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Riding on his first-class Stallion horse, Juniper, Alistair roams his eyes around, seeing his subjects, already expecting his arrival. Alongside him is his assistant, Maximus, riding on his horse. The Blue Rose Knights and Garnet Songs Knights are tailing him along with the aristocrats who joined his expedition.
The loud cheer and the rain of confetti welcome him.
"Your Imperial Majesty!"
"Emperor Alistair!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
Alistair remains a stoic expression, eyes are on the aisle. He already sees his concubines, waiting at the imperial staircase.
He hears a gasp from Maximus. "Y-Your Imperial Majesty, is that Empress Urduja?" Alistair turns at him and sees that he is looking up.
He follows his gaze and has a slightly surprised reaction seeing his Empress, sitting on the palace balcony railings. Her feet are hanging as she leans her hands on it. Behind her are her four ladies-in-waiting.
He furrowed his eyebrows seeing how she was dressed. "She seems a little different today," he says to Maximus.
Maximus agrees. "It is unusual to see how the Empress dressed. But it suits her," he comments.
Alistair does not say anything and glances at the Empress again. She is showing an unusual expression that he can easily describe.
'Since when did she learn to have a smug look?'
The smug expression and the type of smile masking with confidence are what Empress Urduja showed as their eyes met. Alistair never sees that kind of expression she is having before. All he can remember is her meek smile ever since Alistair married her.
He scoffs and averts his gaze back to the aisle. His eyes dart to his concubines who are having an exciting expression beaming on their faces.
'Should I sleep in one of them tonight?' He wonders.
His icy cold blue eyes glanced to the balcony where the Empress is sitting. He blinks when he cannot see her anymore. His Empress will not dare to meet him because Alistair restricts her for he doesn't want to deal with her.
"Maximus."
"You called, Your Imperial Majesty?" Maximus asks and shifts his gaze to His Imperial Majesty, waiting for his orders.
"You know what you will do the moment you arrive," he says in a bitterly cold tone.
Maximus nods his head. "Of course, Your Imperial Majesty."
Alistair is talking about the pond incident to Empress Urduja. He needs to know how she fell to the pond before she had been struck by the lightning of the lightning dragon.
Juniper halts when Alistair tugs the rope. He arrives before the imperial staircase so he has to get down from his beloved horse. The moment his feet land on the ground, his subjects cheer for him.
"Long live Emperor Alistair!"
He goes upstairs and meets his concubines halfway. His concubines make haste to approach His Imperial Majesty. They curtsey in front of him.
"Welcome back, Your Imperial Majesty," his three concubines say in unison.
Alistair nods his head, acknowledging their presence before he decides to go upstairs with his concubines and his assistant following behind. Everyone cheers and shouts,
"Long live Emperor Alistair D'Arcy!"
"Your Imperial Majesty, how's your expedition?" A sultry but soft voice is cracked by Tatiana.
"Fine," he answers it, straight-faced as they are taking strides through the grand imperial two-way staircase of the palace. He tries his best to answer their flirtatious questions as they worry about his expedition.
"Your Imperial Majesty, we dressed up so well today. How do we look?"
Alistair turns to Eleanore who flatters her dress. "Look good," he only says but he thinks of it as so-so and plain.
"We miss you, Your Imperial Majesty. Did you also miss us?"
He nods his head as an answer which earns the concubines soft giggles. His eyes glance up to the thing he doesn't want to lay his eyes on. In between the staircase, he sees the portrait of him and his Empress. He averts his gaze and doesn't pay heed to it.
'I must tell them to remove that. It is irritating to look at.' He can't help but scoff silently. His blood boils every time he lays his eyes on that portrait. He already says in his mind so many times that he will get rid of it but until now, he hasn't executed his orders yet.
'Later.'
A surprise expression tampers on his face when Urduja passes by them before they can reach the next floor. She is with her ladies-in-waiting.
"Empress," Alistair calls.
Urduja halts and pivots to turn at them. Her unusual clothing makes the concubines snicker.
"Emperor, you have arrived," Urduja greets with her right hand on her left chest and bows before him.
'Emperor? Since when did she ever call me that?' Alistair raises his eyebrow. As far as he knows, Urduja addresses him as His Imperial Majesty. For two years, he never hears her calling him Emperor. He has never seen her bowing but instead, she always curtsied before him.
Urduja glances up to meet his eyes. Then she looks beside him. A blank expression has been written on her face, looking at his concubines.
