"Tch! I can't believe I actually came here"
I was going to discuss things with Raphael before making a decision, but whatever happened inside the vision with Alastair, it is making it difficult for me to contact or get a hold of him. I can feel his presence and probably he can hear my voice, but I can not. And those two at home didn't make it easier for me either.
When I asked Spencer, he just said, "Go if you want, but don't come home as a corpse", and took care of all the duties my former maids had. So motivating! The duke just brushed it off with a, "I have work to do", when we both agreed to discuss it together before making a decision. Mireya on the other hand was shocked. She started nagging and causing a mess for her maids to clean up and didn't leave my side until I had enough and decided to go without telling anyone.
Still, I never thought that I would come back here any time soon. The front part of the palace is breathtaking every time I see it. If it wasn't for a certain someone who totally crushed my expectations, I would have enjoyed it a little longer without thinking about unnecessary things. Now I just want to see it and turn around to go back to where I came from.
"Greetings, lady Raeliana. We have been expecting your arrival for a long time. My name is Alfred, and I am assigned by his highness to escort you today."
They have been waiting for a long time, huh? I sent my letter to Alastair last night though.
"The honor is all mine. Thank you for your service, sir Alfred."
Hm? So, this is his secretary and aide. He looks decent, not exactly what I expected by the right-hand man of a pre-tyrant, but it is all right. The only thing that annoys me is…why is every guy here taller than me? Puberty didn't do anything and I always look like a child compared to everyone, and being side by side with his secretary it looks even worse. Perhaps this is due to the raphas long lifespan and I am just a late bloomer compared to others, but this is ridiculous.
This guy must be older than Spencer, probably in his thirties. Tired, and indifferent, he gives me the idea of a proper shadow who is everywhere and nowhere, hears everything but doesn't speak at all, while seeing a lot and turning a blind eye. Are the people surrounding him all trained to do so?
I was thinking about it a while ago when I was on my way here. The escort assigned to bring me to the palace was a woman in a uniform and what impressed me was how firm and quiet she was. Like a statue. She didn't move or talk without order. In other words, I was amazed and yet irritated. I was conflicted about my previous self that wanted to achieve that state. However, I don't want to be a doll, without a soul or blood in my veins, but I don't want to be bothered by silly and unnecessary emotions either. I want to be free! I want to be myself again. If only I could remember.
"Raeliana, you have been staying quiet for a while, are you bored? Do you need anything? I can call someone to…"
"I am fine your highness, I don't want to be a bother while you are working. Then again, I am enjoying this delicious tart right now, how can I get bored?"
I am bored as hell here. Just eating and listening to conversations with no value to me. Soo…what exactly am I supposed to do? I knew that I would feel out of place. I expected that much, but I never thought that I will be third-wheeling.
Sigh! He and Alfred have been like this since I came here. He caught on and knew that what I said about taking one or two days of resting was just my way of shooing him away, so now he is focused on his work. And Alfred, the dark circles under his eyes show how much he had to do in Alastair's absence and for the time that he came back. Poor guy, your life is not easy either, but you are going to be all right.
"I have to take care of some things first, so I can't be with you right now. But, you can go and look around if you want to!"
"All right, I am off."
Looking around and finding my way inside the enemy territory is the same thing. I have his approval so why should I restrain myself from doing so? This is not why I came here for. Well, whatever now it is my chance.
"Wait, Raeliana. Don't forget that some places inside the palace are off-limits for non-family members. Please, do go at the top and right side for the time being."
"Yes, I understand."
Why am I getting some parenting vibe from him? Does he think that I am a child that is going to run around with shining eyes, being amused and playing with everything that comes my way?
"And if something happens you have to come here or call for Nary."
"Or go home without hesitations. I got it. Now, may I?"
"Hm?…oh! Yes, go ahead."
Nary? I have no idea who Nary is. Still, I don't think that she or he is gonna come in handy in a difficult situation since I can handle things pretty much on my own. However, I have no idea what do to from now on, since I didn't expect him to let me go so fast. I thought that he was at least going to keep me there until he was finished, but this made things easier. Now, where do I begin?
The weather is pretty nice today if I wanted to go around the area outside, but that's not what I am looking for. I need to find my way to the emperor's location and the only place he might be is the most guarded and luxurious room. Or, this is going to be a big step toward my freedom or it is going to be a huge mistake that will bring my downfall.
Now the problem is that I can't explore on my own without a plan first, after all, the royal family is all in here. I am just an infamous nobody that his highness fancies, for now.
Today is not my day, I am just going to memorize everything, the rooms, hallways, each member's room or location, and probably next time I can make my move.
"I have been walking around for so long and nothing has caught my attention."
The palace is beautiful, not going to lie, with portraits on the walls, and overall decor with the little pattern of the lion with two golden wings of the royal symbol. Crystal candlesticks, two white large vases with weird blue symbols on them, at each end of the corridors. Still, beauty is super boring. No excitement, nothing new, perfect yet outdated. All this luxury and for what? No one can see and appreciate these when the only thing they do is collect dust and one day they are going to break into a million pieces. No one is going to care and replace it with a more expensive one.
Great, this explains a lot about their relationship with people.
And actually, now that I have seen so many of them, one of those big vases looks oddly out of place without the other one.
"Hey you, watch where you are going or at least wait until I have cleared this up. Tch! From all the places, she decided to do that here. Stupid girl!"
