Episode 6

Limited in my activities, I could only await the evening within that room. Despite the screams of panic inside my head. I washed up, donned a strikingly sexy silk nightgown accentuating my body's curves. Ready for my wedding night, yet the emperor remained absent, even after countless hours had passed. I assumed he had merely stepped out to prepare in another chamber, but I was mistaken. Would he fail to appear? It made no sense. If his goal is to sire heirs, he wouldn't skip tonight. I just have to wait.

Surveying the room, it was undeniably luxurious, surpassing any place in the north, not that I'd seen many places. The room is irrelevant, though. The pressing question remains: why didn't he kill me upon our encounter? Clearly, I'm not an ideal empress candidate. He gains nothing from me. Yet, I shouldn't rejoice too soon. There's no assurance, even now, that I'll stay alive or wake tomorrow. If that's the case, I ought to enjoy my surroundings. Uncertain of tomorrow's existence, I must embrace today with zeal. Who cares where he is or when he might kill me?

"If I am to be slain, I'll drink and feast on everything here as if there's no tomorrow," I shouted, leaping from the bed. I'll enjoy the remaining life as best as I can. Eyeing a bottle nestled in ice, it became my initial target. "This looks expensive! What can it be? Let's drink and find out. Tonight holds promise."

While I was getting intoxicated by the awful-tasting liquor, bouncing on the bed like a trampoline, the emperor was in his office finishing his last duties. Jones, one of his most loyal knights, was reporting to him.

"Your Majesty, regarding your orders. The teachers tasked with the empress's education have all been killed," Jones informed with a serious tone.

"So soon? That was swift. As expected of my right hand. With you, I have no worries," Icaro commented, pleased with the speed of the execution. Despite, deep down, he didn't really care about the teachers' existence.

"It's not quite like that, Your Majesty. There's a misunderstanding on your part. I did nothing. They had been poisoned and were dead upon our arrival to gather information about them," Jones expressed his concern over the facts. It didn't seem like a good development.

"Yes. I understand. Surely, they orchestrated all this from the beginning. It explains much," Icaro had suspected that the swift dispatch of a princess without question had a reason behind it.

"Changing the subject, are you working on purpose, Majesty?" Jones remarked, noticing Icaro was busy signing some documents.

"What makes you think that?" Icaro asked, confused.

"You've been deliberately ignoring the marriage issue. Eagerly awaiting the enemy's move. Just looking for a chance to catch them red-handed. I thought you might be doing the same now. Using the empress as bait. Oh, by the way, what is she like? Does she seem capable of wielding a sword or using poison? Did anything about her catch your attention?" Jones was quite curious about me, having been busy during the ceremony, he didn't get to meet me personally. He missed quite a spectacle.

"I'm not sure. I'd need to observe her longer to know. In truth, she is rather... peculiar. I don't think I've ever seen a woman like her," Icaro casually replied, pondering what I had said the first time our eyes met.

"What?" Jones seldom saw such an attitude from the emperor, who was usually not just strict but also diligent.

"I have some exciting business tonight. I am not pretending anything. In fact, I'm somewhat eager," the emperor explained, sorting the papers he had signed.

"What do you need to do, Majesty? Your schedule is clear for tonight," Jones asked, looking at the notebook in his hand where the Emperor's agenda was noted.

"I am married. My nights are to be busier from this point on, no? At least, that's what I suspect. I've never truly been married; it is merely an assumption. Regardless, I feel it's going to be quite a noisy night," Icaro stated, withdrawing a small dagger from his desk drawer. "I plan on having a magnificent night!"

Meanwhile, in the room, I lay sprawled on the bed with the empty bottle of liquor beside me. I wonder when it got so warm? Isn't it winter? Could winter be warm in the south? I feel dizzy and feverish. No way, could the alcohol have made me weak?