chapter 5.2

By the time the sun began to stick its head on the ground. The chief maid, Shannon, jumped out of the bedroom with a white-colored face and headed for another bedroom on the other floor of the Asdan Palace.

Knock

Knock

Knock

The owner of the bedroom, who was asleep, woke up and hurriedly opened the door at the hasty knocks. It was Felix the owner of the room. It wasn’t long after he finished the patrol of Asdan Palace that he fell asleep, but he was so alert as if just waking up from a long peaceful sleep. And as if proving his job and was ready for the worst situation, he held the sword behind his back.

Felic tilted his head when he saw the face of Shannon who visited him. It was Shannon who rarely had such a white face. She wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t urgent enough to cause her life to come and go because of her meticulousness. However, Shannon’s face, standing in front of him, was whiter than his face last night, when he almost died from sleep because of the concubine using the aphrodisiac. Her life seems to be at stake.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s gone.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“The child is gone! “

“A child?”

Felix tilted his head, wondering who Shannon was talking about. In order not to be misunderstood, Felic called Beichen and Heinley before bringing Shannon into his bedroom. He thought it would be better to have more people in the room than just him alone with Shannon.

Heinley handed Shannon a glass of cold water, and Beichen placed a blanket over her lap so that Shannon wouldn’t be so nervous. When she seemed somewhat calm, Felix asked Shannon a question.

“Would you please explain slowly? What kind of child are you talking about? “

“A child entrusted by His Majesty.”

“His Majesty entrusted a child to you?”

As Shannon nodded, Heinley tilted his head, and Beichen and Felix looked at each other with surprised faces. They had been working in the palace for a long time and were by the emperor’s side, but they had never seen or heard about any child.

“His Majesty had a child? It’s my first time hearing this. How about you Heinley?”

Heinley, who shook his head, then Felix approached Shannon and asked again.

“Slowly say it again. It’s the first time I’ve heard that His Majesty has a child. So who is His Majesty’s child?”

“I just said there was a child who was entrusted to me by His Majesty. What a crazy thing you all imagine?!”

At Shannon’s yelling voice with a contemplative face, three men who made mere speculation, smiled awkwardly. What kind of person was the emperor, and does he have a hidden child? There were a lot of women in Espa Palace, and he was the one who released his carnal desires by visiting different women every night, but there was no child. They had never heard of any of the women at Espa Palace that are pregnant with his child. Warren, the chief imperial palace doctor, personally took orders from the emperor to make contraceptives and deliver them to the hands of Shannon, so that the concubines could take it.

Shannon put the medicine daily to all the concubine’s meals and drinks, so it was natural that Emperor Jed had no heirs. He ordered the concubines to drink tea water with dried petals of Infekunris, and even float dried petals in the bathwater, so the emperor must have no children. Anyway, the three men who were surprised for a while, sighed with relief, and looked at Shannon.

“Then, who is the child that His Majesty had entrusted to you?”

In response to Felix’s question, Shannon said the most famous feature because the name didn’t come up right away.

“It was a Princess of Ctia.”

“If it’s Ctia’s princess then she is at Espa Palace.”

“No, not princess Elisha. But Spire Princess. Everyone calls her that way. Because she was a princess who was found on the spire.”

Everyone nodded as if they knew who Shannon was talking about. But soon they started to tilt their heads as if it was strange.

“But that princess is a maid. What is the big deal about the disappearance of that maid? I mean she is just one of the maids, what makes you so nervous?”

Beichen and Heinley dismissed it as a trivial matter, and said a word to Shannon’s fuss. But Felix said nothing. Seeing Felic tilting his head with a serious face as if he was thinking about something, Beichen touched him with his elbow

“Why are you being so serious?”

“She might not be just a maid…”

“Why do you think that? She is a maid. A maid with a common face everywhere. The only thing that’s unique about her is the color of her eyes. Her eyes’ color is neither the same as other Ctia’s princesses nor the same color as Pantheron’s people. If she has short hair, she will look like a boy.”

