§Future Empress§

A New Morning

It was a sunny morning. The light of the sun hitting the dews on the plants made them shimmer beautifully. Indeed it was a perfect morning to begin a new day with a new role. Katsumi woke up early and dressed herself up, she woke up Yaoyorozu as well. 

Ochako asked the two to come out and eat their breakfast so they can have the energy to serve the princess. The Princess of Galilee, Princess Izumi, likes to wake up in the morning only when someone wakes her up. In the past week, she woke up cranky almost every morning but nevertheless she now has a beautiful maid to wake her up. Katsumi finished her breakfast quickly and ran to wake up the princess.

Princess Izumi's Quarters

Princess Izumi was peacefully asleep, well not actually. She pretended to be asleep so Katsumi could wake her up. Katsumi entered the bedroom with a tray containing a bowl of water and a cloth and also some warm lemon water to drink. She kept aside the tray and opened the curtains, the sunlight hitting Izumi's face made her wake up and the shine in her eyes was so beautiful that even Katsumi couldn't help but stare into her eyes.

  "Enjoying....Ruby?" Izumi said a in a bit flirtatious voice. Katsumi got back to her senses and gave the warm lemon water for Izumi to drink. "Why are you not saying anything? I like to talk in the morning so hope you could bear it!" Izumi said and she drank her water, and Katsumi took away the glass then offered Izumi a bowl of water to wash her face. 

Izumi stretched a bit and said, "Can you please wipe my face for me? I feel pretty sluggish to do it myself..." Katsumi without any hesitation wet the cloth and wiped Izumi's face gently. "You seem skilled" Izumi commented- genuinely surprised at the fact that a princess could perform the duties of a maid so well and that too on her first day. Still too early to judge.

"Exactly the reason why I want to serve you, my princess" Katsumi prompted as she finished wiping Izumi's face.

 "Hmmm true. I will take my bath right now. Is the bath ready?" Izumi asked while gettig up from her bed and straightening her creased night gown.

 "Not yet, my princess. I will go at once to get the bath ready" Katsumi said. She then proceeded to leave the room. Ochako came to check if things were in order and was about to return when Izumi spotted her.

 "Wait up! Ochako!" Ochako entered the room at once. "Yes, My princess?" She said. "Can you please assign someone to get my bath ready?" Izumi said as she put her hands on Katsumi's shoulders and made her sit on the bed. Katsumi was stunned by the action and blushed out of embarrassment. 

Although being confused, Ochako nodded and left the room to assign someone to get the bath ready. "I apologise for my rude behaviour but I didn't want you to leave my sight...as I am quite interested to know more about you. So your number one duty is to be by my side and spend some time with me" Izumi said and she smirked when Katsumi's face got even brighter. Izumi was getting used to Katsumi's face getting red.

"My princess, May I come in?" Shoto said as he was standing outside the room, watching carefully to whatever was happening inside the room and let us say he didn't like what he saw.

  "Oh please come in Shoto! Good morning!" Izumi chirped. "Good morning to you too princess" Shoto greeted almost stoically. Katsumi pouted slightly because she didn't get a good morning from Izumi. "What brings you here so early in the morning?" Izumi asked as she walks toward him. "Ah yes! The Queen is asking for your immediate presence in her office" Izumi sprinted out of the room, Katsumi tried to follow her but Shoto stopped her saying, "You must not interfere" Katsumi ignored him and ran after Izumi. Shoto was visibly angry but followed anyway.

Outside the Queen's Office

"Mother it's me, May I come in?" Izumi was about to enter the office but saw her maid, Katsumi running towards her and Shoto chasing her. Katsumi hid behind Izumi and Shoto bowed and said, "My princess, if you may, please tell That Maid to listen to me." "Please stand straight Shoto and explain to me clearly what happened" Shoto was about to say but Katsumi intervened and said boldly, "Well...I was following you here because that is my job to be with you all the time in case you need help for something but he tried to stop me and I ran away instinctively." 

Izumi sighed and looked sternly at Shoto who looked down because of fear. "Next time try talking to each other before jumping to conclusions, alright both of you? Now go back to work and Katsumi you don't have to follow me when I visit my mother. Just get my outfit ready" Izumi said and then she entered the office. Shoto was upset because of Izumi's behaviour whereas Katsumi felt proud that Izumi took her side.

Inside the Queen's office

"You wanted to see me, Queen?" Izumi said as she bowed. "Izumi...you know you can call me mother when we are alone right?" Inko laughed at Izumi's formalness. Izumi knew she could but chose not to do so today. "I will keep note of that" Izumi said. 

"So the reason I called you here was that....do you remember Prince Kosuke?"

 "Who is that mother?" Izumi looked dumbfounded.

 "My! You forgot quite easily. He is the prince of Lockwood. The man who tried to woo you but you rejected him on the day of choosing" Izumi looked confused for a while but then she got it and said, "You mean that prince whose father killed mine? What does he want now?" Izumi looked frustrated. "It was a fair fight, he lost his father as well! You need not to be so cold towards him" Inko said.

  "How can I not?! His kingdom started it all! We were living peacefully until they showed up with their army on the border!" Izumi said as she roamed around the office. "About that, we do not know who started the war. The obvious points to the Kingdom of Lockwood but nothing of that sort was mentioned in our documents" Inko said as she rubbed her temple. Izumi was shocked by the news. "Read this" Inko hands out a letter to Izumi.

To,

The Princess Izumi of Galilee,

Kingdom of Galilee.

From,

King Kosuke of Lockwood,

Kingdom of Lockwood.

Dear Princess,
I hope you find this letter in good health. I am writing to you on a personal note.
This letter does not contain the sorrowful words of my broken heart when you rejected me.
Instead this letter is sent to you because I have full faith in you that you would at least
listen to what I say.
About the war from over a decade ago, I checked in my father's diary where nothing
was mentioned about the hate or any resentment towards the kingdom of Galilee. I found it
odd considering the fact that even I believed my people started the war. I found something
intriguing about which I am not going to disclose any information in this letter. I want you to
know the entire truth. Hence I want an audience with you in my kingdom.
Looking forward to your reply to my letter.

Yours truly,
King Kosuke

"My...this is interesting. I want to meet him, mother"