Damsel In A Red Dress (Tsukasa X Reader)

Chapter 2

I nervously looked to the floor at my place next to the stairs. Prince Amane greeted Princess Nene as she stepped out of her extravagant carriage. It was to be expected. He was her fiance after all. He held her hand to escort her out of her ride and they both smiled at each other.

I swooned at the story. They had been together since birth but only just found the love they had for each other last year. Prince Amane was 17 and the way he proposed to the lovely lady was rumored to be the most romantic scene in history. I had a weakness to sappy stories such as those that I couldn't help but yearn to hear about it.

My hands rose to my cheeks in delight. It was too out of a fairy tale to believe. But my heart couldn't stop jumping with how happy it made me. His fiance was most certainly beautiful. Everyone had heard about princess Nene last year when they announced their engagement at the Snow ball. Before then, she was simply known as 'the princess who was brighter than the sun'

Before I knew it, the lovely couple had advanced towards me while I was daydreaming. I was at least presenting myself with a smile. "This is (Y/n) Azon. Lord Azon's daughter. She will be attending to your needs until she is no longer of service to you. (Y/n), this is Princess Nene Yashiro of the Sun kingdom." The prince introduced me to the Princess smoothly. He had been through introduction many times and was used to it by now.

"Hello, Miss. It will be a pleasure to serve you." I beamed, not forgetting to bow. If I could become close to her highness, she could tell me about their romantic story.

I was thankful for my appearance. My old ripped dress had been replaced with a red poofy one. It was simple. But the dress the princess was wearing put mine to shame.

"Hello (Y/n)! It's nice to meet you. I'm sure we will be good friends!" She clasped her hands together as she spoke enthusiastically. She wore her heart on her sleeve. Yet, she read my mind like an open page. My smile brightened at her charismatic personality. Although I had never talked or been around people this long, I didn't hate it.

"Yes! I hope so princess." The couple began walking into the castle together. Based on my etiquette lesson, only the Princes butler is allowed to follow. I stayed in my place with the other maids in a line. Waiting for the couple to go inside the castle to take action. I remember my duty like the back of my hand. If I were to stay here and work, I might've as well done it right.

But the princess stopped and turned around. Surveying the area until her eyes landed on me. She dismissed that she had a beautiful dress on and speedily jogged to my place. The maids and butlers of the palace gawked at her unusual behavior and as did I. Her hands clasped onto mine, dragging me along with her into the palace. "Ignore all of those etiquette lessons. You are to stay by my side no matter what. Okay?" Her hands had a tight grip on my own and the maid's eyes flew out of their heads at the sight. Why was the Princess paying so much attention to just an attendant?

While the Prince and the Princess were chatting away carelessly while they walked in the hallways, I was sweating beads behind them. This is going to cause quite a commotion among the maids. They don't get special treatment. Yet I've been here one day and I already received etiquette lessons that I've been told to ignore by the princess of the Sun kingdom herself!

"Here you will stay. Tsukasa will be coming back tonight and will join us for dinner. Unless you want to sneak away again?" The prince teased. Sneak away? Did they both ditch dinner with the imperial family?

The princess blushed and hid behind me. "N-No! I won't sneak away. You do know that I was scared right Amane? Your brother creeps me out! Plus your mom doesn't like me. So joining in on a family dinner like that would only result in my death! But since I'm your betrothed now, I have no choice but to!" She huffed. Her grip on my shoulders tightened as she smiled at me. "You would run away too in a situation like that. Right (Y/n)?" She's asking for my opinion?

"P-Princess..." I looked down at the floor. Do I have a place to answer her? Well, she was the one to ask the question. "In my case...I wouldn't even go."

"(Y/n), don't give her ideas! You just met her and you're already on her si-?"

The princess quickly interrupted her fiance and spouted, "See? See? Wait. You wouldn't go at all? You can't refuse an invitation from the imperial family." Her grip on my shoulders finally loosened as her hands fell to her sides. She moved out from behind me to hear what I had to say.

"Prince Amane only just brought this to my attention yesterday, but..." I have a bad habit of looking at the floor. "No one knows I even exist. So ignoring an invitation wouldn't be possible for me in the first place if I never received one."

"Yes, that's right. She's never had a coming of age party because of her greedy father. She's 16 already." The prince crossed his arms and watched as the Princess dragged me through the hallway to the library.

"Well, this won't do! I need to have a word with your father (Y/n). Maybe we can suck him dry of his money just to throw you one. If he's greedy, then he must have a lot." Her fingers scanned through the books with pictures next to all of the current lords in the two nations. With every Duke, There are many barons under their names. My family is the lowest rank. "Azon right? So that shouldn't take too long to find." The prince skimmed through some of the books in the library but was not interested in what his princess was devoting herself to at the current moment. "Ah. Here we are. Liam Azon- What? How?"

Her question caught my interest. What was she reading? "What's the matter, Princess?" I asked her. I approached her from the side and her finger pointed at a photo.

"How did someone as beautiful as you be the progeny of someone as hideous as that?"

Before I could burst out a laugh myself, a childish giggle came from the library window. "To think a princess would insult a baron in an opposing country..."

"Tsukasa, you know you're supposed to enter through the door and not sneak in through the window, right?" Amane stood up from his leaning position to confront his twin brother.

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Original release date January 21, 2021