The five of us went to the carriage that was waiting for us. Two horses with big muscles dressed in fancy armor. I sighed, mother had exaggerated a little. Would she let the entire city know that the imperial family was visiting? The carriage itself decorated with the finest leather and gold. The insides of the wheels were even golden. The beneficial part was it’s spacious at least. The back of the carriage had space for ten people and decorated with a table and leather seats. It had even glass windows with silk curtains. I guess so we could look at all the peasants while riding down town.

I helped my sister and Elora get into the carriage; I grabbed their hands and lifted them. I even offered Charlotte my strength, and she graciously accepted. She blushed when I held her hand and said, “Artar, your hands are so soft… Like a girl’s,” she looked me in the eyes. I tried to hide my face, but it was too late, “and you look really pretty, actually. I thought you looked handsome at first, but you’re beautiful instead now I looked closer. I guess that haircut is the only reason you appeared to be a boy. Don’t lie to me, Artar, are you actually a girl pretending to be a boy?”

Shit, I didn’t like lying, but I had to. Not only has she seen my face, because of my recklessness. She figured out I was a girl too!

“Don’t talk such nonsense, get into the carriage!”

“Okay, Artar.”

Phew… I’m glad she gave up quickly. I didn’t exactly lie, I only avoided her question. So it’s okay!

The next person I lifted in was Lillian, I held her hand and she blushed. Man, I was becoming a chick-magnet, wasn’t I? I avoided eye contact and everything went smoothly. The last person was Oliver, I tried to help him, but he pushed my hands away and went into back himself. That brat! I thought.

Everyone was inside, so we were ready to go.

“Everyone is ready to the city,” I said to the coachman.

“Certainly, my princess,” he replied.

“Princes? I’m a boy, you know, I’m the prince.”

“Prince? My sincere apologies, my prince. Your voice, it was so high and feminine that I mistook it for a female’s. It won’t happen twice, I swear.”

“You better not,” Lillian said, “the next time I hear you insult my prince again I will cut your tongue out.”

“Of course, my lady,” he hastily replied.

I chuckled. I liked how protective Lillian was. Sometimes she went a little overboard, but that meant that she cared about me. Or she just did her job properly, or both. I like to think it’s the first.

We soon left our imperial palace. My sister and Elora were sitting next to me. They held my arm and hugged it. For some reason Lillian was sitting on my lap? Why would a full-grown woman sit on a five-year-old’s lap? If I was a guy, I would have got a boner…

My sister and Eloria glared at Lillian. I guess they were jealous. Charlotte was staring the entire time, and it creeped me out. I tried to hide my face, but she wouldn’t take her eyes off me. We reached the entrance of walls that protected our palace. They as high as two houses stacked on top of each other. And also very wide, I looked at the walls and saw at least 500 guards defending them. On the entrance were also standing four guards. They looked at us and bowed. They then allowed us to go through them. They guarded the palace like a fort. I wondered how the assassins slipped through?

After that we entered The Glorious city of Eriwick an enormous amount of guards came to escort our carriage. They wore golden armor and most of them were men. Our golden palace lay in the middle of the capital. So we were in the center of the city called the Imperial District. Only the wealthiest and prestigious nobles of the city could afford to live here. The buildings looked expensive and posh, and the shops were shockingly expensive. People cheered and bowed the moment they saw us. A sizeable crowd gathered and looked at our carriage.

“It’s the imperial family! They are blessing us with their presence!”

“Their carriages, it looks so beautiful,” the carriage rider looked proud when he heard that remark.

“I heard it’s the crown prince’s birthday today. They invited only the most influential figures of the empire.”

“Seriously?” A youthful woman replied, “I also heard all the emperors were invited, and even some kings of some powerful kingdom. They are trying to wed of their daughters. Too bad I cannot marry into the imperial family, I heard the prince was handsome as heck.”

“You marrying into the imperial family?” A man answered, “Your too ugly for that and your social status is too low.”

