“Well, aren’t you a tough one today! Surely we can talk this out first?” Faraz’s tone remained amused, though a glint of wariness flickered in his eyes. “I’ve no clue what you’re after, but this doesn’t seem like you, lad.”
“Unfortunately, we no longer have the time to be picky about our measures.”
Last night, Claudia had given him explicit instructions on how to deal with him.
“If my instincts are correct, that man...”
Faraz let out a short laugh, then, without hesitation, he drew his scimitar and pointed the tip at Noah.
“You do know, lad, that pulling a stunt like this within the royal palace is a crime of the highest order? Your dear princess will be the one paying the price for your foolishness.”
“If anyone is to be arrested as a criminal, it will not be me.” At Noah’s words, Faraz’s expression subtly shifted. “To everyone in this palace, I am the king.”
At that, Faraz’s face went completely blank.
“The enchanted artifact that allows me to assume His Majesty’s appearance is flawless,” Noah said. “With it, I can deceive anyone in this palace. My policies thus far have aligned with those of the true king, and I have already established my presence within the court. If I so chose, taking the throne as Ashbal’s permanent replacement would be quite simple.”
Faraz said nothing.
Noah continued, “To any outsider, it would be you, the man accusing me of deception, who would be deemed a criminal... Do you understand now?”
Faraz slowly bowed his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Noah, anticipating hostility, took a half-step back, shifting into a defensive stance.
But then, Faraz suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth and burst into laughter.
“Ha... Ha ha ha! Now this is what I’ve been waiting for!”
Just as Her Highness predicted.
Claudia had told him this last night.
“If my instincts are correct, that man... I wonder if he’s been waiting for us to betray Ashbal’s trust.”
Faraz’s laughter subsided into a wide, satisfied grin. Though his posture was now at ease, there was something about him that made Noah want to keep up his guard.
“Well, well, lad. Why don’t you and I become partners in crime?”
✦ ✦ ✦
In the palace assigned to her within the harem, Claudia, who had once more taken the appearance of a grown woman of sixteen, sat smiling at her table.
Having entrusted Noah with handling Faraz, she had remained in the harem to continue gathering information. However, the person seated across from her was not the king’s betrothed, Naila.
“Please, everyone, do help yourselves. I have been looking forward to this tea party ever so much.”
At Claudia’s cheerful invitation, the assembled guests exchanged uneasy glances. After all, the women gathered at the table had all, at one point or another, attempted to harass her. Now, they sat uncomfortably before plates filled with delicious things such as fruit and cake.
They had no choice but to accept my invitation—after all, how could they refuse the woman who’s been summoned to the king’s chambers night after night?
Claudia took a delicate sip of tea, maintaining a carefully neutral expression. She had brewed it herself, but it could not compare to Noah’s tea.
One of the young women hesitantly lifted her teacup before speaking.
“Wh-What do you think you’re doing having this get-together without informing Lady Naila? You ought to know your place.”
“Oh, you needn’t worry.”
Claudia’s magic had also created the chiffon cakes arranged on the table. She had incorporated herbs and spices native to the region, creating a delicate balance of sweetness with a rich, complex depth. The cream atop each slice had been mixed with lemon syrup and adorned with flecks of gold leaf.
Even so, they still could not compare to Noah’s cakes.
“I am but a traveling dancer,” Claudia continued with a smile. “I have an agreement with His Majesty that, before long, I shall take my leave and depart from the harem.”
“You aren’t going to become one of His Majesty’s consorts?!”
“Indeed, I will not. I should find it far too difficult to take afternoon naps or embark on my travels at my leisure.”
Her response was met with widened eyes and scrutinizing stares like they were looking at some unknowable being. Yet, the fact that Claudia came from a distant land made the idea of differing values seem plausible to them.
“Even so,” one of the women insisted, “should you, by some chance, bear an heir, you would never be permitted to leave. At the very least, not until the child was born.”
“That’s right! After all, the royal palace has been keeping a close watch ever since His Majesty’s mother disappeared. They won’t allow another consort to flee.”
Despite their words, the tension in the room had begun to ease. The women started to lift their teacups and pick up their forks.
Claudia tilted her head slightly, carefully choosing her next words to stoke their hunger for gossip.
“Oh my, but isn’t the barrier surrounding the harem different from the one that existed in the late Queen Consort’s time? I had heard that it is now entirely impossible to leave.”
“The barrier is different? What nonsense. My aunt has lived in the harem for many years, and she told me that the barrier has only ever been reconstructed once.”
“Only once?”
“Yes. Life in the harem is so monotonous that events like that are easy to remember.”
With the pretense of educating an uninformed outsider, the woman became more talkative, and the others soon joined in, nodding and voicing their agreement.
The men of the palace know little of the harem’s barrier, but the women who live here have observed it closely. Could it be that the one who cast the barrier was a resident of the harem itself?
Seeking to draw out more information, Claudia continued her line of inquiry. “How wonderful that your aunt has lived here for so long. Might she have been acquainted with His Majesty’s mother?”
In the harem, having a relative with ties to the king’s mother could serve as a powerful form of social protection. If such a connection existed, surely the woman would be eager to boast of it.
Yet, the response Claudia received was entirely unexpected.
“My aunt, friends with her? Absolutely not!”
There was an unmistakable note of disdain in her voice, a clear revulsion directed at Ashbal’s mother. Claudia blinked, momentarily taken aback, and the woman’s scorn continued.
“Even if she was His Majesty’s mother, she was still the woman who fled from the late king and tore His Majesty from his father.”
“She was despised in the harem,” another woman added. “The late king only visited her once, and yet she still managed to conceive an heir—it was practically a miracle.”
“If not for the barrier, I doubt anyone would have believed that her child was truly the late king’s. Though, by all accounts, His Majesty Ashbal is said to be the very image of his father.”
“Really? I hadn’t heard that before,” Claudia said.
“My aunt says that the resemblance is uncanny, like a perfect reflection of the late king in his youth.”
As Claudia listened, she carefully framed her next question.
“But why was His Majesty’s mother so disliked?”
The woman scoffed. “Were you not listening? She bore the king’s heir and then ran away. It was utterly disgraceful.”
“That is not what I meant,” Claudia pressed. “From the way you speak, it sounds as though she was already disliked before she left the harem. Yet, if the late king only visited her once, then it wasn’t jealousy that made her a target, was it?”
The women exchanged puzzled glances.
“Well, I cannot say for certain, but she was the sort who would run away, so it’s only natural she was disliked.”
“She likely fled because she didn’t fit in here,” another woman added.
“Frankly, you should be careful too. Just because His Majesty has summoned you a few times doesn’t mean you should get carried away. Should you make Lady Naila cry, we won’t stand for it.”
Though their words were sharp, Claudia could sense that their concern for Naila was genuine.
One of the women gazed out the window at the palace opposite Claudia’s and murmured, “The full moon will be upon us soon. Lady Naila must be feeling so lonely.”
I think I understand now.
Claudia lowered her eyes, deep in thought.
The current barrier around the harem is the work of none other than Ashbal’s mother herself.