Later Calliope excused herself to use the restroom. While she was slowly and limply walking to the restroom, she sensed as if she was being followed by someone. She didn't panic and took deep breaths to calm her anxious heart. Now she didn't walk towards the restroom, instead, she strolled towards the endpoint where no one was present.
It was a risk she had taken but if she didn't want to be caught, she had to take it.
As she reached the zone where no one was in sight, she veered around to find two men following her. When the men noticed that she was aware they were indeed following her, their eyes went wide in shock and fear but then taking a step back, they bowed their heads in respect.
"Your Grace."
Calliope narrowed her eyes at them, trying to recognize these two faces but she could tell that she had never met them. And even if she had, it was hard to recognize now due to their outrageous outfits. They were dressed in burgundy shorts and glaring yellow t-shirts, not a favourable choice of clothes to meet nobility.
Then again, they were not dressed to meet nobility, but to mix well with the crowd.
"Who sent you?" It wasn't Cali asking them the question but the duchess of Orin. The authority in her soft but firm voice was unmistakable. Her posture had changed from a carefree woman from earlier to the one who knew how to demand respect from the other person. She was taught to become a duchess for more than twenty years of her life. How could she forget the lessons she learnt the most painful way?
Discipline, arrogance, authority and leadership was something that ran in her veins. A queen was always a queen, even when she was far away from her kingdom.
Calliope Rosemary Wilding, the duchess dowager of Orin was standing before them, how could they dare to commit the offence of ignoring her words?
"Sir Laxamus Von Dyke."
A name slipped their mouths and Calliope knew it meant trouble.
"State the purpose," asked Calliope.
Why was Laxamus Von Dyke trying to contact her?
Did he know something that he should not?
Could it be that he got the whiff of her threats to the king of the Maisean Empire?
This didn't look good…
"Your Grace, this subject apologizes for following you when it was made clear to not approach you but it's a time of emergency," One of them spoke, their heads hanging low in shame.
The other began speaking, "Sir Laxamus Von Dyke declared an emergency, Your Grace. We need our duchess to save us. His Grace, the Duke is still young. The current situation has posed a threat to his inheritance and the people of the duchy. Please save the legacy of the late Duke."
Calliope raised her brow, gesturing to them to continue. They informed them how the government was levying high taxes on the people of Orin. Geographically, Orin was a huge province. It was one of the largest provinces (duchy) of the state. Since it was situated in the middle of the country, it was far away from the ocean and mountains fortified the whole duchy. Orin used to be the land of volcanoes, once upon a time. Barren and unproductive.
It was said that the previous king had given the land of Orin as duchy to the then duke Wilding in a fit of anger. He had challenged the then duke to rule the land of fire.
But as the volcanoes of the land started becoming extinct over time, people started settling there. The once land of death became the most fertile land of the country. Since modern advancement wasn't possible there due to the geographical location, people started agriculture and related activities for their survival.
When Calliope had come to power after the death of her father and then her husband, she had taken steps to improve the situation of her people. Today, Orin was the leading producer of agricultural products and many more things.
The literacy rate of the dukedom was higher than any other area in the whole country. Their standard of living was high. And most of all, people were happy here.
However, with the change of power in the centre, new rules were made and the royal family along with the ruling party made Orin their target. Many old duchies were declared heirless. And today, the country only has three duke houses. Two of them were small in area size.
Hawthorne were the strongest when it came to political connections and their relationship with the Royal family. Engelsons were ranked second after Hawthrones. But no one talked about Wildings because this house had never shown any interest in power. But it would be absolutely wrong to say that Wildings were ranked third.
Truth be told, it was very difficult for anyone to rank Wildings. They were economically superior to even the royal family. However, no one talked about them as the people were not interested in them. People only started showing interest in Wildings when a young boy was declared duke of such a huge Dukedom.