It felt like the most suspenseful thing that had happened in her life. The royal physician and the nurses took a step forward towards her.
"If-If you take one more step towards me," Tatiana warned, "I-I'll make sure you never take a step inside the palace ever again!"
The royal physician halted and hesitated. Tatiana was trying to be intimidating to drive them away. She badly wants them to leave the room already.
"I apologize, my princess, but it is my sole duty to make sure that your health is in the best shape! That is how I love the kingdom!" the royal physician wailed.
The nurses who assisted him looked at each other with uncertainty. Tatiana rolled her eyes in annoyance at what the royal physician said.
"How patriotic of you," she sarcastically whispered to herself. "Where the hell is William?"
"Royal Physician? What are you doing here?"
Tatiana's face lit up when she heard William's familiar voice. She sighed in relief. Finally, she will be able to breathe.
"I have heard from a female servant that the princess is coming down to a cold. I was about to check her for other underlying symptoms."
There was silence.
"Really?" William asked, "if that is the situation, then please proceed."
What?! Tatiana thought, "Why does William not understand and get the message?!
"Yes, yes."
Tatiana shuddered as she felt them near. This was the end for her. Emma will discover how she lied and how the princess sneaked out of the room and pretended to be a servant. She shut her eyes tightly and decided to face the consequences.
"I'm fine! I'm telling you!" she yelled as she sat up. Surprisingly, there were no people around except for William.
Tatiana's heart finally gave in and she fell back to lying on her bed, panting. Bullets of sweat ran down her face and her clothes were soaked in it. She's not going to do it again. ever.
"I thought you didn't get the message," she said, looking at the ceiling. William stood formally at the side of the table and bowed his head.
"I said that out loud since there were servants that spied for the queen outside on but I signaled them all to go out." He explained, "the queen has her eyes on you, princess."
Everything seemed to go smoothly from the start, but now, Tatiana doesn't know anymore. Every time a servant enters her room or offers her food, she feels sick to her stomach. She feels like there's poison in every meal that's given to her.
Her stomach rumbled from hunger. For the past few days, she has only drunk water. When she looked at the mirror this morning, she was thinner than before but her skin became clear and glowed.
William placed a tray of food from the trolley on the table. Tatiana's eyes widened, and she immediately got down from the bed. When William opened the cover, a delicious meal was presented to her, and it was still warm.
"I supervised the cooking, so I assure you that there is no poison in the food, princess." William formally said and bowed his head.
Tears started to fill the corners of Tatiana's eyes. William knew that she was not eating because of fear. It was like the old butler knew her like that back of his palm even though they had just recently met, well, the recent Tatiana at least.
The princess downed the food in a matter of minutes. William told her multiple times to slow down, but the princess wasn't listening one bit. After eating, she drank the water, slumped back on the sofa, and patted her full stomach.
"I'm so full," Tatiana groaned, "I want to take a nap."
"A tailor will be coming, your highness," William said. Tatiana looked up at him in confusion.
"A what?"
"A tailor, your highness."
--
"Oof!" The princess complained when the royal tailor tightened the corset around her waist. Her face was turning red from sucking the air in.
"Why did you feed me when you knew that I was going to be measured?!" Tatiana complained at William who was standing in the corner.
"Breath in, princess!" the tailor said, and without even counting, he pulled the strings tighter together.
"I-I can't breathe," Tatiana wheezed. Her eyes were wet with tears, and her lungs felt a burning sensation due to the lack of air. The tailor smiled when the corset, finally closed but when he looked at the mirror, his expression changed.
"Maybe we should loosen it?" he asked unsurely. Tatiana nodded and patted her abdomen as if she was surrendering from a fight. The tailor finally loosened the corset and Tatiana was finally able to breathe.
"I think you need to lose some extra weight, your highness." The tailor proceeded to take some measurements and walked towards an option of dresses.
Tatiana looked at him disbelievingly and scoffed. She had already lost some weight because she only drank water for days and yet she still needs to lose some more? Are they trying to get her killed?
The tailor said the tea party is a very important event for the royal family. It is where noble ladies from different powerful families come and create relationships with each other by gossiping and gathering information.
At first, it was not believable to Tatiana that the person was the royal tailor. He was a man with a bald head and a large, muscular body that could pass off as a heavyweight lifter. He looked like someone who had spent an entire day at the gym.
It was her first impression and she didn't mean to judge him right off the bat, but she did notice how talented he was. His hands moved at a fast pace, and he could already visualize the measurements without even taking the measuring tape.
Tatiana stood in front of a wide and tall foldable window that showed a different side of her body. She was also standing on top of a pedestal like she was some sort of mannequin.
The tailor hummed as he searched for a dress and gasped when he finally found something.
"This is it!" he exclaimed. Tatiana and the others turned in his direction. Immediately, her face turned pale and bullets of sweat covered her forehead as she slowly shook her head.
"No, please, no."
--
END