Citadel.
Critic-Citadel, Critic-Ishire.
***************
It's been a moment since they both walked out into the serene tranquility of the Citadel's garden from the dining hall and he hasn't uttered a word yet.
Lydia is adorned in an elegant gown of silk and lace, she stood poised, her demeanor a reflection of Critic Arley's grace and refinement.
The emperor, tall and regal, stood with her in the midst of the fragrant blooms and winding pathways, his presence commanding yet enigmatic.
As they walked, Lydia stole glances at Salvatore, her heart fluttering with anxiety with a tinge of anticipation.
She was wondering why he had summoned her to this clandestine meeting. The soft rustle of leaves and the distant chirping of birds provided a backdrop to the palpable tension that hung between them.
As he paused beneath the arching branches of an ancient oak Lydia does too, but the emperor remained silent, his gaze fixed upon the horizon with an inscrutable intensity.
Lydia unable to bear the suspense any longer, summoned the courage to speak.
"Your majesty?" her voice trembling slightly, she called him.
Still, Salvatore said nothing, his silence spoke volumes as it enveloped Lydia in a veil of uncertainty. With each passing moment, her nerves intensified, her mind racing with unanswered questions and unspoken fears.
"Your majesty" he cut her off sharply.
"Salvatore, you can call me Salvatore, Bet"
Both his hands are linked together behind him.
Bet? As in an abbreviation for betrothed? She thought almost snorting at the horrible nickname.
He could learn from his peers, she mused.
Theodore, her mind whispered making her shudder, he'd given her a nice nickname 'Gooseberry' but she hadn't heard from him since after the ball.
He must have realised she was not worth the stress, not that she wanted him to come. The emperor was In front of her and she was thinking about someone else, she slowly came back to the present.
Lydia didn't understand why the emperor wanted them to be informal, she hadn't agreed to the union, yet she was fully aware that she couldn't exactly say no.
This is all so fast, she thought with a grimace
Salvatore has never been one to drag out happenings or plans, he worked on instinct and right now, it is to be with Lydia that he craved.
"I assume you do not have any objection to my proposal" he commented, his voice nice yet cold.
Proposal? Lydia thought.
That wasn't even an offer, it was an order.
She was fully aware that she should be perhaps excited or feel fortunate because she was only an illegitimate lowborn and the emperor had set his eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to feel anything but betrayal and striking blue eyes of a man that has probably forgotten everything about her now.
"Your maj- Salvatore I'm very much elated about this and wouldn't dwell on the proposal however don't you think this is moving too fast?" She asked him, both her hands tightly linked in front of her.
"Nonsense, this is a smooth pace our union is taking and might I remind you it's a promising punishment" Salvatore smirked as he resumed their stroll deeper into the garden.
Her lips thinned before she joined him.
"Thank you for sparing my family" she diverted the topic to a less sadder surface.
"I'm not sparing them, this is far too enjoyable" he said as he turned to stare at her with a keen interest that made her stand straight.
"Salvatore if I may ask?"
"Go on" he nodded still watching her as she unlinked her fingers.
"Have we met before? I mean you have had countless balls, banquets and fairs but I've never been in attendance to any, yet you seem to have known of my existence before today" She looked into his red paralyzing eyes as he blinked slowly.
His lips thinned.
She watched his squared jaw closely he looked like Theodore!
The thin lips slanted almost alike when they smirked at his sharp edgy facial features. Her eyes widened, so that was why she'd felt like she knew him, except his eyes were red and not blue.
"You are perceptive that would be appreciated in some other aspect," Salvatore retorted and suddenly he seemed distant, this made Lydia drop her gaze.
"Let's get back inside" he said pointing to the door for her.
"Yes, your... Salvatore" she smiled as she turned to walk in, the emperor stepped behind as he lost his smirk to a melancholic expression
*
* *
*
3days later.
Afternon.
Tea room, Statham estate.
Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.
***************
Three young ladies occupy the drawing room, two are dressed in pretty dresses and the last in dungarees as she bent to clear the table that was being used by the two ladies.
Lydia is the young lady in dungarees.
"The tea is cold already, can you do anything properly in your life?" Isha, Mira's closest friend complained to Lydia as she came to pick up the used plates.
"It is cold because you have not drunk it since I brought it" Lydia replied with a frown.
"Are you talking back to me now?" Isha asked with a dramatic gasp.
Show me your friends and I shall tell you who you are, Lydia mused mentally.
It's almost definite Mira's friends will be as twisted and cruel-minded as she is.
"I was just telling you why it is now cold, Isha" Lydia replied, she sounded exhausted.
"How about why there is scarcity of tea in my cup" Mira questioned her brows spiraling for her forehead.
