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Chapter Text

Life as a poor noble is hard. Rashta used to be an orphan until she got taken in an orphanage in Bluvohan, where she met her adoptive parents. She appreciates them for their kindness and care. 

But her parents have been trying to look for their biological daughters for years, thus all their money fortune got all used up. Worse, they even got bankrupt. Rashta wants to help them, and she only has one solution to solve this as fast as she can.

Become a concubine.

The most messed up solution there is.

Rashta had a hard time saying goodbye to her parents, and she even lied that she's only going to the Eastern Empire for an occupation that someone recommended for her. In a way, it is a job being a concubine.. for someone that is desperate.

She sighs and plays with the lock of her suitcase. She's in a carriage now with Ergi as the coachman, to her surprise. But she understands. They can't trust just anyone in this spontaneous plan, even a random coachman.

She could remember their conversation yesterday. The duke clearly disapproves. He tried to reason with her of all the consequences she might receive, but she's certain on her decision.

"How long do you plan to be a concubine?" She heard Ergi ask her, his voice is almost too quiet. The carriage rumbles a little due to them riding fast. They plan to get on the empire before noon.

"Based on my research, a concubine normally gets a hundred thousand crans per month.. and the debt my family has is two million crans."

"A hundred thousand crans .. so you'll be a concubine for almost two years."

Rashta saddens. "Seems like it."

"Don't forget your main objective. You're only going to be a concubine for the money."

"I know that! I'm not and will not be like your stepmom, Ergi."

The man lets out a loud hmph! at the mention of his stepmother. "We're stopping at a neighbouring kingdom for a while. I'm meeting someone." He changes the subject quickly.

Rashta giggles at him, then clutches her suitcase to her chest. "You're the one that found and brought me to the orphanage before .. you saved my life back then. And up until now, you're still here for me."

She receives no answer.

"You don't like this abrupt plan at all but you still agreed to help me. I can't thank you enough." She sighs. "I'm so glad to have a friend like you."

There is still no answer, but only for a few seconds.

"I'm only doing this so you'll pay the loans permitted to me. I demand my money back." He replies, but he's staring at her from the small window on the carriage. She looks at him back.

His lips curved into a warm and genuine smile.

Soon enough, they stopped at a kingdom that Rashta didn't bother to glance upon. Western Kingdom. She doesn't care. Ergi told her to wait for him to come back, and that she can just "play with butterflies or something." Yes, he said that with air quotations.

Play with butterflies is what she'll do, is then.

She found herself in a small garden, though she didn't stray herself far from the carriage. The butterflies and the flowers in this kingdom are like no other, they're so sparkly. She almost went blind.

Rashta plucks some petals out, then after making a pile of them on her hands, she'll throw them in the air like a jubilant child. She laughs to herself as the butterflies flutter around her, some are even landing on her long wavy hair.

She soon ends up sitting in the small lawn, blowing on dandelions to make them explode like miniscule snowflakes, and they whirl in the air without a care in the world. If someone is staring at her at this moment, she looks like an absolute angel in their eyes.

Turns out, there is someone staring at her. Rashta seems to notice it, so she turns to her behind and there she sees a lady. She's trying to hide behind a tree. She has long blond hair, and her green eyes are so voluptuous and pretty.

Rashta beams at the woman.

"Hello!"

Chapter Text

The woman flinched, she got noticed. She steps out of the tree. Her dress is simple and cuts right below her chest, and the skirt is so light and flowy. The sleeves are transparent which makes her arms visible. Her dress is globbed devilish red, it's intimidating. Her cold and sharp face didn't do it any better.

However, instead of scurrying away, Rashta's blithe nature got to the best of her and approached the woman.

Since she's wearing such clothes.. she must be a noble and staying here in the palace. Maybe she's the queen? She thought to herself, she should be polite to this aristocrat then. She displays her cheerful smile.

"Is this garden to your liking?" She starts with a miscellaneous question. It's better to keep it surface-level.

The lady paused, then nods. "Yes. I was just passing the time here, but I didn't expect to see you."

"Are you the queen?" Too straightforward!

"Queen .. ?" She makes a face, amused, then smiles. "Indeed. I am the queen."

"Apologies for my bluntness, Your Majesty!" Rashta immediately gave her a courtesy. "I'm from a foreign country .. and dragged here by a friend. I have little to no knowledge about this place."

"It's alright. You remained respectful, nonetheless."

"Thank you!" Rashta grins widely. The queen is so kind.

The other remained silent for a while, then speaks again. " .. you can stay here in the garden if you like. But I'm afraid my company won't be that much of a satisfaction." She holds up the thing she's holding. "I would be only reading a book."

"But that's a journal, not a book." Rashta points out without thinking. Shoot. "My sincere apologies! I didn't mean to speak like that, Your Majesty. I used to work in a marketing firm, so .. "

Great job, you ruined it. She mentally gave herself whacks in the head.

Unexpectedly, the queen smiles. "Marketing firm? I've never heard of those."

"Oh, it's sort of a system in my country. Instead of the royal family taking care of the accounts and business trades, there's a trusted group of people working on it." Rashta proudly points to herself. "I was one of them. I take care of the money and some social trades."

"Impressive." The woman seems to forgot about her journal, she's so focused on this peculiar maiden. "But how come you stopped working in a firm? You had a bright future ahead of you."

At this, Rashta turned gloomy. "You see, it's personal. I was supposed to get a debut in the business society too, but .. " her lips starts to tremble. It's because of the charges her family received in the court. Unless their debts miraculously get paid, she can't work in high-rating occupations at all.

That's why being a concubine is her last resort. Since it will make her connected to the emperor, she would get rights from him and it will protect her from any laws that can harm her position. It's the fastest and easiest way solution she could think of to earn money without risking anything valuable.

Why did she tell so much about her life to a stranger anyway? It may be a queen, but it's still someone whom she doesn't know. 

"I understand." The queen gave her a sympathetic glance, noticing that she doesn't plan to tell her anything. "You don't have to tell me about it."

"You're too kind." It's all the words she could mutter back.

"Kind?" She had that amused expression again. "Yes, I could say that." The queen chuckles lightly. "But if it will make you feel better, I have secrets too."

"Everyone has secrets, Your Majesty." Rashta points out, though her voice is a tad playful.

"That's true. In my defense however, this secret is far too personal to share as well. Just like yours."

The noble lady couldn't help but giggle. This queen is also kind of mischievous. Reserved, but jovial the same.

"Understood, you have proven your point." She says with a cheerful smile. "What do you say I help you in managing the current account you have at hand?"

"Oh." The blond stares at the journal sitting on her lap. "I momentarily forgot about this." She smiles giddily. "Yes. I would appreciate your kindness, young lady." The queen sat on the grass and leans her back against a tree trunk, then she pats the space besides her. "Sit. We'll discuss it here."

Rashta stayed for a few more moments with the queen. Normally being with royalties makes her uneasy, the feeling when there's a big wall between her and the others. But she oddly feels at peace. Mildly nervous, but at peace.

She expected that aristrocrat to be closed-off due to her sharp appearance, but she learned to appreciate the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover," just then. Their conversation flew so nicely. Rashta could tell that both of them enjoyed the company of one another.

It's strange though, the accounting books are too different from the western style she expected it to be. She managed to get the hang of it fast, but it's an entire different system. Cultural differrences, maybe?

She then bids goodbye, bearing the lady's face in her mind, then sneaks right back up to the carriage. She decides to stay and hide there.

Soon enough, Ergi finally comes back with a company. It's a bluenette wearing commoner clothes, almost like hers. He has long hair tied into a low ponytail.

"Thanks for waiting, my lady." the duke smirks. Looks like he's back to his normal self. He motions to the man besides him. "Meet Mckenna, he's the one I told you about. He'll guide you in the empire while I'm not there."

Mckenna nods as a greeting. He looks grumpy. The first thing that comes to Rashta's mind. Will she be okay? He looks familiar to her too.

"I can't come with you in the empire yet, we don't want baseless rumours about us to spread. It'll only be for a few days." Ergi says.

"Where will you be staying?"

"Here." The duke points to the palace. He turns to the man and gives him a suitcase. "Here are your clothes, birdbrain. Don't lose them again." He teases him, who groans and pushes him in return. Ergi laughs, then pulls out a coat and drapes it over the knight's body.

"I'm sorry for giving you tasks on short notice. I'll pay you back in the future." He murmurs softly. Mckenna didn't answer, but he smiles at him.

"Rashta," Ergi looks at her. His expression is unreadable. "I trust you know what to do this time?"

The woman nods, determined. "I do."

"Stay inside the carriage lady." Mckenna steps in, pulling the hood to cover his face. He hops on the coachman's seat and holds the reigns on the horses. "Next stop, Eastern Empire."

He pulls the reigns.

Rashta didn't manage to keep the ride quiet. Of course she couldn't.

"Your kingdom has a beautiful queen." She beams, glancing at Mckenna through the window.

"Oh, uh .. thanks."

"What's her name?"

"Krista Lazlo."

Rashta cups her cheeks with a slight blush. "Even her name sounds so pretty.. "

Now Mckenna can't help but be suspicious. "Have you met the queen?" He asks.

"Yes! She's so nice." The lady smiles cheerfully. Then she perks up with a gasp. "Do you think we can buy a portrait of her?"

" .. right now?"

Rashta nods aggressively. "I want to keep one."

"About that .. " the birdbrain trails off, and plays with his hair in thought. Then sighs. "Fine. There's a small market on the borders, we'll look for one there."

"Yes!" Rashta punches the air in delight.

The ride continues on until they made it to the capital. They parked the carriage in a secluded spot, and Mckenna ended up buying a small portrait for her. It's inside a box.

"Can't you buy a bigger one?" Rashta mourns in dismay. She can't look for one herself, she was hiding in the carriage.

"Your money's not enough. Portraits are expensive." Mckenna deadpans. The lady pouts, but takes the box nonetheless. She opens it and holds the portrait in all its glory. It has a painting of a woman with auburn locks and indigo eyes, which strangely reminds her of vast oceans and gemstones.

But ..

Her face falls, and puts the portrait back inside the box before closing it.

Mckenna tilts his head slightly. "Lady, what's wrong?"

"Lord Mckenna .. " she looks at him sadly. She feels bad for sending him off only to be disappointed in return, but she can't help it.  "  .. this is not her."

Chapter Text

"Sorry?" Is the first answer the knight could give her. "That is the queen, Lady Rashta."

She shakes her head in denial. "No, this is not what she looks like."

Mckenna starts playing with his hair again, confused. "Please elaborate. I'm lost."

"Well .. " Rashta bites on her nails. " .. she has blond hair and pretty green eyes. Not this."

"Good heavens," The knight openly hits his forehead. He groans. "that's not our queen, lady. I think you're talking about- "

He gets cut off when they start to hear ruckus in the market, the commoners are fighting each other again. Others are either freaking out or cheering them on. It's loud and brutal.

Mckenna immediately gets back on the horses, pulling the reigns fast. "These people are at it again. We need to get out of here."

"What's happening?"

"The commoners are fighting again. It's a matter of pride, we can't get between them. Basically the politics, but by fists and childish rivalry, not wars and selfish democracies." Mckenna tugs the rails, making the horses run even faster. The carriage gallops away from the capital, and Rashta glances back until the kingdom is gone from her sight.

It was soon until she got pulled to sleep.

Rashta wakes up just in time the carriage stops.

"You're awake, lady." Mckenna hops down from the chair and opens the door. He assists her from climbing out and getting all the suitcases outside. Once they're all settled, the knight unties the harness tying the horses and carriage altogether.

Rashta observes their surroundings, then she notices that they're in the woods. And beside a high cliff. Jumping on it would mean death.

"Why are we- " she attempts to ask, but Mckenna forcefully kicks the carriage and it crashes down the cliff. She was speechless. It went down, down, down as its debris fell apart. It faded through the mist. The carriage is destroyed.

"Lord Mckenna!" She screams in anger. "What the hell was that?!"

"Calm down." He answers her. "Ergi's the one who ordered me to do that."

"Still! That was so- " Rashta stops. "Wait. You call him by his name?" She asks curiously. Her mood changes in an instant. 

Mckenna looks away immediately. Awkward. "Pick yourself a horse. We'll use it as our transportation here." He says instead, pulling out the horses' rope, throwing it in the cliff as well.

Dodging the question, huh. Rashta crosses her arms. This man totally rings a bell on her, she's close to finding out who he is. It's on the tip of her tongue. She picks between the brown and black horse just as she was told, and decides to use the black one. It stands out more, so she chose it.

"Lady, you can't handle that horse!" Mckenna warns her, but she's already climbing on the horse.

"Please, my lord," Rashta winks at him. "I am not just any woman." She kicked the horse's trot, and so it ran.

.. yeah, she regrets her decision. It gallops so fast and wild, she can feel her face tearing off. She can't see where she is going at all. Mckenna covers his eyes as the lady leaves him with his own horse. She's gone, out of sight. Then the knight pulls on his hair out of frustration.

"Goddammit."

Gallop, gallop, gallop. Rashta's losing the last of her sanity.

It doesn't help that she doesn't have the harness, she keeps falling off. She had no choice but to wrap her arms on the horse's neck to keep her balance.

"Woah, woah! Attaboy!" She tried to stop it, but it seems that she got herself a devil horse. It's starting to get on the opening of the woods. She's close to the civilization of the empire.

I'm doomed. Rashta cursed under her breath. Suddenly, she ran towards a certain area in the woods. Before she knew it, she fell right into a boobytrap. She's trapped inside a net, hanging by a tree branch.

"Now I am fucking doomed." She curses out loud this time. Her horse trampled on the ground and ran. Thus leaving her alone. Rashta tried to shake her way out of the net, but of course it didn't work. Great. 

She hears footsteps approaching, so she looks up. There's royal guards .. and the emperor is with them.

Rashta felt like she got hit by a brick. That is the emperor, she doesn't even need to see his royal crest. She knows how he looks since she did a whole study herself, excepting the empress. Don't blame her, she only had an overnight to read all the documents.

"Your Majesty .. it's a lady."

"Put her down." Even his voice sounds commanding. The guards untied the net, and gently put Rashta down back to the ground. She dusts her clothes off and wishes to all gods above that she looks decent enough for the emperor.

She looks down and fiddles with her fingers. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty .. " she starts with a meek, shrivelled voice. " .. I got lost."

Does that sound innocent enough? Is that enough to fool him?

