POV: Johan
After my nightly magic training was completed, I slept surprisingly well. Maybe it was the exhaustion from moving so much mana, or maybe it was the built up exhaustion I had accumulated over the last week catching up to me. Either way, I woke up much later than normal.
"8:23, breakfast should be ready soon," I murmured.
Getting out of bed was tough. The heavy comforters and silky smooth sheets felt like shackles on my drowsy mind, but I have a routine to keep.
I made my bed, freshened up, and took care of my business before dressing for the day.
Provided nothing drastic has changed, this trip is likely one meant to introduce the Princess to the North as well as my family, as we are likely to become engaged in the near future. This means that Mother will attempt to pair us up at every opportunity. Knowing this, I took a satchel and filled it with a few books I had stacked in my room, as well as my notebook.
I opened the door just as Friedrich was about to knock on it. His eyes softened, but his stoic face remained passive, "Young Master Johan, breakfast is ready."
"Thank you, Friedrich," I said, intending to make my way there now.
He put his hand on my shoulder before I could pass him, "Your mother said you should wake the Princess."
And so it begins.
Without missing a beat, I pivoted and walked towards the Princess' door.
Knock-Knock-Knock~
"Princess Annelei, breakfast is ready."
"..."
Knock-Knock-Knock~
"...Sigh."
Turning towards Friedrich, well, where he used to be, I pushed down a consecutive sigh. "He's in on it too…"
I opened the door and looked towards the bed. It was a mess of sheets with sporadic limbs poking out like an upturned bush's roots. I pity the maids that deal with this on the daily.
Softly, I poked the mass. "Princess Annelei, breakfast is ready."
"Mmmnnn… five more minutes…"
"Princess Annelei, the servants take great care to prepare breakfast for us every day. Letting their dishes grow cold does a disservice to their efforts."
My words seemed to, at the very least, motivate her to get out of bed– Thud– but not to stand up.
"Sigh"
Her hair was a birdsnest, but at least the gown she wore to bed was decent enough that I wouldn't have to help her change. Hoisting her up in a carry befitting of her position, I moved her to the bathroom. In her state, she was barely more than a mannequin, and with her light weight and my unordinarily large stature for my age, it was easy to move her.
I sat her down on a chair and retrieved a brush from one of the drawers. My sisters had often forced me to brush and braid their hair, so I simply followed their teachings and got her presentable. "Yawn~ Emma… I want a braid today…"
She seemed to still be half asleep, assuming I was her guardian knight. "Of course, Princess."
I was already planning on doing one, as it was a hairstyle I had experience setting. Taking her now perfectly straight, silky smooth, peach-colored hair in my hands, I braided a single and simple braid down her back. The process was quick, and once I tied it off, I stood up from my stool.
Her hair is certainly easier to work with. That's probably my best work to date.
"Let's go, Princess," I said, lightly shepherding her out the door and towards the dining room.
At this time of day, servants were bustling about with impressive speed and purpose. On our trip to the dining room, I heard more than a few coos and giggles, primarily from the maids, but I paid them no mind. They clearly found the Princess's half-asleep trek and my accompanying of her amusing.
They're lucky I'm lenient.
At the door to the dining room, head maid Esmerelda Hottiger had a mischievous look on her face. She was by far and away the oldest person not just in our servant ranks, but in the entire estate, yet the look in her eyes was one more of a conniving fox than a tired servant's.
"Young Master, it's surprising to see you so late to breakfast~" she said, wiggling her eyebrows and smiling a wrinkly smile.
"The Princess seems to not be a morning person, Lady Hottiger," I lamented. "And it also seems that our staff forgot where she was staying this morning."
She placed a finger to her chin, doing a horrible job at masking her growing amusement, "Ara~ ara~ I'll have to look into that, Young Master. Do forgive them."
I simply grunted. Engaging in a battle of words with Esmerelda was a war of attrition nobody could win. The old bat had more than one and a half centuries of experience behind her.
Inside, I was greeted with a nearly full table, all of which were engaging in a loud and borderline etiquette-less feast.
It seems the rest of my family has returned.
At once, a wave of black, silver, blue and amethyst turned my way. Those who took after Father sported shiny silver hair and piercing icy blue eyes, while those who took after my mother looked more like me; dark purple hair that bordered on inky black and amethyst eyes. I was the lone sibling with lavender-in-color eyes, annoyingly.
