Chapter 001: She Ran Away

A little girl with silver hair tied in a ponytail and golden yellow irises and wearing a boy's attire slipped into a room in Count Arbellion's residence. Usually when she entered the room, she would immediately be greeted warmly by the owner of the room.

However, when she slipped through the window, what greeted him was not the owner of the room who usually greeted him but she saw a woman who was crying while being comforted by a man. Even so, the girl still entered the room.

She walked over to the husband and wife who were sitting on the bed. "What's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"

The woman, who was a mistress of the residence aka Countess Arbellion, raised her head and looked at the girl. "Esther? Do you know where Beatrice is now?"

Esther started to get confused when asked like that. "What do you mean, madam? I don't understand at all."

"Beatrice hasn't been found in her room since yesterday. Even me and the maids have searched for the residence but still haven't found it. Do you know where she is? If she really disappeared, then everyone in this residence, including my wife and I, would die," explained Count Arbellion.

Esther was silent for a moment and began to think. "Did you guys find anything suspicious or a letter left by Beatrice? I don't think there's any way Beatrice was kidnapped or killed because no one from outside has ever met her and they certainly don't have a grudge against Beatrice. So I can confirm that she's still alive."

"When we searched her room, we found a strange box. The box has a lock that uses a code. Unfortunately, we don't know what the code is. Besides, when we tried to break the lock, our efforts failed miserably," replied Count Arbellion.

"Can you give me the box?" Esther asked.

The Count immediately got up and took the box he meant and gave it to Esther. "Here's the box."

Esther scanned the entire box. Then she tried to open the lock of the box with the password she knew. Esther's efforts were successful, the box was opened. Inside the box, Esther found a letter. She immediately took the letter and read it together with the Count and Countess.

"To mother and father, forgive this rebellious child for running away from home. I don't want to marry politics without love. Besides that, I also love other people. I can only hope that you will always be healthy. I'm sorry father and mother. "

The Countess who read the letter started to cry even more, while the Count looked very angry and frustrated at the same time.

"Was there a male servant in this house who disappeared along with Beatrice?" Esther asked a waiter.

The waiter seemed to be trying to remember. "Yes. Dion, the gardener, disappeared on the same day as Lady Beatrice. At first we thought he didn't want to work here anymore."

"That means Beatrice ran away with that person. If you want to find Beatrice, you just search for the hometown of that person named Dion. Then I will also go help find Beatrice. See you Count and Countess," said Esther and walked to the window to get out of the residence.

When Esther was about to come out of the window, the Count suddenly grabbed her right hand. Esther turned to the man with a confused face. "What is it, Count?"

"Can you replace Beatrice when she enters the palace?" said the Count, who looked embarrassed.

"Huh? What do you mean? After all, why did Beatrice enter the palace? Isn't it time for her to celebrate her adult ceremony yet?" replied Esther, who looked confused again.

The Count lowered his head in shame and began to explain the things that could have made Beatrice run away like now. "Actually a few days ago, the King issued his decree to marry Beatrice as his tenth concubine."

"WHAT? No wonder Beatrice ran away, even if I was in that position I would also do the same thing. What happened to make the king want to make Beatrice his concubine," shouted Esther, who looked surprised when she heard that explanation.

"Actually, the King wanted to make Beatrice as his concubine to bind us so that we submitted to him and continue to support him. Especially as you know that Count Arbellion's family is the economic pillar of this kingdom," the Count said with a guilty face.

Esther ruffled her hair from stress. "Good grief!"

"So can you disguise yourself as Beatrice and become the King's concubine. If Beatrice doesn't marry His Majesty, Count Arbellion's family will be destroyed too," said the Count who felt even more guilty.

Now Esther is filled with stress and confusion mixed into one because she has to think about the right decision.

The ten-year-old little girl who was called Esther was considered the daughter of a thief who used to inhabit the foothills area, aka the common people. Even so, she has been close friends with Beatrice, who incidentally is the daughter of a Count since she was only 5 years old.

Beatrice Valentina Arbellion, the only child of Count Arbellion who was the same age as Esther. Since birth, she has had a weak body condition so that all her life she spent in het mansion without ever going out to see or enjoy the outside world. Beatrice has dark brown hair and diamond blue irises, the point is that this woman has a very charming face. Even so, no one except her family, the servants who worked in her residence, and Esther, had ever seen him.

Even though Beatrice and Esther had different social statuses, they were still close friends. Esther often visited Beatrice to invite her to play together in the mansion and Beatrice's parents didn't mind that at all. They are even happy because they see their children can have friends even though they are always cooped up in the mansion.

Beatrice's parents also treated Esther like their own child and also welcomed Esther in a friendly manner when Esther visited their residence. However, despite the kind treatment they had bestowed on Esther, Esther still felt indecisive. Because the consequences of disguised as a noble's daughter who would become the king's concubine were very high if found out.

And now Esther is learning manners, the history of the founding of the kingdom, and some other useful knowledge to support her when she enters the palace. Somehow she regrets now that she has agreed to help the parents of her best friend who eloped with her lover.

Luckily Esther was very easy to learn all those lessons. Her manners can be said to be perfect, even more perfect than Beatrice's manners. Her knowledge from economics, politics, to geography is also undeniable.

Even the Count and Countess couldn't believe that Esther was a commoner. In contrast to people who were amazed by her intelligence, Esther actually thought hard about what her fate would be in the future. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that will greet him later?