"I think she's a foreigner." One of the royal guards whispers to the emperor. His face remains stern. Sovieshu walks towards her and lifts her chin up to look up to him. He examines her face for a few moments, then smiles.

"I will let this matter slide .. if this lady agrees to be my concubine."

Upon hearing that, one of the guards fainted.

Rashta is in the royal carriage now, and she's still processing what just happened.

She becomes a concubine just like that?! She has so much up her sleeve. Seducing him at the balls, operas and tea parties to catch his attention. But it seems she doesn't need to go through that.

It feels like a fairytale, or so it seems.

"Wait, I forgot about Lord Mckenna!" She whispers to herself, biting her nails again. That guy looks like he knows the way around the empire, but still. She hopes that he's alright.

It wasn't long until they made it at the palace, and the emperor told her to just wait for the documents she needed to sign in order to legalise her position. She's inside a library now and reading one of the books. Well, not really. She's just flipping the pages.

"I should start planning the expenses and budgeting for the money I'll get as a concubine, and maybe start finding a messenger bird I can use to contact my parents .. no. I'll just do it later. It's risky to do it in an open place." She murmurs, and closes the book with a pang. 

She's so lost in her thoughts ..

"Miss." A voice says behind her, and she shrieks in surprise. She turns around, and there she sees Mckenna crossing his arms at her with a frown.

"Lord Mckenna!" She stands up. "I didn't even hear you!" It's true. She doesn't hear him approaching. 

"I have my ways." Mckenna flicks his hand, then again, plays with his hair. He always does that. "But, it's shocking that the emperor would take a concubine that easily .. he doesn't strike me as someone like that."

"Like I told you, I am not just any woman." Rashta says cheekily with a smile.

"Lady .. " Mckenna's frown deepens. "Don't get too exhilarated, you only got lucky now. You're the very first concubine that he took in, don't underestimate those things."

"I know that." Rashta's aura went serious, and she crossed her arms as well. "So .. I figure you'll be contacting Ergi now? He told me that we'll start seducing the emperor once he gets here. But it seems that we need to change the plan."

Mckenna nods. "I'll send him a letter tonight."

"Not now?"

"Do you know the etiquettes here in the empire? I bet you don't. I presume you don't want to embarrass yourself, lady?" The knight says frankly, raising an eyebrow.

Rashta stops, mortified. "Right."

In the Western Kingdom, something interesting is going on.

"Don't underestimate me." Heinrey, the second prince, says as he moves his piece on the chessboard.

Ergi sneers at him. "Watch out for my pawn, bitch." He grabs one of his horses in return.

"You little fuck."

"Little fuck, my ass. I'm winning this shit."

"You forgot I still have my queen." The prince starts to corner the duke's side.

"Jokes on you, my pawn just become a queen." Ergi smirks. He corners the birdbrain's king with no effort. "Checkmate!" He triumphs in glee, then grabs the last cupcake sitting on the table.

"No! My king!" Heinrey yells in despair, dramatically drooping in his seat. "I demand a rematch!"

The duke is already eating the cupcake. "No."

"I hate you!"

Their banter continues on, until a certain blue bird start tapping on the window.

Ergi turns. "Mckenna?" He murmurs, already standing up to get to him. Heinrey chuckles and decides to clean up the table of their little chess match.

The duke opens the window. "Birdbrain, it's already night. You're supposed to be .. " his voice trails off when he sees a letter tied up to his leg. He opens it, and emits a gasp after reading the contents.

"She's already a concubine?!" He exclaimed, his blood pressure just raised by a hundred. He's impressed and pissed off.

Mckenna nods with a chirp.

Chapter Text

I'll be there.

".. of course." Rashta murmurs in annoyance, already burning the letter using a candle. "His responses are always so vague, but at least it reassures me." She sighs.

It's already the next day, and her paranoia is not helping. She is still not officially a concubine and it makes her anxious. She knows that it's a long process, but can you blame her?

In order to be a legal concubine the emperor needs to negotiate with the empress first if he has one and vice versa. She forgot about the empress again, she's so busy studying about etiquettes yesterday. It's easy, she just needs to be polite to aristrocrats, that's it.

"Lady," Mckenna calls her. He's fiddling with his hair. "I, um, doubt you already know information about the empress of this empire."

Perfect timing!

"Yes!" She says a little too excitedly. She clears her throat and composes herself. "Well, care to tell me about it while we walk?"

The knight nodded yet again, and they went out of the guestroom. They're at the hall.

"You already met the empress before, my lady." He starts.

"I did?"

"Yes." Mckenna clears his throat from time to time. It's like he's trying to swallow a lump. "She's .. the queen you saw yesterday." He decides to just go straight to the point.

Rashta stops dead on her tracks.

" .. what?" she sounds so confused.

Mckenna halts and turns to her. "Look," he points to the portrait behind them. It's a big one. "allow me to introduce her again. She's Navier Trovi, the empress of the Eastern Empire."

Rashta covers her mouth, her teeth chattering. The empress looks so dashing, elegant and dignified in the portrait. And that red flaming dress, looking so detailed and fierce, it reminds her so much of her first time meeting her. So, so intimidating, and her stern face enough to make someone shake from their head to the balls of their feet.

And Rashta, is indeed, shaking from her head to the balls of her feet. 

"But .. but .. " she stammers. She feels so speechless. " .. she told me she's the queen."

"Obviously, she lied." Mckenna says too bluntly. "You see, lady, nobles like yourself .. have some strange hobbies."

"I can't believe this."

"She must've said it for her own amusement. Don't take it too personally."

"I'm not mad!" Rashta snaps, and the knight seems taken aback.

"Ah no, sorry." She apologises immediately. She chokes a cough.

Mckenna can't help but frown. "It's not a big deal, isn't it?" He murmurs.

"Yes .. it's not .. " her voice falters. Her chest aches and she can't foretold it.

It really is not a big deal. The empress played a joke at her, and that's it. It's nothing to fret about. They're not even close acquaintances.

So why does she feel so hollow inside?

There's a strange departure in the Western Kingdom.

"I feel bad for the empress." Heinrey says with his arms crossed. He's watching a certain empress gets on her carriage to go back to her empire. "When she goes back to her homeland, she will realise that her husband took a mistress for himself while she's gone with her own imperial duties."

"Be quiet." Ergi hissed at him. "Someone might hear you."

"They we're supposed to!"

The duke annoyingly pinches the prince's arm, earning him a loud wince. Heinrey rubs his arm with a pout.

"You're not going with the empress? You can save time, you'll get to the empire earlier too." He mumbles, changing the subject. This scoundrel, does he even cut his nails? It hurts.

Ergi shakes his head. "No, that'll raise suspicions."

"Just get out of my kingdom already."

"Shut up."

"Why are you even helping that woman?" He asks, pertaining to Rashta. "I have no issues with her, just curious."

It took for a minute until the duke answered. " .. I guess I don't want her to become like that woman. Using the concubine position to climb up the ladder and corrupt those people around her. And being a concubine is, by point, the only solution she had left. Her parents are bound to be executed if their debts don't get paid soon. Plus, it'll be a good slap to that woman after figuring out that I'm actually helping a mistress. I want to see how she'll react."

Heinrey scoffs. "You hate your stepmom that much?"

"You're one to talk."

The prince snorts then hits his friend with a scroll. The duke glares at him and he glares back, until they explode into joyous laughter. People passing by are looking weirdly at them. Their friendship is peculiar, if not strange.

"Speaking of getting out of here .. " Ergi trails off, easing down his laughter. He clears his throat before going serious. "I thought of a plan. I need your help."

"Oh?" The prince arched an eyebrow.

"This will benefit you, you greedy peace of shit."

Heinrey laughs. "Spill."

"You're friends with the Grand Duke of Luipt and Emperor Sovieshu, right?" At these words, the prince actually looks interested. Heinrey leans closer to him.

"Tell me more."

Chapter Text

The concubine-to-be keeps pacing back and forth inside the guest room.

"I'm losing it." Rashta groans to herself, huffing and crossing her arms. She lands dramatically on a sofa. Her chest is thumping out of apprehensiveness. She's so scared and frustrated. 

Mckenna, her trusted companion casually slides in the room with flair. "The empress is coming back today." He says as if that will help the situation get better.

"Mckenna!" The supposed mistress decides to call his name out of annoyance and stress. "You're not helping!"

The knight chuckles at her. Now she notices it. This man does nags a lot around her, but he is still tactful.

"You'll officially become a concubine today, lady. Make use of it. I know your past encounter with the empress troubles you, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Do you think she would still like me?"

"Maybe."

"I don't want to risk it on a maybe!" She cups her face with an exasperated sigh. "We met under good circumstances, but with things escalating now .. she would hate me."

Mckenna gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. But I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you."

"I know." Her voice is small, but emotional.

The knight sits down on a couch. "I know that you're annerved of the empress, but don't forget about the emperor. Remember what we found out last night?"

"Yes." In an instant, Rashta's aura went dark. "This empire is known for their emperors' tainted reputations. They always took a lot of concubines in their reign."

"But Emperor Sovieshu never took any."

"Until today."

"Which means .. "

"He's planning to do something with me." Rashta finishes. She gets emotional support by hugging a pillow. "I can't tell what, but I think he's attempting to make the empress jealous. Or," she raises her index finger. "to fill the void inside his heart because of the incident four years ago."

" .. so you're telling me the emperor feels lonely?" Mckenna asks her, doubtful.

"Yes!" Rashta claps for him. "You're aware of what happened here before, are you not?"

"I do. It's known throughout even in other nations."

"It's because of what the empress did, that's literally the only thing I know about her. But I think that's why the emperor took me in. To be some .. stress reliever for him."

Mckenna stares at her in disbelief. "Pardon my arrogance, but did you even bother to read the articles about the massacre here?"

"Never!" The maiden shrugs with a laugh. "The rumours from other nobles is enough. Besides .. " her voice went low again. " .. I think that event is too traumatizing, especially for the people here in the empire. The empress, mostly."

"Agreed." He gives her a nod, satisfied with her words. Then he points to the other side of the room where mannequins are adorned with dresses and accessories.

"My lady, go and choose something to wear. Pick a dress yourself, then I'll escort you to the emperor."

"Understood."

"You'll be on your own after that, lady. Go on and, uh," the knight starts fiddling with his hair once again. " .. capture his heart." He said those words so apprehensively.

Rashta giggles. That was an encouragement. "I will."

How did the plan start in the first place?

"Can you help me to become a concubine?" Saying those words out loud leaves a bad taste on her mouth. It does sound messed up.

".. sorry?" The person she's talking to drops the newspaper he's reading.

Rashta takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

"Can you please help me to become a concubine?" She repeated, her desperation could be heard.

"Now hold on a fucking second there, miss," Ergi snarls, sliding his documents aside and standing up. They're inside his office. "being a mistress to the king is- "

"I know that! But I need money!" Rashta knows his temper will be coming in terms of this subject, but she still gets scared. This man rarely gets mad.

"Do you even know what kind of situation you want to put yourself into? Do you know what concubines are used for?" The volume of his voice is rising.

"For being fucked until they dropped dead." Rashta spits. She could also feel her anger fueling up. "But Ergi, it's my parents .. I want to help. Being a concubine is the best position I could think of. You helped me to get to the orphanage when we were young, remember?"

"That has no connection to what we're talking about."

"I was trying to earn your sympathy."

"It's not working, lady."

"Ergi please." Her eyes started to pool tears. "I'm not like your stepmom."

By those words, her friend stops. Finally, he calms down.

"I won't become a concubine just to climb up the ranks or leave the life I had, I will become one to help my family. We desperately need a source of income right now. I just need to earn the king's favour for a few months and get a big sum of money then I'll- "

"Okay! Fine." Ergi spits out a curse word then sits back down. He still seemed to be against it, but at least he's not screaming at her like a big baby anymore. "But you can't become a concubine here in Bluvohan. I won't let you seduce and roll in the sheets with an old bastard who calls himself a king."

Rashta fiddles with her fingers. "Then .. where?" 

"Don't tell me you didn't plan this thoroughly." The duke deadpans.

"Well, I thought that, there's no need to .. " Rashta trails off, then smiles at him cutely.

Ergi ended up looking more pissed off. He held his chin in thought, then he snapped his fingers. "Eastern Empire."

"An empire?!"

"The emperor there is young, just a few years older than me." He lets out a mouthful of air, still pissed at the maiden in front of him. "You're lucky I actually care for you, I would've already punched you the moment you told me about becoming a mistress. I don't care if you're a lady."

Rashta smiles. "Thanks for the happy thought."

He rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Seducing him will not be easy. You need to study the basics of their palace, I know you already had a gist of it."

"The one that happened four years ago?"

"Yes. We need to dress you up, there's no way that he'll look at you wearing rags."

"Maybe he will."

"Don't patronise me." He glares at her. Chill out with the jokes for now, he's still angry. "There's a lot of operas, tea parties, banquets and balls in the empire at this time of the year. Use it to your advantage. I'll come with you for backup, so don't worry that much." He's massaging his right temple. His head hurts. "A ball will start next week, so we're leaving tomorrow."

"Immediately?!"

"Yes, immediately. You want fast money. Your plan is too last minute. Our preparations will be rushed."

"You're the one who wants me to go to a foreign country." Rashta protests, crossing her arms. "I can just be a concubine here in Bluvohan."

"The king is way too old to have concubines. Do you even care about your dignity as a citizen here?"

"No?"

Ergi makes a face at her. "You're hopeless." He says, shaking his head. "The emperor however, though he doesn't take concubines, is rumoured to have a failing relationship with the empress. He is known for being egotistical too. You can use him."

"Since they're falling out .. it's either he'll take me out of seduction or to use me as a pawn."

"What do you mean, pawn?"

"To make the empress jealous. You mentioned that he's egotistical so he will do that for his own satisfaction. Though, both of these points will be beneficial to me." Rashta grins confidentally, even flipping her hair to the side.

The duke smirks. "Good point." He sounds so proud of her. "But still, you need to be on guard. We don't even know if the emperor would think to spare a glance on you."

"He better will. I am not just any woman."

"Oh, shut up." Ergi pulls on his bangs, he's frustrated again. "But I'm asking you for the last time, Rashta. Are you really serious about this? You can still turn back. Being a concubine is not as easy as you think."

The maiden didn't hesitate to answer. "I want to do this. I need to. My parents have so many charges on them already, and I'm in so much debt to you too. I need to fix it as fast as possible."