"""""""How curious~~~~~""""""" they all said in perfect unison, wiggling their eyebrows exactly like Esmerelda. She was practically our grandmother, so it wasn't a surprise her habits had brushed off on them.
"Good morning," I said, bowing.
The Princess had slowly begun to come to her senses, but she looked honestly more delirious than before. It was hardly her fault.
The ducal house of the North had eight children, including myself, and we all looked extremely similar (especially the two sets of twins). I could imagine how disorienting it was for an outsider who had been welcomed to a mostly empty table the night prior to almost sleepwalk into what looked like a prada-sponsored doppelganger competition.
Bracing for impact, I covered the Princess' ears-
"SO WHO'S THIS, LITTLE HAN????"
"FUNNY SEEING YOU LATE TO BREAKFAST, HAN. TROUBLE WAKING UP????"
""IT SEEMS IN OUR LITTLE HAN HAS FOUND HIMSELF A GIRLFRIEND~~~~~""
"SLEEP WELL, LITTLE BROTHER????"
""HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE~~~~~""
"FINALLY, MY HAN-ENERGY WAS RUNNING LOW! TIME TO REFUEL!!!"
A blur of purple burst from the table and swooped me up before I could dodge. As I was protecting the Princess' eardrums, I wasn't in a position to even try in the first place.
The eldest, Lillian, swooped me up like I weighed no more than an owl's feather and spun me around, giggling all the while. "How has my favorite little brother been?"
Not giving her a reaction, I responded flatly, "I have been well, Lillian."
Sadly, my disinterest only fueled her more. Sighing, I simply went limp and let her have her fun. It would be a long while before I could escape her clutches by force, let alone avoid them entirely.
You know, maybe getting executed wouldn't be a horrible idea-
"Alright, alright," a booming, deep voice said, "put your brother down, Lillian."
Father.
She complied, not before nearly crushing him in a constricting hug. "Sorry Father," she said, looking slightly dejected. "I just couldn't help myself. Each time we come back he just grows so much."
A fake sniffle elicited some chuckles as my family turned their attention from me to the Princess, who was completely awake now. "Your highness, Princess Annelei, I apologise we were unable to greet you yesterday," Father said. "This month's border excursion took a bit longer than expected."
Snapping out of her stupor, the Princess shook her head. "The Duchess and Johan were great hosts, Duke Nemetz. Both my teachers and Father have taught me much of how important House Nemetz's border excursions are for protecting the empire," she said in a practiced manner.
"Hahahah, did he now?" Father said, stroking the recently trimmed stubble on his face.
Compared to all the other duchies, and honestly all other noble houses in the empire, House Nemetz is the most isolated and insulated. We rule over the entirety of the Northern border, owning more land than the next five largest duchies combined, but that privilege comes with a cost.
It is the reason why we are the only Grand Duchy in the entire empire.
Apart from the isolation, the head of the house and all of his heirs are expected to lead monthly excursions into the border, clearing it of monsters and the occasional bandit group or, more commonly, escaped convicts. They usually take roughly one week, but this last one lasted two.
The consistency of the trips as well as their length makes it nearly impossible for any of us to make it to the frivolous and frequent social gatherings the rest of the empire's nobles hold.
Now that "pleasantries" were out of the way, the Princess and I joined the others for breakfast. My siblings launched into an overwhelming torrent of stories from the recent march. They told me about the monsters they killed, the places they went, complained about the weather, all stuff that has been recounted before.
Still, hearing of such outlandish things might never not be entertaining. The Princess certainly enjoyed them. My guess is that she expected a much more serious and conflict-ridden atmosphere, but people who fight with their lives on the line hardly have the energy for silly politics, especially behind closed doors.
Maybe the Emperor sent his daughter here not just to acclimate with her future in-laws, but to also get away from the dangers and stress life in the capitol brought.
"Well, now that we're back," eldest brother Noel started, "why don't we all head into town? It would be a great opportunity to show the Princess a proper Northern welcome!"
His twin sister Nara nodded, "Genius idea, brother dearest. We can spoil the younglings to our heart's content."
""Hm-Hm!"" they both nodded in sync.
Thus, it was decided. We were going into town.