Chapter 47
1080 Words
ELAYNE
“You… don’t want me to die?”
“Of course not! Why would you think I want you to risk your life for the duchess as opposed to her risking her life for yours? Do I sound like such a cruel person?”
I just assumed she would care less. She wasn’t the type to show emotions.
“Pardon my assumption. However, I will not change my mind.”
{You do not need to become a sacrifice.}
“Why are you all so convinced that I will die?”
“Isn’t that obvious? You have zero experience and have only been learning the way of the sword for a week. Even if your teacher is this bone head, there is little you can achieve. Do you know where foot soldiers are stationed? They are in the forefront of the battle, like pawns. Don’t tell me you can survive that?”
“Don’t call me a bone head!”
“Shut up! It’s your fault we’re even considering this in the first place, moron!”
“How rude! I’ll have you know that she’ll be battle ready in time.”
“She will still die. The soldiers of Uramuth have years of experience under their belt. How do you think she can measure up?”
“I’ll -”
“That’s enough. We’ll talk about this later. We have a guest tonight.”
“Guest?” Both I and Geraldine asked at the same time.
“Yes. Lady Maribel will be joining us tonight.”
“I-Is she alright now?” I asked.
“She’s not fully recovered but she is stable for now. Try not to bring up anything aggravating.”
“Isn’t my presence aggravating enough?”
There was a brief moment of silence where all of them looked away.
“What’s wrong?”
{Maribel has lost her memories.}
“Oh…”
It was for the best. Maribel didn’t need to live with that memory.
“Let’s eat now. I’m starving. Today was so stressful.”
“Shouldn’t we wait?”
“I’m sure there’s no need,” Geraldine replied, salivating. Lady Miriam was already tired of her nonsense so she stood up and wacked her head with her fan.
“What did I do?”
{You’re forbidden from saying anything till tomorrow.}
“B-But…”
{It’s extended to tomorrow morning. You cannot speak until after breakfast.}
Geraldine looked like she wanted to cry. She was too talkative so it was the perfect punishment for her. Amaya sneered, mocking her silently. Geraldine could only fume, promising death with her hand motions. And so, we all waited for Mirabel to show up.
The family of the duke was a big one. They lived with their extended family and had about seven children around. That’s if I wasn’t counting Miriam who I didn’t know was part of the family. For Mirabel to be the only one, there was something they weren’t saying.
It wasn’t in my place to pry but I felt it was important to know. I don’t know what happened to my father’s supporters after his death but it didn’t look like they were doing too badly.
Come to think of it, just how did King Mival take over the kingdom without the interference of the other generals? And why was it so easily achieved?
“Lady Miriam, a question, if you will.”
{Please ask.}
“Where are all the generals and have any of them been replaced anytime in the past five years?”
{The generals normally do not stray from their territory, even when the new king was crowned. None of the have been replaced but there hasn’t been any activity from them.}
“That’s relatively normal. According to what I know, King Mival sold out his child, Noelle, to the King of Perimas for their cooperation. Even with that, strange forces won’t be able to enter the kingdom without the generals noticing.”
“Well, King Mival used to be a general. They could’ve entered through his territory; the west, which is now controlled by General Tiller,” Amaya replied.
“True. Something about the whole thing still bugs me.”
“King Mival has a lot of allies around the kingdom. We can assume that is how he got control of the crown.”
“... If you say so.”
Something about it was still unsettling. It was like I was missing a big part of the puzzle.
“Pardon me, am I interrupting something?” A soft voice came from the entrance of the dining hall. A fair skinned maiden, who looked like she was just approaching adulthood, walked in. She took a seat next to Amaya, smiling. Her face was one I was familiar with but at the same time, she was a stranger; Maribel.
{No. We were just about to start.}
“Greetings, Duchess.” She bowed lightly.
“Well then, shall we eat?” Amaya clapped. The servants took a cue and started serving the food. Maribel’s eyes were on me and she genuinely looked surprised to see me.
“Geraldine, who is this?”
Geraldine opened her mouth to speak but shut it right away when she received a piercing glare from Lady Miriam.
“This is Lady Elayne Greycastle. She is the guest of the duchess.”
“Oh, pardon my rudeness. I have never heard of a Greycastle house.”
“She’s from another kingdom.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Greycastle.”
"Princess Ariana, I brought you a flower."
"Princess Ariana, help!!! Prince Carrion brought over a frog again!"
"Princess Ariana, can you braid my hair too?"
"Princess Ariana, am I pretty? Can I be as pretty as you when I grow up?"
I never knew seeing her treat me like a stranger would hurt so much. I didn’t struggle that hard keeping my composure with the Duchess.
“The pleasure is all mine, Lady Maribel.”
“No, really. My sister hardly has any friends so I thank you for being hers.”
I looked at Lady Miriam who suspiciously looked like she was blushing. How strange.
“Lady Miriam is kind and lovely. It is my honor to be her friend.”
She smiled, looking down to eat. I felt it deeper than ever. The estrangement and separation that had been eating at me ever since I returned to the palace.
I don’t belong here.
- Writer
