章 9: To meet the girl with red hair

A certain guard of the Imperial Palace was having a terrible time. He was used to his peaceful mornings that required him to do nothing but stand in front of the gates and listen to the chirping of the birds. But the red-haired lady was not giving up and his ears were starting to ring from her voice.

"Please! Just let me meet with His Highness. You can tell him that it's his fiancée, Rubiella Summers," she pleaded with the guard.

The guard sighed. "As I've told you already, you cannot go in the Imperial Palace if you're not invited. I won't take messages either. Go home already, Lady."

The lady couldn't go home. Not if she didn't want to be shouted at by her father. He had told her to meet with the Prince and confirm their engagement. The Prince was said to have been rejected by the Saintess so did it mean that Rubiella's engagement with the prince when they were still kids was still in effect?

Rubiella sighed. There were sounds of a carriage coming from the palace. Rubiella looked at it. The carriage was decorated with so much gold, it seemed to be ablaze under the sun.

It must me a member of the Imperial Family, Rubiella decided. Perhaps someone could get her in touch with the prince or it could be the prince himself! Rubiella stood to the side as the guard opened the gates.

The carriage stopped in front of her and the door opened. It was him!

Rubiella felt relieved. Her efforts were not in vain!

His golden hair shone brightly under the sunlight. He looked at her with so much . . . disdain? She must have seen wrongly. Maybe he was just irritated at the sunlight.

Rubiella curtsied. "Praise be, future Sun of our Empire."

"The future Sun shines upon you," the crown prince replied as customary.

"What brings you here, Lady Rubiella?" Vincent asked.

Rubiella felt uncomfortable speaking about their engagement in such a public area. Were they really just gonna discuss their engagement in front of the palace gates?

"I would like to speak to you about a private matter, Your Highness. If it's not too inconvenient for you, perhaps we could talk about it in a private place?" Rubiella said.

"No, what is it? I have somewhere to attend to and you're wasting my time. Tell me now or I'll leave," Vincent said.

Rubiella felt scared. She shouldn't be scared of someone she might be married to one day but she couldn't help it. The crown prince obviously was not taken with her. Maybe it was her hair. It was so unruly and so red. She wished she was born with the light blonde hair that most ladies had.

"I . . . wish to speak to you about our engagement, Your Highness," Rubiella said.

The crown prince raised his eyebrow at her.

"As you know, our families have promised us to each other when we were still children. My father would just like to know when we can formalize our engagement, Your Highness," Rubiella said.

The Queen and Rubiella's mother, Rosietta, had been best friends before they became married women. Queen Celestinia was a countess before she was married to King Raegan. Rosietta was a viscountess, a rank lower, but that did not hinder their friendship even after marriage.

The two ladies promised that their children will be married to each other when they come of age. Their husbands also knew of the promise and they didn't have a problem with it until the High Priest declared that the Saintess will arrive in Aderlan years later. It was customary for the Saintess to be engaged to the Imperial Family.

Rosietta fell ill and died when Rubiella was only nine years old. The Queen attended her funeral and it was the last time the Summers family had a connection with the Queen.

Lord Edward, Rosietta's husband, did not want to lose the connection with the Imperial Family. His business flourished because he had told everyone that his daughter was engaged to the Prince. He didn't want to lose his business connections. He tried several times to speak to the Queen, but he was refused.

Still, Lord Edward educated Rubiella in all of the subjects that future queens were expected to know of. Then the twentieth birthday of the crown prince came and all of the aristocrats were invited for the ball.

Rubiella was nervous. The last time she saw the prince was when she was nine years old. Her father had repeatedly told her that she was still engaged to him. She was not allowed to be courted by other noble men. She was raised only for the crown prince.

During the ball, she was able to dance with the crown prince. He had become more handsome. He was like the prince in the fairytales she had read in her room because she was not allowed to go outside. She introduced herself and said that she was his fiancée. The prince looked surprised but he did not contradict her. Rubiella thought that perhaps he would like to talk about their engagement in private after the ball.

Days passed until days became months and still, the prince made no contact with her. She wondered if all engagements were like that. Perhaps they would only start to get to know each other when they become husband and wife.

Then the Saintess arrived. The crown prince publicly declared the Saintess as his fiancée but he was publicly rejected in front of all the nobles.

Rubiella's father had enthusiastically told her about it repeatedly. It meant that the original engagement between the Summers family and the Imperial Family would still proceed he said. The only thing they needed was the formal engagement contract.

"We're not engaged, Lady Rubiella. The viscount must be confused," the crown prince said.

"No, our mothers promised us to each other. Her Highness knows about this, I swear. Our mothers were best friends," Rubiella protested.

"I recall that your mother, Lady Rosietta, is already dead. The promise does not hold to the dead. Also, the Saintess is to be my future queen. She would come around eventually when she gets used to her life here in Aderlan," the crown prince said.

Rubiella looked at him in shock. She never knew that the crown prince was such a hateful man.

