Step one in the manual of how to get away with murder: be the daughter of the guy who makes the rules.
Step two: have said guy break those rules.
The next morning brings news, Emma's whispers reaching my ears mere minutes before Harold, one of my father's few trusted servants, lands on my doorstep with the official announcement. He always looks small by my father's side, but within my sitting room where I tend to meet most guests, he isn't drowned in the size and grandeur of the room, carrying his own rather easily. It piques my interest as I realize I hardly know a thing about this servant who has toiled by the emperor's side for years without rising or falling in rank or station.
