Chapter 22 - The Academy (2)
Esperanza sighed, brushing her silver hair. Once in these fourteen years did she dream about her past, which was yesterday night. Perhaps it was the side effect of the man, who appeared to look like her former lover, which triggered her memories again. But it didn't change the fact that once in a long time, she wished she wasn't here anymore.
Précieuse, her roommate braided her blue hair into one at the backside. With one last hostile and wary glance at Esperanza, she stormed out of the room. Esperanza didn't understand what she had done to receive such hostility. 'None of my business anyway' she thought and went for her classroom.
"Lady Esperanza, greetings!" Margarita Caeli greeted the lady with the usual cheerfulness she portrayed to others. But deep within her heart, she cursed Esperanza consistently. If only that person... she shuddered at the thought of that person. Those maniacal eyes that person held were the ones that she was scared of the most, but repaying them was her duty. And she never failed to fulfill her duties, no matter how corrupt they are.
"Greetings, Princess" Unlike the saintess in front of her, Esperanza didn't bother to show any fake enthusiasm. Margarita blushed bashfully and covered her cheeks with her hands like a shy and sweet girl.
"I, I did nothing to deserve to be called a princess. You may call me by my name since you're of a higher ranking." She said, feigning ignorance. Esperanza very well knew what those words truly meant. The church has always been regarded as a higher authority by the emperor. This explained why she called her a princess. How could a duke's daughter call the saintess by her name, even if they were good friends?
"Sure, since you offered me with your goodwill." But how could she not agree? This was a good opportunity to tarnish her reputation without any effort. Since rumors spread like wildfire with only a single word. "Margarita." She added the girl's name at the end of her sentence with a smile to secretly taunt her.
The conversation ended with the professor entering and starting his lecture. The professor seemed to be much enthusiastic. Esperanza gazed out of the window with a bored look on her face.
Meanwhile, a certain someone was heading to the imperial palace once again. With an impatient look on his handsome face, he paced faster than the servant guiding him. Of course, he stayed in the imperial palace from a young age, why would he bother listening to that babbling servant more than a thousand times?
"An audience." He said in an impatient tone, which was very unlike him. "I need an audience with the emperor, right now." The knight tried to deny his request humbly.
"You want your head off?" The duke threatened menacingly, with a murderous look in his eyes. Realizing that the duke was in a terrible mood, the knight backed away and the duke pushed the doors open. A stupefied emperor dropped his cup on the ground, and his wife looked at him with concern. Soon, a smile formed on the emperor's face.
"I wondering who was so impudent, seems that it is my baby brother Lýkos." The emperor laughed.
"Stop that baby brother, you son of a bitch." The duke retorted. He felt so angry. It was something he waited with eagerness for so long, but now this punk announced a decree?!
"Why the sudden swearing? Let's make it out all in peace, shall we?" The emperor bent and looked over at the cup with a wistful look. "Oh, it was a new one. You've got to compensate me for it." He was talking about the cup which he just dropped. The cup was proven to be one of the treasures of the neighboring empire, which was just gifted to the emperor. The maids couldn't help but sigh at their emperor's casual demeanor. It was a well-respected treasure, the one and only, how could the duke compensate him?
"Now, now, what are you angry about?" The emperor asked, feigning ignorance. This raged the duke even more. With a snap of his hand, a paper appeared in his hand and he read it out loud; "I heard that the daughter of Duke Lýkos, my most trusted aide and dear younger brother, has come of her age and her ceremony will be held soon. I, the emperor, announce and decree of celebrating my dear younger brother's daughter coming of age ceremony as well as an official debut in the royal hall, with all nobles mandatorily invited."
The next second he tore apart the paper and glared accusingly at the emperor.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked.
"Meaning? Of course, it is a decree of celebrating your daughter's debut and blah blah blah---" The emperor abruptly paused when he heard a yawn. The empress elbowed her son in the stomach, who was standing beside her, and whispered while covering her face with her glinting red fan.
"Stop it, you fool. Don't disturb your father during his talk. Besides, didn't you sleep yesterday night?" She whispered. Ischyros nodded his head uncertainly. 'Sleep? As if I got any! If only I could..' he thought. But then, his thoughts shifted to the talk between his father and uncle. 'Wasn't the rumor saying that uncle abandoned his daughter? Why is he suddenly like this? Forget it, rumors can't be trusted after all.' He thought with a sneer in his mind.
"Well, anyway," The emperor said, resuming the topic, "Just something not worth mentioning."
"NOT WORTH MENTIONING?!" The duke screamed. "You knew that she hated being the center of the attention, yet you dared to decree something like this?!
"Why, I heard you did not care about your daughter?" The emperor smirked.
"I..." The duke's voice faltered at this question, not knowing what to answer. What did he feel towards his daughter? Of course he.... loved her. He knew how much she loathed staying in society. This was why he was planning to host her coming of age without inviting many nobles. But who knew this would happen?
"You think you can hide the truth from your brother, the one who knew you for more than a decade?" The emperor said, slapping the reality to his brother's face. The duke now understood that the emperor was testing him.
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Oblivion Of The Heart
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