𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐊'𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 .°* | wmmap.

━━ chapter VI.

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CRYSTAL PALACE
EMPRESS' RESIDENCE

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" YOUR HIGHNESS ! ― " emily's cheerful voice resonated within her officietel as the girl entered with the tray of breakfast in her hands .

when she was leaving the eckart mansion , penelope remembered emily being practically devastated on the idea of being separated from her ( how ironic . ) and after weeks of her whimpering and constantly requesting to join , penelope finally had agreed to take the girl along and appointed emily as her personal maid in the obelian palace . after all , despite her previous actions , emily was still a resourceful and clever girl .

two busy months had passed in a blink of an eye within the obelian palace ; the wedding now seemed like nothing but a faint dream one has upon dozing one afternoon after reading a book .

ever since her last meeting with the emperor , penelope had taken on her duties as the empress fairly quick enough . albeit she wasn't participating in the social circles yet , ( heavens knew she needed more time until dealing with more women ) she had taken up on the finance and management of the royal palace within a week . she had also visited the magic tower once before , having demanded the refreshed stats of the students who enrolled in the university this year .

she had also built a small personal library in her own office , keeping records of every small council meeting there safe . emily , had been quite helpful all this time ― making sure penelope didn't think she accept her request for naught . she gathered all possible information on the royal family and the social circle from the servants and made sure to report penelope every day . lets say , penelope was more than glad she'd agreed to bring her along .

the empress spent her time ― which wasn't used working ― exploring the various parts of the palace . the staff informed her princess athanasia , her stepdaughter , lived in the ruby palace ― and that his majesty often had tea with her .

it wasn't as if she didn't want to see the princess ― spirits , she was absolutely not the evil stepmother one writes about in the fairy tale novels . but the problem was . . . how ? penelope wasn't the most social person , and she had absolutely no idea how to approach the little princess . not to mention , she felt like an intruder to even ask the emperor to join in on their father - daughter time .

and then there was the emperor ; he was by no means a hostile man ( although some may disagree . ) but he wasn't exactly on friendly terms with her . she was his colleague rather , which was okay but also meant she couldn't freely ask for things from him unless they were work related .

so instead she chose not to interfere .

" yes , emily ? " between the scratching of pen against parchment , penelope questioned to the maid who now set the breakfast on the table away from her working desk .

" i found something ! ― oh and please have your breakfast , your highness , it's quite late already . " she nagged , taking the documents Penelope put aside to organize them .

removing ink - stained gloves , Penelope took a seat and munched on the fruit presented , giving the girl an inquisitive look . emily carried on ,

" i found that tomorrow is princess athanasia's birthday . no one celebrates it , though . they do make sweets and things like that in the ruby palace , but the emperor never greets the princess himself . he just sends a gift the next day . "

a frown appeared on penelope's brow , why would he ― the man who cherishes his daughter more than she'd seen any father do ― ignore his only child's birthday ?

not paying mind to the empress' reaction , emily carried on whilst arranging the work desk back . " the servants told me he locks himself up in his palace and spends the day grieving the late consort's death . the late consort lady diana passed away in childbirth , see ? ah well , i feel bad for princess athanasia , she's such a lovely child you know ? but she's far too clever for a six-year-old ! I've seen her myself so many times sneaking in the kitchens at midnight to steal chocolate ! at first i thought it was an intruder ― but then i found out and she begged me to not tell lily . it was adorable . "

she gushed , busy in her own world as Penelope picked at toast on her plate .

birthday . . . penelope remembered her own childhood . back in eckart mansion she used to recieve many gifts , expensive jewels , gowns , etc . but the hurt a child feels on being ignored cannot be made up to by any amounts of gifts .

" Emily ― " she called , snapping the daydream emily was clearly so engrossed in .

" yes your highness ? " her reply was instant . on noting the faint grin on the emress' features , a curious look morphed on the maid's features . however it was soon replaced by an excited smile ― upon hearing her answer .

" tell the maids in ruby palace and lilian york to come visit me today . I have something to ask from them . "

WOOT WOOT !
It doesn't take a genius to find what penny's planning on doing soon ! this chapter is a bit short , buuuut we get to see some athy x penny interactions soon .
also the youtube videos i share up there are basically the soundtrack i imagine for the scene. If you guys have any suggestions, please hit me up!

Until then !