Damsel In A Red Dress (Tsukasa X Reader)

Chapter 4

The horse I was riding on trudged through the light snow as I breathed out into the winter air. Yes, indeed winter had come. It had only been a month since princess Nene had entered the stars kingdom from the sun kingdom. I was glad to see that she adjusted to this lifestyle of living much faster than I had. Yet again, she had already visited the palace before where I only knew it existed.

Prince Amane and princess Nene traveled  much further ahead than prince Amane's knight and I. I knew how to ride a horse. But I didn't have the proper attire to go horseback riding. So our situation was a bit...strange.

My relations with the knight started sour due to our first introduction. Fortunate for him, I wasn't like other nobles and decided that first impressions didn't matter. We were close enough as acquaintances to call each other friends.

We had only taken two horses with us this morning so that the knights could use them. Kou and I had decided it was best to observe the royals from afar to ensure we don't interrupt their time together. It was just like I had imagined. They were a couple found straight from a fairy tale. But my attention wasn't on the couple.

"What do you think about tea then? You said coffee was too strong for you so you must like tea right?" Kou asked me. Yes, of course, we were having a ridiculous conversation like this.

"Hmm. Tea is a lot better than coffee. More light and yummy. But I prefer lemon honey tea. Or maybe even earl grey. Some of the teas out there are strong and take the taste out of my mouth. I don't like those." I had pondered his question and answered truthfully. I sat with my legs swinging to the side of the horse. Behind the knight himself.

Kou slumped his shoulders and groaned. "You're too picky about your beverages. You're just like my brother." He sighed.

"Your bro-" I began to ask about Kou's sibling which I didn't even know existed. But I was interrupted by an unexpected character that I thought was 60 meters away.

"Winter came faster than I expected. We need to go shopping for new winter dresses for the snow ball!" The princess's words were as bright as her future.

Prince Amane ran his fingers through his hair. "I can arrange that for today. Shall I accompany you two?"

I looked at Nene with a bit of confusion "I'm going too? To the ball I mean..."

"Well of course dummy. If you're a noble involved with the imperial palace then you are invited. Although I will make you do some work, you will be free for the rest of the evening the ball is held on." Our horses stopped side by side next to each other.

The prince went from fixing his har to fixing the cuffs of his suit. "Unfortunate for knights like Kou. They must still serve the palace during the ball to keep all of the nobles safe."

"I have no qualms with that. It's my pride to serve the imperial family." He put a first up to his chest as a salute.

"Yes, yes we know kou. You've only said it about one million times. Oh... By the way (Y/n), how are your etiquette lessons coming along? I will need to start including dance lessons because of the ball but it's nothing you can't manage right?"

I jumped a little at the prince's question. He normally didn't care for the lessons I took so why was he insisting on adding more? "She's teaching me nothing I didn't already know from reading books. Do I need those dance lessons?"

"Absolutely! I will not stand for my attendant not even being able to dance. You should already know to be honest. But it's that pig's fault that you don't know." Nene huffed out. She must be picky about what the people around her know and don't know.

"I could teach her." Kou offered. Warmth flooded my cheeks as he looked behind himself to take a peek at me.

The prince nodded his head in approval. "That's right. Your father is marquess Minamoto. I'll allow it."

Within the hour, the four of us headed back into the palace. Nene and I were out the door towards the shopping district. The carriage we took was simple and didn't call for too much attention. It was strange though. You would think the imperial palace was all about showing off the money they have.

The princess went on and on about the kind of dress that she was looking for. The ball was at least a month away so why couldn't she just get one made? I sighed as I followed behind her inside the building.

"I will buy them all!" She exclaimed with her hands thrown up in the air. The employees of the building looked at her with sheer awe.

"P-Princess. I thought you were only looking for one dress?" I grabbed hold of her shoulder as she let her hands fall to her side once more.

She turned around and gave me an overbearing hug. "It's not for me! I will shop at another store. But this is for your wardrobe!" She smiled.

"With what money? Princess... I'm broke." I said flatly. Being owned by the imperial family meant that I was only provided with necessities. Not income.

"You now hold the name of the Imperial family since you are my attendant. I'm sure such little money couldn't matter to them. And since you hold the imperial name, you are free to buy whatever you wish." She released her hold on me and wandered around to look at my new dresses. They were extravagant and I wasn't used to being dressed in dresses this expensive. I was fine with the hand-me-down dresses my mother had but if I got new dresses I wasn't going to complainn.

I smiled goofily and jumped a little in excitement. This is special treatment but according to Nene, attendants are supposed to wear things like this and learn how to dance. It's nice. I feel like I'm finally going somewhere.

"Oh I forgot!" Nene said looking at me. "Once you dance with someone at the ball, we have to hold you a coming of age party because the ball is your introduction to society. Aren't you excited?" She jumped in place.

"It's too much." I sighed in defeat.