Welcoming Dinner
Ashley racked her brains the whole afternoon afternoon she was confined in her room. She decided that she would sneak out tonight. She will do her best to keep herself quiet and escape this place. Furthermore, she discovered that she was in the most dangerous place in the entire kingdom. She was literally thrown into the Lion's den. The home of the most powerful vampire.
The Emperor...
A while back, when the maids were tending to her, she was shocked to find out that she was actually inside the Royal Palace and the person she talked to was actually the Emperor. The maids answered her questions while they were busy scrubbing her clean.
The maid said she was in the Empire of Altria. After that she didn't answer any of her questions which was because the head court lady gave the maid a sharp look.
It appears that the head court lady didn't like her. She was nonchalant the whole time and had a strict look on her face all the time.
Danger signs and alarms started appearing and ringing in her head ever since she caught that important piece of information. She really had to leave this place. She grew more paranoid and blamed her luck. If she succeeds in her escape plan, then she'll find a way to return to her world.
Ashley looked at the setting sun from her window. She huffed the air in her cheeks. Her face didn't hurt that much anymore. The swelling also subsided.
She was slightly feeling a sense of foreboding. She feared meeting the Emperor tonight. She didn't know why she was brought here in the first place or if it has something to do with him. All she could do was wait until it was time for dinner.
She observed the sky. It looked beautiful. There were shades of pink, orange, red and black. It seemed like a magical painting.
Below the Palace were the houses and buildings in town. The architecture was Romanesque style. However, she was baffled when she saw lamp posts powered by electricity.
'So they have electricity here.'
There were lights that came from bulbs but the empire wasn't still advanced compared to where she came from. There was no technology. She found it weird.
She was suddenly curious to what those towns were like. If only this place wasn't dangerous for her, she wouldn't mind sightseeing and window shopping. But too bad..
She frowned. The feeling of uncertainty was slowly creeping up to her heart once again. Things that happen to her only keep getting worse.
She sighed. She was caught helpless in the whole situation. She decided to just go with the flow. If it was destined for her to be a meal then so be it. But, she wouldn't die without fighting for her life.
She continued to enjoy the peaceful scenery and calmed her agitated heart.
When it was already seven o'clock, a servant went to inform her about their dinner. She guided Ashley towards the Emperor's Palace. It was where they were going to have dinner.
The big doors leading to the Emperor Dining Room opened. There, sat Ramier with a bored look on his face. Upon seeing Ashley's arrival his mood completely changed.
He immediately stood up and greeted her. Ashley cautiously greeted back. He moved the seat for her. Ashley never thought of him as quite of a gentleman. They waited for the food to be served.
She stayed quiet the whole time while Ramier was observing her. He didn't expect her to be quite behaved this time.
"You seem different from this morning. It's quite... odd. Is there a problem?"
He tried to sound as polite as possible but with his straightforward manner; he couldn't help but blurt out an insult.
Ashley shook her head and pressed her lips in a thin line. She thought he was blatantly insulting her. What does he mean by odd? Does he mean that she was noisy?
She played with her fingers. Actually, the reason why she isn't talking nor looking at him was because she was so nervous. The image he held in her mind was now scarier than ever. The most powerful vampire was in front of her, insulting her. She couldn't refute. That would be suicide if she did.
Other than that, she was also thinking if she would proceed with her escape plan later. She doubted if it would be a success or not. Finally the food was served before them. The aroma of the freshly cooked delicacies wafted in the air. Ashley closed her eyes in delight and enjoyed the smell.
Ramier observed change in expression and smiled. It appears that the legacy was pleased with the food.
They started eating and he decided that it was time to carry on with their discussion. He looked at Ashley, who was clearly enjoying the food, before speaking.
"If the legacy does not mind, may I know her name?" he asked.
Ashley stopped her chewing. She raised her head to look at Ramier who was expecting her answer. She pointed a finger to herself asking if he was referring to her. She wasn't paying attention and just heard the last part of his sentence.
"Yes..You" he answered.
Ashley swallowed the food down to her throat and answered. "I'm Ashley, Your Highness." she took another bite to ease her nervousness.
"So..Ashley, where are you from?"he said, testing the waters.
"From Earth.. I guess."she hesitantly answered.
Well, she decided to say the name of the planet she lived on. If she said that she lived in a country, how was he supposed to know? It was better to say Earth, since this was obviously a different world.
"Where is that?" he asked curiously. He tried to think of a place in Altria or in Ladell that had the name 'Earth'. Or could it possibly be in another continent?
"Ugh... Solar system? " she said in a small voice. If he asked her where that is, she wouldn't know what to say. She would obviously say it's in the Milky way but that would be nonsense since he wouldn't know.
They probably haven't discovered planets here.
He decided to stop there. There was obviously no place like that in the continent. He decided not to pry anymore and changed his question.
"So. Do you know why you're here?"
Ashley shook her head.
"You are our legacy this year." he explained to her. Ashley raised her brows. Now, this was one of the things she wanted to ask about.
"Legacy? What do you mean, your Highness? "
Ramier smiled at her. "Please stop with the formalities.. Just call me Ramier." he said.
Ashley gulped and rephrased her question. "What is a legacy, Uhm Ramier. How am I a legacy?"
Ramier put down his fork and focused his gaze on her.
"Well you see. We have this thing that happens every year." he started. "Every two years, a sacred box from our Goddess would open and reveal an item. That box was called Amilia's box and the item would be called legacy. That—"
"And then I came out of that box, did I?" she said, finishing his explanation. "So you're saying, Im a—"
"Legacy... You are the legacy this year." he said confirming her statement.
Her mind went blank and she opened her mouth with shock. This was indeed a big revelation on her part.
'Well, that's f*cked up. '