. This is the end of her story, and there won't be another meaningful beginning. Maud has written a book in her head about herself, every chapter filled with her own thoughts and emotions. But that book has run out of pages, as she sits here on the last blank piece of paper.

The words that are said next won't be written down.

Maud knows that she is being dramatic about this, or at least it feels that way, she can imagine Makai telling her that she is being dramatic. But it's hard not to be, when one's life is about to come to an end. At least, her life as she knows it. Mud can't imagine a life with that guy, with her fiancé. She can't imagine being married to an enemy tyrant, it's just too horrifying. It's so scary that even her nightmares can't depict it correctly. So instead she would like to consider this as the end, because that would be less scary than facing the truth. That this is really, only the beginning.

Standing there on the courtyard, her face covered by a light blue veil as she waits for her fiancé to arrive with everyone else. They were spotted on the way and their arrival was not far away. Maud can feel nervousness itching in her entire body. She doesn't know what to do. This is her first time out in public, the first time many of these maids and guards see her in person. The princess was announced only two days ago, her existence was made official only two days ago. That is why every curious eye is pointed in her direction, and she has to suffer from two ends at the same time.

She is dressed in a very uncomfortable blue dress, symbolizing the colors of the empire. The blue dress covers her arms with long sleeves and her neck with a high blue lace. She has lighter blue gloves over her hands and her dress falls all the way down to the ground. Her head is covered by a loose royal blue scarf and her face by a see-through, lighter blue veil. Maud has never worn anything so modest before. Ever since the announcement of her existence two days ago, she has been dressed from top to toe. It seems like her brothers are trying to hide her, and partly Maud is thankful. It hides her from the prying eyes of the palace staff and guests, and keeps her from having to face her fiancé today, completely exposed. There are always positives to everything.

Maud is standing there, on top of the many, many palace stairs. It's the main entrance of the palace, a place where she has never been before, and the stairs are too many to count. That's where she stands, gazing over the huge courtyard filled with luscious green trees and servants standing in long rows along the road to the palace from the gate. Nobody dares to talk or move. They are all waiting for the anticipated moment to happen. Next to her, all of her brothers are standing with curious smiles over their faces. All of them except for Makai, who despite ordering all of this, has yet to show up. With an audience the size of this one, while being the center of attention after prince Adelio, Maud feels more nervous than she ever has before.

She is practically shaking behind her several layers of clothing.

The gates are still closed, but she can see them open in her imagination. Those gates haven't opened during the whole time Maud has been at the palace. They are only opened when the king leaves, or when a distinguished guest arrives. For other people, there are many other fancy and easier gates to open around the palace grounds. This gate is so big and majestic, that it takes twenty men to pull it, and is a huge security risk to keep it open. It's like a mouth around toxic waste. It should be kept closed as often as possible. That is why it is so interesting, all of this. This is a huge moment for everyone at the palace, a huge event which most servants take part of.

The maids are dressed in their finest uniforms, long dark blue dresses with white aprons. Everything is washed and ironed to perfection. The gates stand straight with their own uniforms practically glimmering under the sunlight, and the nobles and officials are dressed in their finest clothing. Silk from all around the continent can be seen on them, with colors unimaginable to the people of this empire.

Still, despite having a more simple color to her dress, Maud stands out the most around them. It is her mothers odd dress, apparently, the thing she wore when first meeting the late king Micah. It was delivered from the other side of the world, on a ship that traveled for a whole year. Its silk is the most rare and valuable, its embroidery was carefully made over a whole year. It's subtle but magnificent, different diamonds and jewels on flower stems embroidered all over her dress, making the fabric look even more extravagant. And most importantly of all, the top part of the dress is stitched with real diamonds, making it shine under the sky no matter what the weather is. But even with an ugly dress the princess would've stood out the most. She is going to marry the most famous man on the continent, and right now she is a princess that has only existed for two days.

She is the most fresh piece of gossip anybody could talk about. Currently she is what they live and breathe for. Maud still hasn't figured out how to use that for her advantage. Instead it is only a huge burden, as she hides herself in her room, and when outside covers her face to not be seen. The eyes of the people are just too much to bear for a girl who used to live with only her two old parents around her. Still she lives and breathes on, waiting for this exact moment. It feels like her life is on pause, only to be resumed at his arrival.

The doors behind them open instead of the gates, a guard loudly announcing the arrival of the king. Everybody turns around to see him, Maud doing the same. She sees Makai proudly walking towards them, taking his place between her and Takao. The servants, guards, officials and nobles all bow down to him. The rest of them, Maud and the rest of the brothers only bow down once he has stopped walking. Makai waves with his hand, telling them to stop. Maud lets her gaze linger on him just a little longer. There is a huge smile over his face. Of course there is, Maud thinks. Everything is going according to plan.

"Are all the rooms ready?"

Takao and Makai immediately begin to talk amongst each other. Nico and Noor don't. They stay quiet and stare towards the gate like everybody else, looking like exact copies of each other as twins wearing the same clothes. Takao, who is currently in charge of palace affairs, is quick to confirm everything to his brother.

"Yes, and I prepared the royal suite for the crown prince"

Makai nods, a smile over his face. Maud is happy that her brothers are talking with each other, because if they are busy they won't try to disturb her with their conversation. She is honestly fine with staying quiet and standing by the sidelines at this point. Speaking is terrifying now. It used to be something that she longed for, with nobody to talk to at the farm. But now, surrounded by so many people that know better, it's a chore that she never seems to be able to get right. Maud's happiness is short-lived though, as always. Makai is quick to turn to her, speaking with a hushed voice and warning tone.

