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“It’s lovely,” I say, already spellbound by the loose, ankle-length skirts that shimmer under the light.

The gathered guests, some of the most important people in the country, watch in awe as well. I suppose they’ve never quite seen anything like this before.

“We perform it often at home,” Amir adds.

“I’d imagine so,” I reply dryly. Despite still calling itself a kingdom, Aidel has subjugated many of the local lands surrounding their kingdom for centuries. We maneuver around the periphery of the room, expensive velvet banners bearing the sigils of the Five Houses on the walls. The corner of my mouth inevitably curls downward as I spot the rose sigil of House Duvernay.

Amir steps in closer, cutting off Elias who was rolling his own chair between the two of us. “Perhaps one day we shall do the dance together?” he asks with a suggestive waggle of his brows.

“Don’t hold your breath,” I roll my eyes, but a light chuckle still comes out. I make sure that the Mad Dog is a good distance away from us before I lean in and ask, “Will you still do my favor?”

.....

“But of course? It’s the least I could do-” The foreign prince suddenly leans in suddenly, invading my personal space. But before I can get upset, he tells me something that I could not have expected in a million years.

“-for a fellow Traveler. Bonjour from Morocco. I can already tell you’re an American, no?”

“What?!”

But he’s gone, returning to his seat with a smug smile while I get the rug pulled out from under me. It takes everything in me to keep my mouth from falling open.

A maid materializes out of nowhere, escorting me to my seat after I froze where I stood. I’m in a trance as I sit down, my mind automatically tuning out Julian’s quiet but deadly ribbing.

Another one. Another Traveler.

This means that we aren’t just in the Erudian Empire, we are everywhere. All I want to do is survive and perhaps end up with a peaceful life after leaving the palace. But it is increasingly clear that there are things in this world Peppermint invented that were not written in his or her sappy romance webnovel.

Something unpleasant sits in the pit of my stomach, even as the first chapter of a play I’ve helped write and direct begins to take place. It begins from the moment the dancers gracefully bow to my father and vacate the spot for one of the more prominent ambassadors who accompanied Prince Amir to our capital city.

“Your Majesty,” the man says with a bow, similarly adorned in a tunic that is slightly less intricate than Amir’s. “There are happy matters I have primarily come to fulfill.”

“Indeed,” Emperor Helio agrees, his voice booming in my ears as Julian is all that sits between him and me.

I cannot help but look to my father to see how he will react. I know of the matter at hand already, that one of his daughter’s hands in marriage was promised to a prince of Aidel, at a price I have yet to learn. It must have been something good though, for a deal to be struck with the Old Continent that is so shrouded in mystery. Something irresistible to an emperor.

The ambassador’s glittering, toffee eyes cannot help but land on me. He’s like a fisher who’s just felt the tug of a fish at his bait. But little does he know that I will not be the prize he pulls out of that water. I’ve saved that special honor for someone much more deserving, someone legitimate.

The ambassador looked quite pleased with himself and he lowered himself onto one knee and did a full formal bow in Erudian fashion to show respect. Out of the corner of my eye, Empress Katya looks relaxed and calm as she watches on without a word.

“Your Majesty, on behalf of the Supreme Ruler of Aidel, King Samoval the Third, I humbly offer the hand of Prince Amir of Aidel in exchange for-”

A chair, hand carved from pure white alabaster just like all the tables and furniture in the throne room, screeches against the marble tiles.

“In exchange for, Princess Julia,” Amir interrupted. It is a record screech moment, punctuated by a shocked noblewoman dropping her crystal glass onto the floor.

I can hear the empress’ breath catch in her throat, before carrying on far more heavily than before.

Oh good, I think to myself rather sadistically, I’ve finally gotten a rise out of her. After years of being the aggrieved party, I’m all but ready to pull out the popcorn and watch the empress try to maneuver her way out of this situation. Which she will make no mistake of it. But I want to watch her squirm and stress right before my eyes.

A calm empress is not an empress I can feel comfortable sitting next to.

“Princess Julia?” someone in the throne room murmurs in surprise. “Not Princess Winter?”

It’s quiet, but everyone can hear it. If Clever Jack hadn’t gotten me this intel and I hadn’t managed to convince Prince Amir, it would be me sitting here dumbfounded at the prospect of being sold off like chattel.

A heavy gaze falls on my shoulders, Empress Katya is staring down at me. Her emerald eyes are sharper than flint, a stony mask freezing all the muscles in her face.

“What?” I scoff instead of meeting her eyes, displaying a great performance of appearing surprised. I shake my head in disbelief, all the while watching as the empress lets out one shuddering breath, then another.

She smiles. It’s quite eerie.

“The hand of my daughter?” the empress gently inquires, taking a sip from her glass.

“Y-Yes. The hand of one of His Majesty’s daughters as was agreed upon,” the ambassador eloquently amends.

The ambassador looks like he’s been caught with his pants down, and in a way he has. This was entirely concocted in the spur of the moment by me on my way back to the banquet. The fact that Amir even agreed is bonkers, but considering how angry he was at what had just occurred between myself and Sir Jasper, it is unsurprising he agreed to my request. But then again, he also just dropped a bombshell on me, one that sticks to the back of my throat like a fishbone.

“A bride was promised from your family, Your Majesties. I intend to collect,” Amir says grandiosely.

