Secrets of the Villainous Empress

Chapter Fifteen: It’s Those We Admire That Often Confuse Us

Three hours, it had taken three hours for the maids to squeeze me into a bouffant gold and crimson dress, only for Johannes, one of the two head maids, to try and stab me in the neck while I was not looking.

“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get into this dress, how long it took everyone to get me ready, yet you wish to spill blood on it?” I said to the fallen body of the head maid.

I had reacted too quickly to her attempt at my life, so rather than end her painlessly, I had grabbed the closest thing on my person, a large golden hairpin, and perhaps this is why the only remaining four maids in my room trembled in the corner.

Now what? Earlier today, I ordered the imprisonment of both the knights outside my room, and Hends was not a ‘morning person’, so none of them could aid in the heavy lifting of both the body and, well…the nice cream carpet that was now tainted.

“Drag this and the carpet outside my door for the knights to handle. I only want one of you assisting in finishing up my hair.” I ordered, then sighed as I sat back on the dressing chair, “Also, I will no longer rest in this room. I wish to take the Emperor dowager's former rooms. Are we clear?”

“Yes, your imperial highness.” All the voices that answered trembled, still, less than five seconds passed before they all sprang to their roles, and twenty minutes later, I was done.

My lips were stained crimson, matching my gaze perfectly, and my eyes darkened to match my jet black hair curled in a fashionable updo.

My dress was long and without straps, but it only clung to the curves of my upper body while ballooning at my hips.

“Next time, I would prefer black pants.” I said, then pulled away from my reflection, “Nonetheless, I look exquisite, thank you.”

A blush crossed the face of a stunning red-haired maid with blue eyes.

“Alright, I would like you-,” I paused. Her name was Katie. “Katelyn, to summon both Mathews and Raiser to my chambers.”

Raiser Gidion was the head of the imperial knights

I had intended to send the red-haired one that had blushed at my compliment. Instead, a dark-haired and green-eyed maid responded curtly to the name ‘Katelyn’.

-Oops, wrong name.-

“The rest of you are dismissed,” I said, and a few moments later, I was alone once again.

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The imperial palace

“Did you see her? Did you see her majesty?” Amelia, a known busy body, asked Katelyn as she climbed down the curvy large marble steps.

“Yes, I did.” She responded, her pace still maintained, causing Amelia to jog along with her.

“Well…give me the details? How is she? Is she as beautiful as the poems? Or as cold as ice? Does she resemble the words of the eastern jaunty written about her?”

Most of the maids that had been there before the empress fell sick had been replaced, so Katelyn understood Amelia’s curiosity; however, after witnessing her quick, non-hesitated movements in killing the head maid, she was a person that Katelyn had no desire to cross.

“Don’t you think that you should handle the roses in your hands before they wither?” she asked Amelia, who held freshly cut roses from the gardens in her hand, dismissively hoping to change the topic.

“That is not going to work. We have been friends long enough that I understand your topic changing strategies…” she pushed.

“But you do concede that my point on the roses is valid.”

“Valid shmalid, spill!!”

“Amelia, I have an errand to run. Why not bother Bridgette with the details? She was there too?”

“Because you are my friend, not Bridgette, that man stealing hussy!!”

Bridgette was the most beautiful maid in the palace. She had red hair and glittering blue eyes that could outshine the sun’s rays against the oceans. The problem, however, lay in her personality.

From a young age, she had understood the expected response at her beauty, and rather than honing any other skill, she perfected the art of seduction. She could seem fragile, yet not fragile enough, sensitive yet not sensitive enough. Bridgette had perfected how to use any situation to her advantage, especially by manipulating those who found her attractive. Her main aim in joining the palace had been to rake in high ranking men, but somewhere across that line, she had made more enemies among the staff than is beneficial to her goal.

“Don’t say that!” Katelyn responded, not because she meant it, but simply because it was something not to be said.

“What do you mean ‘don’t say that?’ She took your lover Julio, all because she could!”

julio had been her childhood friend, then her lover, then the man she promised to dedicate her future, only for her to catch him and Bridgette making out by the stables.

“Well, technically, she didn’t take him. He let himself be taken.” She corrected her friend’s words as they winded the corner because, truthfully, she was more thankful than hateful towards her. Who the hell would like to find out that they were wrong about a person after they had gotten married?

 “Where are you taking those flowers again?” Katlyn asked Amelia, who was still matching her pace as though their destinations were the same.

“Upper east wing, I'm supposed to be prepping the Empress’s study.”

“Oh, right.” Katlyn halted suddenly by the main entrance to the palace, “Johannes is dead. She tried to stab her majesty.”

Amelia’s hand flew to her mouth.

“What? How- how are you telling me this so smoothly, as though this was just a by the way?”

“I don’t know.” She mumbled.

 However, she did. Katelyn has always been a good judge of character, and from day one, she did her best to avoid the fishy, unfriendly and almost robotic head maid. Well, of course, after Julio’s unfaithfulness to their engagement, she had begun to doubt herself, but now that she had, in broad daylight, lunged at the empress with intent to kill, her theory was proved, and Katelyn felt oddly…relived.

‘Palaces carry secrets,’ was the one thing her late grandmother had warned, ‘so always, always keep your head down, and do not try to be a hero.’

So she did. If that was what it took to survive, she was determined to keep her nose buried in the ground.

“Listen, I must go outside. The Empress has sent me,” Katelyn said to her still shocked friend.

