◇◇◇ Lieselotte’s White Flower

Lieselotte was six, and Siegwald was eight. A year after they had first met, the two were officially engaged on a fateful autumn day. Then, a few days later, Lieselotte and her father made their way to the royal palace.

As she was betrothed to the crown prince, the girl was to begin her education as the future queen. Thus, they were there to visit Tiana, the crown princess and mother to Prince Siegwald.

Knowing that the children were still young, Tiana wished to keep stiff formalities to a minimum, and invited everyone to join her in the castle garden.

“Allow me to formally introduce my eldest daughter, Lieselotte Riefenstahl.”

As the marquis beckoned her forth, the little girl stepped out from behind him. Trembling with anxiety, she bent her knees and bowed her head in an awkward curtsy.

The king and marquis followed with formal introductions of their own. The whole time, Lieselotte was petrified. But then, a woman hugged her out of the blue.

“Everyone here is family or will be one day, and today’s meeting is a relaxed, private affair. Don’t stiffen up like that, sweetheart. It’s nice to meet you, Lieselotte. I’m Tiana, Siegwald’s mother.”

The smiling princess stole away Lieselotte’s gaze. She had luscious chestnut hair and light brown eyes that almost shimmered gold in the sunlight. What was more, the graceful lady had a charming smile, just like the prince Lieselotte loved so much.

Now Lieselotte was frozen in reverence instead of shock. But another, smaller silhouette then called out to her.

“This is our second time seeing each other, right? Ahem, I’m Siegwald. It’s nice to meet you!”

When Siegwald paired his brilliant smile with his mother’s, Lieselotte could hardly look without squinting. Tiana noted the girl’s reaction and faint blush, and she let go with a happy smile. The crown princess was so happy with how they got along that she decided to give them a little push.

“The men will go on and on, so how about you two go off and play? Sieg, be a dear and show her around.”

“Okay! There’s a pretty flower over there that has the same color as your eyes. Let me show you!”

With a twinkle in his eye, the young prince tried to lead Lieselotte by the hand. He’d done so the first time they met—in fact, they’d held hands that entire day. And so, he didn’t even think about it when he tried to do so again.

“Okay—ah!”

Yet as Lieselotte reached out to take his hand, her father’s teachings sprang up in the back of her brain: “To show favor is to show desire. Perhaps a desire for love. Perhaps a desire for special treatment. On the other hand, if you can resist these expectations, then you shouldn’t need to express your favor. I know you’re engaged to him now, but he’s still far above you in stature. Keep these things in mind.”

As a loyal retainer to the crown, Marquis Riefenstahl had intended to quell his overeager daughter’s enthusiasm. He knew that a young girl would not understand all that he meant, but hoped that she would understand by the time she rose to the throne.

In a cruel twist of fate, his words of wisdom had morphed in Lieselotte’s mind to become a curse that would bind her for years to come...

“No!” Lieselotte screamed, slapping away Siegwald’s hand.

“Huh?” The prince stood in utter shock. He stared at his own hand. The tears forming in his golden eyes drained all the color from Lieselotte’s face. “...Why? But we held hands last time... You even said you liked me...”

Hearing Siegwald mumble sadly worsened Lieselotte’s complexion further. She began to tremble violently. The first time they’d met, her father had not yet tightened the bolts on her heart; she had been free to say what she believed.

However, now Lieselotte knew that had been a mistake. She loved him, but she wasn’t supposed to tell him that—but also, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The various things she had to juggle got tangled up until she was too confused to make sense of them. In a fit of perplexity, she shouted the first thing that came to mind.

“I... I don’t like you at all!”

And so, in the autumn of Lieselotte Riefenstahl’s sixth year, she grew her first thorn as a tsundere. Such was the beginning of a long, ten-year love story fraught with misunderstandings.

────

Marquis Riefenstahl quickly scooped up his hysterical daughter. Lieselotte clung to him, repeating, “No, no! I didn’t mean it!” over and over again. After a feverish apology, the man swept his daughter away from the scene.

