I Love You, My Cursed Prince

A letter arrived the following morning. It was addressed to Glen Devin. The red wax seal on the envelope had the shape of a circle with a sleeping bear inside. That bear wore a crown of roses.

It was the seal of their lord's mother, Princess Arya Shirma, formerly a queen, the woman who dared to divorce the king.

The nation was called Norantha. The Devins lived in a province called Matas. Previously, the Earl of Matas was a man with two sons. And sadly, that man was murdered. His first son died of illness. His second son was convicted of shameful crimes. The next possible heir had an accident with a hunting rifle and died. The king threw his hands up, or Muriel liked to imagine he did, and then he gave all the land, the castle, and the title to his second son, Prince Vidar Petran. This meant that the current lord of that land, the Earl of Matas, wasn't only entitled to rent from his tenants. He also received an allowance from the king.

As for the prince's mother, she was a princess from Junjaia, a country full of lush jungles and crisp mountains, or so Muriel had heard. One day, for reasons that were never made truly clear to the public, she divorced the king. She gave up the right to be the Queen Consort, and she was returned to her title as a foreign princess.

Why did the princess send a letter to Glen Devin? Muriel thought she had an idea. It wasn't a secret. Everyone knew about it.

Princess Arya had been throwing her paid companions out like foot bath water. One after the other, completely unsatisfied.

A paid companion, also called a lady's companion, was an occupation that involved giving their company, conversation, and general ȧssistance. Muriel had thought the young woman she had saved from the green man might have been a companion.

Some might call the job a false friendship one pays for. Others might call the job a way to become someone's pet. It depended on the companion's employer, really. When the employer was a royal person living in the palace, then the companion was called a lady-in-waiting. A lady-in-waiting was usually of a very high class and was paid a higher allowance than a commoner.

Princess Arya didn't live in the palace anymore. She lived in a castle with her younger son. She didn't have any ladies-in-waiting. As for companions, she was apparently being fastidious. She was dismissing each companion within a month of her service.

Now, there was a letter to Glen Devin from this princess, which likely meant that she was asking if he had any daughters he'd be willing to spare.

There were two cultured and beautiful women in the Devin family ready to be seen with royalty. Muriel knew that if one of them went off to accompany the princess, then there would be one less person to feed at home, and one less expensive lifestyle to support.

Muriel's intuition was proven correct soon. Her father explained the situation to all his daughters. Then he suggest that Sarana, the eldest daughter, should be offered to the princess as a paid companion. A few weeks later, and Sarana had all of her things packed up. She left the house with a flourishing red grin.

And she returned a week or so after that, wearing a dry glower.

"She's irrational, absolutely irrational!" Sarana told her sisters.

"But how was the prince?" Evelyn asked.

"I can't say. He's ill in bed. If you want to go to the princess, then please do. But don't start crying to me after she beats you with a cane!"