"Can't I really change your mind?"

"No."

Ergi sighs in defeat. He grabs a scroll and a quill, then begins to write. "Go home and prepare your things. We'll leave before dawn."

Rashta can't help the smile on her face. "Thank you, thank you!" She beams happily, tackling him in a hug. Ergi groans and pushes her away.

"Don't touch me. I'm still mad at you."

She just responded with laughter.

Chapter Text

What does it mean to be an empress exactly? At what cost do they help and guide their subjects?

Most will answer that it's their duty to do so, but Navier won't. She loves and dreams to be an empress. It's what she's been pursuing ever since she was a child.

She wants to help her people not because she's obliged to. It's because she wants to. She can't change the empire's entire culture in her reign, but it's a good starting point for the future generations.

Navier wants to make the world, or at least her homeland, a better place. Not just for the royals and nobles, but for the commoners and the rest as well. As much as ambitious she is, she's also a realist. 

First, the slaves. She knows by heart of how poorly and unfairly they are threatened by not just the nobility, but the law as well. Especially the ones innocent that have to bear their fate as a slave and suffer throughout their whole life because of someone else's sins. They didn't do the crime, so why shall they pay the price?

She can't help the current slaves now, it's impossible. It hurts her but overthrowning the law and freeing up the slaves will not be a good impact for the empire. The prideful nobles will riot and rebel towards the imperial family. The empire will be in chaos. There will be too much bloodshed and deaths, and she can't let that happen. It did happen unfortunately, but that's a story for another day.

At least, the law doesn't apply anymore for the future slaves. As long as it's proven that they are not part of the crime, they won't be punished. If the suspect ever had biological children in the future, they will be spared.

That puts her at ease. She's not satisfied, absolutely not, but then again she's a realist. She knows that she's not the one who will finally end slavery, but she opened up a path for the next monarchies to use. She's leaving it in their hands. She hopes that the process will be more peaceful, at least.

Navier gets inside the carriage, she's leaving the Western Kingdom after signing up an alliance contract. They will be soon visiting her empire for a grand summit to finalise their diplomatic relationship.

She sighs then rubs her temple. Stressful. They discussed the event for days. And she has so much pending work the moment she goes back to the palace too.

Navier looks from the window, then sees the second prince goofing around with his friend. They're laughing a little too loudly, she can hear them even at such a far distance as the carriage drives away. They're both so rude to the nobility, but she had seen their skills and intentions, they're good ones.

The carriage continued on until they made it to the woods. Droplets of rain fall on the debris, clattering and forming a mist on their path. It's hard to see. It doesn't seem to be such a bad storm, it's just a strong rain.

The coachman groans and stops the carriage, getting down from her seat and approaching the empress. It is none other than Lady Artina, her own personal knight.

"Don't fret, we'll find shelter and stay in until the rain stops." Navier murmurs, wrapping a coat around her shoulders. She also puts a blanket to cover the bird she got from the kingdom. The air is cold.

"Yes, Your Majesty. In fact .. we're at the borders in Bluvohan."

"Good. I'm sure they'll let us stay in for a while." Artina nods, then sets the carriage going once again. Once they got to the gates, they showed the guards the royal crest of their empire, and immediately they let them in.

Navier stares at the blue gemstones surrounding the kingdom. Bluvohan is known for having a lot of blue gemstones, hence the name of their country. Some rumours even say that these stones store magic and bring either good or bad fortune.

She smiles, reaching her hand out to feel the rain pounding and piercing her hand. Her sleeve got wet, but she doesn't care. At this moment, she feels like a lost child. A child getting dragged away in a carriage, in some strange country she doesn't know of.

This rain, and Bluvohan ..

.. it reminds her of the girl from before. 

Rashta sneezes, then wipes her nose using a handkerchief.

"The sky looks darker than usual .. I think it might rain." Mckenna mumbles, then he closes the windows shut.

"You can tell it will rain?" 

"I- .. just a hunch." The knight chuckles nervously. He figured it out by talking to the birds, obviously. "But since the weather here is gloomy, it's much worse in the Western Kingdom. The empress will take longer to get here."

"Is that good or bad news?" Rashta sighs, straightening the crumpled patches in her  dress. It's pastel in colour and so childish and full of laces .. why does the emperor give her this kind of clothes? Does he think she's a child?

"You decide, lady." Mckenna throws the question right back at her. Impudent. She huffs and stands up. "Shall we get to the emperor?" She asks instead.

Mckenna nods. "Let's."

They closed the door of the guestroom, walking to the emperor's chambers.

"Mckenna, can I read the notes one more time?" Rashta asks as she nudges his shoulder. The knight obliges and pulls out a small notebook from his pocket.

She opens it.

"My lord .. is reinventing my origin really necessary?" She murmurs with a frown, flipping through the book.

"Most concubines are from elite families and went to prestigious schools, lady. Since you're a poor noble with lots of charges on the court, it'll be suspicious for the royal house to take you in. So we need to alter your documents."

"It's illegal."

"But your only choice."

"Point taken!" Rashta scoffs, losing the argument before it even starts. "Ergi's the one who wrote all this information, right?"

"Yes." She grins at his response. Knew it. She always recognizes that beautiful handwriting of his. They kept walking, until they finally made it to the front door.

Mckenna gave her one last piece of advice, saying the emperor is hotheaded but won't raise a hand against her, which just honestly made her more nervous. Then she knocks, and slowly opens the door. It creaks creepily. Bad first impression.

She peeks her head out, and there she sees the emperor combing up his hair in front of a full-body mirror. Have to admit, his genetics are common, but he looks dashing.

"Your Majesty?" She says in a meek voice, making herself sound as innocent as possible. Since he gave her childish clothes, he's giving her the hint that what he wants is a submissive, child-like partner that he could overpower by all means.

That is what she'll give to him, then!

"Ah, Rashta." The emperor murmurs, turning to look at her. "Did you rest peacefully yesterday?"

"I did! But I could only think of your generosity .. it's so heartwarming that someone as grand as you would take me in." She looks down shyly, but in reality it's to avoid the emperor's eyes. "I've never felt so blessed.. "

Sovieshu chuckles and puts down his comb. He rubs his hands with a towel. "It's nothing." He says then sits down on a sofa. The emperor motions her to sit with him, and so she does. "Do you want something to eat?"

Bribing her with food to earn her affection? Brilliant plan.

Rashta beams. "I'll take what your heart desires, Your Majesty!" Doesn't that sound too cheesy?

The emperor smiles at her nonetheless. "If you say so .. would a pumpkin pie be nice?"

"Of course!"

"Alright then." He murmurs, then proceeds to call his attendant. She keeps smiling at him. His aura is .. oddly comforting. It's far from the egotistical tendencies that were endlessly mentioned before. But also, it seemed to have a wall, a distance. The emperor is forcing himself to be someone he isn't.

He seems to be a calm sophisticated man, but Rashta is smart enough to know that his act won't last.

Chapter Text

Rashta and the emperor ended up sleeping on top of each other. There's a half-eaten pumpkin pie on the table while they snore peacefully at the sofa. This would look sweet to a normal couple or friends, but not between an emperor and a mistress.

A royal guard knocks, making Sovieshu stir in his sleep. The knocking continues, so he groans and lies the maiden down and fixes her dress, before walking towards the door and answering it.

"What is it?"

"Your Majesty, the empress is here." In an instant, he's fully awake. 

"Does she know anything?"

"I doubt it, but she will surely hear the rumours sooner or later."

Sovieshu taps his shoes on the ground, deep in his thoughts. "Tell her to come over for dinner, it's time to settle things with her .. " his voice trails off, and he looks back to the woman sleeping soundly in his chambers.

" .. and my concubine."

It was chaos the moment Navier went back to the empire.

"You won't believe what just happened!" Laura exclaims as she picks a working outfit for the empress. "The emperor took a concubine while you're away, that's all everyone keeps talking about!"

"Such a disgrace .. oh!" Eliza temporarily stops brushing her hair. "He also asked you to come over for dinner tonight. It seems he wants to legalize that woman's position immediately."

"He's too much, too much!"

Navier's expression turns more and more gloomy the more their mouth yammer about this monstrosity. Just when she expected that she could get a normal time in her homeland after a stressful trip, there came an unexpected turn of events.

"I heard she's a foreigner .. to think that he would even choose someone from a different country as a concubine, it feels like he's shaming on you!"

"Laura, watch your words." Eliza scolds her, but she can't deny that she feels the same way. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't have a choice." Navier replies bitterly, a sad smile on her lips. "The best course of action I have is to avoid his concubine. I don't have to meet, or start a conflict with whoever that aristocrat is."

"But- "

"My reputation is not the best right now, Laura. I have to be careful." The empress interjects. Both of the maids fell into tranquil immediately. They know why her reputation took a toll, but that's not a good topic for this kind of conversation.

" .. you're not thinking of drawing a line?" Eliza asks, breaking the silence.

"There's no point in intimidating her as long as she doesn't pick a fight, it's peaceful that way." She says to close the conversation, but the expression on her face betrays it.

At the moment they finished dressing her up, Navier requested them to leave her alone for the time being. She needs to think. She sits on her bed and fiddles with the ribbon on her nightrobe. She doesn't plan to attend meetings for the day so she can rest from the trip. But realistically speaking, can she really take it easy when a concubine is freely roaming in her palace?

After all her hardworks, going to a foreign kingdom to negotiate a proper alliance. She pours so much passion on this project. She even can't wait to get home so she could tell her husband about it and they could discuss what events can they do for the empire, to keep rebuilding their shattered reign after the revolution last four years ago, only for the emperor to take a mistress?

She feels like she just got slapped.

Her lips quivered. She hates the feeling of bursting emotions, it makes her want to cry. It reminds her of those old times. She wipes the pooling tears on her eyes, about to lie down on her bed. Suddenly she hears a chirp, so she looks up. A dove is sitting on the windowsill of her chambers, staring at her with its black bead eyes. Navier stood up and ran towards the bird. 

"Did you find her?" She asks, her mood lifting immediately. Her chest feels warm.

The bird nods.

Rashta is biting on her nails as she walks back to her temporary bedroom. After she becomes an official concubine, she'll be moved to a more luxurious one. For now, she needs to stay in the guestroom.

So. A dinner with the emperor and empress tonight. Sounds nice.

"No!" She cups her face, sighing dramatically. The only reason why she's feeling such things as this is because of the empress. It's all because they met at some random garden in a random kingdom and they formed a random connection and she doesn't want to ruin it.

It's all random, but she's losing her mind.

She hates conflicts, she doesn't like it when things get too complicated. The plan sounds so simple in her head. Become a concubine, get money and help her parents then get herself thrown out of the palace. Easy as a sack!

If only the empress didn't play around and said she's the queen of the Western Kingdom, maybe Rashta won't care and be this concerned about her. She genuinely wants her and that woman to be close, or at least have a good relationship.

But now ..

She groans, then opens the door to her bedroom. Mckenna is at the window and screaming at a bird. It seems to be a dove.

" .. Mckenna?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. Strange.

"L- lady!" The bluenette steps aside, and the dove flies towards her. "It's a messenger bird."

Rashta stares at the creature in shock. "You think it has a message for me?"

"I guess so."

From Ergi maybe? She thought to herself, pulling out the rolled paper from its claws.

It's not from the duke. Her heartbeat raises above hundreds, she might've fainted right on the spot. She could even swear that her cheeks went peach pink. From jubilance or apprehensiveness? That she doesn't know.

I hope you remember me. Do you have time to spare? I want to clear some misunderstandings with you.

"Oh, oh .. good heavens .. " she splutters, breathing heavily. She glances at the knight beside her. "Do you think this is .. ?"

Mckenna nods his head, fiddling with his hair on an endless loop. She can feel his nerves from his actions too. "It's the empress."

The maiden felt like she just jinxed the entirety of her imagination. "Does she figured out who I am?!" She shouts, but then stops. "Wait, no, she won't send a messenger bird if she does."

"She must've think you're a different aristocrat and definitely not her husband's concubine."

"Don't rub it on my face." Rashta slaps her forehead. "So there's dinner tonight with the imperial majesties .. and the empress wants to meet me. The thing is, we'll also meet at dinner with the emperor and she'll despise me for sure, but if I agree to her invitation considering she doesn't know my real identity .. "

"Oh dear no."

" .. I can just not attend at the dinner tonight, I'll come up with a way to fool the emperor, in that way she won't know who I am .. " the lady continued speaking nonetheless. " .. yes, that sounds good."

"No!" Mckenna snaps. "The empress would end up despising you even more!"

"Lordship, calm down!" Rashta raises her arms in defense. "I was planning to meet her in order to clear up any misunderstandings we and may have. It'll work out, trust me."

"No! It won't." The birdbrain is close to having a mental breakdown. "Why are you so determined to befriend her?"

Rashta didn't answer. She can't think of a reason why.

"You'll only make things complicated, my lady. And you don't want that, don't you?"

Chapter Text

Mckenna's frown is permanently stamped on his face as the palace doctor leaves the room. It's almost night.

"Ergi's not kidding when he says you're a handful." He murmurs in disbelief, twirling his hair and pulling them hard. He's frustrated. "So .. you decide that you'll go meet the empress?"

Rashta closes the door before turning to him. "Yes!" She says confidently. Then she nudges his arm. "And my perception is not wrong about you being grumpy. Tell me, how did you become close friends with Ergi?"

"Long story. A long, boring story."

"Impossible!" Her shock is greatly feigned and exagerrated. "All stories involving that man are always juicy and fruitful. Go on, share it with me. Did you two meet in a pub?"

Mckenna groans. "We first met somewhere else a long time ago, then get reunited in a pub. I'm not telling you anymore about it."

"I knew it! You are one of his little affairs!" The maiden gasps. The bluenette looks away while covering his face.

"Lady, stop, it's embarrassing."

"There's no reason to be! I finally remembered you. You're the guy who stayed at his room before!"

"I can't believe you remembered .. " the poor knight's face looks like a red, swelling tomato.

Rashta laughs and swats his arm. "The room reeked of blood when I came in though .. did he go too rough on you?"

"No! I was seriously injured!" Mckenna looks and sounds like he wants to punch her.

"I'm just messing with you." She grins at him.

"Stop it, enough about me!" Mckenna changes the subject quickly. "The emperor will check on you soon. How will I injure you so you won't be able to go to dine with him?"

