Chapter -1: Letizia
Elena is currently in the dining room, absentmindedly having her breakfast.
The chef, who prepared the dishes meticulously, felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. Her lack of enthusiasm cast doubt on his culinary skills.
But it's not the chef's fault; currently there's a war of thoughts ongoing inside her mind making her disconnected from the outside world.
'Did I really regress back to 11 years old? I really don't know if it's possible or not, at least I never heard of this kind of magic.
To begin with, magic was discovered 400 hundred years ago and all of the mysteries are yet to be discovered. So it might be possible. But it's common knowledge that reversing time goes against the law of nature.
Well, thinking about our previous thought process before harnessing magic and comparing it to now, the very existence of magic also goes against the law of nature.
But it's still hard to believe that I regressed. I need to do more research and it's going to take some time before I can be ascertain my current situation'
Olvia stole glances at Elena, who sat preoccupied with her breakfast, barely taking a bite.
'Something's wrong with Her Highness today,' she thought, her brows furrowing. 'She seems to never pay attention to anything. Is she occupied with her mind, lost in some secret worry, or just terribly tired?
As a servant, I shouldn't meddle in my liege's internal affairs but I also can't ignore it since it might be related to her health. I need to inquire about it but I can't do that directly.' With a sigh, she shook her head ' For now, I can only observe more before taking any action.'
As she was thinking about it, suddenly there was a sound of a door opening loudly and then came a green haired girl rushing inside,
"Oh no, I'm late, I'm late today"
The girl was panting and sweaty, which tells you that she rushed here from far away.
She was so loud that everyone got surprised and looked towards her. Even Elena returned to reality because of it and started observing her.
Olivia on the other hand was getting fidgety, trying to hide her face. In the end she shouted towards the girl "LETIZIA! Come here"
The girl called Letizia tensed up and tried to hide away. But it's no use, everyone was already paying attention to her.
So she slowly walked towards Olivia, head down and softly said "Mother, I know I was wrong, I stayed up till late night reading story books and became late"
"No excuses, how many times did I tell you to behave in front of others and especially pay attention to your etiquette near her highness"
Olivia became flustered as she saw that even Elena was paying attention towards them. She tightened her grip on Letizia's neck and forced her to a bow alongside her
"I'm sorry your highness, please forgive her. This is my disobedient daughter Letizia. She's new here and just an intern. I'll make sure to discipline her later."
Elena quickly replied dismissing the issue "It's okay, nothing serious. Reading story books is good, even I like them. Time really flies away without you noticing so it's normal to stay awake till late in the night"
"Thank you your highness for your leniency, I promise to prevent anything like this from happening in future" Olvia bowed again and dragged Letizia away to a corner while lecturing her.
Meanwhile Elena fell into thoughts again.
'Letizia? What a familiar name! Thinking about it, she's a clumsy girl who's always cheerful, happy go lucky just like her name. I remembered her because of this characteristic which is rare among all the servants with stiff faces.
She was a character who brought color to this dull world and also the one who tried to protect me in the chaos with her life. Alas, her weak body couldn't prevent my death.'
A smile appeared on her face 'Anyway, I should really stop all these thoughts and focus on the current timeline. I can figure out things as I go through them'
With that, she decided to focus on the present for real this time and finished her meals with gusto.
Poor chef, even though Elena focused on her meals, she was in too much of a hurry to appreciate it.
She called Olivia over as she was done with her breakfast.
"Did you call me your highness?" Olivia came over in a hurry with Letizia following from behind nervously.
"What's today's schedule, I can't remember quite clearly"
Olivia didn't think much of Elena's forgetfulness, assuming it stemmed from the stress or preoccupation she'd noticed earlier.
"Your highness, you were supposed to attend the Academy at 9 o'clock, there's no other schedule as the academy will occupy most of your time.
I thought you're feeling unwell, so not going to attend it. That's why I didn't remind you."
