At the same time as Zoemi was dealing with the troublesome one of the twins, the gold-haired prince opened the door for the brown-haired youth and let them in with a grateful smile.
"Thank you again for helping me, Patishi!"
After the boy put the tray on the desk - the first prince grabbed their shoulders and bowed his head to them.
"N-no, your highness! It's an honor to help you!"
Patishi became agitated and lifted their hands but at the same time, they weren't sure if they were allowed to touch the prince so their arms ended up just awkwardly hanging mid-air.
"There is another batch of laundry to fold, this time it's my attendants but since they are sick I asked to leave it in my room so they would be able to rest in peace without worrying."
The prince looked at an even bigger pile of fresh laundry than the day before and trembled.
"Please, can you take care of that too? The girls will be back tomorrow, that's what Zoemi said, so I won't bother you anymore after that! I'm also going to reward you for your help too of course!"
The first prince was actually truly gentle towards his servants, because of his friendship with Zoemi, Horeo learned how arduous tasks are the house-chores and he had a lot of warm feelings and respect towards the people who were doing them for him every day.
"N-no! Y-your highness! It's really nothing! It's an honor! A-and if you like I wouldn't mind helping you again... I-if you'd like me... to..."
Patishi responded to the prince hurriedly but halfway they started blushing and in the end, they whispered the last words with their head lowered bashfully to hide the bright blush covering their face.
"Are you sure?! Great! Ah! And don't worry - if I'll ever call for your help I will be sure to reward you!"
Horeo smiled widely, and Patishi who was sneaking a peek at him blushed even harder and hastily looked away.
"Alright! I did some light training after waking up and I really shouldn't go to class all sweaty, so I'm going to take a quick shower - you can start with the laundry whenever you're ready!"
The first prince patted Ptaishi's shoulder and left them alone in the room.
Soon, the sound of the running water was audible from behind the bathroom door confirming that the gold prince was serious.
For a few seconds, Patishi stared at the door as if they were imagining something, all blushy.
"...ah...!"
After about three whole minutes have passed, the brown-haired youth finally flinched and shook their head - and with a red face, they marched towards the pile of clothes and began folding them.
"...!"
Ah! Those are cute.
Thought Patishi from time to time while going through the twin's laundry.
"..."
...and then their hands stopped...
Patishi gasped and lifted up Veo's maid dress.
|I've seen a few female attendants and maids wear those around the academy!|
Patishi's eyes sparkled.
The frilly design was just adorable and the youth always had a thing for cute things.
"...?"
Patishi gulped loudly and looked towards the bathroom door.
The continuous sound of running water was still loud and from time to time a humming voice of the first prince was audible too!
...it meant that there was time...
"..."
Patishi looked back at the dress and then at the first prince's wardrobe that just so happened to have a full-sized mirror on one door...
J-just for a little bit...!
The brown-haired youth thought and walked towards the wardrobe with the maid dress in hand.
Making sure that they will not make too much noise, Patishi took off their clothes down to the underwear and looked in the mirror.
The youth was skinny and didn't like their body very much.
...no...
...that was taking it too lightly...
They hated their body.
Because...
Patishi was a girl.
But their body was not.
Basically, no one from Patishi's surroundings understood it, and treated her as a boy – and if she dared to speak out and say that they were wrong, and she was actually a girl, she would get ridiculed and sometimes straight-up bullied for daring to state such a thing – it was far worse than with her unique magic.
So to heave at least have some peace of mind, Patishi bent down and didn't speak out when others were talking to her as if she was a boy.
It was easier.
It was painful, she hated it, but she had to hide and endure to survive.
But then Zoemi arrived and didn't even hesitate when calling her a girl – she felt so happy, but so terrified at that moment too – what if the others will start bulling the kind big brother because of her?
So she lied to him and asked to be called by what her body was.
But even then, the black-haired boy simply change the way of addressing her to a neutral form – and it was enough to both not cause others to bother Patishi, and give her peace of mind.
At least one person knew that she was a girl all along...
...and then she met the prince. He must have heard about Patishi from Zoemi, and called her a girl on their first meeting...
...and Patishi's heart started beating faster...
But that also led to a new fear being born...
...how would the handsome and kind boy react after seeing Patishi's body...
...would he still treat her the same...?
...would he hate her just like everyone else besides Zoemi...?
"...why are you like this...?"
Patishi's lips shook as she looked at her reflection.
She was so skinny because she hated her body that didn't match who she was and she starved herself...
"..."
But that wasn't the time to be sulking!
Patishi shook her head put on the cute maid dress.
And gasped.
Since the beginning, Veo wasn't much taller than Patishi so her dress fitted the three-years-younger girl quite well.
Patishi couldn't believe what the mirror was showing.
"I look so pretty...!"
For whatever reason, the design fitted Patishi like it was custom-tailored for her!
It made her look like any other girl...!
"Ehehe~!"
Patishi grabbed the sides of the dress and did a twirl - the dress fluttered beautifully and Patishi's face beamed with a smile.
"Whoa, that looks really nice on you, miss!"
Horeo, with only a towel around his waist, walked out of the bathroom, and after the initial shock, he complimented the girl with a smile.