There were only two weeks left until the final tallying of the flowers. That morning, a curtain had been lowered over the doors of the two candidates’ storerooms so that the interiors were hidden, ensuring that the results would be unpredictable until the day of the final count.
The winner will be decided in just two weeks... Westalia thought. She’d come to the storeroom quietly, early that morning. Many knights and servants came and went during the day, but this early in the morning, the only people around were the storeroom guards.
Surrounding the storeroom were well-kept flowerbeds, and the flowers, wet with morning dew, looked fresh and shiny. The smell from the trees and damp soil tickled Westalia’s nose.
Despite the freshness of the morning, Westalia looked at the two buildings with a grim expression and bit her nails. Although she tried not to appear too nervous when people were looking at her, she was actually incredibly anxious as the day drew nearer.
“You’ll catch a cold dressed like that.” A familiar voice came from above her, and Leonardo put the jacket he was wearing over her shoulders.
“Oh!”
Westalia had left her room clad only in her thin nightdress, but the morning was quite chilly. The jacket was still warm from Leonardo’s body heat.
Leo always appears exactly when I need him, she thought.
“You’re up early this morning. What brings you here?” Westalia asked, holding the jacket with one hand to keep it from slipping from her shoulders.
“I happened to wake up early and decided to go for a walk. I was thinking about you as I walked and ended up here,” Leonardo replied.
He’d always been considerate of Westalia, and she found his presence reassuring. He put his hand on her shoulder as he looked around the storeroom.
“Nervous?”
“A little...”
“Well, all you can do is your best. The rest is up to fate,” Leonardo said.
“Fate... Sometimes I wonder if there is a god. Some people have smooth sailing while others suffer unimaginable hardships, and it makes me wonder at how unfair the world is. I wish only happy things could happen,” Westalia replied.
“It may not be equal, but those who live diligently will be given aid fairly. If I were God...”
“What an assumption!”
“Just listen,” Leonardo said, looking her in the eye. “If I were God, and I saw how hard you’re working, I wouldn’t be able to turn my eyes from you. I would thrust you through every wall until they fell, fan your back to give you a tailwind as you ran, and cheer you on until sweat dripped from my brow.”
“You’re an awfully overbearing god.”
“That’s what it means to be fair, not equal.”
At that moment, a strong breeze blew at their backs, though there had been no wind this morning. The strong wind ruffled Westalia’s silver hair and skirt. She felt like someone was cheering her on, as Leonardo had said, and she looked down.
“I’m not God, but I’ll be there for you anytime you’re feeling down. Everything that you’ve overcome so far hasn’t been in vain. So this will be okay too,” Leonardo said.
Westalia suddenly pulled out an Elizabeth Pink artificial flower from her pocket. It was the one she’d purchased at a stall on a previous outing with Leonardo. Slowly she walked up to the storeroom and threw it in from outside the curtain.
“May Elizabeth Pink bring me victory. All that’s left is to pray.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The day of the final artificial flower tally finally arrived. For the last two weeks, the heavy curtains had remained over the storerooms, making it impossible to see the number of artificial flowers from the outside.
So who’s won? Westalia wondered. Not even the empress candidates themselves were allowed to look behind the curtains, so neither of them knew who’d won or lost yet either.
“Oh my, what a frightening expression!” Elizabeth said, coming over with a few attendants to stand in front of Westalia. “If you keep furrowing your brow like that, you’ll get wrinkles!”
Westalia drew in close to her and smiled. “Shouldn’t you be the one to fix your unfortunate disposition? It’s twisting your personality.”
“What?! I don’t want to hear that from you!” Elizabeth blushed and glared at Westalia. She was as expressive as ever and her emotions were easy to read.
“Westalia, Miss Elizabeth.” Leonardo appeared, interrupting. “You two seem to be having a lot of fun. When did you two become friends?”
“We are not friends!” Elizabeth said.
“We’re not friends,” Westalia said simultaneously.
Leonardo laughed at their overlapping rebuttal. Then he looked up at the curtained storerooms.
“So it’s going to be decided today,” he said.
Both women were silent. Westalia wondered what Leonardo was feeling now as he stared at the two candidates’ storehouses. She couldn’t read anything in his face. He would have to accept Elizabeth as his wife if she became empress, regardless of his own feelings. Of course, that would mean that he and Westalia couldn’t be together. He wasn’t given a choice in such a huge life event.
“Why did you help me?” Elizabeth asked Leonardo suddenly.
“What are you talking about?” Leonardo asked.
“Don’t play dumb. You ordered Dion to protect me and sent people to help me rebuild the Rias Corporation,” Elizabeth said. She had assisted Daniel in developing an antidote for Elizabeth Pink and, in an effort to regain some of the trust in the Rias Corporation, had offered compensation and an apology to the victims of the poisoning. However, it was all because Leonardo had sent the best and brightest to advise her to do so. Elizabeth alone wouldn’t have been able to come up with that whole plan. “I am Tiberio’s daughter and you hate him more than anything. So why...?”
“You had nothing to do with what your father was doing. I only gave you a little help at the end. I’m not sure what the future holds for the Rias Corporation, but it’s up to you to make the best of it. And I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you...” Leonardo said.
“That’s not fair, Leonardo!” Elizabeth said with a bitter smile, her eyes growing watery. “I’m sure that my path will be difficult whether I become empress or not. I have to live with the guilt of what my father did. But now I think it’s a necessary test for my growth,” Elizabeth said. She used to despise herself and give up on anything challenging quickly, but she’d changed a lot.
“You’ve already grown up and are working hard. I’m sure you’ll be able to make a good future as the person you are now,” Leonardo replied.
“That’s the most encouraging thing anyone’s ever said to me. Once again, thank you both for reaching out to me. I really, truly mean it.”
Westalia and Leonardo smiled back at Elizabeth.
At that moment, Emperor Augusto appeared in front of the storerooms with several knights and attendants. A large crowd of spectators had gathered in the special audience area that had been set up and they began to murmur at the sight. They were excited to be able to witness the historic moment when the new empress would be chosen.
Emperor Augusto stood one step higher than the crowd and accepted the scroll presented by an attendant. With a slow, fluid motion he unrolled the scroll and the air grew tense. However, most of the people present probably thought that Westalia didn’t stand a chance because up until the two weeks that the curtains had covered the rooms, Westalia’s had been nearly empty.
Dion approached Paige in the crowd and whispered in her ear. “Does your lady truly think she can win?”
“I’ve prepared a shovel,” Paige replied.
“A shovel?”
“If she doesn’t become empress, she promised we’re going to go mine for gold.”
“That’s some backup plan!” Dion said, laughing.
“Shut it. Whatever will be, will be,” Paige replied. But is everything really okay, Westalia? she added to herself. Though she was verbally sparring with Dion, she was still fidgeting and feeling restless as she waited for the results to be announced. And she wasn’t alone. Only one of the two candidates would be the next empress. Westalia, Elizabeth, and everyone else waited with bated breath for the announcement.
I have done all I can do. Whatever will be, will be. No matter what the outcome, I won’t have any regrets, Westalia thought over and over again, but her heart was beating fast and her fingers were trembling. She was so nervous her perception of everything around her was getting fuzzy. Leonardo, standing next to her, noticed her trembling hands and raised his eyebrows in concern.
The emperor slowly opened his mouth, his face expressionless. “It’s been a great six months for both of you. The experience of competing against each other and what you have learned during this period will surely be a great source of inspiration for the rest of your lives.”
The emperor’s long-winded preamble went in one ear and out the other for Westalia, who swore inwardly, wishing that he would just hurry up and tell everyone the results.