Serafina: Becoming a Princess

Chapter Eight

To say that her new schedule was overwhelming was an understatement. Along with her new dance lessons and beginning to accompany her father and brother, she still had to find time to go into town and start volunteering wherever she could. 

Leena stood with a clipboard in hand as she went over the day's itinerary. As Sera was listening to the list as Jelena, Eileen, and Laney rotated dress after dress in front of her to choose from. 

"After breakfast Prince Zander will be accompanying you into Nautica to give you a tour of the city." Leena looked up from her list. "You have lived in Nautica all of your life but have only been outside these walls a couple of times in your life. This will be a golden opportunity for you to really get to know the people."

Leena's eyes softened as her next words came out barely higher than a whisper, as if a memory had caught her attention. "Your mother loved the children in Nautica. I'm sure you'll make her proud."

Sera looked up from the flashes of colored fabric in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Leena's eyes sharpened. 

"Of course." She cleared her throat. "In addition, with Prince Zander and his guards Jelena and Eileen will accompany you as well. I would, of course, love to go with you but I need to bring Laney to run some quick errands. But I cannot wait to hear all about your day today."

She passed Sera a small smile before placing the clipboard at her side and walking over to inspect the dresses that were still passing by in flashes. Then she turned towards Sera and gave her a weak stern expression. 

"You need to learn how to pick out appropriate clothes for yourself from now on. A princess needs to be decisive. You cannot always rely on myself or others to dress you for the occasion. I want you to actually look at these dresses and find something appropriate for meeting new people today, but also remember that you will be out and about and will be walking for most of the day. So, it needs to look nice and be practical at the same time."

Sera focused on the quilt-like mess on her bed. Everything was layered on top of one another. Sundresses and ball gowns spread out equally. 

"We can probably lose the ball gowns. Those are far too formal for an outing where the purpose is to be relatable to the citizens." All of the elegant ball gowns were fluttered away, leaving more casual attire behind.

It would be a lie to say that a nice sundress wasn't her signature choice of clothing. It was quite evident by the choices that lay before her. The inward struggle was real. She didn't want to be predictable, but at the same time the citizens had never seen her before and probably wouldn't judge her too harshly for her lack of wardrobe. With a defeated sigh, she lightly touched a powdered blue sundress before picking it up to wear.

Soon after breakfast there came a soft knock on the door, signaling Zander's arrival to take her out for a day of touring the city. Sera immediately noticed that he was dressed down in a buttoned down navy shirt, with the first two buttons left unfastened, and black slacks. It made her feel better about her choice, she was sure that she was dressed too casually. 

"You look perfect, little sister." Zander offered his arm like a true gentleman. "Shall we be off? I have set up our whole day and I think you will have fun. I hope you are not too full, our first stop will be the marketplace and we will most likely be trying some of the things that the merchants have to offer. Then we will hold a gathering in the community center so that the people can ask you questions and get to know you more. After all of that we will finish the day visiting the orphanage. Does that sound okay? Or do you think that's too much? I don't want you to be over exerted after everything that has happened."