Fate I

LXXXIX

"You-!"

"Let me remind you, Lady Pei. We are attendants to the Empress Dowager," she narrowed her eyes and the girl immediately paled. "I'm not sure how you were raised but to dare raise your voice against me, who was personally granted a title by the Empress Dowager, only shows your disrespect."

The other girls immediately began murmuring amongst themselves, whispering to each other how she had dug her own grave. For in this Imperial Palace and in the entire Kou Empire, no matter how rural of a village you came from, who didn't know of the respect the current Imperial family members had for the Empress Dowager?

"I-I was only saying!" the girl shouted. "I won't leave!"

"Ho?" Lady Iris narrowed her eyes. "You dare disobey my words?"

"The only one who can dismiss us is His Majesty the Emperor himself! I'm not leaving until I meet him! I'll definitely become his consort!"

"Consort?"

Suddenly, a chilling and amused voice called out and the girls glanced up to see a woman mounted on a brown horse. She carried herself with an air of dignity and elegance and her pale blue eyes looked down upon them in amusement. But, she wasn't looking at them as humans. Rather, she was looking at them as if they were bugs.

"Greetings to Her Imperial Highness, Hakuei-sama," Lady Iris and the attendants and guards behind her bowed with the other girls following suit.

"Now isn't this an amusing sight we have here?" she held a hand to her cheek and smiled. "What's with all the fuss here, Lady Iris? I believe at this time, they should be making their way to the Selection Hall."

"Yes," Lady Iris bowed. "However, this lady here has raised her voice in opposition when I had advised her to see herself out as I've deemed her unsuitable as a lady to be placed into the Inner Palace."

"And that's when she claimed that she would be selected as consort, correct?" Hakuei said.

"Indeed."

"Hmmm," Hakuei said before looking at the girl. "Lady Pei, was it?"

"Y-Yes! Greetings to Her Imperial Highness, Hakuei-sama!"

"You," Hakuei narrowed her eyes, her pale blue eyes bore into her, sending them paling in fear and shivers down their spines. "The Imperial Palace, especially not the Inner Palace, has a need for people as disrespectful as you. Lady Iris is a first-class attendant who was personally granted her title of 'Lady' by the Empress Dowager. Moreover, the Empress Dowager was the one who personally put her in charge of guiding you. Yet, you dare to raise your voice against her and at the same time, pronounce yourself a position that you're not in the slightest fit to receive."

"I-I-I didn't..."

"Please do spare me with your excuses," Hakuei said with that sweet, cold smile. "Consort? You're not even worthy of the position of 'chosen maid'. Let me tell you all right now, the Emperor will not be seeing either one of you today. He won't be even showing his face."

The ladies widened their eyes in shock.

"T-That's unreasonable!" the ladies yelled in defiance.

"We're here for the selection process! It's always been a tradition for the Emperor to select the ladies!"

"What do you mean he won't be seeing us?!"

"It's just as I've said," Hakuei said. "He won't be seeing any of you nor will he be selecting any of you. The one who will be selecting the ladies of the Inner Palace and giving them ranks will be I, Ren Hakuei, and the Eighth Imperial Princess, Ren Kougyoku."