The two strangers sat together in silence until she got too conscious and mastered up the courage to speak. ''Excuse me, the way to the ballroom is over there.'' She felt dumb. Of course he would know that. Stupid, she thought to herself as she wondered why he had deviated from his path and ended up here. ''Thank you'', he spoke. And awkward returned again.
They seem to have figured out who the other person was and missed the silence. A call came from behind, ''my Lord '', ''my Lady''. It seems the time had come. They both got up and left. Later, as he entered the hall, all he could think of was that girl. It was odd, he thought he had already lost his capability to think these thoughts or worry, especially about someone else. All he thought of was how annoying the man on the throne was, always provoking him like a Mad Dog. Maybe it was his hatred, but he was shocked. Even though he had already guessed the lady's identity, he still couldn't accept that she was the emperor's mistress. Truly devastating. Which noble in this vast empire did not know that? Formerly a mistress, there was a beautiful Lady Captive in the Emperor's cage, the object of both the rulers, envy and obsession. Yet to see it with his own eyes. The wounds on her were comparable to the ones he saw on the battlefield. He wondered how such a delicate lady could bear all that.
She knew it was him, yet to see it all in person, being acknowledged with the Duke of Verne. He was called a mad tyrant and a bearer of misfortune. Rumor had it that the Dukedom of Verne went through a bloodbath. Only he survived. Some called it bad luck; some even blamed him. Many thought of him as the killer. But how could she not know the emperor had brought Fortune to many and misfortune to many more. She still remembered how on the day of the tragedy, when the messengers brought the news of what had taken place in the Duchy. 0h! how greatly the emperor had rejoiced, how madly he smiled. of the many he had brought to misfortune, it was probably the Duchy of Verne and she herself that had resented him the most.
How the ruler had taken away her little star. How he had locked away her magic under his control like a puppet. She had done many since. Since she did not mind, it was what came after the misery she served to the victims and the misery she underwent. Every time the emperor would use her to clean his hands and then green with envy and the mad desire to possess.
She thought to herself how pathetic she had become. The one who healed others could now not even heal herself.