The Emperor smile in expectancy of the crowd's reaction. The masked man with red eyes, looked around in disbelief.
***
"What a killjoy, I was really looking forward to seeing the infamous Worrior Princess of Gastonia," one of the noble men said in disappointment.
"Well, it should not surprise anyone. After all, it was rumoured that the Imperial family are not on good terms," the noble man's betrothed, Lady Daphne Rosen said in a demeaning manner.
"You are right as always, my lady," the proud woman's boot licking lady in waiting said in a tone filled with admiration.
"What you are saying isn't far from the truth, but I don't believe it. If what you say is in fact true, then why would the Emperor host such a grand event in the name of the Princess," another noble woman, Lady Monta Ellis said reasonably but the former refused to give up.
"Lady Ellis, have you forgotten that this is out Princess's first celebration and introduction to the public. And why would the Emperor keep his beloved daughter in solitary confinement and also restrain her movement in and out of the palace?" Lady Daphne retorted leaving Lady Monta with nothing more to say.
***
"Please refrain from gossiping about the Imperial family on this special occasion" Sir Tristan chided the chatter box nobles ending their conversation.
The masked man chuckled at the hilarious scenery he had just witnessed.
His mind drifted back to the beautiful scenery of the Emperor's palace.
_
The masked man walked stealthily towards the Empress's palace at the West end of the Gastonian Imperial residence.
He groaned in annoyance when he saw three guards stationed at the entrance of the palace.
"I guess I will have to climb my way in," he said before moving towards the wall facing the Empress's garden.
The climbed over the wall landing gracefully on the grassy floor and immediately ducked behind a bush when he noticed that even more guards where patrolling the area.
"What the heck, I need to get out of here!" he yelled inwardly as he began moving towards were he felt was the main door to the palace.
The man finally reached the entrance of the palace, he towards the door of the Empress's palace.
On entering, his jaws dropped in awe of the scene of the room. From the glass chandelier hanging right above his head to the white tiling on the floor was designed to perfection that it almost felt too good to walk on.
Just as the man was basking in the beauty of the room, the Princess and her lady in waiting, Poppy were descending the stairs rights in front of him.
The sound of their approaching footsteps knocked him back to his senses and he immediately hid behind a pillar in the room.
He stuck out his head and gazed at the most beautiful scenery he'd ever beheld in the past month.
The Princess and her lady in waiting graceful walked out of the room with the masked man secretly trailing behind them.
The Princess halted midway and it startled the masked man momentarily.
Cecilia looked up the sky and sat down on a bench in the Empress's garden. The masked man took his time to scan the beauty before him.
The man gazed at the sky, the same way the Princess did and immediately snapped back to reality astonished at how time had flown.
The man hastenly left the palace and adjusted his black silk suit before making his way to the Emperor's palace.
The entrance of the Emperor's palace was twice as guarded as the Empress's palace was.
The were about seven able bodied guards stationed at the entrance checking the authenticity of everyone's invitation.
He brought out the invitation given to him by the Duke and walked confidently towards the guards, carrying himself like a nobleman.
One of the guards, Sir Tristan took his invitation and nodded permitting his entry.
Then a maid in her late thirties came forward and guided him towards the banquet hall.
He smiled at the woman as thanks and the maid took it as her queue to leave. Although the former was lead to the hall, he did not enter immediately. Instead, he made sure no one was looking and began wondering the hallways of the Emperor's huge palace.
The man walked through the hall gazing at the limited edition antiques and designer vases that were littered around the long hallway.
"Focus, focus. Do what you came here to do, don't get distracted," the man chided himself and continued his journey down the hallway but this time his eyes were searching for something specific.
His destination was the Emperor's private study and his goal was finding the map of the palace and the maps of the railway line, geographical areas and other useful maps of Gastonia.
He walked down the hallway stealthily untill he came across a room that intrigued him.
He opened the room door and a strong scent of Cecil drops mixed with blood hit his nose hard.
He shut his nose on instinct and looked into the room which he now recognised as the slaughter house.
"Wonder why a slaughter house will be situated inside the palace walls," the masked man thought to himself as he gazed into the room
The room's lights were dimly lit but the crimson colour of the tiles were evident. But what baffled him was the withered vases of Cecil drops situated at the corners of the room.
It was said that if one inhales Cecil drops for too long, the person becomes blind. That's were the flowers gets its name from, Cecilia meaning the blind one.
The man immediately closed the door when he saw a hand lying lifelessly at a corner of the room.
He exhaled to relax his nerves and shifted his focus back to his mission, and ofcourse he wanted to see the Princess before he leaves.
The continued walking down the hallway directionlessly until he finally reaching a room that looked too plane to not be special.
He opened the room door and smiled victoriously as he walked into the room. It looked more like a library than a study, but the single study desk at a corner of the room confirmed his suspicion.
"Finally, I've reached the godforsaken study. Haha, let's see what secrets are being hidden in this ancient of days study," the man said delightedly and began searching through the shelves of the library like study.
--To be continued...