Chapter 4 - The Bearer of Bad News

"This humble maid greets His Majesty, Sun of the Empire." Mari bows with utmost respect to Chris, who quickly asks her to raise her head.

"What is the Empress up to these days?" He asks her, paying attention to the slight disgust plastered across her face. Truth is, he expected Aristia to warm up to someone, at least to her personal maid, but judging by the strong response of the maid's body language, it's clear that she didn't.

"... Not much. She takes a walk every midday through the gardens, but other than that, she stays locked in her room. She writes, eats-"

"Writes?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. She's taken a liking to writing as of late."

"What does she write exactly? Letters?" Chris asks, his heart thumping in his chest. Is she perhaps informing the King of the South about any of the Empire's affairs?

"No. Stories. What they contain, however, is not something I am aware of."

"I see. Could you bring me some of her writings?" He furrows his brows in confusion. He still believes she is a spy for her family, and the fact that she hasn't yet sent any reports back to the Kingdom is surprising to say the least.

"I am afraid not. She keeps them locked in her drawers and carries the key at all times around her neck."

"I see. Thank you, Mari."

The girl bows and turns to leave, before Chris remembers something.

"Ah, one more thing. I noticed something unpleasant looking at the Empress the other day. Her garments are dirty. Is there an issue I should know about?" He raises an accusatory eyebrow and watches the maid's mannerisms carefully.

"... No, Your Majesty. I will make sure Her Highness's attire will be more appropriate from now on."

"Yeah. Do that." His smile doesn't reach his eyes.

~

The next morning, Aristia wakes up to her maid frantically buzzing around the room, carrying multiple dresses on her arms.

"What's with all this fuss?" She groans and sits up on the bed, trying to make sense of what is happening.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. I am to prepare you for breakfast, as His Highness has requested your presence."

"Mhm." She nods, before the words fully register in her head. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Apologies, but I don't have any additional information. His Majesty's personal guard is waiting for you."

Still confused and groggy with sleep, Aristia stands up and makes her way to the dresses. With a yawn, she analyses all of them, and choses a pastel yellow dress with flowers made of lace scattered all over, with puffy sleeves. The dress is comfortable and breezy, much like the ones she's worn until now. Only, this dress is not dirty, nor shabby, nor old.

It fits her right, besides around the hips, where excess fabric covers up her silhouette. The dress would've been perfect when she first arrived in the Empire and had her measurements taken, but now, it's loose fitting, a reminder of the fact that she's become malnourished. She decides to wear a tight corset to make it look a bit more her size, and she successfully hides how much weight she's lost.

As soon as she's done dressing herself, she steps out on the hallways and sees a familiar face. She smiles, genuinely this time.

"Hello, Changbin."

"Your Highness." He bows and returns her smile. "You remembered my name."

"Of course I did. What have you been up to these days? I haven't seen you around." She asks as they start walking towards the gardens, where the Emperor apparently wants to have breakfast with her.

"I've just returned from a trip abroad to the Western Kingdom."

"Oh, was it fun?" She asks, and Changbin looks puzzled. He's never been asked if a diplomatic trip was fun, so he doesn't quite know what to reply.

"I guess so? It went alright. I had to guard Prince Felix as he's been sent to represent the Empire in some negotiations."

"What for?" Aristia questions, glad that for the first time, someone is not sparing any details.

"As you might know, sugar canes only grow in the west. Oh, in case Your Highness is not aware, sugar canes are used for-"

"Producing raw and refined sugar and molasses. Yes, I know." She cuts him off with a kind smile and he seems excited.

"Exactly! I had no idea sugar came from that tall grass!" He exclaims, making her laugh.

"Yes, I read in a book about the process of extracting juice by crushing the sugar cane. Oh, do you know that rum is actually made from that juice or from molasses?"

"Rum?"

"The drink."

"What is that? Does it taste any good?"

"Don't you have it here?" She asks with a tilt of her head.

"No, I don't believe we do."

"It's an alcoholic beverage... It apparently tastes quite sweet, as it's made from fermented molasses. I actually don't know what it tastes like either. Since the Kingdom doesn't produce any sugar canes, I could only read about it."

"I see. Your Highness seems quite intelligent." He compliments.

"Did I seem dull until now?" Aristia asks in a serious tone, and Changbin starts apologising instantly.

"No! Of course not! God, what have I said? Of course, you always seemed intelligent. You're my Empress and-" He rambles and Aristia bursts out laughing.

Having a genuine conversation with someone who doesn't seem to view her as an enemy is refreshing.

"Oh." Changbin blushes.

"I thought you would've been served some rum in the west."

"Maybe Prince Felix... I haven't been given any." He pouts slightly, and Aristia laughs again.

