Meeting with the Emperor and Empress

My maid woke me up and told me that I need to get ready to meet the royal family. I had no choice, that's why I’m currently being dressed by my maids. I’m also bringing my sword, in case of emergency. I know that the royal palace sent me four royal knights and our family is a house full of knights, but there’s nothing wrong in bringing a sword, except for the fact that the knights might feel bad about it.

After a few minutes of choosing clothes for me and fixing my hair, I went out of my room to see Crystal, Vlademeer, Geordinio, and Harchen guarding my door.

“Good morning, your highness,” they all greeted me.

“Good morning… let’s go?” I said. They all nodded. Vlademeer is on my right front while Harchen is on my left front. Crystal is on my right back while Geordinio is on my left back.

“You’re finally here… let’s go, their majesties are waiting for us in the main hall,” father said. Father is wearing his knight attire and it is a mixed colour of black and silver.

Father escorted me to get in the carriage. Mother and my brothers are inside the carriage already.

“I hope that they will answer our questions,” elder brother Qiang said.

After a few minutes of riding the carriage, we arrived at the front door of the Nethilor’s main palace. Father went out first, then mother, then elder brother Qiang, then brother Rong, and then me who was escorted out of the carriage by brother Rong.

“Let’s go to the main hall, they told me that they’ll meet us there,” father said.

We started walking towards the main hall of the palace. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the door of the main hall.

“Your Majesty, we, the Liu Family, are here to accept your invitation,” Father said.

“Let them in!” his majesty, the emperor said.

“Greetings to his majesty, the emperor, and her majesty, the empress… may the Gods and Goddesses of Nethilor bless you,” we greeted them. I and my mother curtsied while my brothers and father bowed down.

“So does your family, you may all lift your heads,” the emperor said. We lifted our heads and saw the empress with brown hair and golden eyes. The emperor has golden hair and crystal blue eyes.

“We call you here to ask for your approval for your daughter to join the battle of choosing the crowned prince’s fiancé… we’re not going to force you… so whatever may be your answer, we’ll gladly take it,” her majesty said.

“Your majesty, the decision of joining the competition for the crown prince’s fiancé is not for us to decide… it’s our daughter’s life, so we will let her choose her fate,” father said.

“Then, Lady Quincy, what’s your answer?” his majesty asked me.

“I’ll accept it, your majesties,” I said. My family looked shocked.

“Quincy, are you sure?” my mother asked me.

“Yes, mother,” I said.

“If that’s her decision, then we would like to speak with Lady Quincy alone… commander Liu, escort your family home, I will speak with your daughter alone,” his majesty, the emperor said.

“But, your majesty~”

“That’s not a request, but an order… leave the main hall,” his majesty said, cutting off my father’s words.

“I-I understand, your majesty,” father said. They all curtsied and bowed down, then left the room.

“Now, tell me, lady Quincy… what’s the nonsense you wrote for us?” his majesty asked.

“That’s not a nonsense letter, your majesty… my family pledges our loyalty to you, therefore deceiving your majesty or the royal family of Nethilor will lead to our deaths,” I said.

“That’s not the way to prove that you will remain loyal to the imperial family… how will you prove that you’re worthy to become the crowned prince’s fiance and that you are not deceiving the imperial family?” his majesty asked. I sighed.

I took out my sword and pointed at its end on the floor. I kneeled down as a knight would do.

“In the name of the Gods and Goddesses of Nethilor, I pledge my loyalty to the royal family of Li… using my flesh, my blood, and my life… I will risk everything for the peace that the empire desire… deceiving or making a wrong move to kill the royal family with my own hands and power will lead to my death, my body will sleep forever for deceiving the royal family of Li… using this blood of mine and an incantation, all that I said today will be the price for my pledge of loyalty to the imperial family of Li,” I said. I cut my index finger for the blood to flow out for the incantation.

I’m about to draw the magic circle for my pledge of loyalty, but someone grabbed my hand. I looked at that person and saw the crowned prince.

I was shocked to see the crowned prince inside the main hall of the Nethilor’s palace without even announcing his presence.

“Are you treating your life as low as a dog who only knows how to serve its superiors even if it will cost their lives?” he said.

“Greeting to your highness, the crowned prince, may the Gods and Goddesses of Nethilor bless you,” I greeted him. He’s still holding my left hand, so I just bowed my head.

“Greetings to you too… now, stand up and let go of that sword,” he said.

“But, this is the gift that my father gave me on my birthday 3 years ago,” I said.

“I’m not going to steal or break that sword, just let it go for a few minutes or so,” he said while looking into my eyes.

