Princess's Beloved

Chapter 1, Part I - Look At Me

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The Garden Veranda

"Princess Minalin!"

The call rang through the open corridors of the royal residence, carrying over polished wooden floors, carved pillars, and the quiet morning bustle of servants preparing the household for the day.

"Your Highness!"

A pair of small bare feet hurried across the veranda.

Miu glanced over her shoulder.

The corridor behind her was empty.

No Phikun.

No servants.

No one at all.

Good.

She gathered the edge of her silk pha nung in one hand and hurried faster, slipping around one of the carved pillars before pressing herself flat against it. Princess Minalin had already learned that the best hiding places were rarely the ones adult expected a princess to use.

"Your Highness!"

Miu clapped both hands over her mouth as Phikun's footsteps approached.

"Your Highness, where have you gone?"

Carefully, Miu leaned around the edge of the pillar. Her attendant appeared at the far end of the corridor, glancing one way and then the other as she searched. The composure Phikun usually wore so well had begun to wear thin, and even from where she hid, Miu could see the suspicion settling over her face.

Miu ducked back before Phikun could turn her way.

Twice already that morning, she had been caught trying to escape. She had no intention of allowing it to happen a third time.

At least that was the plan.

"Princess Minalin!"

Phikun'a footsteps continued down the corridor, growing fainter until at last they disappeared altogether. Miu remained where she was for another moment, listening carefully, before daring to peek around the pillar once more.

The veranda was empty.

A pleased smile found its way onto her face.

She had done it.

At eight years old, Princess Minalin had already mastered the art of disappearing the moment her attendants looked away.

It helped that she had spent nearly half her childhood in this residence.

Miu had a home of her own with her parents, of course, but Prince Theeraphat's duties bought their family to the capital often enough that this place had long since stopped feeling unfamiliar. Her parents' friendship with Lalinarin's family went back years, and visits between the two household had been part of Miu's life for longer than she could remember.

When she was younger, she came because her parents brought her.

Now, she came because she knew exactly who she would find here.

Not that Miu had ever thought about it that way.

She slipped from behind the pillar and hurried down the steps into the garden. Morning light filtered through the trees, catching on the leaves and along the gilded edges of the roof beyond. The air still carried some of the night's coolness, though the warmth of the coming day had already begun to settle over the stone paths and flowering shrubs. Near the veranda, the scent of jasmine lingered in the air, mingling with the faint sweetness of champaca blossoms deeper in the garden.