Nearly all of Mary's ideas of the outside world had been shaped by everything she'd read in books. The only thing she had been able to experience for herself was the activity called 'school,' and while it was certainly a lot different from what she was expecting, she'd adapted well enough. She'd never even considered that anything else would defy the pretty little pictures she'd painted in her mind. To her, princesses didn't have any responsibilities. They lived in a big castle with her parents who were adored by all the people in the land, and then princes on white horses would marry them and they would live happily ever. There would be big dinners and horseback riding and singing songs for the rest of their lives, and that was that.

To hear Eirika's take on nobility jarred her right out of her idealized fantasy world. Responsibilities and a lack of freedom... That was the exact opposite of everything Mary dreamed of. Sure, she could still pretend that the life of a princess was just like a fairy tale, but now the seeds of those ideas had been planted, and they would grow whether she wanted them to or not.

Her mouth twisted into a pout, but there was curiosity evident in her shining blue eyes.

"Huhhh? Nobody ever writes about that part!"