This Princess is an Extra-Chapter 41: Little Knight

[Sorry, brother. Here, you can hide your things safely...

P.S. I don’t have a key for this one.]

After reading the message he gently heard his chamber door close behind him when he left.

Simultaneously, in another corner of the palace, a little curly-haired boy walked cheerfully down the corridor, guided by a pair of maids. He suddenly halted mid-step, his eyes snagging on the side garden where roses were blooming in brilliant, full crimson.

"Miss Renna," he tugged lightly at the maid’s sleeves, "will the Princess meet with me once more?"

The maid blinked puzzled but asked gently. "Why do you ask so, young master?"

Leo straightened his tiny back with all the dignity he possessed. "Because I am a gentleman," he declared earnestly. "And I must thank Princess for helping me yesterday. My mother says... there is no lady in the world who dislikes flowers. If I bring roses, will she accept them?"

Renna, Eli’s youngest maid exchanged a soft, fond look with another maid before she crouched to his height. "Oh, yes, young master. Her highness will absolutely love them."

"Truly?" His eyes twinkled instantly.

"Truly," the other maid laughed, already rolling up her sleeves. "Young master, we shall help you gather the finest blooms."

And just like that, the maids guided him into the garden, helping his small hands pluck the freshest roses and weave together a little handmade bouquet.

Leo had been invited to the palace after he shyly asked Eli if he could visit her home someday last night. The very next day an invitation arrived at his family’s doorstep. His parents whispered among themselves, baffled and a little overwhelmed, telling him the sender had requested for secrecy. And so, Leo had come expecting a large, elegant estate... but certainly not this.

When the servants bowed to him and addressed Elinessa as "Your Highness," the boy almost bowed back so suddenly that the maids had to steady him before he toppled over. Although the meeting was short-lived, Leo was happy. Very, very happy. He had never thought that it would feel like this to make a new and powerful friend.

Now he was sitting in the parlor just outside the princess’s chamber, his legs were dangling off the chair as he clutched the bouquet in both hands. The maids had left to fetch him snacks, but Leo was far too giddy to sit still. His excitement bubbled out of him like soda in a shaken bottle.

After barely ten seconds of waiting, he hopped off the chair bouncing, making his way toward her door. It was slightly ajar, and Leo was just about to bounce right in when he stopped mid-step. Someone inside was crying.

Then he heard Eli’s voice, along with others,

"...No, we’ll stop ..... before he.....you again."

" Bastard...at lunch time. That’s when ...in eating quarters."

"...Don’t fear. It will end ....."

His little heart started to thunder in his chest. Oh! Is his friend in trouble? A mission? A dangerous one? Someone bad is inside this palace? Princess has zero skills. My Princess needs my help!

Without a second thought, he spun around and with no hesitation at all, he bolted out of the parlor.

As he sprinted through the palace corridor, his tiny boots pattering urgently against the marble floor, his mind wanted to run straight to his estate, and bring back his wooden practice sword. He might only be a child, but he was not going to let his friend fight a bad person alone.

Racing blindly on sheer panic and determination, Leo rounded a corner at full speed and slammed straight into someone.

He bounced backward like a startled rabbit, landing on his backside with a soft thud. "Ow..." he muttered, rubbing the top of his head.

"Careful," the man with forest-green and black hairs said, steadying him before lifting him easily with his gloved hands. "Are you hurt anywhere, young boy?"

Leo shook his head rapidly resulting his curls to bounced with him, "Thank you—!" Leo thanked. Then, as he finally looked up at the man he’d collided with, his eyes grew comically wide. Utterly forgetting his panic for a moment, he said "You’re that man from the charity fair!"

The man arched a brow with amusement, "It is dangerous to run through corridors," he queried "Are you here to visit the princess? And where are your escorts?"

"Oh no! I forgot to tell the maids that I need to leave!" Then as if remembering the mission, his face snapped back to urgency. "But I can’t talk now! I have to save the princess!"

"What do you mean by that, young master?" The man remained bent at Leo’s level with his one knee lowered, his gloved hand were on the boys shoulder. A faint crease formed between his brows. "Save her from what?"

Leo’ eyes moved behind him and around to make sure no one was there near them and he leaned in dramatically, he then said in the most serious tone his tiny body could muster:

"There’s this... this Mr.Bastard in the palace. I think he’s a very bad man." he disclosed.

"W-what?"

"Umm-hm! She’s gonna catch him in eating quarters, but I am her knight— I can’t leave her alone!" he was so damn serious and absolutely determined as he talked to him.

A air of silence enveloped them but reflecting on all his encounter’s with the princess, the man couldn’t help but chuckle at Leo’s bravado, "You did the right thing telling me," Calmly he closed his eyes before he spoke again. "But listen, knights don’t charge into danger alone. Especially not without a sword."

"That’s why I’m going home to get mine!"

"That would take you a long time, young master. A full journey to your estate and back again... the princess might face danger before you return."

Leo’s mouth parted as panic crept in his face, "You’ve already done a commendable job, young knight, and I am the princess’s friend as well." The man gave a reassuring squeeze with his hand over Leo’s shoulder, from which a feminine gold-and-red bracelet peeked out from beneath his sleeve. "Let me handle this. I have my men with me, and I can reach her far faster than you can."

Leo slowly exhaled in relief, "O-okay. Then I’ll... I’ll trust you." Then he remembered the small bouquet still clutched in his fist and he held it out awkwardly. "Could you... give her this? I wanted her to smile today." The man accepted it with surprising gentleness.

"I will," he assured, before signaling to his secretary to escort the young boy back to his carriage. And with that, their strange little alliance was sealed.

On the far end of the corridor near the servants’ eating quarters the clock struck two of the afternoon, softly dinging to echo its sound through the corridors. Since lunchtime was over the corridor now stood empty, and the door to the eating quarters was closed.

A large, expensive-looking painting of an ancient elite hung on the wall opposite the quarters’ door. It was a portrait, depicting a man in his regal attire sitting in his ornate garments and unmistakably declaring his privileged upbringing.

"Do you think this will be successful, Princess?" Talia asked quietly as she kept watch on the corridor. Eli and a few of her maids were hiding with her, waiting for someone. "Will he really take the risk and come?"

"Yes! Men like him can’t resist an easy temptation. That letter was more than enough, he’ll definitely show up." Eli replied. She was standing with her arms folded and her back resting against the wall in the hidden passage behind the corridor’s wall.

She had noticed one of her maids looking unusually stressed over the past few days, and earlier that morning she had asked her what was wrong only for the girl to break into tears. Poor soul, Eli thought to herself.

It had taken some effort to calm her down and learn the truth: When no one was watching, a foreign noble had been relentlessly harassing the palace maids. Several of them had already taken sick leave just to escape him. But not everyone was that fortunate, especially with the wedding preparations underway, getting leave was nearly impossible. And Eli’s maid had become his most recent target.

If it was possible she would have beaten him like one of the lecherous noble creep from her kingdom, but he was a foreign dignitary.

There was another way where she could have easily reported him, but it would have only been dismissed as a trivial diplomatic issue and quietly brushed under the carpet. She was sure, he would have simply laid low for a while and then return to his old ways.

So she came up with a different plan that would publicly shatter his reputation. After all, image was what mattered most to nobles and to the rulers who protected them.

"Oh! Someone’s really coming. A noble is heading this way, Princess," Talia whispered excitedly, pulling Eli out of her thoughts.