Princess Lea (Part 1) Eng.

Chapter 1

The world is not a fair place, not everyone who is called to this planet has the same chance to develop, to grow up or to achieve something. Some are born into poor families, others are abandoned at birth, and there are those who die at birth. The chosen ones are given guardian angels, and the rest are left without their care. Then there are those who manage to be born into a rich family, and a royal one at that. And you might think that people like that are born in a hat, because they have everything they could ever dream of, but not everyone thinks so. Meet Lea, a princess who sanctimoniously believes the world has gone wrong in many ways. And if she had to choose a pronoun for her name, she would hesitate between "rebellious" and "independent".

– Why do you want to show us your tattoos in front of our parents? – Letycja asked in confusion as she saw her sister coming out of her room. Lea was wearing a t-shirt with exposed shoulders and very short shorts that were barely visible under the voluminous t-shirt. The fresh tattoos were still covered by foil – Father will be furious if he sees tattoos, he is angry with you for running away yesterday anyway, and what kind of a look do you have? You could do with a bit more royalty in your attire – she looked at her in disgust.

– I'll show them the tattoos in case they find me dead on the other side of town and have to identify my body – Lea replied calmly – besides, I'm an adult like you, so stop mothering me.

Tattoos were the girl's second idea (after running away). They were a way of keeping her father from considering her for the throne. The third idea, after the escapes, was her rebellious dressing, basically wearing what was comfortable, not what her mother and sister thought looked good.

– Lea, you are horrible – indignant Letycja.

She walked past her sister and downstairs to her father's office. As you might have guessed, her father was angry with her, but due to how often he got into trouble, he had stopped shouting and was talking calmly, which irritated Lea even more. Instead, her mother got angry and started complaining that she had ruined her body, that these tattoos were for life and that she wanted to show them off in clothes. Lea listened to her in silence, and when the woman had calmed down, she went back to her room to wait for her father to make his next move. As it was, the tattoos had no effect on his plans to remove her from the list of heirs to the throne. She also lost some of her security. Franek, who was supposed to be guarding her at the moment, was already coming out of his shell.

– Where are you going? – he chuckled as he saw her walking down the corridor.

– Relax – Lea said – you can go to the bathroom – she smiled.

– Don't do anything – he shook his head disapprovingly, but he was indeed on his way to the toilet.

This girl was driving him crazy. He didn't realise that she knew the schedules of all the guards and more or less knew what each guard was up to and where he was. It was exhausting for her to do all this watching and spying to find a convenient window to get out of the palace. Usually, the moment she found such an open space, she would run and hide somewhere. Then she would have to calm down for an hour because of the adrenaline pumping through her body. Unfortunately for her, every escape so far had ended with her voluntarily returning to the palace when she realised that something was not going her way. Either she had a minor accident and ended up in the hospital where Franek came to get her, or she got picked up while patrolling. Thanks to her antics, the palace guards were going through quite a school of life.

Before Lea reached the age of fifteen, the bodyguards took care of all the king's children quite lightly. They were no trouble at all. But as Lea began to understand what was going on around her, what kind of future was being built for her as her father's eldest, she came to realise that she didn't want that for herself. She told her parents this, of course, but they told her that she would change her mind when she grew up. She did grow up, and the only thing that changed was her level of annoyance at how she was treated. No one took her opinion seriously, so she started running away from the palace.

After one of her escapes, a bet on Lea appeared on the stock market. It became very popular as she grew up. People tried to outdo each other in betting on when she would run away the next time and how long it would be before the security guards or the paparazzi would find her.

Lea grew up to be a very beautiful woman. Letizia, her twin, was also popular, but a little less so, as she preferred to sit in the safety of the palace, away from the scandals. She hoped that her father would give power to her and not to Lea. Lea didn't want power at all. That is why she tried to be the favourite daughter of her parents and not to cause them any problems at all.

***

Samuel had a training session with Stefan. Then he went for a shower, as he had a lot of dog hair on him. He enjoyed training them. They were obedient and graceful creatures. He didn't feel like going to the cafeteria. He'd just broken up with Fiona and the sight of her made him sick. He was very grateful when Stefan brought him a tray of food outside the cafeteria.

– The princess has winded them again -chuckled Stefan, sitting down next to him with his tray – If it goes on like this I'll make another five hundred.

– Do you take part in these bets? – Samuel was surprised.

– Of course – smiled Stefan – I have a lot of fun with them.

– I've spoken to Franek, and he doesn't seem to enjoy it much. He has news that there is a vacancy for a new head of security.

– Do you want to apply?

– I have been thinking about it – he nodded.

– Is it for her or for a career? – Stefan asked with a wink.

He knew that his friend liked Lea, she was his type of woman, intelligent, pretty, shapely, and it turned out that she was not lacking in courage. These were the kind of women Samuel liked, and only they could tame him.

– I'm not going there for a career – he smiled.

– I'm not saying you won't be able to handle her, but what if she is smarter than you?

– You ask, what if she rejects me? – he laughed.

– Well, something like that – Stefan nodded.

– You'd better pray that I don't get it – he winked at him and finished his lunch.

– Oh man - Stefan sighed heavily – I'm going to miss you here. With your recommendations from the unit you got this job.

– That's what the General said – nodding – all we have to do is submit the paperwork.

Later that day, Samuel went to see the general. They sent the papers to the palace. The next morning they heard back that they were invited to come and see the King and Queen themselves.

* Princess Lea has 3 parts published in Polish.

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