Matters of Mischief

A week after the Harvest Festival, everyone in the palace staff is busy. The wedding between Prince Julien and Princess Ariana is just around the corner. The king and queen are sending invitations to nobles and royals through the continent and across the seas. The wedding shall be at the cathedral in Rimes, three weeks from today's date.

The day marks the arrival of an envoy from Inglatera. They represent the Royal Treasury of Inglatera, which shall take care of half the wedding expenditures. They present themselves in the court, working together with Queen Sophia for the wedding.

The queen takes all matters into her own hands. She sends invitations to the best tailors across the continent to present to her the perfect wedding formal for Julien and the wedding dress for Ariana. Queen Sophia keeps a tight hold on the information, making sure that everything remains a surprise on the wedding day. She forbids Julien's butlers and Ariana's attendants to disturb them.

With their master preoccupied with an important matter, butlers Gianni and Gabriel have nothing to do for the day. They go out of their room, walking around in the hopes of finding something they could devote their time to. Suddenly, Princess Camille stumbles upon them in the hallway to the main concourse. Every time she sees Gianni, she would burst out in anger because of the humiliation she brought upon herself. This time, however, she knows that Prince Julien is not to be disturbed and sees it as a chance to exact an act of humiliating revenge on Gianni.

She calls the two and acts as if she is in excellent spirits. Gabriel's and Gianni's faces fill with appalling. The fact that the princess talks to them are a miracle, in its own right.

"Is Lord Brother still busy?" Camille asks the two.

"She is still in the queen's private quarters, Your Highness, along with Princess Ariana," Gabriel answers.

"What? But he promised to teach me how to cook today," Camille whines her lie.

"I'm sure they will finish soon, Your Highness," Gianni adds.

"I cannot wait any longer. You two don't have anything to do today, correct? Then, come with me to the kitchen and assist me in cooking."

As they are desperate to find something to do, they follow the princess to the kitchen. Cooks and chefs are working hard in the kitchen. Some are making traditional wedding dishes. Others are testing the wedding recipes from Inglatera, which Princess Ariana requests they make. Upon arriving, the princess orders them to procure baking ingredients from the storage, and two do so. They return carrying eggs, flour, yeast, and sugar.

Princess Camille sees it as a chance to humiliate Gianni by making him make a mess over the ingredients. He moves closer to Gianni and tries to trip him by placing her foot in front of him. With the ingredients blocking his view, Gianni trips and is about to fall. Thankfully, Gabriel moves in time, saving Gianni and the ingredients from falling.

The princess becomes angry at Gabriel. She begins to surmise that if he is out of the way, she can humiliate Gianni successfully.

Next, she orders Gabriel to pick fresh cherries in the royal garden. Gabriel obeys, leaving Gianni with Camille and the other kitchen staff. The princess then sets her next scheme into action. She plans to pour flour all over Gianni, by making it look like it is an accident. She mixes flour and eggs in a bowl. She fills the bowl until no more flour and eggs can be added. When Gianni becomes preoccupied with preparing some of the ingredients, she carries the bowl and moves in.

She thinks that if she bumps Gianni strong enough the flour would move to him, and she would finish it by purposefully pouring the mixture all to him. The bowl, however, is too heavy for the princess to lift. She musters all her strength as she walks towards Gianni. Suddenly, she trips her left foot on an uneven stone. The whole mixture paints her blue gown yolky white. Her face is white with the batter as if it is mascara.

Everyone in the kitchen has their gasps, but they all hold their laughs. One of the chefs suddenly burst out in laughter, having a hard time keeping it in. Camille burns in anger and curses everyone especially Gianni. Her true colors shine through. She lefts the scene ultimately embarrassing herself. The maids and butlers on the main palace all burst into laughter as she passes them.

Prince Louis who sees her sister covered with the white flour immediately orders her to go outside. He orders his butlers to carry buckets of water. With a great torrent, he orders them to splash the water on Camille's face. The batter washes away, but the cool water combined with the frosty autumn atmosphere makes her shiver.

