Chapter 2

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Please do not redistribute or re-translate without permission.

Translated by Momo. Unedited.

One of Yuina's jobs was running errands. It was a simple task that only required her to carry around whatever she's been entrusted with to another person, but sometimes it was terribly time-consuming. Of course, someone in her position couldn’t enter the main area of the Royal Palace, so she just wandered around the surroundings waiting for the appointed person, but the people working at the Royal Palace were extremely busy and wouldn’t just stay at the same place all the time.

This time she was asked to deliver something with the following instructions "You must deliver it in person." And she had a hard time finding that individual. Even when she visited the place where they were usually stationed at, "They were here just a while ago, but it seems they went somewhere..." was the answer she received while the ones left behind shrug their shoulders. “Where are they now? Maybe they went to the place where the carriages are kept?”

When she visited the department that managed horse-drawn carriages according to what she was told, the person there reported, "Aaah, I’m sorry. After they were done, it seems they went to the place that manages the flowers." Yuina, who dropped her shoulders, still bowed her head towards the person who helped her and said "Thank you". Such a nice attitude made the old man smile and he asked while beaming with joy.

"Young lady, you're so cute. Are you a servant? Would you like me to introduce you to my son?"

"T-thank you! B-but I'm in a hurry now!"

Yuina bowed over and over again and escaped.

While walking away in a rush, she sighed. Although she sometimes felt that her own appearance brought a lot of benefits, on the other hand, it was often troublesome. Even so, it seemed that there were overwhelmingly more times that it was a positive trait.

For Yuina, who was not very clever neither especially intelligent, her appearance was her only strength. She didn't think she could make the best use of it because of her personality, but during all the time she has been working at the Royal Palace, she was showered with affection by the people around her. When she wondered if it was only because of her appearance, she wallowed in self-mockery. More than she ever expected, there were many things people would forgive just because she looked cute. Yuina had some complicated feelings when she considered she would have lived a sad life without any friends if she wasn't considered 'adorable'.

Her friends would constantly tell her, "If you make good use of your looks, you could aim for a big catch", but Yuina wanted to avoid that situation as much as possible. It was better to live a humble life with someone she truly loved than to get rich by marrying someone she didn't even fancy. Yuina was born in a commoner family and didn't yearn for a luxurious life that wouldn't fit her.

Realizing that she was just self-reproaching, Yuina heaved a big sighed as she ran into the rear yard of the Royal Palace. She wondered if she dreamed too much. She didn't mean to ridicule the friends who were steadily finding dependable partners. Rather, she had a lot of respect for them. Getting along with someone, trying to build a relationship, even if it resulted in a breakup, something that wasn't just "I like you" but trying to find a mutual compromise between partners.

She just rejected it all saying "I don't feel like we're destined", but everyone around her acted mature like a proper adult.

Maybe she was just frightened of having a relationship with someone. Maybe she was just afraid of change.

Yuina, who recently started to have those kinds of thoughts, sighed while she started to walk again.

"No, stop it. Anyway, it's work hours now. I have to find the person I'm looking for quickly. There are still many tasks waiting for me in my post."

The next place she was going was the flower management department. She shook her head several times in order to change her mood, and her hair flung on her back. It has been a long time since she became busy with her work and it had grown quite a bit. While figuring it out if she should cut it down a little, she made a turn to take an outer path.

A shadow suddenly appeared in front of her, and Yuina was about to scream when--

"Aah-- eh?!"

"S-sorry!"

She didn't notice that someone was standing there because she wasn't looking forward while walking. Yuina tried to avoid hitting that person's back, tangling her legs and rolling back. She hurriedly bowed down her head while mentally admonishing herself for her lack of balance and dull motor skills.

In front of her eyes, there was a dark blue uniform and for a moment, she felt all the blood on her body freeze. That was one of the special colours among the many knights in the Royal Palace. That colour was only worn by the guards who were privately assigned to important people such as the Royal family.

