Tap... Tap...
Aefia stopped near the door of an empty room, knocking before walking in. As she entered, her eyes trailed the dust motes floating in the air. The stale scent hit her nose with a sense of familiarity.
It was her own room at the palace. The distinctive past visibly effected her slightly—her eyes fell towards the closed door of the bathroom. Her fingers trembled slightly, a sense of fear radiated off her as she shut the door without turning. Her heels trailed towards the person sitting on the sofa. Silver hair combed back as if prepared for a proper formal conversation. His icy blue eyes tracked her movements like a viper.
He was sitting back against the backrest and sipping tea. But the aroma of it did nothing to cover up the way the room normally scented... Of strong iron and medications. It felt like walking into an abandoned torture chamber.
He wasn't quite alone either. Elanor was there too. Her platinum blonde hair tied back in a half-up half-down with glittering accessories. She sat on an armchair near the fireplace—her eyes too were moving like a snake's.
Something about this place felt quite wrong, like someone was going to aim for her throat all of a sudden. There was a reason she got an invitation and she knew something was off when he mentioned no one could be notified. That bright red and glittery envelope specifically directed to her with her middle name etched into it. In confidential and formal correspondence, it means it is important, urgent, and secret.
Well that was stated... But the glitter were grey, white and black.
Black meant bad news. She was obvious of it... However, the other different colours hit her square on the head. And not only that... There were complications to it too.
Black traditionally represents deep mourning, grief, and death. Black-bordered stationery is the classic way to formally announce a death in the family.
Gray is associated with 'half-mourning' and is often used for remembrance cards or less formal memorial events.
White... While pure white signifies peace or respect, but it is also the traditional color of mourning in various Asian cultures.
In some cultures, bright red invitations are seen as a sign of disaster or a warning, while in others, they signal celebration.
Given all of that, she was obviously coated with the thought of someone dying. That many tradegy-linked colours got her to thinking she was going to see a funeral. However, she was previously contemplating between going as a guest or seeing from a distance.
But then, when she came to the entrance of the palace all alone... They told her to head straight to where her room was. She didn't expect much, realizing this truly was as suspicious as she had predicted it would be.
For that occasion itself, she wore a different appearance. Her hair was slightly longer now, so she put it up in a high ponytail—a thin braid running along the side of her head while her bangs fell like waterfalls to either sides. She wanted it to look formal enough, but also to her comfort. She ditched her casual pinafores for a full-sleeved white shirt paired with a black overcoat that ended slightly below her knees. The coat had green accents at her shoulders and waist, along with the hems.
To keep it a bit more formal, silver accessories followed. At the front of her coat was two long strings of thin chain that were to pin it from sliding out of shape and a pair of earrings that had gemstones that were a complementary colour of her eyes. At her collar rested the butterfly brooch that he had given her. Honestly, she never quite exchanged it for anything else.
There were specific reasons she chose those colours. Like always, red and black were from the invitation—where it still carried another meaning. For her, the green stood for growth and new beginnings.
She went for these colours because firstly, the black matches the funeral vibes of the invitation and the green to show that she isn't going to mingle with anything else unless it benefited her growth. While silver is just a show to elevate her look without much vibrancy into it.
Not like that was important though...
There is just one more loophole.
Since Lewis added colours knowing their meanings, he must have known what other colours meant too. So he should also know what the green accents in her clothing suggested.
Judging by how he was looking at her with slight disbelief, she could tell he wasn't anticipating it either. He himself wore a military attire that was mixed with blue, green and majority of it was black. Like he was telling her, "after you were gone, I have become more calm, grew and started a new beginning."
She personally smirked to herself. After confirming that he truly was 'colour-coded' here, she grew more desperate to know what would happen next. Elanor looked slightly confused at the rest of the room.
It felt gloomy and entirely formal. The room was dim with only a fraction of the sunlight entering the dusty corners. The atmosphere was entirely deadly—since the Crown Prince himself was hosting it. That too with only specific people at the room.
This looks rather strange.
Suddenly, Lewis stood up on his two feet and gestered at the sofa opposite to him. "Take a seat Aefia... Or do I have to tell you about it?" He asked with a tilt of his head.
Ah! So that is what is going on.
She smiled once before bowing. She waited for a sort of shock to appear in his face for it. His eyes widened as if reminded to something.
"What are you doing?"
"I thought it is only respectful for a low born to bow at an Imperial Majesty's presence. It would be a shame to disobey and move before his Highness the Crown Prince doesn't tell me to." She answered while lifting her head. The red irises of her eyes glowed in the darkness.
He gritted his teeth while diverting his gaze. She keeps getting a way to destroy my dominance in the room.
She walked towards the sofa and took her seat, placing her hands flat against her laps. Noticing she was settled in without a single word from her mouth—just like a robot—he went to sit back down and let the silence settle in before making his command.
"Now... May I ask that everyone place their invitations on the table?" He asked after a short moment as Aefia summoned hers from thin air and softly placed it down. The red card with its glittery flowers. Elanor followed to place her vibrant green with red accents and purple details. Then, a third hand entered.
Pale, slender and wrinkled slightly. A familiar figure that made Aefia immediately flinch while her eyes stayed stuck to the invitation. A white and black background with purple and blue ribbons at two corners.
Those indicating abuse...
Haha... This is getting out of hand... What is the Empress doing here? I am... Losing my mind.
Who was it for? Lewis? Aefia? Afterall, before she came... He was the one suffering it.
"Go back to your seats." And everyone including Aefia, did as he said. With her stoic mask immediately snapping back onto her face.
