In the Empress's chambers, Caelia kept her eyes completely fixed on the task she was performing.
"He loves me," one petal fell to the floor.
"He adores me," another fell.
"He's mine," one more.
"Completely mine," the last one detached.
Caelia stared at the empty stem with an obsessive smile.
Rose watched her mistress; a chill ran down her spine and she swallowed nervously.
"Mistress… I'll call someone to clean up the remains," Rose said, looking with deep concern at the floor, which was already covered with stems and petals from previous flowers.
"Rose, stop for a moment."
Caelia's soft but icy voice froze her in place.
"Do you need something, Your Majesty?" asked the maid.
"I want to go see the Emperor."
Rose frowned, confused.
"Why?"
"I simply thought my husband would like to know the result of the flowers. Especially now that he can't say anything."
The maid immediately understood that this was pure pleasure for her.
Remembering that it had been Caelia herself who ordered one of the concubines to administer the Gu that left the Emperor in such a state, Rose shook her head to dispel those thoughts and went out to call the cleaning servants.
The Empress watched her maid's departure with absolute delight, her green eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
…
The days passed, and it seemed that things in Demor were at a standstill.
Lucratis continued searching for his missing princess, while the death of Prince Bastian—or Lucas—had been forgotten by everyone who once cared.
In Pradiles, however, the tension took a different turn with the arrival of a carriage.
When Ravena, the Empress who had recently achieved the most desired state by all mages in the world, received the vehicle with excitement, reality hit her like a blow: the carriage was completely empty.
News traveled fast, so she was not in the dark about what had happened to the Emperor of Demor.
For a moment, she wished with all her might that it hadn't happened, just so she could have had the pleasure of leaving him bedridden herself.
Rage mixed with humiliation grew in her chest, but an even more obvious doubt consumed her thoughts.
If the carriage had left full, as the people she had sent to watch had reported, how was it possible that it arrived empty, without a single trace of the women who were supposed to be inside?
She would also have liked to know exactly when they had disappeared, since it seemed no one had bothered to check inside for several days.
"Send a letter to Demor demanding an explanation."
"Your Majesty, I don't think they deceived us," the servant replied cautiously. "Clearly, they disappeared at some point during the journey."
Ravena paused to reflect for a moment.
"They told me two women were coming in the carriage. What about the man I asked for?"
"Your Majesty, Miss Margery's brother was not present when she was found. The Emperor of Demor promised to send him as soon as he located him."
Meanwhile, the shadows that had been following the transport had also been left in the dark when the door opened with no one inside.
They hadn't felt the slightest disturbance or anomaly throughout the entire journey.
Their blood ran cold; they knew perfectly well what would happen to them once they reported it.
They looked at each other, desperately trying to find some comfort. However, they quickly regained their composure, put on serious expressions, and disappeared from the place without wasting a second.
…
Elara and Cassandra went out in the afternoon.
The latter seemed quite stiff as she walked through the bustling streets of Demor, but the princess dragged her to all the places she liked to visit.
"And here they make a drink called coffee. It's an invention from Nexus; you pair it with their famous fruit pastries," Elara explained enthusiastically.
"Oh? I've tried the pastries," Cassandra replied. "Does the drink you pair them with change the experience that much? My maids brought them for me to try with tea, but they never mentioned this coffee."
"That's because they only serve it here, although you can order it to go."
Elara approached the counter, returned with two hot drinks, and handed one to the ancestor.
Cassandra frowned but took the cup and sipped to try it.
"It's bitter… I don't see how people can like this so much."
The princess shook her head, amused.
"You'll get used to it soon enough, it always happens. My friends at the academy didn't like it at first either, but there's something about the aroma and the flavor that makes you want to drink it again."
Cassandra looked at the drink with suspicious eyes.
"You said this is from Nexus. It really is incredible how hidden the Marchioness of Vane was. Until a few years ago, nothing good was heard about them. All the marquessates have something to stand out for, but the Vanes were on the verge of becoming a fallen house."
Elara looked away, uncomfortable, debating whether she should mention what she knew.
However, the woman beside her didn't miss anything.
She immediately noticed her evasive attitude and asked:
"What's wrong?"
"Well… it's just that my master and Elizabeth are in a relationship, you see…"
The ancestor raised an eyebrow and, as if she had finally processed the weight of what she was hearing, her eyes widened.
"Ha! So that's why… And here I thought nothing escaped me about what happens in this Empire. I even know some of the darkest secrets of the nobility."
Elara looked at her master with eyes shining with curiosity.
"Secrets?" she insisted enthusiastically.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to talk about that kind of thing with you."
The princess lowered her head, disappointed.
However, seeing that she had at least managed to get her out of her residence, she clenched her fist with determination, knowing that sooner or later she would get her to talk.
They continued strolling for a good part of the day. Between shopping, snacks, and the other attractions of the capital, time flew by.
…
In the Emperor's chambers, Caelia approached the bed where he rested.
"Alric…" she said with a voice full of arrogance, looking down at the man in such a pitiful state.
There was no response.
Caelia remained completely still, staring at him fixedly, impossible for anyone to guess what was going through her mind.
When she felt she had stared long enough, she dragged a chair to the side of the bed and sat down calmly.
"You know…" she began in a soft, melodious voice, "I think, in the end, all of this is actually very good. Don't you agree? Do you remember? Do you remember how you killed the Montrose heir when we were young? He and I had barely spoken. His brother—the one who later married the current Duchess Astaford—always hated you for that. But you, on a small whim of mine, decided he deserved to die."
Caelia let out a sigh of boredom.
"At first I enjoyed that obsession. When there was no other choice and we got married, I accepted it. But you were always so insecure… I suppose the fact that you had no real competition for the throne affected your character. I hope you liked my gift. My dear prepared it especially for you. It seems you've been bothering him quite a lot, and he didn't enjoy your arrangements at all. And well, let's just say you wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway, considering that my own son and the Vitalis weren't planning anything very different."
Caelia shook her head with disdain, while a diabolical and playful smile distorted the beauty of her face.
"By the way, I should go see him. I hope everything I've been planning has gone well."
At her cruel words, Emperor Alric's eyes became bloodshot.
A slight tremor ran across his face and he seemed to want to scream something, trapped in an agony of absolute helplessness.