A girl sat alone on the cold floor, resting her back on a book shelf as her toes curled with excitement. Her fingers were latched on the hard cover of the fine printed book.
Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she read peacefully. She loved the smell of the pages.
The servants had scolded her earlier to focus on her Lady training, but she found a way to sneak out today. There was hardly any free time to relax and read calmly ever since they arrived at the estate.
She flipped to another golden page where an ink drawing of an animal stayed. At the sides were a writing describing the creature to originate from the world of Enga, a mammal with six leg and a long beak. Apparently, it was the only one of its kind that pooped heart shaped feces pellets that smelled sweet.
A small giggle escaped the girl's soft pink lips.
A heart shapes feces pellets sounded ridiculous.
Suddenly a sound caught her attention.
A small sniffle.
The girl blinked as she lowered the book, turning her head. The sound was distant yet close at the same time.
The girl got up as she came to realize that the sound was coming from behind the shelf she was leaning on.
Her small fair hand pulled out a book, revealing a small vertical hole where she could look through.
Her sapphire iris shined through the new space spying.
There was a person crouching with their head on their knees.
The girl quietly stepped back, thinking for moment.
Slowly she walked to towards the direction of the person
It was a young boy. Which was strange as there were not many young males working in the estate. Especially not one daring to enter the head library.
He didn't seem to care that another person had blocked the golden light casting from the window. He was wearing all black and his hair was covered with a short black kir, a head garment usually worn by the upper class males. The lords and governors usually wear them, but she had never seen a boy his age wear a kir before. Wasn't he too young?
Oh.
She realized. Just who was daring to enter the main manor.
It was none other than the crown prince. The boy who had arrived a few days ago with princess Imagi.
Her betrothed.
She inched closer to him silently and crouched at his side. The prince didn't respond, all she heard were light sobs coming from him, while his elbow covered his face.
Was he crying?
What could make an In'er cry? A being so powerful, the entire universe practically rested on him to maintain peace, not just in Naqil. Naqil was the strongest Empire in the seven realms. So every Empire looked up to the In'er to enforce the peace treaties. Without him, there would be war again. An inter-realm war would be devastating beyond comprehension.
But then again, the prince was also still currently a twelve year old boy.
She thought for second.
"Do you know that the Kula bird lays its egg just to eat them? And a Noor fly needs to drink the blood of thirty five adults before it can enter metamorphosis?" The girl said.
The boy became silent, raising his head in her direction, pair of sparkling light-blue eyes peeking at her.
Evere's breath hitched as her eyes grew, everything seemed to stop around her.
Pretty.
He had the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen.
They were wet like crystals, yet it held a mysterious coldness within them. She had never seen eyes with a shade of blue so light. It reminded her of the sky on a cold morning. Even more his eyes had some speck of white light that resembled stars. Some of the lights were moving. Wait, were they actual stars?
His eyebrows furrowed like he was surprised to see her.
This was the nature of the In'er?
Books could never capture what it felt like to look in the eyes of one. It was magical.
The lightness of the eyes contrasted with the darkness of his thick long black eyelashes and eyebrows.
He almost looked like a girl.
"Why are you crying?"
The boy didn't answer he merely stared at her, like he was studying her. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind.
Which made Evere nervous. "My name is Evere. We met the other day… um… Would you like to read a book with me?" She had never formally introduced herself until now. They had only seen each other from a distance.
One of the downsides about arranged marriages. They didn't need to know each other for the arrangement to be made.
The boy didn't respond right away but his eyes did grow slightly with interest.
"What would you like, fiction or non-fiction?" Evere asked with a smile.
His lips parted to speak…
+++-------------++++
"Your highness…"
"Your highness?"
A soft voice called out breaking through her sleep. "Queen Evere, could you please wake up. You're going to be late."
Evre parted her eyes revealing dark sapphire eyes. A woman stood beside her bed with a big smile, while the other maidens fluttered to open the curtains and do some others things in the room.
Today was a big day!
"Oh my, I overslept!" Evere gasped as she got up from the bed. The girls rushed to dress the white sheets of the bed.
Opilia laughed calmly. "No you're not. Matter of fact, if we prepare you on time you should be three hours early. You told us to wake up five hours ahead, remember?"
Opilia smiled warmly at the girl she had nurtured until her grown age. Everette had sent out a requested to switch her former head maiden and employ Opilia instead.
Evere's shoulders relaxed as she scratched the back of her head. "Thank you, Opilia, for remembering. I don't know what I would do without you."
"It is my duty as your Head maiden," Opilia bowed as she smiled. She felt proud to be lowering her head to a future queen. And possibly, Empress.
"I read this book yesterday," Evre said as she twirled around gracefully, white evening gown dancing in the air. "It was the loveliest tale, about the cultures and traditions of a princess who was a Light Elve."
"You read about the Emperor's enemies now, be careful." Opilia poured a tea in a small ceramic teacup at the side of Evre's bed as two servants walked into the room with a dress already prepared, with the day's jewelry.
"His highness wouldn't mind. After all he is supposedly marrying one," Evere replied referring to the Earth woman rumors carried to have entered the Harem.
"Indeed I was surprised as well. I wonder what his Majesty was thinking, choosing such a woman," Opilia answered slipping into thoughts. "But to be fair, there are all sorts of women in the Harem," The rest were concubines, and brides.
