7 Chapter 6: Princess Ekaterinas Journey Part II (1/2)
Feather-like snowflakes swirled in the sky as if a myriad of birds suddenly flew off. Animals hurried to find a comfortable place to pass the winter and fishes swam gleefully in the lake, protected by the superficial ice.
The roads of Lacrimosa were mostly empty, except for a few latecomers desperately running or riding toward cities. As the tracks were already covered by the snow, it was as if the stagecoach congestion from the last few days never really happened.
On the West Lacrimosa Highway, an unusually grand coach was advancing slowly in the snow, unhindered by the increasingly cold weather and road conditions. On its sides, 3 riders rode on their warmly dressed horses bearing the proud emblem of the Lacrimosian Life Guard Regiment, currently the strongest unit in Lacrimosa.
”Halfway through!” Alexa said while stroking her beloved Armand (Horse). ”Hopefully, we should arrive by noon in two days. After that, it'll be bath time at the Hot Springs!”
”Yes!” Ursula shouted as she strode closer to the carriage. ”After all these years training in the Military Academy, my skin has gone all ragged. Even my dad was astonished seeing how ugly I became in the last five years!”
As she heard her beautiful friend's self-loathing words, Estelle almost spit the double expresso coffee she was drinking. ”Come now, you narcissist,” she said while she recovered from the initial burst of laughter. ”You are arguably one of the prettiest female cadets in our cohort. What more do you want?”
Just like that, the quiet road suddenly filled with laughter. The earlier loneliness had disappeared once the guards started talking. The princess inside the carriage also laughed when her maid Bonny told her one of her many antics. On the deserted Highway, the girls' laughter echoed loudly.
”What do you think of Mikhail?” Alexa asked while smirking at Estelle. ” Strikes you fancy? I've caught you staring at him quite a few times during the shooting lessons.”
Seeing an opportunity to get back at Estelle, Ursula rubbed salt on the wound. ”Well, I DO get why you like him, though. Isn't he the dashing son of the late Margrave Medvelt and also a candidate for becoming a Hauptmann of the Artillery upon graduation?”
”Q-quiet down you two!” A heavily blushing Estelle brushed them off hastily. ”Her Highness can hear us! Don't you DARE corrupt her mind with y-your stupid rumors!”
”Don't mind me,” a gentle, yet playful voice came from inside the carriage, ”we're just getting at the juicy parts, after all. I have no rights to stop you! By all means, do carry on!”
Princess Ekaterina was extremely perceptive and mature for a girl her age. When Estelle spoke to her, she always felt as if she was speaking with a grown woman rather than a little girl barely past her age of awareness.
”You heard her, girls!” Vendée the coachman exclaimed, just as eager as the princess to listen to the girls' story. ”Those are Her Highness' orders!”
Hearing that, Alexa and Ursula continued teasing poor Estelle about her prospective lover for five long minutes.
”On top of that, he's in the Artillery!” Alexa said at the end. ”That's where the best cadets go, right?”
”About that,” the small voice resonated from the carriage, ”Mother told me that the Army has too many outstanding junior artillery officers and the senior officers don't know what to make of them. They say it's a waste of good human resources.”
”Ummm...are you...”
”A waste of human resources?”
”Is the Artillery too crowded?”
The 3 temporary Life Guards were astonished. Their entire conception of the Artillery corps crumbled under the Princess' confession. Then, another question popped into their minds.
”Your Highness, are you sure that it's okay for you to tell us all this?” Estelle asked, worried about their lives for knowing too much. ”Isn't this classified information we shouldn't even know?”
The princess chuckled and the carriage was silent. No one dared to ask more than they already have. Only questions remained in the young women's heads. Nobody but Bonny saw the princess' complex facial expression.
She wanted to create her own Guard regiment that will only respond to her own authority and that of the King. She wanted to create a stalwart unit strong enough to save the Kingdom in times of need. That is the dream his father has instilled in her pure, innocent heart. For this purpose, she intended to recruit the most brilliant officer cadets from the Royal War Academy in all fields of study, be it Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and even War Engineers, to form the greatest officers corps of all Lacrimosa. Those 3 cadets would become the first officers in this unit. To rope them in, Ekaterina felt it necessary to use some slightly underhanded means to secure their loyalty and have them attached to her with a ”State secret”, which was actually invented by Ekaterina on the spot. The true fact was that the Artillery still lacked qualified personnel. This small lie would mark the start of an extensive series of military reforms the Princess Edelweiss will bring to the Kingdom.
The princess was still thinking about how she would dress her guards when a clamor suddenly raised outside. Noises of gunshots were heard and horses neighed furiously. Ursula could be heard issuing orders to her companions. The princess was not worried, as by now, she trusted her subordinates completely. In the worst case, Bonny can save both her and the carriage. Thus, Ekaterina watched the fierce battle unfold before her window.
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