"Speaking of, how is he doing? Did he find the trip difficult? Is he healthy?"

"Yes, the Prince is as cheerful as always. He was, however, quite disappointed that he didn't get the chance to say goodbye to you after your wedding. Now that he's back, Your Highness will probably not be able to get rid of him."

"Oh, my." Aristia smiles as they eventually reach a small greenhouse in the middle of the garden.

Changbin keeps guiding her to the table, and as they approach, Aristia notices Chris and Felix talking lively about something. The closer they get, the more she realises Felix is telling his brother details about the trip.

"You're here." Chan's lips turn into a thin line, but the girl chooses to ignore his hostility and focus on Felix' smiling face instead.

She salutes the two with a bow then sits down with Changbin's help.

"Sister, you look so beautiful. I love how your dress looks." Felix compliments, his smile radiating as much as the sun's rays.

"You don't look so bad yourself, how was your trip?"

"I was just telling Chris about it. The people of the west are quite nice! I had an amazing time, and we managed to score the deal with the-" Felix speaks but gets interrupted by Chris clearing his throat. He shuts up instantly and mutters a small "Sorry."

Apparently, Aristia wasn't supposed to know of this information either.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I was telling Chris about this gift they gave me. You all should try it. Changbin, I mean you as well. I know you didn't get to taste any while we were there." Felix resumes his happy stance and pulls out a small bottle out of his coat, pouring a brown liquid into four small glasses.

Rum.

Changbin grabs his glass with interest and tastes the liquid. As soon as it touches his tongue, he tastes sugar and alcohol, and he turns his head to Aristia.

"Is this the liquid you've been telling me about? What was it called... rum?"

"Have you had this before?" Felix asks, eyes sparkling with interest.

"No, I just... read about it in a book." She smiles.

"Her Highness is so humble. She knows all about the way this drink is made." Changbin starts boasting and telling the table all about their conversation, and with each word, Chris is looking more and more intensely at Aristia.

"Perhaps this knowledge will come in handy once we get the sugar cane seeds." The Emperor says after a little while, shocking her.

He finally thinks she's going to be useful at something, and although Aristia's eyes grow wide for a short moment, she has some conflicting feelings about this matter.

"Anyways, we should get to eating. There are some matters I have to attend to after breakfast." Chris continues.

After he says that, he looks towards the attendants on the side of the room who rush to bring all sorts of fresh salads, boiled and fried eggs, cheeses, salami and hams, as well as crackers and fresh fruit. For the first time in months, Aristia can eat a fresh breakfast, so she doesn't hold herself back.

~

"This was so good!" Felix smiles gleefully, and both Chan and Aristia nod their heads in approval. He reminds her of a little kid, happy of everything, and unintentionally makes her smile.

"Felix, sorry about this, but would you please give us some time to talk privately?" Chris asks his brother, and he nods excitedly, thinking they finally started to get along.

He's happy that his plan seemed to work. After all, he is the one who insisted that Aristia joins the two for breakfast, lunch and dinner from now on, after hearing that the Emperor never once shared a meal with his wife since the wedding.

He excuses himself, leaving Chris and Aristia alone.

"A letter from the Kingdom of the South arrived this morning." The Emperor starts, and she instantly looks at him with dread. "It seems your father wants to come visit. He misses his precious daughter."

"... When?" She asks, her body growing cold. She doesn't want to see her father. She finally got away, she had a few months of peace. He hates trips. So... why?

Why is he coming here?

"In about one week from now. Seems he simply... informed us of his arrival, and what can we do but accommodate him?" Chan asks with a fake smile, irritated.

He dislikes the disrespect of someone announcing him they're visiting instead of asking for permission, but he still has to play it nice while his troops undergo more training. The Kingdom of the South is known for their strong army, after all, and war over the emerald mine is sure to break out soon enough. He needs to buy more time.

"... Why did the letter get here so late?" Her hands start trembling slightly, so she moves them under the table. She's forgotten what it felt like to be afraid, to walk on eggshells.

"Who knows? He must've sent it a bit before he decided to leave. I have a few meetings to attend, so I'm going to leave you to it. Oh, something else before I go. You are expected to join us for lunch and dinner as well, as per my dear brother's request."

Aristia nods absent-mindedly out of habit, but she barely hears his words.

Her father is coming.

Her head falls down, hair covering her face, as she shivers in place. One of her hands raises to her lips and she begins nervously biting her fingernails.

He can't come here.

He can't.

This place is safe...

This place is safe...

Nothing will happen.

Yeah.

He wouldn't dare hurt me here.

I am the Empress.

~

(A/N) A shorter chapter this time, however, I hope you enjoyed.

What do you think will happen once Aristia's father - the King of the South - comes to visit?

I'm so anxious!

Love,

Storm