Lily drifted back to sleep after Liora helped her through the nightmare she had been experiencing. Liora stood over Lily, looking down to see a lone tear trickling down her red cheeks. Whether it was women from centuries ahead or Lily's betrayal in this century, the pain inflicted by men always cut deep. She gave Lily one look.
"I promise to help you," she said softly. "Maybe this is why I have been transported here."
After a long silence, Liora added, "Time to get to work," and drifted outside, leaving Lily sleeping peacefully.
Liora floated around the villa. Almost everyone was asleep except for the guards. As a ghost, she didn't need to sleep and had all the time in the world. She resorted to moving from one place to another, eavesdropping, and hearing the most secretive secrets. She was unseen, so she wandered freely.
Once, she was moving randomly when she ended up in Duke Vexwell's estate. As she moved around the rooms looking for anything to watch, she came upon Lily walking. She didn't know why, but she felt a strong pull.
Although Lily was young, her eyes looked dead. It was like she had given up on living. As they moved through the estate, she could hear the servants sneer as she passed by, some talking loudly about how useless she was. But Lily ignored them as she walked to the Duke's chambers. There, they both witnessed the scene: the Duke in the arms of another woman. From that moment on, Liora kept a close eye on Lily.
Liora realised then that Lily attracted a lot of female ghosts. Although they couldn't harm her, being in their presence for a long time drained her energy. So she took it upon herself to chase them off.
When Liora returned to her senses, she was in a room with Archduke Lucien.
"Of course," she said, rolling her eyes. "I always find myself in the presence of handsome men," she chuckled at her own joke.
Lucien was sitting there with his knight, and Liora realised the conversation was about Lily.
"She is completely different from what I've heard," Lucien said, rubbing his chin. "I was expecting someone rude, vain, and entitled, but she's actually totally different. I was surprised today."
"Will you send the emperor a letter?" the knight asked.
Lucien cocked his head to the side, smiling. "No, I wanted to at first, but not now anyway, it's not that he's interested in her," he said.
Suddenly, his expression changed. "Write. Go dispatch a letter to Captain Vihall. Ask him to send more guards. It will get dangerous the closer we get to the capital. The threat is growing."
He paused.
"I suddenly don't want her to die anymore," Lucien admitted.
The knight left, leaving both Liora and Lucien alone in the room. Lucien stood up and headed to the bathing chamber.
"Hmm. Interesting," Liora said. "As much as I would like this," she said, moving her hands in circles around his chest, "I need to go gather more intel." She floated out as if he could hear her.
"Princess, wake up. You will be late," Marian said, gently trying to wake the sleepy Lily.
The princess had been surprising her lately. Almost all her behaviour had changed. It was like she was a completely different person, which surprised her, but she liked this version of the princess.
Although Priscilla was clearly not honest with the princess, Marian still preferred her to serve her. She had even turned a blind eye when Priscilla bullied the maids and acted willfully, which in turn created a bad reputation for Marian's mistress. But today, everything changed. After the princess fainted twice, not only did she not call for Priscilla, but she also acted like she didn't even know her, despite receiving glances from her. Marian was happy about that. Her mistress, although childish, didn't have a malicious heart. She just prayed the princess didn't revert to how she was.
Usually, the princess was the first to wake up due to the palace training she had received from childhood, which forced her to rise early. Despite trying a lot, the princess would often sit up without opening her eyes and continue sleeping while seated, making Marian smile.
Marian gently shook her again, and the princess opened her eyes. Like yesterday, she looked confused for a while until she remembered she was the princess now.
"Let's go, Your Highness. You need to bathe quickly and dress. The Prince and Archduke are already in the dining room," she said.
Lily stood up immediately. She was used to having nothing to do and sleeping, so she had forgotten she was supposed to be awake early. Marian helped her quickly. For her hair, she put it in one braid. For clothing, she chose a dark blue dress, fitted at the waist with baggy arms, and she wore some flat leather shoes. Then, with her maids, she practically flew out the door. It was a short distance, but she was gasping and puffing as she burst into the dining hall.
Just like the previous evening, there were her brother, the Archduke, and Liora.
"Apologies for being late," Lily said with a small bow. She looked up to find all three staring at her in silence. She touched her face, wondering if something was wrong, and sat down.
She heard Liora giggle. "You look so good in that dress and how you put your," she started, and Lily's already red cheeks turned redder.
"How was your sleep, Lily?" Evander asked.
"My night was good, Brother. Thank you for asking. How was your night?"
"Good," replied Evander.
"How about you, Archduke?" she asked, turning to Lucien. It seemed like the question caught him off guard, as he was quiet for a moment.
"My night was good, your highness, Thank you for asking," he said.
Liora laughed. "He likes it. Look at his ears are turning red."
Lily caught herself just in time and looked down instead. The butler brought out the breakfast, and everyone ate quietly; only the clinking of utensils was heard.