1 A Royal Misunderstanding

I am the Prince.

Well, it is more accurate to say, I am one of the princes. I stood staring at myself in the mirror in my candlelit room. Normally, this wouldn't be enough light to get a full reflection, but I was only four years old and my eyesight was extraordinary. My silky black hair, thick eye-lashes and round face would make it easy to confuse me for a little girl. However, unknown to the world, I am a girl. Well, at least I was, in my past life.

The first four years of my new life were like a waking dream. I don't remember how I died, but I was still young. My latest memory was attending a banquet for my sixteenth birthday. My father was very possessive and often had dealings with people nicknamed 'First name, The (Occupation).' Although he hid his illegal activities from his family, I always knew he ran the city from the shadows. Ah, I'm crying all of a sudden. I miss my papa, mama, and brothers.

I don't know how I died, but I guess it was a hit by my papa's enemies. However, that life was over. I don't know how I remember a past life, but I'll use it to my advantage in this one. Although I was four, I don't recall ever seeing my father's face. I was an avid fan of middle ages and dark ages fictions with knights and kings, but something about this world seemed wrong.

"Cornelius, are you awake?"

A tall, beautiful woman with long silky black hair, fair skin, and bright blue eyes opened my door and glided across the carpet with graceful steps. She wrapped her arms around me and the soft silk nightgown felt nice and cool on my skin. Her warmth made me comfortable and relaxed, forgetting about the complex thoughts in my head.

"Oh, my dear baby, you look so pretty. You are a spitting image of your mama when she was a little girl. I remember when your father and I were engaged, he couldn't keep his eyes off and would always stutter when speaking to me."

I looked up at my mothers loving face and reached my hand out to touch her soft skin. I knew many royals often left their children to be taken care of by maids, but I only remember her face. I tried to voice my thoughts, but my small tongue and mouth betrayed me.

"Mama 's bootyfull"

"Oh, my baby's words are so cute and sweet. I might just have to leave your poor father if you keep talking like this~"

She started planting kisses all over my face. Although I was still considered a child, my heart was that of a teenager, so this kind of affection from my mama was embarrassing. Although I tried to pull my head back away from her and wriggle in her grasp, I still felt warm inside. I was happy that my mama was still loving in this world. It helped soothe the loss.

"So, my baby already knows how to feel embarrassed from mama's kisses? Before I know it, you'll be taken by a pretty girl and not need mama anymore!"

Although her tone was silly, I still felt a little guilty for feeling embarrassed although I was only four, so I gave her a big kiss on the cheek and tried to comfort her.

"Only love mama!"

After a few more loving words and squeezing of my baby fat, mama moved onto her favorite activity. She took out various pretty dresses in matching pairs, one adult and one child. I saw the sadness on her face whenever she took out these dresses and it made me wonder if she lost a daughter or wanted me to be a girl. Since I was a girl once, I didn't have a problem wearing the dresses she took out and let her play with my shoulder-length hair. Eventually, I won't fit in those dresses anymore and will have to take up my position as prince.

After dressing up, she would play with me for a while, but eventually be called away for her official duties. After she left, I would play by myself with the simply crafted wooden toys and picture books about the history of the kingdom. Maids would bring me food and anything else I asked for, but I was a fairly docile and obedient child in the perspective of outsiders. The only thing that drove the castle staff mad was my occasional explorations through the various halls and rooms.

This went on for a year. I would dress up with mama, then go wandering the castle. The maids would come looking for me, so it became a kind of game between us. There didn't seem to be any male servants or even male guards anywhere I explored. When I asked mama about it, she said that there was currently a war being fought in a neighboring kingdom and all the able-bodied men were fighting in it. This is when I learned that I had three older brothers.

The Queen had birthed the eldest prince, Richard. The first Queen Consort birthed the second eldest, Leonard. And the second Queen Consort, my mama, birthed my elder brother, Charles. All of the king's wives had their own exclusive wing which was huge. Apparently, even after a year of exploration, I had only just gone through this wing. I was told that my education would begin in a few months, so I decided to try and explore outside of my mama's wing. Apparently, there was a very pretty flower garden that separated the different wings.

This particular morning, I was very groggy from staying up reading the night before. I had read all of the picture books and wanted something fun to read. One of the maids had a copy of a fantasy adventure story with simple words meant for commoners, but I became engrossed in it. The lack of entertainment in this world had left me quite bored on occasion and I ended up getting glued to a good book. While I was thinking about what I'd read last night, mama was trying to tell me something but I was too distracted and didn't hear her.

She finished braiding my hair in a single long braid with a bright green bow that matched my eyes. She dressed me in a spring-colored dress and left shortly after taking a good look at me. Once the coast was clear, I slipped on my brown boots and started making my way to where I suspected the garden was. Weirdly, there wasn't a maid in sight anywhere. I took this opportunity to skip toward the garden with my new favorite book clutched in my arms.

Perhaps because I was dressed like a girl for the last year or having the mind of a girl from my past, I didn't think much about crossdressing. As I skipped onward, I was easily able to find the garden. The first thing I noticed was how absolutely beautiful the garden was. This garden would put the Botanical Garden's to shame. Not only was there a wide variety of flowers and plants, but they were arranged in a beautiful maze-like pattern. Additionally, the glass tinted roof let in just the right amount of mid-day light.

As I wandered around looking for a good place to read, I could hear some slight sobbing from the other side of a wall of flowers. After navigating toward the sound, I saw a brown-haired girl maybe a year younger than me sitting on a bench wiping away her tears that wouldn't stop flowing. I placed my book down on the bench and walked in front of her. She noticed me just as I walked over and looked at me. The first thing I noticed was her glistening honey-brown eye color. The two of us looked into each other's eyes and spoke simultaneously.

""Pretty.""

We both started giggling at the unintentional coordination between us. She was able to switch her sad emotion to happy instantly and started smiling with a bubbly expression. She climbed down from the bench and fell backward into me. I caught her and she thanked me.

"Why were you crying?"

"I—I got lost looking for the b-b-bathroom."

I unconsciously looked down and saw some wet spots on the hem of her dress and understood what happened. I took her hand and started guiding her toward my room. The girl didn't say anything and just meekly followed me. Once we arrived, I sat her down and brought out a frilly dark green dress and stockings from my large closet. I gave her the change in clothes and stepped into the next room.

"T-thank you!"

I simply smiled at her cuteness and took her hand again. I wanted to spend the day in the garden today, so I led her back. However, just as we entered the garden grounds, a group of knights came running over.

"Lady Elizabeth, you're safe! We thought... Never mind, come with us, your mother is worried sick."

Behind the guards, a group of maids approached. When one of the younger maids looked at me, she unintentionally exclaimed.

"Prince Cornelius! What are you doing out?"

"Eeeh! P-p-p-prince!"