Experience the humiliation of the century, Princess Camille burns in rage. Her anger overcomes her shivering. She despises Gianni more than anything that exists. Her hate runs deep that this time she includes the king in her troubles. In her batter-stained frosty wet gown, she approaches the king and cries as if she is the victim of a scheme. Out of concern, the king's anger flares. He sends word to the knights. Whoever is responsible for the incident with Princess Camille is to be apprehended.

Camille identifies the perpetrator as Gianni, a butler of Prince Julien. The knights then search the entire palace for Gianni. They finally find him in the kitchen, where he is apprehended on the spot. The knights present him to the king and the princess. Princess Camille puts on an act that it is Gianni who threw the batter at her and splashed her with water, afterward.

She cries and weeps narrating her lies to the king. Her attendants, who were not at the scene and saw nothing, claim that they saw the entire thing as it unfolded. They saw the moment when Gianni threw the batter and splashed the water at the princess.

Gianni could not tolerate this lie. He speaks back against the princess and tells the king and his court the truth. He tells him what happened, and that it was an accident. An accident brought by the princess' clumsiness.

Camille does not let up. She weeps, even more, saying that Gianni is too much of a delinquent.

"First she threw the batter at me. Then, splashed me with water," the princess acts, "now, he is implying that I am lying to you, my father." Her attendants back her, further reiterating that Gianni's sins are too much. First harming the princess, then splashing her with water, then implying that she is lying.

Gianni tries to reason his way through, but the king has heard enough. Because of his insolence, the king sentences him to 30 lashes of the whip.

"30? Just thirty?" the princess falls to the ground as if devastated. "The humiliation that I feel exceeds that number."

"Then, he shall receive 50 lashes. I trust that number is acceptable?"

Without any defense, the knights drag Gianni to the dungeons, where his sentence is to be carried out. The executioner bares his back and shackles his arms. His defenseless back is open to the world, completely exposed to the executioner who readies the whip. The whip cracks.

The first blow makes Gianni cry. What did I do to deserve this? I promised that I will serve with my heart and with dignity. Why is the world so cruel? The second blow causes him to shriek in pain. His scream resonates throughout the dungeon. The third blow, he cries, screams, and wails. The executioner is about to lash him for the fourth time when the dungeon doors slam open.

It is Prince Julien. He comes to Gianni's rescue in the nick of time. He stops the executioner from lashing Gianni, telling him that it is all a misunderstanding. Julien removes his robe and clothes from Gianni. He personally carries him into his room, where he summons the royal physicians to tend to Gianni.

He storms the throne room, where the king and his sister are. He quietly opens the door and marches without stopping.

"What is your business here?" King Charlemagne asks him, but he does not reply. "Your king asked you a question and you are obligated to reply."

Gianni ignores him, heading straight towards her sister. She slaps her greatly that she falls from her throne. The king instantly demands an explanation for his barbaric behavior.

"The man that you sentenced to 50 lashes is innocent," he begins. "Eyewitnesses indicate that the princess prepared the batter and tripped on her own. The reason why she is covered in batter."

"That's not all," Prince Louis comes into the scene, "it was I who ordered my butlers to splash water into her face. Gianni is innocent. All her claims are lies."

"Is that so?" the king laughs an unexpected reaction. "Even if those are true, a royal's pride must never be tarnished even if they told a lie. Gianni's punishment must be carried out, even though he is innocent, to save face."

"We cannot show our face to our people if this injustice is carried out," Prince Julien argues. "You must stop this, or I will…"

"You will what, Julien?" the king replies. "What can you do?

"I will cancel the wedding." Shocked at the prince's threat, the king laughs and lauds the prince. The king agrees with him that if they do not stop this injustice, they can no longer keep the confidence of their people.

"You passed the test," the king replies. "Very well, your butler is innocent, and I hereby admonish his punishment." Satisfied, Prince Julien returns to Gianni's side.

"Are you all right, Gianni?" Prince Julien says as he holds his right hand.

"I'm all right, Your Highness. I've been through worse situations than this," Gianni coughs at the end of his statement. "Still, how did you save me, Your Highness? The princess has the king in her hands."

"I threatened him that I would cancel the wedding."

"Cancel the wedding? But that would put the kingdom in harm's way."

"How can I protect the kingdom from outside forces, if I can't protect its people from inside injustices? You are my own, one of my butlers, my loyal subject. How can I face the people if I cannot save you?"