Tabitha plopped herself on the soft bed and sighed contently. She propped up a pillow and set her back to rest against it. She closed her eyes and relaxed her tired body.
The princess of Tristania had been received with much fanfare on the part of the local students. From the looks of it, they loved their princess greatly. As a foreign exchange student, she was only expected to give basic respect towards a member of the royal family, but having to stand all day during the welcome ceremony did not go well with her ankles.
Tabitha stretched her petite body and yawned like a little kitten. She wondered what it would be like to be a real princess. Would her people love her as the students did to Princess Henrietta? Would she be able to smile brightly as she waved towards her people from her carriage, like the princess just now?
She tried to stretch her lips wide into a smile. Waving her wand, she summoned a spell to create a mirror out of the air and looked at herself. She looked worse than a Gallian water frog.
Sighing as she resumed her normal impassive face, she waved the mirror away and used magic to pick a book out of her shelves instead. At least her books won't judge her.
Just then, a nightingale chirped, perched on the window frame of her room, against the evening sky. Tabitha turned to look at it. She frowned when she sensed the unique magical signature it had. She put her book down and stretched out her right arm. The nightingale flew into the room and landed on her arm. Sky blue runes appeared and rotated around her arm for a while before vanishing.
Tabitha braced herself. Even though this was not the first she had been imprinted, the excruciating pain in her head that followed the spell casted by the sky blue runes was simply something that she could not get used to. The spell was probably engineered to prevent her brain from adapting and nullifying the pain. She closed her eyes and breathed heavily as the pain set in. It felt like someone was using a scalpel to cut her skull open. The pain kept her just at the edge of consciousness, just enough to keep her awake.
Tabitha tried to maintain her composure for as long as she could.
When the pain finally subsided, Tabitha summoned a cup of water from her flask on the table and drank from it slowly. The nightingale had disappeared and was nowhere to be found. She leafed through the new memories in her brain. The spell had been used to insert knowledge and memories directly into her brain, like driving a sledgehammer down a block of wood, without any regard of the memories already present in her mind. Tabitha only managed to not lose her own memories in the sea of artificial memories by sheer mental strength. She was never going to let them control her completely.
Tabitha caught a mental glimpse of an old man smoking a pipe in a mansion. It seems that her target tonight would be an elderly gentleman in possession of one too many sensitive letters. She felt nothing for the man. He was just another thing to take care of.
Tabitha got up from bed and went to pack her things for the night.
Louise looked at Saito as he knelt on the floor, stripped down to his underwear. In spite of his age, his body looked solid and slightly muscled. She briefly wondered how it would feel under her skin if she traced his arm with her finger. Her face slightly warmed up.
She shook her head forcefully to get rid of that thought. Why did she even want to touch a dog anyway? Curiosity! That must be it. There was no way she was even going to sully her hands to touch such a filthy familiar like him, who actually went on to try and k-k-kiss her.
Nope, never was she going to allow something like that to happen again.
Louise looked down at Saito with narrowed eyes.
"What have you got to say for yourself, dog?"
Saito cowered. "I've only went to the kitchen! I didn't do anything else, I swear!"
"I believe I have already warned you against going to the kitchen."
"What? When did you even say that?"
"Do I need to spell everything out for you, stupid dog? You're supposed to know what I'm thinking anyway! Aren't you my familiar?"
Saito looked exasperated and angry at the same time. He gritted his teeth and remained silent. Louise thought that he looked quite handsome like that, for some reason.
She raised a finger. "No breakfast for three days. That should teach you well. I'll have the chefs in the kitchen reported for their unscrupulous behaviour."
"That's insane! It's not even their fault anyway! Argh, I can't take it anymore!"
Saito pounced on Louise, knocking her off her feet. They both fell on her bed, just as the door opened and a cloaked figure entered the room.
"I apologise for intruding unannounced, but this…"
Saito and Louise looked on, petrified. The cloak covering the person's head fell and it was revealed to the Princess Henrietta that they were welcoming that morning.
The princess's eyes widened as she noticed Saito, who was naked down to his underwear, laying on top of Louise, who had only been wearing her night gown. Their legs were intertwined and Saito had his hands at either side of Louise's head.
Louise was the first one to recover. She slapped and kicked Saito before shoving him off the bed and pulling him beside her to kneel in front of the princess.
"Have I come at a wrong time, Louise? I could wait outside for you to finish your business with your lover…"
Louise's face turned red, both in embarrassment and anger.
"This is simply my familiar, your highness. I was in the middle of punishing him for his stupidity but he had the gall of resisting. I will personally punish him later for this idiotic behaviour."
"I see." The princess took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Very well, could you have him wear some clothes?"
Saito shuddered when he caught Louise shooting him a glare. He scampered off to find his shirt.
"Your highness, what brings you to my humble room?" Louise bowed her head as she talked to Henrietta. She spoke ceremoniously, with a hint of strain and uncertainty.
"Oh, Louise, my dear Louise, please don't act like that. Please, drop the formalities, at least when we are alone. You and I are friends, are we not?" Henrietta said emotionally as she knelt down and hugged Louise.
"Your highness, I'm undeserving of such an honour." Louise looked like she was about to cry.
Saito stared, dumbfounded, as the two beautiful girls embraced each other. Princess Henrietta had shoulder length chestnut hair. Her face had delicate features. A prim nose, and small lips. Her brown eyes exuberated a sense of royalty, even with tears welling up in them.