The lady clasps her hands together with a beam on her face. "Just sprain my ankle. But don't be too rash, I have to meet with the empress soon."

"You just made yourself sound like a womanizer." The birdbrain sighs.

"Thanks for the compliment." She teases, and the man just ended up looking ten times more pissed off. "But on a serious note," she adds. "thanks for complying with my reckless plan, even if it's sudden. I know how mad you were at me just then, maybe you're still mad at me right now."

"I am." Mckenna breathes out a sigh. "There is no reason for you to deceive the empress other than to mess up the plan that Ergi carefully laid up for you. Do you even call this- whatever you want to do to her, a plan?"

"I'm not deceiving her, and I won't mess it up."

"You are and you will. The empress will end up hating you." There's an eerie silence after that. Rashta is severely affected by his words. "But!" The knight reciprocates. "She can't harm your position as a concubine since you're under the emperor's name. That's a good thing, I suppose." He added, but his tone sounds terribly sarcastic.

"Can't I really find a way to not make her hate me?" Rashta's voice is small, and the tone of her voice is not what she expected, it almost caught her off-guard. It sounds so sad and desperate.

Mckenna looks at her, then his expression saddens. "You know, my lady .. " he walks towards a drawer to open it, starting to rummage for something. " .. if I didn't know you any better, I'll say you like the empress."

Rashta then felt something hit her after that. Not a carriage and definitely not a truck, but she feels like all the air inside her just got sucked out, making her breathless. It's like she took the first sip of a fresh honey dew too, it's excruciating. She doesn't want to accept it, but she wants it so bad.

Could she actually, by any chance, have feelings towards the empress?

"Alright." The birdbrain murmurs, turning to her with a hammer on hand. Her head snaps as she looks up to him. "Give me your ankles. I'll break them."

She did as she was told. Her brain just turned into a total mush.

Navier starts to walk in the lonely hallways in the castle, ready to have dinner with the emperor. In an instant, she felt her own mood drop.

After almost a week of not seeing her husband, they would be only reunited to officiate the position of his mistress. Imagine how the people of their empire will think of them. The emperor finally lost love for his wife and fell in love with a different woman!

And she can't do anything about it without risking her reputation. Her stance is too fragile at this point. It makes her sick.

She made it to the dining room, and the guards let her in without any questions. Navier looks around the place, then notices that no one else is inside besides her and the emperor.

She sighs in relief, feeling her heartbeat settle. Good. The concubine is not here.

They did their normal greetings, and just ate the dinner in silence. Right after she's almost finished with her meal, the emperor finally speaks up.

"I presume you already heard about my concubine." Is how he starts the conversation.

Navier almost choked on her meatball. "Yes."

"She's supposed to dine with us, but she injured herself. She's staying in one of the guestrooms."

The empress just nods. 

There's more silence until Sovieshu couldn't take it anymore.

"I want you to- "

"Finalize the position of your concubine? I will. My only condition is to don't mention her to me." She replies immediately, her voice firm. She doesn't want to hear about this topic any further.

The emperor sinks to his seat. "Thanks."

And there's more, more, silence. The only sound is their spoons and forks clinking with the plates. It's sickening.

"I .. " Sovieshu suddenly utters out, and purses his lips. The empress glances up.

" .. you know that I still care for you, despite taking a mistress. Even if our relationship is, um, because of what happened .. " his voice gets quieter the more he speaks.

Navier catches on immediately. Her face softens, and so she slides her plate of meatballs to him. "Sovieshu, just eat." She murmurs, and that message is enough.

They eat again, but the aura around them is comforting.

The empress leaves the room shortly. Sovieshu lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding the moment the door closes, thus leaving him alone. He stands up, and gently pulls out the locket he's hiding in his pocket.

He opens it, and there he sees a picture of him with two other people by his sides. It was a picture from when they were all young adults. The one on the left has silver hair and eyes with tanned skin, while the other has a porcelain body with blond locks and magenta eyes. The blond one looks the youngest and shortest among them three. 

The emperor smiles and fiddles with the accessory in his fingers. "Hey, you bastardous mages .. I did fine towards my wife a while ago, right?"

He could only hope that they heard him through the night.

"Can I please just say, ew." Ergi says, looking at the locket hanging on Heinrey's neck.

The prince scoffs and snatches the locket back, hiding it inside his polo. "Leave your own opinions to yourself, homophobe."

"You three look like you're in a relationship together, keeping lockets like that."

"We are in a relationship. We're a family."

"A famil- " the duke frustratingly pulls on his hair. "Forget it."

Heinrey smiles at him. "You're just jealous because you didn't become a part of us. Considering you got into coma for the last four years .. you missed out a lot."

"Don't ever mention that to me again." Ergi visibly shivers.

"Four years of your life, wasted!"

"Heinrey!" He hissed.

"Fine! I'll leave you be." The second heir starts flipping through the folder he and the duke manifested the entire day. "I'll send this to the Eastern Empire and Luipt?"

"Yes. Send one to Bluvohan too."

"Do that yourself."

"No."

The prince smiled sarcastically. "This plan is pretty genius, I'll admit. And you got your own country involved too."

"Why not? It's business."

Heinrey giggles. "Touché."

"Mckenna will go visit again tonight, will he?"

"Why are you suddenly talking about my cousin?" The prince eyes him in fake suspiciousness and surprise.

Ergi sends him a look. "I'm going to send a letter to Rashta. It's about time to know what she's doing back there."

"You know, it's been a while. Just confess to Mckenna already."

"I wasn't even thinking about that!" Their conversation barely makes sense.

Heinrey checks the folder one more time before closing it tight, putting them inside a suitcase. He does the same thing with the extra copies of the folders he have. "Say what you want, but I'm telling you .. that woman is messing up everything in the empire as we speak."

"I hope not." The duke's voice is uncertain. Because ever since he figured out that Rashta becomes the concubine right when she gets in the empire, he already knows things are going wrong.

Chapter Text

After that gruesome but also delightful dinner with the emperor, Navier goes back to her chambers to prepare for her bedtime. Her maids scrambled over her, fussing on what happened in the dining room, but she denied them all.

Because lesbi honest, nothing much has happened between her and her husband.

She slides on her nightrobes, and unties her hair. It almost reaches below her hips. She sits on her table to light up a lamp, then grabs a book to read. She's always interested in books concerning people fighting for slavery ever since she was a child, and she is still until now.

That's when she notices that her messenger bird is inside their cage with a letter tied up to their legs.

"I didn't realize that you came back." She murmurs, but she takes the letter.

My, I can't seem to recall. But your handwriting does look familiar. Perhaps we spent time together the day before?

Flirt. Is what Navier thought of the moment she finished reading. She starts to write a reply.

"The prince told me that you have a knack of understanding humans, so please nod if you could understand me." She told the dove. It nods.

She got the bird from Heinrey when she went to his kingdom to confirm their alliance. They ended up getting along, so when Navier mentioned that she's looking for the woman she talked to at the garden, the prince told her that he owns a clan of peculiar birds, and maybe one of them can help her.

Turns out, his speculation is right. That's why the empress looks like a hopeless romantic in her chambers, writing a letter for a person she only spoke to in a limited amount of time.

The empress smiles. "Is the recipient of my letter far from here in the empire?"

The dove shakes its head.

"Nearby?"

A nod.

"From a neighbouring kingdom?"

Disagree.

"Neighbouring country?"

A shake on the head.

" .. a nearby town?"

Another disagreement.

Navier frowns, then puts the quill over her lips in thought. She felt pensive, then she realizes it. She uses her hair to cover her face as it clicks on her head, her cheeks having the same colour of the ripened dragonfruit. And the feeling she has in her heart is the same as the dragonfruit too. Refreshing, and sweet.

The melancholy she felt over her spouse taking a mistress subsided. And instead she feels much more mirthful. Forget the concubine, she wants to see the woman she met in the Western Kingdom.

She always rejects this kind of feelings towards others, even if she's fully aware of her own sexual orientation. But since her husband took a concubine for himself, loosening up, risking and playing around a little for her own compensation .. won't hurt that much.

She repressed her own desires for too long.

"She's here in my empire?"

Finally, she receives a nod.

The next day commenced faster than expected.

Of course, since the empress already has her rest day, it's time to come back to her imperial duties. The moment she wakes up, she received another letter from her dear recipient. She opens it fast.

Spare me the intimidation! I jest, and I know who you are. Empress of the Eastern Empire. Am I correct or am I correct?

Navier would burst into laughter if she wasn't a reserved person, but she is a reserved person. She ends up giggling instead. Her penpal sounds so arrogant, but it must be because she's pissed. She understands.

This is also the first time she receives an informal letter, normally people tend to be more formal in writing those. It feels refreshing.

She starts to write a reply before getting up to start another day.

So you know, and you seem to be mad.

She keeps her reply brief but polite, not making herself sound too eager to talk to her. She puts her messenger bird out of its cage, tied the letter around their free leg, and set it flying. Her ladies-in-waiting teases her as she prepares for work, but overall they are just happy that the empress is finally doing something for herself.

Inside her office, Navier is looking through her paperworks, and she receives a letter from the imperial post. She's about to open it, but then again the bird came back with another letter, and the empress has her priorities straight.

I was, indeed. I look like a fool asking around for your name.

"So she also wants to see me?" Gods, spare Navier and her excessive knack for intuition. She smiles a little, touched for the mutual pining they have, then wrote a response starting with an apology and finishes it off by asking if she wants to meet. 

With penpal incident cleared up, she finally opened the other letter from the imperial court.

It's about the Lotteshu estate.

She sighs. Ever since she puts the law against slavery in effect, she often receive reports about nobles taking slaves illegally in their households. They lock them in, abuse them out of rage and some of them even get killed. Those innocent people would get buried in random lawns, thrown in dumpsters and sometimes even in the sea. 

In fact, the law only became operative four years ago after lots of protests, rallies and hearings in the court. Still, these prudish nobles valued their pride more than humanity. Lots of slaves died after that. It's almost a massacre, or maybe it is. Navier had expected such an outcome, but it hurts her nonetheless.

But sacrifices are a must. No man can achieve things in life without getting rid of something else. It's a flawless logic that even most people don't realize.

She confronts those raging citizens of her empire, and receives lots of backlash for it. In turn, her family got apprehended by those same nobles to serve as her warning for her ambition to change her homeland. Her parents managed to escape, but her brother got killed. Traumatized, the empress got bedridden for weeks.

After that, she got various charges from nobles such as abuse of authority, and even treason. How absurd is that? She defended herself in countless trials for almost two years.

The population and reputation of the empire decreased greatly because of the slaves that died, nobles that got exiled and the citizens that decided to leave them for good. It's one of those tough times.

But she got there in the end, she reached her goal. It's a tough ride, but she made it. 

She could also tell that the history she made back then must be the reason for the crumbling relationship she has with her spouse. Even the way he talks to her tells it. She couldn't blame him, her reputation is not the best right now even after all this time. She's surprised he didn't divorce her yet. Most people go about their lives normally today, all the last four year's incident swept under the rug. But that event constantly tries to dig out from the rug and haunt the easterns for as long as they live.

Navier frustratingly slams her quill to the table, putting her hands to her lap and taking deep breaths to ease herself. Inhale, exhale. It'll be fine.

"Your Majesty .. would you like a cup of tea?" One of her maids asks her, noticing her sour change of mood.

"That'll be nice, thank you." She answers, picking up her quill again.

Now, the riot towards her and the law is not that horrendous anymore. Reports of dead slaves are still evident but it's once on a blue moon. The trials are very much quite rare too. The storm has finally come to an end.

This time, she has different matters at hand.

Navier signs the warrant assigning her to go investigate in the residence. The owner of Lotteshu estate is one of the nobles who gave a huge impact on the revolution she made back then. It's a huge contribution. And by impact, it's the death impact. He killed a lot of slaves.

The head of the estate recently died because of a heart failure. His children abandoned him because they couldn't handle such a man like him any longer. Rumours said that Lotteshu indirectly committed suicide out of depression.

Since the residence is empty now, with no one laying a finger on it for almost a month, it must be haunted. The empress needs to investigate if there is some hidden agenda in the household, such as coded letters to withstand a legacy and perhaps, another massacre against her.

And at least, visit the mansion one more time before it either gets demolished or selled to other nobles.

"Your tea, empress." The maid comes back with a steaming cup. The homey smell of fresh mint lilies gave her a sense of tranquillity, in her mind full of cosmic chaos.

"Thanks." She brings the cup to her lips.

She waited for her messenger bird to come back with another letter, but its taking too long than she expected to.

Chapter Text

"We're here, Your Majesty." Artina, her personal knight murmurs, opening the door for her. She steps out with her hair in a low ponytail and hunting gear. Since she will be investigating and not meeting any noble from the council, she can't see any reasons to bother wearing a dress.

Besides, wearing that shit is heavy.

"Can I carry the lamp?" Navier asks her knight, who obliges. She lights up the oil lamp herself, and gently pushes the door open. The entire household is quiet, the creaking of the door echoing throughout the whole estate.

The moment she and Artina steps inside, the door breaks, and falls inwards the house with a loud thud. They jumped in shock, then sighed to themselves. Nothing more to expect from a rundown house.

"I should turn on the lights." The knight murmurs, looking for a switch.

"No! Don't touch anything." Navier stops her immediately. "This mansion might go down before we know it."

"Your Majesty, you're the one who just broke a door."

The empress gave her a sarcastic smile in response, and they ended up laughing quietly. Few moments later, they began their thorough investigation.

It's nothing much other stacks of money, auctioned jewelries, other stolen artifacts, and slave documents. Navier ordered people to bring those to her carriage. She'll take care of them once she gets back to the palace.

While Artina is gone to put all the necessities to the carriage, the empress can't help but to walk around. When she was young, her family used to go to this place to do some networking. Lotteshu and her father used to be business partners in their boutique, until her family cuts him off due to him being against her initiative of the movement for the slaves.

Even before, the scoundrel has a lot of slaves in his household. Either they're temporary maids or in the basement, tortured to death even by a single mistake.

Navier kept walking until she found a dusty, worned out carpet. She kicks it out of the way, and there she sees it.

A trapdoor.

She smiles. "Found you." She kneels down to open it, which is not that bad of a struggle, but she ended up coughing some dust. Good choice for her to wear hunting gears instead of a gown. She starts climbing down, the oil lamp in her hand, and the trapdoor opens wide above her.

