I immediately went to the drawing room with John because there is absolutely no way I would go alone in a room with that maniac, who harass the heroine in the novel.
"It is a great pleasure to meet you prince Henry Arte Vanifi"
"It is also my pleasure to meet you lady Diana Emond"
He kissed the back of my hand.
Ugh, there is saliva on my hand.
No doubt, he is the same as the one in the novel.
We sat down on our chair, facing each other.
"You must be confused and worried to be sent to an unfamiliar place like-"
"Not really"
"..."
"I am actually happy to be here"
"You, you are happy?"
"Yes. After all, I will have access to the great imperial library which contains tens of thousands of books. As a scholar, it is my dream to enter the temple knowledge, the great imperial library"
"My lady is a scholar?"
The prince glance towards John who was behind me. Even without looking back, I can tell that John nodded to prince Henry.
"Ahem... of course, of course. If you want, I shall guide you through the imperial library as I"
"There is no need for that"
"Yes?"
"I would like to enjoy my time to discover the imperial library by myself. Thanks but no thanks, I can do it by myself"
John let out a small scoff by accident. Thankfully, it seems like the prince did not notice it.
Prince Henry stood up and took his sword.
"Anyways, the yearly auction at house Olbrecht will happen in a month. If you have familiarize yourself by then, do please attend the auction with me"
"I will, your highness"
"I will go now then"
"Do be careful"
And don't ever come back here.
Shortly after a maid gave me a letter from the empress.
It was an invitation letter for tea.
...
After two days, the knights who escorted me to the Vanifi empire went back to Loate after resting for two days.
"Your majesty, Lady Dianna Emond is here"
"Let her in"
I entered the empress' office.
There, the empress was on a chair and beside her is the commander of the imperial knights.
"Sit down lady Emond"
A chess board was placed on top of the table. My side had the white chess pieces.
"Would you like to have a game of chess as we chat over some tea?"
"I am fine with anything, your majesty"
"Do you feel threaten playing against me?"
"No. I already know that I will lose as you are the best in history but that does not mean I would be giving up midway"
"I am happy to hear that"
The match started.
"It has been two days since you arrived lady Emond. Is there anything that concern you?"
A bishop ate a pawn.
"Not at all your majesty. Everyone was very friendly"
A knight ate a rook.
"I see. I was worried whether someone would have the gall to be rude towards my honored guest"
How would other people other than the servants see me when I am only able to move freely within the emerald palace.
"I doubt someone would openly do something like that"
A pawn ate a pawn.
"Right, it is not like my subjects are stupid enough to wave a flag with their death wish written on it"
A queen ate a bishop.
"By the way, I heard from Sir Jonathan that you are very talented in cooking"
"He must have exaggerated it a bit when he reported to you. Anyone can cook an amazing dish if they have the knowledge"
A queen ate a queen.
"While that is also true, skills and determination to learn is also a factor. Don't you think so"
"Of course, your majesty. A good example of that would be the secret third floor dungeon under the imperial palace where people who engage in underground work train their skills"
Swoosh.
Some strands of my hair was cut.
Before I knew it the sword of the captain of the imperial knights was right beside my neck.
"Frederick von Theano. What is the meaning of this? You dare point your sword on my honored guest?"
"....."
The captain of the imperial knights sheathed his sword and took two step back.
"I apologize for my rudeness, Lady Emond"
"It is fine. It would be normal to react that way"
A pawn was promoted to a queen.
"Jonathan is not the type who would disclose things like that. I wonder how you knew something that only a select few know of"
A rook ate a knight.
"There is no need to rush, your majesty. You still have a year to figure out how I did it. With the absurd number of knights you placed on the emerald palace's corners I am sure you are bound to find out my secret"
A knight ate a pawn.
"I truly wonder if I can figure it out by then. You already know that there are a lot of birds in the emerald palace so I doubt they would be able to tail you any further. Anyways, how did you found out?"
"They simply lack training. It was easy to sense their presence"
"Now that is interesting. Another question pop up on my head: How can a noble lady sense the presence of veterans?"
A pawn ate a rook.
"I am quite sensitive, your majesty"
Checkmate.
With a queen, a bishop, a rook and two pawns, empress Lucia won the match.
Despite having a disadvantage by playing the black chess pieces she still won by a landslide. She still has more eight pieces while I only have three left.
"Just as you have said earlier, I won the match"
"I am no match for her majesty's greatness"
"Well, you are by far the best opponent I ever had. I normally win in less than five minutes, if not ten. And yet it took us more than half an hour. I truly enjoyed it"
"The same goes for me too, I enjoyed it very much, your majesty"
"Shall we play one more time?"
"Well..."
"Is something wrong?"
"Instead of a boring game like this, I have a more tempting game to play with you, your majesty"
"If it is coming from you, then I accept"
"But you don't know the game's content yet, your majesty"
"If it is you then I am sure it would be something I would find entertaining"
There is a saying, 'High risk, high return' and 'No pain, no gain'.
"Your majesty..."
Right here, right now, a game where my life will be put in placed.
"Let us play a game of hide and seek. The rules are simple..."
If I don't I am bound to die sooner or later. My main goal why I am here.
"If you can find two people I want I will rewards you, your majesty"
"How insolent of you. I would normally kill the bastard who dares to say something like that in front of me. However, for you to say something like that you must be confident that the reward you can give me will be something I want, right?"
With ecstatic eyes and a wide smile, Empress Lucia looked at me with great anticipation.
"Yes. I will tell you the location of the 'Akashic records' of the imperial family"