After exchanging some brief introductions, they both came a few steps closer, looking at us as if they had something to say.
“Can you feel it?” Margrave Kolkett murmured.
“This forest is strange,” Margrave Noland said in the same hushed tone. They were lowering their voices even though there wasn’t anyone else around to hear them.
“We were just discussing that ourselves,” father said.
“I see.”
“So it wasn’t our imagination, after all.”
Their eyes went to the four spirits of differing colors floating above Chris’s head, then to the spirits perched on my shoulders, then to Alan’s.
“You all really do have spirits of every element. And just look at the size of them all.” Margrave Kolkett looked impressed.
“You have a sword spirit, don’t you?” Margrave Noland asked Alan. “I also have an earth sword spirit. Would you mind if we chatted about them later on?”
“It would be my pleasure,” my brother replied.
After we finished our greetings and began walking to the table, for some reason, their eyes landed on me again.
“I’d heard the rumors, but she truly is an adorable young lady.”
“So few people have seen her that there are those who have begun to wonder if she’s some sort of a fairy.”
Me?! These old men were so smooth. I really didn’t like this flamingo pink dress I had been forced into, but my tolerating it was paying off. I’d never have worn such a frilly, lace-bedecked dress back in Japan. It did suit this body, though. You’d think I was trying to be Elizabeth Taylor with my violet eyes. Even now I’d look in the mirror in the mornings and marvel at my face. Dana and Cynthia observing the way I admired myself with disappointment in their eyes was a daily occurrence now.
“Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Ephenia, has arrived.”
Upon being informed of the empress’s arrival, we all lined up in front of the table and bowed our heads. The men bowed their heads with their right hand on their chest while I had my right hand on my chest and my left hand slightly lifting the skirt of my dress.
The etiquette of this country demanded that at personal gatherings, soirees, tea parties, or balls, I was to curtsy with both hands on my skirt. At official gatherings or audiences with the empress, I was to only use one hand on my skirt.
“No need to be so formal,” the empress said graciously. “Please speak your mind today with no regard to social status. That includes you, children. I promise you that nothing you say here will lead to any punishment.”
What a statement to make. What kinds of things was she expecting we’d say?
Empress Ephenia and General Maximilian sat down first, and then their aides took up posts behind their chairs, two for each of them. Beside the general sat Count Dalimore, the chancellor of the imperial court, and next to the empress sat the chief mage. Behind the chief mage stood his own aide and his deputy. There were two more magicians present besides them, and since we had our own valets and aides, there was quite a crowd gathered here today. There were guards stationed both outside our circle and within the forest too, so the staff of the school looked two seconds away from fainting out of sheer nerves.
“Shall we begin our discussion, then? I’ve heard that the young children were invited to the Water King’s domain.” The empress was looking right at none other than me.
“Your Imperial Majesty, do forgive my rudeness, but there is something else I wish to discuss first,” father interrupted. He held greater power than any other margrave here.
“Speak.”
“Do those of the imperial court feel anything amiss with this forest?”
When father said those words, they all furrowed their brows as they looked around them, confusion painting their faces.
They really didn’t know. They didn’t visit forests enough to have any idea what was normal.
I guess that’s the difference between being out in the countryside and living here in the central region. It’s natural that they have no idea.
“Is there something strange here?” the empress finally asked.
“Speak clearly,” the chancellor demanded.
Father’s eyes narrowed at the chancellor’s clear displeasure. Count Dalimore was a man in his late fifties who had held the post of chancellor since the previous emperor’s reign. He was the third son of a marquess but had managed to catch the eye of the previous emperor who’d assigned him the title of viscount and then later count.
Based on title alone, father held more power. But since Count Dalimore was the chancellor of the imperial court, he held more power when it came to imperial matters.
It was these little nuances in power differences that I struggled to keep up with. It didn’t help that the one with more authority would change case by case. If you didn’t make sure to do all your research ahead of time, you’d gain the ire of so many people without realizing it.
“Then allow me to speak plainly. There are no spirits in this forest.”
“Excuse me?!” the chancellor cried.
“What do you mean by that?” the empress asked.
Why are you looking at me? It’s not like I represent all the spirits.
“Do you know what’s going on, Deir?”
Oh, and now father was asking me. Then maybe it was okay to say it? Surely.
“How do I say this... You aren’t going to treat anything I say as a crime, right?” I was four years old. I had a tendency to forget since I spoke normally with my brothers, but I had to make sure I didn’t use advanced vocabulary. “It’s okay, isn’t it?”
“Of course. Say whatever you’re thinking.”