"Who is this?" Sappire asked, staring at Lillian's body as she gracefully entered the room.
"Your majesty, I am pleased to introduce you to my sister, Myra." The cloaked guy began speaking.
Lillian felt shivers run up her back as she heard that name. Horror slowly spreading on her face but she quickly hid it again when the cloaked guy turned to face her.
He grinned when they made eye contact and she smiled back at him. Every time she looked at her body, the stronger she feels the pull. Something urgent but calm was calling her, tugging on her body like little hands trying to drag her somewhere.
"I brought her here to introduce her to you, your Majesty. She is an excellent magic user and may be able to help us in our … research." He said, finally pulling his cape away.
Lillian felt her blood boil when she saw his face, the irritation turning to anger as she looked at every part of his face, not finding one flaw in it. Not even his blonde hair.
"Tch." She turned away from him, trying to steady the emotions that raged inside her uncontrollably.
"Your sister is beautiful. It is a pleasure to meet you, Myra."
Lillian's body gave a little curtsy and looked blankly up at him without saying a word.
"My sister can't speak, your Majesty. Nor can she see, but she is still as capable as anyone else. I hope you will excuse that." Cloak guy jumped in, still full of charisma, even though he was lying.
"Of course, please have a seat. We will begin our meeting soon after your introductions." Sappire turned to Vaille and Lillian and began introductions again. "-this is Hakl. He is the royal advisor."
"It is a pleasure to meet the princess and her Lady-in-Waiting." He said, smiling at them and bowing before he took the seat opposite to them.
He sat across from Vaille, who gave him a warm smile and Lillian's body sat across from her, never turning away from her. Lillian made the mistake of trying to stare her down and got lost in her glassy eyes.
The pull got so strong the moment they made eye contact and Lillian couldn't pull herself away. Her eyes were fixed on her body's eyes.
It called to her in a kind and gentle way, she wanted to reach out and touch her. Everything about the body felt so familiar, it is her so why wouldn't it?
If she could just touch her then everything will be ok. She will feel at home. Her tiredness will disappear and she will feel complete.
Just one touch isn't going to hurt, right? Just one.
Lillian reached her hand out from under the table to her body, slowly. Like one in a dream, everyone seemed to disappear. Her mind wanted so badly to get back into her body. To feel whole again, she wanted to merge again.
Lillian turned the direction of her hand and grabbed a pen off the table, stabbing it onto her other arm, under the table. The stinging pain jolted her back to reality and Vaille's concerned face.
"Are you ok, Lillian? You don't look so good." She whispered as the men continued talking about the situations of the kingdom.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lillian answered, carefully pulling the pen off her arm, careful of the blood that spilt out of the wound along with the ink from the pen.
She pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the blood off the fork, then held it on top of her wound to try and stop the bleeding. As discretely as possible, she placed the pen back on the table.
Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she heard the King call to her, "I think Lillian will have the best options on this. Don't you think so?"
Everyone in the room stared at her expectantly. She didn't dare look in front of her so she sat awkwardly to the side, staring straight at the King.
Aside from the pain in her arm and the faint pull from opposite to her, her mind went blank.
"Uh … well."
"Are you ok, Lillian? You look a little pale." Sappire asked, looking genuinely concerned, "Could it be, perhaps that you haven't yet fully recovered from yesterday's ordeal?"
If I say yes, he will send me to my room to rest up but when will I be able to attend this type of meeting? I will have to start learning to be the Princess's Lady-in-Waiting and I still need to do what Jasmine asked me to. This might be my only chance to talk.
"I apologise, your Majesty. I was so taken in by the room that I haven't been paying attention to the meeting." Lillian sucked in a quick breath and put on the brightest smile she could. "I have never seen a room so beautiful."
Beautiful my ***. The room is so empty with just this table in the middle of the room. Everything looks like it's made of glass and the only light is coming from the ventilation windows.
"Ohhh~ This child has taste. I am the one that designed it, chic don't you think so?" Gin said, pride in his voice.
"Yes," Lillian replied, nervously.
He knows the word 'chic'?
"If that is the case then it is alright. I understand that you may be a little overwhelmed, after all, a lot has happened since yesterday, some of which are my fault. Chancellor, could you brief her in what we were talking about?"
"Of course, your Majesty." He turned back to Lillian and smiled, "You haven't missed much, we were just discussing on the taxes imposed on the people and if they should be increased or not."