I let go of the sword and that created a sound throughout the whole main hall.

“Heal,” he enchanted. My left hand and his right-hand glow because of the magic that he enchanted to heal my wound.

“Thank you for healing my wound, your highness, but may I ask why you did not announce that you’re here?” I said.

“Should I announce my presence wherever I go?” he asked,

“Not necessarily, your highness… sorry for asking such a disrespectful question,” I said while bowing.

“Apology accepted, anyway, father, mother… why did you let her use such a powerful pledge of loyalty?” he asked the emperor and the empress.

“Son, we didn’t tell her to use that kind of method to prove her loyalty to our family, I wouldn’t put my future daughter-in-law in danger,” the emperor said.

“Your highness, can you please remove your hand from mine?” I asked. He looked at the hand that was holding my hand, then he immediately took his hands off.

“Sorry for my rudeness… I only did that to stop you from enchanting the blood loyalty,” he said.

Blood loyalty is used as a pledge of loyalty to someone. It might be a pledge to your superiors or to your spouses. It is an incantation that will need your blood to be effective. Once the incantation is activated, the said condition wherein you can include your own life will be the price if you deceive, lie, or make a wrong move to destroy the power of the one who you had pledged your loyalty with.

“Don’t worry, your highness, I will not misunderstand your action,” I said.

“Seems like you will be closed with your fiancé,” his majesty, the emperor said.

“Fiancé?” he asked.

“Ace, meet your fiancé… lady Quincy Liu of the Liu Family, the daughter of the second squad’s commander and the only daughter of Grand Duke Feng Liu,” his majesty said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, crowned prince Ace,” I said while curtsying.

“Father, I can’t and I will not accept this! You’re arranging my marriage with someone I don’t even love?!” the crowned prince shouted.

It hurts my heart to hear that he doesn’t love me.

“It is the right thing to do… your position as the next emperor will be stable if she will be your wife!” the emperor said.

“Father! My position is still stable! I don’t have to marry just to make sure that I will succeed to the throne!” he said angrily.

“Son, listen… in a few days, disaster will come and it will start with the selection for your empress… we wanted not just to protect you or the throne, but also, our empire,” her highness, the empress calmly said.

“But, mother, father… I know that we knew each other since we were kids, but this is not right… you’re forcing us to marry at such a young age?” he said.

“Son… we’ll give you some time to rethink this, but we will still proceed with the announcement that she will be one of the candidates in a few days,” her majesty said.

“But, mother~” he said.

“Go back to your room and finish what you have to finish… we will talk about this later,” the emperor said.

“I understand, your majesty,” he replied, then he glared at me.

“I hope you will not regret the decisions you will make after this,” I whispered to him, then I bowed.

“I will never regret anything,” he said, then he left.

“What should we do about the crowned prince?” the empress asked the emperor.

“Don’t worry, your majesty… he will realize his mistakes, soon… but for now, let him be… In a year, there will be a war… send me there to protect this empire,” I said.

“No! We will not send the fiancé of the crowned prince to the battlefield,” his majesty said.

“I am a great warrior in my past life… I will not die on the battlefield… I will destroy the Sankoria and Demosia using my own strength… also, please don’t inform my father nor my brothers about the war that will take place for a year or so,” I said.

“But, you know that once you enter the palace, you won’t be able to go out freely,” her majesty said.

“I know, your majesties… but I love the crowned prince and the empire… I’m willing to risk my life just for the safety of both the crowned prince and this empire,” I said while looking at them pitifully.

“If we knew that you loved the crowned prince for so long, we would have arranged your marriage sooner and we will not announce having a ball wherein the crowned prince will choose his empress,” his majesty said.

“But you did the right thing, your majesty… through this, I know that he will choose someone… he will choose a candidate to compete with me and to kick me out of the palace… I’m not sure if he will still choose the witch or not because I can’t see, nor determine what will be the future because the future changes its plot because of what I did… I ask for your majesty to ready the knights of this empire for the war that might happen in the nearest future rather than when it should be,” I said.

“We will order them to train themselves more than what they usually do… also the imperial knights that we send to your family will be your knights as long as we recognize you as the crowned prince’s fiancé,” his majesty said.

“I am not yet the crown prince’s fiancé, but a candidate for that position, still, thank you for your kindness, your majesties,” I replied.

b her majesty said.

“Before I go, your majesty… I would like to offer… no… give you a gift that will keep you safe,” I said.

“What is it,” they asked.

“I’ll enchant it now, your majesties,” I said. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, positioned my hands facing each other, but with a gap between them, then started to say something.