Palace Corridor
The Crown Prince stayed longer than usual so Raziela for her guard duties. No knights were training this time of day. The moon is illuminating the corridor and shows the beauty of the strong-looking posts. The wind blew and some of her hair got stuck on the mask. She removed it to remove the strand of hair.
"You're not the kind of person who would extend your work time", the lady heard a familiar voice. She was about to wear the mask back but it was slapped away from her. The mask was on the ground.
Ciaran had Gaius' face flash in his mind and compared it to the one who was in front of him now. Without anything else in mind, Raziela turned and attempted to escape but the Captain was quick on his feet and grabbed her hand. "Raziela?", he was startled. "You are mistaken, Ciaran. You might be seeing things because of the poor light", she still tried to escape the situation she was in. "That explains why you seemed different. I cannot believe that you changed this much", Ciaran felt it difficult to swallow how she was healthier than how she was before.
Raziela turned to see the man with such concerned face. "What kind of game is your brother playing this time? When I see him, I'm going to punch him for good. Does he think that conquering the North gave him an excuse to let his sister disguise as him so that he can play around?", the Captain had his eye twitching in annoyance.
I see. I can work with that story.
"Let's give him a short vacation. He must be tired. This will only be temporary so there is no need to make a big deal out of this", Raziela waved her other hand. Ciaran sighed and patted the lady's head. "Don't strain yourself too much. You're not good with heavy work, right? Since when did you switch? Just recently, I had a sparring with your arrogant brother just after he was knighted", Ciaran led Raziela still holding her hand.
That's still me.
"I see. Did he annoy you again?", Raziela used her female voice. "I was near to breaking his neck but my sister stopped me. He's fortunate", Ciaran answered. The lady held on her neck.
I could have died at that time. Lying is so difficult.
"I'll give you a ride. My carriage is already outside", Ciaran offered. "And so is mine. I will see you again, Ciaran", the lady bowed her head.
A few days after,
Palace Lake
"I'm nervous!!! Each day that passes makes me feel anxious with my coming of age!", Elaide splashed water on Raziela as the princess kicked the water on the lake. "Be careful Your Highness. You might fall on the lake", the knight wiped her face with a handkerchief. "Sir Kirstein, you're so beautiful that sometimes, I wonder how you'd look like if you were a woman", the princess commented.
The knight made a distance and fixed her mask. "Her Highness is the pearl of the kingdom, a treasure so much refined that someone as unwise as me could not give enough praise for your beauty", the man quoted from a book he once read.
"That's an offensive thing to say for a man. And you read too many love novels", Edel passed by with Avniel. "How unusual for my brother to take a stroll? Are you worried that I'll take your knight away? You might not be treating him well so I might as well ask Father and make him my escort during my coming of age", Elaide chuckled. "As your brother, I will be your escort. Make sure to drive rats away from her during that day", Edel emphasized in his latter statement.
If she's with Sir Kirstein, I can be assured that no man will dare to get close to my sister.
"What are you smirking for? Also, how did you know that the line was from a love novel? You must have read it as well", Elaide caught him. "Are you thinking of chasing my suitors away after I built you a good image for the noble ladies?!!!", the princess jumped in her brother and started attacking him with small punches. Raziela watched in amusement of the two royal siblings. How fortunate that they existed in an Empire such as Arden.
"You have to prepare yourself. A guest from the North is coming", Edel looked at the knight.
If someone is coming from the north, could they have seen my face?
Library
"Why is your face looking so worried? Is the Captain of the Imperial Palace bullying you?", Arabella inferred from the scenario she saw. Raziela could see her upset expression. "What matters do you have in the Palace?", the knight asked and let her take a seat on the couch. "His Majesty called me for an audience. Since it was my family who found the cure for the Snow Disease, he wanted to know more about it. My parents are currently on their way back so I was tasked to read him the ingredients and how we came up with a cure", Arabella answered. "Then, how did you come up with the cure?", Raziel asked. "You must have been pained that the soldiers back in the North died with Snow Disease. We were told in the letters but there was so much difficulty to deliver the medicine since we were just merchants back then", Arabella guessed that the knight had that in mind.
"You should see His Majesty right away. I'll guide you to the throne room", Raziel bowed her head. "Is there anything else bothering you, Sir Kirstein? You look pale and your hand was shaking a while ago. Something must have happened between you and the Captain", Arabella held onto the knight's arm. "There's nothing to worry about, Lady Arabella. I am proud of you. It is not easy to present your ideas to His Majesty", Raziel forced a smile.
