Chapter 149: Ch. 148: Buy One Get One Free


    The central pce did have a name. It was just hardly ever used that most hardly ever remembered. When the empress was young, she had delved headfirst into the history of the imperial pce with the enthusiasm only the young possess. She’d eagerly learned about the history of the architecture and the lives of those who’d lived within its golden walls. She’d longed to live there too one day.


    “Father told me I might marry the crown prince someday, Kora,” a young Katya had told her joyfully. “I’ve never seen him before, but he must be very good-looking, no?”


    Back then, Kora had called the empress by a much simpler “Young Miss Duvernay”. She’d been just as psychotic back then too, but Kora hadn’t learned the painful lessons enough times at that young age.


    “Crown Prince Wilhelm is indeed handsome, mydy,” Kora had said onmand. Those were the words she was supposed to say, but she had meant them.


    The crown prince was said to be like a ray of sunlight, his every smile lighting up the room in a way that would make any woman’s heart flutter. In fact, there had been one asion when Kora had glimpsed him in his carriage when she’d been running errands for her mistress. His golden eyes had met hers and then-


    “But what good is handsome?” the young Katya had maligned. “Handsome will not win you a throne or allow you to reign from the Lotus Pce.”


    “The Lotus Pce?” Kora had asked despite herself, offended on the behalf of the handsome crown prince. Catching her gaffe, the maid had quickly fallen to her knees. “Forgive me for misspeaking, mydy.”


    .....


    She had thought Katya was in a good mood when she’d told her to rise. “Never mind that. Do you know why the central pce is called the Lotus Pce?”


    Kora nodded, praising her luck at being able to dodge punishment for speaking out of turn.


    “The lotus flower is a symbol of rebirth, sinking into the mud at night before rising to the surface in the morning. Much like how the phoenix is on the imperial family crest, the lotus is a symbol of where the seat of power resides.”


    Katya looked at her expectantly from the lounge chair she and her expensive dress were slumped on, awaiting a response. Kora swallowed.


    “That is fascinating, mydy. But... but then why isn’t the name of the pcemon knowledge like the rest?” she inquired.


    “What ruling family would be stupid enough to allow for the secret ability thates with their golden eyes to bemon knowledge?” Katya chuckled.


    She watched Kora’s face avidly, from confusion to the shock that rippled across her face and nearly made her drop the stack of books she’d been moving back to the bookshelf. Katya had always been an avid reader, absorbing copious amounts of inane information she asionally regaled her maids with. But trivia about the Erudian Empire’s former g paled inparison to learning such a shocking secret.


    “Amazing, no?” the young Katya had asked, her smile slowly melting off her face as cold, reptilian eyes focused on Kora’s quivering form. “It cost me a lot of time and effort to learn such a secret. What will you pay after learning such a thing for free, Kora?”


    Looking back, Kora had not only learned such a shocking secret about the imperial family, but also that seeing and learning certain things could have terrible repercussions for lowly individuals like herself.


    “For Winter?” the emperor pursed his lips in thought before his heavy gaze fell on Kora again.


    The breeze that blew through the outdoor hallways ruffled at Kora’s skirt, coldly reminding her of the empress and what she would do to Kora if she were to drag suspicion onto Prince Julian. So she gritted her teeth and doubled down on her lie.


    “Yes, Your Majesty. Her Majesty views Princess Winter as her own daughter and wishes for her to begin to participate in the social season like other young misses her age,” Kora said.


    “She wishes for Princess Julia’s ban to end?” Emperor Helio said, reading in between the words like most nobility did and picking at what he thought to be the underlying message. In fact, Kora hadn’t been thinking of the bratty demoness at all, but hearing His Majesty bring it up, she realized it was also an opportunity for her to slightly redeem herself in the empress’ eyes.


    On the ground, Kora lowered her head further in quiet acquiescence.


    The emperor lightly chuckled. Kora didn’t dare look up but she could imagine the smile he had on his face, like a wolf peeling back its lips to reveal sharp teeth. It was nothing like theforting smile of the former Crown Prince Wilhelm.


    “She is my daughter too. The empress need not ask for such a thing.” His tone was almost jovial as he strolled past Kora as if nothing had happened.


    Within seconds, he and his cohort were gone and Kora was alone quacking on the ground. It took her three tries before she could stand up properly.


    This time when she walked, it was slow, with each foot dragging against the freshly cleaned floor in a defeated manner. There was no point in moving with haste, as the emperor had most certainly gone in the direction of Sunrise Pce. Bringing Felix there would only add further insult to the injury Kora had most certainly inflicted.


    Her lip curled at the thought of the emperor. Despite his attempts and decent sess at mollifying the people during his sudden session, Kora had never liked him. Even when the usually stoic Katya had be enamored with the murderous bastard prince, she still didn’t. Stalking in the dark pce that seemedpletely empty, Kora naturally did not sense the eyes that watched her every move before slinking away into the darkness.