The two girls slowly broke away from each other. Louise wiped tears off her cheeks.
"I was afraid that you've changed, princess, I've no idea what the palace could have done to you."
"They may make me wear masks in the palace to suit their needs, but I will not don a mask in front of you, my dear Louise." Henrietta combed Louise's flowing pink hair. "This feels just like old times, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does, princess. Just like the time when we put frogs into the cardinal's room…"
"Or when we sneaked out to town…"
They laughed as they remembered fond memories.
"Is it alright for you to leave your guards like that, princess?"
"I feel safer with you than ever with a hundred guards around me, Louise. After all, they are just there to safeguard the safety of my body. " Henrietta's eyes looked down, her face sullen as she said that. "Unfortunately, even if I wanted nothing more than to stay here by your side and reminisce about the times we had together, I have come here to ask of you, my old friend, the only person I can trust, for a favour."
Louise's back straightened as her expression turned serious. "This may not be the safest place to tell me about it, princess."
"Don't worry, this cloak I'm wearing contains several spells to defend our secrecy. They have been activated as soon as I've entered this room."
Louise nodded. "Okay then." Saito looked amused as they completely ignored his presence. I guess familiars are really something they don't take as a human being, he thought.
The princess suddenly sighed. "I'm getting married, Louise!"
Louise was surprised at the sudden change of tone. She thought about it for a moment. "Of all the other countries, why the crown prince of that barbaric country?"
"The Germanians may be barbaric, Louise, but they also have the greatest economy and military power of all the countries in Halkegenia. Tristania is a small country, and we would have to do anything to keep the people alive. It's just a small sacrifice for the wellbeing of the entire nation."
"But you don't even love that man!"
"I know, but there is nothing else except to accept it. However, nothing must go wrong with this marriage. We're promised 50 years of military alliance, and decreased export taxes with this marriage. For this, Louise, this is where I would need to ask a favour from you."
Louise squeezed Henrietta's arm. "Anything for you, princess."
Henrietta hugged Louise again. "Louise, oh Louise, what would I give to have someone as sincere as you beside me in the palace. The palace is nothing but a place of deceit and feints. I don't even know who to trust anymore."
The princess release Louise from her embrace and continued to explain. "There is a letter, in the kingdom of Albania, on the hands of her youngest prince. The contents of the letter, if it were made known to the Germanian Empire, would destroy this marriage completely. However, Albania is currently undergoing a civil war. I'm afraid that the royal family is not faring very well. If they were to lose the battle for the country…the letter might be found. Will you help me in retrieving the letter, Louise?"
"Of course, your highness!"
"Wait a minute, hey, Louise, you can't even use magic properly!" Saito interjected just before Louise could make any more promises. "We got lucky last time, but we might not this time, you know!"
Louise pouted and placed her hands on her waist. "I will do anything for the princess, and besides, obviously this was not something she could trust anyone with!"
"Louise, your familiar is a human? So it's just like what the report says… What is his name?"
"Yes, your highness, unfortunately I got him as my familiar instead. His name is Saito."
Henrietta gave a warm but sad smile at Saito. "I'm sorry for asking Louise to do something so selfish for me…but I can't think of any other way to prevent the letter from falling into the wrong hands. Will you aid her in her mission, please?"
"Your highness! You don't have to be so courteous with him, he is just a dog!"
"Nevertheless, I would hope that you will have more help in this dangerous mission. Wouldn't it be better to have someone you can trust accompany you? I just can't let you go alone, Louise."
Louise turned silent when she heard this. Henrietta turned to look at Saito again and held out her hand. Saito tilted his head, confused.
Louise rolled her eyes. "Be grateful, dog. This means that you can kiss the Princess."
Saito's eyes widened. He had heard the westerners are direct in terms of physical contact, but he never expected them to be that direct. He looked at the princess, who was smiling kindly at him. He smiled back widely and bowed.
"Of course, your highness. I will do my best to help Louise as she undergoes this mission." With that said, he went forward and kissed the princess straight on the lips.
Princess Henrietta and Louise was shocked for the second time in the hour. Louise quickly drove a kick into Saito's torso, knocking him away from the princess. He fell and hit his head on the wall, blacking out instantly. The princess raised a hand to her lips, dumbfounded.
Louise immediately knelt down and apologised. "I apologise for his behaviour, your highness, he has come from a faraway country and has no idea about the customs of this country. Please forgive his insolence!"
"A-ah, I see. Never mind. I-I guess that could counted as a minor gift to him for his help." The princess stepped back and kept her distance with the unconscious Saito. "Well, Louise, I've also dispatched my most trusted lieutenant to help along the way. He only knows that you're going to retrieve a document from the Albanian royal family. He will be coming tomorrow morning, outside the town of Habar."
Louise nodded as she frowned slightly. What kind of letter would the young prince have that only the princess knew and that the contents would destroy a marriage? Could it be…
"Louise, can I stay here a little longer? I just want to talk to you. How have you been? Are your studies going well?"
Louise banished the thought from her mind. This was no time to worry about it.
Note: The editors of the Zero No Tsukaima series have announced that they will be continuing the light novel series with the notes provided by the late author. As stated in my profile page, I'll resume the translation of the LN while I write this fanfiction.