Rebirth: Star Witch Lilian

Chapter 33 conscriptions

*back to the present*
Today was a bit different from the usual work days. The castle was somewhat open to visitors as the princesses 7th birthday had arrived.

The party wasn't as grand as last years but to be fair the two most important birthdays are the 6th birthday when they become known to the world and their 17th birthday when they debut as an adult in society.

So instead we had a different purpose. Finding Lilian another retainer. It was customary for royals to have retainers before the Lux Gehnan war began. There were some requirements in place though.

One retainer must be a similar age to the royal child and will grow up alongside that prince or princess. -Sophie fit this requirement

One retainer must be a fully grown adult and act as their bodyguard in public settings while remaining silent and potentially faceless - this was Uren

But then there was the final retainer. The retainer must be roughly a decade older than their prince or princess and must be the same gender as their prince or princess. There were many official events the prince or princess would need to attend as they got older and many of them were gender locked. This was how they would have a guard in those situations- we didn't have anyone for this role.

We were looking at all the potential candidates for 16-18 year old girls that could work with Lilian but needless to say we were fairly disappointed.

Ironically enough we were also trying to find a retainer for Natalie since it was customary high ranking nobles held one as well and while her identity as a princess was kept secret a rumor was leaked that a high ranking Lareyan Noble child was now being raised by the king and queen of Gehna because of some connections between the deceased noble and queen Lisia. This wasn't very accurate but we decided to let to rumor spread so people wouldn't hunt for Natalie. A surviving noble child is one thing. But being seen as a surviving princess would paint a much larger target on her back.

We tried to find a retainer for her during the ceremony as well but to our surprise she left and later came back with a man that looked like he was in his early 20s at the most but holding a young child missing an arm.

"Oh... hello your Majesty my name is Klaus this is my... little sister Rita." He introduced himself

As it turned out they were survivors of the coastal village destroyed by Erebos almost a year back. Though something seemed a bit off about the boy but ultimately I decided to put it aside for now and consider it later.

We were surprised when a young woman in light armor arrived and introduced herself.
She had shoulder length pink hair and pink eyes as well.

She performed the Gehnan military salute before taking a knee and introducing herself. "Greetings your majesties. My name is Mirette. I would like to apply for the retainership position for princess Lilian Twilis Alans Gehna. I am 16 years old and have served in the Gehnan Military for 9 years. My magic type is insight and I am able to both read and write." She finished her lengthy introduction.

I had several questions but Lisia was the first to interject.
"Hold on a moment. That would mean you joined when you were seven."

"That is correct your majesty." She simply replied

"But you need to be 15 to even become a recruit and you can't become a full fledged soldier until you're 18. Something doesn't add up here." I spoke up noting something was off about this girl

"Apologies if this comes off as rude your majesties but you're mistaken. Those are the laws under your rule. I was one of the child conscripts near the end of the Lux Gehnan war. I simply never left the army after the war ended." Mirette replied