The next day Athanasia went to the garden to have tea with her father like always. When she arrived he saw her Dad already sitting there and drinking tea.
"You took your time"
"I'm sorry, I overslept"
She took her seat and instantly went out for the cakes and tarts. She just couldn't resist them.
"How did you sleep, Dad?"
"Like always"
But when Athanasia looked closer she could see the fatigue in her fathers eyes. Well, Athy couldn't really blame him. He probably had a long night after hearing that he apparently had another daughter. So she decided not to talk with him about that matter since Claude was already troubled enough.
Later
"Princess! Look at all these invitations!"
There was a tablet full of letters and invitations addressed to Athy. She herself just stared at it surprised.
"Are these all invitations?"
"Yes, and more will arrive from now on!
I'm so happy to see this day"
Lilly, Hannah and Ces were really excited about the invitations. Athanasia randomly took one letter and opened it. Ever since the Debutante , invitations requesting her presence at parties had started flooding in. Athanasia from the novel was ignored by everyone. She chuckled.
'So this is what happens when Claude escorts me himself'
"Which house's invitation will you accept first?"
"Well, I don't really know yet."
"How about Marquess Irain? House Irain is known to have a very handsome young son"
Lilly sighed.
"Hannah, that's for the Princess to decide! She hasn't even opened all the invitations yet."
Athy wasn't listening anymore. Could she really attend these kinds of things? If she thought about it then she had never left the castle before. Maybe she should ask her dad. So she left the room and headed to her fathers office. She knocked before entering.
"Dad, are you busy?"
Claude was working on some documents but once he saw Athy he seemed to relax a little bit.
"Sit down and wait"
"I'll stay quiet"
She headed to the couch and as she passed Claude she could smell the ink.
'It's unexpected, but this type suits him quite well. I thought he always just fooled around but he works pretty hard. That reminds me, they do refer to him as a saint and a good king in the story books'
As she sat down she saw a weird stone statue. She was sure that it was on her fathers desk before. She picked it up and started looking at it.
"Do you want it?"
"Ah! ...
No. It looked funny... no... i mean... it looked like a decoration with a story behind it, so I was just looking"
Claude smirked.
"It's nothing but an ugly piece of stone. I would have given it to you if you wanted"
If it was just a piece of stone then why was it placed so carefully in that office? Athanasia thought that her Dad had a weird taste but she decided to respect it.
"No, it's fine."
"Did you come here to say something?"
"I just came because I wanted to see you, but you seem to be busy, so I'll head back"
"I'm not that busy"
Was that guy seriously telling him that he wasn't that busy while writing non-stop? She actually wanted to talk about the invitations but she didn't want to disturb Claude. As she was thinking about leaving, Claude called Felix who opened the door, ready to serve him.
"There are a few documents that need to be done today, so take care of them in my Place"
"... Pardon? Your Majesty, how could I-"
But Claude quickly interrupted him already on his way out.
"I've already checked over them, so there's not much to do. You'll need this"
Claude took the stone statue and threw it over to Felix who caught it. When Felix realized what it was he went pale.
"GAH! Your Majesty! How could you be so careless in handling a national treasure like THE ROYAL SEAL?!"
"Let's go Athanasia"
Wait what... The r-royal seal? That thing?! Now it was Athys turn to be pale. Claude was ready to give her the royal seal that easily?!
After Felix's desperate attempt to keep Claude in the office they were finally in the hall.
"I've put him to work so he won't come looking for me for at least a couple of hours. I should have some tea brought out to the garden.
Feli-"
Claude halted. He seemed to have forgotten it already. In the meantime Athy started laughing at him.
"You just left him behind, Dad"
"..."
"Dad, why don't we take a boat trip?"
So they headed out to the lake. But neither of them expected someone to be there. Jenette was just standing at the lake. It looked like she enjoyed the view but as Athy and Claude came closer she noticed them.
"Blessings and Glory upon the Obelian Empire"
Athanasia could feel her fathers cold glare directed at Jenette. It seemed like he didn't wish that his time with Athy was disturbed.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm exploring the place, your Majesty
... or... um... should I say f-father?"
Jenette seemed nervous and Athy knew that Claude was angry now. So she decided to step in before Claude could speak.
"Um, Dad? Maybe we should just go?"
"If I may ask, where are you heading to?"
"We wanted to take a boat trip since the weather is lovely today"
"That is quite true. Um... would you mind if I joined you?"
Athanasia didn't expect that. She wanted to avoid Jenette, not to spend time with her. But it would be rude to reject her.
"I don't see a reason why you shouldn't"
Claude just stood beside Athy. He didn't want to upset Athy by telling Jenette to leave. If Athy wished to befriend her then he wouldn't get in her way.
So they went on the boat. After an akward silence Jenette decided to say something.
"So have you two taken a boat trip before?"
Claude was still glaring at her but not as much as before since he didn't want to upset Athy.
"Athanasia fell into this lake when she was little"
"I don't really remember"
At that time Athy still thought of him as a dirtbag. But she noticed that everytime Claude looked at her nowadays, his gaze softened. She could never tell what he was thinking about. Now they were passing the flowers. Jenette was quite impressed by them. In the meantime Athanasia put her hand into the water.
"Athanasia, don't get too close to the water"
So he cared for her this time. Now she wanted to try something.
"Dad, Dad. I want to look at that flower up close"
Claude seemed kind if dumbfounded. Athy waited for him to tell her that it's dangerous, that she could fall in the lake like last time.
"Now that I think of it, you were interested in that when you were little too. Do you like those kinds of things? What peculiar taste you have"
"I think these flowers are really beautiful, Princess"
It didn't help that Jenette thought that the flowers were beautiful when Claude said that she had a weird taste. She even respected his weird stone statue. She felt really embarrassed now.
"Just a moment"
Huh? What was he going to do now?