"If your father will still insist, perhaps I can take you as my royal concubine. You would be delighted with that, I presume?" He smirked.

She'd rather face her father's wrath than this hateful prince! Rubiella hurriedly curtsied.

"I will not keep you any longer, Your Highness. I bid you a safe trip," Rubiella said and ran away.

She was reprimanded, of course. She told her father that the prince did not acknowledge the engagement. Her father threw a fit and shouted at her. He said that she must have not have tried hard enough.

But she did. She stood in front of those palace gates under the hot sun, begging the guard to let her in.

She didn't tell her father what the crown prince had said about making her his royal concubine. She had a feeling that her father might agree to that happily. She didn't want to be a concubine. She didn't even want to be a queen.

Rubiella looked outside her window. The sun had just set, tinting the skies with orange and red hues. Her mother had hair just like the sunset. Would mother have also pushed her to be engaged to the crown prince if she was still alive?

A knock interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in," Rubiella said.

It was Annie, her favorite maid.

"What is it, Annie?" Rubiella asked.

The maid looked worried. "I'm sorry, My Lady. His Lordship, your father, did not allow us to bring you any food. He said it is to be your punishment for not formalizing the engagement."

Rubiella sighed. Her father had starved her whenever he was displeased with her. She was used to it but it didn't mean that she was not hungry.

Rubiella smiled to Annie. "Don't worry. I know you have to obey his orders but I do have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything, My Lady," Annie said.

"Could you lend me an extra maid uniform? I want to eat outside. Also, make sure to leave the window unlocked so I can sneak in again," Rubiella said.

Annie's eyes widened. "It's dangerous, My Lady! They say that there are women who have gone missing during night time."

"It's going to be fine. I won't stay out too long. I'll even bring my dagger with me," Rubiella assured her and showed the maid a dagger with red roses engraved on its hilt. It was owned by Rubiella's mother.

"As you wish, My Lady. Let me get you a clean uniform," Annie said and left.

Rubiella had sneaked out before to eat while she was in maid uniform. No one would suspect that she's the young lady of the Summers family. There weren't many who knew her face because her father did not allow her to attend social events. Her father did not want her to be courted by "useless men." For him, only the crown prince was worthy to be his son-in-law.

Annie returned with the maid uniform. Rubiella wore the uniform which was a black dress and a white apron. She also tied her long red hair into a bun and tucked it inside a white maid cap.

Rubiella looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled to herself. She was going to eat dinner and her father would not know.

Annie made a makeshift rope using a spare blanket. She let down one end outside of the window and tied the other end to the bed.

"Please be careful, My Lady," Annie said.

Rubiella hugged Annie. It wasn't normal for a noble lady to hug a maid but Rubiella was not a normal noble lady. She was a nice noble lady.

"I'll be fine," Rubiella said and ventured out into the night.

Meanwhile, in the Ashburn residence, the head butler was also getting ready to go outside. His master had given him the command to investigate the illegal slavery in Aderlan. He didn't know how he could get information about the King so he'll investigate the illegal slavery first. Maybe he'll get more luck with that.

He removed his butler clothes and changed to clothes that made him look like a noble man. They were formerly owned by the Duke and they were given to him. They were still in nice condition. Hansel had a feeling that they were still new and Lucien just told him that they were old already just so he'd accept them.

Hansel removed his hair tie, his light brown hair cascaded like a waterfall on his shoulders. He also removed his eyeglasses. His green eyes glowed like emeralds under the moonlight.

He actually did not need to wear eyeglasses but they helped conceal his piercing green eyes. The eyeglasses were given to him by the King. They were infused with magic which made his green eyes looked gray. The King had commanded him to wear them when he was assigned as Lucien's personal aide.

Hansel went out of the Duke's residence and decided to go to a pub that both nobles and commoners frequented. He often got his information from there.

As he walked towards the pub, he saw a lady being pulled into a dark alley by two men. He shouldn't get involved. He should focus on his investigation but he found himself going into the alley.

They were not there. The alley was actually a pathway. Hansel followed the dark pathway.

"No! Unhand me! Unhand me, you ruffians!" A female voice shouted.

Hansel quickened his pace.

"We got a new one, Boss," a gruff male voice said.

"Hmm...she looks pretty. She'll sell for good coin," another male voice said.

Hansel finally got out of the pathway and found himself standing in front of a seedy old building with red lanterns hanging at the front.

A brothel.

The three men saw him. Two of them were holding the woman while the other one seemed to be their boss.

"What are you looking at, eh?" One of the men holding the woman said.

"Please help me. They have kidnapped me!"

The woman looked at him tearfully. Her hair had fallen out of her cap. Her hair was like the color of sunset, a blend of red and orange.

"Are you just going to stare, eh? If you're not a customer, piss off!" The other man said.

Hansel looked at the woman. Her clothes indicated that she was a maid but her skin looked unblemished, and her hair . . . He wondered how it would look like in the morning light. He wondered how it would feel to run his fingers through those curly red tresses.

"I'll take her," Hansel said.