6 1.6

Two months passed, and then three, and then six months passed—all in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, my birthday was just around the corner! It was just two days away, but already, presents and gifts of all sorts were pouring into my room too quickly for Patrina, Lada, and Peter to handle, and getting some of Mama's servants to help mine out… well, they ended up moving half my presents out into the hallway instead, making the problem even worse. Just when I thought my day couldn't get any more horrible, I heard a knock at the door.

"Pass!" Patrina called as she helped me stacked a whole pile of clothes I'd received in a corner of the room. There wasn't enough space in my closets.

The guards pushed the door open and the High Chamberlain stepped through. He bowed, before looking around at my room.

"His Imperial Majesty has sent me to inspect the condition of your Imperial Highness' room and the corridor just outside, in preparation for the decorations for your birthday… and I can safely say that neither your room nor the corridor is ready in the slightest." He gave an uncomfortable cough and continued, "Do you need more servants to help you out, your Imperial Highness? You look rather breathless."

I grabbed my handkerchief and dabbed at my face, fanning myself. "I do need more servants. My poor ladies-in-waiting can't handle the tons of presents pouring into my room day by day… and I don't even know where the majority of them come from." At that, the High Chamberlain's face creased into a worried frown.

"Oh, dear. That's very worrying." He tapped his foot as he thought. "I know that His Imperial Majesty has insisted on you having only two ladies-in-waiting and one manservant, but… I'll try and arrange for more servants to help you check and pack your gifts away. If they—or I—deem that the gifts pose any form of danger to you, they'll be burnt. Immediately."

"How many more? I don't want Peter, Patrina, and Lada to overwork themselves. They've been working for hours on end." Lada was practically stumbling around my room.

"The more, the merrier, of course. As many as the Household Office is willing to delegate to you, my Tsesarevna," The High Chamberlain bowed and continued, "I'll ask them for you right away." He bowed once more and spun neatly on his heels before striding out of the room.

I turned to face Patrina, just in time to see a whole heap of parcels collapse onto Lada. "Oh, my Lo-" Lada squealed just before the parcels barrelled down onto her head.

I jumped to my feet and dashed over to the pile of parcels that buried Lada and pushed all the parcels aside to reveal a tired, overworked face. Damn the parcels! Poor Lada—where were the extra servants when I needed them? Even if I helped—which I was—we couldn't get all these gifts sorted out properly. I placed Lada's arm on my shoulder and helped her onto my bed.

"Peter, could you please get Lada some water? The poor thing—she's worked too hard—" I began, loosening her dress and reaching under her skirt's hem to loosen her corset too.

"Right on it, Tsesarevna—" Peter dashed to get a clean cup and poured lukewarm water in before bringing it over, placing it on the bedside table.

"Lada? Lada?" I shook her gently and fanned her. "Lada—blink twice if you can hear me—don't scare me, please—" I stammered. I knew very well the dangers of overworking and I was berating myself internally for not having persuaded my ladies-in-waiting to take a rest earlier. I was going to amend that.

I twisted around to face Patrina. "Patrina, go get something to eat and drink, take a walk in the gardens, wherever—don't come back till you're well-rested," I ordered. "But, Tse-" She began but I cut her off immediately. "No buts, Patrina. I don't want you to faint, but you've been working practically the whole day. If you don't take a rest, I'm removing you from your duties until further notice." I raised a hand and gestured for her to exit my room.

"Thank you very much, Tsesarevna. I shall take my leave, then. You'll be alright?" Patrina furrowed her brow.

I nodded. "But make sure you've rested sufficiently before coming back. Su-ffi-cient-ly." I over-enunciated each syllable to make sure she got the point. Patrina nodded, curtsied, and left the room.

I gestured for Peter to sit down too and turned my attention back to Lada, fanning her absentmindedly as I thought. I knew why Patrina had refused to rest earlier, but I couldn't bear the sight of seeing them faint one by one like Lada.

