Previously
Irenia prepares for a mandatory tea meeting with Empress Cornelia, who refuses to see Caesar. Before leaving, Irenia is forced to let a feral Caesar drink from her hand to calm him, resulting in painful bite marks she must hide with gloves.
With every faltering step I took, the mockery around me only sharpened.
Even with my limp, I kept my spine straight, acting as though I could not hear the quiet laughter scattering through the hall. None of this was new to me. I had long grown used to such stares.
I knelt quietly, preserving my dignity, and bowed in respect.
“Glory to the Cross of Light… I greet Your Majesty the Small Empress.”
Cornelia had been staring down at me in silence from the very start, letting it stretch on until my knees began to buckle beneath the ache.
Only then did her blue eyes gleam cold as she spoke:
“…Glory to the Cross of Light.”
At last, she granted me permission to rise.
Yet I had stayed bowed for so long that finding my feet again was agonizing.
“Tsk…”
I heard her soft click of annoyance just before a gentle hand took my arm and pulled me up.
“Your Highness.”
It was Delfina, the girl who had nearly been condemned under false charges this very morning.
“Thank you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly lowered her head.
“This way, if you please.”
The voice belonged to Countess Elvira, the Empress’s closest confidante. Cornelia swept out of the room without another word.
________
The tea table had been set within the Empress’s glass conservatory. Walls of etched, geometric crystal caught the daylight and cast it about like dancing gems.
Blossoms in shades I had never before seen flourished all around, while squirrels, birds with vibrant plumage, and even tiny monkeys flitted through the splendor.
Cornelia sat at a table beside the fountain, a magnificently colored parrot perched upon her shoulder. She toyed with it lazily, feeding it biscuits and paying no heed to my approach.
Not daring to take a seat without leave, I remained standing, my anxious gaze taking in the surroundings.
The silence dragged on until a maid entered, wheeling a tea cart.
“What are you waiting for? Sit.”
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
I took my seat. She poured the warm red tea, its rich fragrance filling the air with sheer opulence.
I did not taste it, merely looking down into the cup.
The Empress cut in, her voice sharp and piercing:
“How are you finding life in the palace? Comfortable?”
Though her gaze remained on the parrot, I could feel she saw right through me.
I swallowed hard, my palms growing slick with sweat. I clenched and unclasped my hands several times.
Then, without warning, Cornelia lifted her eyes toward me. Those cold, arresting eyes withered my resolve.
Yet I had not come all this way to retreat. At last, I gathered my nerve.
“Your Majesty… there is an urgent matter I must bring to your attention.”
“And what might that be?”
Her reply came unexpectedly light, almost playful, and it calmed my racing heart ever so slightly.
“It concerns the Prince… Prince Caesar.”
“Continue.”
With a trembling voice, I began to recount what I had witnessed with my own eyes.
“Someone is mistreating him… perhaps one of the guards, or a servant. His Highness was bound and abused… his body covered in wounds, tied in chains, with a muzzle forced over his mouth.”
She listened quietly, then gave a flick of her hand. A lady-in-waiting stepped forward with a silver tray bearing a cigarette. The maid struck a light for her, and Cornelia inhaled the smoke deeply before letting it drift lazily into the air.
My chest tightened, and I coughed.
“And so?”
She spat the words with sheer contempt as she set the burning cigarette back on the tray.
“What is it you expect me to do?”
“Pardon?”
She leaned back against her chair, her relaxed posture dripping with mockery.
“Did you not hear me?”
I had heard, yet I could scarcely believe it. I wanted to answer, but my tongue refused to move.
“Respect is granted only to those who deserve it. To those worthy of it.”
She spoke in a murmur, as though musing aloud to herself.
“How do you define a human being? What makes one so?”
Her sudden question struck me dumb.
Out of nowhere, the parrot squawked, “Human!”
Cornelia chuckled mockingly.
“Precisely. What resembles a human, we call human. Have you ever seen the First Prince conduct himself like a human being?”
She tapped her long fingernails against the table.
“A human… walks on two legs.”
The parrot hopped down, strutting lightly across the table.
“And uses tools.”
With its beak, it unknotted a pouch of feed and fished out tiny pieces of dried fruit.
“And speaks the tongue of mortals, does it not?”
She tapped it gently, and it began to chatter, “Lovely hat! A pleasant afternoon to you!”
Its delivery was startlingly clear.
“Tell me, then: can you see the difference between the Prince… and this bird?”
I gave no reply. Her point was unmistakable.
Suddenly, the Empress seized the parrot in both hands.
Startled, the bird screeched and thrashed its wings.
“Look… this creature, I can control.”
She said it with an unnerving chill gleaming in her eyes.
Then she released her grip.
It fluttered back up to her shoulder as though nothing had happened.
“And the Prince? How does one control a beast beyond the reach of reason?”
“But… he is a human being!”
I cried out, rising to my feet in agitation. The table rattled, and the teacups shuddered in their saucers.
“What did you say?”
Her gaze fixed upon me, utterly flat. In that instant, I knew I had crossed the line.
Yet she did not reprimand me. She simply laughed.
A long, grating laugh.
Then, drawing in the smoke of her cigarette, she said:
“You possess a hidden talent… making others laugh. That is the finest joke I have heard all year.”
I lowered my head, clutching the folds of my dress tightly.
“Just as Your Majesty says…”
“Hm?”
“He is not like others…”
To tell the truth, I had never believed in curses before seeing him. I had thought them nothing more than superstitions, tales bordering on myth.
Yet meeting him with my own eyes had undone all of that. There was truly no better word for him than ‘cursed.’ A man stripped of reason, answering to the scent of blood like a wild animal, lunging in madness, with a left hand warped into something resembling a reptile’s claw. And those glimpses beneath his gaze—the eyes of a lurking predator… I could no longer be certain he would ever return to what he was.
I bit my lower lip in silence. Even so, I could not banish his image from my mind—that gentle smile, the softened look in his eyes when he gazed back at me.
“Yet… he remains human.”
“Such devotion to your husband is quite admirable.”
Empress Cornelia’s eyes widened with a hint of genuine astonishment as she stubbed out her fine cigarette on the silver dish.
“Though I suppose it makes sense. An illegitimate daughter with no backing would naturally cling even to a half-witted husband like him.”
“…Excuse me?”
I jerked my head up, stunned by her sheer insolence. Yet she merely wore a crooked, sardonic smirk, taking plain delight in stirring my anger.
A stifling silence fell over us, heavy enough to choke the breath from my lungs.
The calls of unfamiliar birds mingled with the steady rush of the fountain, while small animals poked their heads through the dense thickets, watching the scene in quiet stillness.
And amid this breathtaking madness, the Empress sat as though painted into the scenery. She blended seamlessly into the setting, armed with a cold loveliness that seemed almost innocent—the pure innocence of a girl untouched by the filth of this world.
Everything looked radiant, hazy as a dream. And so, I never saw the poison slipping smoothly from those crimson lips.
FADE OUT