.. well, of course the room will be dark. It's the basement.

It's full of hays and potato sacks, don't even mention the amount of dried blood on the walls and broken brooms and planks. Navier takes a shaky breath, this takes her back to the days before. Now, do you ever ask, why did she take the time and effort to fight for the rights of her people that suffered within the law, despite the consequences she will receive?

The answer lies here.

In the basement.

"Your Majesty!" Artina's voice rangs to the empress' earshot, and she flinches. She looks up, and there she sees her knight glaring at her down below.

"I thought you said to not touch anything exclusive, what does it seem to be you're doing?"

"Apologies." She gave her a soft smile. "I'm going back up. Do you want to stop at a restaurant before going back to the palace?"

"In the market?"

"Yes."

"You're hungry?"

"Yes."

Artina sighs, but her face softens up. "As you wish."

Navier smiled a little more, took one last glance at the basement, before finally going up and closing the trapdoor shut. She threw away the carpet covering it, there's no point in hiding it out in the open. The carpet's hideous, anyway.

"I am finally a concubine!" Rashta exclaims cheerfully, jumping up and down from her bed like a jovial child. Mckenna groans at her loud clamouring, then covers his head with a pillow as he lies in a smaller bed.

They're, at last, out of the guestroom. Rashta is in an appropriate room where concubines should be. The bed is bigger and more fancy, there's a gigantic bathtub where she could soak in, a bigger closet, and a balcony. It's perfect.

"My lady, shut it. It's early in the morning." Mckenna complains, half asleep.

"I thought you're already used to this."

"No, I'm not." She laughs at his response, then finally stops and jumps down.

"Well, I can't help but be concerned .. " she murmurs, crossing her arms. " .. it's been two days, yet Ergi is still not here in the palace. Did he send any letter perhaps?"

The birdbrain shots right up, fully awake. "Right! The letter!" He scrambles out of his bedsheets then hastily opens the drawer next to him. "Here you go."

Rashta makes a mhm! sound, taking the small rolled piece of paper from him. She sounds impressed and suspicious. "Mckenna, I've been wondering," she unrolls the letter slowly, looking at the bluenette with slitted eyes. "does Ergi have a messenger bird?" 

" .. a what?" the poor birdbrain sounds so confused.

"Messenger bird." She repeated. "I have never seen him with one before."

"Ah, that!" Mckenna exclaims. "He doesn't. A permanent one, I mean. Prince Heinrey takes care of a lot of birds, so Ergi uses one of them whenever he likes."

"That does make sense!" Rashta beams, convinced, and the man lets out a sigh of relief.

"But how come I never saw his bird? You're always the one being the recipient of his letters." She asks again. Shoot.

Mckenna shrugs nervously, he can't just tell that he's a birdbrain. " .. well, you're always busy, my lady."

"Fair point." The maiden giggles, and she finally opens the letter.

"I plan to initiate a huge business agenda with three other countries, and do it there in the empire, so no one will be suspicious of me no matter how long I stay. I'll tell you everything once I get there, but the business is building a marketing empire in the abandoned town in the East, " she stops reading to catch a breath. "don't worry your pretty little head, I'm coming to the empire today."

" .. wow." Mckenna says, pretending to be surprised.

"I agree, wow." Rashta replies, kind of hesitating to burn such a detailed letter, but did it anyway. She expected something like, "I'm coming to the empire today," sort of a letter, and that's it. She can't help but be touched. Even if she and the duke only became close friends recently, he's doing so much to help her.

In turn, all she needs to do is follow his lead. He already planted the seeds, now she will flourish the plants to their full fascinating bloom.

"Mckenna," she calls her companion. "I'm going to the market today. I'm buying a messenger bird."

"What for?"

"To serve as a communication device for my parents! I need to tell them about my state here." She points it out curtly.

"Oh, okay." The knight says, pulling out his working outfit to get ready for the day. "Do you want me to accompany you or not?"

"I can manage by myself."

The birdbrain huffs at her words, then turns his back.

Rashta grins at his departing figure. "Does Ergi ever see you with your hair down? You look fascinating, my lord."

"Shut, up!"

Rashta tittingly fixes the ribbon on her hat, then giggles, satisfied at her look, before climbing down the carriage. She went inside a store, and ended up getting in a heated debate with the vendor because of the overpriced birds on sale. She won the argument, and she proudly bought herself a capable raven messenger bird to use. She even got herself some free bread from the owner of the store itself.

Isn't that charming.

She skips at her steps, roaming around the market and admiring all products the empire has to offer. If there is one thing she loves the most, it's the country's style of fashion. It's all so modest and she is fascinated at how fancy they all look.

"I forgot to eat breakfast .. " she murmurs to herself, touching her rumbling tummy. She still got spare money on her hands, she can get herself a small feast. She got all her savings and paychecks on her account in Bluvohan, she emptied it as fast as she could when she went in the empire to become a concubine. Because if she didn't, there's a tendency that her account would become invalid and she won't be able to get her money from the bank anymore, worse case scenario, she might be charged for corporate fraud too. Since for the love of God, she sort of; became a concubine using shady and illegal transactions. Her documents got altered too, so if anyone figured out the truth about her identity, she'll be doomed.

It's because of the charges her parents received, she's in a horrendous predicament all because of that.

She balls her fists, determined.

She can do this. She'll nail this plan with flying colors, set her parents free, and go back to the normal life she has in her country. But for now, she needs to eat.

Rashta opens the package of pastries she got, and the hearty smell just made her hungrier. She takes a look around, and decides to go inside a restaurant. She could use a drink too, while she's at it.

She picks a seat. While choosing a beverage from the menu, someone accidentally bumps into her bird cage, almost tumbling it down and hurting her messenger bird. She shrieks, but catches it just in time.

"Oh dear! Apologies, is your bird alright?" The aristocrat asked softly, their voice laced with genuine concern. Rashta froze, recognizing it immediately. Her heart starts thumping so fast it could leap out of her chest, either from apprehensiveness or something else. 

Hey, shut up! She punches it, gulps, and finally looks up.

And there she sees the most striking pair of green eyes she had ever seen. They look cold at first glance, but at the same time so expressive and vulnerable. She could get lost in them. 

Instead of an intimidating red globe of clothing, she's wearing simple hunting gear with a soft combination of colors. It's an entire contrast to their first meeting, and it makes her more flustered at most.

"E- empress." She stammers, her lips parted in awe.

The said woman gasped, recognizing her as well. "It's you."

Chapter Text

"M- my bird is alright!" Rashta exclaimed, struggling to keep her composure in check. She pretends to look after her bird, but is to actually avoid the other's eyes.

Meanwhile, the waiter starts to get pissed because she won't order a drink.

"I'm glad." The empress smiles. Then she just stands there, erect and looking down on her with her hands clasped together. Shoot. Now what?

People around them are just eating, tittering and chatting and overall just noisy, almost like a pub. The place is packed and it's doubtful for it to have a vacant seat. It's like the presence of the empress is not being noticed. There's knights everywhere and the air is suddenly so hot and unbearable her heart is thumping nonstop the kitchen is so loud the waiters are screaming the chef is wallowing throughout the place-

"W- would you like to have a seat?" Rashta said out of impulse. Damn it!

The empress smiles, and the poor woman almost choked on her saliva. Navier sat on the seat across her and they're just right next a window, giving them a full view of the capital.

"Pardon if this might offend you, Your Majesty," Rashta murmurs in a low voice. "but why does no one here anknowledge your presence?"

"I have knights everywhere." Navier answers, though her voice sounds gloomy. "I bear no mind to talk with the commoners and nobility here in the empire, I would enjoy it, but ever since the incident last four years ago .. my," she clears her throat, feeling forced to say the next word. "husband, the emperor, decided that it's best for me to have personal knights when I go out the palace for my safety. And because of the presence of my knights, people feel threathened and prefer not to anknowledge me."

"Your own people apprehends you?"

"Unfortunately."

"T- that's so .. !" She sushed herself down, not wanting for the other people to hear her conversation with the empress. She glances up, and Navier still has the somewhat sad expression on her face.

"Ah, right." The blond lady turned to the waiter, a subtle attempt to change the subject. "May I have a parfait?"

"The usual, Your Majesty?"

"Yes." She turns back to Rashta again. "What would you like to have?"

"You'll pay?"

"No."

The concubine pouts, but she ends up laughing nonetheless. She looks back down on the menu. "I would like a bottle of red wine, please do serve it cold."

The waiter nods, and finally walks away.

Navier looks at her with disbelief and oddly, a tinge of amusement. "You'll have wine for breakfast?" She asks with a scoff.

Rashta almost laughed out loud at her reaction. If the empress only knew the amount of people that asked her the same question as she did. "You're the one who orders a parfait for breakfast, Your Majesty. I think that's also unusual."

"The waiter himself said that my parfait is 'the usual.' "

"Usual order, not usual breakfast."

"I have ever seen an aristrocrat here order wine for breakfast. I would say your taste is questionable."

"Cultural differences?" Rashta argues back with a playful shrug.

Navier laughs lightly. "Where are you from?"

"I- .. " the maiden stops. Is it alright to tell her? " .. I'm from Bluvohan." It's better to tell her the truth. There is no point in lying to her face.

"That's interesting." Navier holds her chin in thought. "I've been there just yesterday .. the palace is full of parties, blues and a lot of rude people."

Rashta giggles. "Yes, we are known for that kind of reputation. But I promise you that we meant no harm, we just, well, often forgot to do a polite decorum."

The empress laughed at her again, and god forbid it's doing wonders. "I won't argue to that. But I have to admit, people such as you, know the ways in terms to fashion. Because even when being arrogant, you always comes off as either elegant and sophisticated."

Rashta flushes immediately. Is that an indirect compliment?! It's almost this noble- no, imperial lady is flirting with her. But that can't be it .. right?!

"T- thanks." She stammers. Great. The last of her will, gone! Reduced to atoms!

"I am being honest."

"Please stop it, Your Majesty .. " the poor lady starts to blush. "A- also, what do you mean by blues?" Of course, when things take a turn for the worst, change the subject!

"Blues?"

"When you're talking about Bluvohan."

"Oh." Navier's head clicks. "I was talking about the blue gemstones. Your country has a lot of them."

Rashta smiles. "We do, we take a lot of pride in them."

"It is also said that they bring either good or bad fortune. Is that true?"

"Yes!"

"How would you know what kind of fortune they bring?"

Rashta shrugs again, but the smile on her face remains. "The closest answer I could give you is .. our gemstones is a metaphor for a do-or-die situation. Either it brings you happiness and joy, or an absolute, regrettable, hell." She emphasizes each word, then she beams. "Actually," she rummages in her pouch, then pulls out a small box. It's a box for jewelries. "here." She hands it to the empress.

"What is this?" An engagement ring?! No.

"Just open it, Your Majesty."

She does as she was told.

"Earrings?" She said in awe, it's long ones with golden threads and equipped with small dashes of blue gemstones.

"I won that at an auction." Rashta smiles brighter after seeing the amazed look on the empress' face. "I'm not actually a fan of earrings, so I can't exactly fanthom why I participated in such an event."

"Probably because your auctions sell jewels that brings fortune?"

"How'd you know?" The concubine feigned innocence, but it's blantly obvious.

"I figured." Navier shrugs. "Fine, I'll tell you the truth." She falls into a fit of giggles. "Remember when I said I went to Bluvohan yesterday? I participated in one of the auctions, anonymously."

"Did you win?"

"No, unfortunately. I don't want to bet a huge sum of money, I'll stand out."

"Fair point!" The waiter comes back with their orders, the parfait and the bottle of wine. Rashta starts pouring her drink in a glass. "If you want, Your Majesty, you can keep my earrings."

"Are you serious?" Navier sounds surprised.

"I am!" She tucks her hair behind her ear shyly. "That earrings bought me, let's say, happiness, but also suffering. It's a nice balance."

"Maybe it's all just a coincidence?"

"I reckon it's not."

They exchanged smiles to each other.

"At your request, I will keep them." Navier closes the box and puts it in her coat pocket. "I forgot to ask, but what's your name?"

"M- my name?" Rashta starts to stutter again. Should she tell her, should she not? This is different from telling her her homeland.

She takes a mouthful of air.

" .. Rashta. My name is Rashta." Such a toll for her to utter those words. She takes a gulp of her wine immediately to soothe her nerves.

The empress beams softly.

"Lady Rashta," oh my God, she called her lady. "I am planning to host a tea party two days after the palace's anniversary ball. I intended to tell this to you via letter, but it's better to do it now." She smiles timidly. "Would you like to come?"

"Y- you're inviting me?!" Rashta exclaimed, almost choking on her second glass of wine, but retreats after realizing her rude behavior. "I mean .. you're inviting me to your tea party, Your Majesty?"

"Yes. Are you not able to?" Her expression saddens visibly. Isn't the empress known to be stoic and cold?! Rashta is about to commit arson because of this.

"W- well, I can clear up my schedule and see if I can go." She manages to blurt out. She picks a piece of bread from her meal and feeds it to her messenger bird, another attempt to hide the fact that she's flustered.

"I'm glad." The empress' smile softens at her. "I noticed you bought a messenger bird as well."

"I want to contact my parents in Bluvohan, so .. " Rashta sends her a sheepish smile, her insides feeling giddy. Now that she think about it, why does she keep acting like a defenseless lamb towards the empress? She's not like this!

"That is sweet of you."

"I missed them dearly, so yes."

"I know how you feel." Navier starts eating the half of her parfait. "Shall I sent you an invitation using my messenger bird?"

"If you won't mind." They keep eating their breakfast after that, sending smiles to one another and chatting the time away. After a final goodbye, they parted ways in the entrance of the restaurant with a light feeling in their chest. Using cheesy literature, it's called "on cloud nine." They are feeling it in its full force.

Artina follows behind the empress, her armor clanking loudly.

"You can slow down your steps, Artina. I'm not going anywhere." Navier scolds her, but she still has that smile on her face. 

"Apologies." The knight slowed down her pace. Navier laughs, tucking her hair behind her ear, even.

Then she stops.

"Ah, I forgot to ask her about how to manage a marketing firm .. " she sadly mumbles to herself. She plans to start one in the empire, for more business measures, to repair and flourish her reputation as a side bonus, and to keep herself busy, but she got so lost in the moment.

She shrugs and keeps walking. She'll just ask her at the tea party. She might even find the lady at the ball.

