Chapter 1

The day was not turning out the way Arthur had imagined. He was pleased with his father's plan for him to begin working out of Selphia. It was a peaceful town and the quiet would certainly do him some good. Things at the palace had become...complicated. It was not common knowledge that the King of Norad had been ill. He was confident that his condition would soon improve but it seemed to only get worse over time. Plans to begin grooming the heir were put in motion and Arthur was conveniently sent away to avoid any trouble. While his siblings knew he held no illusions of gaining the throne, the atmosphere had been tense at best for the past few months and he was happy to be away from it all. So when he arrived at Selphia Castle he was surprised to find that an unknown girl had just taken his room. As he came upon the entrance to the castle he could see her talking with the Native Dragon, Ventuswill. She looked quite disheveled and was holding a rusted watering can. He could make out bits of conversation from the doorway.

"...to farm?" The girl was saying. She looked at the watering can warily. It was much easier for him to make out what Lady Ventuswill was saying.

"Of course you do. It's your duty as a princess." She was grinning down at the girl.

'Princess..?' Arthur thought. He had never seen this girl before but that was not surprising as he often stayed away from social functions at the palace. Regardless, he was not aware of any other visiting royalty. He was intrigued and a slightly worried. This was quite a small castle and he couldn't imagine that there was enough room for the two of them. He briefly wondered if perhaps she wasn't staying in the castle but decided that there is no way she would be made to stay at the inn if she was truly a princess. Before he could consider any other options he noticed a tall man in a suit standing in the corner of the room eyeing him. The man was the only one to notice Arthur's presence but it was enough for Arthur to decide to introduce himself.

"...Excuse me." Arthur took a few steps inside and waited for the room to acknowledge him. The girl turned her head and looked at him. He studied her face for a moment. 'Well, she certainly looks the part. She could very well be a princess.' he thought. Her hair was pale green and styled in two long pigtails that flowed to her waist. Her eyes were a brighter shade of green. The more he looked at them the more they seemed to shine. He watched as her eyes grew wide with surprise and then narrowed slightly into a questioning look.

"Yes? Who might you be?" The Native Dragon spoke and Arthur tore his eyes away from the strange girl to look up.

Arthur adjusted his glasses and replied , "Ah, you must forgive me. My name is Arthur D. Lawrence. 13th Prince of Norad. I sent word that I was arriving today." The girl's eyes widened again and she whipped her head back to face the dragon.

"See?! I told you I wasn't a princess, Venti!" She whispered angrily.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?!" The Dragon whispered back. Then before the girl could reply the dragon cleared her throat and prepared to address Arthur again.

"My apologies, Prince Arthur, it seems I was fooled by this young troublemaker. She arrived here yesterday claiming to be the royal visitor that we were expecting." The dragon glanced down into the bright green eyes glaring up at here.

"WHAT?!" The girl exclaimed, "I never said I was a princess! You made the assumption! I tried to tell yo-" She was cut off by the dragon's whispers.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry! Can you just...stay at the inn until we figure this out?"

The dragon gave her an apologetic look. The girl seemed to let go of her anger and started to reply but Arthur spoke first.

"Actually, if you don't mind, Miss…?"

"Oh..uh, Frey."

"Miss Frey. If you don't mind, I would prefer you stay here in the castle. I wouldn't dream of putting a lady out in the cold and I am confident that I could find other lodging with no problem at all." The girl looked a little wary of his offer.

"You're aware of what you are suggesting?" The Dragon replied for her.

"I am well aware." He smiled up at her. Frey glanced between the two, her face clearly showing that she was not at all aware of what they meant.

"Is it really okay?" She looked back at Arthur with a worried expression.

"It's quite alright, I assure you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have preparations to make." Arthur bowed his head and silently walked outside.

"That was...weird." Frey watched the young prince as he left.

"Indeed.." The dragon replied.

"What did you mean before? About what he was suggesting? Am I going to get in some kind of trouble for being here?" Frey looked worried.

"No, no. Nothing like that. You just...might have a little more than farming to do soon." Venti smiled mischievously and Frey sighed.

"Why don't I like the sound of that…?" Venti laughed as Frey walked back out to the field.

THE PREVIOUS DAY

The first thing she could remember was being threatened on the airship. She had no idea who or where she was and two soldiers were holding her over the edge of the ship. She tried to tell them that she had no idea what 'stone' they were talking about but it did no good. The next thing she knew she was falling through the air towards the ground. She braced herself for impact but was surprised to find that the fall was cushioned by something.

"OW!" She her a voice scream out and she bounced to the floor. For a moment she was stunned and unable to see. As soon as she was able she stood and winced as she rubbed her back.

"Oh man...that hurts…" Her back and head ached but she was otherwise unharmed. Her green hair was a bit worse for wear but she hardly noticed anything once she saw the dragon sitting before her.

"Kyaaa!" The young girl yelped and fell backwards. Her eyes were wide and full of fear.

"Well, that's a little rude. Is that any way to treat the person who probably just saved your life?"