Throne Room
Edel watched as Raziela escorted the lady inside. "It's a surprise to see you with my son's knight. How are you two associated?", the Emperor sat on the throne with the majestic crown on his head. "Greetings to His Majesty. I saw the lady in the corridor and it is not proper to leave her alone", Raziela knelt. "Should you be here, Sir Kirstein? If you wish to leave, there's no shame in doing so. As this disease was the one responsible for you losing most of your men, promising ones", they heard a voice from the side of the throne room. The daughter of Captain of the Order's eyes widened at the sight of the person's face.
"Oh my, that expression. I believe you recognize me. I feel honored that the renowned Captain who led to the fall of our Empire is making such a facial expression", Glen, the former personal knight of the King of the North let out a friendly smile. He was reading a book while seated on the side. "This is the throne room and you should respect the presence of His Majesty", the knight held onto her sword. "No need to make a ruckus of a guest. He is a suitor to my daughter. Please treat him as a guest regardless of how difficult it must be", the Emperor ordered Raziela to lower her sword. "Would you like to take a seat with me?", Glen offered as soon as Raziela walked beside him. "My legs are still strong. Sufficient enough to run after those who will try to disturb the Capital's peace", the knight glared at him. "Your eyes are truly like that of coldness that would not hesitate to take someone else's life", the man commented mockingly.
"Your Majesty. We will start by explaining how we discovered the disease. An unknown woman from the North came to my father's medicine shop. At first, she was coughing blood and my father was worried since the woman was pregnant as well. He cannot give something that might harm the baby inside so he just let her drink a lower dosage of herbs to relieve the woman's complaint of extreme coldness", Arabella continued to talk about the process and named the ingredients.
"As for Sir Kirstein", Arabella turned in her direction. "My deepest apologies that we weren't able to make a large number of medicine for the soldiers", she bowed very low. "To know that people were hoping to cure them, I think that's enough for me and their family to know. There were some circumstances so you're not the one to be blamed", Raziela assured the lady. "How generous of you, Sir Kirstein", Glen smiled.
I can't read him. I can't feel any drop of bloodlust from this man. I should be keen.
The presentation ended and the lady received claps. "I have questions", the crown prince raised his hand. The room suddenly went silent. The scholars as well as the priests were invited as an audience to the presentation. "This is the reason why you were added to the registry of noble. How did you know that the woman was from the North?", Edel asked.
"Unless a soldier, none of the women of Arden will go to the Empire of the North and be infected with the disease", Arabella answered right away. "You said she was pregnant. Is it possible that the child that was bore developed immunity towards the disease?", Edel dug deeper. "We know not of the child that was born because the woman also disappeared after being cured", Arabella said with a confident voice.
"What do you say, Sir Kirstein? There is a saying that if you help people, people will also help you in return. Nice to meet you, I am that help", Glen's eyes turned sharp and stood. "Your Highness, if I may speak", he walked towards them. "There is no record of anyone surviving the snow disease in our land. It is such a fortune that such a place where the snow never reaches would find a cure to that", he sounded sarcastic but they could not do anything to the man who renounced his citizenship of the Empire that was once their enemy.
Crown Prince's Room
"I will be entering", Raziela knocked and opened the door. She saw the Crown Prince staring at a flower. She stepped back and averted her stares. "Is the Duke still around? I don't like him getting cozy with my sister", Edel said with an irritated tone. "Sir Traun and I are keeping an eye on him. There is no need to worry, Your Highness", the knight assured. Edel removed his shirt to change clothes. Raziela looked the other way which the prince saw.
We're both male so what is he embarrassed by?
"He's always with Sir Traun".
Edel's eyes widened and changed his clothes as fast as he could. "Where is Avniel? I asked him to help me get changed", he cleared his throat and tried to see if he was outside. "I can help you with it", the knight tried to walk closer. He missed his footing and was caught by Raziela. They were both close to each other. "Your Highness", Raziel called out to him.
He smells like strawberries.
How can he have such porcelain skin?
His eyelashes are even longer than my sister's.
He stood right away and covered the lower part of his face. "I worked all night so I am not feeling well. Just call the Palace Physician", Edel ordered. "You do feel warm. Lie down off the bed, Your Highness. I'd call the physician right away", the knight went to fetch the physician. Lance entered after a while and saw Edel massaging his temple. "I saw your knight running in the corridor. He seemed worried. Are you alright?", Avniel asked. "That knight, he always knows what to say. I had always wanted to get rid of his presence but getting to interact with him, I think I want to know more about him", the Crown Prince said with a serious tone. "I just don't want to hear rumors that the Crown Prince is not working on choosing a fiance because he is more interested in his knight", Avnial teased. "I'm working on that. Have you sent letters to the lady of the houses?", Edel clicked his tongue.
I must really be sick to think of these crazy ideas.
Chapter end.