"Why is he shirtless?" An angry male voice demanded. "How can you let the Crown Princess' eyes see such a sight!?"
"My apologies, General Darius," A woman meekly replied, not daring to look up from the polished marble floors of Duke Richard's estate. "I was more focused on restraining him."
"That's outrageous, you should know that -" The general was going to continue to scold poor Rosetta for not thinking, but then he stilled when another hand fell on his arm, subtly reminding him to stay on track.
"You'll find your niece returned safely to her parents when you get back," the other man promised, his voice a calmer counterpart to his companions. If General Darius had a voice that inspired fear like the booming of thunder before the onset of a summer storm, then Duke Richard had a voice that made one think of willow leaves rustling in the spring breeze.
However, for all their differences, the two men were best friends, and both staunch supporters of the Crown Princess' rule. To ensure that Crown Princess Lenora would be able to rule the country over her younger brother, they would have to dirty their hands and threaten a few heads.
Most nobles in the kingdom of Asapia did not like the thought of the Crown Princess Lenora eventually taking over her father's rule. She had bold thoughts about the role of nobility in society, and even spoke about equal inheritance rights to be made mandatory for all rather than a right exclusive for royalty.
This scared the old men in the noble houses! If Crown Princess Lenora took charge, their lives would definitely get harder. And what was this about letting their daughters inherit over their sons? Preposterous!
As such, more and more of them have begun to support her younger brother Leonard in secret. He was more gullible, more malleable, and adored the same things they did. Hearty meals, heady wine, and secret vices.
And he didn't have such ridiculous thoughts like hers! How dare Crown Princess Lenora dream of changing the tradition of her country!
But General Darius and Duke Richard had grown up with her, and they had seen the wisdom of her words. Crown Princess Lenora would lead her country to greatness - they just had to get rid of a few stumbling blocks along the way.
And one of the possible stumbling blocks was laying there on the floor, hastily wrapped in a blanket to prevent him from freezing on the cold floor.
They watched silently as Rosetta was escorted from his estate. Once they were alone, Darius wasted no time in shaking Jasper awake, dislodging the blanket.
"Jasper Kilmartin, you'd better explain yourself!"
The Crown Princess had always claimed that Jasper was her secret asset, but in General Darius' eyes, he was nothing more than a drunken scoundrel, a pervert, that got lucky! Look at the mess he got into this time!
"Stop pretending to be asleep!" Darius threatened, but Jasper remained still.
"Get a bucket of water," Richard advised, narrowing his eyes. "That'll be more useful than you scrambling his mind."
"What mind?" Darius growled angrily. "This man is a fool, I do not see why Crown Princess thinks so highly of him -"
Richard held up his finger to his lip, a clear warning for Darius to shut his mouth. Walls have ears, and the rats were particularly intelligent these days. Even Richard's own household had spies from other noble houses that he let stay, just so they would report false findings to their masters.
"It is not up to us to question the Crown Princess' decisions," Richard continued. "She trusts him, and that's good enough for us."
Darius could only let out a furious huff and storm away to get that bucket of water. The things he did for Lenora and Richard…
=====
SPLASH!
Francessa woke up in a flash, shivering as icy cold water doused her head.
At least the throbbing feeling at the back of her head was now numbed by the cold water.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded hotly, spluttering out water from her mouth even as her lips trembled with cold. She quickly grabbed at a blanket on the floor to dry herself, but then she paused.
A quick glance down showed that she was naked. And even more strangely, her bosom was gone. Instead of the large round softness she was used to, she was greeted with hard planes - and nipples stiff from the cold.
Her mouth dropped in horror, and she shrieked.
Then she paused. Because her voice was still lower than she was used to. Oh god. What happened in the morning wasn't a dream!
To make things worse, she wasn't alone! She looked up and saw two handsome faces looking down at her.
One of them had short black hair and a masculine face with a strong jaw and sharp cheekbones. A pair of intense angry eyes, a nose that seemed to be sculpted by the gods and thin lips rounded out his face.
She gazed further down; he had a tall muscular body with broad shoulders that spoke of years of harsh training, and there was a blade hanging by his waist.
Francessa had only seen it a few times when she was presented at Court, but she wouldn't forget such a presence.
This man was General Darius! Hailing from a family that boasted numerous military exploits, he was known as Crown Princess Lenora's dog.
(Of course, no one dared to say this to him. No one wanted to kiss his blade.)
Then the man next to him… if she hadn't identified General Darius already, she would have found it harder to identify this man. But because she did, she knew that this person, with his sharp intelligent eyes, was none other than Duke Richard, General Darius' best friend.
To her surprise, he was even taller than General Darius! He must have grown since she last saw him years ago.
Francessa immediately drew the blanket to her chest to protect her modesty. Even if this body wasn't what she was used to, she didn't intend to flaunt it to these men!
Meanwhile, Darius and Richard could only blink in confusion as they saw Jasper wrap himself up with the blanket. Surely he couldn't have been that cold?
"General Darius? Duke Richard?" Francessa asked hesitantly as they stared at her. "May I know what's the meaning of this?"
At her words, General Darius' face darkened like a storm cloud.