"Would you like to play at the waterfall, my Lady?" Princess Isis suddenly asks.
"I don't have spare clothes, and being wet would be a problem to my manor," Natalie explained, despite her desire to play and swim at the waterfall.
Princess Isis snapped her fingers, and two maids rushed to their aid. They bring two bags along with them and then take something from them. Natalie observes them intently without saying anything, as her ruby eyes keep on the maids. Then, the maids bring her clothes and another pair she doesn't recognise. That could be Isis's.
"Your Highness brings along my clothes?" she raises her eyebrow, looking at Princess Isis.
"Just a precaution," she smiles at the Duchess.
The Duchess simply nods and changes into a more comfortable outfit. Rejecting Isis would be inconvenient, and with her persistence, the argument would last until tomorrow. So merely go with the flow. Princess Isis does the same before joining the Duchess in the waterfall. As soon as she goes inside, she tackles the Duchess and lets Natalie fall into the water, letting her goofiness shine through.
The Duchess of Light gets up again and glares at the Crown Princess. Is she serious about playing like kids right now?
Princess Isis gasps dramatically, "Are you just glaring at the Crown Princess of the Crassore Empire now?"
Natalie swears she wants to roll her eyes as Isis pulls out her triumph card. But, for God's sake, Isis is a Crown Princess! She is the polar opposite of Medea and her, more akin to Hera. Yet, when they meet, they will be great friends. Rainbows and flowers will be around them as they giggle around each other.
She chuckles at the thought but quickly returns to the strict mode when she hears Isis say, "Oh, you're smiling now!"
"This is a child's play, Your Highness," Natalie said bluntly in front of the Crown Princess.
Princess Isis knows that the Duchess will think of that, but what is wrong with letting yourself go for once? Being an adult is hard enough. The Crown Princess approaches Natalie slowly as the water hinders her movement. On the other hand, Natalie is still staring at the water and playing with it. Meanwhile, Isis had already reached the front of her in no time.
Since Natalie is a little shorter than Isis, the blonde had to look up to see the Crown Princess. It's the second time they've been so close, and Natalie is uneasy. She despises it when people intrude on her personal space.
"Would you like to play a game with me, Duchess Natalie? The one who loses will grant the winner's wish," the Crown Princess wiggles her eyebrows, trying to convince the Duchess to agree to play the game with her.
"What a cliche plot of the novel," Aurora thought.
After much consideration, the Duchess of Light agrees to the Crown Princess's suggestion. The game they will play is catching the tied ribbon on their head; whoever gets the ribbon wins. It sounds simple enough, but it isn't when their servants must carry both of them on their shoulders while they compete for the ribbon.
Duchess Natalie pities her servant, Daphne, for carrying her. Despite her slim figure, Duchess Natalie is quite heavy for a grown woman. Not to mention that she is gradually gaining muscle for swordsmanship. It is, however, even worse on Isis' side. The Princess' servant will suffer more because of her tall stature and slightly muscular body. She can't believe they're putting their servants through this.
"Isis is simply unbelievable."
However, she notices that Isis' servant has no trouble carrying the Crown Princess. While Daphne is practically shaking her legs and will most likely drown for carrying the Duchess on her shoulder.
"Ah, I'm going to lose," Aurora realised in her mind.
"Stay a little longer, Daphne. Lunges forward when I say it, "Natalie expressed her desire to end the game so that their servants would not suffer due to it.
The Duchess of Light is patiently awaiting the right moment, hoping to find an opening from Isis' side. Finally, when she sees an opportunity, she yells to Daphne, "Now!" and instructs her to lunge forward.
The other team is taken aback by Natalie's yelling and their sudden movement. Perhaps they are more taken aback by her yelling. As Daphne lunges forward and bumps into them, Natalie catches them off guard. They both fall due to the impact, and Natalie can grab the ribbon in the process. That's how they'd win. At least in Natalie's imagination.
Yet, her imagination is oppositely different from reality. In reality, Natalie and Daphne lose to Isis' team. The actual thing that happens is that when Daphne lunges forward, her legs give out, causing them both to fall. Isis seizes the opportunity and wins the game by grabbing Natalie's ribbon. So, the Crown Princess laughs hard while helping both women who are losing. Poor Daphne, she apologised to the Duchess multiple times, afraid that the blonde woman would get mad at her.
So the ruby eyes look Daphne in the eyes, making her cower. Daphne looks down, terrified of that intense gaze.
Soon after, a slender hand touched her chin and said, "Raise your head, Daphne, and look at me."
Daphne slowly raises her head, her gaze returning to the ruby eyes.
"It's not your fault that we're both out. And don't apologise anymore, " Natalie spoke as Daphne's tears began to fall.
She is relieved that the Duchess is not upset with her. Duchess Natalie is not a bad master, to begin with, but being lost like that is humiliating for her, especially in front of the Crown Princess. After the servants leave the pair again, the Duchess walks over to the Crown Princess, asking about her wish.
In the end, the raven-haired beauty said, "Just one thing, look at me with happiness for today, Duchess Natalie."
The blonde woman shows a puzzled face over that wish. After that dumb game, is she just asking for that look? The Crown Princess looks at her, unsure what she is thinking. But she might have caught a glimpse of it.