Artina clears her throat to catch her attention. "I didn't mean to intrude, but I never thought that you and His Majesty's concubine are close."

At this, Navier stopped dead on her tracks.

" .. what?" her voice is too soft after hearing those, almost left unheard, betrayed.

"Prepare me a hot bath right this instant!" A red-faced Rashta yelled out the moment she got inside her bedroom.

Mckenna looks up to her from reading a book, his face imprinted a pure disbelief. "What on- "

"Ah, forget it! Give me a cold bath, with the water so, so cold like dry ice that I get goosebumps and pneumonia!" The lady rambles on, pulling off her shoes and almost throwing them in the hamper, but she controls herself. "And don't call me any maid, I'll take a bath myself!" She marches up to the bathroom and slams the door shut.

"O .. kay .. ?" Mckenna stands up confused, but does as he's told nonetheless.

Half an hour later, which is honestly just Rashta screaming in the bathroom, she comes out wearing a simple blue pastel dress. She's brushing her hair as she dramatically lands on a couch.

She cups her left cheek using her free hand. After all that time in the restaurant, she should've told her about her being her husband's concubine. But she didn't! Rashta wants to hit her head against a wall. It's only about time until the anniversary ball, and if the potential misunderstanding didn't get cleared up, the empress will hate her to her core.

But then again, why does she care so much about the empress feelings towards her? The emperor is right there on her grasp, she just needs to hold him tight and keep him at bay. The empress is just a pebble in her way.

And her parents .. !

"If I don't know you any better, I'll say you like the empress." Mckenna's voice rangs back to her head. It keeps repeating, repeating and repeating like one crazy spiral. It's getting louder and louder, imprinting it on her mind.

Could she actually have feelings for her?

"No!" Rashta screams, covering her face with her bare hands, and it finally happened.

She cried.

 It starts from hiccups, to sniffing until it turns into an uncontrollable sobbing. She's covering her face as she wails throughout the room. Mckenna flinches at her sudden outburst, surprised and very utterly confused, but he comforts her by patting her back gently.

"M- my lady?" He stammers, not expecting such as an event like this.

"I'm sorry." Rashta wipes her tears, her voice hoarse and just dreadful. "I- I'm, just .. frustrated is all."

Mckenna sighs. "I was about to tell you good news after you freshened up. But this .. " his voice trails off, his lips forming a frown.

"N- no, I'm alright. What is it you want to tell me?" She coughs.

"The ship transporting Ergi and Prince Heinrey is almost here in the empire, the estimated time is this noon. I was planning to invite you to go see them with me, but, considering your condition," he starts fiddling with his hair again. "it would be preferable if you stay in the palace instead."

Rashta laughs, feeling relieved, but her chest still aches. She feels at ease knowing that a friend of hers is finally in the empire, she could use a good vent after all this stress.

"Yes," she chokes out, drying her tears. "I don't think he'll appreciate seeing me in this state."

"Absolutely not." Mckenna props himself up and fixes his hair. "Then, I'll get going now. Shall I send a maid to go give you tea?"

"No thanks. I'm .. still drunk on wine."

"You drank wine this early? Who on earth- " Mckenna pulls on his hair. "Forget it." He exhales. "See you soon, my lady. Please do look out after yourself." He says, then runs at the door, closing it.

Rashta sniffs then hugs a pillow, standing up from the couch. She can look out for herself, she just can't bear so if things got out of hand. Screw you, Mckenna.

She decides to do a small self-cleaning to calm herself, which is honestly not much of a work when you have maids doing all the chores for you. Until she comes across a certain potrait, a queen with long auburn hair and those charming blue-indigo eyes.

"The queen of the Western Kingdom." She murmurs, picking the portrait up. This brings her memories. It's only been four days, yet she felt like so much has happened. "It's a shame, that someone innocent like you got caught up in this web of lies." She puts the portrait inside a drawer, and closes it tight.

On the second thought, maybe she should just write a letter for her parents.

Mckenna is standing with some nobles in the port, waiting for the arrival of the ship from the West. Some are gossiping, reading newspapers or just eating and passing the time away. The birdbrain is doing the latter.

He pulls out a dreamcake, gobbling on it as delicately as he could. The food in the East is so tasty, he won't argue that. It is dreadful that Rashta won't be able to come with him, he's sure she misses her friend too and she can't wait to see him, but her state is too delirious. It's not even a week before she becomes a concubine, yet she already broke into tears like that.

What on earth happened?

A ship starts approaching the port, honking loudly, and all commoners and nobility start to cheer. Mckenna has to avoid those nosy people pushing him, trying to get to the front. The ship finally stops, and passengers starts to pour out of the transport.

Mckenna runs out of the waiting room until he makes it to the sole entrance of the ship. It was soon until the awaited royalties came out. Lots of the ship crew went out with the prince and the duke, carrying lots of boxes which is probably the products they will endorse for the upcoming marketing capital here in the empire.

The crew groans, since all boxes weigh like no other, setting them all down inside a long row of carriages. 

"Make sure you didn't forgot a single property in there. And Ergi, could you go get the- "

"Mckenna!" The duke cuts Heinrey off, running towards the bluenette as if he's about to tackle him in a hug. But he stops just as he gets in front of him, panting, and gave him a soft smile. "It's been a while since I last saw you in your human form."

The birdbrain smiles warmly at him. "Thanks."

"Seriously?" Heinrey deadpans, his voice loud enough for them to hear. Both of them laughed, as they watched the prince command a different attendant to go get his neccessities inside the ship.

"Is Rashta here with you?" Ergi asks, setting his priorities straight.

"About that." Mckenna first pulls out a pastry from his paper bag. It's another one of those dreamcakes. "Want some?"

The duke raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but takes the dreamcake. He tears a small piece from it, eating it slowly. "What did she do?" He sounds like a parent ready to scold a child.

"Well .. "

"Mckenna."

"Fuck." He finally curses, making his companion laugh. "You see, Ergi, it's a lot to unpack."

Ergi shrugs. "It'll be a long ride until we make it back to the palace, you can tell me everything starting from the beginning."

"Fine, then. I'll fill you up."

The duke smirks. "I like the sound of that."

Chapter Text

Navier suddenly had the urge to puke out her favourite parfait.

"Artina, pardon my arrogance, but please don't pull this kind of prank to me." Her voice starts to get shaky. She's mad.

The knight frowns. "So you don't know?"

" .. know what?" The empress looks way too vulnerable at this point. Artina pulls her out of public space, she can't have the citizens gossiping about the imperial majesty, until they made it in an empty lot. She begins telling her all the information she had gathered so far.

"It is true. I have seen her wandering around the palace, she even has a personal knight with her too." She starts.

"A knight from the imperial palace?"

"No, his face doesn't ring a bell. By chance is that she's someone with a high standing in her country, since she has a knight for herself, and she probably has a connection with their royal family as well."

"Bluvohan .. " Navier's expression turned even more sour. The lady and the concubine are both from the same country, she just realized that.

"Yes. May I remind you that the son of the Grand Duke from Bluvohan is visiting here as well?"

"Are you implying that she's deceiving me?" This time, her voice is starting to raise. She's feeling so much emotions at this moment, she's about to burst.

"Ah, no, please calm down, Your Majesty." Artina holds her shoulders for comfort. It's a known fact that the empress always manages to remain a calm and stoic demeanor, but she's extremely sensitive. A little change to a situation, a slight miscalculation in plans, even such meaningless words and actions drives her insane. It's either she ends up crying or screaming in the midst. It only worsens ever since her brother died and after the entire revolution the empress made for her empire.

"But .. considering that she didn't tell you her real identity, or is probably under the impression that you already know who she is, maybe she just wants to befriend you." Artina tried to shed light in the already broken situation.

"But she's my husband's concubine." Navier almost cried when she said those words. "That .. that is something I couldn't accept." She takes a deep breath to keep her composure. Inhale, exhale. It'll be fine.

"I recall that I pulled a prank for her before."

"A prank?" Artina sounds so offended.

"It's not that bad, at least I think so." Is this petty revenge? Is all the reason the empress could think of.

"So you think this means she's pulling off a petty revenge on you?" Artina asks, as if reading her mind.

"Let's go back to the palace." Navier sighs, ending the conversation at once. She glances back at her knight. "Please."

That voice is more than enough for a plea.

"Let me go through this one more time." Ergi says as he grabs another slice of dreamcake from the bag. It's his third one. "Rashta got noticed by the emperor and takes her in the literal first day she came to the empire,"

"Yes."

"so .. that's a good start." He exesperately tears a slice of his pastry. All three of them are inside a carriage. Ergi is sitting next to the bluenette, while the second prince is sitting across from them and reading a book. "Unfortunately, she cares too much of what the empress might think of her? Is that what you're saying?"

"Mhm."

"Elaborate, if you may."

Mckenna starts twirling his hair. "She doesn't want the empress to hate her, that's it."

"Oh my." The duke covered his mouth in surprise, chuckling even. This situation is bizzare and troubling, but he still finds it entertaining. "Did she ever confess that she's besotted with her?"

"No, but that's only logical reason why would she think that way."

"Indeed." Ergi lets out a sigh of disbelief. "Anything else she did?"

"The thing is, the empress likes her but doesn't know anything about her background, so they send letters to each other in these last two days using the empress' messenger bird."

This time, Heinrey looks up from the book he's pretending to read.

"Shit." He curses. "That woman is what the empress is looking for?"

"What?" The other two said at the same time.

"The empress asks me to borrow one of my birds," The prince starts. "she says that there's a person she's looking for in my kingdom, and she wants to talk to them for some business inquiries, so I asked help from the birds to find that person, and .. that happened."

"And they become penpals." Mckenna adds.

"Oh my god, they become penpals." Is the only thing Ergi managed to say.

"So they're sending each other letters this last two days, about wanting to meet up somewhere, until ladyship goes to a store to buy a messenger bird- "

"What for?" Ergi interjects.

"Her parents." The birdbrain lets out a mouthful of breath. "So they coincidentally met in a restaurant, they talked like normal noblewomen- "

"You followed her?" The duke says again.

"Stop interrupting me!" Mckenna snaps. "But Lady Rashta feels regretful since the empress doesn't know her true identity. And, if I may add, she's terrified of the thought that she will hate her once her 'secret' is revealed."

"So she doesn't know she's concubine."

"That, exactly."

The imperial royalties just sat there, their mouths wide open.

"It's normal for empresses to dislike their husband's concubines .. " Ergi worryingly taps his cheek. " .. but she might have a certain liking to the empress, and she wants her to like her too. Deep down, that is, it's about time for her to stop denying it."

"And the empress does like her."

"But the empress will do a reversible role once her position is revealed. That is what she doesn't want, and the reason why she's messing everything up."

"That, too."

Ergi lets out a loud groan, throwing his head back. "Rashta, you delusional bitch .. " he pulls on his bangs frustratingly. " .. for fuck's sake, all this bullshit is gonna get me comatosed a second time."

"Ergi!" Mckenna practically hissed at him, making the duke snap out of his stance. He's glaring at him, and Ergi stops his nonsense cursing immediately. This anger is not the playful or the normal one he always expected from him, it's something else. It's rumbling and full of bloodthirst, and a calling for all the pain and heartaches he gave to him in the past.

Maybe up until now. 

Ergi's heart thumped, but at the same time sank.

"Don't ever mention that torpor state you used to have." The birdbrain spits every word. The atmosphere has changed.

Heinrey whimpers and awkwardly opens his book again, pretending to read in an attempt to slip himself out of the conversation. If he could just jump out of the carriage and run his way towards the palace, just to get away from these two, he would.

Mckenna scoffs, his mood changed to an absolute reverse, and jerks his head away from the duke as he crosses his arms.

The air between them is getting small. It's painful.

"You have no idea of the pain you caused everyone the last four years you disappeared, you can't just joke about it so casually."

"I know." Ergi's voice turned meek and sad.

The birdbrain huffs, almost sounding like he's mocking him. "No, you don't."

Chapter Text

"Your Majesty!" Laura exclaimed after the empress gets inside her chambers. "Welcome back, do you want some tea?"

"Lady Laura, it wasn't neccessary." Artina steps in. "She already had a parfait."

Laura takes note of Navier's gloomy expression, then frowns. But she didn't say anything. 

The empress just gave them a weak smile in response. "Thank you for your concern. But I want to be alone for now, is that fine with you both?"

The two looks at each other, then sighs.

"Of course, empress. But do call us if you need help in anything, I mean it." She gives her a sympathetic gaze.

"Lady Laura," Artina starts tugging her sleeve. "we need to go."

"But can w- "

"Let's go!" She starts dragging her out of the room.

"Lady Artina what on earth- !" The redhead starts to shout as usual.

The knight closes the door shut, then puffs her cheeks to let out a mouthful of air. This is too much happening in one day, but honestly, does it even make any difference?

"Ever since the concubine came here the empress becomes even more degraded upon herself!" Laura starts to blow off her steam, it's a good thing they're alone in the hall. "Not only that, she just ate her favorite parfait today, but she's still sad!"

"I have a gist of what's happening."

"Then what is it?!"

"Shh!" Artina quiets her down. Noble people, such a pain in the ass. "Can we at least wait until Countess Eliza and Countess Joubert comes? Then I'll tell you."

"That won't do." The redhead sighs in dismay. "The empress assigned them to help arrange the welcoming ball for our visitors today."

"Welcoming ball?" The knights taps on her armor in thought. "You mean for the prince and the duke?"

"Indeed."

"Tonight?!"

"Yes!" Screw this, they are screaming at each other at this point.

"I can't believe this, there is so much happening .. " Artina can't help but frown. " .. fine, here's the thing. Do you remember Her Majesty's penpal?"

"Yes."

"Turns out, she's the emperor's concubine." She decides to just spill it all.

"Pardon?!" Laura screams again. "But- but- the empress likes her!"

"I can't connect the dots at how the misunderstanding even began, or how did they met, but yes, she do likes her penpal .. or the concubine, apparently."

"Oh dear." The lady-in-waiting covers her mouth with both of her hands. "I want to say this is like a fairytale, starring an empress and a concubine finding love," the lady-in-waiting sighs sadly. "but it is not."

"How is the empress doing now, if you are one to ask?"

"In all honesty," Laura glances at the knight, her face even more melancholic. "not too well." 

As they're about to close off their conversation and continue it somewhere else, the doors opened, revealing Navier with simpler and lighter clothes than usual. It seems she changed her clothes herself. Her expression is still so solemn, it makes her closest friends sad.

