The hydrangeas in the palace's garden are blooming quite excellently. Its shade of blue matches the finery I am wearing as well as my long silver hair and fair skin tone.
"Do you like hydrangeas that much, Avory?" The subtle voice of my younger sister interrupted me from admiring the flowers.
"Oh, Aynnah! What brings you here?" I don't know what kind of face I am making right now, smiling genuinely is onerous, and looking at this bitch's face only reminds me of her betrayal and it doesn't help in suppressing my anger. I might just go and beat her to a pulp, which is not a good idea as of the moment.
["So you mean to say, I'm not going to witness some action-packed brawl between you two? Bummer."]
'What?' I instinctively touched my head upon hearing that familiar voice, although I don't feel anything except this new discomfort.
"Are you alright, sister? Are you having a headache?" Aynnah asked with tone of concern. As if!
"I am. I'm sorry, must be the heat getting into me. If you'll excuse me first, I'm going back to my room to take a rest." I didn't bother if my action towards her were impolite, I just immediately left the scene because I have to attend to a more important matter.
This damn demon is communicating with me without any notice and I wasn't informed about this before either.
I locked myself in my room so that I can converse with him properly. "What in the hell are you doing?" It seems like all the tension in my nerves are active and hyping up. I waited for a response until it took a whole minute of silence. "Now you're not talking!" I am starting to get irritated by his silence.
"Are you making a fool out of me? If you're not gonna talk, I'm calling off our deal!" I warned as a last resort. Thankfully, it worked as the damned demon laugh at the other side. "You get angry so easily, can't I at least have my amusement?" His tone is somewhat annoying, no doubt that he's making fun of me.
"Tsk. You never told me that you will contact me this way, I was surprised when I suddenly heard your voice inside my head. It's not the time for amusement! You should warn me about these things before anything else." I calmed myself down. "So, what's your deal this time?"
"Besides the fact that I am bored to death, I am here to advise you to never distance yourself from that sister of yours." I felt a sudden burst of laugh from his statement. "What? Should I continue to be affectionate with her despite knowing what she'll do to me in the future?" I scoffed. "Just do it. You'll soon understand why once you observed her behavior." Apollion sounded serious with his advice that it made me think that something big might going to happen aside from me getting betrayed and die. "Fine. I think I can at least put up a facade of being in good terms with Aynnah for the mean time."
The morning is too hectic with Randelle's courtesy lessons. Albeit I already know all of it because of the memories I retained from my previous life, I still need to attend these lectures for formalities' sake.
"I can't still believe how well you've memorized and perform social etiquettes, my lady. Are you sure this is your first time learning them all?" Randelle asked, I don't know if he's just asking casually or is he already suspicious of me. Ah! I should have been more careful, I can be an airhead sometimes. "Let's say I am just born a genius, Randelle." I managed to answer the only plausible reason.
"So, is the genius princess here going to attend the upcoming birthday celebration of Duke Graywood's son? I heard you also received an invitation together with Princess Aynnah." The Duke of the eastern border of Reinngold Kingdom, Abraham Graywood, his son, Alistair Dalton Graywood will become my sister's future fiancé, and the one who will push me to my death. He's a total manipulator and a scumbag, although he was head over heels to Aynnah. Probably the one who planned out my so-called crime and execution to help my sister get the throne.
So his birthday is coming up. In my previous life, I didn't bother to attend because I wasn't interested with other people. But as one of the reasons of my death, I should go this time to make a cautious approach. Also, Aynnah will come too, and as per Apollion, I should be close to Aynnah all the time to observe her. "I will go. Can you go with me to the emporium later? I want to buy new accessories for the celebration." Randelle confirmed with no hesitation to my invite.
"Are you going out now, Avory?" As I am preparing to depart, Aynnah approached me. The handmaidens and other servants around us are eyeing us discreetly, probably to have something to gossip about for later once we're not around. This is also the reason why Aynnah is doing something like this in front of them, she probably wants to look good in the eyes of others for her own benefits. Too bad, two can play this game of facades.
I gave Aynnah a smile and pats her head, surely this will look like me, the older sister, is looking out for her younger sibling. "Yes, I'm going to buy new ornaments at the emporium. Do you want to come with me?" Yes, come with me so I can sell you to the black merchants hiding at the back of the shopping district. I just want to get rid of you quickly and live my life in peace! If I can just do that, sigh.
