A Sudden Duty

Seeing Heinrich was incredibly hard but whenever the Princess got to see him, it was always pleasant. It had been quite some time since she had last gotten a chance to see Heinrich. She had even completed the book he had given her to read. It wasn't as knowledgeable as him - just like he had mentioned. She wanted to know what he knew and books were not as good. 

These fleeting days were rather boring. She would read books, stroll in the garden with Killian, and then go to sleep. Heinrich had forbidden everyone to leave the mansion so no one except him and Aldrich had gone out. No one knew the reason but no one questioned it either. 

Heinrich was even harder to see since his children were getting married. The marriages were rather secretive and quick. The Princess had expected an extravagant ceremony but her expectations were crushed when the married couple was sent away to another place on the same day. 

A few days later, the Princess and Killian were summoned by Heinrich. They went to his room and stood outside the door after knocking.

"Come in," Aldrich's voice called them inside. 

Heinrich always seemed to have Aldrich's company. The Princess was curious to know about Aldrich as well. 

Killian opened the door for her and she entered, followed by him. Heinrich was seated on his comfortable chair and Aldrich was standing next to him. 

"Come on in," Heinrich said, asking them to come closer. 

Killian closed the door behind him and walked closer, standing a little behind the Princess. 

"The Holy Roman Empress is expecting. Though her due date is still far, she has invited Sofia for dinner." Heinrich said, "Sofia must have made a strong impression on her. She mentioned that Sofia's company gives her peace. Therefore, to make her journey easy for her, I accepted the dinner invitation." He added. "What do you say, Sofia?" 

The Princess nodded, "I do not have any problem with it." 

Heinrich nodded, "Killian, you will go with her. I will follow up after 2 days as I still have some work left. We will leave for the mansion together. Is that okay?" 

The two nodded. 

Heinrich stood up from his chair and walked toward his desk. He opened a little casket placed on his table and took a tassel out of there. 

"Sofia, come here." 

The Princess looked at Killian's neutral expression then hesitantly walked toward Heinrich. Every time Killian was around, she felt slightly uncomfortable being comfortable with Heinrich. 

"I bought this for you." Heinrich showed her the tassel. 

"Me?" The Princess asked, pressing her lips together. 

Heinrich nodded. He grabbed the tassel from its hook and then pulled it apart, revealing a small knife. It was very thin. However, it looked sharp. 

"It is a knife…?" The Princess looked at it with awe. 

Heinrich nodded, pushing it back inside. Now it looked like a normal tassel again. He smiled and then leaned toward the Princess. Grabbing the pleat at the end of her corset top, he attached the tassel to her dress. 

"Although Killian and I are going to be with you, we never know what troubles could befall us. You need to protect yourself if we are not around." Heinrich said softly, pulling himself right up, "Though I hope that we will always be there to protect you, better safe than sorry." 

The Princess passed a small smile. She was touched by the fact that he was so caring. His first impression was not the end of his personality. There was so much character in him. She also liked that he always involved Killian regarding her matters. 

"The two of you should leave in the afternoon. I will catch up after 2 days." Heinrich said, "Aldrich, make sure they have a safe journey." 

Aldrich bowed, "Yes, Master." He said politely. "Let us go." He looked at Killian and the Princess then headed toward the door to leave. 

The Princess and Killian followed Aldrich, packed their belongings, and left for the Palace. Since the weather had gotten cold and the roads had been covered with snow, the journey was longer. They were also going to some other Palace. 

The journey turned out to be very long because of the snow. The carriage had to take multiple stops and the chauffeur had to clean up snow from the carriage from time to time. 

When they finally reached the Palace, they were greeted by the Holy Roman Empress personally. 

She had warm guest rooms ready for them and she was enchanted to have them in the Palace. The Princess liked her company as well so she had no problems with it. 

On the other hand, Heinrich had also left the mansion. His journey was going to be long but he wanted to make sure he was there in time. Although he trusted the Holy Roman Empress with his family, he was still uneasy for some reason. He didn't like the idea of sending the Princess away from the mansion during times like these. 

If the Holy Roman Empress had not invited the Princess over, Heinrich would have removed her affiliation. He didn't know why he wanted to do this for her. During his journey, the horses had to rest. A pigeon from the mansion arrived and sat on Heinrich's arm. 

Heinrich took the letter from the pigeon's leg to read it, 

"Dear Great Father," One of his servants had written to him. "Julia and I would like to get married. We have saved up enough money for a small ceremony. Allow us to get married as free people. Eagerly waiting for a response." 

Heinrich looked up at the sky in frustration. Not a single day went by without a sea of worries for him.