“Well, of course, who knows if you will be next?” Amelia replied, “Oh gods, Johannes is dead? She was alive mere minutes ago, and now she..”

“I don’t know? Why can I not cry, Katie?” she asked, “Is it because I too, like everyone else, am growing cold in this stone palace?”

What was she to say? Katelyn wondered because, to her, it was apparent that shock had gripped her friend and that all she had to do was keep moving. But Amelia was a ‘sit down and talk me through this’ kind of person, who mixed terribly with her personality, so much so that it was a wonder they knew each other.

A maid with long glossy loose red hair passed the entrance increasing Katelyn’s sense of urgency.

“It is as though the Empress awakened death! It was so peaceful before,” Amelia babbled.

Was that really true? All she did was issue orders when she was attacked, and if she had come out before the day of the council, who knows how many people would have died.

“Amelia, Amelia…listen to me.” she grabbed her friend by the shoulder and spoke, “Get over it, we have work to do!’

Katelyn took the golden opportunity while her friend was stunned to push past her and rush to the front gardens, where the butler was said to be managing a created topiary masterpiece.

Outside was bright and cold despite it only being seven, and she almost wished she had not returned the scarf Julio had gifted her. The main event was set for eight-thirty, and so far, most of the staff hummed around like bees still unprepared to serve guests.

Across the extensive front gardens to her right, she spotted the white-haired man surrounded by three people, one, the three-month-old sexy gardener, an old man and a red-haired maid.

“Cripes, I hope they are discussing a project that can be halted,” she muttered, approaching the group that was next to a large mass covered up by a beige tarp.

“Installing a fountain may take longer than we can manage during this weeks’ festivities. We’d have to invite either dwarves or gnomes from Akonia or earth mages who are architects from Dia. In the meantime, there will be a banquet today, a ball tomorrow and resting the day after the ball. I don’t think there will be enough staff to handle construction now.”

“Can we not just begin and see where the project takes us.” The ruggedly sexy man that sent shivers up Katlyn’s spine asked.

“If we do so today, it will look unpresentable by the time the members of the council get here. However, I can promise to supervise the project with you next week personally. For today, how about making an identical version for the left side garden or a continuation to ensure that your art tells a story?” The butler asked.

Leeroy nodded then sighed when the old man beside him patted his back.

“Good job.” The old man whispered.

The statue was still covered up, yet the old man praised Leeroy, even before noting anyone else’s awe at his work.

That was an odd sight for Katelyn as a flurry of emotions she was unwilling to explore consumed her.

“Sir Mathews,” the redhead chirped, “her majesty has summoned you.”

-Huh?-

-Wasn’t that supposed to be my job?- were the only cohesive thoughts that had flowed into her head.

“Ah, I see.” The butler said, “if you will excuse me.”

The redhead turned to face Katelyn then rubbed her neck.

“Oh, Katelyn, I left you gossiping at the entrance, so  I figured that I would cover for you.” She smiled, “Oh, I haven’t informed Sir Raiser yet. You should probably hurry to the knight stations.”

“Of course.” Had been her only response to the cheeky young girl, only to find as she had arrived at the knights training station, which was quite a distance to walk, that Bridgette had sent her on a wild goose chase.

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Azalea

Now I know why my food was still being poisoned despite most of the traitors being taken care of. Still, the poison was the same, but I feel that the Theodore duchy did not hire her, so perhaps the temple?

From all the gossip built up in my past lives, the temples of Gon were the most active anti-imperialists.

Shit, I need to get married fast so that Aleu can deal with this drama while I handle the good parts of royalty, connections.

I walked back and forth beside the chess table when finally, I halted then moved my knight to D4, a move that meant sacrificing my initial pawn at E5 to white’s knight.

I don’t think the temple has revealed its intentions to Kassim, seeing as they acted more stealthily than he.

I moved my queen to G5.

I only allowed my continued certain status to be known to a few, the butler and Hilda, the only remaining head maid who is still in hiding. To the rest, I puppeteered their lives as though I was a myth for almost two weeks. All the orders I gave must have felt like someone was shadowing my presence, which is why the temple assumed the same thing as Kassim, that it was the allied forces puppeteering a move.

I moved white’s knight to capture blacks pawn at F7.

That is why Johannes, rather than the empty emotions assassins wear, looked genuinely shocked when I welcomed the maids into my room.

Meaning she wasn’t an assassin.

The temple probably wanted Kassim to take the credit while working in the shadows, hence the same yet different tactics.

-Hmm-

My mind drifted back to the attack by Johannes, I didn’t feel any blood lust oozing from her, and her movements were calm. However, her face immediately gave away that she was an enemy the second I opened the door, and she knew that too. That had to be why she had to attack. I, unfortunately, could not use purification on her because of the time setting, and divinity is not a skill Azalea should have, so I sacrificed a pin I really liked.

-s**t, it really made my eyes pop!-

Seeing as how she attacked publicly must mean that she was ready to sacrifice herself, and most likely, she would have claimed that Kassim sent her.

-Such devotion.-

I guess I should feel honoured to be worth dying for; well…I always imagined that phrase being said to me in a romantic sense.

There was a slight knock on my door, disturbing my focus from the board.

“Come in.”

The door swung open and a handsome well-toned man dressed in a white and gold uniform sporting the only flaw to his face a s***h that cut across his cheek.

His eyes were honey brown, and his hair an intense shade of brown, so much so that it was almost red.

The man had barely entered my room when Mathews emerged from behind the man.

“Right, the play has to start sometime.” I smiled.