Chapter 39

"Your highness... " tears flowed out freely out of Luan's eyes, "what if she never wakes up?...sniff...sh-she's too young to die."

"her highness is just exhausted, that's all." Lena assured her sister, when she felt uneasy in her heart. "there's no need to make a scene, lest others worry." despite her harsh words, she still stroked her hair affectionately.

"but...but sh-she...had been sleeping since this morning," she choked back on sobs, wiping her damp cheeks.

"are you going to cry like this every time something minor happens?" Luna huffed in frustration. "if you don't shut up, you will drag her highness into deeper problems. God, it's only been a few hours."

"but she might get called to dinner soon." Lena reasoned with her.

Amourora fluttered her eyelashes open to a massive headache, grimacing at the noise that worsened it.

"your highness! Your awake!" Luan ignored all the rules of the palace and hugged the little girl. "thank God, we were so worried!"

"your highness, is something wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" Lena asked.

"my head...no... I feel much better. What time is it?"

"um...about time we should get you ready for dinner." Luna frowned looking outside the window, and she was right, seconds later a messenger told them so.

"good, I'm hungry." she let her maids change her dress.

"your highness, would you like to have dinner in your chambers? You didn't seem very well and would not respond when we tried to wake you up."

"no, everyone will worry, and I'm feeling much better now." she sat still as they did her hair. "did you call a doctor?"

"should we have? we wanted to, but we didn't know if you were ill or just a heavy sleeper, so alerting the doctors when you were only taking a nap..." Luna trailed off with an awkward expression.

"your highness, don't worry, no one else knows, all the other maids are taking their punishments now." Lena assured.

"or maybe slacking off work." Luan mumbled under her breath.

"that's good." the three looked at her puzzled, so she further explained, "I don't want that much people around me all the time. It's a little suffocating sometimes."

The three didn't say anything else as they followed her out of the room.

"where are you going, idiot?" a small voice came from behind her.

"Huh? "she turned around. Did someone just call the princess, the most beloved daughter of the emperor, an idiot?

" is something the matter, your highness? "the triplets looked at her confused of her actions.

" it's not them, it's me. The cute little fairy you forgot. I can't communicate with you if you're too far away. "the voice seemed to indeed be coming from the doll, didn't anyone hear it and think it's creepy? Shouldn't they freak out because the doll is possessed?

Lena noticed the princess's lingering gaze in the doll and brought it to her immediately," would your highness like to take it to dinner with you? It's really cute."

"thank you." that wasn't the princess, but the doll. "I am indeed cute, thanks for noticing."

Amourora waited for a reaction from the trio, but nothing. They only waited patiently for her response. "uh, thank you." she took the doll, and a see-through image of the doll appeared in front of her.

"oh, finally. That was a tight space. " Maylea breathed out. "keep walking, I'll explain on the way, oh and before you embarrass yourself, you're the only one who can hear me, and you will only see me when you hold the doll."

Confused, Amourora still did as told.

"and don't look at me, people will start thinking you're delusional if you continue staring at a fixed point of thin air." Maylea did some stretches. "ah, that's better. I'll just stick around, don't worry about me. And...do you feel different? Don't answer me, just think about it."

'that's creepy. First, I go back in time to being eight. Then, I visit all these strange places in my dream, then, meet a possessed doll, and now she can hear my thoughts, too?'

" yup. So get over it. "

Amourora didn't know how to feel, but she did indeed feel different, like Maylea said. She felt...strange, but full of life. The colors seemed brighter, and she started noticing things she hadn't before, like the details on the high walls, the complex designs in the carpets, the delicate threads on her dress. The he aromatic scent of flowers became more noticeable and fresh, the soft sound of their steps against the floor was more noticeable, and the feeling of the hem of her too frilly blue skirt in her fingertips seemed softer.

'Did my senses...become a little sharper?'

"Not exactly." Maylea floated from place to place, smelling the flowers, admiring the designs on the floors, walls, and ceilings, feeling the texture of furniture, and talking to herself, Amourora didn't think she was even listening to her.

"are these silk curtains? It must be hard to take care of them."

"there are paintings in the ceiling! How do humans do it when they can't fly?"

"these begonias are still blooming? Wow. They smell better than cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven! "

"oooh! Glitttterrrrrr!"

Although, Maylea did seem in a better mood after that. It's true that people feel happier and more free when no one is watching and judging them.

'so, if it's not my senses...'

"not exactly. Oh, cute hair ornament! Sorry, I get distracted easily by—Is that a purple pearl? It's of good quality! What was I saying? Oh, right, the time travel caused your senses to be momentarily fuzzy and distracted, and your actions hazy, like being in a dream. But I fixed it. No need to thank me. "

'so...you solidified my existence ?'

" sort of. I'll tell you later, don't want to disturb your dinner, heh heh. "even though she said that, it seemed like she was more worried about her dinner than Amourora's. She went straight to the blueberrie cake and started licking the icing.

Amourora pinched the hem of her skirt and held the doll in the other hand, and bowed in greeting before heading to her seat. She couldn't help but feel everyone's eyes staring at her.

'What did I do?'

"or what didn't you do?" Maylea commented.

Oh! The ten thousand words apology! She didn't even start!

"Rosabella, you look quite lovely today." her Aunt praised. "especially the doll. It's cute."

"it's true, you look adorable!" her mother added. The others smiled in agreement and nodded their heads.

"thank you." she looked down at her frilly blue dress with a yellow ribbon. Her confused action was mistaken for being shy against compliments, boosting her cuteness.

Even the emperor, who still appears angry from yesterday's events, his cold eyes seemed to soften a bit. Before sitting down, she curtsied to him. "imperial father... I apologize for not submitting the apology letter in time, please allow me more time."

Submitting? Allow? The emperor didn't expect big words from her, but he still wouldn't back down. "submit it by tonight."

Everyone was a little surprised by the emperor's firmness against his beloved daughter, but it reminded them to never bump heads with him, he's not that tolerant. Dinner continued in peace.