Eleanor of the Shadow Palace

III

“Yes. No one will harm you ever again.”

I couldn’t help but stare at Anastasia as she hugged me and Ed tightly.

I didn’t know much about Anastasia and Hugo back in my first life. I knew they were my half-siblings and that they excelled in their respective fields; Anastasia in martial arts and Hugo in magic, but other than that I knew next to nothing. I often heard news regarding their achievements but I did not have the means to do an investigation.

-She reminds me of someone.

“Your highness?” the imperial doctor called, no longer kneeling. “We need to do a final check-up on them before we send them to the noble consort’s residence to get settled.”

“The noble consort’s residence? Why?” she asked. I noticed her voice was a little sharper than before.

“Uhh… err…”

“You better give me a better answer than ‘uhh err’ doc.”

-Sassy. I already like her.

“Her highness, the noble consort, heard about the children.” Madame Ally answered. “She confirmed that they were Gisella’s children so she volunteered to take them in. She already plans on talking to His Majesty regarding it.”

“Was I asking you?” Anastasia retorted.

Madam Ally did not seem fazed by her rudeness but she just lowered her head.

“My apologies your highness, I just answered your question since the imperial doctor does not know about it.”

Hearing my mother’s name, my tears started falling again.

-I haven’t heard her name from someone else in along long time. Even if the person who said it is someone I hate.

Anastasia, Ed and Hugo seemed to have noticed my tears since they reacted immediately. Anastasia hugged me tighter and patted my head to calm me down, Ed tugged on my arm and his eyes were quite watery, and Hugo patted my back.

“I don’t think it is a good idea to let them go there Madame Ally.” I heard Anastasia say.

“Your highness, it is-“

“-noble consort Katherine’s wish and order, I know, but don’t you think the kids should decide? They did just come out from a very traumatic experience.”

“Are you insinuating that-“

“It is not like that Madame Ally.” Hugo interrupted. “My sister does not mean that, whatever it is your thinking. She’s just thinking about the children’s welfare. As you can see the twins are more comfortable with my sister, so I think it’s much better if they stick around with her longer.”

-Ah, Hugo. He really has a talent for eloquence.

“But the noble consort already-“

“I will be taking care of the two of them and that is final. I will talk to my imperial father myself.” Anastasia suddenly said, standing up but her hands did not leave our heads. “So you no longer have to concern with yourself regarding this. If she has a problem with that, she can talk to me or my mother.”

I watched as Madame Ally’s eyes widened at the mention of the empress. She was from the noble consort’s faction, automatically making her belong to the third imperial prince’s faction. The only reason the third prince wasn’t named as the crown prince was because they needed the support of the empress.

-And because of that they will do everything to get rid of the empress so the noble consort can install herself in that position.

“As you wish your highness.” Madame Ally bowed. “We shall take our leave.”

Madame Ally and the maids with her exited the room. I didn’t even notice sighing in relief.

“Thank you.” I said after calming myself.

“You seem to dislike her despite not fully knowing her.” she replied, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Any reason?”

“She…”

-What do I even say? I can’t say Madame Ally is evil, and so does the noble consort. I definitely can’t say I knew that because I somewhat knew the future.

“She looked like it.” Edmund said suddenly.

All our heads turned to my now twin brother. I gave her a questioning look.

“I can see it.” he pointed to his eyes.

-That’s strange. His eyes are glowing gold. I’ve never seen that color on either Edmunds before.

“And feel it.” he shrugged and hugged himself. “Her presence feels icky and repulsive. Just like those slave dealers.”

-O…kay? He’s improvising, right? Right?

“You can feel that?” Hugo asked, obviously curious.

Edmund nodded his head, his face slightly tinted pink. I looked into Edmund’s eyes and saw he was telling the truth.

-Could he really have such abilities?

My mind drifted to my first life. My actual twin brother never said anything but he seemed to always avoid certain people. Then a memory from my second life popped up. In it I saw Ed pointing out on people that felt ‘weird’ and should be avoided. That was how we always got cautious when doing deals with others.

-Hmm… Curiouser and curiouser.

“Uhm, your highnesses?” called a nervous voice.

-Right. The imperial doctor’s still here.

“The two of them still needs to be checked-up.”

I eyed Ed who just shrugged once again. I then caught Anastasia’s gaze that seemed to be filled with worry.

“Uhm… by the way. Before we proceed with what needs to be done, what are your names? Oh, my name is Anastasia and this is my twin brother Hugo.”

“My name is Eleanor.” I said with a nod of my head.

“Edmund.” Ed added, sounding timid.

“Hmm… You two have beautiful names. So Eleanor, Edmund, the doctor needs to check on you two.” she said in a gentle voice. “You know you were from a really bad place, right?”

“Yes! And you saved us! So thank you once again!” I said with enthusiasm that reflected my current age.

“Yes, I did. Now here’s the thing. When I saved you, the two of you were in really bad shape. You were both asleep for weeks. The doctor and his nurses need to check on the two of you so we can know if you’re doing okay or not. So what I’m saying is…”

“You want us to be checked-up by them.” Edmund inserted in a monotone voice. “We got the gist of it. Or rather, you already said that.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“Geez little guy. You’re very mature for your age.” Hugo said in amusement. He then started reaching out to Edmund’s head, in an attempt to ruffle it, but my twin just hissed and stepped back. “Yeah, I guess you’re also quite sensitive.”

“We will have the doctor check up on us.” I said, holding Ed’s hand to calm him down. “So please don’t worry.”

The two smiled and motioned for the medical personnel to check on us. The rest of the day was spent on getting checked-up and listening to the imperial doctor’s advice regarding our diet.