"Your Majesty?" Laura asks her worryingly.

Navier nods in reply. "I want to see the emperor."

Sovieshu yawns as he signs a paper in one of his documents.

" .. so you agree to set up a continental marketing empire here?" Karl, one of his secretaries asked him.

"Since all countries in this project are planning to finalize an alliance, our empire included, this can serve as our first collaboration altogether." The emperor replies, then yawns. "Besides, I've known the people I'm going to negotiate with for years, we can trust them."

"But not Bluvohan."

"No," Sovieshu sends him a meaningful glance. " .. but we know that country quite well."

His secretary tilts his head in confusion. "Pardon?"

"Not only that, I'm actually interested of the products each country has to offer." The emperor changed the subject quick. He raised one of his papers, showing a painting of some bean, shell or rock- it's hard to tell. It's globbed in brown color, like a soil. "Example are coffee beans, this is from Luipt. I heard they're similar to tea, the difference is that when you drink it, it can keep you awake." Sovieshu yawns again. "I definitely need this."

Karl ended up laughing at him, amused.

"What about the welcoming ball?" He asks again.

"It's a public ball, so it doesn't need any invitations. Are both the countesses Navier assigned taking care of the preparations?"

"Yes."

"How about the advertisements? Given that it's a ball granted by the imperial family, people would surely attend, but still."

"They're taken care of."

"Security?"

"Done well, all troops are already in their places." Karl replies tiredly.

"Good." Sovieshu wipes his hands clean then stands up, fixing his cravan. "I'll go see Rashta. If you have any more questions about the ball and I'm still gone, just go to the empress."

"Your Majesty!" Firnir, another one of the emperor's secretaries, barges inside his office. "The empress requested to talk to you."

"Perfect timing." Karl sends the emperor a triumphant, but also playful smile.

Sovieshu groans at his impudent secretaries. Now he wonders, how come he didn't fired them yet? "Is it urgent?" He asks.

"She didn't tell me why, but it is urgent. She wishes to speak to you in private."

He sighs. "Of course. Send her in."

The empress gets inside, wearing a simple pastel dress, almost like a nightrobe. Her hair is down too. Sovieshu's secretaries leaves the room to give them privacy.

"You're supposed to be preparing for the welcoming ball tonight. What are you wearing?" Of course the emperor just had to start the conversation arrogantly, he's called a bastardous man-child for a reason. But then he notices the puffs under the empress' eyes.

"Navier .. did you cry?" His tone changes, and now his face is full of worry.

"It's about your concubine." Navier dismisses the topic. Even with her current state, she still manages to dominate authority.

The emperor slumps his shoulders. "I already told you, me taking a concubine doesn't mean that- "

"Ah, no, it wasn't about that." She cuts him off, smiling sadly. "Don't misunderstood, I know you need a sense of comfort from everything that happened in the empire."

"Indeed." Sovieshu nods. " .. you can take a concubine for yourself too, you know." He suggested to soften his answer.

"I'm not feeling it." Her deadpan response sent them into a fit of silent laughter. Perfect, the tension is gone. "But I am quite offended that you took a concubine while I'm gone. Not only that, you made me the center of rumours and it if wasn't for the fact I managed to bestow back the respect from our people, I might've been a laughingstock now." She adds.

"My sincere apologies," Sovieshu sighs. "I was only planning to give her a hand .. since I feel in debt for accidentally capturing her in one of my traps. But .. she's really pretty." He ended up smiling at his last statement.

Navier sarcastically scoffs. "Of course."

The emperor makes a face at her, inherently offended. "But it still worked well, didn't it? You have the support from the commoners and a high percentage from the nobles too. The rumours don't matter. The last prudish bastards that don't agree with your ambitions can go rot."

She shakes her head at him, but she's smiling. Their relationship now is miles better than before. They fought a lot back then.

"Back to your concubine." Sovieshu pushed his hair back.

"My concubine?" Navier looks at him exesperately.

"My concubine, I mean!" The emperor retiliates embarrassingly. "I'm, uh, only planning to take her in as a concubine for a few months, then I'll send her back to her country with some emperial benefits." He continues. "Her documents say she's from a prestigous school, and in a wealthy family, so she must be smart. I won't keep her for long, she might be a fun and worthwhile companion, but there's no way she'll accept being my concubine immediately without any ulterior motive .. it's better to be careful."

"What's her name." Navier said, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

"Pardon?"

"Her name." Her voice is so sharp, it's terrifying.

Sovieshu furrowed his eyebrows at her, frowning. "Rashta." He says it anyway. "Her name is Rashta."

Navier's lips quivered as the truth slaps her in the face. Does that woman actually wants to deceive her by lying about her identity? It's like she wants her to an absolute laughingstock of the empire. She knows that she pulled a small lie when they first met but is it really neccessary? Did she misinterpret the situation?

What's worse .. does this woman plan to turn her subjects against her?

"Maybe she just wants to befriend you," Artina's words almost snaps her out of her stance, but she shoves the thought away in anger and just utter betrayal. Her heart is pounding so fast as another lump starts to form on her throat. She wants to cry again, she hates it. She can't cry, she won't cry.

That damned woman.

To think that she even likes her.

"You're right." She finally says in a stern voice, balling her fists. It wasn't noticeable from people that doesn't know her well, but she's shaking in a pure fury. "Rashta, or that concubine of yours must have a motive here in the empire." The empress glares at her spouse, the fire on her eyes spreading. "Keep an eye on her."

"Is someth- "

"She's hiding something." Her words sting like dry ice.

"Navier- !" The emperor tries to call her back, but she already slams the door of his office with a loud bang.

Chapter Text

Rashta fought the urge to lick the tip of her quill before dipping it in the ink, as she starts to write a letter for her parents. She told them that she's doing well and they don't need to worry about her, and she'll write to them again soon.

She tied it on the raven, her messenger bird's leg, before letting it fly from her bedroom. Then she flops on her bed, spreading her arms wide then sighing.

"So, I should continue budgeting the money I need. I'll do it while waiting for the others to come here in the palace .. " she starts murmuring, then stands up again to pull out some books from her bag and starts taking down notes and computing her expenses and credits to be used.

She digs her quill to her book harshly, as if attempting to break it. She should've told the empress her real identity right from the start. She's just complicating things. Why did she think of lying about it?

So the empress won't hate her.

She grips the quill in her grasp. Screw it, screw it all! Why does she care so much of the woman's feelings towards her?!

Because she likes her.

"Fucking damned it!" She curses in anger, throwing the pot of ink at a wall, creating a shattering, disturbing noise. The blackish liquid splattered against the wall, it looks like a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Rashta gasps at her own outburst. She cups her face, taking deep breaths for herself. She needs to calm down, this is too much. She stands up and goes towards where she threw the pot of ink. She touches the wall, it's already dry. The concubine frowns as she covers the horrendous scene with one of the extra blankets she found in her room. She'll clean it later.

"I can't let the others see me like this," she sadly mumbled to herself. "especially Ergi, I'll be damned." the lady sighs, then closes her journal book. 

She ended up sitting on a couch, cupping her face in thought. There will be a welcoming ball tonight, she could use it as an opportunity to not get close to the emperor, but to impress him. Since her documents say that she's a wealthy and privilegous noblewoman, the emperor will think she has an ulterior motive against him. Either political power or something shady.

Obviously she does have a motive, since she agreed to become his concubine because she'll receive money out of it. Shady or not, she needs to make the emperor think she's innocent. She needs to be subtle. Keep a low profile, but she must not lose her rank. Because if she stands out too much, someone will investigate her and the truth will be revealed. 

In truth, the entire plan is not that drastic, the only pest in her way is this stupid feelings she's having for the empress. Rashta would admit that she has a heart for such fine ladies, but why on earth would she be infatuated on a damn imperial woman?!

Her long train of thoughts gets disturbed once someone knocks on the door.

"Ergi's here already?" She mumbled doubtfully, then laughs and shakes her head. "Nevermind, he'll barge inside the room if it's him." The concubine fixes her clothes and her hair. If it's not her friend,

.. then it must be the emperor.

She opens the door, and her intuition is right. Sovieshu glances down on her with a tender smile, he's holding a scroll on his hands.

"Your Majesty! What brings you here at this hour?" Rashta greets him with a warm, radiant smile. She's a natural for being a friendly sociallite, so this is not hard or suspicious for her.

"Hello, Rashta. May I come in?"

"Of course!" She lets him in, closing the doors too herself. She asked if he would like some tea or wine, to which the emperor politely declines.

"You see, I came here because I'm in a predicament." Sovieshu starts, sighing to himself.

"What is it?"

"I presume you're aware of the welcoming ball," the emperor unrolls the scroll. "the people associating with it wishes to have an auction to bestow their presence here in the empire."

"An auction? Tonight?!"  Rashta exclaimes. She gasped at her rude behavior once again, then clears her throat to compose herself. "I mean, there will be an auction tonight?"

"No no, don't be so surprised." Sovieshu  chuckles and dismisses the topic with a wave of his hand. "We plan to talk about it after they get here in the empire. But an imperial auction will be held here soon."

".. an auction about what?" Rashta internally screamed. What on earth is Ergi up to?

"Jewels." He replied curtly. "Not just any jewels, but enchanted jewels."

"Holy sh- " Rashta covers her mouth before she speaks out the rest, but the surprise on her face says it all. But then it hit her.

Could this be a test from the emperor? He might be testing to see if she will waver at the thought of having such accessories. If she will be greedy and show off her "nasty" true colors or whatsoever. This means she needs to remain open-minded, calm and show no heartful interest towards these things.

I need to do well. She takes a mouthful of breath.

"The jewelries will be from the Western Kingdom and Bluvohan. That's your homeland, right?" The emperor starts.

"Indeed, yes."

He smiles. "I want to auction a ring for you."

At the moment he said that, Rashta's heart flutters. Even if it's just an act, this man surely knows his way to capture a lady's heart.

"There is no need to." She murmurs in reply, but her voice is softer than she expected. "I already have a lot of jewels from my country." Half-truth, half-lie. Most of the jewels she got are either from auctions or gifts, just like the earrings she gave to the empress today.

The emperor chuckles. "No, no. I was talking about the Western Kingdom. They have lots of jewels to offer you too."

Rashta arches an eyebrow. "Like what, if I may ask?" She asks, not sounding too eager. She must not make herself sound greedy.

"Here." He completely unrolls the scroll, reading the contents outloud. "Let me break it down for you. First is this one ring, which grants the power for incompetent strength."

Rashta can't help but snort. "Serious?"

Sovieshu outwardly laughed. "Yes. These powers come from mages themselves." He clears his throat. "Next, Champère. It grants the power of .. high alcohol intolerance?" Even the emperor sounds doubtful.

It took a lot of willpower for Rashta to not laugh.

"Rubies of Planthum, it gives its holder a sharp photographic memory."

"Visionary. Gives keen vision."

" Enista Rosla. Makes people reminisce their most hidden memories via dreams. Uh, no thanks."

The last half hour goes just like that, and they also laughed at some strange terminologies from the rings, but neither of them mind it. Sovieshu starts unrolling the scroll after he finished.

"They have the Bluvohan gemstones too, but it'll be placed randomly in the auction." He puts the scroll down his lap. "Rashta, did anything piqued your interest?"

The maiden frowns. "Not really." It's true. She doesn't see a reason to use any of the enchanted rings that was mentioned.

"Nothing at all?"

"Mhm." She noticed the emperor gave her a disapproving gaze after that. Shoot. Maybe she should choose one? She feel bad for leaving him in the dust like this.

"How about this? Flowers of Sun. Heals any wounds or illness from its holder." She reciprocates, beaming at him. She doesn't need such a ring, but it's the most beneficial one she can use there.

Sovieshu ended up frowning even more. Oh no.

"I'm afraid you can't have that." He sighs. 

"Is it not available?"

"It is available, but .. " he caresses the back of his neck awkwardly, then sighs even louder. " .. the empress already requested to have it."

At the moment she heard the empress got mentioned, her mood dropped. Again; she's reminded of the events that happened today.

Navier is an unpredictable person, that's the best way she can describe her instead of her cold persona. Because of her reserved nature, it's hard to tell when she'll attack and catch her off guard. She brings and represents the element of surprise so well.

She's a bore at first, yes, but she also scares her to death. But at the same time, her unpredictability, it makes her exciting as hell.

And her eyes, shit, it's so striking. She can stare at those forever if she liked.

" .. I see." Rashta's voice went quiet as she pursed her lips, but luckily it ended up sounding she's flustered.

"Come on, it's alright," the emperor tries to comfort her in her distress. "you can just look for something else. This is not the final list .. they'll have something new to offer you later on." 

"I'm fine, Your Majesty, really." Rashta replied to him with a small laugh, and her signature sweet smile.

Sovieshu's eyes soften as he tucks her hair behind her ear. "I want you to know that I enjoyed spending time with you today. Your presence is really entertaining." He stands up and makes his way towards the door.

He looks back at her.

"I'll see you again tonight."

The door closes, and just at that moment, the poor maiden almost collapsed on the sofa. She managed to get rid of the emperor's suspicion about her, but it feels like a hollow victory.

She starts to hear tapping, and she almost screamed at the dove on the window. It's the messenger bird from the empress.

"Just when I want to stop thinking about her .. " she opens the window nonetheless, pats the dove on its head, and reads the letter.

She felt her heart sank even further.

Are you my husband's concubine?

The friendly tone, the somewhat exaggerated nor flirtatious sentences, they're gone. The message is brief and bland and cold. Rashta glances back at the dove, who seems to avoid her gaze.

"So this is it." Her voice sounds so melancholic as she swallows the lump on her throat. "Maybe I do like her, but I didn't expect it to affect me this much .. " she can feel her tears pooling her eyes again. Shit this.

"I- I can't just- " she wallows, looking down at the dove as if she's talking at it. In fact, she is talking to the bird for she had no one else to turn to. "I really loved the way she approached me, and I was desperately hoping that we can be closer .. was I being too delusional?" She smiles sadly, as her tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Damn it, I cried again." She coughs as she wipes them off. "That empress, that master of yours, I can't believe she made me so drastic and so emotional and so, so!" She sniffs as she catches her breath. "So frustrated all the time! And it's only just been four days! Four! Days! I only just met her again today too!" She ended up screaming at the dove.

The bird chirps as an attempt to comfort her. It didn't work.

