Chapter 46 - Royal Meeting (Patreon)

The dress fitting pretty much went the way Regina had predicted.  Violet needed to stay close as Frank and his assistants modified an existing dress on hand.  After trying the dress on more times than she could count, Frank had finally freed her from the torture session.

“Please come back in a few hours to pick up the finished product, my Lady.  Perfection can’t be rushed!”  He said while walking her to the door.

Violet had followed Regina around on one of her many shopping sprees, so she knew which stores to start looking in to find her mother.  Walking down the cobbled roads in the higher-end shopping section, there was always something interesting to see.  The stores in this section of town all sported actual glass windows, and they made a competition out of who could create the most exciting window display.

She was staring at one such display when Regina found her.  Violet’s poor mother looked like she had been run ragged.  Her mother had long since lost the wonder of Regina’s title and started to think of the girl as just one of Violet’s friends.  Regina had made it clear that while she was away from the palace, everyone treated her like an average noble-born person.  Titles and bowing were for court, not for every day.

“Good news Vi!  We found the perfect jewelry set to go with the dress Frank is making for you!  Oh, and you should see the shoes we picked out.”

“You left me!  I was there for hours all by myself!” Violet posed dramatically.

Regina blew a raspberry at her and said, “Just be thankful this isn’t a formal occasion, or we would be shopping for a week to get everything we need.”  She stopped mid-stride and said, “We should probably start shopping for that. I wouldn't put it past my mother to call a formal occasion for you.”

Violet groaned and said, “Not today!  We need to go pick up my dress, and then you need to help me do my hair.”

“Pfft, I am a princess!  I’ll let you borrow my maid.”

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Regina’s maid stopped by Violet’s estate two hours before the meeting to help her get ready.  The woman had very few words but could compete with Violet’s mother for her love of humming.  She had Violet’s hair up in an intricate braid and her face lightly dusted with cosmetics within an hour, and then she was promptly out the door.

Violet didn’t have the heart to tell the maid that she could easily do her cosmetics with her illusion magic.  After looking in the mirror, she used Cleanse on her face to remove the product.  Clogged pores were unfortunately still a thing, and she didn’t want the cosmetics to cause acne.  She used Disguise Self to apply her style of makeup for the occasion.

She looked in the mirror to assess her work.  She had added magical concealer on her face, darkened her lips, and added eyeliner and light purple eyeshadow.  The color made her violet eyes pop and look more vibrant.  Her dress was emerald green with a modest bodice that did not show any cleavage and a long flowing skirt.  It was a simple dress in fine cloth appropriate for an informal gathering with royalty.  The jewelry Regina and her mother picked out was a simple white crystal necklace and ear cuffs to match.  Pierced ears had not taken off in Zogara, but ear cuffs of many styles were popular.

Honestly, she could have and probably should have left the makeup alone.  She was doing everything she could think of to take her mind off the coming meeting.  An hour inside her head thinking of all the ways this could go wrong was far too long.  By the time the carriage arrived for her, she felt like she had spotted assassins around every corner.

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When she arrived at the palace, she was led to the private area reserved for the royals.  It was nowhere near the first time she had been here, but it was the first time she had been so formally invited.  She was relieved to see Regina’s parents and brothers acting like usual.

Violet began to formally bow when she entered the room but was immediately stopped by the Queens consort.  “None of that, Violet!  We are all family here.”

Since Queens Consort was such a mouthful to say, Violet had secretly referred to David as King David in her head.  He supported Queen Alexandra in her role but did not make final decisions.  Together they had three children.  Crown Princess Regina was the oldest at five years older than Violet.  Prince Louis was three years older, and Prince Rex was around the same age as Violet.

Regina and Louis shared the same red hair like their mother, while David and Rex were the oddballs with Blonde and Black hair, respectively.  Regina liked to tease Rex about his black hair, saying he was clearly adopted.  It was very well known he was not, but it was the running joke in their family.

“Come have dinner with us, Violet.  Regina has been so excited that you have finally unlocked your system.”  Alexandra said.

Violet sat at the table and made small talk while they waited for dinner to be served.  Something felt wrong about this setting.  Her vision with the poisoning included a few more people who were missing from the room.  Everyone was wearing different clothing from her dream as well.

