Symbol of Protection

Alessandro sat by the bedside, watching 20 sleep. When she didn't stir until the crack of dawn, he could at least reassure himself that she wasn't troubled by another nightmare. He got up and gently stroked her hair, keeping his touch light so he wouldn't accidentally disturb her. Then he kissed her on the cheek, checked to make sure the room was dimly lighted in case she woke up before he returned, and closed the door. 

As he made his way to the imperial prison, it was so quiet he could hear the clacking of his boots on the cobblestone pathway.

"Your Majesty!" the entrance guards saluted him. They were very surprised to see the emperor visiting the prison at such an unholy hour. He rarely went there, except when they had captured important prisoners from war. But they didn't have any prominent figure from the enemy's territory at the moment, so the sentinels were at a loss what could possibly trigger the interest of their monarch.

"Take me to the two prisoners the archduke had brought here yesterday," Alessandro ordered. 

"Right away, Your Majesty." A hallway guard – the same one who had escorted Caio previously – led Alessandro to the prison cell where the men were being held. As they walked along the corridor, he tried to discreetly cast curious glances at the emperor who was steadily following him. He couldn't figure out why the leader of Luxentfort would even bother about them.

The men were nothing special by any stretch of the imagination – just mere peasants who were caught assaulting a girl at the town square. But as he went back to his station, and he heard the tortured cries of the prisoners echoing throughout the hallways, he speculated that maybe the rumors were false. After all, why would a petty crime – something that happened quite frequently it was almost common occurrence – incur the wrath of both the archduke and the emperor?

*****

Despite how exhausted I was from yesterday's events, I woke up as the first rays of sun permeated through the bedroom window, which was partially open. Yup, that may have been a good sign to indicate that I had unofficially gotten used to my work hours as a scullery maid. If I had displayed a similar kind of prudence back in Seoul, perhaps I wouldn't have had to brave through the crowded subways practically every weekday morning. But of course, that was in hindsight.

"How do you feel?" Alessandro asked, sitting by the bedside again. He was relieved that 20 was still sleeping when he returned to his room. He even had enough time to change his clothes – which were smeared with blood after interrogating the assailants – before she finally started stirring up.

While he got a semblance of satisfaction from watching them tremble in fear and pain, serving back to them several times over the agony and terror 20 must have felt, it was still beyond infuriating that they wouldn't tell him who was behind the attack. Now all that was left was to send them to their execution and end their miserable lives. Still, if they told him who had ordered them to assault 20, it won't be just the two of them who would die.

'I need to get ready for work,' I said, squinting like an owl at the brightness in the room. If I had answered his question, I was afraid I would be tempted to crawl back into bed because I literally felt like a bat out of hell, so it was better not to dwell on that.

"Do you see anything new with your attire?" Alessandro asked again, this time with a teasing smile.

I checked my clothes, but I still had on the same blood stained blouse and torn skirt. When I lifted my right hand, however, I saw that I was wearing a bracelet. But not just any bracelet – it was the bloody handkerchief that was repurposed as a dainty accessory, with a dangling charm containing the insignia of the emperor.

'How did you…?' It was literally middle of the night already when I had finally agreed to sleep in 1's room, and now was just sunrise. I was amazed that he summoned a tradesman to convert the handkerchief into a bracelet in such short notice.

"I had it made while you were asleep," Alessandro replied. "Do you like it?" He had instructed the jeweler to make the bracelet simple and understated, worried that she might not even like wearing accessories in the first place.

'Yes, it's beautiful,' I replied, holding up the bracelet towards the light. The charm caught the early morning rays of the sun and it glimmered like gold.

"Now we don't have to tie the handkerchief to your wrist when we're having meals together," Alessandro grinned. I laughed along with him, but after a while he sobered up. Taking my hand, his fingers played at the charm, sending a tingling sensation to my wrist. "This charm has my insignia on it." He raised his eyes to look at me directly. "It means you have me with you wherever you go."