21 A Dreadful Night

In the deep, dark and forbidden corners of the dragon palace, the emperor's palace,  lies the chamber of former queen Aznora. It had been abandoned years ago, but is still guarded by the Shadow Knights to hide the mysteries within.

Inside the chamber, there is a large eerie tapestry on one of the walls. Behind this, a wall panel opens to reveal a secret chamber. This chamber connects a tunnel to the sea, and was the perfect route of escape for Ophelia, if she hadn't been caught so soon.

Her mistake was very small, it was her clothes. 

Inside the palace, one's hierarchy can be identified by the types of clothes they wear. Ophelia's status was too low to even be allowed inside the dragon palace.

However, Nesrin was an imperial consort and thus she can enter the dragon palace. It would still be dangerous for her to wander near the queen's chamber but she can manage that.

She had to do so without attracting much attention, and that limited her choices to a great extent. 

It was impractical to leave the palace without anything that can help her survive for months. Money would be required for being in constant hiding and changing places, bribing officers, etc.

Nesrin creased her brows together in thought.

She can obviously not take a bag of gold with her.

What were her choices?

She wondered while gazing at the moon shrouded with clouds. The more she indulged in her thoughts, the more something felt wrong. Her heart was slightly heavy.

But some decisions can't be delayed.

Nesrin sighed and strode inside her room. She opened the bottom drawer of her dresser and pulled out a small locked chest. When she opened it, there laid a beautiful pearl necklace.

Lady Croff had said that it was a very expensive thing, and hence it would be the perfect thing which can help Nesrin survive. It had value and would be easy to hide.

But, would it be enough?

An idea formed into her mind, it was the perfect option! 

"Your highness," there was a knock on her open gates, Jeremiah bowed slightly to Nesrin with a small warm smile.

Nesrin threw her hands up in exasperation. 

"Good evening, what brought you here?"

"I am here to escort her highness to the court,"

"At this time?"

Jeremiah said nothing but nodded, his soft smile never left his face and it was beautiful and annoying at the same time. Nesrin folded her hands and tried her best to keep her annoyance hidden.

"Fine," Nesrin subconsciously fixed her hair, "But why am I summoned?"

"You are not," Jeremiah shrugged, "It's I that thought it would be best for her highness to come as well."

Nesrin's pace slowed as she glanced at him. 

"Don't worry," he chuckled, "He is just a tiny bit angry."

"That just...makes me want to worry more..."

"The presence of her highness makes him calm, so I decided to take you to the court."

"Um…" Nesrin blushed, "You are thinking too much...uh Lord Jeremiah, how can my presence make him calm?."

"I have been with him since childhood, I can understand what he thinks," Jeremiah paused and corrected himself, "Well, most of the time."

Nesrin wasn't sure on how to respond to that.

"You see, he is a man that can win thousands of wars…" Jeremiah sighed, "But when it comes to the heart, he does not understand it."

Nesrin wanted to object and say that he had been doing a lot of things to her heart despite not understanding anything.

"But, since her highness came, he has started to show changes," Jeremiah looked at her with a smile, "I won't lie and say that he loves you, but I can assure that his majesty likes your presence."

Nesrin nervously scratched the back of her neck, the words made her uncomfortable. She would be leaving as soon as possible...then what was the point?

And yet, despite knowing all that she couldn't understand, why did her heart feel this strange sort of inexplicable feeling when she thought about leaving?

Jeremiah added,

"Saint Azure is there as well, everyone likes him, I am sure her highness would love to receive his blessings?"

At this, Nesrin's slow pace stopped. 

"S-Saint Azure...?"

"Indeed, he had to reach the monastery before dawn and so he requested an immediate meeting with his majesty."

Jeremiah continued to make some one sided small talk as Nesrin's mind recalled how much of a sharp turn the story takes after the appearance of Saint Azure. 

He was a highly learned saint that was said to have knowledge about everything in this universe. That was probably an exaggeration but he was a powerful influential being nevertheless.

Izekiel had asked for his help to look into a certain matter, the saint obliged but he had found some dark evidence of Izekiel's identity while he was on his quest.

The saint said nothing to Izekiel when they met, instead he analysed him and looked into his history. Later, he came to a conclusion that Izekiel was a threat to mankind and so he revealed Izekiel's secret to the world.

That was the spark that ignited the civil war, the once secret organization which wanted to dethrone Izekiel was then supported by many.

They did not succeed in their first try, but they did give Izekiel the push he needed to succumb to his darkest instincts.

Nesrin shuddered as she recalled the vivid account of the bloodbath that followed Saint Azure's meeting with the emperor.

She clutched her fist tight.

There was only one option to divert Saint Azure's disapproval of Izekiel. Being the beloved princess of the east, Johanna had a remarkable influence on people. 

All she had to do was convince him that Izekiel was not a threat. Future consequences can be dealt with afterwards.

Her heart was unsteady, but she had no other choice than this method.

"Your highness," Jeremiah paused, "Kindly turn right, you will easily notice which is the imperial court."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"There is a small disturbance," he nodded and left.

Nesrin took a deep breath, she lifted her skirts and rushed towards the imperial court. Everything would be alright if she goes there in time. 

She will say that she is an admirer of Saint Azure and request some private time with him, then she will make up a few lies, and exaggerate the incidents when he had shown kindness to her.

Saint Azure would have no choice but to rethink his decision.

He was not an unreasonable man.

However, he was like a ticking bomb.

Nesrin was greeted by the knights and they pushed the door open. 

Her heart stopped at the scene she witnessed inside. 

The court was shrouded in darkness, the only light was from the moonlight that seeped through the curtains.

A man was lying over the pool of blood, and Izekiel was standing above him with a tainted sword. His face was dark, his eyes carried a frightening cold gaze that settled over Nesrin.