"Behave yourself today, sister. Even if he looks like the devil himself, you stay quiet and do as we rehearsed"

Maud wants to slap him across the face. But that would very much be the actual end of her life, and she is set on surviving this new world. So instead of doing what her heart is telling her to do, she nods ever so slightly and doesn't make a sound. She is stronger than he thinks. Even if her future husband looks like a swamp monster she will marry him, because that is the only way she'll survive. Who knows what dangers he will bring? Still, life at this palace would be worse. She can't take another day, and yet Maud knows that she has to suffer for another week, just until the wedding is over. So Maud won't do any mistakes, she isn't as stupid as her brothers make her out to be.

She'll stand tall, even if in front of the devil.

Trumpets sound all over the courtyard. Maud thinks she is imagining things, but she can see the ground and trees shaking. Makai stops glaring at her and moves his expression towards the gate, a bright smile back over his face. Everyone else snap their heads towards the source of the sound, trumpets echoing like the announcement of a God's arrival. And there it is, the gates finally open. An announcer unnecessarily yells out the name of the crown prince, but he is drowned out by the sound of one hundred soldiers on horses. They burst into the courtyard like a human stampede, dust flying up in the air around them. Maud watches the servants down below cough, unbothered where she stands on the top of the stairs. She thinks that she should be down there, as a peasant among those servants. How is she up here, as the princess this prince is going to marry?

If only it were like in the fairy tales...

She tenses up upon the sight of him, riding across the courtyard. There is not much she can see, a large cloud of dust covering most of his body, which already looks small from the top of the stairs. But she can catch a few glimpses. He's not a swamp monster, that's for sure. He does have some similar features to her brother Makai, with black hair and dark clothes. But he seems taller than her brother, and his hair is even darker. He stops his horse right in front of the stairs, and Maud is nervous enough to vomit. Her future husband is right down there, only seconds away from meeting her eyes. He jumps off his horse and starts making his way up, a servant bowing to him and taking his stallion. A few other men, tall and strong soldiers, probably the best of the best from their kingdom, follow the crown prince. The rest of the soldiers are led somewhere else.

Adelio, along with ten other mighty looking men, becomes a clearer and clearer picture the further he walks. Maud follows him with her eyes, just as everyone else. Now he is the center of attention for once, and she is let free from the shackles of the public eye. Every single move that he makes is judged and watched by everyone around him. And in a way he deserves the attention, Maud can see it on him. The closer he gets the more obvious it becomes. He isn't a swamp monster, and he isn't the devil. But something about him makes him just as intimidating as both of those two options combined.

The closer he gets the taller he becomes. A tall warrior with wide shoulders and a strong build. He is wearing a royal black suit, with a more southern design than Maud's brother's suits. He has black hair that runs all the way to the middle of his neck and over his ears. Under the sun something shines beneath his ear. It's a silver earring, one on his left ear as a symbol of him being a prince. He doesn't break a sweat despite walking up several flights of stairs, not even taking a deeper breath of air. Maud unconsciously takes a step back when he finally reaches the top, but Noor who is standing right next to her is quick to subtly push her back before anyone can notice. He somehow finds the time to send her a glare before replacing it with a half-hearted smile towards the crown prince.

Now he is here, standing right in front of Makai. They are merely a meter apart, and Maud can hear him breathe. She doesn't know what to do or what to think, senses running on overdrive. As he finally stands in front of them, she can see how scary he actually looks. He is attractive, with a sharp jaw and nose, and somehow feminine features laced all around them. But his eyes are like the deep pits of hell, dangerous, unreadable and constantly judging and calculating. On the outside it may seem like he looks both bored and annoyed at the same time, but if you look deeper his black eyes mirror thousands of emotions at once, none of them pleasant to look at. Makai reaches his hand out to the crown prince, offering a handshake. Adelio accepts it.

"Welcome to my kingdom, Adelio. I trust that your trip was without complications?"

Somewhere behind those words there is a deeper meaning, hinting at the hundreds of men Makai terrorized and forced into compliance before Adelio could even place a saddle on his horse. Hinting at the things he did to make sure that Adelio's trip was without troubles and simple road thieves. Everything had to go perfectly, only for it to be reduced into those simple words. I trust that the trip was without complications? Maud subtly looks between the two powerful men, just waiting to hear her fiancé speak for the first time.

"It's an honor, your majesty. Our trip was peaceful"

Adelio won't elaborate, and nobody is surprised at that. They all know that he is a man of few words. To just what his voice is exciting for everyone. It's deep but somehow soft and calm at the same time, still managing to come off as scary to Maud. She can't take her eyes off his face though. It's very attractive. That will help, right? At least she won't be married to an old man, or a swamp monster? At least her husband is attractive? No matter how scary he is...

Makai is quick to flash a smile. He turns to Maud, who immediately tenses up. This is her moment now, this is what they've been training her for.

"May I present my sister, Princess Margaret"

Maud looks up at him, thankful that she's behind a veil. She is quick to bow to him immediately when his eyes meet hers. Once she looks back up, she analyzes every single emotion on his face. There is a slight look of surprise that is there, just for a second. Then it disappears and is replaced by the same, somewhat hidden hateful look that he usually wears. Maud doesn't know what that means. She feels herself shake. Especially when he politely takes her hand and lays a gentle kiss over the glove. She has never had a man pay such attention to her before, kissing her hand like a prince from a novel.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, princess Margaret"

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