"Here is what I will say." He continued with a smirk while folding his arms and leaning back. His eyes fell on the invitations which were already extended towards Aefia.
"Unlike how you all don't know what the colours mean... My sister here, knows what the reasons why each were a different pallete then others." He grinned while scanning her face. "And which... She will read it for you too."
She stayed silent for quite the long time, watching his grin grow wider. She didn't know what he was trying to do, but she still went as he asked. Just with a little twist of her own.
"Your sister… huh?" She smiled while reaching forward to grab the one on the top. "Well I suppose I need to do as what my former adoptive elder brother wants me to."
How is that Lewis? Enjoying that?
His face immediately darkened.
"Black background often symbolizes for a tradegy and something bad happening. Purple ribbon is for domestic abuse. Blue is for child abuse." She recited. The Empress tensed up while looking at her own son's face. He was exposing her in front of Countess Elanor. Aefia was already a victim of it, so it didn't matter.
"Green is for new beginnings, growth and nature. Red means urgent, important and in some cultures, mourning a tragedy. Purple means luxury." She then looked up at Lewis while pointing at her own one, as if asking if she should continue.
"Go on. Or are you nervous to?" He asked while highering his voice by a decibel.
"The red means urgent, and secretive. Black is bad happenings. Grey and white means mourning." She spoke while pushing all three towards his place of the table. "Do the meanings match your expectations, your Highness?" She glanced up while clasping her hands at her lap.
He stood up at his place, slamming his hands in front of her to make her flinch by a bit. The loud sound did make her move slightly, but it was just the fear of being in this room with the person who used to beat her up past late midnight.
"Aefia, what do you think the mourning is for?" He asked while grinning.
"I am not certain. But I think it is to acknowledge someone's death it seems." She blankly replied.
"That's correct." His hands clapped together with an echo.
"And that is to acknowledge your death Aefia. We didn't even have a formal funeral for you... So now we will. With whoever knows about your existence."
He took out his sword from its scabbard, pointing the tip at her neck. She didn't move, staring straight into his eyes.
She knew that wasn't true. Apparantly, even George knew. Then Nada did, Cedric did, Helio did, a few others too. Thinking back, it was a good think she came back into contact with her close people. Although the one with Lewis was unexpected.
"What do you have to say for yourself Aefia?"
"..."
"Speechless are we?" He pressed the tip tighter against her neck, making the Empress and the Countess flinch as a bead of blood rolled down her neck. "If you don't speak... I can tell them about how you said you were a devil when I tried to kill myself. Didn't you?"
With that, she let out an open smile. Then a quiet laugh.
"You know that I find it amusing..." She spoke with her voice slightly lower than expected. "I did give you the Orb of Life to extend your life. Possibly cure your terminal illness... But is that what you pay me back with?"
His eyes twitched at her words while pressing the tip further, knowing she would be able to recover from it.
"A secret for a secret. Did you honestly think I will be anything less than how I was before?"
The Empress and the Countess looked at her confused for a while.
"I didn't almost drown myself twice just to save you... And then come to this place to have a blade stuck to my throat as if I were a criminal."
"You are a fraud for hiding your identity in front of me that day. So you are a criminal."
"Of course I am. It is not like that when I mean it. I am saying... Did I not give you whatever I could to solve your problems? After saving you from your own blade to your throat that day, I gave you the Orb of Life without using it on myself when we both know I am still not properly cleansed from the toxins yet."
"Water had memories Aefia—!"
"So does the lake."
"I can control water!"
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
"This room has air that has moist... You know what I can do."
"..." She turned silent for a short while. She needed to think for herself. How she was going to prove that she had nothing to do with him with whatever he was trying to say. Something true that would cover up the bigger truth. Although there wasn't any.
"I had every right to come in front of you that day..." She stated.
"But you didn't."
"Can you guess why?" She was just starting to realize why there were two more people in the room. They were witnesses.
"I can't."
"You would have broken down even more if I told you I was alive. This conversation we are having peacefully would have ended up with none of us wanting to see the other one ever again." She answered back. "I have observed you enough. You hate it when things don't go your way. It's not like I am not that way too... But you are even more egoistic. If things don't result the way you want, you will turn the world upside-down to correct it.
"Even if it meant to kill me right now and put me back into the grave. You are that determined for your vision to come real. You even copied my way of dealing with things... Haven't you?"
He pressed the blade harder, making her move backwards while she partially raised her hands to stop the blade. It was getting painful and she didn't want to have this conversation with him. He narrowed his eyes at her while gritting his teeth. His pupils turning into slits.
"Alright that is enough!" The Empress shouted while moving forward, but Lewis pointed his hidden dagger at his mother's throat next. Elanor stayed stuck to her chair in complete horror.
His gaze turned back to Aefia's face. She was calmly waiting for his response, which she already understood he didn't want to acknowledge as an answer.
"You knew that I had feelings! If at least you did awaken, you should have contacted me to let me know! You think I would—"
"Killed me?... Of course, I had my reason." She interrupted him while glaring back at him in frustruation.
"Do. Not. Interrupt. Me."
"Then you should learn how to shut up." She leaned forward at his sword. His blade drew enough blood to drench her collar. The Empress was at a position that she would die if she tried to save her. And Aefia would die if she tried to save the empress.
"You—"
"Lewis..." She whispered. He froze.
"I had feelings too when you decided to try and kill me twice at that garden over there. And I was new here being abused every night without a single medical attendant for me. Did you honestly think I would be alright after whatever has been happening to me in my life?"