"Unwell, no. I'm going to attend the Academy. Oh, what time is it by the way, do I still have time to attend it?"
Elena was a bit surprised 'Yes, I almost forgot about the academy because of my absurd situation'
"It's currently 8:20 am, so you are not too late, your highness. Should I prepare the carriage for departure?"
"Yes, and also help me dress up for the academy"
With Olivia and the other maids' help, Elena dressed up and exited the palace residence.
Elena looked back and so the other servants followed her along with Olivia.
"You all don't need to follow me, I can take care of myself out there"
"But your highness, it's not appropriate, what about your everyday needs?" Olivia insisted.
"One servant would do, why are so many of you following me? The academy is a neutral ground, I'm not going there to flaunt my identity." She put a finger on her chin and thought about it before pointing out towards Letizia who was hiding behind everyone and forgotten by all already
"Then how about her? She can come along with me since she's similar to my age."
Letizia is one year older than Elena.
"Her? No no your highness, she's not ready to serve you yet. She's very clumsy and forgets things quickly. She absolutely cannot come along with you. Why don't I come instead?
Olivia denied vehemently. Partly it's because Letizia is truly not ready to serve yet but it's mostly because she's worried about her daughter and afraid that she'd mess things up and trouble the princess.
More importantly, she's not socially prepared and doesn't know what to say in public.
And seeing how clumsy she's, she might say or do things which can be counted as lese majeste. Who are you kidding with, lese majeste is severe in Eldoria empire where the imperial family's power is absolute.
"No. Madam Olivia, you still need to take care of the house and other servants. Don't worry about Letizia causing troubles for me, while she might be clumsy now, she can learn with experience"
"But Princess…" Olivia hesitated.
"As I said, it's gonna be fine. Some mistakes won't matter, I'm not that strict. Plus I prefer people of my age to accompany me in my private times."
Seeing that Olivia still hasn't decided yet, Elena used the excuse of getting late for the academy to end the conversation and dragged the shivering Letizia into the carriage, ushering off for the Academy.
…
Inside the carriage Elena looked out through the window, trying to remember her past through sensory details like the scenery and people.
The Imperial Academy of Eldoria resided at a strategic distance from the Palace, far enough to cultivate neutrality, yet close enough for easy access.
It's a place where people of all kinds gathers. It's an academy where nobles from other kingdoms and ordinary civilians alike studies.
As she was thinking about such things, she noticed through the corner of her eyes, Letizia sitting opposite of her fidgeting and clutching the hem of her skirt nervously.
Meanwhile Letizia was thinking inside 'I'm finished, I'm finished for real. Why did her highness choose me to serve her personally? Mother was right, I'm not even a proper maid, I just tagged along with her to observe and learn from it. How can a clumsy person like me act as the personal maid for an important social event like the academy
I heard that her highness is cold and indifferent towards everyone. Serving her would be very hard, right. What if I really make a mistake.?' Letizia was getting sweaty and almost fainted from excessive nervousness.
Elena sighed internally seeing this.
'How did I act in my younger days? Why is everyone so nervous around me? All the other servants in the dining room wore stiff faces and hardly conversed while I was there. Only Olivia acted a bit natural but that's because of her age and experience.
Furthermore, even she got nervous because of Letizia as if I would eat her up. Should I act a bit warmer to ease their tension? But I don't know how, that's so troublesome. Why can't they act naturally by themselves? Was I so strict?'
Still, she decided to break the stifling silence in the carriage.
"The scenery outside is nice, don't you think so?"
"Huh" Letizia was startled and was wondering who Elena was speaking with. She looked left and right but there were only the two of them.
"Did you ask me, your highness?" Letizia asked nervously.
"Who if not you, there's only the two of us, the couchman is outside and can't hear me"
"Sorry, your highness, the scenery outside…" Letizia looked out and saw nothing special. It's an everyday picture of the palace grounds. She got more nervous and lost her voice.
