Princess Revenge

Chapter 2

“Wake up! Hey! Damn it why am I still taking care of this child?” The owner of that voice is the head maid Sylvia who only comes to the Opal Palace when a servant from the emperor’s palace does their monthly inspection, which if I remember correctly happened a week ago. So why is Sylvia here in my room acting like she has been taking care of me her whole life?

I pretended to grumble a little, I know it pisses her off that I am not looking as ragged as she wanted me to be. Sometimes it’s good to be in a place full of people who hates me, it doesn’t make me feel guilty if I act a little tacky and impolite.

“A princess?” She clicked her tongue in a demeaning manner and continued to grumble with her bi-monthly nasty remarks which I am used to hearing. “I am from a refutable family, why do I have to serve a beggar with only a title to her name?” Sylvia continued to throw snide remarks at my “sleeping” figure, “If Prince Liam isn’t the one who’s coming I’ll never bother coming here for the second time in a month” I heard her mutter under her breath but that made me want to open my eyes and jump for joy.

If Sylvia visits the Opal Palace once every month, Brother Liam only visits twice or thrice a year. Probably because he is busy attending to his crown prince duties, and also for the fact that this palace is located in the innermost part of the emperor’s kingdom. Opal Palace is the emperor’s gift to his 6th concubine at that time- my mother. According to the stories I was able to pierce together from the maids, my mother is from a Southern Country and came to Balboa to meet with her friend who is now the Duchess of Vrachos, an independent region in this country.

Apparently, the exotic beauty of my mother caught the attention of the emperor. It is said that what they had was like a fairy tale, a princess from a faraway country meeting the crown prince and falling in love with each other the moment their eyes met. Hence this place, a gift of the emperor to my mother, a testament of their love. And the only reason why I am allowed to stay here is because of the lingering feelings the emperor had for my mother, ironic how we can love a dead person more than we do for the person near us because I feel exactly the same way.

Sylvia left me alone too, probably too high on her high horse not accepting the fact that she still have to see me even when our social status our miles different. That feels good, that I can somewhat inflict that kind of feelings on others. They can hurt me with their words, but I can agitate them just by existing. 

I smiled wickedly at that thought which immediately softened when I heard three soft knocks on my door.

"Hal, still sleeping? I'm going to enter now" I heard my brother's footsteps slowly getting nearer so I closed my eyes in a hurry while trying to stop the edges of my lips from curling.

"Oh? My lovely little sister is still asleep? What shall we do? It's her birthday tomorrow but she's still not preparing for the special day hmmm" The smile I was trying to hold back turned into a giggle at my brother's futile attempt at acting but I still kept my eyes shut so I can play with him longer.

"Should I just leave her be? I planned on bringing her along for a walk in the garden but she's still asleep, I better go then" My eyes shoot open at my brother's words, and saw him smirking at me, which made me giggle too at how absurd we are acting.

"I'm awake now brother! I want to go to the garden with you so go away, so I can get ready!" I pushed him out of my room without much struggle and went to pick my outfit which is the easiest thing to do looking at an almost empty closet of overused clothes. 

When I was done I saw my brother at the patio, clearly scrutinizing every nook and cranny with those sharp eyes of his and when it landed on me. I know exactly what is going on in his mind.

"I asked father to give you more allowance for your palace, and your clothes, this is the fifth time I saw you wearing that," My brother said, brows deeply furrowed while gesturing me to start walking so we can arrive at the garden sooner.

"And I told you to stop asking father for that, and what's wrong with my clothes? I like it so I use it often" I shrugged like it never occur to me to be bothered by it.

"Hal, you are a princess, you should be treated as one. And I noticed that only Sylvia is here again, is she treating you well? After all, it's only the two of you who lives here together" He's asking too many questions all of which he'll never like the answer to.

"I'm fine here brother so stop your needless worrying and let us hasten our steps I wanted to see the garden already!" I gave him the smile I always wear around him so as to ease his worries, and I think I succeeded seeing as he had returned the smile I had offered. 

But of course, good things aren't meant to last forever, and in my case, it ended as soon as we arrived in the garden. There, having tea is our first sister and second brother. It would've been easy to dodge them and leave if I was alone but because I am with brother Liam, it is customary for them to greet him at least.

"Brother Liam, I see that you have time why not join us for tea?" She smiled while perfectly ignoring my existence like it is only brother Liam who is standing in front of them.

"Thank you for your offer sister Veronika but I already arranged for this day to be with my little sister so I hope you don't mind excusing us" My brother bowed at them which I also did awkwardly, and turned our bodies into the other side to continue our walk.

"Still keeping your pet instead of getting the right choice for your political gain Brother Liam?" Sister Veronika said while holding her teacup with a straight face. I think I saw a passing emotion appear on my brother's face but it was gone as it appeared.

"Sister let him be, I know why he's doing this. But heed my words, if you dug on the sand hoping for a treasure, in the end, you're bound for disappointment. Don't let us hold you out, continue your walk and I hope you have a wonderful birthday tomorrow, Haliya." I should be shocked that second brother remembered my birthday but I was more concerned at how tightly brother Liam's fists are closed and his expression is dim like second brother's words hit a nerve somewhere.

"I, uh, thank you second brother" I bowed politely but my eyes kept on going back to check on my brother who was now able to control his facial expressions, and faced first sister and second brother with a smile.

"Thank you, brother Jack, I'll be sure to remember your words. Enjoy your tea" We left after that and the mood that had been dampened from our encounter with our other siblings continued throughout our walk.

Although brother Liam tried his best to act normal, I can still see the dim light his eyes are reflecting, and even when I lie awake on my bed I can't seem to remove the image of brother Liam's darkened face and gestures that is a whole lot of different from the brother I know for my whole life. It was the first time for me to see those tiny differences, the flickers of emotion that he never showed in front of me, and the words of my second brother that seemed to have caused the changes. I fell asleep having all of those thoughts, completely unaware that I should have not worried about my brother because he doesn't need it at all.