“Lord Francis? Are you there?”

“Is that you, Ms Anne? Come on in.”

“Alright I'm coming in, young master.”

The door opened. The head maid entered with a silver platter on her hand. On it was a sealed envelope, with a wax seal bearing the symbol of a noble house he didn’t know. She presented it to him.

“And what’s that?” Francis asked.

“It came from the House of Castinate.”

“Right. Hand it here then.”

He grabbed the letter. Tearing away the wax seal, he gently removed the envelope’s contents and unfolded it. In a slick and fancy Times New Roman style writing, an invitation was extended to him. In short, it was an invitation to a party. Only nobles were invited, but he was free to bring along several guests. Three of them, in fact. But Castinate? He had no idea who they were.

“Ms Anne? Any idea who the House of Castinate are?”

“Hmm. I’m not too sure with the politics and diplomacy between nobles. I think you’ll get a better answer from Reison.”

“Who’s that?”

“That’s Lady Estelle’s private butler. I believe he helps her out with some affairs.”

“Is that so. Very interesting. Does my father not handle any diplomacy at all?”

“I’m afraid not, young master. His grace has no established connections with any noble houses. It has all been lady Estelle’s work. In addition, many marquesses of Castinate have lost their lives at the hand of the duke of Rayleigh. So I’m not really sure why they would invite you to a party.”

“I see. And where is Reison now?”

Ms Anne shrugged. It seemed like the only competent person who was updated was Estelle. All the more reason to see her, then. In truth, he liked being around her.

“Right. I’ll go to my sister. She should know. Or better yet, she can just tell me directly.”

“Very well young master. Should I send an advance message?”

“No need. I’ll head there. You two, come with me.”

He stood up and motioned to Kim Hye-Sung and Katalina. They nodded. But Ms Anne stopped them in their tracks. Extending out her arms, she blocked the door.

“Is this an act of defiance, Ms Anne?”

“Yes, young master. I’m not going to let you go out like that.” She pointed at his body.

“It's fine. She’s my sister.”

“But you’re still in your nightgown.”

“So what? Move aside Ms Anne.”

“Even though you’re her brother, you should have some common decency.”

“Ms Anne. I do not have the time for this.”

“Fine. But you must remember, young master, you’re no longer little. You’re pretty much an adult now, so you need to act like one.”

“Yeah yeah. Save that for when we have guests over or when I’m in the palace. Oh by the way, want to return to the palace with me?”

“Wa-wait what? You’re asking me to go with you to the imperial palace? Where her highness is?”

“You mean Haein? Then yeah. Wanna come? You can be my head maid, and be in charge of the gentlemen and ladies that serve me.”

“Hae- Did you just call her casually?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“She’s the crown princess, young master.”

“And said crown princess used to contact me every night. What of it.”

She faked a tear. Nodding her head, she moved away from the door. Francis stepped outside of his chambers, with his two guards behind him. He closed the door behind him, and someone placed their hand on his shoulder.

“Hey. What the actual hell was that? You’re on extremely friendly terms with a princess? And she talked to you every night? What kind of relationship is that?”

Francis turned around. Hye-Sung stared at his face, and he removed her hand from his shoulder. Was it really that weird? He was a competitor for the future title of emperor. Would it not make sense to have a good relationship with the crown princess, or better known as the future empress? He swallowed the obvious questions.

“It is what it is. Now let’s go to her chambers. I need to talk to her about this invitation.”

“So you’re planning to attend it then?”

“That depends. She might not allow it.”

“Which ‘she’ are you talking about? That slightly obsessive princess or your sister?” Katalina asked.

“Hmm. What does it mean to you?”

She had no response. Francis nodded, and turned back around. Without any other interruptions, they made their way to Estelle’s chambers.

They walked in silence, with the soft moonlight filtering through the glass windows. His footsteps echoed throughout the lonely hallways. Two guards stood in front of a door, and saluted him as he approached them. Without a word, they had reached Estelle’s chambers.

“Lord Francis. Do you wish to see Lady Estelle?”

“That is why I am here, yes.”

“Does she know that you’re here, my lord?”

“Nope. Let me through.”

The guard turned to his companion. After a few seconds of deliberating with their eyes, they shrugged. Moving away from the door, they motioned for him to enter. After all, he was her brother. And the servants knew that if someone was the favourite child, it was the youngest brother.