Everybody laughed, and the woman felt embarrassed. I sighed and smiled. The citizens of our empire liked us as it seems.

We soon stopped at a clothing shop, I promised Lillian to buy something nice for her. I’m a man of my word, well, I… I used to be, I guess I’m a woman of my word now? But I’m sure I would fix that issue soon. The shop’s name was George & Caetels. A high-end tailor that made custom suits and dresses for the richest nobility. Their prices were crazy expensive, but it was worth it.

A well-groomed man who looked like he was in his thirties approached us. He came personally out of the store and bowed. His suit looked neat and expensive.

I climbed out of the back of the carriage and held my hand. He kissed it and said, “It’s an honor to receive the visit of the imperial family. I’ll be glad to offer the highest quality of services we offer, your order is my wish, my beautiful princess.”

Beautiful princess? I was a guy; you know…

“Actually, I’m the prince…” I said awkwardly.

The store owner looked confused, and his face became as red as a tomato. He bent and said, “My apologies, my prince, the rumors were that you looked otherworldly handsome, but your breathtaking beautiful instead. If you didn’t say so, I would have never guessed you were a boy.”

I tried to hide my anger and smiled. This manager was awfully honest, but I liked honest people so I could respect that. Lillian had a irritated look on her face, but she stayed quiet instead.

“Thanks, I guess, but I was actually looking for something nice for my friend here,” I pointed at Lillian.

“The young lady wearing the knights’s armor? Let me search for something right away! I have the perfect outfit for her.”

A few minutes later he came back with a dress that looked amazing. It was black and fully covered with diamonds; it had a beautiful drawing of a dragon on the back and it was sleeveless, it would show a lot of skin, but I didn’t mind that.

I looked at Lillian and asked, “what do you think of this dress?”

“It’s beautiful, but I cannot accept this.”

“Why? It’s not that costly is it?”

I looked at the shop-owner and his eyes became nervous.

“Actually, it’s a custom-made Louiana dress, there are in total 75 Wittelsbach diamonds on the dress and the material contains even dragon-silk. The price of the dress is five platinum coins.”

Five platinum coins? I could buy five mansions with that?

The shop owner saw the discomfort in my eyes and quickly said, “but don’t you worry, my princess… I mean prince, I’m glad to offer my services and the dress for free. Having the imperials as customers would be the best gift you could give me. I would cover the losses in a day and the honor of serving you and your family is the greatest.”

I cringed at his flattery. I felt discomfort in abusing my status, but I wanted to buy something nice for Lillian so I accepted it.

“See Lillian, it’s free, just accept it, I’m sure you’ll look beautiful in it tonight.”

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it,” I said with a smile on my face.

Her face turned crimson again. She smiled and said with a cheerful face, “Then I’ll buy it!”

We bought the dress and left the store, Lillian hugged me the whole time and it felt nice. She was thanking me the entire time and asked if she could pay me back. I assured her it was Okay, and it was a gift.

The five of us decided that riding in a carriage was becoming boring, so we left the carriage somewhere. A few guards stayed with the carriage to protect it.

I said I wanted to go to the Arick. According to my personal tutor, he was the most powerful mage in the city. If somebody could help me, it would be him!

The five of us reached his shop, and I asked them to wait outside. Lillian insisted to go inside with me, but I ordered her to stay outside. She looked disappointed, but agreed anyway.

I approached the old mage and said, “you’re Arick, right?”

The mage looked over my entire body and answered, “Depends on who’s asking,”

“Artar von Leonhard, crown prince of The Divine Zalem Empire.”

He looked suspicious of me, “you don’t look like a prince at all. I refuse to believe you’re a boy. No boy would look this pretty and beautiful. Do you have any proof you’re the crown prince or a boy at all?”

How dare he question my intentions? I became pissed, but I tried to calm myself down. I ignored his question and said, “somebody poisoned me and turned me into a girl. Any chance you could help me?”

He studied me for a while and said….