Before the servants began serving dinner, the queen stood to make an announcement.  “As we all know, we are here to celebrate Violet’s ascension into adulthood by unlocking her system.  Our gift to you is granting you the farmlands around your estate.  Don't worry. We will make sure you keep the current manager, so all that will change for the commoners is whom they pay their taxes to.”

Violet stood and bowed deeply to the queen.  “Thank you, your highness. I will continue to treat the land and tenants as you have been treating them.”

Regina hugged her aid said, “oh, knock off that your highness crap while we are just family.  You know mom doesn’t want to be called a title if she doesn’t have to be.”

Glancing over across the table, Violet saw the queen was nodding and smiling along with everyone else at the table.  It still shocked her how normal the royals felt behind closed doors.  If they were in public, titles and courtesies were required, but never in private.

When everyone had been served dinner, and the queen nodded her approval to begin eating, Violet immediately picked up her glass.  She began to run down her list of aspects to test for poison.  The most obvious aspect she used first was Cure Poison, but it did not work.  Next, she used Analyze on the contents of her cup.  She could not detect anything wrong with her drink.  As a last-ditch effort, she used cleanse on her beverage.  It had the unfortunate side effect of turning her juice into water.

She kept discreetly touching Regina’s arm throughout the night and casting Cure Poison on her.  The target would be none the wiser if the spell failed, so she felt it was safe to try.  As the night wound down, she began to question if she was having a nightmare instead of a Divination.  What if there were never any assassins.

She had been so on edge throughout the night.  Unfortunately, she could not enjoy the wonderful meal prepared in her honor.  Regina had picked up on her feelings at some point during the night and was making odd faces at her.  The princess spoke up as she was walking Violet to the door.

“What’s wrong, Vi?  You haven’t suddenly become afraid of my family, have you?  They only have your best interests at heart.”

“It’s not that. I had a nightmare last night and dreamt that everyone was poisoned, and it colored the whole evening for me.  I’m sorry I wasn’t a very good guest tonight.”

“No worries.  Nightmares are horrible!”

“Yes, this one felt so real that when I woke, I was frightened.”

Regina hugged Violet and then, when they made it to the door, casually said, “By the way, my mom reminded me on the way out that you need to come to the next witan.”

“What is a witan?  That is a new one for me.”

“Oh, it’s a meeting once a month that all nobles attend.  You are an adult now, so you should attend those meetings.  They are dreadfully boring, but they often have lots of exotic teas to try.”

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Regina had far too much fun dragging Violet around shopping for a new wardrobe.  Violet needed to look like a noble all the time now that she was considered an adult.  So, of course, Regina was quick to point this out as an excuse to go shopping.

The witan was scheduled to take place at the beginning of next week.  Because of this, their shopping trip was focused on getting a presentable outfit for Violet to wear.  While they were in the shops, her future wardrobe was ordered for the shopkeepers to fill at a more leisurely pace.

After their shopping trip, they both returned to Violet’s estate.  They had made a game of playing with illusions to make the most outlandish makeup.  Violet had a lot of fun imitating makeup she had seen on rock stars from her old world.  Regina tended to create looks that made her look like a beastkin or another animal.  They had a slight hiccup when Violet placed a star over one eye while imitating old makeup fashion.

“Vi, don't do that!  What if someone saw you with a star?  You don't want any rumors about you being a spatial mage to be in circulation.”

“Oh, sorry!  I just thought a star was pretty.  I’ll make sure never to do that again.”

Violet was shocked at how fast a simple star could ruin the mood.  This moment of carelessness could have been dangerous if it were anyone but Regina.  Thankfully Regina knew they were playing with illusions and the mark was fake.

Regina insisted that Violet would be expected to maintain a minimal amount of illusionary makeup as an illusion mage.  She was to practice keeping it in place at all times.   Little did Regina know that Violet had mastered keeping illusions on her body at a very young age so that this task would be an easy one for her.

She had been leaving her Illusion, and Healing marks uncovered since she had let it be known about her magic.  Nobody but her parents and Avery knew she had more than two schools of magic.  There were times when she had wanted to tell Regina in the past, but she always stopped herself with the possible consequences.   Yes, the royal family treated her like one of their own, but what happened when her uniqueness came to light?  She wasn’t willing to risk sharing her secrets.

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AN:  I know... things are going perfectly for her.  Yeah, the other shoe is going to drop with the next chapter.  I am most likely going to release three chapters at once next time I post so I don't leave you with a cliffhanger.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get those all written by Tuesday.