"Ack! You can talk?!" She scurried back as best as she could but winced again at the pain in her back.

"Wow, you are just a font of manners. Hmph." The dragon looked down at the girl disapprovingly. The girl stared up at the dragon and tried to regain her composure.

"U-um. I'm sorry? I didn't mean to-"

"LADY VENTUSWILL?! I HEARD A CRASH!" A loud voice filled the room. The girl flinched in surprise and watched as a tall man with pointed ears ran in. He quickly surveyed the room and his eyes narrowed suspiciously when they fell on the girl.

"Brigand! What have you done to Lady Ventuswill?!" He yelled as he advanced on herl. He stopped short as soon as he heard the dragon speak.

"Volkanon!" Ventuswill's voice boomed so loud that the walls shook slightly. Volkanon's spine straightened as he turned to face Ventuswill.

"Y-yes, my Lady?"

"Please refrain from attacking my guests, would you?"

"Of course, my Lady. But if I may, who is your guest?"

"A very good question. Who are you?"

The girl fidgeted. She had no idea. Who was she? She scrunched her face up and thought hard.

"...Frey, I think." She nervously replied.

"You think? What kind of answer is that?" Lady Ventuswill chuckled. Was she teasing her?

"Well, I can't really remember anything...but that name feels right, I guess." Frey shrugged.

"You don't have your memory?" Volkanon gasped and his eyes welled up with tears.

"No. I can't remember anything before I was being attacked by these two guys…" Frey recounted everything she could remember and Volkanon looked like he was going to burst by the end.

"OOHHHH, LADY FREY! YOU POOR SOUL!" He ran forward and hugged her a little too tightly. She gave a little yelp and tried to breathe.

"I-it's okay...I can't…" She struggled.

"Oh, I know! You can't remember! It's such a tragedy!"

"No...I can't...breathe…." Volkanon let Frey go and she crumpled to the ground gasping for air. As she was working on steadying her breathing she heard his loud voice again.

"Wait! Lady Frey! You must be the princess we've been waiting for!"

"Huh? Princess? I really don't think…" She stammered. She didn't feel like a princess.

"That must be it! We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Volkanon, go and make sure her room is ready." Ventuswill chimed in.

"No..I really think you're mistaken.." Frey tried and tried to deny that she was a princess but Ventuswill and Volkanon would hear none of it. Before she knew it she was ushered into a bedroom on the east side of the castle by Volkanon.

"This will be your room, Princess Frey. Please, get some rest. You've had quite a day." Frey had given up on denying and looked at the bed longingly. It had been a long day and her back was still aching. She decided to deal with this whole princess thing tomorrow.

Her plans for straightening this whole mess out were quickly put on hold. A sleepy girl who introduced herself as Clorica woke her up and sent her out back before she could ask to see Ventuswill. When she got outside she was quickly introduced to Clorica's fellow butler-in-training, Vishnal.

"Princess!" He exclaimed as he ran across the field to meet her.

"Just Frey, please. I keep trying to tell everyone that I'm not a princess.." Vishnal looked a little disappointed.

"Oh, I see...well then, Miss Frey, Lady Ventuswill has asked that I show you how to work the field!" His enthusiasm was infectious and she found herself tilling and watering seeds in no time. It was a lot easier than she thought it would be. She felt as though she had a natural talent. Maybe she was a farmer before she lost her memory?

"You're doing great, Prince-ah..Frey. I'm sorry." He gave a sheepish smile and looked at the ground. "Actually...would you mind if I still called you Princess? I've always wanted to be a butler for the royal family so...it would mean a lot.." He wouldn't look her in the eye and his face slightly flushed. She didn't want to hurt his feelings and decided that it couldn't really hurt if he called her Princess. It would just take a while to get used to it.

"Um..alright. If it means that much to you.." She replied. He beamed at her in return.

"Wonderful! Thank you, Princess! Oh, I was supposed to tell you to meet Lady Ventuswill when I finished showing you the field. You can get to her chamber by going through that door in the middle there." He pointed to a big archway and waved goodbye.

"Ah, I see you've done some fieldwork already. Good." Lady Ventuswill greeted Frey as she walked around to the front of the room.

"Yeah, kinda. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be, actually. It's kind of fun." Frey giggled and then quickly stood straighter. She recalled how formally Volkanon spoke to the dragon and worried that she hadn't offended her with her casual speech.

"I-I mean. Yes, Lady Ventuswill. Thank you very much for allowing me to stay here last night but I really don't think-"

"Please, please. Call me Venti. There's no need to be so formal when it's just us two. It's been a long time since I could talk normally with someone. And about the princess thing. You don't know if you are royalty or not so I don't see the problem with you staying here long enough to at least recover some of your memory, do you?" Venti smiled warmly. Frey couldn't see a problem with it. But she still felt uneasy.

The conversation that followed with Prince Arthur did nothing to make her feel better. Now she knew for a fact that she wasn't a princess and yet she was still staying in the castle. After Arthur left she went back to the field to try and clean up some more. Now more than ever she felt that she needed to earn her keep.