“Estelle. You there?” he knocked on the door and asked.

“Ah. Yeah, come on in.”

Turning the door knob, they stepped in. It was their first time in her chambers. Francis took a quick scan of his surroundings. A desk with stacks upon stacks of papers, a large bed tucked into the corner, and a multitude of lamps hung around the rooms.

“There are only a few reasons why you’d visit me. Does it have anything to do with the letter you got?” Estelle asked, putting aside her paperwork.

“So you read it?”

“Nonsense. I am not that type of person.”

“Well, I agree. Either way, what’s the situation with House Castinate now?”

“They’re hostile. But then again, who isn’t? Though, they’re much more hostile.”

“Scale of 1 to 10?”

“About an 8 if 10 means that they’re willing to go to war against us.”

“Well shit. Why would they invite me?”

“Either they want to assassinate you, or they have a daughter they want to offer.”

Francis took a seat opposite her, on her bed. The two guards stood beside him, like guardian angels watching over their chosen. Seeing that, Estelle smirked. She placed her feather pen down and approached him. With her hand, she chased the two ladies away to the door. She sat down beside him, and made sure that they were away. At least out of earshot for whispers. Grabbing his wrist, she pushed him down onto her bed.

“I don’t approve of incest, sister,” Francis said in a stern voice.

“Neither do I. But...” Estelle leaned in close to his ear.

He could feel her breath on her skin. She was close, uncomfortably so. Her body against his, and he squirmed.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Elaborate. And sister, get off me.”

“No. You’ve changed, Francis. It’s really like you’re someone else.”

“Fuck,” Francis said internally, “Original. What would you say?”

“Uhhhh. ‘Are you kidding me? I’m the mixed blood. I’m the youngest son of Rayleigh.’ Something like that?”

The imposter repeated his words verbatim. Like reading off a script. But Estelle didn’t seem convinced. Their closeness was uncomfortable. Had his body not been that of her brother, perhaps something might have happened.

“Stop that. Don’t spout lies with his body. Who are you?”

“Hmp. Not now. But you’re smart, Estelle. I trust that you can figure it out. Oh, but don’t worry about your brother. He’s safe. With me.”

“Where.”

“Here.” Francis tapped his temple. “Don’t worry.”

Estelle sat up. With a wag of her finger, the two guards returned to their positions with a confused look. Katalina opened her mouth to ask something, but never did. However, Kim Hye-Sung asked the question for her. Or rather, she asked a question that Katalina would never have asked.

“So what were you talking about? I thought you two were brother and sister? How could you get so close?”

“Do not refer to him or even talk to him so casually, woman.”

The sister shot a deathly glare. Even Francis got chills just from being in that general direction. Regardless, the stared didn’t care and helped him up.

“Calm down. I gave her permission.”

“What? Why? That privilege is reserved for those closest or special.”

“And they’re special. Stop asking these questions and let's get to business.”

“Haa... That’s where your mixed blooded nature comes in I suppose. Your brother, no, none of us would have even said that. Much less allow someone to act so casually.”

“Move on. The Castinates. Any notable people?”

“Not really. The eldest daughter is slated to succeed the marquess’ place soon.”

“Any trade deals? Recent activities?”

“You ask questions I never thought you’d ask. You really have changed, Fran. But to answer your questions, we have a few deals with them. Mostly, we sell excess wool to them and in return they trade us wine. Aside from that, there really isn’t a lot more. As for recent history, we don’t really know.”

Francis nodded. It was weird really, to be hearing this from his sister. Charles Rayleigh, handled nothing. All of it was handled by Estelle.

“Now, the question is. Will you attend? Or not? You’re a Rayleigh. You don’t need to attend if you don’t want to.”

“Hm. Hypothetically, would you come along if I brought you along?”

“Probably. When is it?”

“In a week’s time. I’m bringing these two along too.”

“Good. Then is three the max?”

“Yeah. Oh by the way, how familiar are you with magical items?”

“Depends. Which school of magic are you talking about?”

“School? There’s schools for this?”

“Did that court mage not teach you anything?”

“No one ever teaches me anything. Gonna be honest, kinda missing Mr Frium right now.”

“That’s your private tutor, yes? I doubt he would know more than the court mage.”

“Hm. Could you get something for me then? It’s called the ‘Messenger of the Mystics’, it might be rather expensive. I’ll need at least like, 6 portions of it?”

