The door creaked open to reveal Momoi Satsuki, the favorite maid of Shiori. She was the only person with whom the princess felt comfortable. She knew that no matter what, Momoi would listen and never judge her.
"What happened sweetie?" Oh, how much did Shiori loved it when the maid called her like that. It was a soothing melody to her ears.
"I just can't believe that I'm already going to lose my liberty so easily…" The teenage girl explained in a low tone.
"Don't worry, Shiori," Momoi smiled softly. "The said emperor you're going to marry is Akashi Seijuuro, the man every woman wants. Oh, and he is 16 years old, just like you so it's much better, am I right?" She explained while patting Shiori's head. The princess closed her eyes and smiled, relieved.
"I thought I was going to marry an old perverted man. That's a relief!" Momoi giggled at her declaration. Shiori suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the maid with a tint of curiosity dwelling in her eyes.
"Say, Satsuki, when will I meet him?" She asked, looking directly in Momoi's eyes. She tilted her head while thinking.
"If I remember correctly, you two will meet tomorrow morning, so you should sleep now. It's getting dark." The maid explained while smiling gently at Shiori. The princess's eye widened when she realized it was already 8:30 pm.
"It's already this late? Crap, I'm going to prepare myself so I can sleep well and be ready for tomorrow's meeting with my future husband." She said while getting up and starting to prepare herself. Momoi smiled to herself.
"Then I shall take my leave." She declared cheerfully. Shiori smiled happily at Momoi.
"Yeah. Then I'll see you tomorrow." Momoi waved at the teen while leaving the room. After she left, Shiori prepared herself and went in her bed, but the she hears the door open and tensed. The moment she saw her mom's face, she relaxed but kept her usual deadpan expression.
"What do you want?" She asked coldly. Her mother flinched at the coldness in her eyes. Shiori could see the sadness in her mom's eyes, but said nor did nothing. Then her mother started talking.
"Listen, Shiori… I'm so sorry for saying it to you so carelessly. I-I could've been more… Better." She started explaining, but had to stop because she fell the tears dwelling up in her eyes. 'How troublesome.' The princess thought as she sighted.
"Don't worry about that. I already forgave you long ago." She talked in a bored tone. The empress looked up at her daughter and started dwelling up more tears until she jumped on Shiori and hugged her tightly. The teen was literally choking and tried her best surviving.
"Why did you forgive me so early? I don't deserve such kindness! I have the best daughter!" She shouted while the princess got even more annoyed and pushed her away.
"Satsuki told me about that emperor I was going to marry and the information she told me relieved me. So there's no need to be like that, Mother." She explained and continued when her mother calmed down. "Anyways, she also told me that I was going to meet him tomorrow. Is that true?"
She tilted her head, smiled and nodded. "Yes, dear. I hope it's not too early for you."
"No it's not." The teenager shook her head with a small smile. "Now, please let me sleep so I will have energy tomorrow." She said, back with her bored tone.
"Of course~ Goodnight, honey!" Her mother replied happily while exiting her room and closing the door behind her. The moment the door closed, Shiori sighted. 'Mother is really nothing but trouble, isn't she?' The girl thought with a small smile on her face. She then drifted to sleep.
~The Next Morning~
Shiori felt like somebody was shaking her while calling her name. Groaning, she opened her eyes and looked at the person who did this. It was Momoi. The maid giggled when she saw her master's grumpy expression.
"Shiori-san, good morning." She greeted happily. Momoi only received a grumpy answer from the princess.
"… Morning…" She slowly pronounced. Holding back her laughter, Momoi remarked something about Shiori.
"Pffft… Sweetie, your face is so cute when you wake up, but you know, today is the day!" The maid announced happily, thinking it might wake the teenage girl up. And guess what? She was right.
"OH MY GOD I TOTALLY FORGOT." She shouted and jumped out of her bed with only one jump and ran to the bathroom to prepare herself while Momoi brought Shiori her clothes. When she finished her preparations, she came out of the bathroom to see her mom sparkling, repeating how much wonderful she looked, her dad, smiling at the view of his wonderful daughter and Momoi that was literally fangirling over her. The princess sighted and smiled at the view.
"Come on, let's go. What are you guys are waiting for?" She asked with her deadpan expression, as always. The three idiots standing in front of Shiori smiled cheerfully and all nodded their heads.
"Honey, are you really okay with getting married?" The teen turned her head and saw her dad that was wearing an unsure expression on his face. She smiled a small but reassuring smile to her father.
"Father, you're worrying too much. I'm really okay." She declared. To be honest, she wasn't really sure about what to think at the moment, but she did her best to look the least unsure as possible. She smiled to everyone,
"Are we going now? Everyone gets in the car." Shiori said and they all nodded. One by one, they entered the car and started heading towards the Akashi mansion.