Heinley nodded and agreed with Beichen’s words. However, Shannon replied harshly.

“Why is that important! His Majesty left her to me personally and directly.”

Hearing the words Shannon emphasized, Beichen and Heinley opened their eyes as if they were confused. Whether it’s the Princess of the Spire of Ctia, a ruined country, or just a maid of the Espa Palace, the most important thing at this point was that the emperor was the one who entrusted the child. There was nothing more to say if it was a direct order. Beichen, who was sitting calmly, rolled his feet asking what should be done, then Heinley said.

“Don’t we have to wake up all the servants and find her right away?

Felix looked at them and cleared up all the situations in a single sentence.

“I took her to Espa Palace.”

“Yes?”

“She was wandering through the Imperial Palace’s central garden at night, so I took her back to Espa palace. His Majesty discovered her first, but he didn’t say anything. If she was important enough to leave her to Shannon, he would have told me to take her to Asdan Palace, not Espa.”

Shannon, listening to Felic’s words, was confused. It was the emperor who told her to teach the child well. But it didn’t make sense that the emperor told Felix to just take the child back to Espa Palace.

“If he told you to take her there, then why did he entrust me to educate her?”

“I do not know. His Majesty’s heart changes twelve times in five minutes. How can I know everything he does.”

“Well, well, if His Majesty requested you to take her there, then there would be no reason for me to go out looking anymore. I’m sorry. Everyone is sleeping, and I’m sorry to wake you up.”

Shannon stood up while apologizing. As Felix said, the emperor changed his decisions constantly so they understood Shannon’s decision. So the four thought the work of the Spire Princess, who returned to Espa Palace, was over.

******

That day, at noon at Espa Palace, Emperor Jed ordered to kill all the attendants and maids related to the concubine who used aphrodisiacs and incense in the palace. Also, the concubine’s family, who supplied the drug and incense to the concubine, was exiled. Before he made that decision, he sighed, then asked Shannon a question.

“Did you finish training? I don’t think she would have wandered around the garden like that at night if you had taught her yourself.

Or did you give up? Was it that bad?”

“Yes?”

“The child I entrusted you with.”

“Oh, that’s…”

When Shannon, who had been meticulously and neatly handling the entrusted task, hesitated and couldn’t answer, Jed raised his head and looked at her differently from usual. As Jed looked at her as if he needed an answer, Shannon answered with a nervous look.

“I couldn’t do it.”

“The reason is..?”

“Since I brought it from the Espa Palace, the child has only slept. I heard the stories from the maids at Espa Palace that she couldn’t sleep properly, so I decided to educate her when she woke up.”

Shannon’s voice trembled throughout the conversation. She expected that Jed would make a pounding noise after hearing the explanation. However, Jed seemed to be thinking something, and nodded, as if he understood the situation.

“Perhaps because she was unfamiliar with the place where she opened her eyes. She must have wandered around to get back. Since there was no one to explain to her about what happened last night, she must have gone back and got scolded. I thought she was the worst so you gave up and let her go.”

“No, Your Majesty. I haven’t spoken with the child properly yet. Then I will bring the child back and educate her.”

“Do it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

That was it. After that Jed said nothing more about her. After leaving the emperor’s office, Shannon groped and touched her head, face and neck with both hands. And all the way to Espa Palace, Shannon continued to ask the same question to Beth, her immediate maid who was following after her.

“Is my neck still attached? I am still alive, right?”

Shannon wasn’t the only one surprised, Heinley and Beichen, who had been with Shannon, were also astonished, because not once, there has never been a case where the emperor thought about people, let alone maids, for that long. However, Felix reacted differently. He stared at Shannon’s back, who was moving away with a face full of wonder rather than surprise. Beichen struck Felix’s elbow.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s weird.”

“What is? “

Felic, staring at Beichen’s curious face, immediately shook his head as if it were nothing.

“Nothing. I have to go, too.”

Felix greeted the two and then left. As they watched Felix moving away, the two looked at each other’s faces and shrugged. As Felix said, it was probably nothing.