“Alright. Sure. I’ll get someone to look into that for you. It's a magical item, yes?”

“It is. If I’m going to attend the party in hostile land, I’ll need it.”

Estelle nodded. So it wasn’t strange to prepare in advance. Good, good. With a wave of his hand, he left her chambers. Retreating back to his own place, his footsteps were light.

With the soft moonlight filtering through the windows, one could say he looked like a fairy. He gripped the edges of his night dress and spun around to face the two guards. Francis could feel his face turning into a smile.

“What, you’re happy that your sister made a move on you?” Hye-Sung asked in a joking manner.

“Hah! Oh, right. You two don’t have any objections right? About the party?”

“None here. Knight lady?”

“I will do as you say, my lord. If you wish for my head, then it shall be done.”

“No need for that. I trust that you will act in our best interests, Katalina. But it would be a good experience for you.”

“But what’s that messenger thing?”

“Oh, right. You two wouldn’t know. I guess my sister wouldn’t have known either. But it's a way we can communicate. You can essentially talk to someone else telepathically.”

“Ooo. But how did you learn about it?”

“Depends. Will either of you get angry?”

“My lord, I will never get angry at anything you do.”

“I think you’re lying, but I choose to think that you’re not. Anyway, how I learnt of it is rather complicated. Her highness, crown princess Haein, you see. She’s a weird one. But anyway, she fed me part of it. Well, though I say fed, it's more like she forced it down for me.”

“What, did she shove a spoonful of cough syrup into your mouth?”

“No. She took my first kiss, and transferred it to me with her tongue, into my mouth, and forced it down. Anyone angry yet?”

“Whoa. You got it stolen by a princess?”

“Yeap. Not exactly my proudest moment, but to be honest I allowed it to happen.”

Kim Hye-Sung nodded. She approached him, and he stopped in his tracks. Her black hair was beautiful in the moonlight. Those pretty eyes of hers shone like the stars that dotted the night sky. With her outstretched hand, she took his hand and hoisted it up. He nearly fell, but she caught him on his back with her left hand.

“What, you wanna dance?”

“Have I ever told you about how similar you look to my girlfriend? Or I guess ex-girlfriend now that I’m here.”

“Not really. Why? I’m not that interested in you, before you do anything else.”

“Hahaha! You really remind me of her. The way you talk as well. Makes me want to...”

Francis felt a chill down his spine. Though his field of view was mostly blocked by her body, he knew that Katalina was staring at him. Or rather, glaring. He faced Kim Hye-Sung. Her eyes were focused elsewhere, at Katalina. And a smile crept up on her face. Surprisingly, she was rather beautiful. His heart, though he was certainly used to being in such close proximity with women, beat quickly. Within his ribcage, he could feel its pulsing.

“So that’s how you really feel I see,” Hye-Sung spoke, but not to him.

She let go of him and made sure he was able to stand up properly. With her hand on his shoulder, she pointed at the knight.

“Remember what I told you earlier? Pay attention.”

“Whoa. Katalina, calm down. She didn’t do anything to me. Not yet, I hope.”

In front of him, separated by quite some distance, was a knight. And she was not happy. Her hand was on her blade, and the mana stone embedded within its guard glistened. It shone with a brilliance that was hard, no, impossible to miss. A golden yellow coated her sword, but it slowly dissipated.

“Don’t get so close to him, woman.”

“Calm down. And don’t coat your blade with aura, Katalina.”

“You shouldn’t let a stranger get close to you, my lord.”

“She’s not a stranger. Neither are you. The two of you are special, alright?”

“There you go again, saying lines like that. My lord, please.”

She sheathed her blade. With a push from Francis, Hye-Sung stepped away from him. Turning her head, she made direct eye contact with him.

“I’d suggest you settle your issues with her. Talk to her.”

“Haa. Anyway, how’s your living situation? Got a room and everything?”

“Yeah. It's pretty nice. What, you want me to share a room with you?”

“Nah, you can sleep alone. Of course, if you sneak in at night, what can I do. I won’t resist...”

“Damn. Did getting kidnapped change you?”

“I dunno. Not Stockholm Syndrome though. I hate that old man. And that arrogant woman too. Oh right. Katalina, I have so much to tell you.”

And she shrugged. With a sigh, she approached him. Patting his shoulder, she shook her head and motioned for him to move forward. Granted, they did just stop in the middle of a hallway.