“Mother,” Siegwald asked, “did I do something wrong?”

Tiana couldn’t help but giggle from seeing her son look so forlorn.

“Liking someone as a friend and liking someone that you’re going to marry is different. You might like someone a lot as a friend, but then feel very differently if they asked to marry you. I think Lieselotte suddenly started thinking about that and got a little shy, is all.”

Tiana continued giggling, but Siegwald didn’t seem to understand. He tilted his head and looked at her blankly.

“Basically,” she went on, “you were just a teensy bit too forward for your second time meeting, Sieg. Trust me, I promise she’s not upset with you.”

“Really?”

“Really! Think about it: the marquis would never have agreed to let you two marry if Lieselotte didn’t like you. He might be the loyal blade of the kingdom, but the best of swords will point straight at the crown should we ever stray from a just path. Anyway, you two are going to be together for years and years. Don’t worry and get along little by little.”

Hearing his mother speak with such confidence slowly put a smile back on Siegwald’s face.

“You’re right, that makes sense! Now that I think about it, it’s rude to grab a lady’s hand without saying anything!”

“Mm-hm,” Tiana said with a smile. “Do your best, my little prince.”

By this point, the sagacious queen had already figured out Lieselotte’s true feelings, and thought that her childish bashfulness was simply adorable.

Little did Tiana know, the two would fail to close the distance for years to come...and she would never have imagined the convoluted mess their relationship would slowly morph into.

────

Three years had passed, and Lieselotte Riefenstahl was nine years of age. It was early autumn, and her hair was far longer than it had once been.

It was considered fashionable among the women of upper nobility to grow one’s hair out to their hips. Some did so because it signified that they were wealthy enough to employ a stylist exclusively for hair care. Others followed the age-old tradition that said long hair warded off evil spirits. While there were many different explanations, the simplest and most influential one was that long hair was in vogue.

Tiana had recently ascended from the position of crown princess to that of queen consort, and she was now at the center of the kingdom. Those around her enjoyed themselves by styling her voluptuous hair in all sorts of beautiful ways. Naturally, the rest of high society followed suit.

Lieselotte’s mother was not one for trends or fashion. To her, hair was nothing more than a nuisance that got in the way of painting. Lieselotte had long followed suit and kept her own hair at shoulder length, but the sight of Tiana’s elegant locks had stolen her heart. Ever since their first meeting, the girl had been growing out her hair; it now sat right around her waist.

“Lieselotte, dear, I see you’ve curled your hair today,” Tiana said with a smile. Her student had entered her room today with long, curly rolls.

“Um, well...” Lieselotte’s cheeks grew pink and she averted her gaze ever so slightly. “His Highness said you looked pretty when you wore your hair like this the other day, so I tried copying you.”

Tiana squinted. She could hardly bear the girl’s adorable shyness. However, that begged the question: why was she so sincere when Sieg wasn’t around, yet so untrue to herself when he was?

The two children were on the cusp of puberty, and their relationship was beginning to show its quirks. Siegwald was steadily beginning to understand the difference between sexes, and Lieselotte was mentally twisting her first love at every turn. Tiana couldn’t help but worry as she watched the pair drift further into the realm of distant politeness.

“You look absolutely precious,” the queen said. “You’re incredibly cute, but...” Why don’t you show my son how cute you are? Unable to put this question to words, Tiana sighed.

“Is there something wrong with my hair?” Lieselotte asked, fretful.

“Um...” Tiana stared at the girl in deep thought. Eventually, she decided to smile her worries away. “No, dear, I just thought that your head seemed a little lonely. Let me see—how about something like this?”

The queen was struck with a wonderful idea. She plucked a single flower out of a vase decorating her room.

“What’s that?” Lieselotte eyed the blossom curiously.

Tiana snipped the stem short with a playful grin. Then, she stuck it straight into the girl’s hair.

“It’s a present! Think of this flower as a good luck charm to make you and Sieg get along.”

