Only a foolish leader would think they have quelled gossip.

Emperor Mathusela Conwyn does not fashion himself a foolish leader. Regardless of this engagement party being a symbol of his future successes, he didn’t want certain tabloids attending the event. They welcomed only the ones vetted by the Imperial family within the walls of the banquet hall.

However, secrecy wasn’t a guarantee. It never was. There were a million chances. Many attendees were drunk and probably took their drinking elsewhere instead of going home. They could easily let what happened spill out on the floors of clubs that commoners frequented.

Someone could have paid the servants to inform the unwelcome papers. Someone of the royal nobles could’ve gotten drunk enough and had been giving information to the wrong people. A double agent working for one of the Imperial approved papers that could’ve given information away. Most importantly, there were the aristocratic nobles that would give this information away if they thought it would put them five steps ahead of Mathusela.

There were cracks all around. Always have been and always will. It would’ve been foolish of Mathusela to ignore their existence. But it would also be foolish of him to stress himself about it. So that night. He ignored his son’s rabid attempts at making excuses. He ignored his wife’s rantings of “I knew something like this would happen”. His daughter’s introverted nature and son’s travels made him happy on nights like this.

Solomon and Patience could yap their heads off all night for all he cared. He would deal with this in the morning.

While the approved papers kept a tight lid on what happened, the papers not under the control of the imperial family spread the news like wildfire.

ROYAL ENGAGEMENT OFF?!

KHANNA AND CONWYN FAMILIES NO LONGER UNITING?!

And in the chaos of gossip, more gossip spread from the mouths of the people. Whether the gossip was true or not was up for debate, but it still spread like an airborne disease.

I heard that the crown prince was sleeping around. It runs in their little family. I bet the emperor has crotch goblins all over the kingdom by now.

Good riddance. Could you imagine what those kids would look like? Too many foreigners would come running into the country.

Word is there was an assassination plot involving some rebels, and the Khannas have information on it.

I heard that the marriage was to prevent a war. You know the government wants to expand East and those Eastlanders are getting scared.

Our armies were not prepared when we invaded the Eastlands last time. You should spend more time learning history and less time talking.. This marriage was more for our sake than theirs and that idiot boy was probably the one that ruined this whole affair.

I thought the Khannas were turning their backs on us. Good thing they changed their tunes.

I do hope this means that the emperor is changing his mind about having Solomon be next in line. The boy is DREADFUL, Apollo is the much better choice.

The whore? Not in a thousand years. Even Selene would be a preferred choice.

I wouldn’t bet on that little dame. Last time a Conwyn woman was up for the throne, she went mad.

All I care about is whether this causes a civil war. None of us can afford it. I sure as hell can’t.

And in the sea of gossip. 

A young woman smirks at the smell of opportunity.