Chapter 38

"And how can he even dare to keep me away from you? After all, he apparently sneaked into your

room too," the petite maid continued to get upset about Baridi.

"Could it be that you like him?", Lyana asked her straightforwardly and earned a shocked look for

it. "Your ... Your Royal Highness! How did you come up with something like that?"

"Well, since you started washing my hair, you haven't talked about anything but him," she explained, suppressing a laugh.

Alisen blushed. "I mean ... sure, it's nice that he took care of those flowers being set up in the castle

and he also takes care of all the other needs of the servants ... still he is far too proud for a valet!"

Just because he's the only one the king takes advice from. In addition, he never takes me seriously, I

always have to argue with him so that he finally gives in!"

Lyana thought it was really cute how Alisen talked about him. She would have loved to tease her a

little more, but she didn't want to overdo it. It was crazy, but she had missed the maid's wild chatter,

even if it was only for a few days.

After the bath, they tried on a wide variety of clothes and finally decided on one in a cheerful orange-red with a dark red petticoat. Alisen braided a few red silk ribbons in her hair, but did not use any jewelry other than the king's necklace.

When she looked in the mirror, she finally recognized herself again and turned happily on her own axis.

"You look like a sunrise! So beautiful!", Alisen exclaimed enthusiastically and Lyana had to agree.

For the first time since she had seen the woman with the silver hair, she felt pretty and her eyes shone again.

The two women were still happy about the successful result when there was a knock on the door.

Baridi had come to take her to the dining room. "You look lovely, Your Royal Highness," he complimented her as soon as he entered.

Lyana secretly looked at her maid to see how she behaved. But she preferred to tug on her dress a

little. Only Baridi glanced at the young maid before gallantly offering his arm to the princess.

If these two continued acting like this, it would take years before their relationship made any headway. But that shouldn't be her problem today. She could do that another time. Or at least she hoped so.

But first she had the valet accompany her to the dining room. Even if Alisen had already told her

that she couldn't hope for the king, she was a little disappointed when she actually didn't find him

there.

Baridi straightened her chair and noticed that the princess was saddened. So he tried to cheer her up

as much as he could. "I heard that a lot of effort was made in the kitchen."

Lyana smiled weakly. "Yes, Alisen has already told me that." But the joy of the delicious food didn't lighten her mood either.

Baridi stood next to her worried and seemed to be wondering what he could say to relieve her of the

emotional burden.

"Will he eat with me again tomorrow?", Lyana asked all of a sudden. If anyone could give her an

answer to that question, it would be Baridi.

"Well," he began hesitantly, "I would really like to assure you that this will be the case. But

unfortunately I don't know. The king is still very ... upset. To get you out of the room, it took many

of the servants to plead for it."

So that's how it was. King Ulric probably would have just let her starve further. He didn't care that

much.

She bit her lip slightly, she was so frustrated. "Please give everyone my heartfelt thanks for this,"

she finally asked him to with an exaggerated smile. Of course he didn't miss the fact that she had to

force herself to do it, but he couldn't say anything more and therefore just nodded.

The food was served and looked just delicious. The cooks had outdone themselves. In fact, for the

moment she ate, she almost forgot her worries, it was so overwhelming. Although she initially

feared that she would eat almost nothing, she now surprised herself with her huge appetite. In fact,

she had probably never eaten so much at once.

When she finally finished, she leaned back contentedly. "Baridi," she called the valet over. "Do you know how Ale ... I mean the injured wolf is doing?" If she wasn't allowed to see the king, she wanted to at least pay her animal friend a visit.

"He's fine. However, he should currently rest a little more and not move too much," Baridi gave her

the requested information.