Chapter Seventeen: Long May She Reign I
1986 Words
A few minutes earlier.
“Did you find Kassim?” I asked the knight standing before me dressed in white, one that I had sent through a note passed on by the butler a few days earlier concerning Kassim’s summoning.
But the knight did not reply. After both he and the butler entered my room, all Raiser had done was stand shell shocked before me, as though I was a phantom or someone he was certain was a myth.
I understood that Azalea’s absence in the past few months was a huge deal, but it feels like most of the staff had made their peace with her absence, so much so that it was her presence that startled them.
The butler poked Raiser, jolting him from the evident turmoil in his mind.
“I…I did.” He answered finally, unsure of which posture to maintain, so he did an awkward half-bow and half kneel.
“You do not have to kneel nor bow for now.” I sighed, then turned back to the chessboard and moved my black queen to capture the white pawn at G2, then I slid the white rook to F1, officially moving the white to a defensive stand.
“Where is he at the moment?”
“He and the marquis are in the dining room taking their breakfast. They have been surrounded by knights.”
“And there is no chance of them escaping?”
“The knights are some of the best knights.” He added.
“Hmm,” I hummed curiously, but my gaze was still fixated on the chessboard, “You realize that ‘some of the best knights’ were imprisoned earlier today. Or, were they not among your best?”
“Ah..n-no.” he cleared his throat, “I, as a Captain, do not hire the knights. I simply train and promote. You have the-,”
“Are you pushing the responsibility on me?” I turned my gaze to him from the corner of my eye, “You who has trained, sparred, fought, taught, drank, laughed, cried and even bled with them?”
“Are you so easily going to disown them?”
“N-no b-but-,” Raiser began, but I interrupted him.
“ ‘No, but?’ Tell me, Sir Gidion, when have I interfered or questioned your authority over the Knights?”
“I…my apologies.”
Phew! I half expected him to actually confess and say that I had interfered with his authority, but it appears Azalea was not very interested in that matter.
“I apologize. I thought that-,” he began, “I thought that my opinion would be invalid because I was once a commoner.”
“You son of a b***h!”
My eyes widened at the words that I blurted out of shock at his answer, and Mathews cleared his throat.
“So, I appointed you to a leadership position, but you did not perform your task because you have low self-esteem???” I asked.
More than the initial shock in my system, anger seeped into my voice, forcing me to take a deep breath so that I could at least quell it.
“I-“ I began, but the disgust I felt was still evident in my voice.
It wasn’t because I doubted that there was a division in the knights because of their status. That was obvious. I just did not think that the leader of ALL the Knights would conform to that! He is their leader!!
Is it only in name??!!
How many? How many have died because of this division? Because his voice was silenced by his belief that his words could not sway the Empress? Or…or did Azalea disregard his opinions? Then why the hell did she appoint him?
I, personally, have died five times at the hands of corrupt knights, but I’ve lived for over one hundred existences; it was bound to happen sometime, but what the hell is this??!!
Is there another noble keeping the knights in check while letting Raiser take the reigns?
So when he meant ‘some of the best’, he meant the people he could trust, and not people who were strong physically?
Oh, for the love of-…this role better not morph into a murder mystery!!
“Hmm…” mixing problems will get me nowhere, “I will deal with this later, after the ball.”
-f**k-
“For now, I want you to signal the start of the ceremony in the town and after exactly one hour twenty minutes..”
I moved my black queen back to capture the white pawn at E4.
“I want you to start moving the prisoners with your men to the town square.” I lifted my gaze to meet his, “the two knights will be there, do you understand?”
“I do.” He responded curtly, but his expression was slightly different from when he had first arrived.
A mix of shock and, oddly enough, enthusiasm had replaced his quiet reserve.
“Five knights. Five who you have trained and have been in charge of their…what was it you said, ‘promotion’? Will be among the men heading to the square, two who played dumb, one who posed as a merchant and two who posed as bandits to harass, steal and cheat rather than to protect. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
“Do you understand the bigness of executing knights?”
“I-,”
“Do you understand that as of now, your position as captain has been revoked?” I asked, “ I can no longer find any trust in either your judgement or my own.”
“…”
There were two moves left on the board, either the white would sacrifice their queen to my knight or block the checkmate with their bishop, but this can easily be countered by moving my knight to F3 for an easy check because their queen prevents white from capturing my black with their bishop.
The game on the board was over, and rather than my usual contentment, a massive surge of dissatisfaction claimed me.
