Reason?

"What you said?"

The girl's cold tone made the maids present to see her feel nervous. Moreover, the sharp gaze towards one of the maids who was looking down after conveying information to the girl.

"Forgive me, Miss."

While the girl who was sitting with her legs crossed, clucked in annoyance at the sad face made by the maid in front of her.

"Get out of here, I'm sick of seeing your face." She said brushing her long hair.

Hearing the order from their Miss, the maids rushed out before the girl punished them.

After seeing her maids one by one coming out, her hands clenched on the table beside her. She felt irritated, biting her lower lip so hard that her lip ripped.

"Why isn't that old bastard dead yet?"

The annoyance that had almost exceeded its limit made the girl turn over the table that was standing beside her.

𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠!

Her breath hitched, staring at the vase shards scattered on the floor and even the vase shards hit her toes.

"DAMN IT!" Her scream kicked the shards of glass that stabbed her leg.

Her body felt limp, her legs were not strong enough to hold her up any longer. She slumped on the wooden floor, letting her feet get hit by the glass shards that started pierce her skin.

"I must marry the Emperor's Son." She muttered with trembling lips.

Her hazel eyes darted to the sizable wall display on the side wall of her bed. Her lips curled into a smile, a smile with a passionate impression.

"Aren't we meant to be together, Prince?"

Her feet slid towards the wall display, bringing her limp body in front of a display of a man dressed in Imperial attire. Strong broad shoulders, dark hair that adds a dashing impression, especially those red eyes that can subdue anyone including herself.

"I, Anette will make you fall in love with me, I will not allow you to be with that little bitch."

Her hand pointed to the large painting above her. The cold sweat that had started to drip from her forehead slid down her neck.

"We will be together-"

𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠...

"Princess Anette?"

Her lips pursed at the sound of a voice calling from outside her door, waiting for a moment before her face finally turned to the tightly closed door.

"Princess Anette? I heard a crash from your room, are you okay?"

Her lips smiled crookedly as she stared at the door of her room. Slowly she stood up from her knees, and with all her might she stood towards her bedroom door.

Slowly, her hand pushed on the doorknob, opening the door quite wide. It seemed that a body that was slightly taller than her was already standing in front of her room with a training uniform.

"Princess Elie?" She said after seeing the girl's face that appeared from behind the door of her room.

Meanwhile, the gray haired girl in front of her watched her with a look of worry mixed with nervousness. What's more, Elie saw Anette's leg which was full of wounds, until the blood fell near her shoe.

"What happened, Princess Anette?" Elie grabbed the arm of the girl in front of her.

But on the other hand, Anette tried to cover up her dislike after seeing the worried face, according to her, from the girl she wanted to avoid.

A smile curved Anette's face. "It's nothing, Princess Elie." She said.

𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵? Anette thought with distaste.

Seeing every side of the face of the shorter girl before her made Elie realize something.

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧. Elie thought.

Elie's amber eyes glanced into Anette's room, trying to figure out what crash sound she had heard earlier.

To her surprise, Elie saw broken vases scattered on the floor with water and flowers that had come out of the vase.

Elie's eyes glanced back at the innocent face put on by Anette. "Don't you know the Empire's rules?" She said.

Annette just shrugged. "Earlier I accidentally dropped it because my body was limp, Princess." She replied (𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨).

Elie furrowed her eyebrows. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨? She thought.

Looking at Elie who looked lost in thought made her lips smirk slightly.

"Could I ask you a favor, Princess Elie?" She asked pitifully.

Elie gasped at the sad look from this ponytail girl, even though she already felt something was off, she still nodded at Anette's request.

"How can I help you, Princess?" She asks.

Anette pushed the door of her room wider, opening a path for Elie.

"Come with me inside, Princess Elie." Anette smiled faintly.

Elie nodded, then stepped into Anette's room. Her gaze fell on the shards of the broken vase, even looking very messy.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? She couldn't stop thinking.

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠-

"I'm glad you want to help me, Princess Elie."

Elie turned her body around, facing Anette who was walking towards her.

"Should I call a maid?" She asked.

But Anette shook her head, which astonished Elie.

"Shouldn't this vase shard need to be cleaned up before the Emperor finds out?"

Anette smirked. "If the Emperor finds out that it was you, your punishment will be reduced, right?"

Elie's brow furrowed, thinking of what Anette had said.

"Did you know that the Emperor doesn't like people lying?"

Anette tilted her head. "Who said I would be lying?"

Elie was stunned, but she was taken aback by Anette who suddenly ran towards her while tearing the girl's undergarment.

"Princess Anette!" Elie shouted.

But she didn't have time to avoid it because Anette suddenly threw her own body onto the broken vase.

Elie was surprised to see Anette's actions that looked insane, then she crouched down to see that Anette's condition was even worse than before.

"What are you thinking, Princess Anette?" Elie tried to touch Anette's arm.

But the girl could only see the sly grin on Anette's face, not even a hint of pain.

"Thank you for helping me, Princess Elie." She said with a whimper.

Elie hissed. "Wake up, Princess Anette."

Meanwhile, Anette only gave Elie a faint smile. Watching with concern, Elie could see Anette who was catching her breath.

Annette took a deep breath. "𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀!!!" She screamed shrillly.

Elie stared confusedly at Anette. "Why?"

𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐊!

"Princess Anette!"

Elie flinched in surprise at the sound of the door swinging open, with calling voices appearing. The sound of footsteps coming towards her made Elie pensive looking at Anette's body.

"Why?" Elie glanced at Anette's face.

Anette saw this braided girl take her hand away from her body. A satisfied smile appeared after seeing Elie's gloomy face that looked limp.

"Help me! This is painful!" Anette shouted while looking smugly at Elie beside her.

Elie gripped her pants. "Why are you lying?" She mumbled.

Anette held her body with her palms as support. "I'm not lying, Princess Elie." She whispers.

Elie was dumbfounded at how fake the face Anette was making after seeing several maids, as well as guards coming into her room.

"What happened, Princess Anette?" Two guards approached Anette's body which looked messy.

Anette's face turned with tears that had fallen sliding down her red cheeks. With trembling lips accompanied by tears, Anette glanced at Elie, who stared blankly at the shards of the vase beneath her.

"I don't know what happened, but Princess Elie suddenly scolded me, and I don't know the reason." She spoke with a hiccup.

Anette snorted. "I was restraining Princess Elie but she got annoyed and pushed me against the vase display." She explained.

The guards and maids who came turned their attention to Elie who was just silent with blank stares, even the girl didn't stop a single word that came out of Anette's lips.

A guard, who wore black markers on the right and left of his uniform on the shoulders, paid close attention to what Princess Anette was saying.

"My apologies Princess Anette, but are you speaking the truth?" He asked directly.

Anette was stunned by the question from the guard beside her.

"Do you think I'm lying?" Anette whimper.

The guard named Kenzco Fagrifhdel turned to Elie and was sighing softly. Elie looked calm, even though she faced a situation like now.

𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳. Kenzco thought.

Elie turned to the maids who surrounded her. "Could you please call a healer here?" She requested.

Meanwhile, the three maids looked annoyed at Elie who was still behaving normally.

"Don't you feel bad about hurting Princess Anette?" Asked one of the short-haired maids.

Elie stared blankly at the maid's small face. "Did I allow you to speak? I only asked that you call a healer before Princess Anette catches an infection." She said.

The three maids snorted in annoyance. "You can call him yourself, you troublemaker."

Elie held back her annoyance, and it showed enough on her face.

"Mr. Kenzco, Please call the healer here." She asked looking at the man beside her.

Kenzco was stunned to see Elie's face that was looking at him, he could see the look of exhaustion in the eyes of the girl in front of him.

"Yes, Princess Elie." Kenzco lowered his head.

Elie turned to the three maids behind her.

"I know you are the maids of Princess Anette." Said Elie.

