"I don't find interest in your title here in Celeste. I take interest in your future title in Thuhelda…" she smiled.
"You must be out of your mind, Freiya…"
"But I am not. I sent a letter to the Emperor early this morning, supposingly, it had arrived by now." she snickered.
"The letter is an appeal for the Emperor to take me in his consortium once you're married. Simply from there, if I gained his favor, I can be the Empress and overthrow you."
The letter did arrive and was sent to the Emperor's study. He stood with his back facing the Prime Minister who fetched the letter for him.
"Your Majesty, this letter was sent from Celeste. Please do read it."
"Dear Emperor of Thuhelda,
Greetings, it is I, Freiya LeCelestine, duchess of Celeste. I heard that you are to wed my sister, Princess Selestia. I hope this letter finds you well. My intentions are pure so I have to reach out to you. I, Freiya of the Celestial Duchy wish for you to take me in your consortium. I am interested in you, Your Majesty. I hope you respond to this letter. My heart yearns for you greatly, and my adoration for you started growing so please take me in.
Truly Yours,
Freiya LeCelestine
Duchess of Gelhalla, Celeste"
"Throw it." The Emperor spoke.
"But, Your Majesty, are you not going to respond?" The Prime Minister asked.
"Just throw it."
Selestia couldn't help but laugh. "You? You sent him a letter?"
She laughed loudly and continuously. "I can't believe you. Did you send him your wretched letter? Freiya you do know you're horrible at writing letters, do you not? If I anticipate, you've written it again with so much begging."
Freiya gritted her teeth.
"Last year, during harvest, you sent a letter pleading King Druitt to take you in his consortium. You vied to plan the same thing, to overthrow me. That instant you were fooled, I do not intend to marry King Druitt yet you assumed so. The letter was burned before your eyes, am I correct? It was because it was shameless." She snickered.
Selestia was always right, Freiya invariably wanted to surpass her. She wanted to be greater than her. Perhaps to prove that illegitimate children of monarchs can surpass the lawful child. She was greatly mistaken.
She looked at Freiya who was vexed. She snickered and confidently spoke as she looked at her.
"Though you shall fear not, duchess Freiya."
Freiya found herself in awe. Selestia's words suddenly sounded comforting, it was indeed too comforting that it felt like Selestia was trying to bring her to guard down.
"I am not ruthless to not grant you what you wished for this time. I will take you with me to Thuhelda. If the Emperor acknowledged your letter and accepted you to Thuhelda's Imperial Consortium, you may be free as a bird. I will not interfere. Moreover, if he did not, you still have the opportunity to follow me to Thuhelda and live as my handmaid. I will plea to His Majesty to give you a post in my servanthood. I will not force you whatsoever, the choice is yours to make. Whether you, denied the consortium come with me to Thuhelda and serve me or stay here in Celeste and serve my people."
Freiya was astounded, yet she conceded Selestia's condition. "I will meticulously speculate, milady." she curtsied and left.
'It is true that if Freiya is granted her request, she will be able to reign as Empress if she gains favor from the Emperor after the marriage. I'll be easily overthrown from my title if she charms the Emperor satisfactorily. Whatsoever, she can also fall down the pits. An Empress only confides with the Emperor, but one of the Empress' many duties was to govern the consortium. If the consort does something that dissatisfies the governor of the consortium which is the Empress, the Emperor can throw her out of the empire or worst, kill her. But if her request was refuted, and if she still willed to come to Thuhelda as my handmaid, I can easily torment her. There is Thuhelda, Freiya can easily die.'
She snickered widely, this plan to be executed, she believed she had so much to do as the Empress. Firstly, cleaning the mess she bore for so long within the Celestial Majesty.
"Milady!" Cecilia called, when she had gotten close, she curtsied.
"Cecilia…" she smiled. Her eyes looked beside Cecilia. A man who stood with long hair and a beard was before her.
Dressed in rags yet with rings of gold, Enric flustered as he saw Selestia. He bowed, knelt on his knees, and bowed as if he was praising a goddess. He spoke too many pleasantries, glorifying and worshipping her.
Selestia was completely weirded out by his gestures. "Stand, Enric." She spoke.
Obediently and promptly, Enric stood.
'Tsk. This animal. Look at him, any time, I felt he'd die for me, obsessive and sickening. He sores my eyes.' She thought.
"I want you to do something for me, are you willing to?"
"More than anything in the world!" He exclaimed genuinely with a bright gleam on every corner of his eyes.
"Then, listen. I want you to disguise as the Duke of the capital, Grandel. You have quite the resemblance of him so I thought of you to do this for me…"
'The Princess thinks of me!' Enric joyfully thought. Honestly, he only had jumped to conclusions.
Selestia narrowed the space between their faces, she peered at him closely whilst Enric flustered.
"Can you do it, Enric?"
He nodded, "Yes, milady! Everything for you!"
"Very well…" she snickered. "Cecilia, prepare clothes for Enric and order the maids to dress him and make him look like Grandel as possible."
"Yes, milady!" she glistened. Both curtsied and left, headed inside the servants' washroom.
Selestia sighed. 'Hopefully, this will deceive Duke Barlock.'
At the same time, Freiya sat on her bed, just like she said, she was meticulously thinking.
'It's either I become a consort and overthrow the Empress or be a handmaid to my sister. She said she wouldn't interfere but I highly distrust her words. After all, it was too good of an offer to even be true. Selestia might have something up her sleeve. Once she marries the Emperor, Thuhelda will roll on her hands just like how Celeste orbits around her fingers. How foolish of me to think I can surpass her by staying in the same empire. I'd be a puppet tied in her strings again. Furthermore, I also have a plan up my sleeve.' She thought.
"I will stay in Celeste! I will plead father to petition me and marry me off to another nation's monarch! In ways possible, I can commence war with Thuhelda and conquer their land." She naively thought out loud.
But then again, she is also mistaken.