She can feel herself crying more and more as she lets it all out. "I keep pushing the thought down, denying it, because for fuck's sake it's too early to think that I'm so infatuated by her. I- I can't accept it .. I'm supposed to be going for the emperor aren't I?" She looks back at the messenger bird, who is pretty much curling itself into a puffball. 

"Why did this stupid heart chose that goddamn woman. That empress? Why? Why of all people?!" In turn to her breakdown, the letter ended up getting stained. The ink is smeared all over the paper. She sank on her seat before getting a paper herself, pulling out a quill to start writing a reply.

It almost looks like she doesn't want for the ink to dry.

She rolls the paper up and bid goodbye to the bird, since she doubts she'll see it again. And so it flew, leaving her alone in her luxurious bedroom. She ended up curling in the covers of her bed like a fetus baby, her chest feeling tighter and tighter each time.

The bird she sent for her family in Bluvohan didn't came back too, which just added to her demise.

Chapter Text

Sovieshu went back to his office, sitting back on his chair with a loud plop. He saw it. His concubine doesn't falter at the possibility of having jewelry, it's a good thing since that means she's not selfish and she's open-minded.

But when he mentions the empress .. her mood changed.

He drums his fingers on his table. "Did something happened between her and Navier?" That's the only reasonable conclusion he can think of. Why else would his empress storm out of his room so angry like that?

"Your Majesty," Karl walks towards him. "the carriage of Prince Heinrey from the Western Kingdom and Duke Ergi from Bluvohan is here."

"Oh?" The emperor stands up immediately. "I should go greet them."

"What about the empress?"

Sovieshu sighs for probably the hundreth time. "Just let her rest for the time being."

"I should've known." Are the only words Navier uttered, as she sets the letter on flames, burning them right into ashes. Her voice sounds cold, but also sad.

Rashta is her husband's concubine. It hurts to even think of the truth.

" .. at least you found it out earlier, empress." Laura tries to comfort her. "It's better than being betrayed later."

The lady didn't give any response. Her hands faltered after the letter burned, then she clasped her palms together and remained silent to herself. She's sitting in one of couches, staring at her balcony like a lost refugee. It is usual for her to be quiet at most times, since she's not the most expressive person out there and she prefers to keep her mouth shut, but this is different. It's like the times when she was bedridden when her brother died. She looks lifeless.

The redhead balls her hands into fists. "Your Majesty, what do you say we assasinate her? Lady Artina could do the job, we'll make her death look like an accident."

Artina chokes loudly after hearing her name, almost dropping her sword. She's polishing it as she listens to their conversation.

"Please do not joke about things like that." She says.

"I'm not joking."

"Good heavens!"

"You don't have to." Navier finally speaks up, ending their argument. She's still staring at who knows where. "I only wish to forget what happened to us these last few days." Her eyelids flutters into melancholic slits, the loose strands of her hair serving as a curtain to cover her face. "I was a fool."

She got outsmarted by a mere concubine, and she even end up liking her. She thought that this woman could make her happy and loved after the unbearable hell she went through these last four years. The nightmares, the hauntings and blacklash, everything, she had hoped that that woman could make it stop.

Navier had hoped that even just once, she can open her heart to someone whom she can actually love.

But in the end, she got played. She got played so good that it makes her infuriated and emotional. 

She stands up, surprising her companions, as she marches to one of her drawers and pulls out a certain box. Inside the box are the earrings she received from Rashta today.

She threw it at Laura.

"I want those earrings gone after I'm finished with my imperial duties today. Sell it at an auction, burn it, throw it away, do what you want, just get it out of my sight."

Navier then stared at the innocent dove sitting inside its bird cage. It seems to be asleep, unaware of what is happening to its surroundings. Her lips quivered, remembering that this creature was the communication device she used to be in contact with that woman.

She points to the bird, her hands a little shaky. "I want that bird taken away too."

Her companions gasped.

Navier turns her back, her nightrobe flowing magnificently like an outlandish cape. "I'll be preparing for the welcoming ball."

And with that, she's gone.

It was awkward when Heinrey left the carriage. He jumped out of it so fast to go greet the emperor, leaving the duke and the birdbrain alone in the tight corners of their outdated vehicle.

"Mckenna." Ergi finally speaks, it's better to get this over with. "You know I didn't mean to speak to you that carelessly."

"I- I know that." The bluenette stammered, he seems calmer now than he was earlier. "I'm sorry, I know my outburst is uncalled for .. I even did it in front of the prince."

Ergi breaths out, his shoulders slumping. "Me too. I should've known that saying such things would hurt you."

He saw Mckenna smile a little, and finally, the air around them felt lighter.

"I picked you to accompany Rashta for a reason." The duke says once more. "We can be both here in the empire, see each other thereof duties and other things, and at the same time .. we can finally talk."

The birdbrain huffs, but this time he doesn't sound angry. He looks surprised. "Talk .. you say? I didn't think of that, i thought you're just being an asshole as usual."

"Excuse me?" The duke sounds offended, his expression is funny.

"You always plan so far ahead." Mckenna murmurs, smiling softly at him as he fiddles with his long blue hair, and Ergi's cheeks went slightly pink. Blushing at this blatant time? Seriously?! 

At least the knight doesn't seem to be mad at him anymore. "You really don't waste any time, don't you?" Mckenna adds.

Ergi's still blushing, but he didn't dare to break eye contact with him. He rests his chin on his hand as he spoke. "I don't believe so, four years is a lot of wasted time."

"I don't think it's wasted, it's all an accident."

"Then look where we are now."

Mckenna looks outside. "We are at the Eastern Empire." He deadpans.

"No!" The duke fell into a fit of giggles, entertained, as he slides himself closer to the birdbrain. "I was telling- " 

He gets interrupted by loud knocking outside the carriage. Heinrey is the cockblocker of the century. He crosses his arms at them as he points out, "the emperor is waiting to see you."

The duke frowns. He glances back at Mckenna. "I meant what I say." He decides to stick to his vital points, not wasting a single second. "We will talk things out. See you at the welcoming ball?" His eyes are hopeful.

Mckenna's eyes went sad to see him depart so soon, but he nods at him in response. "You don't have to wait that long, I'm actually staying in Lady Rashta's room."

"Now now, birdbrain, don't make me jealous of her."

They laughed again after that. Ergi trails his fingers over the bluenette's bangs, making the birdbrain blush. With that, he pulls away to him with a smile, climbing out from the carriage, and he's out of sight. 

Mckenna ended up getting the carriage by himself. His face gets redder after realizing what just happened, and he covers himself with his hands as he screams to a void.

"I really do love him."

Chapter Text

"My lady, I called some maids to help you get changed- " Mckenna went to Rashta's chambers, hands on and ready for work, but what he sees is a maiden covering herself in blankets and having a grand meltdown.

" .. give me one second." he tells to the maids, and closed the door shut. He crosses his arms at a woman looking like a croissant roll in her blankets. "Mind telling me what happened to you?"

Rashta crawled out of the sheets, her hair a mess, her eyes puffed red, her face is swollen and she looks like a total wreck.

"Oh dear." Is the only thing Mckenna managed to say, taken back by her disheveled appearance.

"It happened." The lady uttered out, her voice hoarse and her eyes droopy and melancholic. "She found out I'm the emperor's concubine."

The birdbrain frowns. "So she hates you now?"

"You're being more blunt and straightforward the more we talk, my lord."

Mckenna shrugs. "But that's what meant to happen. You'll meet her at the welcoming ball tonight too."

Rashta almost sneers. "Perfect." She grabs a brush from her dresser to at least fix her hair. "Then," she coughs. "call the maids in. I .. I have no reason to rat my way out of this one." She inhales a mouthful of air, composing herself as fast as she could.

As much as she wants to continue her grand meltdown, she doesn't see the point in doing it anymore. She does likes the empress, yet the said woman now despises her, but honestly, so what?

She's still the emperor's concubine. She still plans to take money from her position to help her family. What happened to her won't change the reason why she came in the empire in the first place.

The misunderstanding that unfolded them both will never be altered or changed, and she needs to accept it. Rashta needs to go sweep this whatchamacallit event down a rug, and go on with her sole purpose, to become a concubine, give her family a good life thereafter, and move out.

This is no fairytale.

If she wants to survive, what she needs to do is to fight.

Her train of thoughts got disturbed when someone knocks at the door.

"How impudent." Mckenna scoffs at whoever is knocking at the door. "Can't these maids understand that they're still not allowed to- " He stops immediately after seeing the person in question.

"Y- you- !" It's a man, his attire a perfect embodiment of a journalist. His face is covered with a hat he has a strange colored hair. He grins, then walks past Mckenna and spreads his arms wide in such a rude manner, greeting the concubine who is just as confused as his presence.

"Lady Rashta! What a pleasure to see you." He says, his voice sounding oddly familiar. "Can you spare such a man as me, details about the romance between you and the emperor?"

Rashta narrowed her eyes onto him, getting ready to shout an order to get him out of her room, but then she sees his eyes under the beret.

Green eyes.

She gasped. "Ergi!" She whispered-yelled, relief instantly washing over her body. Finally!

The journalist, or Ergi, chuckles as he removes the hat from his face. He also took off the wig he wore as a disguise, which is red in color, and threw it at a couch.

Mckenna flinches at the familiar shade of the wig, averting his eyes from it to focus his attention on the two instead.

"That was fast." He grins at her, balancing the beret on his hands like a ball. Then he puts a finger up his lips, and lowered his voice. "But don't be too loud, I can't let people know I'm here."

"To avoid spreading rumours, yes, I get it." Rashta replied, but she's still beaming. Ergi is her comfort pill, because with all the events happening in the palace, even in just a short amount of time, is driving her insane.

Ergi sat on the sofa beside Mckenna before talking again. "Mckenna told me what happened, so we can spare the trip down memory lane. So, tell me," the duke rests his hands on his chin, his eyes passively sending her a glare. "why do you look like shit?"

Okay, that's not the question she's expecting.

"Well .. " she looks down, avoiding eye contact. " .. because- "

"The empress?" Ergi interrupts.

"You know?!"

"I told you, Mckenna told me everything."

The maiden glared at the knight, who grabs a random book from the drawer and pretends to read. It gives Ergi a sense of deja vu.

"So," he starts again. "you like her?"

Her silence is more than enough for an answer.

"Is it .. " she ends up speaking nonetheless. " .. normal for a concubine to like an empress?"

"Absolutely not." His answer stings her like a bunch of needles, she can feel a lump forming around her throat too.

"I won't say that your situation is normal, or common, but it definitely happened before." Ergi adds, seeing the distressed look on the concubine's face.

At this, Rashta lightens up. "It does?" Her aura changes completely.

Ergi would've laughed if he wasn't undercover. "Of course it happens, you seriously need to start reading some books about royalty. They hide a lot of secrets."

"What do these people do after figuring out that they fanthom each other?"

"Oh?" His voice turns mischevious. Not again. "What do you mean, fanthom?"

"Ergi, please, just tell me."

"Figure than one out yourself, you can't just depend on me and other people all the time."

That answer shuts her up immediately.

Ergi crosses his arms with a huff. "I came here so I can give you advice on the welcoming ball tonight."

"I figured."

"You figured, my ass. You look like an absolute wreck. If I came any later, you will be probably making more of a fool of yourself. Why did you even think of hiding your identity in this type of fragile situation?" He's about to go on, but he felt Mckenna nudge his arm, as if telling him to stop. He notices Rashta's condition too, she looks so frustrated and overwhelmed.

Ergi wants to punch himself for feeling pity.

"Okay, sorry, I really don't have much time." He says instead, getting to the point. "Here's what will happen."

Cheers erupted in the palace as the ball commenced in the night. The moon have ever shined so brightly. There's musicians, glorious food, exquisite decorations and everything emits welcome.

Rashta is talking with few of her aquitances, being the sociallite she is. Not only she has such outstanding looks, she's the concubine, too, so most nobility and even commoners are coming to her to admire her.

She saw Ergi and Heinrey too, they're sitting comfortably by themselves in the banquet table. They're either eating or talking and being friendly with the citizens of the empire. She wants to approach them, but with her current status, she decides to not risk her reputation, not this time.

The welcoming ball is a big success. Is what she thought to herself, smiling. At least now she finally feels the joy of being a concubine. The last days were not only a headache, but also a heartache for her. She sees this ball as a metaphor and a calling, giving her a chance to breathe, clearing her mind and telling her that this is just one of the fruits of her labor.

She feels so overwhelmed at the start, but now she has her allies by her side, the people whom she dearly trusts, she feels more at ease and confident. She do feel bad by what she did to the empress, deceiving her like that, and now going back, what she did is utterly delusional and stupid.

She shouldn't have done that. The empress is not someone she should mess with, she's not in the position to do so. It doesn't matter that she likes her, what she did is just wrong and makes no sense.

But even if she reflected on herself like that, she won't deny the pain that emits in her chest once the empress' name is announced with the emperor. The imperial majesties walked down the stairs slowly, either they're savouring the moment of it's because of their expensive clothes.

"Emperor Sovieshu and Empress Navier of the Eastern Empire!"

The crowd erupts into cheers. Even the visitors from each different districts and kingdoms stood up to give a warm applause.

Rashta's heart is sinking further and further, but she mustered the last of her strength to clap at them too.

It doesn't help when the empress looks down on her, her eyes suddenly growing distant and cold at the sight of her. But at the same time, there's a small tinge of sadness hidden in her expression. It's simple, it's because of her betrayal.

That small emotion just makes Rashta feel even more distressed for her. Should she run, should she run to her embrace and explain the misunderstanding they had? By chance, maybe they could start over and regain the lost connection they once have, even if they gained it at a short amount of time.

Gosh, she never felt this way compared to all other past lovers and infatuations she used to have, what is wrong with her?

The empress averted her eyes away, as her husband climbs down the stairs to grab ahold of his concubine's hand. By this, they are reminded of the situation and the position they have.

Rashta is the emperor's concubine, she and the empress have nothing to do with each other. All they have in common is their connection to the emperor.

"I'm glad you are able to made it here to the ball." Sovieshu murmured softly.

Rashta smiles, her eyes glossy. "Of course. I was not busy after all, Your Majesty."

Rumours immediately starts to transpire. The emperor, the empress and concubine all together in the welcoming ball. What kind of mess would this turn out to be?

She and Navier are so near to each other, but at the same time so far.

--END.