The next morning, Ras woke in an unfamiliar but splendid room—a bedroom in Auriol’s wing reserved for legates of the Imperial Guard.
Despite the room’s sumptuous offerings, Ras had slept poorly. His head felt like lead. Not because of lack of sleep—any aura knight worth their salt could stay awake up to forty-eight hours without adverse effects—but because the events of the previous day had left him mentally and spiritually drained. After receiving a careful explanation, Ras finally felt like he had a complete picture of what awaited him.
When he changed into his new imperial guardsman uniform and left the room, he found someone waiting for him in the guest lounge.
“Ah, you’re awake, my lord,” she said. It was Shishka Klamina, the frigid servant girl Ras had met the day before.
“That’s right,” said Ras. “You’re the maid around here, aren’t you?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Shishka nodded. On the table before her was some warm bread and soup, a rather austere meal considering where they were. Shishka had already tasted them for poison, she explained.
Excepting urgent circumstances, the crown prince usually took his meals in his room, and from this day on, Ras would be joining him.
Ras took a jug, poured himself a glass of water, and drained it in one gulp. “Can I give you a hand with anything?” he asked.
Needless to say, a servant girl receiving help from an imperial guardsman was unheard of, but Ras didn’t think of himself that way, even now. No matter what the court records said, Ras considered himself a private mercenary, hired to handle a specific task. In that sense, he was no higher in the pecking order than a simple maid like Shishka. Ras thought it only natural that they would share the grunt work equally, but to his surprise, Shishka turned her cold eyes on him.
“Am I witnessing the Stallion at work already?” she asked. “I can’t say I recommend plying your trade right here in the imperial palace.”
Ras chuckled and shook his head.
“I’m just being friendly,” he said. “If my two years at the whorehouses have taught me anything, it’s to treat women with the same kindness as anyone else. I’m just trying to stay in your good books, that’s all.”
“Hmm.” Shishka paused, apparently taking Ras’s words to heart. “In that case, might I ask you to go and wake our employer up?”
“Still asleep, eh? Got it. I’ll go do that right now.”
Ras made a parting gesture, then headed for the crown prince’s bedroom. After knocking and receiving no response, he turned the doorknob and stepped inside. The room was dominated by an enormous bed that could easily hold half a dozen people at once. Scattered papers were strewn everywhere.
Half-buried beneath those papers was the room’s owner, wearing nothing but a white chemise and drawers. A sea of silver hair spread across the sheets in gentle waves. The black mask was gone now, revealing a set of rosy lips. Ras gazed with mixed feelings at her slender nose and long eyelashes, then spoke the girl’s name.
“Time to wake up, Fi.”
The girl moaned softly and rolled onto her side, opening her violet eyes. When she saw Ras standing there, a playful smile appeared on her lips.
Feeling a migraine coming on, Ras pressed his fingers to his temple. He thought back to the events of the night before, recalling just how things had managed to turn out this way.