Yuina had no previous knowledge about the ranks in the Royal Palace before she started to work there, but as she began her job as a servant, she learned a lot of things. Since her tasks also involved dealing with the laundry, she became more familiar with clothes used there.

Up until now, all knights were the same in her mind, but in the Royal Palace, the roles were clearly separated, and it was shown by their uniform. Dark blue was the colour of royalty. In order to be selected to protect the royal family, the candidate not only must have strength but above all, it must be someone reliable who has earned their trust. In most cases, it meant their family had a close relationship with royalty too.

In other words, for Yuina, this was an out of reach person, at the same level as royalty.

She had never before met anyone who would normally be around the innermost area of the Royal Palace, so Yuina completely lost her mind. "Oh my god, I hit someone important, a very important person! Oh, no I have to apologize! Apologize immediately!!"

"I'm extremely sorry!! Please forgive me!"

While she was still sitting down on the ground and lowering her head frantically, the leg that was in front of her had kneeled down.

"It's okay, how about you? Are you injured?"

Thinking that the person might be angry, Yuina looked up in the direction of the calm and soft voice.

--Wooow.

At the moment her gaze landed on the person in front of her, Yuina's world stopped. She blinked repeatedly and wondered if this was a real sight.

There was a prince in front of her. No, it wasn't an actual prince neither it was the Crown Prince of Lucott Kingdom, His Royal Highness, Prince Henry. It was, of course, the one person that Yuina had always dreamed of. A prince of her own.

Wavy black hair that looked soft and black eyes. She was sprawled on the floor at the moment, but she could still see that he was fairly tall. The body beneath his uniform was neat and firm. He looked older than Yuina, but he was probably still young. Even though he was a knight, he didn't look intimidating at all, but rather he had a baby-face and looked very gentle. She knew it was rude to even think about it but the expression that he had while looking at her anxiously reminded her of a cute dog.

"--It's a prince. There's a prince here."

She gazed at his face as if admiring it, and the other person also widened his eyes and stared back at Yuina. "Oh, his eyes are black. It's the same colour as my dear best friend Kokone." Yuina stared at his eyes dreamingly while her thoughts drifted vaguely.

Until now Yuina had dreamed that one day she would meet her destined partner. She was certain that her own prince was somewhere out there. But when asked what kind of person it was, she couldn't answer anything. She always thought that a person with a good personality would be nice, but she didn't have any standards, especially in terms of appearance.

But now Yuina understood.

"My ideal person is someone just like this man!"

The biggest mystery during her eighteen years of life so far was suddenly revealed and Yuina was petrified as if she had been struck by thunder. Her heart was captured in a single moment.

"What should I do? What should I do? The prince is right in front of me. I finally found my prince. What should I do now?!?! My heart is not ready for this!"

Although Yuina was in a state of confusion, she noticed that the other party did not move at all while looking at her. It had been more than a minute since they were staring at each other. When Yuina realized that she was staring at her prince, she suddenly felt her body heat rise. Her face became unexpectedly hot. With her pale white skin, that abrupt change should be noticeable to others too.

Yuina's eyes wandered around. She had never stared at a man like that, and it was even the guy she fell in love with for the first time.

Yes, Yuina fell in love with this man instantly. She felt it at the moment she met this royal knight, whose name she didn't even know.

"No, wait. Haven't I seen him before?" Her confusion finally seemed to settle down and she became a bit more clear-headed. As she thought more about it, it seemed like she had seen him from a distance. A knight wearing a dark blue uniform, tall and slender and with the same black hair and hairstyle. Even Yuina, who was just a servant, had a lingering impression of him. "That's right… Isn't he the knight who's always around the Crown Prince?" His Royal Highness Prince Henry was a very active person who moved around the Royal Palace without worrying about the surroundings, so he was occasionally spotted by the servants. Yuina finally concluded that he was indeed the knight who was always serving by His Highness' side and she was swiftly taken by deep despair.