It comes off a tad disrespectful and I slightly shake my head to warn him to lay off the over-the-top behavior. The intent is to piss off the empress, not my dad. If he gets mad too, then no one will walk away from this situation happy.

“Ah. A daughter of the imperial family,” Empress Katya shifts in her seat with discomfort, but it isn’t perceptible to anyone who isn’t seated beside her. I hope she feels uncomfortable. This is nowhere near the level of discomfort I experienced when I was accused of attempted murder at age 5 and locked up for a few days in the Tower. Or when I had my fingers stabbed with needles longer than my hand and made my right hand disabled. There’s a laundry list of slights I’ve yet to pay back.

I can see the calculations running through her head before the empress makes a split decision. It is one that is going to hurt her. Her eyes flicker over to one of her ladies-in-waiting she was conversing with and I watch the color leech out of Lady Bryce’s face.

She had laughed so much when the teacup burned my hands. Now that the heat is on her, she looks like she wishes to be anywhere but here.

“Y-Your Majesty,” Lady Bryce stutters out, the titters of her previous conversation a distant memory. Her lips quiver, she probably wishes to fall on her knees and beg the empress for mercy. But after serving Empress Katya so diligently, Lady Bryce knows better than others that the only way out of her predicament is through.

So she says nothing.

“A child I have so cherished over the years and taken under my wings. She is a princess in all but name. She has certainly enjoyed all the trappings of being one, wouldn’t you agree, Lady Bryce?”

“Yes, Y-Your Majesty.” She has no choice but to agree.

“I offer to you instead, the hand of my goddaughter, Leana Bryce, whom I personally helped christen at the Holy Church,” the empress says with a pleasant grin as if she were a peddler selling her wares instead of her lady-in-waiting’s daughter.

Lord Bryce has an ugly expression upon his face, as if he’s eaten something unpleasant. But he has a son, an illegitimate one he has hidden away according to my intel so he isn’t too worried to watch his only legitimate child get taken away. Meanwhile, Lady Bryce clutches at her chest and makes a strange sound in her throat.

As I said, I knew that Emrpess Katya would worm her way out of this. I just wanted to watch her break one of her arms again. First, it was Lady Vernice. Now, it is Lady Bryce. Dominoes that will hopefully, inevitably lead to me taking down the queen pin before she can take me out first.

Empress Katya may be the empress consort hailing from a powerful House, but with two ladies-in-waiting put through the wringer, what well-to-do madam would want to take the risk of serving as the empress’ confidant? Janice may find herself far more busy in the coming weeks than before.

“Someone raised under your hand must no doubt have the grace and elegance that you emit, Your Majesty. I thank you for my new bride,” Amir says with a bow, first to my father, than to my mother.

Going once, going twice, and sold to the highest bidder! Leana isn’t even here to watch her future get sold off.

I can see almost every tooth in Amir’s mouth with the shit-eating grin he has plastered on his face. He’s enjoying this far more than I am. I told him not to give her too much trouble, there is a certain level of decorum that must be maintained in such an esteemed event.

“To new beginnings!” Amir toasts as the ink dries on the invisible contract.

“To new beginnings!” Everyone in the room echoes, enjoying the chance to drink again. Conversation begins anew, albeit a tad quieter than before. Empress Katya is a beat slow in raising her cup and sets it down again without drinking.

“How clever of you. You have learned much,” Empress Katya praises under her breath. My heart jumps with excitement at the acknowledgment, but I can’t tell if it’s from happiness or righteous anger at being forced to act this way.

“Thank you, Mother. I’ve learned all your lessons by heart.” The words tumble out of my mouth, without the intended sarcasm I’d planned. The victory feels hollow as I see Lady Bryce bury her face into her hands and rush out of the door I just entered from.

Sir Jasper stares at me from his seat with bright eyes I wish to gouge out with my spoon. I scowl at that freak, the last vestiges of my already small appetite taking a hike.

The Aidelish ambassador rises from the floor with shaky knees and returns to his seat. You would not know anything had just happened now if it weren’t for the faint sweat stains that a maid deftly mops up in seconds. It is the same girl who had disappeared when Sir Jasper suddenly showed up.

I stare at the ground where the stains were as if I can still see them, the notion of talking to Julian again as appealing as walking on Legos. The fishbone still hasn’t unstuck itself, I’m still flabbergasted that Amir is like me. It opens up a can of worms I’m not ready to digest, I instinctively feel the same distrust I have for my brother, Julian. Would Amir have honored our promise from yesterday? If I hadn’t told him to mention Julia’s name, would he have carried out his original plan of backing down from the marriage agreement?

It is hard to say. I’ve been walking through a field covered in landmines this whole time, which is a frightening thing to realize in hindsight.

Now young Leana Bryce, who hasn’t even debuted into society yet, will now sail across the Moor in my stead. She doesn’t deserve to marry a foreign prince with a mind deeper than the sea and two wives. But neither do I, and I made sure of it. I’m so selfish and I don’t even feel bad about it.

I take a sip of the stuff in my cup and let out a sigh. I don’t feel very good either though. I don’t feel much of anything.

It occurs to me later that night, as I ponder and plot on whom I should betroth myself to in order to prevent today from reoccurring, that the Maria of my past life would not recognize me at all. And it frightens me a bit.