"I see you are with your concubines," she says with a radiating smile.
He hears their scoffs before they greet her. "Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty."
Urduja averts her gaze from them and focuses her attention on him. "How is your expedition? Found something great?"
'Even the way she speaks, it seemed different.' Alistair says in his mind. "It is exceptional," he answers in a formal tone. Then he eyes her up and down, scrutinizing her clothing. "It is unusual seeing you in a steampunk fashion, Empress."
Urduja secretly stretches a snickered smile. She pretends to be surprised and inspects her steampunk jacket. "Oh, this?" She glances up. "I have checked my wardrobe days ago and spotted the steampunk clothes that I haven't worn for years so I thought it might be better to try them on," she answers in the same tone as him.
Tatiana huffs. "You have a strange fashion sense, Your Imperial Majesty. It doesn't suit you at all." She smirks. "Isn't that right, Lady Eleanore, Lady Odette?"
"Indeed," Eleanore agrees. "That is not how a proper lady dressed, Your Imperial Majesty. I hope Her Imperial Majesty shall not tarnish more of her already ruined reputation," she says sardonically.
"You shall not go outside, Your Imperial Majesty. Your fragile heart might not take the grating criticisms from your subjects," Odette snickers.
Alistair silently watches his concubines bickering some slandering statements. He doesn't even halt them and just lets them. All he wants to see is her meek smile that makes him want to torture the Empress in sadness. But instead, the Empress's expression right now is showing otherwise and the least he is expecting. Urduja has a confident expression and there is no embarrassment written on it.
Urduja softly cackles. "You shall not worry, concubines of the Emperor. I have no low self-esteem unlike the past few days before the pond incident," she says with a timid smile but glances at them with a meaningful stare. "I don't care what people think of me. Have I minded them what needs to be dressed as clothes? Have I even state a grating comment as to how you three dressed? It did not say that it is improper decorum, correct? Or has this stated the rules of the empire? I believe there isn't such a thing with that kind of rule. If I am wrong, you can correct me and I will stand to be corrected."
Eleanore, Tatiana, and Odette remain speechless. As much as they wanted to speak ill of her but the servants of the palace saw them as they became a laughing stock, knowing that they did not triumph to embarrass the empress. Urduja secretly smiles at what she did. Surely they will be the juiciest gossips all over the empire once they gossip this outside. On the other hand, instead of feeling annoyed, Alistair is impressed by the way she speaks.
"I have heard from the Imperial Physician that you are no longer having a tongue-tied condition," Alistair says and remembers a letter from Harold, the Imperial Physician of the palace. It was Maximus who read the letter for him.
Urduja nods her head. "Indeed you are correct. As you can see, I am no longer stuttering in my words. Thank the lightning dragon for curing my condition."
"Is that the reason why you are feeling confident to do anything you want?" Tatiana asks in annoyance.
Urduja chuckles. "I am the Empress so I can do anything I want. Even the way I dress, unlike concubines who have to follow the proper standards of dressing." She steps forward and halts in front of Tatiana. "Also, I had a change of heart." She glances at Alistair with a smug smile. "If I may excuse myself, Emperor Alistair. I believe my business is done here."
She doesn't wait for Alistair's approval and decides to walk away. Her ladies-in-waiting follow her immediately when he glares at them. Alistair follows through gaze where the Empress is going before he turns at his concubines who are fuming mad and frowning.
"Your Imperial Majesty! Are you just going to let her misbehave like that?" Odette asks in annoyance.
"You said that the Empress can't move freely then what she is doing right now?" Tatiana says with a frown.
"You can't let her behave like that, Your Imperial Majesty." Eleanore clings to his arm, pouting her lips.
"Let her have her temporary freedom," he says. "I will go to the consorts' quarters this evening. For now, I have to do something."
The mood of his concubines lightens. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." They curtsey and leave, giggling as their ladies-in-waiting follow behind them.
"Maximus," Alistair calls as soon as his concubines are out of his sight and he is in his office.
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty?"
"Your task," he answers shortly.
Maximus nods his head. "As you wish. I shall take my leave."
As soon as Maximus left, Alistair is left wondering about the new behavior of Urduja. He has gone on the expedition for a couple of days and now he is back to see that the Empress is changing.
'Is it because of her tongue-tied that had been cured which is why she feels bold?'
Alistair curls a mischievous smile. "That's interesting..."