The Crown Prince Thinks I'm a Guy

The Order's Inauguration Ceremony

The door closed behind us with a resounding bang. I gulped down my fear, yet realized I had far more still gathering up in my arsenal. The assassins' gazes were like prickling stings on my exposed skin, and for once, I wanted to be dressed in conservative girl's wear so I could hide away from their attention.

"Uh..." the assassin girl murmured beside me, probably realizing the reason for their hostile looks. Fidgeting even more, she turned to me with panicking eyes, and whispered hurriedly, "I don't think you're allowed here..."

"You think?" I whispered back with a slight glare, although I knew I was far too frightened to ever look threatening.

'So, what am I supposed to do now?'

I looked around the room and found about one familiar face, and even so, I doubt she would help me out. Eleina and I had only met a handful of times, and even then, we didn't talk much aside from the usual niceties...

'Wait, did she just shake her head at me quite disapprovingly just now?' I sighed inwardly. 'I don't suppose I could just slowly back away and leave through the door?'

With not much of a choice, I did just that. Like I was backing away from a pack of hungry lions, I stepped a foot back, ever so slowly, inching away gradually...

''Well, isn't this a surprise?" a woman's deep voice filled the candle-lit room, coming from a body so small I had completely glanced over her in my earlier inspection of the surroundings. "Princess Eleftheria, is it not?"

I've probably never been more grateful to a powerful murderer as I was right now. I managed a curtsy even though I wore no skirts. Bowing low, I said, "It is indeed I, Princess Eleftheria of Saule. I am deeply sorry for having intruded upon your ceremony. Having been lost in the impressively... complex corridors of the Order, I had forcibly asked for this young assassin to guide me until I had gained my bearings. Alas, I have stumbled here unwittingly and quite..."

"Stupidly?" the white-haired child of an assassin offered. I grunted, and saw as her lavender eyes widened a bit. She whispered in disbelief, "Wait, did you just say Princess??"

I ignored her, and continued on without missing a beat, "Indeed, I must say I had a lapse in judgement to have barged in straight into this hall. For that, I apologize gravely, and beg your leave that I may disgracefully make my egress." I bowed even deeper, not even daring to look up to observe their reactions.

A few, dreadfully heavy seconds passed by...

'I suppose silence is a universal signal for agreement?' I wondered, and was about to stand to exit quietly...

"Oh, none of that, princess." High Monk Eva had approached my bowing form, and gently allowed me to straighten up with her tiny hands. "Did I not ask that old man to bring you here for a meeting? It may be pushed back a bit earlier, but I suppose we might as well do it now."

"Eva, we can't push back the inauguration until later just because of your scheduling mishaps," Eleina uttered monotonously from behind her. "We have guests from the ground level branches right now, and they have busy schedules."

"Oh, not any more busier than that old merchant and his little liege, perhaps?" the tiny woman replied, as though actually thinking about the possibility of her words seriously.

I observed how interesting it was to sense the annoyance from the silent Eleina, even though there were no great changes to her facial expression. Eleina told the head assassin levelly, "And the High Monk can never be too busy to organize her schedules a little less chaotically."

I gasped quietly.

However, to my surprise, the tiny woman didn't murder the brunette right on the spot. Instead, she laughed amiably as though Eleina's words weren't disrespectful at all. "Oh, what would I ever do without you, dear Eleina? I suppose you should be the one in charge of my daily schedules from now on?"