"I will be seeing her today. And the other brides," Evere said, a trail of sadness in her voice. "I have never thought about what I would do with myself, meeting the others,"
A small tiny dark cloud formed in her chest. Was that jealousy?
"Do you think he would find someone small as me attractive?" Evere suddenly felt self-conscious. "I'm afraid the other girls may be quite delightful."
"As expected!" Opilia responded making Evere pout.
"But, you are no small flower yourself. Do you know how many men scrambled to get your attention back home? You are quite special, your Highness, even without realizing it." Opilia picked up the teacup from the tablet. "Look, you two haven't seen each other for decades. I'm sure he was just as surprised by your physical changes as you were of him. Here, drink your tea." She served the small blonde her morning tea to help her skin. Although she already had glowing clear white skin.
"Thank you, Opilia." Evere took the cup moving to sit down somewhere. As she settled, she pressed her lips on the rim of the ceramic. "He's taller now and certain features are different. I almost didn't recognize him myself. He has always quite been alluring when he was younger. But dare I say he has changed quite a lot."
"Changed?"
"He has become incredibly... incredibly…" Everette's mind discreetly flashed to Najeer's sharp jawline, his broad shoulders, lips. Her face flushed pink. "...hot."
The occupants in the room paused directing their gaze at Everette.
Evere's cheeks burned deep instantly, from the realization of attention on her. "The tea. I meant the tea was hot. The tea," her pale skin flushed into a deeper shade of red as she bent head in shame. Everyone could see through her lies.
Opilia raised an eyebrow.
"Of course your highness, tea," Opilia gave a knowing look and the other maidens giggled
"Don't worry, your highness, we've all been there," a maiden laughed.
"Yes. Don't feel shy."
Ever sighed in defeat as they all giggled once again.
All the maidens of Queen Everettes residence loved her. She was kind, sweet and soft-spoken, despite being a noble pure-blood woman herself. She could easily kill everybody in that room in a heartbeat, but she never once let the power imbalance show.
All maidens who served in the Royal Harem were militarily trained high Qiras. But even they had those above them. High Qiras were powerful, but when it came to nobles they were no match. And nobles had no match when it came to a purebreed. Purebreeds were descendants from the truest bloodline of the founder Qiras, unmixed without the taint of a low Qira or the dilution of a normal Qira.
What drew the maidens toward Evere wasn't only her unparalleled rare beauty, nor her power. People flocked around Evere because they were more than aware she was most likely to become the Empress.
Among the other brides, none were on her level.
Many had been watching behind the veil as the she grew. She was the Emperor's twenty fourth betrothed set up by the late princess. Yet only she managed to sway his heart. Her gentleness won him over.
Everyone had seen how attached he was to her. For a prince who didn't show much emotions, even a little expression of warmth revealed a lot.
The Emperor had shown no interest in any other girl in the past. Till this day, no woman came close as a companion. Not like Evere. People deduced it was his way of being faithful to Evere.
Everyone knew they had been young lovers.
"Shall I lead you to your bath?" Opilia asked.
"Yes." Ever said in a gentle polite tone. She was done drinking anyway.
In a minute Evre was escorted to the bathhouse. There, she sank into the pool which was already hot thanks to the maidens.
"This feels delightful," she sighed.
The maidens gloated from being appreciated by Evere. Soap was poured on her back as two maiden girls began to gently wash her body.
Her cheeks flushed from the touches, but she was used to it by now.
The maidens could feel that she was tense.
"Are you nervous meeting with In'er again, Your highness?"
Evre nodded as she sank deeper into the water until half of her face was covered.
The girls giggled
Evere popped her head back up. "Don't laugh at me."
"I am sorry your highness, but you just look too cute when you do these things"
"That was not my intention." Evre whispered as her eyes shyed away. "It's just that," she sighed, "Its nothing." For so long, she had been aware that he had other betrothed, but it always felt like it was just the two of them. She liked it when she could pretend they didn't exist, but now that fact was unavoidable.
"I think I can guess the problem. Don't worry, you are still his Majesty's priority," a girl said.
"Perhaps. But, he is a man after all," Evre said. "how sure are we?"
"A heart that's yours is yours," Opilia said. "You must have faith in the Emperor."
Everette fluttered her eyes to the side. She couldn't wait to dance with him tonight. She had been practicing her dance all week. She was a bad dancer.
Preparation for the Fayere feast had been a lot to handle. Especially deciding on the dress, and the constant messages she received concerning her pre-debut. Many governors and Court officials were sending request ahead of time to join her party. They wanted to support her for Empress.
The Campaign was right around the corner she couldn't just ignore the messages, she and Opilia had to write back to every single one of them. Thankfully she had assistants to help her do most of the work. But having to shuffle it with dance practice and other things was exhausting. That along with sorting and scheduling several invitations to formal parties organized by powerful names and clans in the High Court.
The portal keys would be distributed to the main brides after the Fayere feast. The named women of the Harem could then move in and out of the palace as much as they pleased before the wedding.
Not even married yet, yet queen duties were already piling up for Evre.
When fully washed, she got out of the spring pool. The servants wore her a robe to cover her nakedness.
In only a few hours the Fayere feast would begin. She wondered what they would've like. And if they had the same trouble of work like her.