Characters: Adelheid, Bridget
Summary: No one could mistake them for anything but royal.
Pairings: None
Author's Note: In a previous RofV oneshot I think I talked about how I actually find the term "bastard" to be less offensive than "illegitimate child", since the latter implies that something about their existence is illegal.
Disclaimer: I don't own Record of a Fallen Vampire.

A princess and a barnyard cat, that's what they are, but no one could see either one of them as anything but royal. It's plainly and immediately obvious in both Bridget the bastard daughter of the king and her younger sister, Adelheid the legitimately born.

Adelheid is identified as royal from her fine clothes and her jewels. No one's ever seen this vampire princess in anything but satin or silk or velvet, and there are always jewels on her person, even if it is something so simple as a ring or a bracelet. She is identified as the princess by her unmistakable resemblance to her mother the Queen Edelmera; Adelheid is the Queen in miniature. Strangers know her to be royal by that content gleam in her pink eyes—it's plain that Adelheid has never suffered, never known want in her life.

Bridget, on the other hand, is identified as royal by her bearing, by her regal demeanor, and she is more likely than Adelheid to be mistaken for the legitimately born daughter of King Gottfried. Though she only ever wears linen and wool and the occasional plain silk gown, Bridget walks with her shoulder straight, her head held high and her eyes meeting squarely the eyes of any she speaks to. One is immediately acquainted with Bridget's strength, her poise, her dignity.

It's like staring at two sides of a mirror, opposite and yet the same and utterly confounding. Unless her anger is properly provoked, Adelheid, the 'real' princess is utterly unimpressive; meanwhile, the bastard daughter Bridget has an absolute air of regal dignity about her and no one dares do anything that might offend her unless stupid or drunk.

They both have their charm—Bridget's laugh and smile are both infectious and Adelheid's occasional stubbornness is perfectly adorable.

Both the princess and the barnyard cat are a credit to the Kingdom of the Night. The mark of royalty is unmistakable on them both.

That's why their father wishes he could have them both.