Lieselotte tilted her head. She had no idea what the queen was talking about.

“Okay, quiz time!” Tiana said. “We here in the royal family are bestowed something to symbolize ourselves. We put this symbol on all of our favorite things to show that they are ours. What do we call this symbol?”

“I know! It’s a seal!”

Lieselotte answered right away and the queen showered her with applause.

“Correct! Then do you know what Sieg’s seal is?”

“I do! It’s a lirene! Even though boys usually don’t use flowers as their seal, Prince Siegwald was born with the same hair and eyes as the Goddess Lirenna who gave birth to our world, so he was given her favorite flower!”

“Correct again! That was a perfect textbook answer, Lieselotte! Okay, last question: what kind of flower is a lirene?”

This time around, the answer did not immediately spring to Lieselotte’s mind. Slowly, she began to speak while she dove into her memory.

“Um, it’s really rare in the kingdom, and I haven’t seen one yet. I heard that they’re really common in the eastern countries, and that they can dispel magic. They’re supposed to be white, with five petals arranged like a pointy star, and...? Wait!” All of a sudden, Lieselotte realized that the description she was dragging out of her recollection matched the flower that had been poked into her hair.

“Hee hee, that’s right! This is a lirene. They’re supposed to be difficult to grow in this climate, but for some reason you can find them all over the palace gardens. I’m sure it has something to do with our royal family being blessed by the Goddess herself.”

“This is a lirene? So this is His Highness’s...”

Lieselotte blissfully traced the snowy petals.

Tiana was overjoyed that the girl liked it so much. “People do say that it repels magic, but that isn’t why I want you to have it. This is a blessing so you and Sieg will be able to get along.”

If she can’t express herself with words, actions will do, the queen thought.

Seeing a girl decorate herself with her fiancé’s royal seal was sure to get one hundred out of one hundred people to think the same thing: she must really love her fiancé. Whether Lieselotte understood that or not, her rosy cheeks were tugging up in a wide grin.

“I shall send you another should it ever wilt,” Tiana said. “But take this as an opportunity to practice your magic. Try cradling it in moisture and cool air to have it bloom as long as you can.”

“I-I’ll do my best!”

The queen affably snickered at the girl’s heartwarming enthusiasm.

From that day onward, the girl bound by a constant failure to express herself was always seen with her beloved’s seal in her hair. Wherever she went, she showed the world that her heart was taken. All the while, she truly believed in the charm that the boy’s mother had given her.

Unfortunately, there was an exception to every rule.

After finishing her studies for the day, Lieselotte was slated to partake in tea with Tiana and Siegwald. The prince was already waiting in the gazebo when the two ladies arrived. He began beaming as soon as he saw the flower in Lieselotte’s hair.

“Wow, that’s my flower!” As previously mentioned, one hundred percent of people would come to this conclusion, and Siegwald was no different. He eagerly expressed his unbridled enthusiasm.

“N-N-N-N-N-No!” Lieselotte stammered. More out of reflex than thought, the red-faced girl began spouting nonsensical excuses. “This is just a lirene! I know it happens to be your royal seal, but this is originally the Goddess Lirenna’s flower, and it wards off magic, and it’s for my magic practice, and Her Majesty gave it to me, so—so you’re wrong!”

“Oh, okay...” Lieselotte’s shouting had tempered Siegwald’s excitement into a mere mumble. “Sorry, I should’ve figured. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean it. It’s just that I put lirenes on things that are important to me, and I was kind of happy that we were matching...”

“I-Important to you?” Lieselotte held her cheeks in both hands and stared at the ground.

“Mm-hm! I don’t go around putting it on just anything! There aren’t that many things you’ll be matching with, so feel free to keep wearing it...okay?”

Sieg hurried to try and calm her down. He was so panicked that he didn’t realize he’d used the word “Mm-hm,” which he’d been doing his best to stop using. In return, Lieselotte began awkwardly nodding without bothering to look up.

