Sinthia and The Demon Duke of DeSidea: 31

“Please tell my father that I won’t be able to attend today’s activities. I will continue to work in my room.”

Lissa stared nervously at Sinthia’s back as she tied back her hair. “Well... yes, but if he asks me why you cannot...”

”Tell him I have a slight cold or something. We can’t risk getting our guests sick with colds, can we?” Lissa agonized about asking her question for a long time, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. So she left.

Once Sinthia had dealt with her hair, she begun her daily strength-building workout. Ever since she came to this new universe in this new body, Sinthia had understood what it truly meant to have an inadequate body. The body was fine. It was healthy and it was not sickly. However, that was about it. It lacked stamina and physical strength. Well, it lacked the strength she was used to having. Back in her previous life, she greatly prized physical ability. Devotedly going to the gym, pursuing martial arts and eating in a way that aided her body in becoming stronger and better. As a result, she had gained happiness in herself and her independence. Able to lift anything she needed, stamina to rival athletes, and mobility that allowed her to taste a sort of freedom that felt fundamental to humanity, Sinthia of the Twenty-First loved her previous body.

So this body made her distraught. It was not as flexible and malleable. It wasn’t very strong either. The life of a princess did not allow for that. Less than a week after waking up, Sinthia had made the horrifying discovery that she could not easily throw punches or kick high. Simple things made her tired and winded. So she decided to get her body in order. Every single say, she would do basic strengthening exercises, and stretch twice a day. She wanted to start cardio and jog to build up her stamina, but it was too strange to have a princess running around the palace every day. So she did high intensity interval training to get her heart really beating, and practiced as much kick-boxing as she was able to alone. It had done a lot to rouse her body, and soon she knew that she would have to increase the intensity and include weights to build muscle.

After she was done, she wiped herself down and begun on her tasks. Her duty was to help her father deal with the accounts and documents sent by the other nobles. It was not necessarily hard, but it required concentration and the ability to discern when there was an underlying problem. All the lands under the royal house and under the nobles seemed to be faring well. There were sighs of a drought beginning in the Eastern parts of the Kingdom. Sinthia stopped writing, then stared at the document. It seemed like every time there was a problem in the kingdom, it had to do with the East. She took note of that, then continued to work.

“She isn’t feeling well?” Cedric turned from his work. The maid that stood before him was the very same one he had interrogated not too long ago. She was still weary and scared around him, but she did her best not to show it. “Yes, Your Majesty. Her Royal Highness said she has a little cold and would not dare to put the esteemed guests in danger.”

He did not respond for a long time, causing Lissa to feel a bit of panic.

“Very well. It’s a shame she won’t be able to attend today’s activities but it cannot be helped.” He returned to his work, allowing Lissa to leave.

Oh, His Majesty was so scary. She could never tell what it was he was thinking. He always looked upon everything and everyone with those same lifeless green eyes. They always shrouded his thoughts, so in a way he was unpredictable. But. Lissa stopped hurriedly walking. But he looked somewhat different nowadays. Whenever the fourth princess was mentioned, there was a very slight change. She wasn’t yet able to identify if it was a positive or negative change, but she saw just hints of it. Like just now, his brows furrowed ever so slightly. Either in annoyance at the inconvenience... or worry.

Sinthia had finished her work, and now lay on her bed, spread like butter. She had worked so well in the privacy of her room that she had finished her work quickly. The sun was already beginning to go down. The day was over. And now she was left alone to be torn apart by her thoughts. Her guilt.

She didn’t know why she felt so guilty in regards to what happened between Kairn and Elias. This was not enough for the relationship to completely shatter. It was just a hiccup, she thought. But Elias’ tears had felt like it was the end. Like there was no salvation. No hope for a future. Well, she had given up her important wedding plans so they should sort out the issue swiftly.

Now the problem lay in what she gave up.

She had suggested the wedding for many reasons, but the most important one to her was to begin something incredibly important. All those times she had snuck out to buy expensive dresses and jewelry were in preparation for that.

Sinthia had actually been scouting. She had been looking for a seamstress that could breathe life into a wedding dress so absolutely beautiful it would be the talk of the decade. Designing the dress hadn’t been an easy task, but Sinthia did not know how to make one. So she had recruited a talented, pioneering seamstress.

This seamstress was not appreciated. She was unable to find clients because her style was far too bold and avant-garde. She had a completely different understanding of fashion, and it didn’t sit well with potential clients.

Except Sinthia.

When she saw the dresses of this seamstress, she saw the beginning of a new age of fashion. An age that she was familiar with. Her designs were very bold and showed more skin than noble ladies would dare display, and she seemed to favor colors and materials more than she did patters, which were in right now. Sinthia had immediately asked this seamstress to begin working on her legendary wedding dress. The many nobles that would appear for her wedding would be so taken by the ethereal dress designed by her and made by the avant-garde seamstress that they would begin to take an interest in the new and incredible fashion, then Sinthia would continue prodding and creating demand for excellent and bold dresses in social gatherings until she finally quenched their thirst by opening up a store that sold the dresses. This would mark her first steps to creating one of many businesses in the future, and conquering this world through commerce.

