(Few hours before the banquet, Imperial gardens, The Greenhouse)
"Princess Neftali, thank you for coming."
Miss Maria was standing next to a table set for the afternoon tea.
Neftali stopped at the entrance, not sure whether to enter or not, to be honest this was the last person she expected to see here. The handwriting on the note she did not recognize and people who could send such a note are a few, Miss Maria Dornel was certainly not one of them.
"Miss Dornel," Neftali decided to enter, observing the surroundings for any secret guests, like Lady Gabrielle von Favre for example, she already has a reputation of appearing unexpectedly at other peoples gardens and gatherings, this could very easily be some kind of scheme.
"I know this is unexpected but I would like to speak with you, Your Highness."
Neftali slowly walked up to her, Miss Dornel bowed when she approached the table, "Please, take a seat." She pointed at the chair across from her. Neftali thought for a moment, then decided to give in and sat down.
"What is the reason you invited me, here, on a such a short notice?"
The greenhouse is a really uncommon place for people like Maria Dornel to have access to, visitors can observe the greenhouse and its plants, which were many, and there was also a group of gardeners and scholars who worked at the greenhouse keeping all the plants alive and taken care of, as well as studying them for academic purposes, it is the biggest greenhouse in the empire, at least that they know of. Having afternoon tea here is very uncommon for the imperial family, in fact it is for everyone, getting permission as a regular citizen to hold such a gathering here and invite a member of the imperial family, well that person must have really good connections amongst the palace staff to do so. Which is already very, very suspicious.
Neftali was aware of this the whole time she was coming here, the note was weird, as well as the time. Whatever Miss Dornel wants to talk about, is just a mask for her real reasoning.
Neftali is willing to play this game, to an extent she finds acceptable.
Miss Dornel, took the tea pot and poured both of them a full cup, "The last time we spoke," she said as she put down the tea pot, "You asked me about my family mines. Do you perhaps remember our conversation?"
On the table was a sweets tray, desserts that Neftali knew well, most of which were her favourite, the tea set was one of the standard ones that is served to palace guests, the choice of it felt more intention than the choice of sweets. She knows someone at the palace, someone on the staff.
"Yes, I do." Neftali answered.
Miss Dornel fidgeted in her seat, "As you may know, I am a second born daughter of my father and I also have two younger brothers. Philip and George, who is my stepbrother."
"I am aware of your family relations, not to the extent but I do know who your parents and stepparents are."
Miss Dornel looked around, as she was checking if anybody was there. "Do you also know who will succeed my fathers business?"
"I am afraid that such matters don't concern me Miss Dornel, if you have an issue with the line of succession I recommend going -"
Miss Dornel cut her off, "I apologize for interrupting you, Your Highness, but this is not about that. I am seeking advice. Maybe it is pretentious of me but I find we are both in similar situations, regarding our brothers."
Neftali raised her head higher, this conversation was confusing her more and more. She still couldn't figure out what was underneath that nervous look in her eyes. "Go on."
"My stepbrother and I are very close in age, he is only a year younger than me, and my father gave us a choice. He decided to let us pick who will succeed the family business, instead of deciding on his own. And since I am not that knowledgeable and not present at the family estate as he is, I decided to step down and let him take the business." Miss Dornel stopped and took the tea cup in her hands, they were shaking, she took a sip of the tea that was still too hot and cleared her throat. "Yet I do not know how to break that decision to my father, since I am his blood. So I was wondering if you could give me any advice on what to do, how do I break this decision to my father?"
Neftali stopped her before she could continue after taking another sip of tea, "Miss Dornel, are you implying that I am not my fathers daughter?"
She choked on her tea, "No, no, of course not!"
"Then what is the point of your question? Because I do not see the reason for us to relate." Neftali got fiercer with every word that came out of mouth, she did not like where this was going.
"I do not mean to offend you in any way, I swear on my life! I am asking because," she took a breath, "Have you not given up on the throne for the sake of your brother, prince Iyan?"
This almost made her laugh out loud, yes that woman wanted to get something out of her, Neftali looked at her for a long time, not too sure if she should respond or not, it was a touchy subject, first of all the decision was not hers to make anyways, when mother decided who will be the successor, Neftali accepted it, she never even imagined herself as the one to be next in line to the throne.
"As you know, Miss Dornel, my mother made the decision who will be next in line for the throne, I had no say in that matter, nor did my brother."
"But still, was it not hard to accept that such an opportunity was taken from you?"
"Nothing was taken from me and nothing would have been taken from my brother if I was the one chosen, my brother and I have respect for each other, if that is the same case with you, I don't see why your father would be upset with your decision."
Miss Dornel stayed quiet for some time, the tea cup in her hands stopped shaking, she was staring at it, as her eyes got the shine of tears.
