Growing Wings - 4 - Princess in disguise

Raleene was looking at her mirror image in front of her, inspecting the school uniform closely. For others, it might be something completely normal, but for Raleene, this uniform was the proof that she was allowed to leave the palace and for the first time, meet other people than the servants, Johanna or other people from the nobility. Sylvia had always kept her up-to-date, but seeing it for the first time herself was something different for her. In a moment of joy, Raleene spun around, simply enjoying and savoring the moment, until she got interrupted by a coughing sound from the side. Shocked by that, Raleene stopped mid-spin and turned around, seeing how Johanna and Sylvia had entered her room in order to pick her up, but kept watching in order to see a completely new side on Raleene. Blushing in embarrassment, Raleene tried to get her posture back, before she cleared her throat and looked at the other two.
“What you just saw will never leave this room, understood?”

Johanna simply giggled loudly and Sylvia couldn’t suppress a grin, before both of them over exaggeratingly bowed and said “But of course, your majesty.”.
Some moments later, when the situation has cleared, Raleene went over to her bed and picked up a suitcase, she had prepared. With that, all three of them headed down to the entrance of the palace, where two escorts were already waiting. While heading down, Raleene let the plan pass through her mind again.

It was actually simple. Johanna would enlist as princess Raleene for the academy and be under constant guard from Lord Willston’s private guard. That way, it would give off the feeling to others that she was the real princess. Raleene herself would enlist under a completely different name, in order to leave no connections between her and Johanna.

Enlisting as Emilia Sidahar, Raleene picked the family name of a servant family, who worked for the Lord Willston’s family and with that would open up no questions, if Sylvia would be enlisted alongside with her. Last one joined the academy after Walter and Raleene requested it directly and the queen didn’t saw any reason to now allow it.
The only downside of the plan, which Raleene had a little bit trouble to accept at first, was the fact that she couldn’t be allowed to have any kind of contact with Johanna. After all, they looked very alike and if someone would see the supposedly daughter of a servant family talking to the similar looking princess, someone would easily start seeing through their charade.
While the young women were in the academy, Lord Willston, along with the queen herself, planned to travel through the entire kingdom, hoping to polish up the image of the royal family.

Raleene stepped through the double-winged massive entrance doors of the palace and looked up into the sky, feeling the warm rays of the sun shining down. She was extremely excited for her time at the academy, not only because she was happy to get outside of the palace for the first time, but also she finally had a chance to learn more about her people.
It might have already been ten years, since her father had passed away, but her memories about what he had always said would remain fresh in her mind forever. Like him, Raleene believed that a princess needs to step down to the people and be a shining example right next to them and not staying above them.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, almost savoring every last bit of it. Finally her time had come to shine alongside the people of the Overizon. When Raleene opened her eyes again, she looked around and saw that everyone was only waiting for her, with Johanna right in front of her. Wearing a wide and warm smile, Raleene couldn’t help herself, but to mimic it, before they hugged each other, wishing themselves good luck and the best of success.

Behind Raleene, her mother and Lord Willston stepped out and wished all three of them a good time at the academy, before Johanna entered the royal limousine, while Sylvia and Raleene waited some minutes, before their ride would come up. One last time, Raleene’s mother asked her to come closer, before she embraced her.

“Raleene, my dear… Call me too cautious, but please remember to always cover your chest, even while you change clothes.”, her mother said. Raleene sighed shortly, knowing that her mother was referring to her birth mark on her chest. It was always considered to be the sign of the true royal family and known by anyone, that a dragon claw-shaped birth mark reveals the true identity of a royal family member. After all, not only was it the birth mark Raleene had right where her heart is, but it was also the emblem of the Overizon.
“I know mother, I know. As for now, I have made a bandage around it, so it should be fine for now, until I come up with something better.”, she said to calm her mother down. She knew that her mother was overly concerned, but Raleene hoped that her mother knew, that she hadn’t raised a fool or someone, who would simply try to benefit from her social position.

“Mo- no, your highness… Please allow me to show you that I dedicate my life and myself for the glory and the well-being of the Overizon. I plan to ace the academy in every subject and with that, hopefully motivate others to do their best as well. I swear that your highness can be proud of this year’s students.”
After saying this, Raleene turned around and saw their ride coming up. She quickly bowed to her mother and Lord Willston and entered the ride. Sylvia followed, right after she had finished a quick talk with her great uncle and bid him fare-well. One minute later, the ride started and brought the two of them to a side street, from there they would walk the rest to the academy.

Looking at the ride leaving the area in front of the palace, Raleene the seventh sighed deeply, catching Lord Willston’s attention. He asked, “Your highness, is something amiss?”. The queen however simply shook her head and smiled, while a tear ran down her cheek.
“It’s nothing. I just think that I was never so proud of my daughter before. She definitely comes after her father.”

Putting more weight on his walking cane, Lord Willston chuckled about what the queen had mentioned. He had known the husband of the queen well, as king, as well as friend.
“I have to agree, your highness. It seems that like her father, she will be a shining example of the values of the Overizon, along with a good heart. She will definitely ace the academy and with that, gaining her right to be respected as adult and gaining her right to grow wings. Your highness, I am certain that we will soon be able to witness the rising of a great future leader.”

Henry Willston turned around and headed back into the palace. With the queen still looking into the direction, her daughter took, he smiled silently to himself, before two words almost forced the way out of his mouth.
“Very soon…”