My Unrestrained Lives-Chapter 57: Aftermath (1)
In the Valemere Kingdom, in the capital, Esmire, within the royal grounds, in the heart of the main palace—currently, the banquet celebrating the foundation day of the kingdom was still in full swing. The grand hall shimmered under the crystal lamps, as soft music played and tables overflowed with fine wine and delicacies.
The atmosphere was merry... at least for those who supported the fourth prince, who had just been selected as the crown prince.
For the others? They were quietly wondering how to change their allegiance, scrambling in their thoughts to patch up the situation they now found themselves in.
Seemingly uncaring about all of that, inside one of the palace’s terraces, stood the said fourth prince.
He wore while ceremonial robes with silver dragons and stars, a flowing mantle clasped with white-gold pattern, and a thin silver circlet marking his new title.
Caelan Merrik Valemere was clearly in high spirits. His head was held high, eyes distant, as though gazing far beyond the capital.
Everything, it seemed, was going his way.
Standing in front of him was a girl who appeared to be in her mid-teens... a young one, just fifteen years old. And she was the girl he was engaged to.
The age difference between them was eight years, but in the noble circle, such a gap was barely worth a mention.
She was a woman already stepping into early maturity, possessing a presence that defied her youth. Her long hair was a deep purple, falling behind her back, and her icy blue eyes shimmered like frozen starlight. She had sharp, elegant features, and a beauty that demanded attention.
Her black dress, tailored to perfection, hugged her figure in a way that emphasized her developing grace, making her appear even more mature.
And her expression?
It was the definition, of ambition!
If the fourth prince was looking at the sky... then she was looking at the heavens. That was the kind of expression she carried. And no matter what, she didn’t seem like someone who could accept anything less.
The atmosphere between the two fiances appeared merry and jolly on the surface. But was that truly the case? Were they thinking about the same thing?
That was something only the two of them could know.
But when a bond was formed not out of affection, but convenience and ambition, what could truly be expected?
The prince was dreaming of the throne.
But Celestine Ravelle Deymere, the only daughter and heir of the mysterious Deymere household, the Farsight Dukedom, was dreaming of something far beyond.
"So, what’s your opinion about the royal palace, especially now that you’ve stepped into it before even making your debutante?" Caelan lightly asked, swirling the glass of wine in his hand.
Celestine’s fingers brushed the rim of her untouched glass, her gaze drifting past the glass doors of the terrace toward the ballroom, where all the nobles were gathered.
"It’s beautiful," she said softly, then turned her eyes to Caelan with the faintest of smiles. "But beauty often hides the sharpest corners, does it not? I wonder how many are watching not the dance, but the shadows it casts."
Caelan let out a low chuckle at her remark. His voice remained casual, almost playful, but a subtle glint sparked in his eyes as he asked.
"You can’t tell, with your Deymere bloodline’s ability?"
He spoke lightly, yet the question carried weight... it was one regarding the ability of her house, after all.
The Deymere name had long been wrapped in mystery and murmurs of foresight. Foresight that could discern ally from enemy, truth from deception.
But Celestine, though young, was far from naive. She brought the glass to her lips, pausing just before sipping. Her lashes lowered, casting a shadow over her eyes.
"If I saw everything so clearly, Your Highness," she said gently, "wouldn’t that take the joy out of discovering who you really are?"
Amidst this devious and scheming atmosphere, where both wore refined but false smiles, the air inside the banquet hall seemed to stir, as if something unpleasant had just occurred. But neither of them showed any sign of concern... until, suddenly, a servant burst into their private moment.
Caelan, the crown prince, was immediately displeased. The servant was his own, and so his gaze turned sharp, sending a glare to the side, silently warning that if this interruption was over something trivial, the man’s fate might very well be sealed.
The servant naturally became nervous, pockets of cold sweat soaking through his collar, but the situation was quite serious, and he had to inform him of it.
"Your Highness, we just got news that the Nore Palace was set on fire, and..." the servant seemed to hesitate, stealing a glance at the Deymere lady.
And noticing that glance, Caelan, who was bewildered by the news, by the first sentence of it, as Thalia didn’t seem worthy of such trouble, let alone someone going as far as burning down a palace for her sake, and in the middle of the royal banquet at that, timely said, "Is the lady of the Deymere Dukedom an outsider? Speak! What’s going on?"
The servant quickly nodded, heavily, before continuing. His tone was grave.
"It’s a massacre, Your Highness... it’s a massacre."
"Everyone in the Nore Palace, guards, maids, servants, were all killed."
"And what’s more... I heard there were actually three royal shadows stationed there, and even they were killed."
"When the knights arrived, the palace was already on fire, with a pile of corpses stacked out front... burning the most!"
Caelan’s eyes widened, and he was unable to utter a single word... he was shocked.
What’s going on? What did Thalia do?
... No, if everyone was killed, even the shadow guards, who now served the queen instead of the king, then it wasn’t the queen who killed her. It was someone else.
But... who would dare to do that?
Caelan’s brain was working overtime, trying to think of the possible culprits who would want to kill the already bedridden Thalia, and that too inside the royal grounds.
But Celestine?
She was watching everything unfold with amusement, as if it were all fun to the young her.
That nearly a hundred people had died? That a massacre happened within the royal ground?
She naturally didn’t care.
It was then, while each of the two were caught in their own thoughts, that the servant, who seemed to have just remembered something, finally delivered the last piece of news.
"What’s more, Your Highness... actually, Madame Thalia didn’t die in the massacre. Instead, she appeared in the arms of a maid, in the abandoned palace of Prince Adrian, seemingly unscathed!"
At the mention of the name Adrian, Celestine finally showed a stronger reaction, and a gleam lit up in her eyes.
But not noticing that, Caelan seemed even more shocked in that moment.
Because if Thalia didn’t die, then... everything changes.
...
On the other side, inside the abandoned palace, Ellis, who was with the company of his unconscious mother, and unaware of the uproar he had just caused, was quietly waiting for Silas.
He was actually worried that something might happen to her, after all.
Even though, at a time like this, everyone’s attention should be more focused on the Nore Palace than on her, or his mother.
But in the end, that was only his assumption.
And he could very well be wrong.
That was why, right now, Ellis considered himself to be gambling with her life... and he didn’t feel good about it at all.
At the end of the day, he knew one of them had to go out and call for a priest. And since he couldn’t leave due to his age, and position as the prince, that left her... alone.
He had no choice... he knew that.
But that didn’t justify his actions. And that was why he sat there, tense, on edge, nerves stretched thin, just waiting for her.
While all kinds of thoughts churned in his head, Ellis finally sensed Silas entering his detection range.
He breathed a small sigh of relief at first... until he noticed she was alone.
His expression changed immediately. Because, he understood right away... that she failed to bring a priest.
The moment stretched, with his silent realization hanging in the air... and then, before long, Silas stood before him, her face guilt-ridden as she began to explain what had happened.
And just as he feared, it turned out exactly like he’d imagined. When the priest learned she was a maid serving the talentless prince, the forgotten one living in the abandoned palace, the son of Thalia Solvaire, they made every excuse imaginable... and refused to come.
Are they really going to do this?
Do they want to make the entire royal family their enemies?
Ellis, angry, thought.
He knew he couldn’t express the stance of the royal family on his own. But with the Light Church’s position already shaken by the crown prince’s incident, for them to turn their backs like this, on a woman of the king, on the mother of a prince, was bound to bring repercussions. Even if not from his side.
The nobles could very well hold this against them later, after all.