"How was that decision - What effect did it have on your father?"
Neftali was stunned to hear such a question, it takes courage to ask something like that, but no matter how brave it was, it was much more stupid, of course Neftali won't answer that.
"That is not a matter anybody should worry about, do you feel like you are betraying your father by giving the inheritance to your stepbrother?"
"I guess so, my younger brother is only ten years old, and my older sister is already married, so I am the only one of his biological children that is capable of taking care of the business."
"Blood does not matter for the heart Miss Dornel," Neftali sighed, this was a waste of her time. Just as she was going to see mother before the banquet and tell her what happened, she got interrupted with Miss Dornel's note. If she knew it was from her and what they would be talking about, Neftali wouldn't show up. Now is almost time for her to start getting ready for the banquet and she won't even get to see her mother before. This was such a horrible day for her.
Miss Dornel took a long, shaky breath and turned her head, their eyes met again only when she breathed out, barely like the air got stuck in her lungs.
"Last time we spoke, it is perhaps irrelevant to mention, but you called me a Lady, Your Highness."
Neftali looked to the side, did she really do that? She knew she did, it was just hard to accept that the consequences of her actions came to get her. At the time she said it just to make Gabriele von Favre angry, not to imply anything.
"Perhaps it had slipped from my mouth, one of my mother's court ladies is named Maria. Perhaps I said it out of habit."
"I didn't take it personal Your Highness, don't take me for a fool. But hearing the title being said next to my name, it made me wonder if this decision I have already set my mind on, was really what I want."
Neftali sighed, in relief mostly.
"If you truly don't want to take that role, then don't, but I will tell you that it is very rare for women to even get such opportunities. Think it through thoroughly before saying anything to your father."
"Can I hear your opinion, Your Highness? Do you think I am capable of taking such a role?"
"Miss Dornel, I can only tell you two things. The first one is that I am much younger than you and the second one is that if you are seeking advice from someone younger than you, everything should be quite clear where you stand on your own path."
"I don't think age matters with wisdom, Your Highness."
"You are a fool to take me for a wise person, wisdom takes years, I am still a child."
Even if she didn't expect it, Neftali realised something herself from this conversation, in very words that just came out of her mouth. She was still a child, and people around her still took her for a child. She is not some old woman who had already lived her life and is now stuck in the body of a child, that is why people hide things from her. Some bites are just too large to take, to chew even more. And the person that was in that office, was too large of a bite for her to take right now, Lady Diana knows this.
"I am sorry for taking your time with my family matters, Your Highness."
Neftali dodged that better then she thought, "Your family matters are yours to deal with, I am not someone who can help you, so unfortunately you did take my time, but I won't find fault with it. Is your father ill? Why is he looking for a successor?"
Miss Dornel seemed a bit nervous when she heard this question, "My father is not ill, but he is getting older, my best guess is that he wants everything to be clear, on paper, regarding the business."
"That is good, your family's mines are currently leading the market and supplying a very large position of the empire, my father is very grateful to have your family on his side. I did put a good word for you the day we met. So I hope that expectations will be met."
Neftali went to her father's office that day just to show off that she can, they didn't talk about anything important, Neftali took the opportunity to eat some sweets and have tea in his office since she never sat there before. Mather the fact she talked more with Sullivan than her father that day, but she did keep her word and mention Dornel's business, Sullivan then blunted out some statistics which Neftali didn't bother to memorise. The price and distribution of copper are not in her interest at the moment. After saying that, Sullivan suddenly remembered that she gave him his binoculars back and started asking questions about how she got them, luckily the Emperor got tired of them and kicked them both out of his office before she could think of an excuse good enough to fool Sullivan.
"Thank you, Your Highness, those words mean a lot." Miss Dornel finally placed her tea cup back on the table. Neftali looked at her own, the tea inside was dark, certainly not the jasmine tea she is used to drinking, Neftali didn't touch the cup since Miss Dornel poured it, she knew better than to drink tea with a stranger. If something happened, mother would probably stick a guard to her back from this day onwards, or even worse, a chaperon. Neftali got goose bumps even thinking about it.
"Are you attending the banquet tonight?" Neftali realised it is perhaps better to ask the question directly then to assume and jump straight to conclusions. And for what she was about to say, it would be good to know beforehand.
"Yes, I will be attending tonight."
"Since you have come seeking advice from me, I wish to give you one."
"I'll be very grateful, Your Highness."
"Great, I advise you and your mistress to keep your noses out of Imperial family business."
The look on her face didn't stay composed like it was a moment ago, what was underneath that mask slipped for just a second. Miss Dornel clenched her fists and turned her head.
Neftali stood up ready to leave, "I hope you have a good time. It is an event my father prepared on his own, so I can not promise you a good time. It will be a surprise for both of us."