The Room of Three (1)
In the end, I stayed awake through the night, eyes wide open until the sun finally rose.
Sleep would not come. More precisely, I could not let it. Even lying still in bed, my heart hammered against my ribs, and the moment I closed my eyes dizziness rolled over me in heavy waves.
I thought of going to the hunting grounds to fire a few rounds, then abandoned the idea. I had no wish to wake Illid and Hellion again as I had last time.
By now Yulian must be bringing Karina back.
“My lady, why are you refusing food again? You’ll make me cry!”
Molly’s voice trembled with worry as I sat staring blankly at the spoon in my hand.
“I simply have no appetite. Are there any green grapes?”
The instant the words left my mouth my nanny launched into a tirade about how fruit was no proper meal. On any other day I might have argued back, but today I had no strength for it.
I forced the spoon to my lips and made myself swallow.
“Duchess, the Knight Commander is here to see you.”
At Abigail’s announcement I felt a flicker of relief and quickly ordered the table cleared. Molly retreated with a disgruntled mutter, her stout frame stiff with disapproval.
“I have just returned from Pleco Square. I delivered the maid to His Majesty’s quarters.”
Yulian entered without bothering to sit.
“His Majesty scolded me for failing to find her when she was practically under his nose. The maid herself defended me, saying she had hidden on purpose.”
“I’ve caused you trouble.”
Guilt pricked at me. He had only refrained from searching the square at my request, yet he had still received a royal rebuke.
At the same time a spark of defiance flared inside me. To think His Majesty would reprimand Yulian over something so trivial…
“Don’t concern yourself with that. It was my choice to follow your wishes.”
Yulian blinked slowly and shook his head.
“Still… I believe I now understand why you asked it of me.”
“What do you mean?”
I could not guess his intent. I waited in silence until he continued, his face unusually grave.
“It appears His Majesty cherishes that maid deeply. The moment he saw her he was overjoyed; he even wept.”
“He wept…? His Majesty…?”
Yulian answered with a short nod.
He was a man who never exaggerated and stripped all emotion from his reports. If even he described the scene that way, the reunion between His Majesty and Karina must have been profoundly moving.
“Are you all right?”
“Pardon?”
“Ishtel. I asked if you are all right.”
His green eyes bored into me, dark with worry. I had tried to hide it, but my face must have betrayed me.
“I’m fine. Thank you, Yulian.”
I had to be fine. There was no other choice now. I stretched my lips into a smile. It probably looked even more strained than before.
Yulian did not mention Karina again. He simply relayed that the Marchioness of Lilche wished to see me and suggested I visit the marquisate when I had time, then took his leave.
- Duchess.
A short while after Yulian departed, Abigail knocked at my door once more.
“His Majesty is asking for you.”
Calmly… leisurely… and gently…
I repeated the words like a mantra as I walked toward the Emperor’s quarters.
“Duchess, you have arrived.”
Sophie greeted me before the gilded doors. Her pale face, cracked lips, and trembling shoulders looked painfully fragile. She must have suffered terribly while Karina was gone.
“Announce me.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper.
“Do not worry. I will ensure no harm comes to you.”
Sophie managed a faint, grateful smile.
“Your Majesty, the Duchess has arrived.”
- Send her in at once.
His Majesty’s voice beyond the door rang bright and cheerful. I drew one steadying breath and stepped inside.
Before I had taken more than a single step, laughter drifted toward me. Karina stood behind the seated Emperor, her hands working his shoulders.
I had heard she attended him closely, yet this was the first time I had witnessed them together. My stomach twisted as though a hundred serpents writhed within it.
“Oh, Ishtel!”
The moment he saw me, His Majesty rose abruptly and strode forward, seizing both my hands in his.
“I heard you deployed the Lilche Marchioness’s private troops to search for Karina. I cannot thank you enough, Ishtel.”
Yulian had been right. Moisture still glistened in the Emperor’s eyes as he gazed at me.
“Yes…”
Unsure what to say, I turned my face away. Still holding my hands, he drew me toward a chair. Karina, leaning against the imperial seat, offered me her signature lovely smile in greeting.
“It has been a long time, Duchess.”
Calling it a long time when we had met only yesterday. I swallowed my irritation and returned the courtesy.
“Indeed, it has. Welcome home.”
The hypocrisy between us was so perfectly matched it was impossible to say whose was greater. She slipped her arm through His Majesty’s and rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes, when they met mine, glittered with strange intensity.
“My safe return to the palace is entirely thanks to the Duchess, Your Majesty. Not only did she locate me through the Lilche Marchioness, she gave strict orders not to question why I had left and simply to bring me back.”
“Did you truly do all that, Ishtel? How can I ever repay such kindness… Thank you, truly, thank you.”
His Majesty kept my hands clasped tightly in his, repeating his gratitude over and over.
I understood exactly why he was thanking me so profusely.
Because he had suspected me. The day he learned Karina was missing, he had torn the imperial quarters apart and stared at me with ice in his eyes.
Even after collapsing during morning court, the first thing he asked upon waking was whether I truly did not know where she was.
It was not that I felt no remorse for lying to him. Yet humans are selfish creatures, and in this moment the sting of hurt far outweighed any guilt.
“The Duchess must love Your Majesty with all her heart. That is why she brought me back to you. Isn’t that so, Duchess?”
Karina nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, her voice sweet as honey.
The golden eyes that met mine flashed a clear warning. This once he would overlook it. But the next time, I would pay the full price.
In that fleeting glance she conveyed a thousand threats. All I could do was bite down hard on my lip. I could not give voice to anger, sorrow, or resentment—none of it.
Karina watched me with that same enigmatic smile, then changed the subject to recapture His Majesty’s attention.
“Your Majesty, do you know whom I met while I was away from the palace?”
“I wonder. Whom did you meet?”
“I encountered the dancer who once secretly taught me. She had been performing in my place while I was gone from the troupe.”
“Ah, the friend you said you had lost touch with?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What was her name again? La… La…”
“Layla.”
“Ah, yes! Layla!”
“Indeed. And I saw Rico, Risha, and Lucy as well!”
“They were the orchestra that travels with Layla, weren’t they?”
“Exactly, Your Majesty!”
Names I had never heard poured forth one after another. Stories I knew nothing about flowed between them, punctuated by constant laughter.
Though we occupied the same room, I was not part of their company. It felt as if someone had erased my very existence.
Like oil floating on water, like a stain blooming across white silk—I was an alien presence that did not belong.
“Then I shall take my leave…”
My words were swallowed by another burst of laughter. No one called me back as I turned and walked out the door.
A number in which one person is inevitably left out. It was the room of three.
The food had gone cold, yet the seat of honor remained empty. I leaned back in my chair, staring at the vacant place across from me.
Only after several minutes did Abigail approach and relay His Majesty’s message: other duties prevented him from joining us for dinner.
“Then we shall dine by ourselves today.”
With that brief declaration, supper for the three of us began. When the maid asked which wine to serve, I requested the strongest. Soon identical glasses stood before me, Illid, and Hellion. We touched them together lightly.
“Ugh!”
Illid let out a strangled groan before the glass had even left his lips. He shot a pained glance at Hellion and me, brows furrowed deeply. Hellion, by contrast, drained his glass without a flicker of expression.
It was indeed like swallowing liquid fire. Yet whether my tongue had gone numb or my mind had simply gone blank, I found myself sipping the fierce liquor again and again when normally I could not have managed a single swallow.
“This is unprecedented. His Majesty missing our weekly meal.”
Illid slid his glass aside as he spoke.
“Doesn’t he treasure this time above all? He even schedules other engagements to avoid it…”
He blinked at me, clearly hoping for an explanation. I pretended ignorance.
“Have rumors not reached you yet?”
The unexpected reply came from Hellion. Illid’s gaze shifted to him.
“It’s because of that maid.”
Hellion wore an expression that asked how they could possibly not know.
“The girl who served His Majesty’s tea vanished on a whim and has only now been found and returned to the palace.”