Rowena was really happy when the flower crown touched her head. She suddenly felt like a real princess.
She already had a nice tiara in her room, given to her by King Draco as a gift on her fourteenth birthday, but she didn't feel special when she was wearing the diamond-studded tiara. Somehow, she actually felt more special after she had this flower crown on.
On that day, Rowena realized the value of things was not determined by how much price people put into them, but by how happy those things made them feel.
"Th-thank you…" she said to Lady Liz with a stammer. Lady Liz smiled back, faintly. She was right. Rowena truly wanted the crown for herself.
The governess didn't know why she suddenly changed her mind. Maybe, she wanted to suck up to the princess so Rowena would choose her to be one of her ladies-in-waiting after she became the queen?
No. It was not that.
Maybe it was because Rowena chose to give her the crown instead of throwing it away. Lady Liz could feel her sincerity and it suddenly made her feel embarrassed for what she had done all this time.
Seeing how Rowena looked so happy just by going out of the castle and feeling in awe of so many simple and trivial things made Lady Liz feel sorry for her.
"Can we stay just a liiiiitle bit longer?" Rowena asked Lady Liz while holding the crown with both hands. She wanted to see her reflection on the lake, wearing this beautiful crown.
Lady Liz looked up at the sky and then nodded. They could stay for ten more minutes. "Okay. Just a little bit."
"Thank you, Lady Liz!"
Rowena felt so touched and happy. She instantly hugged her governess. They were never close and she often secretly resented Lady Liz.
However, since the older woman suddenly helped her, all her resentment was gone, replaced by gratitude. Perhaps, Lady Liz was not too bad. She just did what King Draco ordered her to do.
This was the first time Lady Liz and Rowena being far away from the king's castle, away from King Draco Roseland. Maybe the real Lady Liz was not so bad? Rowena didn't care about it anymore. She hugged her governess, whose body went stiff and looked awkward.
Lady Liz didn't expect the princess would suddenly hug her. Did Rowena feel that happy just by being allowed to wear a simple flower crown and stay longer in the meadow?
The governess cleared her throat and pushed Rowena away awkwardly. She was not used to being friendly like this with her ward. "That's enough. You have eight more minutes."
"I know," Rowena smiled. She let go of her hug, turned around, and ran toward the lake to see her reflection. Her movement was so light and she looked like she was dancing. Lucent was screeching happily in the air, flying toward the lake following Rowena.
Lady Liz watched the two with her arms crossed on her chest. The princess and her phoenix truly looked like a sight came straight out of fairy tales. She was wondering who Rowena's mother really was.
Ever since she started working in the castle as the princess' governess, she had not heard Rowena mention her mother. The king also didn't keep any paintings of his late wife. The woman's existence was very mysterious.
Not many people knew her. Perhaps, old servants knew something but they were all gone. The king either fired them or had them killed for different crimes. Rumors had it that the woman was a princess from far away land. She came with the king after one of his travels.
She looked so white, this was according to the rumors, of course, and many people assumed she came from a really cold country.
Maybe she couldn't adjust to living in a kingdom with a hotter climate, her health deteriorated quickly and she passed away during childbirth. She didn't even get to see her baby.
Of course, all these were part of the rumors. Lady Liz couldn't verify it. She often wondered what that woman looked like to have such a beautiful daughter like Rowena.
Sigh. Maybe her beauty was out of this world that King Draco couldn't move on even so many years after her passing?
That must be it.
Lady Liz took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She felt the gentle breeze on her face and thought about her own life. She came to the king's castle hoping to find ways into the king's heart, but after eight years, all her efforts were futile.
Now, seeing Rowena all grown up, she suddenly realized the king's late wife must be so beautiful like their daughter and Lady Liz could never compete with her.
She finally decided it was time to give up. She had lost the prime years of her life, waiting for the impossible. Maybe it was not too late if she stopped now and started looking for her happiness elsewhere…
When she opened her eyes again, Lady Liz's eyes were fixed on Rowena who was dancing with the wind, Lucent was flying around her, and it looked as if they were dancing together.
"Poor girl," Lady Liz muttered to herself. After fifteen years, the only friend Rowena had was a bird.
From the corners of her eyes, she could see the four bodyguards who stood nearby all had the same expression. They were all feeling sorry for Rowena.
"All right, we really have to go now, Your Highness," Lady Liz strode toward Rowena and took her hand. "Your father wanted you to see the outside world, not just this one place."
Lady Liz never questioned the order she received from the king. She only knew that King Draco wanted Rowena to learn new things after all her teachers had finished teaching her everything they knew.
"Ah, okay," Rowena reached out her arm and motioned Lucent to come down. "Let's go back to the carriage, Lucent."
The phoenix did a beautiful somersault in the air before it went to Rowena and landed on her arm.. After three years, it was now double the size of an adult cat and was quite heavy, but Rowena didn't complain about its weight.
