Chapitre 16: An Enemy enters the Palace (2)
Dragon Garden.
"Mother, please, you really have to listen to me," Edward pleaded again to his mother. He had been asking the Empress to replace Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting for quite a few times now.
"This is the 10th time you are asking me that, and I am telling you for the 10th time now that no, I will not replace Isabel and Ruth just because she feels unsafe. Those girls have been serving the palace for quite a few years now, they almost grew up with you," Empress Natasha said as she gently sprayed a plant with water.
Edward has no choice but to tell his mother that a Mage was coming to the palace.
"Well then, if you may, I'd like to place Liz's safety in the hands of the Magus," Edward said.
"Mage?" Natasha dropped the spray bottle upon hearing the word, Mage.
"Yes. She sent for a Mage. You know she already forged an alliance with a Mage," Edward said as he turned to leave.
Empress Natasha thought for a while. It will be too awkward to have a Mage inside the palace. So, she made a very hard decision.
"Alright. I'll replace them but first, let me talk to her," Natasha said as she bent down to pick up the spray bottle.
"When do you want to speak with her?" Edward asked.
"I'll send for her," Natasha said as she turned towards the palace and left.
A few hours later, Elizabeth, Ethan, and Queen Mother Aleksandra entered the Court of Royals.
"This is absurd! Why would such a low princess like her remove my daughter from her ladies-in-waiting! I have contributed much to the country's economy! How dare you slander me like this, your Highness," Isabel's father growled.
"My Ruth has served this palace for a lot more years than that girl has stayed here! If you remove my daughter, then I shall withdraw all my investments in this country!" Ruth's father said.
'They're quite bold to be speaking like that to the Emperor' Aleksandra thought as she observed the scene in front of her.
"That useless girl, for all we know is cursed. Her mother had died from birth. Do you think she is really suitable for the position of Empress? No mother has guided her all these years!" Isabel's father raged.
Aleksandra scoffed at the word. She looked at Elizabeth who was sitting beside her, her face remained calm and very indifferent.
'No one is going to slander my granddaughter in front of me' Aleksandra thought.
"Excuse me, but I think you are wrong about how useless my granddaughter is," Aleksandra said as she slowly stood up.
The noblemen didn't know who she was so they looked at the old woman who was dressed more elegantly than the Empress.
"And who is this woman? How dare you interrupt us!" Isabel's father said as he pointed towards the Queen Mother.
The Emperor and Empress held their seats. It was wrong to make the Queen Mother of Taskia angry. They knew that once Aleksandra is angry, she'll set the person on fire until that person is reduced to ashes.
The Empress quickly stood up and bowed to the queen.
"Your grace," the Empress greeted.
After hearing these, the two noblemen's face went pale. The one they were slandering was a Royal who has much superior power than the Emperor and Empress.
"I highly disagree that she is cursed. My daughter, her mother, was Crown Princess of Taskia, Land of the dragons, my Empire. She is of high status and how dare you to speak of her like that," Aleksandra said as she slowly went back to her throne.
"I beg your forgiveness, your Grace. We did not know," Isabel's father said as he bowed in front of Aleksandra.
"Do you want to know why Elizabeth doesn't want them?" Aleksandra asked, taunting the young girls who were sitting and observing the scene on the sideways.
The two noblemen remained quiet while their heads are lowered.
"Isabel, Ruth, do you think I wouldn't know what you did earlier?" Aleksandra asked the two girls.
The Emperor and the Empress were listening closely.
The girls were sweating cold with nervous. They were sure they put the poison secretly and no one saw them in the kitchen.
"Should I tell them?" Aleksandra asked the two girls.
Before Aleksandra could even speak, the two girls ran in front and bowed to the Emperor and Empress crying.
"I'm so sorry, your Majesties. Please forgive us. We won't do it again. I'm so sorry. Please, if you want to replace us, please do," Isabel cried.
"Yes, we're very sorry," Ruth cried.
Aleksandra slowly stood up from her chair and approached the two girls.
The two girls were stunned at what happened to them.
A hand mark was left on both cheeks of both girls. The Queen Mother had slapped them.
"Try poisoning my granddaughter again, I will burn you to ashes," she said as she made her way to her throne. "I may be a grandmother already but I am not that old to protect her!" she raged.
"We're very sorry, Your Grace. We will not do it again!" Ruth cried as she crawled towards Aleksandra's chair.
The Emperor, hearing that the two girls poisoned the Crown Princess, the girl who was going to be the Empress very soon, was enraged at them. He looked at the parents of the girls who were now silent. He stood up and decided to lecture them.
"Both of you were so brave in condemning me and the entire country, and yet your daughters have made the worst crime of them all. How dare you try to poison the Crown Princess? Was it your father that made you do it? Want to take the Crown Princess' spot for yourselves?" the Emperor roared.
This time, the noblemen were kneeling in front of the Emperor begging for their lives to be spared.
"Please forgive my daughter. I will support the entire country until I day, please spare us, your Majesty," Isabel's father pleaded.
But the Emperor remained indifferent to them.
"Guards, take these criminals away. I don't want to see them ever again," the Emperor said as he ordered the soldiers to arrest the criminals.
After everyone had calmed down, the Emperor looked at Elizabeth who was looking indifferent even after all the happenings that just happened.
"Elizabeth, now you don't have ladies-in-waiting, do you have someone in mind to replace those treacherous girls?" Philippe asked.
Cordelia stood up and bowed to the Emperor before speaking.
"Yes, your Majesty. Irina, Qeillith, come in," she ordered.
Irina and Qeillith were dressed elegantly as they entered the court.
"Qeillith is my dragon, your Majesty. And Irina is the Crown Prince of Taskia's second dragon," Elizabeth said.
The Emperor and Empress looked at each other.
"Very well, Qeillith and Irina, I hope you take care of our Crown Princess properly," the Empress said.
Qeillith and Irina bowed to the Empress before speaking.
"We will, your Majesties," both of them said in unison.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone