Though the girl knew it was wrong to be excited earlier, she was now bored out of her mind. She had expected it to be sad but the priest's speech was just mind numbing. If she was awake on the ride here, she would undoubtedly be asleep right now.
"Haa…"
Even with the nap she was still feeling sleepy. The girl looked around to see if any of the others were like her. Unsurprisingly there were a handful of people who were nodding off at the priest's sermons. Though most of them had much sadder looks on their face which the girl could understand.
Apprehensively, the girl looked to her side where her big sister was.
"Hoo…"
She was looking down and breathing rather heavily. Of course that was of no surprise to the girl. This service was for her big sister's fiancé so there was no way for her to not feel affected by it. Just thinking about if their roles were swapped and it was her fiancé's passing instead, made the girl's heart ache slightly.
'Hmm… I wonder if they're here.'
Now that her mind was on it, the girl quickly scanned the room for him. Though she spotted his mother, it looked like he was missing.
'I guess he didn't come.'
She was a little saddened by that fact, but she understood why. While she was here to support her big sister, there was no real reason for any other noble children to come apart from being dragged here by their parents.
'Not really a happy time I guess.'
The girl turned and looked back at her big sister. She still had her head down as she listened to the priest talking.
"!!!"
The girl held her big sister's hand and gave her a smile. Her face was concealed by the veil, but when she turned to her, it felt like she was smiling back at the girl. Her big sister gently squeezed her hand back.
"Thank you."
Though she said it beneath her breath, the girl was still able to hear it. She squeezed her hand and powered through the rest of the service.
"Will the family of the dearly departed, please come forward."
At those words, a couple with blonde hair stood up from their seats and stepped in front of the casket. The woman seemed to shiver looking at it. After a bit of time, she suddenly looked in their direction and gestured for them to come closer.
"Uhm…"
Her big sister scratched the back of her neck as she stared at the woman, seemingly unsure if she should go there.
"If you don't want to go Rel that's fine."
"N-no! I was just… steeling myself. Can you all come with me?"
As she asked the question, her father gestured towards the couple and they nodded their heads supposedly as a response.
"They said it was fine. Let's go, Rel."
"Ok."
The imperial family stood up and walked toward the casket.
"I'm so sorry you two."
"It's alright, empress. We… expected it to happen."
"It doesn't make it hurt any less."
Her mother pulled the woman into a hug and caressed the back of her head. She was wearing a veil as well so it was a bit hard to notice just by looking but the girl heard her crying ever so lightly.
"Hello there, Princess Aurelia."
Then a man approached her big sister.
"Hello Duke Gildea."
"It is… nice to see that you came. I was told that you did not look too fondly at my boy but I'm sure he would be happy that you came to see him off."
"I'm sorry, Duke Gildea."
"Don't be... This is a part of life after all."
"Uhm… do you mind if I… go over?"
"Go ahead Princess. I'm sure he would like that."
"Th-thank you Duke."
Her big sister bowed towards the man and walked toward the casket. The man then turned to face the girl and her father.
"I greet the emperor of Recora."
"Come on, Luke. No need for such formalities, especially not today."
"Haha… think of it as a way of acting alright. And the little one by your side is?"
"O-oh, my name is Mira. Mira Recora. I greet Duke Gildea."
The girl bowed to the towering man in front of her. Though her status was technically higher than his, she was aware that it was the least amount of courtesy she could give.
"The second imperial princess."
He stared at her before bowing his head as well.
"I greet the second imperial princess. I am Duke Lukane Gildea. A pleasure to meet you."
"Th-thank you."
His stature seemed massive to the girl. Though her father and the duke were of similar builds, she knew her father all her life and was somewhat aware of his attitude. The man in front of her however, was a stranger. His eyes seemed devoid of life and his gaze was fixated on her. His presence was a bit terrifying for someone who never meets people.
Perhaps noticing her shaky figure, her father pulled her to his side and hid her behind his back.
"Sorry about her, Luke. It's her first time going outside of the palace. I hope you understand."
"Do not worry, your Grace. I know I'm not exactly the best person to meet for someone like her. Even without… recent events happening that probably would still be the case."
"I hate to agree with you here Luke, but yeah. You'd be quite terrifying for a sheltered princess."
The emperor looked back at his daughter who was still shaking.
"I know that he looks terrifying, Mira, but Luke is a nice person."
"I don't know about that one, your Grace."
"Oh just take the compliment, Luke."
"Haha… Very well. Thank you, your Grace."
Though the man had a smile on his face, it was clear that he was tired.
"Are you doing alright?"
"Not at all your Grace. Not at all."
"That's fine Luke. It's a difficult time for you and Lucille. Remember, my doors are always open if you ever want to talk about it."
"Thank you, your Grace. But it looks like I'm not the one that will need that support this time."
The man gestured towards the casket where his son was. And beside it, was the figure of a girl crying.
"Oh no."
