Chapter Sixteen: Long May She Reign.
1298 Words
However beautifully decorated it was, the meeting room was silent. None but Nancy, a nymph and the duchess of the North, had commented on its outstanding beauty.
A sound tapped away from the corner of the titanium white long table that sat all the top members of the key powerhouses in the continent.
“Young lady, do you not see that your tapping is annoying?” David Luciano, the Duke of the Western continent of Nissa, a well-built man with silver hair and a blue well-cut outfit, spoke to Cleanna Fiosal Alistan, the current reigning Duchess of Fiosal, the Eastern continent.
Cleanna was dark-skinned with deep olive eyes. Her short dark hair curled around her shoulders, contrasting perfectly with her golden silk dress.
After her parent's early death two years ago, she and her younger sister had been forced to step into leadership positions. Though she was eighteen at the time and her sister sixteen, their combined efforts led to the rapid flourishing of Fiosal to one of the most peaceful duchies after Akonia.
“ ‘Young lady’?” Cleanna repeated with a smirk on her face, “I may be twenty, but I still hold as much power as you, old man.”
This comment caused Nancy to snuff out the laughter bubbling in her throat by hiding her face behind her husband Isaulot’s shoulder.
Isaulot, an elder elf and the Duke of Akonia, wore a smile at his playful wife’s actions then leaned into her touch.
“Now now, play nice.” Innes, the duchess of Sorbet, said smiling as she slipped her hand in her husband’s, “We are gathered here to speak with the beyond magnanimous Empress who has not communed with either one of us in the past year. You need not pick fights with each other.”
Though the sarcasm and amusement in Innes’s voice at the mention of the Empress was obvious, none uttered a word in defence.
Truthfully, after revealing the bluff, Innes planned to declare the start of the throne war by suggesting Kassim to the throne. Though he was not her eldest, he was better suited to handle public matters than Tomas.
Tomas, the eldest, had a good head on his shoulders. However, Kassim was as beautiful as she. Innes believed to her core that beauty had the potential to sway mountains. After all, her birth mother had chanted it over and over before she had sold her to the Sorbet Ducal at the interest in her peach hair.
The heavy doors swung open slowly, and a man formally dressed cleared his throat to grab the attention of all those around.
“Announcing, the current reigning Empress of Cursix, Her Majesty, Empress Azalea Oleander Cursix.”
Everyone on the table stood then bowed, but no one entered in the few seconds of them doing so.
Innes could barely contain her smile, and after three minutes passed, she raised her head.
“Wha-,” she began, and in just the same second, her eyes met the fiercest pair of crimson orbs.
She dropped her gaze hastily, and the sound of heels clicking echoed in the room.
“Duchess Innes, you may be my aunt.” A smooth and silkily seductive voice said, “But should you try me again, I will gouge your eyes out."
The room grew tenser than before, and the sound of the double doors closing to signal the beginning of the meeting instead sounded like a prison door closing.
“All but Duke George Theodore, who will instead kneel.” The voice began, and the sound of a chair being pulled and sat on echoed, then the voice continued, “Sit.”
The beautiful dark-haired woman who sat at the Empress's chair, to Nancy, resembled Azalea in every way but her aura and before she could stop herself, a glowing light emitted from her chest.
Nancy panicked at the conspicuous light radiating from her chest, then hastily grabbed her husbands sleave tightly. But try as she did, she could not take her eyes off the beauty who had thousands of spirits literally floating around her mesmerisingly.
The sight reminded her of her former servant, Benjamin. Ben had been her slave around five hundred years ago. He was a boy who dreamt of being an adventurer. So, when the opportunity presented itself, Nancy had let him go. Though he met his untimely demise by a monster whilst rescuing a child, who later became the greatest huntsman in Akonia, Nancy had never seen another who was loved by the universe as much as he, well, until now.
In fact, while the spirits around the boy just surrounded him, the Empress's spirits literally began floating around the room, filling every inch of the space.
“Honey?” Isaulot poked, jolting her from her thoughts.
“Oh- sorry.” She whispered, then forcibly dimmed her resonating glow, but it was too late. She had already attracted the room’s attention.
“My apologies.” She said even louder, but the Empress’s gaze did not leave hers.
“Speak freely, Duchess.”
“Forgive me, it is just…” she began when a tear fell from her eyes, “ As a nymph, I can see many things that humans cannot as we commune with mother nature, so right now, to me, you look awe-inspiringly beautiful, this world very very much adores you.”
The Empress smiled at Nancy’s words, but the smile did not quite reach her eyes.
“I see. How…wonderful.” She replied almost robotically, forcing Nancy off her trance.
Frustrated, Nancy frowned. She wanted to find a way to convince the Empress of the impeccable meaning of being one who is loved by the world, but the opportunity did not present itself as her gaze turned elsewhere.
One question, however, prodded her mind after she came down. The last time she had seen the Empress, she looked normal. Nothing was oozing from her being other than the usual mark of death. So, how did she attract the spirits?
*
*
*
Azalea Oleander Cursix
-Loved by the universe…huh?-
The old cook hasn’t changed, well whatever.
-Initiate appraisal-
{the system has initiated the Blessing Appraisal}
-People-
{The Blessing appraisal has been set to appraise people: The only available information on people is their body language, current state and the recently unlocked feature, genetics}
-That’s fine-
I turned my gaze to the kneeling duke.
“Your knees must hurt. However, I do believe that we should start this meeting off with a prayer, don’t you?”
The duke’s gaze did not meet mine as he spoke.
“I do.”
His reply sounded as though it was a little forced. Still, he began praying to the gods.
“Oh, merciful deities reigning above our lands….”
{Name: George Theodore Cursix}
{Title: Grand Duke of Sorbet}
{State: Livid, Embarrassed, Confused}
{Relationship: Wife Innes Theodore, Concubine: Rhona Ophias, Concubine Mona Spitz (Deceased)}
{Family in descending order: Tomas Theodore, Kassim Theodore, Leanna Theodore, George Theodore the third, Flinn Theodore (Illegitimate), Shebert Theodore (Illegitimate), Solis Theodore, Kana Theodore (illegitimate)}
I turned my gaze to the newest face on the table.
{Name: Aliviai Isles Nichols}
{Title: ‘Grand Duke’s Fiancee’}
{State: Fearful, Curious, Dreadful}
{Relationship: Fiance to Nickson Isles}
{Family in descending order: Aterdette Isles, Guston Isles}
The prayer was finally over, and I took a minute before finally speaking once again.
“You know, in your prayer, you never mentioned how grateful you were for my recovery?” I said, then crossed my legs, “Start again.”
- Writer