"Tsesarevna? Are you alright?" Peter asked gruffly, jolting me out of my reverie.

"Y-yes, I am, Peter, thank you—" I started. "Is something wrong?"

"You looked dazed, your Highness. Are you sure you're fine?" His eyebrows creased together. I nodded and smiled reassuringly at him. Feeling Lada stir beside me, I looked back down at her again and saw her eyelids fluttering open.

"Ts-Tsesarevna Yulia?" Lada squinted up at me.

"Shh… " I hushed her and reached for the cup of water, tipping some of the water into her mouth. Lada sipped at the water before trying to sit up.

"But the gifftsshhhh… " Lada was slurring her words and not finishing her sentences. She slumped against me. My heart rate spiked.

"Lada? Oh my good Lord—Peter, call the physician! Now!" I yelled at Peter, who was staring out of the window in the direction of the Winter Garden. He promptly sprung up and dashed out of the room, yelling, "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

I stared at Lada, panicking and swearing under my breath. Was the dress still too hot? I growled under my breath and ripped her dress right off, letting the zephyr that happened to blow through my window then sweep over her—and revealing a beautifully shaped hourglass figure wrapped in a modest, beige whalebone corset that was followed by a pair of grey cotton briefs. I pulled back her eyelids to check if her pupils had dilated—and thankfully, they weren't. But with her slurred speech, I reasoned to myself that with Lada overworking, and her fainting episode, calling a physician was definitely warranted.

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A physician arrived within minutes—thankfully—and examined Lada carefully under my watchful eye. After bending over her, she gestured at Lada, "Your lady-in-waiting has overworked herself, and I would guess that she hasn't eaten or drunk anything for the past 12 hours or so. And with her being dressed in a corset—" she tsked at this point, "—it's no wonder that she would faint. Besides, I'd guess that she hasn't taken a break with all these parcels that she has to move." The physician shook her head. "Why don't you have more servants, anyways? Respectfully, Tsesarevna—as the heiress you should have more servants, but if my memory serves me well, you have what—two? Three?" She clicked her tongue distastefully.

I sighed. "Yes, two ladies-in-waiting and one manservant isn't a lot, but with me helping out, we do get by, Madam. Imagine what would happen if I had to do everything on my own."

She gasped. "I wouldn't even begin to imagine—I myself have a whole host of servants to help me out with my accounts, my medicines…" I could sense a lecture coming up, and if I didn't get her to the point… well, Slyev knows what would happen to Lada.

"Is there any medication prescribed to Lada that I should know of, Madam? A few days off, perhaps? Is that in your prescription?" I held up my hand to stop the physician from rambling on.

She pursed her lips and said tersely, "I'd suggest light work. Minimal work. Plenty of fluids and sufficient food and rest. A cup of gengarikos tea a day would be good too. Helps to refuel the body's energy." She gathered up her things and left the room, bumping into the High Chamberlain on her way out.

"She was in quite a hurry, wasn't she, your Highness?" The High Chamberlain remarked. I shrugged.

"The faster she was out, the better, anyway. I could sense a rant from her and I wanted Lada's prescription, not a rant." I rolled my eyes at the ceiling. "Anyhow, why're you back here?"

"The servants. I managed to weasel 10 more serving boys to help you out, Tsesarevna. All hard-working youths, diligent, never slacked off a day in their lives. The Household Office assures me that they are very reliable. They'll be perfect to help you sort out the piles in your room." The High Chamberlain said and gestured for them to enter my room.

I squinted as a line of 10 boys streamed in. None were unkempt and they looked rather reliable indeed.

"They may start now, then, with breaks every hour till they're done sorting out the gifts. Thank you, High Chamberlain. I'll send them back to the Household Office when they're done?" I said.

"Please do, Your Highness. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I must attend to his Imperial Majesty." The High Chamberlain backed out of my room as I gestured for him to leave. When he was gone, I turned to the serving boys. Placing my hands on my hips and standing up with a sigh, I asked, "So, shall we start?"