Lianza didn't take the envelope.
Her eyes scanned it from top to bottom without touching it. The golden wax catching glints from the lamplight. The Jahke seal waiting.
Ardwyn held Lianza's gaze, defiant.
Three seconds passed.
Then he smiled.
He opened his fingers.
The envelope fell.
Slow. A parchment against the stillness of the air. It did a complete flip before landing on the floor between them, with a thud that sounded louder than it should have due to the silence of the empty hallway.
No one moved.
Ardwyn looked at me. His amber eyes shining.
"Pick it up, Elcronne. That's what dogs do."
The guards didn't blink.
Lianza's Empero spiraled out of control. The entire hallway began to freeze: first the floor, then the walls, finally starting to creep up the legs of everyone present.
Ardwyn nodded to himself. And he released his Empero too.
I don't think I've told you what kind of Empero Ardwyn has. I suppose you thought he possessed something pure, like light, an Empero worthy of the hero of a romance novel.
Well, let me tell you that wasn't exactly the case.
The surroundings began to crystallize. Ice against crystal, physically clashing while their auras of Empero mixed, producing a deep chestnut color with ruby undertones.
They were evenly matched.
I knelt down to pick up the envelope, then stepped back as fast as I could.
"Don't tell me that envelope says what I think it does, Ardwyn V of Jahke."
"Read it and see for yourself, Princess Lianza."
Lianza didn't respond. Her eyes fixed on the seal of the envelope resting in my hand.
"You have three days, Princess," he said. "We both know how impatient my father is, so I wouldn't recommend waiting longer than stipulated."
His Empero began to retract, but the damage was already done: the entire hallway was covered in a mix of crystal and ice.
He turned around. His cape kicking up frost and bits of crystal as it swept the floor. The guards followed.
The sound of boots faded down the hallway.
I stood up. I offered the envelope to Lianza.
"Don't open it here," I said.
She took it. She tucked it inside one of the books I was carrying. Without looking at it. Without speaking.
"My lady..."
"No." She raised her hand. "Not now. I need... I need to think."
"Lianza."
"I said no."
She spun on her heels and walked toward the west wing. Quick steps. And as always, back straight. Her garnet Empero trembling around her.
I let her go. I had no right to stop her. Not now.
I turned toward the end of the hallway.
I caught a glimpse of a figure holding a notebook; upon being discovered, they ducked back around the corner. The only thing I managed to identify was a messy braid whipping through the air as she turned to leave.
Layda. She had been watching everything.
Strange. Too strange. In The Throne of Ashes and Thorns, Layda finds out about what happened after the Welcome Ball. Why was she spying on the hero and the villainess this time?
I quickened my pace.
"Layda?" I called as I turned the corner, in a tone loud enough to be heard at the other end.
She stopped. I kept approaching.
She couldn't run anymore. Now it was her turn to pretend. The notebook disappeared behind her back. Her eyes widened.
"D-Dariel!" she exclaimed. "I... I was looking for the library. Yes, the library. Shall we?"
I decided to play along. Maybe, if I spent enough time close to her, I could figure out what was going on.
"Let's go."
DING!
[What? Did you think I'd forget about the third mission?]
[Have you stopped to think about Layda's situation? The new girl, in a completely new world... No friends, no one to turn to. Very sad, isn't it?]
The System was right, in part. It was natural for Layda to act this shy and be easily surprised or intimidated... but the real problem was when she wasn't.
[New mission: Because our dear Romeo has shown 0 sensitivity towards the new girl, I've decided to increase it.]
[Physical Sensitivity increased by 2000% for a whole day. ✨]
I think you're exaggerating, I told the System. I was the only one who gave her a hand when she arrived.
[You only did it because otherwise your beloved Lianza would have been left with a deformed face. For shame, Romeo, for shame...]
[Be that as it may, the reward will be that I'll tell you everything related to your Empero, but if you give up, I won't tell you nor will I allow anyone to tell you anything related to your Empero.]
[Consider this a loving hug for having no tact. The brush of your own clothes will be your cross to bear, sinner. Face the consequences! 😘]
I grit my teeth. A button on my uniform slid against my collarbone and a shiver ran down my spine.
I stumbled into the library. Layda had gone ahead and was already sitting at a table in the history section, with her books stacked.
"Shall we start?" she said.
I sat across from her. The wood of the chair pressed against my back through the fabric. I straightened my back and stifled a groan through my teeth.
"Is everything alright, Dariel?"
"I'm perfectly fine," I lied.
Layda nodded and opened her notebook. My eyes locked onto its contents. There were no notes from Vauxol's class. They were diagrams, timelines, some very detailed drawings about the kingdom and Mayorka, all in neat handwriting that didn't fit the education a commoner should have.
You see, in this world, education was a privilege of nobles or those who demonstrated a high capacity for Empero. The Layda of the novel had demonstrated that capacity in her adolescence. Before that, all her education was that of just another village girl.
It was too strange that she could have such good spelling. And that she knew so much about the history of Earolden.
"What's that?" I pointed at a diagram before she could cover it.
"Oh, that..." Layda blushed, covering the page with her elbow. "They're just doodles. I draw when I get nervous. And let me tell you, today has been one of the days I've drawn the most. You know, commoner surrounded by nobles and all that."
"Doodles," I repeated. "How talented you are, my lady."
Layda curved her lips and looked down, shy.
We spent half an hour studying. I limited myself to asking her questions about the Treaty of the Three Seals while trying not to sink my teeth into my tongue every time the fabric of my sleeve brushed my wrist.
Layda answered everything. Everything. Dates, names, places, trade routes. Even those things that were in footnotes in the novel's chapters. Things I had skipped for considering them filler.
It was the kind of information you could only have if you were one of those Bookforgers, the masters among masters who only lived in the Capitol of Galia... or if you had already lived through the events.
Each of her answers increased my bewilderment to the point that my skin prickled.
I didn't know what was happening with her, but I was determined to find out.
Little by little, I pushed further with my questions, waiting for the right moment.
"One last question," I said at last.
Layda closed her notebook.
"Tell me."
"What do you know about the poisons of the Analazze family?"
Her eyelashes blinked. Once. The warm brown of her eyes vanished.
It was the perfect question. If she overreacted, it was because she did know and was hiding something; and if she didn't react or thought I was crazy, it would just remain a strange anecdote between us.
She leaned on her elbows. She leaned toward me. The shy smile had disappeared.
Right then I knew immediately that the little act we were putting on was over.
"And why don't you tell me what you know about the poisons, Dariel Elcronne?"