“W-Well, um, I s-suppose that matching flowers w-wouldn’t be so bad. Of course not. As little as it means, we are engaged. Having the same flower as your seal isn’t a problem at all. Lirenes are rare, but they’re a popular design even among commoners—it’s not like this is just your flower. Oh, and it protects me from magic! So I should keep wearing it.”

“Mm-hm! And best of all, you look really cute with it! The white petals are so pretty in your golden hair. You’re closer to Lady Lirenna than I am. I’m sure the Goddess of Creation must have blessed you with her favor!”

“Th-Tha—um. Thank y-you, um, very much...”

Lieselotte was a vivid red by the time she managed to squeeze out the last of her thanks. On the other hand, Siegwald waited for her to finish with an innocent and thoughtless smile.

Tiana was watching the whole scene unfold a short distance away. She’d retreated from the gazebo with her trusty lady-in-waiting when she’d sensed that they were about to have a moment together.

Yet the garden was now filled with an indescribable mood. The queen furrowed her brow. Turning to the maid holding her parasol, she hid her lips behind a fan and began to whisper.

“Do you think Sieg might be a tad... Nay, do you think my darling son might be an utter idiot? How anyone could believe that to be a coincidence is beyond me... You don’t think little Lieselotte truly believed that her excuses would work, do you?”

Wholly unable to accept that her son was not among the hypothetical one hundred people with functioning brains, Tiana couldn’t help but disparage him.

“Ahem.” Her maid first cleared her throat in an attempt to gloss over her employer’s frankness. “Well, I admit that His Highness may be a bit dense. However, I believe he intentionally forgoes expressing personal opinion due to his constant social interactions as the crown prince. I can only assume this is his answer to the challenges of royal life, or at least a coping mechanism of sorts. Above all else, I surmise that in this particular case, it is simply because he is with Lady Lieselotte.”

Tiana paused. Hearing her maid so sure of herself caused the queen to scooch even closer and whisper in the quietest voice she could manage. “...You know something, don’t you?”

The servant considered for a moment whether or not she ought to tell Tiana what she knew. However, she quickly concluded that both her paycheck and oath of loyalty were tied directly to the queen, not the young prince. In fact, she’d been serving Her Majesty since before the boy was born.

“Some days ago, the two of them received instruction in the blade from General Riefenstahl. At the time, His Highness confided in me, saying, ‘Lieselotte is cute, smart, works really hard, and she’s good at everything from the sword to the spear... She’ll never like someone like me just because we’re engaged.’”

“Ahhh,” Tiana said with a grin. “A match made in heaven, I see. You’re telling me my boy’s the type to lose confidence in front of the girl he’s truly in love with? ...My goodness! Why don’t they just get married already?!”

Although the queen suddenly exploded in volume, her maid continued to whisper in her ear.

“You may be pleased to know that the two are already betrothed.”

“It won’t be long before I see my grandchildren!”

“Your Majesty, you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

“Oh, dear, silly me. The wedding comes first, doesn’t it? We’ll need to prepare a whole wagon of lirenes to shower them with!”

“Madam, that is still seven years away at the earliest. Marriageable age is sixteen.”

“Too long! What will we do if someone swoops Lieselotte away in that time?!”

“I’m sure the lirenes will protect her. It is a crying shame that His Highness is the exception, but I doubt anyone else will fail to understand their bond after seeing the flower in the young lady’s hair—much less make a move to disturb them.”

The women had abandoned all semblance of secrecy. Both Lieselotte and Siegwald turned over to look their way; as Tiana gazed upon the two precious children, she began to see the outline of a happy future.

“Well,” the maid said, “I suppose someone growing up on the outskirts of the kingdom with no concept of royalty or symbolism might not understand...but someone like that would never interact with the crown prince or the first daughter of a marquis. So long as Prince Siegwald doesn’t genuinely believe that Lady Lieselotte hates him, I’m sure it will all turn out fine.”

These words filled the queen consort with confidence. Assured of a happy future, Tiana ran over to the children with a brimming smile.