The Breakfast Dress (Ch.19)

"Can you just tell me how to get rid of this?" Chantria asked Gemi with a frown after Amir and the red haired male had left.

Gemi giggled quietly as Chantria stared down at the tail with annoyance.

Gemi had helped Chantria out of the bath pool and into a reclining chair at one end of the large bathroom.

"Usually, Your Grace has complete control over your shift. It only ever appeared at will, I believe as long as Your Grace wills it away, your legs should return." Gemi replied thoughtfully.

Chantria nodded slowly, her gaze narrowing as she glared down at the tail and willed for it to return to her legs.

In the next moment, a tingling sensation rushed up Chantria's legs as she watched her scales vanish rapidly, her tail giving way for her legs to take it's place.

"Hallelujah!" Chantria cheered in relief,

"What does that mean?" Gemi asked in bafflement,

Chantria opened her mouth to begin explaining, but deciding against it, she shook her head as she kicked her legs and wiggled her toes before staring warily at the water.

"Does this happen every time I come in contact with water?" Chantria asked apprehensively.

"Ah...not as long as Your Grace relearns how to control the shift, then it will only occur at Your Grace's will." Gemi replied in amusement.

"Put that up on my To-do list then." Chantria murmured as she pulled her robes tighter around herself and headed out into her room.

Chantria's gaze first settled on the luxurious silk dress spread out on her bed and she passed a glance over at Gemi.

"Am I going somewhere?" Chantria asked, puzzled by the extravagant clothing.

"Yes, Your Grace is going down to the dining hall to have the breakfast meal with the Lords." Gemi replied in confusion.

Chantria glanced back at the dress, the corset catching her eyes and leaving a very unsettling feeling,

Chantria then turned back to Gemi and shook her head.

"Tell me that isn't the dress for breakfast." Chantria said in a serious tone.

"It certainly is. Your Grace is a lady of nobility and an Imperial Princess, your status demands formalities and the most refined of everything at all times." Gemi said perfunctorily.

"So this is what I usually wear to breakfast?" Chantria asked, doubting anyone could actually eat anything in such a stiff clothing.

Chantria would not even be willing to wear it on a normal day, not to mention just to go down to breakfast... what was this? The 90's?

Even then, Chantria did not believe there had been such an outrageous rule as dressing so extravagantly even to have breakfast in one's own home.

"What?" Chantria asked when Gemi did not respond immediately but instead diverted her gaze nervously.

"Well the thing is... Your Grace was never fond of having breakfast in the dining hall with the Lords,"

"Your Grace would eat up here in your room...or would head out to the Lavender Tea House, an establishment belonging to one of Your Grace's...male friends..." Gemi revealed hesitantly.

"Oh..." Chantria trailed off with a grimace,

From Gemi's expression, Chantria could already guess what Gemi meant by male friend.

And to think she had even said one of them?! Just how many male friends had there been exactly?!

That was a question Chantria did not even want to know the answer to.

The fact that Saint Chantria was openly unfaithful to her husband Amir was enough to tell Chantria all she needed to know.

Chantria could not believe there was actually such a woman like Saint Chantria in existence, she could actually leave a man such as Amir Naeem and go out to share a meal with her lover.

How did one attach so little value to the heart and feelings of another? Chantria had never understood it.

Perhaps Chantria could be considered old-fashioned, but she firmly believed loyalty superceded love and there was no love without loyalty.

Chantria's heart ached for the innocent Amir Naeem who had been so unlucky to have married such an unfaithful woman.

No matter what Saint Chantria's reasons had been, Chantria had been raised in such a way that what she detested the most was a cheating partner.

A partner who broke the bonds of the sacred oath they had sworn and left the lover to whom they had vowed to love for a lifetime for someone else,

A partner whose heart was fickle and was unable to control their lust,

A partner whose affections changed much quicker than the changing seasons, a partner who defied the sanctity of a matrimony.

A partner like her father had been... and look how her mother had ended up? Tossed aside when the feelings and love had run it's course.

Chantria shook her head in distaste, her mother had not deserved such a partner as her father, 

Amir Naeem most certainly did not deserve such a partner like Saint Chantria, no one deserved such pain.

And Chantria felt if perhaps Amir Naeem had truly poisoned Saint Chantria, then she had no one else to blame but her own self.

Chantria could feel the innocence and she could see clearly the kindness in the eyes of Amir Naeem,

Chantria had always been a good judge of character, if Amir Naeem had snapped, the it could only be that Saint Chantria had pushed him off the edge.

"When was the last time Amir and I had breakfast together?" Chantria asked in a low tone.

"I..." Gemi stuttered, unsure if it was okay to answer Chantria's question.

"Just tell me the truth, Gemi." Chantria insisted.

"Not since Lord Amir and Your Grace were bonded." Gemi replied quickly, hanging her head low.

Chantria shook her head slowly, she was not even the least bit surprised by Gemi's response.

"I must have been a very horrible person." Chantria murmured.

"Certainly not Your Grace! Your Grace was cordial to all and loved by all, an exemplary character and a true Noble Saint. The farthest from horrible!" Gemi quickly cautioned, her tone fierce and insistent.

"So not a horrible person... just a horrible wife..." Chantria murmured, watching Gemi wince slightly which was all the answer she needed.

It seemed Saint Chantria had been a beloved Saint to everyone else while within her own home, she left a despairing man longing for her love.

A love she much rather gave freely to others.. it was truly too distasteful.

"Your Grace had your reasons..." Gemi began but Chantria cut her off.

"It's fine...you need not sugar coat it." Chantria said with a shake of her head as she headed over to her closet, intent on finding something other than the death trap laid out on her bed to wear to breakfast.