I saw her eyebrow twitched a little, but not too apparent, because of my invitation. Hah! "R-really? I can come?" She continued to act politely. "Of course, we can also buy yours if you want." Aren't I a good actress? I see Randelle smiling from ear-to-ear, like a proud father seeing his daughter making the right decisions.
The shopping district is always busy as ever. Noblemen and common folks gathered to buy different things at this place. It is the busiest and liveliest place in the capital, however, it is also the center of criminal and injustice acts.
"This is absolutely absurd! You still want me to pay for these even after knowing that I am an honorable knight of the Gold Tower?! Do you want me to cut off your arm?!" The commotion from one of the stalls caught my attention. "Please don't let this unsightly scene bother you, my ladies." The knight-in-charge with us expresses his apologies. "It's fine. Stop the carriage." I ordered the coachman which made Aynnah and Randelle confuse. "My lady?"
I stepped out of the carriage and appeared in the messy scene. The crowds instantly recognized me. "M-my lady, why are you suddenly leaving the carriage?" Randelle runs towards me. "What's the commotion all about?" I started asking instead. The shopkeeper started explaining that the self-proclaimed knight of the Tower here wanted to take the goods from his stall without paying, claiming that knights like him should be free of charge of everything for instilling order in the capital.
"There is no such law about the knights of the Kingdom getting free stuffs for doing their duties." I claimed, for which the one in fault disagreed with. "Hah! How can a Princess of the palace that doesn't go out of her quarters often, who's a mere child at that, know about laws? Aren't you just studying how to drink teas and exchange flatteries for social gatherings? Don't get smart with me now, I don't fear no princess who doesn't really know what she's doing." This guy sounded confident in his claims that the expectators had nothing to say against him. In fact, they seems to agree with what he said.
Even though I am a princess, I am not still in a position where I gain followers nor have the people's support. To them, I may still be a child lacking with authority and voice. Yeah, maybe that's the case if I was still in my previous life so let's show them what I'm capable of.
"Hmm? But there is." The man in fault squinted his eyes at my contradiction. "Aren't you a knight? You should know the laws, and there is a law saying that knights should not force anyone to give them anything." I fixed my posture to display authority. "Article 5578 of Palace Code, Chapter III: None of the knights should force to take properties of others, unless given to them willingly. Also in article 1440, anyone can refuse to give something of their property to the knights of the King unless in the face of proven case of criminal acts. Clearly, there is no demonstration of criminal act in the side of the shopkeeper so your actions are not valid." The man started sweating profusely as the crowds also began to show their agreement. "H-hah! You're just making things up, how could you possibly know about those? There's no guarantee that what you said are true." He insists. This time, Randelle stepped up. "I am a royal tutor and an official Gold Tower's professor, Randelle Vistra. The articles that princess Avory provided are true and are written in the laws of the Reinngold Kingdom." The calmness and gentleness on Randelle's face vanished. "Could there be any more demur, please say so right in my face." Ooh, this man really can be scary at times. Better take notes of this.
["Ooh, I like this guy's countenance."]
'Oh! Fuck! Don't just talk to me in my mind out of nowhere!' Really, this demon just do what he wants.
["What? You expect me to say sorry? Yeah sure, maybe after another century."] In my mind, I rolled my eyes in irritation.
The rogue got arrested for breaking the laws, he will stay in jail for a while before receiving his trial. Meanwhile, the people around us claps for my good deed and display of knowledge.
"The princess sure is smart, I can now see that the Kingdom will foster once she takes the throne."
"I will support princess Avory from now on. She's so intelligent and she obviously cares for her people."
That's right, I will let you see my good sides and establish a good image so that I can gain loyal supporters for the future. This is why I meddle in someone else's business in the first place and exposed my self to the crowds.
"Princess Avory, thank you so much for your help. If you didn't came, my business could have been in danger because of that man." The shopkeeper extended his gratitude. "Don't mention it, I am happy to be able to help." I gave him the sweetest smile I could give. At my peripheral vision, I saw Aynnah slightly frowning.
Hmm... I guess she's not happy that I am receiving positive responses from other people.
Shit. I want to laugh, but let's save it for later.
— to be continued...