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ON the day we were greeting the students, I went to the royal palace an hour before the guests from Rienbul were due to arrive because I wanted to meet with Evan, who would be working with me on caring for the students. Tiegel accompanied me since he would have to support me and Evan.
“Ah, Selena, you’re as beautiful as ever,” said Evan as he pressed his lips to the back of my hand.
Gentlemen of this country greeted women by complimenting them the moment they saw each other. It was practically a natural reflex for a prince like Evan.
But he didn’t need to greet me. I’d told him that several times, but he never changed how he greeted me.
“It looks like we both have a mess to deal with. It’s a bit of a tedious story, but I should tell you what’s going on behind the scenes, what the king of Rienbul is really thinking,” he said before jumping into the explanation. “Do you know the relationship between the three coming from Rienbul?”
“I do.”
“Then I’ll leave that out. Only Prince Shaghad is recognized as royalty, though there is no denying the other two have royal blood. Leaving them free to roam would likely end with fools trying to take advantage of them. That’s why the king chose to keep them in the palace.”
That made sense. Rumor said it was due to the king’s mercy, but he had a rational reason for that decision.
“Just them having royal blood makes them difficult to handle. If something were to happen to Prince Shaghad, for example, the next king would be chosen from people with royal blood,” continued Evan.
Assassins had been sent to kill Prince Shaghad, and not just a few times. Apparently, some people thought one of the two twins would end up in line as successor if Prince Shaghad were killed, though whether that were nobles or Prince Raheem, I didn’t know.
“But I didn’t think King Rashid had acknowledged the twins as royalty,” I said.
Even if Prince Shaghad was killed, I had a hard time believing that would easily bring the twins closer to the throne. They’d possibly move further away since they would be the most suspected of foul play.
“And the royal family would have subbranches. If it comes down to it, someone from those branches could just be chosen as king,” I added.
“Possibly. But if they did that, the royal blood would be thinner. They would want to avoid that.”
“How idiotic. ‘Blood’ is nothing more than a function for circulating your life force; it has nothing to do with your capabilities or talents. But royals and nobles are always so obsessed with blood, like it’s something sublime. It’s ludicrous,” I sighed.
“Hah, haha!”
Just as I noticed Evan had fallen quiet, he hugged his sides and burst into laughter.
I have no idea why his sense of humor makes him laugh at what he does.
“Oh, dear,” he said, wiping tears from his long lashes because he’d laughed so hard. “You’re absolutely right. Selena, you really are incredible.” His expression turned serious in a way I rarely saw. “One day, we’ll live in a world where people are judged not on their blood but their abilities.”
At the time, I had no idea of Evan’s resolve when he said those somewhat prophetic words.
“Anyway, getting back on topic,” he said. “The king of Rienbul wants Ismail and Aisha to cause some sort of problem during their studies here that they can’t recover from. We want to overlook things, to an extent, sort of releasing them into the water to sink or swim, so to speak.”
“He wants them to cause a problem so they can be punished?” I asked.
“Yes. We don’t expect them to do anything so severe it will result in execution or banishment, but the king is hoping for a mistake bad enough to convince the majority of the Rienbul nobility that the twins couldn’t possibly take the throne. That would make it so even if some nobles tried to push them onto the throne, they would find it too difficult because of the forces against them.”
“That’s an overly elaborate plan for eliminating them. It would be easier to just kill them,” I pointed out. “If you’re going to kill them socially, it shouldn’t be that big of an issue to kill them physically instead. I think that’s actually the kinder method. It’s not uncommon in this world for living to be the greater hell.”
“How violent of you. Lives shouldn’t be stolen that lightly. That would make us no different from the lawless.”
“I still think my suggestion is much kinder than sending them to Astra, knowing they’ll cause a problem.”
It would be an insult to them to be sent away from the palace because they caused some issue. I’ve seen enough nobles to know how joyous it is for them to be allowed to live in the palace. I’ve also seen how much blood they’ll spill for the chance, how much blood they crave.
I’ve also seen what happens to nobles who leave the palace after losing the fight for power. Not in this world, though. My previous one. Thinking of that makes killing them seem way more merciful. Though, it’s not like I care what happens to them.
What I didn’t like was how the king of Rienbul treated leaving them with their lives, if nothing else, as if it was some kind of mercy and demanding they be grateful for it. The gall.
“And he’s intentionally sending them to another country to cause problems in,” I said. “Astra is far from the smallest country in the world. If they create a problem here, they won’t escape social exile. That is essentially death for a noble, isn’t it?”
I wouldn’t mind if it happened to me. It didn’t matter if I became a social pariah or was disowned by my family; I could live anywhere. After all, I might be a noble lady now, but I was a filthy slum rat in my past life. I survived on dirty water and rotting food scraps. And I could still get a certain amount of work as an assassin in this world.
That would be impossible, however, for anyone born as a noble and raised in a royal palace with a golden spoon. They wouldn’t know anything. How could they survive in this world?
“Is it because they won’t have a direct hand in the twins’ deaths, which lessens any feelings of guilt by letting them say they had nothing to do with it? I loathe hypocritical actions like that,” I said.
“Most humans are hypocritical,” said Evan. “And we’re simply meant to carry out the duty His Majesty gave us. Like I said, we need them to make some faux pas of a significant degree. That’s why you and Tiegel need to turn a blind eye to the smaller things. The two of you are also going to be Shaghad’s guard.”
“That’s not a job you assign to a noble lady,” I said.
“His Majesty would never ask something like this of a normal noble lady.”
“Your Highness,” came the voice of a palace servant, interrupting us just as our conversation was turning to simple chit-chat. “The visitors from Rienbul have arrived.”
“We’ll be right there,” said Evan. As we left the room, Evan pressed again, “Be careful, you two.”
Like he doesn’t trust me.
We greeted the guests outside the palace.
Evan had on that fake smile he wore whenever going out in public. “Welcome to Astra. I am Evan, the first prince. This is Lady Selena, daughter of Duke Violette.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. “I will be helping to support you during your time here, along with Prince Evan. I look forward to getting to know you.” I pinched my skirt and gave a curtsy appropriate of a noble lady.
“This is Tiegel,” said Evan. “He is a servant of House Violette. I introduce him now as he will be available to help you when I am busy with my duties and studies.”
Tiegel brought a hand to his chest and bowed gracefully.