Pampered Princess of the Duchy

Rosaline was quiet. An unusual behavior from the girl, whose life was always filled with glee.

She glanced at Luka, already healed from his previous injuries. Injuries that she caused all because of her carelessness and insensitivity to those around her.

"Hmm... the snow's 3 inches deep. I guess that's why it didn't even cushion my fall. But it's still enough for a snowman if we gather around all the snow." Luka said.

The words of her personal butler stung her conscience. She was reminded again that she almost caused someone's death.

The words of Weiss kept echoing in her head. About how if Luka was unlucky enough to move without Weiss' assistance, he would've died.

She shook her head to get rid of such thoughts and started building the snowman together with Luka in order to distract herself.

All her life she had been surrounded by powerful people that protected her. Not counting the mysterious Weiss, there was William, the Griffin Knights, and even her maid Rachel was a chromatic stage Aura user. She has never needed to care about the safety of others.

Growing up, she was free to do whatever she wanted. Her father bought her anything she requested. A very sheltered and pampered lifestyle made the young Rosaline develop a mentality that everything in the world is harmonious. That suffering and tragedy don't exist. Such innocence was typical of a child around Rosaline's age, but because of her upbringing, those thoughts were in a sense amplified.

Because of that, Rosaline assumed that Luka was the same as the people that protected her. That carelessness, however, caused Luka to break his spine from cushioning her fall.

That moment was the first time Rosaline ever saw someone get severely injured. She's been hurt herself multiple times when she runs around the garden playing. However, she merely only got small abrasions and bruises, which could be easily healed by even the cheapest potion available in the market.

She was so distraught by the scene caused by her actions that she had difficulty finding joy in building the snowman.

She was feeling guilty, something that is foreign to the pampered girl.

Rosaline didn't know what to make of this. She was confused by this new emotion she's only now discovering.

"Milady, is there something wrong?"

"N-no... it's nothing."

Luka raised an eyebrow, suspecting that the girl was bothered by something. At first, he thought about comforting her, but Luka abandoned that thought. It wasn't his place to comfort her nor did he care about Rosaline's feelings. He wasn't her friend or anything like that.

He simply shrugged and continued to roll the big ball of snow for the base of the snowman.

Minutes passed and the snowball was big enough to be a foundation of a simple snowman.

Some time passed again and the snowman was almost finished. The garden was quiet. The soft breeze of the dry winter wind rusting the leaves of the plants and trees of the garden were the only thing to be heard.

Soon, the snowman was finished. The person who was so excited to build it earlier was now staring blankly at the snowman.

The silence of Rosaline was starting to bother Luka, but he still refrained from helping the girl from whatever was bothering her.

Luka inwardly sighed and escorted Rosaline back inside the manor.

Despite Rosaline's daily schedule being mostly composed of her playing, she was still nobility. As such Rosaline has a tutor to educate her in subjects concerning nobility. Subjects such as how to act, how to think, and how to survive in the world of politics.

Rosaline was a bad student. Her unwillingness to learn and desire to only play was the cause. Her tutor wasn't even able to scold her for her behavior, for fear of sparking the anger of Rosaline's father.

But maybe something will change today.

***

In a certain room inside the Montampes Manor. A woman was holding a book, reciting the history of the Hedal Kingdom.

"...then after a long battle, the prince leading the army vanquished the Venid Kingdom's army. The victory over the enemy allowed the prince to be crowned and soon ascend the throne in the year 205 of the 3rd Era."

Aside from the woman, there was a girl sitting opposite the woman. It was Rosaline, and behind her stood Luka.

The woman looked at the sullen Rosaline and asked a question.

"What was the name of the prince?"

Rosaline doesn't answer. The woman already expected this outcome.

During any of their lectures, Rosaline never answers any of her questions regarding the lessons. She was always gloomy and irritated about having to attend lectures as she only wanted to play around.

The woman sighed and continued her lecture despite her student not even paying attention. At least there was one other person in the room who was paying attention to the lectures despite not being a noble.

Luka was never a studious person in his past life. The circumstances that surrounded him caused him to be unmotivated in studies, only working hard enough to at least get a decent grade.

However, after reincarnating, a spark of curiosity was ignited within him. Without neglectful parents and a sibling to be jealous of, learning became fun.

Luka wasn't a studying genius or anything, but he started to enjoy learning new things, as the world he currently lives in is so vastly different from Earth.

Weiss' lessons recently focused more on physical capabilites rather than knowledge, therefore Luka was instead using Rosaline's tutoring to educate himself.

*Click*

The door to the room opened. It was Rachel, the maid that was in charge of tending to Rosaline before Luka arrived.

"Head Butler Weiss requested for Luka's presence. Head to training grounds." Rachel spoke with her usual cool expression, almost making her look emotionless.

"What about my duties?" Luka replied.

"I will take over them as usual."

Luka nodded and left the room while Rachel postioned herself behind Rosaline.

*Click*

As soon as the door closed, Rosaline let out a faint sigh and relaxed.

"...phew."

It was faint, but the woman didn't miss it and noticed it. Clearly, something else was bothering the girl. The reason for her bad mood wasn't the lectures, it was something else. It seemed that her butler was related to this, and the woman intended to find out.