ZYLITH.

The next day was a bright beautiful morning, but for some of us, it was not destined to be a good morning. Example, for me.

I was woken up from my beauty sleep at the crack of dawn by a new maid who was temporarily filling in for Liana. Liana was still injured and naturally she was unfit to serve me for the time being; and that’s where she came in.   

“Your Highness,” The unfamiliar maid came in to burst my dream bubble and announced in a monotonous manner, “You are requested to visit His Majesty’s study hall right away following breakfast.”

See what I mean? You never even get a break to heave a sigh in this eventful palace. 

“I see.” I sighed groggily as I rubbed my still tired eyes and slowly sat up in bed, “Bring in the breakfast, and do prepare my attire of the day.” I ordered in a mutter and she got to work right away.

I looked at the hastening back of this strange new maid and wondered if she was prepared by Reuben for unforeseen emergencies such as this. You see, that’s the awe-inspiring thing about Reuben, even though he was not in the palace, he still had formidable control over everything that happens here. From a lowly maid to leading civil government affairs, he had it all under his grasp.

The Queen Dowager and her cronies were also banned from visiting me and Alexteris since the fire in the Eastern Palace by Reuben in the name of strict investigation. I and Alexteris were shielded against any third-party intrusion including the Royals and the major noble houses up until now under his direct orders. 

Honestly, I was pretty glad that I didn’t have to deal with all those high-society bloodsuckers. I was mentally and physically so exhausted after my life-threatening ordeal that now, I just wanted to cuddle up in the bed and watch an old Disney movie with hot chocolate and ignore life and everyone and everything around me.

The maid soon came back with a lavish tray of gourmet food and skillfully laid out the cutlery for me to use.

“What is your name?” I asked as I took a bite of my scrambled eggs.

“To answer Your Highness, this servile servant’s name is Rubia My Liege.” She answered with a bowed head.

I raised a brow as I took another spoonful of my food into my mouth. The mannerisms of this maid were completely contrary to that of Liana or any of the maids serving me.

Liana was timid and bubbly and from time to time, she seemed to forget that I was a Royal before being her master; while the other maids were just serving me for the sake of serving me. Even if they were respectful on the surface, they were still the Queen Dowager’s minions. Hence, this was the first time I had ever met a servant who really respected and acknowledged me to be a full-fledged Royal.

Her back straight, hands folded in front of her and her head lowered as she wasn’t too quiet or was too outspoken, and only answered my questions when asked, level-headed and not willing to say anything that she deemed unnecessary. She was the ideal example of a perfect maid. Even if I tried to make jokes, she didn’t seem to dare to laugh out openly like Liana or show any disapproval to my casual out of the royal-line behavior. 

I didn’t say much after that, and just got dressed quickly and made my way to the study hall.

Alexteris along with Lord Xavier and the commander-in-chief of the royal shadow knights were already busy actively discussing about some major worldly affairs when I arrived at the door of the study hall.

“Ah, Noona! You’re finally here.” Alexteris beaconed me to come and sit beside him.

I just sighed and entered the study and took my seat alongside Alexteris while grousing, “Seriously, the world would be a nicer place if everyone took a chill pill. I say it would be even better if some of them choked on it.”

“Excuse me! Are you cursing me Noona?” Alexteris frowned.

“Of course I’m cursing you! So early at the break of dawn, did you have to ruin my beauty sleep and lead me here to listen to you guys discuss about some nonsensical political affairs I don’t even understand a word of?” I pouted in annoyance. Since our endeavor amidst the fire that one time, I was more casual and forthright with Alexteris then before. I guess that fire opened many closed doors for the both of us and we somehow grew closer without even realizing how and when. So I dared to act a bit blunt from time to time nowadays. 

Alexteris massaged his temples as if not knowing how to respond and muttered back, “I did not invite you at the break of dawn to hear your grumbling either, not to mention the fact that it is already way pass dawn for your kind information(Sigh!). The shadow knights have discovered clues regarding the fire.”

I widened my eyes when I heard Alexteris’s words. The shadow knights were the most elite royal knights sent by Reuben to investigate the matter of attempted assassination. But I didn’t expect them to show much results in this matter, not because I didn’t trust their formidableness, but because the Queen Dowager herself was involved in this matter. The Queen Dowager was a challenging opponent and was generally alleged to not leave any clues behind. If not, how would Reuben and Co. still be so entangled and helpless when it concerns her.

The commander of the shadow knights came forth to present his report. “According to our speculation, the fire arrow was shot from a nearby treetop. We could not catch the shooter, but we caught the people who transported gallons of paraffin into the Eastern Palace. From our investigation, we could deduce the mastermind behind this assassination attempt. And with valid evidence Sire, we convict the great General, Geovelle Loghard to have committed this treason.”

The shadow knight commander’s words weren’t that surprising to my ears. I mean, we already knew who the culprit was even before the commander had found out the truth. But the thing is, we lacked valid evidence to back up such an atrocious crime. And I didn’t have any thoughts of using the recorder pen to convict General Loghard. After all, I didn’t want to show this hidden hand of mine to the Queen Dowager ahead of time. Not to mention the fact that I wanted to confuse and muddle the Queen Dowager into taking me under her wing so that I could get access to information even Liana’s mother was not able to get. And thus, even if I were wronged in the process, I couldn’t take out the recorder pen to condemn the general. But pleasantly so, the shadow knights had found out the truth and that too with ample evidence.  

BANG!

“That uncle of the Queen Dowager seems to be flying a bit too high up in the sky these days. I say it is time to clip off his wings.” Alexteris grounded his teeth in sheer rage.

“I agree Sire, but he is a general revered by the people and protected by many high-ranking Nobles. We can’t move him at the moment even if we have sufficient evidence of his evil deeds.” Lord Xavier reminded our crew. “If we tried and convicted him, he will just slip right through our fingers saying that he was framed by his enemies and that he had nothing to do with this crime whatsoever, and he, who had defended the country with his blood and sweat could never even dream of committing treason. Reasonably so, no one will believe us even if we have adequate evidence against his wrongdoings. However, even if we succeed in convicting him in the process, he will just settle for a lesser punishment by exchanging his military merits in the battlefield for a pardon.”

“Then what are we supposed to do? Let him run free and trample all over us even if we know it was him who tried to take our lives?” Alexteris almost roared in anger.

“Who said about letting him run free?” The shadow knight commander said with an ominous smile smeared on his face. “We will make it so that when the esteemed general is on his way back to his fiefdom, he will have the misfortune of being ambushed by the Storm Bandits and will be robbed and decapitated as in turn. No one will know what exactly happened, and no one will be brave enough to poke his nose in this matter anymore.”

I gulped hard when I heard the commander’s ingenious plan, silently burning incense in my heart to offer my condolences to the ill-fated soul of General Loghard.

TO BE CONTINUED……….