"She's a lot more emotional about this than I thought she would be. Especially considering I was told she hated my boy for most of their time together."
"That may have been the case at the start. But she grew fond of him apparently. It was a bit late but she did."
"I know and that's good. I would not be as receptive to your presence here if she hadn't. It was a short time, but the time that they did grow fonder of each other, Ivan showed me more smiles than I could ever recall."
The man looked down at a necklace in his hand and shook slightly.
"I'm grateful for that. I just wish I could have seen more of it."
He closed his fist and took a deep breath.
"Ha… are you not going to the princess, your Grace?"
"I will. You should go as well. Me and Jyll will support you all. No need for you to be the wall this time. You can break alongside your wife, we'll be there."
"Th-thank you, your Grace…"
The large man shuddered and walked toward the casket supported by the emperor. As the two men walked toward the casket, the women noticed them and hugged them as they drew closer. They all looked at the inside of the casket and the boy's parents started to tear up.
"Are you not going to go to them, Princess?"
"No Shira."
"Why is that Princess?"
"They don't need me there."
The butler had a conflicted look on his face before seemingly accepting the girl's actions.
Three of them were grieving and two of them were supporting them. The girl had no real connection to the boy but they did. And while the girl wanted to go comfort her big sister, she was in the center of it all. The girl would have to squeeze her way through the grown ups to get to her. It would be quite awkward and inappropriate to force herself through them. And since their parents were there, there was no real need for the girl to show her support.
However, her actions had unforeseen effects. The murmurs of the crowd unfortunately reached her ears.
"Who's that other girl with them?"
"Maybe it's the second princess?"
"I don't think so. She would have golden hair like the rest of them if that were the case."
"It's far too early for the second princess to make an appearance."
"Then what is she?"
"Maybe she's an adopted orphan girl being trained to be a lady in waiting."
"That would explain the hair I guess. But why is she here? Doesn't look like she's doing much."
"Why don't you go ask her then? Count Hibiki's there too, make that your excuse."
"Don't want to. Sounds like a lot of work for not much."
"This could be a chance to get closer to the imperial family, you know."
"Do I look like a mere viscount to you? Why go for just an apple when the entire tree is fair game."
"Really? She just lost her fiancé and you're already thinking of asking for a marriage proposal?"
"No real harm in it now is there? You miss a hundred percent of the rides you don't get a ticket to."
"It's probably going to get rejected, you know."
"True, but there's always a chance right?"
Their conversation veered off the subject and the girl quickly lost interest in eavesdropping. Though their words stuck with her. It seemed that on the outside, people did not see her as part of the family. She lacked the imperial family's signature golden hair, sure, but she still came in with them. That alone should be enough to show that she was the second princess.
'But I could also just have been a maid…'
Though she came with them, there really was no other indication to show that she was a member of the imperial family.
'If I had my awakening. If I had golden hair. Would they know better?'
The girl unconsciously looked at the statue of Sol. She had the highest following of the gods within the empire and was known to have given her blessing to the imperial family. At least that was what everyone thought. The girl was beginning to have her doubts.
'Maybe I could ask.'
They were currently in the holiest place in the empire. If there was any place where she could ask questions and get an answer it would probably be here.
"Shira?"
"Yes Princess?"
"Please lead me to a prayer room."
"Hm…"
He seemed to contemplate her request a bit. The butler looked between her and her family. He seemed to want to ask permission from her parents but, with the situation they were in that was hardly an option. In the end he nodded his head.
"Very well Princess. Please follow me."
"Thank you Shira."
With only a few people noticing, the two slipped away from the funeral.
****
There were many worshiped gods across the empire and as such, to accommodate most of them the cathedral was built on a scale that could rival even the imperial palace. Scattered throughout the building were confession booths which often doubled as small prayer rooms if one wanted to pray to a specific god.
While the girl could just use one of those booths, she was a princess so she had to go to a room built for the imperial family.
"We are here princess. Take your time. I will be outside if you need anything."
"Thank you Shira."
The girl gave the butler a bow and entered the room. As her only reference for what a prayer room looked like came from one illustration that she saw in a book, the atmosphere of the room seemed much more grand.
The room was dark and devoid of windows only illuminated by dim light fixtures lining the walls. In the center was a small table with what looked like an idol of Sol on top. From what she read it was supposed to be empty but as her family was blessed by her it was only fair for her idol to be there by default.
'Was there anything else I needed to do?'
Technically one could pray to their god wherever with no need for such an elaborate setting. Though this was seen as more respectful and dignified.
'Idol, alone, dim room. No, I think that's about it.'
"Hoo… okay…okay…"
With nothing else she seemed to be missing, the girl walked closer toward the table and knelt in front of the idol.
"Hello Lady Sol, I hope you remember me. I was practically a baby last time so I changed a lot, but I hope you do."
The girl let out an awkward laugh as she greeted the idol.
"My lady… Did you bless me?"