“You will not let me down a second time, Sir Gidion.” I said, turning to him, “Proceed with your task and remember, I want Kassim to be on the front row.”
“Now, Mathews." I said turning my attention to the butler, "I wish for you to bring the Marquis outside the counsel room and I….”
*
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Present time
“Forgive my impertinence, your imperial majesty.” Innes Theodore began, “But Empress, why are you doing this? Why must you embarrass my husband so?”
“We, we are simple people. What have we done to deserve your disfavour?” Innes continued as her hand rubbed her husband’s back soothingly.
She had finally cracked after him repeating the opening prayer for the fourth time.
“You may all speak freely. Rather, whenever I hold council, I wish everyone to speak freely.” I said, then cleared my throat to turn my attention to the other matter at hand. “What do you mean ‘disfavour’? is praying for the Empress's health a tragedy to you?”
“I, more than anyone, understand the importance of prayer.” Innes threw her peach hair over her shoulders, “however, have you not taken this a little too far?”
“Too far, you say?” I paraphrased, then smiled as I slowly turned my attention to the rest of the table. “Who else thinks that I have taken this a little too far?”
There was a tense silence in the room, but before a full minute had passed, Alivai’s hand did a little dance.
“Ah, so you believe that I have taken this too far, do you?” I licked my lips then leaned forward, “And you are the duchess of…?”
“Oh! Oh no, I am not the dutchess yet, I am-”
“Then I should value your opinion because…?” I interrupted.
“Pardon me, your imperial majesty!” the Duke of the southern isles interrupted, obviously in hopes of rescuing his fiancée.
“Yes, Duke?”
“I do not feel it right to discriminate-,” he began, but just as soon as he did, I raised my hand to silence him.
“Is this a hang out location for first dates?” I asked, stating each point while waving my hands before me, as though I intended to paint a picture of what I wished to explain, “Is this a place where you figure out your relationship?”
“No, of course not.” I continued, “This is the imperial palace. This room, from head to toe, is filled with equals, the only exception being me…and now your fiancée.”
“If you wish to ramble on about equality, first try to understand her position as a commoner, as she remains so until your wedding day, even if it is tomorrow or next week.”
“Understand that this is supposed to be a room whereby someone less than a duke or duchess is not permitted. As of now, a duke is on their knees. Do you know the implication of nobility especially of this stature, bowing before a commoner?”
“I-,” the duke of the South, Nickson, began, “My apologies, I did not know that this was scheduled to happen.”
“It is the Duke you should apologize to, not me.”
“My apologies, Duke George,” Nickson said, then laced his hand into his mortified fiancee’s, well, she looked mortified, but my system only read:
{Impressed, Curious}
-Masochist?-
Well, in any case…
“I trust this will not happen again, Lovers, Fiances, concubines, slaves and whatnots are not permitted here without passing on the information to me beforehand,”
Innes sneered at the happenings, and despite her attempt to hide her expressions, she was so furiously embarrassed that even her eyes had reddened.
“S-should I leave?” Aliviai chirped, “Your Imperial majesty?”
Still, Alivai’s stats had not changed.
Talk about star actress.
Still, is she keeping the attention on the fact that she is a commoner who saw the Duke on his knees for longer? I mean, I know that I was magnifying that on purpose but is she…helping me?
Why?
“It is rather too late for that. But, all is well, as long as you do not separate from the duke-“
“I would never!’ she said suddenly, then as though shocked by her own outburst, her hand covered her own mouth.
Typically, if that statement were to be made, anyone in doubt about their love would feel as though they were suffocating, but, clearly, that was not them.
“I am happy to hear that.”
My gut said that she was honest about her feelings for Nickson. Still, her expression said one thing while she felt the other.
I was unsure of what to make of her.
“I feel that the treatment of Duke Theodore is rather unfair.” The duke of Nissa spoke, “As I am sure you know, we both go way back.”
-Gotcha!-
{Name: David Nissa Luciano}
{Title: Grand Duke of Nissa/ Duke of the West}
{State: Calm, Curious }
{Relationship: Carla Nissa (Deceased) Nina Brent (Concubine) Ino Swoon (Concubine), Myra Diox (Mistress)}
{Family in descending order: Virginia Nissa, Trident Nissa, Calvin Brent (illegitimate), Krios Nissa, Aleu Diox (illegitimate), Marissa Swoon (illegitimate)Lucy Diox(illegitimate), Samantha Brent(illegitimate)}
- Writer