Hm? I didn't see a maid at first here. Where did she come from? No that's not important right now. Not her word or attitude, she is doing her work and I should give her the right to say and do anything, but her tone is triggering me. Is this because she thinks I am a female guard because I am not wearing a dress? Or does she not see the red tips of my hair? Either way, I don't like her tone. It's like she wants to boss someone around but her post isn't giving her that much of a choice but to act nicely.
Anyhoo, it's good to hear something like this from time to time, unless I turn around and let her see. That would be a fun thing to watch if she has guts.
"What exactly are you supposed to be doing?"
"Can't you see? I am cleaning these pieces before someone like you walks and gets their foot pierced. Tch! That stupid maid almost got us all in trouble."
Hm? Now that I think about it, there is no problem with the window, and we are at the end of the hallway where it should have been a vase. I guess the vase was broken. However, this doesn't concern me so it is a waste of time to just stay here waiting for her to collect all these small porcelain pieces.
"Well, anyway. Keep up the good work!"
"Hah?! Wait, hold on, where are you going? I just told you to …I-I me-mean…su-sure go ahead nobody is stopping you!"
I didn't turn back to see what her face was going to look like after I left, since the only thing I could hear was her running away. Well, that was quite disappointing! Where did that attitude from a minute ago go? And here I thought she wasn't going to change her tone even after seeing it. Why do they always do this? They always get my hopes up just to dash them again. It's annoying, but that gives me one more reason to trust my own choices rather than calling for his highness's personal guard or whatever that Nary person is.
I can't believe I am thinking this, but perhaps I should just go back to his study. I don't see anything of interest for me to wander around for more and without a plan, I'm afraid that if I find myself in front of the emperor or the queen things might get out of control. Yes, let's leave it for now, is not like I won't find other opportunities to confront them.
"This is a small world after all. I will find a way soon enough."
*Ba-thump!!!*
"Ba-...what now?! Did my heart just skip a bit?"
But, I smell something really nice right now though. I can vividly see where it is coming from, like a string of a great scent, it's filling this whole corridor and I am sure I have seen this before. Like in that dream where I was being drowned in the red water, like that time it's still begging me to follow. It is suffocating, in a good way. It is a strong scent that makes my body all warm and fuzzy. The feeling of something within me going out so suddenly sends shivers down my spine. I love this smell! Excited, thrilled, and terrified, all at once are making my head spine. I am going crazy, I need fresh air.
"I have to follow it. I feel…no, I am…I am sure of it… [My hands are clean. They should be punished! I am sure that precious soul is being wasted by the wrong hands]!"
To my surprise, it took more time than I anticipated to reach the end of that tempting smell. Every time I got closer the more my heart beat like crazy. That led me somewhere outside, far from the main building, where this all started. Now I couldn't even see the palace, and the surroundings were not my top priority. I did not care about a wrong step or guards, traps, or anything that would come on my way, since I was completely focused on following the scent until I could not see or smell it anymore. It just disappeared immediately after reaching some kind of a hut.
"What is this place?"
I am sure that I am still inside the palace territory since I haven't come across a wall yet, so why is a wooden house doing here? And what's more important right now is the reason why I was led here in the first place. It cannot be just a coincidence that I smelled something from far away, that bought me here. Or I am just reading too much into it and perhaps this is just a side effect of those twelve days so now I am simply turning into a dog. Like it couldn't get any worse from having hallucinations and rapha symptoms. This body itself is going to drive me crazy.
"Kya!!! Please, I am begging you. S-stop, please!"
What was that? It came from the house. A bloody scream. A girl calling out like that is definitely not all right, and not alone either.
I run to the nears window and tried to hear more without letting them on the inside know that someone else was there. From what I could hear, there were more than three or four people in there, but only two of them are constantly talking with each other.
"Please, I am aware of my mistake. I will resign right away, so please don't do this!"
"Do you think your poor apology is going to solve anything? First of all, how did you become a maid for the royal palace with your clumsiness? You broke something so expensive that even our salary together can't afford a repair, let alone replace it."
Hah? I think they talking about that broken vase if I am not mistaken. So the maid who did it is being punished, and the others might be the fellow maids that are ganged up to show her a lesson. Life is unfair. She definitely didn't do it on purpose considering how expensive those objects are, but if you can't fix it, the only way to calm their anger is to accept the fact that they are going to release it in the cause of the problem.
"P-ple-please! H-help me."
*Badum!!!*
That again. But, how? How did it disappear and appear again out of nowhere? The scent got even stronger, to the point where I can tell what it is. Blood! Someone near is injured badly. It must be the person who called for help, but where is it? And should I follow it again to find them? It's weird because the only people here are me and those inside the wooden house, but the line of smell is not showing me the way in the opposite direction to the house. In fact, it is close… it is super close. It is right here.
"You… child. Are you, all right?"
A little boy hiding in the bushes not that far from the house. By the looks of it, he definitely isn't doing fine. Holding his left arm tight, closer to his body, has difficulty breathing, and can't keep his eyes open for a long time. But what is he doing so close to the house and inside the royal family property? Does he have to do with the incident that the maid is being punished for?
I have to do something first and leave the question for later. They are not important right now. This poor kid. He is going to die here.
"Don't be scared, I am here to help. Your arm, can you let me have a look at that?"
"…?! Get… them… out."
"Get them out? Who do I need to take out?"
"Ple-please!"
He lost consciousness. His body is cold as ice, I need to treat his wounds and put him near a fireplace or cover him with something to warm him up. I need to act fast! For now, I am covering him with my coat and bringing him inside. He said to get them out, huh? Well, sorry in advance ladies, but I have to interrupt your sweet little talk.