But it was no longer a plan.

She had given up the superb potential of a business because she couldn’t stand to see a demon’s tears. If she had told herself from three months ago that she had sacrificed such a promising idea because some adorable fox person cried, she would have never believed it.

But here she was. The dress would have to be worn by someone else now. The impact of it’s debut would never be quite the same as it would have been standing next to a tall, handsome demon like Kairn, but it would have to suffice. She also had to eat her pride and admit to her sisters that there would be no wedding. After she had boldly declared it to Emilia, she would have to swallow her words. Groaning, Sinthia rolled over. What had possessed her to let someone know of her plans before she was absolutely sure? She should have kept it subtle and hinted at it instead of blatantly announcing it. But what was done was done, and there was no turning back.

She heard a knock on her door. Sinthia fell silent, wondering if she had called for anyone. She hadn’t, so who could be visiting her now? “Come in.” She softly answered, slipping into her blankets. The door swung open and in walked His Majesty.

Sinthia was taken aback. Of all the people that it could have been, she had not at all expected him. Twice in a row, he visited her.

Why?

“Your Majesty. I am graced by your presence. Thank you for visiting me.” She said to him. He simply stood there staring at her. He didn’t look quite as lifeless as she always remembered him. What was it? His brow.

It was furrowed ever so lightly.

“I heard that you are ill. Are you alright?”

”It was just a slight cold. Don’t worry. Not many people have been in contact with me so it won’t spread.”

Now he was frowning just a smidge. Sinthia was confused. What seemed to be upsetting him enough to show it?

“That’s not important. Are You feeling better? Was this why you were looking so down yesterday?”

”Yes, Your Majesty. I did not tell you in case it really did turn out to be nothing.” She lied.

He seemed to have caught it, because his frown got deeper. He stood awkwardly for a while longer, looking like he wanted to do something but simply could not. Why was he acting like this? Why was he even here? It was true that Sinthia rarely fell ill, and even when she did she made sure that work would not suffer with her absence, but even a small illness was not enough to make this man worry.

“I feel like you aren’t being truthful, Sinthia.” His voice was no longer lacking in feeling. It felt different. Like he was actually worrying. Was he worrying? No way. Sinthia quickly dispelled such thoughts.

Unable to simply tell him that she was not lying, for she was, Sinthia just gave a strained smile. He was confusing her.

”A few days ago, you wanted to tell me something. You say that you gave it more thought and determined that it would not do to pursue that idea any more, but I feel like it is what is weighing on you now.”

Sinthia found herself startled, jerking slightly at his words. Since when was he so observative when it came to her? He was acting too different.

“I know that... there has been little reason for you to tell me anything in the past.” He took a slight breath, carefully thinking of his next words. “But if there is something bothering you... you don’t have to. To agonize over it alone. You don’t have to agonize over it alone.” He was trying so hard. Why? Sinthia found herself blinking at him, his face looking confused and mildly upset. He was a king. Speaking was what he did best. But he found it hard to speak earnestly to his daughter. It was upsetting.

Sinthia was now tossed into a deep confusion. The man that Sinthia of Ophelia had in her memory was practically an ice mannequin. Cold and unchanging. He did not try to get close to her, or even pay attention to what she did. So this was confusing her greatly. This man that stood before her was changing too rapidly. She felt like as if she was unable to even recognize him. But then again, at some point, Sinthia of Ophelia was so scared of his rejection that she had begun to run at any sight of him.

The past four years, Sinthia of Ophelia spent them in terror of him. For reasons unknown to her, she had begun to see more and more glimpses of him. In the hallways, in the garden, in the sitting rooms. He seemed to be appearing out of nowhere.

So she had started to run faster and further away from him.

Sometimes she would not leave her room for weeks because she was scared she would bump into her father. When Sinthia of the twenty-First looked at these memories, she felt very strange. Like she was missing something. The fear of Sinthia of  Ophelia was influencing her objectivity of the situation. All she could feel was panic when she saw a close adviser or a flutter of purple, which only royals wore in the palace. So she immediately ran. But what was HIS reasoning for these actions?

Suddenly, there was a strange clarity. Why would they suddenly begin to meet so often if he did not like her at all? He was not one to sugarcoat things. He would call her for an audience if he felt he needed to. But he didn’t. He seemed to want to coincidentally meet her around the palace. Why would he want to do that when he blatantly disliked her?

Why would he...

“Your Majesty.” Sinthia found herself looking at him, her eyes wide with realization. He blinked, a bit shocked at it. Why did she look like that? Like as if she understood something? “Yes, Sinthia?”

She said nothing for a while, then suddenly hopped out of bed. Fixing her dress quickly, she walked to the bell by the fireplace and asked, “Would you care for some tea?”

//Late update but I just wrote it today cos i was quite busy yesterday//