    ——–


    I m the book in front of me shut, the words ‘DIVORCE’ in bold across the cover. Something about old-fashioned books, they never mince their words.


    “Kora? In the direction of Julian’s courtyards?” I vaguely think back to the gorgeous low buildings that all togetherpose Julian’s living quarters.


    The bright sun overhead is quite warm, even with the umbre overhead to block out most of its rays. This medical leave I’ve been on has been a bit of a blessing in the sense that I have much more free time now that I am no longer a student for the second time around.


    A strange smile spreads across my face as I connect the dots.


    “So the assassination attempt was indeed Julian’s doing. What on earth was he thinking? He always told me he had no desire for the throne,” I muse.


    Of the mixture of lies and truths Julian has told me, that was one I trusted more than most.


    “Power is as seductive as a naked woman,” Emma says frankly. If I were drinking my tea at the moment I would’ve spit it out right then and there.


    “Emma! Who told you that!” I ask, feeling like a mom whose kid heard his friends mention porn at school and asked her about it.


    “My mother.”


    I dete instantly. “Hm. Well, she’s right,” I tell her. “It seems I never knew Julian well at all.”


    The realization sits heavy on my shoulders, threatening to tug my smile into a frown. As my literal sibling and a fellow Traveler, I have always had a soft spot for Julian even amongst his many inconsistencies and betrayals. But Ipartmentalize, thest of my restraints falling away and ridding me of the guilt of what I n to do next.


    “On the bright side, this means that the next step of our n shall go off without a hitch. We will soon be rid of Sage and you can be back at my side proudly without needing to sneak around.”


    Now is a good time to mention that poor Emma is hiding out of view under a nearby bush. It’s a good thing I’m one of the few people in this quiet garden behind the central pce otherwise there would be rumors circting that the princess has gone mad.


    “She got it from hermoner mother,” I’d wager they’d say behind covered mouths. Too bad I never knew her otherwise I’d be hurt.


    Emma knows what I am talking about, but she brings up another good point. “If she loses Felix, she wille for me and try to lure me away.”


    We both know who ‘she’ is. But it’s a good thing that we’ve been anticipating this ever since I made it appear that Emma and I have be estranged.


    “All the better,” I say darkly. “Let her get tangled up in the web of her own making.”


    A maid pushes out a cart of pastries, setting them down on the table and curtsying before leaving. This quiet deference is such a far cry from the constant disrespect I had to deal with in my early days. Powdery sugar coats my tongue in near euphoric happiness. The new pastry chef I brought in truly has a way with lemon tarts, even better than my own.


    Power truly does taste sweet.


    “Well, enough of that. Any ideas on how I can circumvent the foot ban that keeps me in this pce?” I ask, pping my hands together to signify the end of the topic.


    A distant gardener pruning the already immacte hedges looks my way expectantly and I apologetically wave at him to ignore me.


    My heart beats rapidly just at the thought of leaving the pce properly, an old panic bubbling to the surface. Being ferried from one location to another when I go to the Grand Temple of the Holy Church or the hunting grounds is nothing. But this, going somewhere entirely new that isn’t under the jurisdiction of my father or the Duvernay family? It sends my emotions into the spiral of the time I’d escaped the pce to save my life.


    If you step on ss long enough, you learn to prefer the pain over thefort of a smooth floor.


    I can think of no better phrase that encapstes my life at the imperial pce, where most threats lie await behind honeyed words and smiling faces. But every once in a while, under the opulent mour, ites for you like a knife in the dark. You only catch a glint of it before it buries its sharp end in your side and twists.


    The worst part? More often than not the knife belongs from someone I know. Like Julian.


    I hear a thump, that distant gardener has tossed his shears to the grass. His hat obscures his face, but he’s looking right at me.


    I don’t scream as such events have be asmon as a fire drill and Emma is in the vicinity. But I grab the heavy tome on how divorces are processed in Erudian court as the man suddenly advances.


    “Uh, Emma. Emma!” I hiss, panic creeping into my voice as the figure breaks into a run.


    I want to curse the heavens. I still have an itchy, cloth bandaid around my neck from thest attempt and there’s already another one. Is there a special this month? Buy one get one free?


    I can hear Emma scurrying out of the bushes onmand, blowing her cover. But it’s toote. The figure in a gardener’s uniform has alreadye to my side and invades my personal space in an rming manner that causes me to suck in a breath of air.


    “My dearest passenger, it has been so long since I heard from you face to face I had to seek you out for myself. How do you do?” The charming words melt my fear and ignite my fury, although I manage to grit my teeth and hold most of it back.


    “Jack. What a pleasure.” I can barely recognize him, he’s grown a fair bit since thest I saw him and has acquired a hearty tan. My hand on top of the book trembles as I fight back the urge to p his cocky face.


    “No, the pleasure is all mine, your highness,” Clever Jack promises as he looks me deep in the eyes. He drops onto one knee and nts a kiss on the back of my frozen hand like a knight in shining armor.