𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐊'𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 .°* | wmmap.

━━ chapter V.

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OBELIAN PALACE
EARLY EVENING
CLAUDE'S POV

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QUIET EMBRACES THE STUDY ― the view outside the emperor's study dull due to the greyish colour that had cloaked itself over the surroundings . clouds that seemed to have travelled all the way from east , hadn't yet dissipated from the skies .

the rain will be good this year ; claude muses to himself , faraway gaze replaying within minds the events from before .

thankfully , the duke had prepared well for the retreat of his claude's entourage , a magical portal allowing them conveniently skip the journey to the outskirts of obelian empire ; from there it had taken all but three days to arrive in the capital .

the empress , he noticed , was a silent creature . even when they had shared a tent during their travels , he could barely hear any noise that would show her presence . one couldn't hear her , she was quiet as a cat . but her presence was more felt than heard . like a mild gust of breeze ,, with the ever lingering scent of silk surrounding her .

Their exchanges were curt , for neither of them were people of many words . Felix was friendly with the new empress , suggesting it was necessary to make her feel welcomed . athanasia remained quiet save for the morning and night greetings , replied just as awkwardly as they were received .

a faint knock on the room's door snapped him out of his reverie . odd ― usually felix announces himself in lieu of just knocking ― " enter . " he responds , turning just slightly to see who it was that visited him .

the first thing he sees is a glimpse of magenta hair peeking out from the crack in the door ― followed by a tea-tray being carried in .

" blessings upon the sun of obelia . "

she greets . his attention now fixated on the figure that enters , claude approaches the empress , gesturing her to take a seat .

" why did you carry this yourself ? " he questioned , watching her pour tea with no other reason than plain boredom .

" i happened to pass the maid on my way , hence i insisted . " she replied in the same , impassive way as his own . sliding a cup of mild pink brew towards him .

" is there any specific reason for your visit ? " cut to the point , his question oddly enough does not catch her off guard . instead she replies ,

" i wished for his majesty's assistance regarding the issue of magical force of the obelian empire . one of my prime aims for coming here is to help obelia grow as a magical power , and pardon my suspicion , but i don't know any nobles that i can trust with giving me the correct information yet . "

ah . . . so it was her job that she was here to talk to him with . her mentioning lack of trust in nobles made him smirk , it was good to see the empress wasn't a fool who gave into flights of fancy and believed what the nobles wanted to show her .

" if that is what you want , " he chimes , bringing the cup of tea up to his lips . lippe tea , flowery as ever in his mouth .

" there are records of the magic university that you can find in the tower for any new statistics . other than that , for the force inspection you will have to accompany me to a field trip to the tower . "

she nodded , concentrated on making herself a cup of tea . it seems she was not fond of lippe tea , he found himself absently comparing .

penelope ― claude noticed ― was hard to read . her face was beautiful , he admitted that much . sharp outlines , big marine hued eyes that always seemed so keen , as if she could see through you . but her expression was always apathetic , barely any reaction of her thoughts displayed .

" i would also like to ask his majesty for something else too . " her questioned brought him back from his thoughts .

something else ; rumour said the princess of eckart was a tacky woman . did she want jewels ? why would she ask him , then ? did the empress not get a key to treasury herself ?

" feel free to . " he replied .

with a faint simper ― perhaps the first he'd seen since their wedding that was not for the sake of courtesy or putting up a display in front of others ― she looked up at him .

" i wish to attend the small council meetings , if you'd allow me . "

a place in the small council .. he thought over it for a moment . women were usually not allowed among ministers for political discussions unless they'd done something extraordinary , foreign women much less ; but then again , what the nobles thought never quite mattered to claude first.

" alright . you can join them . "

he replied , earning practised words of gratitude from her ― not insincere , he was sure of that ― but yet somehow not betraying a single speck of emotion in them .

THUNDER ringing softly outside made the arrival of rain known , the darker grey colouring entering to bathe the room in its glow as the sound of water against windows filled the empty hall .

together they sat in the silence .

and somehow , the silence wasn't really uncomfortable .

HERE IT STARTS !
the interactions between claude and penny are actually very fun to write , since both of them are more of observers than talkers , and since penelope is quite literally the oppsite of every person he's usually surrounded with ( diana , felix , athy ) considering her indifferent demeanor . his perspective of penny is interesting ! i hope I'm doing it justice ,, if not I'm gonna practice more i guess >_<

next update soon , until then !