The royal knight appointed as the Crown Prince's personal escort was a man that definitely wasn't at her reach. The status was too different. "There is no need to ask, this will probably just turn into unrequited love. Aaaah, but it's so cool that he's the one to protect the Crown Prince!" she thought excitedly, and at the moment Yuina herself wasn't sure what she was thinking about anymore.

Yuina was still in a daze with her face burning hot, but the prince right in front of her didn't stop staring, so she gathered all her courage and opened her mouth.

"Ah, hmm… you see..."

And without knowing what to say, she just mumbled. But she couldn't waste this opportunity. She might never be able to exchange words with him for the rest of her life.

Her first love. This could be the first and last time she would be able to talk with the person she felt she was destined to meet. "Yeah, I'll probably never meet such a nice person again. He is the Crown Prince's personal knight and looks so good, and just from what I can see, it looks like his personality is also good! I wonder if there's even any man in this country that is better than him." Yuina felt like fainting when she realized her own standards were simply too high and she couldn't feel anything for anyone else. She couldn't have fallen in love if the person wasn't at this level, this development made her recognize her ignorance. It became clear to her why she was constantly teased by her friends.

But at the same time, she knew something was different. Certainly, this person was attractive and good-looking but she didn't feel he was destined for her because of his appearance or occupation, but because of the whole atmosphere that he exuded. "It's him!" it was something she thought intuitively. She had fallen in love. It just couldn't be helped.

"Ah, erm..."

While still venting out her feelings inside her own head, Yuina managed to come up with some words to say. But she was also about to burst out crying.

"Hmm...yes?"

He kept silent all this time as he stared at Yuina but finally looked like he had snapped back to reality.

"Ahn...Uh...I wonder if it would be all right to ask... your name..."

"Isn't it at the same level as the men who were flirting with her all the time!" Yuina's thoughts rampaged, while her voice gradually dissipated. It couldn't be helped. She has no experience with men. She didn't have any knowledge of how to keep a conversation with the other person.

When Yuina looked up at him, while her face became bright red again, he stared back at her with a dazzled expression, and, although it might just have been her imagination, it also looked like his ears reddened.

"Well...I'm Terriol Hagen."

"Oh, I know that name. That's right, he's really famous. He's the royal knight who is always with the Crown Prince. If you work in the Royal Palace, you would surely have at least heard of him."

Although Yuina was astonished, she cherished that name, "Terriol Hagen", in her heart. "Even his name is wonderful too", the power of love made everything beautiful.

"Hmm, how about you?"

"Eh?"

"Your name. Can you tell me?"

The knight asked Yuina with reddened ears. At that moment, her whole body went numb.

"...It's Yuina"

"Are you working at the Royal Palace?"

"...Yes, I'm a servant."

While answering with a voice softer than an insect's cry, Yuina felt so overwhelmed by her feelings that her eyes teared up. She finally understood. It was the same intuitive feeling that already happened for the first time today, but she felt their hearts touched each other.

Yuina fell in love at first sight. And he probably did too.

Was it possible for such a miracle to happen? In this case, it could really be they were destined to meet.

And finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and a tear spilled from her big green eyes. The knight widened his eyes and looked flustered. And then he timidly extended his hand towards her.

"What's wrong?"

He softly waved his hand as if to ask her permission, and feeling that she didn't refuse it, his fingers gently wiped the tears streaming down her face. Sensing his body temperature with that touch for the first time, her chest beat violently.

"...I finally met you."

Yuina sincerely spilled her true feeling. Her intuition was telling her that this person will surely accept it and understand her.

"Me?"

The man's voice sounded friendlier, sweeter and gentler than ever. "Hm", Yuina nodded.

"I've been looking for you all this time, my prince."

It sounded so cringey and childish, but the knight didn't laugh and continued with a serious look, "I'm the same."

"I was also looking for you. My princess."

Yuina and the knight made eye contact, confirming each other's feelings, and both spilled a smile. The knight gently wiped Yuina's tears again and held her hand.

And that was how they met and became lovers within minutes.

And they lived happily ev– WAIT, there are still 14 chapters to go aaah!!!

Thank you for reading!
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