"Forget what I asked" Even she knew that the question was meaningless. Anyway, she doesn't know how to talk with people, it was always the others trying to talk with her. But the question did break the ice between them and she could continue speaking from there.
"Have you ever gone to the imperial academy before?"
"Me? No your highness, the imperial academy is for the nobles and the rich. White commoners also go there, it mainly depends on talent. A clumsy girl like me can't study there" Letizia denied with a dreamy look on her face.
Elena looked at her and could tell her yearning to study in such a prestigious institution. And couldn't help herself but ask.
"But the Imperial academy is big with many facilities, I know there's a department for servants where those who wants to work under higher nobles' study. Anyone can enroll there. You could also study there"
"Yes your highness, there's indeed a servants department there. And my mother was a top graduate of it as well."
"Then you….!?" Elena was a bit confused. All the servants in the palace are picked up from the servants department, those who graduated with good marks are desired subjects of the nobles. And as the imperial family, this is a must for those willing to work there. While Letizia is still young to graduate, she should still enroll in the servant's department under the academy to be a qualified servant for the imperial family.
"Your highness, I…" Seeing the look in Elena's eyes, Letizia got a bit scared but still mastered her courage to speak up "I didn't enroll there. In fact I'm only studying under my mother. While anyone can study in the servants department for the royals and nobles, there's still a fee you need to pay. Working under a noble is the most desired job for a commoner, so the demand of this department is very high."
"Oh…, but Olivia is my head maid, she's a senior servant of the imperial palace. Her wages should be enough for you to study there" Elena didn't know about it but as she said, Olivia's wage is high enough for the family to live happily without any worry, while the academy fee might be high, it should not be a problem for her.
"My mother did indeed save up money for me and my elder brother. But an accident happened with my father who worked as a field soldier. He got injured while subjugating a magic beast who attacked the villagers nearby. His situation was dire and we spent most of the money to treat him.
After that we didn't have enough money for both me and my brother to get admitted to the academy. Thankfully he got some talent as a warrior. So in future my brother can replace our father to support the family"
Elena became quiet and contemplated 'I never heard of this situation from Olivia before. She could have asked for help from my me or imperial mother. Getting injured while serving the empire is a noble job.'
On the other hand, seeing Elena getting quiet, Letizia thought she was angry at her mother for bringing her into the palace without a proper qualification.
'Really, what did I hope for? It was just a delusion to serve the imperial princess as her personal maid. She only brought me on a whim.'
"I'm sorry your highness, mother didn't mean any harm. I wasn't supposed to serve you at all. She only brought me there to give a live example of how a servant serves their master. I know it's wrong to enter the palace without a proper qualification. I won't come in the future anymore." Letizia stood up from her seat and bowed in the moving carriage with a determined look.
Elena looked up asking "What are you talking about? You are currently my personal maid who's gonna serve me while I'm in the academy."
Letizia was startled and looked towards her in surprise. "But your highness, I don't have the skills and qualifications to serve someone like you. You deserve a better servant than me. I'm not even a servant. I don't have the proper knowledge and training for it. Mother always scolded me for my lack of etiquette. I don't know how to behave in front of other nobles and might embarrass you for it.
Please forget about having me as your personal maid"
"If you don't have the skills to serve a noble, that's simple. You don't need to study in the academy to be a qualified servant. I, as the highest noble of the Eldoria empire, an imperial princess and descendant of the Acender, promise to teach you how to serve a noble."
This time Letizia was truly shocked to the core. The words hit her directly in the soul.
"Your highness…" Tears came out of her eyes as Letizia bowed deeper and for longer this time as she said
"I'm not worthy of your attention and kindness, I'm a clumsy girl who can't do things correctly." She stood up and said with the strongest determination firing up in her eyes and voice
"But if you are really willing to teach me with patience, I swear to become the best servant in the world and never gonna tarnish your dignity in front of others."
…..
Total word count: 2533
Total 7.5 pages