Lydia straightened. "Mira if you were born smart you'll know that it's empty because you finished it" she retorted. She wasn't in the mood for this drama from this spoilt brat.
"Huh" a sharp gasp was heard from Mira as she abruptly stood up at Lydia's retort.
How dare she! She thought enraged
Just as she was about to give Lydia an earful a voice interrupted her.
"Sweet sisters" Liza strolled in donning a fancy red gown.
She looked all dolled up as though she was about to go out or she had been coming from an important place but in truth, she'd been at home all day and this was how she just dressed even at home.
"Mmm, what's the tension I feel?" she asked as neither Lydia nor Mira wanted to give up on their stare-doen to look at her.
"Lydia just called me slowwitted" Mira reported ,too triumphantly for an angry person.
"I didn't exactly say that," Lydia countered in her defence.
"I was about to deal with her before you stepped in" Mira commented brushing off Lydia's whine.
"Oh don't let me stop you" Liza waved them off as she sat in the room with the rest.
"You should make her walk on her knees in the fair tonight" Isha suggested with a gleam in her eyes that Liza noted.
"Miss Isha I don't think you have the right to give suggestions or issue out a kind of punishment to be administered to me when you are only a guest and this is a sister's squabble" Lydia retorted with a small frown.
Isha had been Mira's friend for years now and that seem to make her think she was invincible now, also with the power her father has acquired from fighting for the emperor Isha could now run her mouth, but she will not trample on Lydia.
"This is outrageous" Isha exclaimed after a dramatic gasp escaped her lips.
"She is correct" Liza confirmed because they can't really take Lydia out to the fair to embarrass her as they were not allowed to let Lydia step out of the house.
So being the one to take her to the fair will draw their father's wrath and she would very much like to avoid that and stick to her plan.
"What?" Mira screeched appalled by what her sister had said.
What is happening? Why is Liza taking Lydia's side? Mira thought.
"Have a good day Liza, Mira I will not stay here and be disrespected" Isha laid out as she stood on her heels to leave.
"Miss Liza" Liza corrected curtly making Isha pause. "That is how you address me, I think it has been elucidated by me more than once now that I am not your friend," she told her sister's nasty friend with a sweet smile instead of the scowl a normal Critic Arlian will carry when they're pissed.
The clear difference in power, title and race was taken seriously in Critic-Ishire, as the empire was dominated by wealthy people. They are also rankings amongst themselves.
They existed the noble-born houses, the acquired nobility and the illegitimates which are rare and an unacceptable abomination, even less than they regard slaves, and right now Isha belonged to the houses that acquired nobility, the changed ones that are referred to as dopplers in Critic-Ishire. Critic Arley all the more and that is why Liza demands respect from her when she feels Isha is crossing the line.
"Yes, I apologize, I was simply angry and being outrageous" Isha confessed her head lowered a bit.
This is the only noble-born family that tolerates her so she would not like to jeopardize that because of Lydia, but she was still reeling with pent up anger.
"It is okay, just do not make the same mistake in a less kind household" Liza warned. She is always threading between the lines of being a lady and a spoilt power-hungry person.
"I will cherish the advice" Isha gritted out through slightly clenched teeth, before she walked out of the room without looking back or talking to her friend, Mira.
"Keep your dapple in check" Liza told Mira with a disappointed frown on her face after a moment of silence.
"Whatever Liza" Mira retorted with a small frown.
Lydia was now ready to leave with the plates and cups she had packed up.
"Lydia we are all going to the fair together, go get ready" Liza started making Lydia pause.
"I do not want to attend it; I have to stay home to take care of the estate in your absence" Lydia said slowly.
"Oh, But you are also a member of the Statham family you don't have to stay at home, that's for the employed to do" Liza reminded.
She was feigning ignorance to the strong fact that Lydia has been treated like an employed since the beginning.
"I would not want to be reprimanded by Father later today" Lydia confessed looking at Liza sceptically.
"Lydia you are coming and that is final" Liza barked.
One of her eyebrows shot up asking for any possible objection.
"Alright let me prepare" There was a small smile in Lydia's reply.
She would love to go, she was only being careful, but not today.
"What are you even preparing? You only have dungarees and shawls" Mira pitched in scornfully earning a sympathetic look from Lydia, a look that always unnerved her.
Lydia had a way of making her feel less and insignificant in her own father's home and she hated it.
"What are you doing?" Mira whispered after she was sure Lydia was not within ear reach.
"Letting our half-sister enjoy her last days as a Statham," Liza told.
"Is Lydia leaving the estate?" Shi'enz dropped the question immediately after she stepped inside the room.
"Yes, the monster would come for her" Mira informed with a satisfied smirk gracing her face.
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