Chapter 35: Chapter-35

“No word yet, Your Highness. We’re still one day away from the agreed-upon evaluation period.”

“Then we wait.” Elara stood and walked to the window. The courtyard below showed normal morning activity—servants moving between buildings, guards on patrol rotation, nothing obviously wrong.

But she could feel the shift. The palace had turned against her overnight. Not all of it—never all of it—but enough that every interaction would now be hostile, every request delayed, every small comfort withheld.

Her sisters had weaponized social isolation, and it was remarkably effective.

A knock interrupted her thoughts. The fox knight opened the door to reveal Dimitri, looking pale and carrying a sealed letter.

“Your Highness. This just arrived. From Guild Master Torven.”

Elara’s hand didn’t shake when she took it. “You’re early. The test period isn’t complete until tomorrow.”

“I know, Your Highness. But he sent it now.”

She broke the seal and read:

’Fourth Princess Elara,’

’We’ve completed preliminary testing of your preservation anchor. Results exceed our projections by significant margin. The anchor maintained full effectiveness for 96 hours as promised, then degraded gracefully without damaging the preserved goods. Spoilage reduction: 97.3% compared to control samples.’

’However, circumstances require us to meet immediately rather than wait for the agreed timeline. There have been… inquiries… from parties interested in disrupting our potential partnership. We need to finalize contracts before external pressure makes negotiation impossible.’

’If you’re still interested, come to the Merchant Quarter Guild Hall today. Noon. Come alone or with minimal escort—we need discretion.’

’—Torven’

Elara read it twice, then handed it to Mira. “Analysis.”

Mira scanned quickly. “Someone found out about your merchant negotiations. Probably Eleana’s people. They’re trying to intimidate the guild masters before contracts are signed.”

“Which means Torven is more interested than he’s letting on,” Elara said. “Otherwise he’d just walk away rather than risk antagonizing an imperial princess. The technology works well enough that he’s willing to navigate political danger to secure it.”

She looked at Dimitri. “Send confirmation. I’ll be there at noon.”

“Your Highness,” Mira said carefully, “going into the Merchant Quarter right now, after last night, when your sisters are actively hostile… it’s dangerous. If something happened to you outside palace walls—”

“Then I die, and Eleana wins by default.” Elara pulled her cloak from the hook. “But if I don’t go, I lose the merchant contracts, have no independent revenue, and die slowly instead of quickly. At least this way I’m moving forward.”

“Let me come with you,” Dimitri offered. “I know the quarter. I can help navigate—”

“You’ll stay here and continue establishing contacts with the other guilds. If this meeting goes wrong, I need you ready to approach alternative partners immediately.” Elara fastened the cloak. “Mira, prepare three different contract variations based on how aggressive Torven’s position is. I want options ready for every scenario.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As Elara headed for the door, the fox knight fell into step behind her. She glanced at him.

“You’re coming?”

“You said minimal escort, Your Highness. One knight qualifies as minimal.”

Fair point.

They walked through the palace corridors together, and Elara noted every hostile glance, every servant who looked away rather than acknowledge her, every whispered conversation that stopped when she approached.

Eleana had turned her into a social pariah overnight. Impressive efficiency.

.

.

.

.

The palace corridor felt like running a gauntlet.

“—all twenty-four of them, I heard—”

“—cycles through them like changing clothes—”

“—mother would be horrified—”

Elara kept walking, face blank, but her mind catalogued every whisper with cold precision. Three clusters of servants in the first hallway. A group of minor nobles by the fountain who went silent when she approached, then exploded into frantic whispers the moment she passed. Two palace officials who literally turned and walked the other direction rather than share the corridor with her.

The fox knight behind her had his ears pinned flat, tail rigid. He could hear everything they were saying about her. About what she supposedly did with the knights under her command. The speculation was creative, at least.

Near the eastern staircase, she passed Lady Merchant—one of the Empress’s attendants—surrounded by younger noble daughters. The woman didn’t even bother lowering her voice.

“—absolute depravity. They say she summons different knights every night. Sometimes multiple at once. Can you imagine? And she has the audacity to judge Princess Eleana’s sacred bond—”

One of the girls gasped dramatically. “But isn’t that… don’t the etiquette scrolls say that’s for ’education’? Before marriage?”

“Education is one or two knights, dear. Discreetly. Not an entire battalion rotated through your chambers like—”

Elara stopped walking.

Turned.

Met Lady Merchant’s eyes directly.

The woman’s face went white. She grabbed her protégés and hurried away, skirts rustling in panicked haste.

“Your Highness,” the fox knight said quietly, “we should keep moving.”

“In a moment.” Elara stayed where she was, watching the noble ladies flee. Then she noticed something else—a young palace maid, maybe fifteen, pressed against the wall nearby with her cleaning bucket. Frozen. Terrified of being noticed.

But her eyes told a different story. Not fear. Recognition.

Elara walked over to her. The girl immediately dropped into a bow so deep her forehead nearly touched the floor.

“Your Highness, I—I wasn’t listening, I swear, I was just—”

“Stand up.”

The girl rose shakily.

“What’s your name?”

“M-Lira, Your Highness. I work in the servants’ wing. I clean the—” She stopped, face flushing. “The household education quarters.”

Ah. So she cleaned the rooms where young royals were sent with designated knights for “instruction.” The polite fiction everyone maintained while teenage princes and princesses learned about sex from warriors who had no choice but to participate.

“And what do you think,” Elara asked quietly, “about what they’re saying about me?”

The girl looked genuinely confused. “Your Highness?”

“The rumors. That I’m keeping all my knights for personal entertainment. That it’s scandalous and depraved.”

Lira’s expression did something complicated. “I… Your Highness, I don’t understand why everyone’s so upset. Every princess does that. Prince Aldric had six knights assigned for education last year. Princess Eleana bonded Sir Robin when she was sixteen specifically because—” She stopped, realizing she was saying too much.

“Because she wanted him in her bed,” Elara finished. “You can say it. That’s what bonding means, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The girl’s voice was barely a whisper. “But we’re not supposed to talk about it like that. It’s supposed to be about partnership and magical connection and—”

“And everyone knows the real reason but pretends otherwise.”

Lira nodded miserably. “I clean those rooms, Your Highness. I see what happens. I see the scratches and the bite marks and the—” She flushed deeper. “Everyone uses the knights that way. All the royals do. It’s normal. But you said it out loud, and now they’re acting like you invented something evil when you just… told the truth.”

“Exactly.” Elara studied the girl’s face. “That’s the part they can’t forgive. Not the practice. The honesty.”

A voice cut through the corridor. “Fourth Princess.”

Elara turned to find Sir Robin standing twenty paces away, hands clasped behind his back, expression pleasant and utterly cold.

The temperature in the hallway seemed to drop.

“Sir Robin.” Elara’s tone remained flat. “Shouldn’t you be attending my sister?”

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