The three girls were silent seeing Elie's serious face. After that, Elie turned to Anette who was looking at her sarcastically.

"Take your Master to bed before she dies." She said flatly.

Not seeing any movement from the three maids behind her. Elie glanced sharply at one of the maids who had answered her earlier.

"Did you hear what I said?"

Quickly, the three maids scattered toward Anette's body which had been hit by many broken vases.

"Let us help, Princess Anette."

Then Anette received help from her maids, letting her body be carried on the bed in a sitting position.

Elie turned to the three guards who were standing in the doorway with a glance their way.

"Perform your duties according to the Empire's rules, don't be fixated on my current status," Elie spoke ending with a smile.

The taller guard of the herd also looked sadly at Elie who looked overwhelmed.

"Doesn't Princess Elie look exhausted?" Said the guard.

While his two friends just stared lazily at his friend's face.

"We have to follow the Emperor's rules, didn't the Prince just come back from his trip too?"

The bodyguard who looked sadly at Elie earlier immediately looked excited. But his face turned gloomy again after remembering how the prince's condition these past few days.

"I will report it to the Emperor." He turned around as his friends said.

When Elie, who saw the Emperor's special bodyguard turn around to leave the room, she said something that made the three bodyguards who heard her fall silent.

"And I beg you not to let Prince Clovis know of this matter, Master Ladenva." She asks for it.

Elie looked wistfully at the special bodyguard. Hearing Elie's request, he nodded.

"Orders received, Princess Elie."

𝓥𝓲𝓮𝓓𝓻𝓪

The sound of footsteps along the hallway could be heard in one of the rooms. The silence in the room made everyone in it speechless, no one even dared to speak after seeing the straight face of a girl leaning on the window.

𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤...

The girl's face turned to the closed door. Feeling a heavy air pressing down on her manna, she knew and was certain who had come into this room.

The sound of the door opening drew the attention of the people in the room, including the girl who had been watching the wooden door.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳. She thought as she turned her body around.

The door was wide open, revealing the tall build of a man clad in Imperial robes. The man's attention was initially drawn to the bed which was surrounded by guards and maids.

"Respect to the Emperor, Emperor of all Kings." The guard represents the respect that is followed by the maids.

But he wasn't looking for that, his gaze landed on the girl who was bending her body as she saw him looking at her.

"Elie."

Her body straightened again with a warm smile on her face.

"Your Highness Carlex."

After confirming that his eyesight wasn't wrong, Carlex quickened his pace towards the girl who was standing in front of the window.

In one embrace, the man took Elie's body into his arms, pressing her face into his chest.

"Are you all right?" He asks.

Elie was confused by the Emperor's reaction, moreover, the very tight hug made her body even closer to Carlex's chest.

Elie chuckled. "I am fine, Your Highness." She replied.

Carlex nuzzled his cheek in Elie's gray mane. The soft touch of his cheek made him feel much more relieved.

"I immediately ran here after hearing the news that you broke a vase." He said worriedly.

Elie felt nervous, her face looking up. "My apologies Your Highness, I accidentally dropped it."

Meanwhile, Carlex, who saw Elie's tired face, shook his head with a glum face.

"If you want to drop some more, I'm not forbidding you, Elie." He replied.

Elie took a gulp. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦? She thought.

"Your Highness.."

Still hugging Elie's body tightly, Carlex's eyes glanced at a girl who was sitting with bandages almost all over her body.

"What happened exactly, Elie?" Carlex spoke in a whisper.

Elie also glanced at Anette who was looking at the Emperor with a gaze demanding attention.

"If I tell a lie, will His Majesty hate me?"

Carlex looked down and found a serious look in the girl's amber eyes.

"I've known you for almost a year, so if you ask like that, it's a sign that what you said is just a lie." He said.

Elie grinned. "You know me very well, Your Highness."

Carlex's gaze shifted back to the girl he recognized as Crown Princess Noriatte waiting for his response.

"Let me hear your explanation, Princess Anette," Carlex said.