The night felt cold and eerie. Autumn had arrived, and the leaves were beginning to dry. The wind blew, causing the tree branches to touch each other, making a strange rustling sound.
Eresia stood on her balcony, staring at the quiet palace garden. Her eyes were vacant, occasionally following the guards as they moved around, surveying the surroundings.
She sighed, then leaned her elbows on the balcony railing, gazing at the gray sky. It was cloudy again.
"Your Highness, we should go inside. It’s very cold. I’m afraid you’ll get sick," said Silvia, Eresia’s maid, timidly. Her body was shivering from the cold.
Eresia didn’t answer. She just pursed her lips. "It feels strange. Why do I feel so bored?" she said, sighing again.
In Ganesh, she had everything, everyone’s love and admiration. She could do whatever she wanted. She would hold parties and gatherings whenever she pleased, throwing celebrations to show off her jewelry with her friends.
Here, she couldn’t do those things as she liked. She didn’t have any close acquaintances yet. Sylas still sent her the latest jewelry designs, but she wanted more.
In some ways, she thought it was fine to lose all of that, her friends, her parties, her siblings, and even her father, who loved her dearly. She knew the consequences when she decided to come to Valigria.
But she hadn’t expected that her dreams wouldn’t always have a happy ending. All she wanted now was Sylas’s undivided attention, or at least half of his time. Yet this week, she could count on her fingers how many times she’d been alone with him.
Had she made the right decision? Would her obsession with Sylas ever make her happy in the end?
"Silvia, all princesses are happy with their princes, right? I’ve never heard of a fairy tale where a princess ends up suffering," asked Eresia.
Silvia was silent for a moment. The girl had never liked reading; the fairy tales she knew were the ones her servant used to read to her before bed. Most of them ended beautifully, of course — as Obaze had always taught her — that she would be the happiest princess in the world.
"I’m sure you’ll find your happiness, Your Highness," replied Silvia.
Eresia didn’t really expect an answer. She just stared at the sky, her lips still pursed.
A few moments later, the sound of horses’ hooves echoed in the distance. It carried through the large, quiet palace. Eresia immediately perked up.
"He’s back!" she said, looking down to see the palace courtyard.
After a moment, several horses entered the palace gates. Eresia didn’t need to squint to recognize the small figure among them. It was Sylas.
"He’s meeting that slave again, isn’t he?" Eresia muttered, her face hardening.
From the start, she knew Sylas liked men. She didn’t mind, as long as it was that man. She had even guessed that the person Sylas loved was Prince Anam of the Emeria Kingdom. But who would’ve thought that the one Sylas loved was a lowly slave?
It didn’t take her long to gather information, who Kai was and how Sylas treated him. She had even seen for herself how crazy Sylas was about him.
Resentment filled her heart, a humiliation she couldn’t quite explain. If it had been Prince Anam, maybe she could’ve accepted it. But this... a slave?
She was being overshadowed by a male slave?
Eresia pressed her lips tightly together, watching as Sylas entered the palace and disappeared from view.
She had seen Kai, of course. She couldn’t help herself. The slave was indeed handsome and well-groomed. But there was nothing about him that was better than her. She still couldn’t understand what Sylas saw in him.
"How annoying!" Eresia muttered.
Silvia bowed her head silently.
"I want to go to the dormitory tomorrow. Prepare everything," Eresia ordered.
Silvia hesitated for a moment, afraid to speak, but she had to explain since she had already tried to go there once.
"They don’t allow anyone to enter, Your Highness. The new school year has started, and your visit might disturb them," Silvia said cautiously.
"Why not? His Majesty can go whenever he wants. Why can’t I?" Eresia retorted indignantly.
Silvia said nothing. She didn’t understand it either. But when she had gone there before, they hadn’t even let her past the dormitory gate.
Eresia already knew how to meet Kai. After classes at the dormitory, the young servants went through training in the servant quarters. Kai also had extra lessons. From the information Silvia gathered, Kai had to take additional lessons from a special teacher.
"Perhaps... you can meet him after his extra lessons, Your Highness. At that time, he’ll head to the servant quarters. You could talk to him then."
"Tsk! He’s so busy. I’m not even that busy," said Eresia.
Silvia looked down. The princess could have been busy too, but she preferred to play around and make things difficult for the servants. Even the smallest mistake annoyed her.
Eresia suddenly turned and walked away, surprising Silvia.
"Where are you going, Your Highness? It’s already very late."
"To my future husband’s room, of course."
"Oh, Your Highness. I don’t think it’s appropriate to go there at this hour."
"What you are talking about? I always go at this time. He can see that slave whenever he wants, so why can’t I?"
Silvia took a deep breath and followed Eresia as she walked toward Sylas’s room. Thıs text ıs hosted at novèlfire.net
"Your Highness, your wedding will be held in a week. You should be patient," said Silvia.
Everyone was busy preparing for the ceremony and all the wedding arrangements, while the princess was busy obsessing over Sylas’s lover, someone she couldn’t accept because of his status.
Eresia stepped into Sylas’s room. Amos and Alvaro had just come out, but when they saw her, the two personal knights immediately stopped and bowed respectfully.
"Princess, why did you come so late?" Again? Alvaro could hardly believe the girl wasn’t bored of always coming even though Sylas repeatedly rejected her or greeted her lazily.