"You know the common people more than all of us here, Lillian. What are your options?"
Lillian squeezed the handkerchief and her arm as she thought.
"What are the chances of an increase in taxes?" She asked, looking at all of them while avoiding the one opposite to her.
"We are leaning more on that. As can be seen, the people are living quite comfortably, with the provisions from the palace. Don't you think so?" Gin asked, looking at her with shining eyes.
They are testing me again? If I agree then I am betraying the people but if I don't then I am insulting the King's generosity.
But the thing is, the peasants hardly have enough to go by. Sure the King does give provisions to them like seeds and land but he needs to remember that this is a large kingdom. What he's doing is not enough. Especially with to import, or, most importantly, export.
The people can't be expected to gain a lot more money back if there is no way of exporting their goods. The little money they have will just keep circulating among themselves without increasing or decreasing.
How do I tell this to him though? Without sounding like I'm insulting the King.
Lillian looked at everyone around her as they waited for her reply, her eyes landing on Vaille.
You know what? F*** it.
"I agree." She answered, "I think the taxes should be increased."
Conflicted emotions came across the rest of their face as she said this, though the King looked displeased but Lillian wasn't done talking.
Before they could say anything more, she raised her hand to indicate that she still had something to say. "However, I think the increase of taxes should take place a year after we open this kingdom up for import and export."
"What are you saying?" Jarish asked, still stroking his beard.
"What is the Kingdom's main source of income?" Lillian asked, leaning on the table with her uninjured hand.
They all turned to Gin, who answered instantly, "Conquest."
"That's … nevermind. And when was the last time you went on a conquest?"
"About ten years ago."
"So tell me, how's the treasury faring?" Lillian smiled at them, "But then, you all already know this right? After all, to be able to meet the king like this qualifies you already."
"If we start the import and export of goods, we will have to open this kingdom to the outside world." Gin answered.
"So?"
"The chance of this kingdom falling under attack is a great risk. As you know, it is a large kingdom, so protecting it is going to be difficult."
"What you are telling me is that in a kingdom as large as this, you do not have enough soldiers to protect the people? You." Lillian turned to Ray who was still confined to his seat, startling him.
"Y-yes?"
"How good are you on the battlefield?"
"I am the best." He declared.
"Without going to a single battlefield in the past ten years, how would you know that?"
"I have trained and worked hard every day, no matter if there is a battle or not. Our job is to take care of the people not just fight so we have to always be ready for anything." He glared at Lillian as he said this, indignant. "I have also been on the battlefield longer than I am alive."
Lillian smiled when she heard him say this, there is hope for him at the very least. "Good. Now, if you were asked to send guards to every corner of the kingdom, will you be able to do it?"
"I will need more recruits to be able to send them to every part of the kingdom but I have enough to guard the major parts of the kingdom."
"How long will you take to get the recruits?" She asked, almost standing up but stopping when she felt the sharp pain on her arm.
"We choose the best from various noble families if we send messages to the rest of them under the order of the king then-"
"No," Lillian said, shaking her head. "Forget the nobles."
"You mean recruiting from the common people?" Ray asked, amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Yes. I am sure if you have ever even walked in the streets, you will know how much potential these people hold. Don't you think so, Arthur?" Lillian turned to him and smiled.
A familiar smile came on his face as he remembered the people, "Yes. The people have a lot of potentials, not just in terms of becoming a soldier but so many other things too."
"You are suggesting that peasants work in the castle? They are nothing but common folk with hardly a brain or decency to do anything. They are only thieves and robbers, who know what they will do in the castle." Gin stood up, slamming the table.
"Calm down, Chancellor. Everything I have said is just speculations and based on my observations." Lillian turned to the King who was staring intently.
"Your Majesty, I have a question for you."
"And what is it?"
"As you know how difficult it is to live, many times with circumstances there is nothing you can do except whatever it takes to survive. Why does a person steal? Because they do not have enough money. Why do they not have enough money? That is based on several situations but most of the common reasons are not enough paying jobs."
"What are you trying to say, Lillian?"
"Perhaps I am overstepping my boundaries but I feel like this has to be said. Please stop being such a child, your Majesty!"
The room fell silent as she said this, but she couldn't waver, not now. What's said is already said, no backing down now.