So, the Crown Princess continues to say, "Your eyes are always full of anger and sadness, or other emotions except for happiness. So, let me wish for that thing, looking at your eyes fill with happiness, just for today."
The Duchess of Light is caught off guard by request and is unsure how to respond. "Alright then," she says as she turns away from Isis.
The Crown Princess beams with pride at her accomplishment. Then they both change back into their clothes, but Natalie has forgotten about something. Her hair is wet, so she needs to let it dry, but she prefers to do something else. Consequently, Natalie wraps the towel around her hair. Finally, she walks over to the tree, waiting for Isis to finish her change.
The Crown Princess emerges from the other side, holding a towel. She also lets her hair down. If Natalie wasn't fighting for her life, she'd be drooling over her like the servants. Princess Isis chuckles slightly at the other reaction, but the Duchess remains expressionless. She keeps looking at Natalie, trying to remind her to smile because of the wish.
Duchess Smith is completely baffled at first but quickly remembers her desire and smiles.
Then, they would then all make their way to the carriage. They are all in a comfortable silence, possibly exhausted by the activities at the waterfall. Princess Isis would occasionally converse with Natalie, attempting to divert their attention away from the task of getting to the carriage. Because there are so many puddles, their clothes are once again soaked.
"I would probably take a nap after this," Aurora makes her next plan.
"Your clothing is drenched. Would you like me to carry you again?" Princess offers to carry the Duchess of Light once more.
"No, it's alright. Thank you for asking, Your Highness," Duchess Smith shakes her head side to side, letting out a small smile.
The blonde woman can move much more freely now that she is wearing pants instead of the dress she was wearing previously. Isis could have improved this date by instructing it to dress appropriately for the occasion. Who would dress up for a walk in the woods like this?
"You are such a whiner, Aurora," she thought.
Natalie wanders around the woods, taking in the scenery as the sun sets. Due to this, the surroundings appear red-orange, reminding them to return to the carriage before nightfall.
"We were six people in total. So why is it now five people?" she thinks as she looks around.
The Duchess comes to a halt in her path, causing the Crown Princess to come to a halt as well. Something smells rat about this, and she can't pinpoint it.
"Daphne? What happened to Daphne?" Natalie speaks while looking around at the other four people.
Daphne is no longer present, and the others are shocked.
"Daphne came back a few minutes ago to get things," one of the servants claims.
"How long has she now been in there?" the Crown Princess asks the man.
The man fidgeted his hands as he considered telling the woman how long she had been missing. But instead, his lips are quivering as two pairs of red eyes pierce his face. It's terrifying.
"It is too long before we face the puddles," he said, his voice trembling.
After realising that her anger would worsen the situation, Natalie tries to think things through. So she made an effort to go back there. Nonetheless, Duchess Smith worries that Daphne will get lost while trying to find the carriage.
"We should go back first, Your Grace. Let the knights look for her," one of the servants attempts to persuade the Duchess.
"Daphne would most likely be dead by the time we returned. Being attacked by wild animals. She can't even hold a grown woman, let alone an animal," Natalie explained, snarling at the woman who decided to leave her servant alone.
The blonde woman faces the Crown Princess again, "Leave first, Your Highness. The Imperial Palace would be alarmed by the time you have not to return before the night comes."
The Duchess of Light bows to Her Highness before returning to the waterfall.
When Isis speaks, they all halt, turning their attention to the Crown Princess, "Allow me to assist you. I won't leave unless you leave with me."
Duchess Smith cannot afford to waste time arguing with Princess Isis, allowing it immediately as she needs to find Daphne before she becomes even more disoriented. And time is not on their side right now. The night gradually consumes the woods.
The leaves around the path begin to rustle as they return to the waterfall. Their senses began to sharpen when they heard a sound and stopped for a while. The sounds stopped when they turned their heads to the side. As they resume their walk, men in black surround them, drawing their swords at the five figures. Isis moves in front of Natalie instinctively, her hand holding the blade from the side.
One of the men grabs the servants and thrusts his sword into the servant's neck. Dread filled the servant's eyes, causing him to bawl, and panic surged through him.
"Let down your dagger. Get down on your knees and surrender," the man speaks.
Natalie extends her hand to Isis, begging her to drop the dagger, tugging on her hand gently. However, the odds are stacked against them. So Isis lowered her blade slowly, and the men quickly apprehended them, while the servant who had been threatened was suddenly at ease.
The Duchess and Crown Princess realised they were trapped at that point. They were then blindfolded and had no idea where the men were taking them. They then reach the carriages, where Isis and Natalie are separated. At least, that's what Aurora predicted.
The horses begin to gallop, and Aurora swears she can feel like life starts to play a joke on her again. So she just starts hoping for something better to come to mind to escape. She wonders where Daphne and Isis would be in this situation right now. Hopefully, they are fine.
"I should've known it is a trap," Aurora shakes her head in disbelief.
Suddenly, Aurora feels her body flying around from the impact. Something had been running over her carriage, and the pain surged through her body. Her vision became blurry, and she couldn't hear anything around her. As people's voices became distorted, everything began to sound strange. Her body bleeds profusely, particularly on her side. When she looks up, she sees the moon, thinking about Duchess Valimos while she can feel her life slipping away from her grasp. That's the last thing she sees before passing out.
A distant voice can be heard calling out, "Help!"