The events of the day were strangely tangled in Evelina's mind. She felt annoyed after her meeting with the magician and was surprised to find out that Elisse was actually the current Head of Lin's only daughter, as well as the only successor of the House of Lins.
Many questions were left unanswered in her head.
Additionally, she failed to leave the Imperial Palace before dawn due to her absent-mindedness. After meeting up with the young Elisse, Eve found herself in the Imperial Library but didn't know what she went there for. Lily was as well confused as to why she confidently walked up till the library gates. The Imperial Library was in the opposite direction of where her carriage was parked.Thus, by the time she reached her carriage, the Imperial Knights informed her about His Majesty's instructions for her to reside in the Imperial Palace for the day and as well dine with the Imperial Family.
Evelina then ended up being taken to the room right beside the room of the Crown Prince, for her night stay.
"This day sure is full of surprises." Eve sighed as sat on a sofa, by the window.
There was a knock at the door.
"My Lady," Lily said from the other side, " His Highness, the Crown Prince, wishes to meet you."
"Azure? At this time of the day?" Eve thought and replied, "Let him in."
The doors opened to reveal the thirteen year old Prince.
He was much shorter than Evelina and his eyes glistened with an unfamiliar spark.
'It's as though he saw me for the very first time.' Evelina thought.
Azure on the other hand was too stunned to speak.
In front of him was his future wife, dressed in a cherry red gown, while her hair was tied up into a bun with a red ribbon hanging out from the right. Her eyes looked mesmerising, for he never had a chance to properly have a sight of her.
"Greetings, Your Highness," Evelina greeted courteously.
"Greetings, Miss Riverton," Azure bowed back, "I am here to escort you, My Lady."
"Lead the way." Evelina softly smiled as she gave him her hand.
Azure flushed into a light shade of pink as he held on to Evelina's hand.
Seeing this, Evelina wondered,"Why is he so flushed? Is he sick, perhaps?"
'Her smile is so pretty.' Azure thought as his skin started turning beet red now.
The duo headed to the Dinning Hall, but for some reason, Evelina felt that it took way too long to reach the destination.
'My gut feeling tells me he took the longest route he knew.' Eve thought as she reached the doors of the Hall.
"His Highness, Azure Contreas and Miss Riverton are here." A Knight announced before opening the doors.
The large hall was decorated with fresh lilies and smelled delightful. The Imperial Couple were dressed in pastel tones of red and yellow and were seated adjacent to each other.
"Greetings, Your Imperial Majesties." Azure and Evelina bowed together to greet the Imperial Couple.
"Welcome, dears." His Majesty greeted with a smile.
Evelina lifted her head and found the Queen keenly gazing at her. For some reason Evelina felt a warmth radiating from the Queen. Her pitch black hair and eyes were proof of her Lunar lineage and strangely reminded her of Avalina's mother. Before tears could well up in her eyes, she gulped down her feelings and put aside that thought. She headed up to the seat by the Queen, while Azure sat to the left of the King.
Ever since Eve received all of Avalina's memories, she received all the emotions that were attached with it.
She felt suffocating at the thought that her mother was no more. Thus, seeing the Queen, it striked open that wound.
The atmosphere of the Hall was thus grim. The King realised what had happened and was thinking of ways to strike up a conversation when just then the food started to come in.
"Ah! The food is here!" The King spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. "I hope you enjoy it, for I made sure to ask the chef to make all your favourites."
"Thank you for your grace, your Majesty." Evelina smiled, snapping out of the painful memory.
The atmosphere eased a little.
The Empress, on the other hand, felt guilty for hitting Evelina's sore spot. Evelina's mother was her best friend and they both strangely looked quite similar to each other. Her unprecedented death had grieved every soul that knew her. Thus, on hearing about the attack, the Queen nearly blew up the entire Diamond Palace.
"How dare they attack my God Daughter!"
She fumed.
Her fury is something both the Emperor and the Prince fear. Thus, the investigation was carried out at a faster rate than ever seen before.
The Queen was ready to kill every noble alive, and if it weren't for the King, that would have actually happened.
The Nobles, no matter how suspicious, are to be dealt by a neutral court. Thus, the Empress had no choice but to quiet down.
She wanted to meet her God Daughter as soon as possible, but refrained herself every time thinking about the death of the child's mother.
This time, she couldn't stop herself. She had to see her!
"Some random Mage seemed to have interrogated her this afternoon." the Queen thought, "I wonder if she is alright now."
"My child," The Queen spoke, gathering up some courage, "Are you alright?"
"Pardon?" Eve asked, surprised.
"Did she feel offended by any action of mine? No matter how I feel, she is still the Queen of this empire." Evelina thought.
"I was asking about this afternoon's meeting," The Queen continued, "I was wondering if you fared well after the incident."
"Oh! She is concerned about me." Evelina thought to herself, "It was quite alright, Your Majesty. I just gave him my permission to further work on the case."
"Good girl." The King mumbled , and then as though he was caught, he coughed and continued, "Ahem! Let's have our dinner first."
Seeing the King's reaction, Evelina subconsciously let out a smile and chuckled softly.
"Adorable." The Imperial trio thought as they admired the soon-to-be Crown Princess.
With the atmosphere having livened up, the dinner went on as peacefully as ever.
…
Meanwhile, at a local inn down the alleys of the Ghetto slums, a few men in dark hoods felt restless.
"The Imperial Knights are tightening up the security." A man sighed, "They are following up on every minor thing they can find."
"Still," another man said, " I feel they won't end up sniffing up to us."
"Carlos," a third man said, "The last time you thought of that, you had to go underground for two years."
"Don't remind me of that." Carlos growled under his breath.
"We are not here to discuss your sore spots, dumbheads!" the leader of the gang spoke up, "We are here to decide the location to go underground."
"Lunar is the best Kingdom to head for.", the first man replied.
"It's too dangerous though?" Carlos shrugged.
"Well we can actually hide at Aureolin." The third man said, "The King would never suspect his right hand man now, would he?"
"Then let's go for Aureolin." the leader nodded.
"But we didn't manage to finish the mission though?"
Carlos asked.
"Who said we didn't manage to finish the mission?" The leader smirked, "What do you think will be the Princess's fate when they find out about the Poison?"
"What do you mean?" the first man asked.
"The Poison given to the Princess," the leader continued, "Has no cure!"