A rich velvet red carriage pulled over in front of the five-storey castle. A plump man wearing a feathered green hat and matching green pants with a white collared shirt, jumped down from the horses and bowed.

"Good morning, my lady. If I may escort you into the carriage."

The ride in the carriage with Regica seemed approximately ten minutes long. It passed by long stretches of gardens filled with flowers and fruit trees, the scent of freshly cut grass and citrus fruits wafting into the carriage.

"He doesn't live here?" I asked, pointing to the building we'd been in, which had become much smaller in the distance.

"He- you mean His Majesty, my lady?" Regica asked, adjusting the frills on my sleeves. "No, of course not. That castle is for you, and he has his own, and the Empress, her own. This whole stretch of gardens and land were bestowed upon you by the Emperor."

"Then he was there last night, to see me?"

Regica hesitated, glancing at the horseman. She lowered her voice, and whispered near my face, her breath tickling my ear. "For most of the days in the two months you were unconscious, His Majesty visited your castle almost every day, my lady."

"What? He didn't strike me as the sweet husbandly type," I said a little sourly, recalling his hard, callous expressions.

"I don't know what he had up his sleeves, my lady," she continued to whisper. "He never even once entered your room to check on you. He just stayed in the guest room of your castle, attending to his work."

"What, was he spying on me? Seeing if I would wake up and escape back to Irennia?"

Regica wrinkled her nose. "Exactly my guess, my lady. He showed such little concern for your well being."

The split second of his expression flashed past my mind. The icy hostility gone from his eyes, replaced by what was unequivocally relief, when he entered my chambers and saw me sitting up.

"Little concern for my well being," I murmured, looking out the windows.

~ * ~

"I see you haven't jumped from the railing last night, Lady Helena."

Those were the first words Hanes spoke when I entered his tea room. The vast room- probably the size of my entire apartment- was simply designed, with clean white walls, a long oak wood table covered with glass and three chairs.

On the table were a silver tea pot- which I wondered for a moment if it was really made of silver- three china cups filled with brewing hot tea. And occupying two of the three chairs were Emperor Hanes and whom I presumed to be Empress Carlana.

I could have recognised Empress Carlana anywhere from Regica's description. She had the smile and relaxed atmosphere of someone who was bright, friendly, and as the real Helena described her to be, 'thoughtless'. With bright brown eyes, lustrous smooth brown hair pulled into an elegant low bun, she was dressed in a rich silk green dress, sipping tea.

When she saw me, she offered a tight smile. From the awfully picture perfect awkward smile, I knew that she didn't particularly like Helena, either. "Lady Helena. It is so good to see you well."

So I now knew that this was a time and place where royalty still existed. This man was the Emperor, this woman the Empress, and I was, well, the second wife. How was I to greet them? Say hi? Hello, nice to see you?

At my awkward silence during which I deliberated how to say hi, Regica, who had been by my side, curtsied, twice. "Greetings to Your Majesty and Your Highness."

Hyle, who was standing, with the sword at his hip, by Hanes's side, bowed toward me.

I cleared my throat, looked around, and offered a smile I hoped didn't appear as a scowl, pretending I didn't hear the far from friendly greeting of Hanes. "Um. Morning to everyone."

Hyle, who had pretty much been expressionless, blinked and looked at me with some surprise, before lowering his eyes again. Beside me I heard Regica suck in a breath. Carlana covered her mouth with her handkerchief in what I presumed to be an attempt to hide her own surprise- or laugh.

Hanes raised his eyebrow. "Interesting new manners, Lady Helena."

"If you don't mind I'll take a seat." I pulled out the chair from the table, only to realise that Regica was in the midst of the gesture of trying to pull out the chair for me.

Again everyone stared, and feeling suddenly quite self-conscious, I sat.

"The Empress made the suggestion, for us to breakfast together. She wishes to congratulate you on your recovery," Hanes said coolly, as if reading from a script.

Carlana beamed the smile of a child who'd been praised for helping her classmate. "You cannot believe how happy I was when I heard the news that you were awake. I believe you are feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you." I couldn't help but smile. It seemed quite cruel to not respond to the friendly- albeit awkward friendly- attempts of the Empress to at least try to be nice. I needed as many allies as possible in this new world, and she could be another, other than Regica.

After some thought, I added, "Are you busy tonight...Your Highness?" Please tell me this is the correct way to address her.

Carlana looked surprised, and she looked at me as if trying to figure out what I was going to say next. Despite her surprise, she smiled. "Nothing in particular occupies my time tonight."

"Oh, that's great. You might have heard, but I lost all my memories. Can't remember who I am, can't remember who you are- anyone in this place in particular- really, anything." I shrugged with an awkward smile. "So I was thinking, if you don't mind, would you like to come over to my...place? Maybe I can invite you for dinner."

The doors opened, and men dressed in black and white uniform which I presumed to belong to the servants of the castle- entered, carrying dishes in their hands which they arranged on the table.

Carlana's mouth fell open a little, and she closed it, tucking a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear, openly flustered. "Oh. Um... Yes, yes of course. A pleasure to be invited, Lady Helena."

"A pleasure to invite," I grinned.

Mission accomplished. Not all women of king had to fight over the man. Especially in my case, when I didn't want this man at all. She could have him, and I would have her as a friend in this place. I'd somehow come into the body of this woman, in this era, in this place, and until I could figure out how to go back to my body and my world, I had to survive.

When I looked up, my eyes locked with that of Emperor Hanes. He was reading my face carefully, his expression inscrutable.

Breakfast was quiet and simple. There was mushroom soup, some soft bread and salad served. When all had eaten, Carlana broke the silence first.

"Your Majesty, I will leave you to catch up with Lady Helena alone. She and I will be chatting tonight after all," she said with a warm smile, inclining her head toward him.

"How considerate of you, Empress. Thank you." Hanes locked eyes with Hyle, who nodded. Hyle escorted Carlana out of the chamber, and along with the waiters and Regica, everyone vacated the room.

Hanes leaned his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. "Now, tell me," he said placidly. "What is your motive?"

I was a cop, and I knew that kind of a tone. Calm, but interrogating, determined to extricate some information out of the suspect sitting on the other side of the table.

"What motive...Your Majesty?" The words felt clumsy out of my lips.

"Your invitation of the Empress to dinner. Let us spare unnecessary words," he said, smiling mirthlessly.

"I heard from Regica that she and I weren't exactly on good terms. But I thought it'd be good to start afresh."

He leaned back, and pushed back his coal black hair. "You really lost all memory?" he probed, his piercing grey eyes never leaving my face, scrutinising every change in facial expression.

"Believe it or not, yes." It wasn't as if I could tell him what was really going on.

"You're not the Lady Helena I know," he muttered, looking at me with his steely gaze. "The way you walk, the tone of your voice, the choice of your words, your behaviour... all that is different."

"Were you and I close?"

"Close in the sense that you had the audacity to speak up against every single sentence I uttered, yes," he said with some dark humour.

"It seems like you know me very well. The way I walk, the tone of my voice, the choice of my words, my behavior- all."

The flash of profound relief that I had seen on this man's face, so raw and so open albeit short-lived, didn't leave my mind. What really was the relationship between this man and this woman Helena?

Hanes sighed, rubbing his temple. When he looked up, his face was one of such austerity and hardness that I could hardly recall the expression of relief that had been so strongly imprinted on my mind moments ago.

"You haven't forgotten that you should fear me, have you, Lady Helena?" His voice was soft and quiet, the quiet before a storm. He raised his fingers, and spoke up. "Bring the messenger in."

At his command, the doors were thrown open, and Hyle dragged in a bloodied up man bound in ropes.