Chapter 4

***

Mistress Lisette's quarters were in the deepest part of the palace. The north, to be precise.

Simply just residing there was more than enough to make other mistresses jealous of her, partly because the chambers for the other mistresses were all clustered in the south. Mistress Lisette also lived the closest to the emperor's living quarters.

Sure, she wasn't the one who asked to live there, it was the emperor who made such decisions. The emperor slept with Lisette on a daily basis, so the other mistresses harassed her more severely.

It wasn't until a rock thrown by one of the mistresses - perhaps Yerna or her maid - cracked Lisette's skull, that the emperor realized how serious the situation was and moved her away from them. She now used the same quarters the emperor used when he was a young prince. The chamber was deep inside the palace, so neighbors were scarce and the security was perfect.

While walking to her chamber, Sez recalled the limited information that she knew about Lisette in her previous life.

The emperor favored Lisette above all. To everyone's surprise, it didn't change after she gave birth to Rayton. His favor wasn't generous enough to reach her son, though.

Yerna sometimes gossiped behind her back, saying things like "the vulgar dancer beguiled His Majesty," or, "maybe her experience in the gutter made her so good in bed."

Young Sez didn't understand the hatred that the mistresses held toward Lisette. However, she gradually understood as she grew up. They were afraid. They feared that the filthy lowborn might ascend to empress and that the emperor would never look at them ever again.

Yet from Sez's memory, Lisette’s character was far from vulgar. She was more of a cautious, down-to-earth person. She always talked politely even to princes and princesses, and didn’t even enjoy luxuries as the other mistresses did. Her appearance was stunning too. Sez would choose her without a doubt if she had to choose the most beautiful person in the empire.

Fairy-like silver blonde hair and eyes that glittered like an emerald. Lisette was an angel. Even her pregnancy didn’t harm her beauty in the slightest.

'It's a bit strange,’ Sez muttered to herself. 'Where did Rayton's black hair come from?'

Every royal blood in the Den Helder Empire had blue eyes and blonde hair. There was no exception for any of the generations. Even if Rayton was an isolated case, it was a little strange that the son of blonde and silver-blonde-haired parents had black hair.

Sez put a stop to all her useless thoughts when she reached her destination. Lisette's chamber felt different from the other mistress's quarters. She had never seen a place as heavily guarded as her chamber. At the entrance, Sez looked around cautiously as she stood before the gate.

"…Princess Sez?"

Sez turned her head upon hearing the familiar voice. It was Owsen, the head steward. She was a little relieved to see a face that she knew.

"Ah, Owsen."

"What are you doing here, Your Highness?" Owsen asked with a puzzled look. No wonder he looked so confused, she had practically no relationship with Lisette.

"It's nothing serious but... you know, today is my brother's birthday."

“...”

"I have a gift for him, and I heard he always spends his birthday at her place, so..."

Owsen was quiet for a moment. She wished she had come up with a more plausible excuse, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.

"…I'll inform the lady first. Could you please wait here for a moment?”

"Oh, of course."

Orson bowed and headed into the chamber. Sez was left alone, stood there glancing over at the guards. She was sure that she looked a little bit... no, very weird.

She had no other way to meet Rayton though. Sez only hoped that Lisette would let her in. A short while later, Owsen came out with a slightly brighter expression.

"Please follow me, Your Royal Highness."

Sez exhaled in relief behind Owsen.

***

Lisette's chamber was rather modest, contrary to its heavy security. It wasn't as luxurious as the other mistresses' places.

'Even my old room has more decorations than this', Sez thought.

They walked down the long corridor to the end of her quarters. Only a couple of tables and chairs were placed in the room. While the palace maidens hurriedly prepared dinner, Rayton and Lisette were nowhere to be found.

"Please take a seat, Your Royal Highness. Lady Lisette will be here in a moment."

Sez chose the furthest seat from the others, while thinking about how simple the table was. She had never seen such a small table in the palace. Yerna, for example, ate her supper on a table taller than Sez even when she ate alone.

'Maybe it's just her taste.' Sez looked aimlessly at the dishes filling the table one by one.

"Good evening, Your Royal Highness."

Sez raised her head. Lisette walked right in with a faint smile on her face. The mistress made a polite bow to Sez and sat opposite her.

"I heard you came to congratulate Rayton on his birthday.”

"Yes, I hope my sudden visit didn’t surprise you..."

"Not at all. I appreciate it. Always happy to have more people celebrating."

Lisette's kind words melted away Sez's nervousness, but she had no idea if Rayton would act the same as his mother. Sez smiled unnaturally.

"Rayton will be here soon, too. My servant says he's on his way.”

"Oh, great…"

There was an awkward silence. Sez looked at Lisette with her still uneasy smile.

Lisette was breathtaking as always. The silver blonde hair that reached her waist was glimmering like the Milky Way, and her emerald eyes reflected a myriad of colors. It went pretty well along with her pale skin and purple dress. Her fairy-like figure hadn't changed at all.

To be honest, Sez wouldn't have been surprised at all if Lisette respectfully slammed the door right in her face. Sez was the daughter of Yerna after all, who harassed and hated Lisette the most out of everyone in the palace. Yet, she was staring at Sez with the innocence of an angel. She felt sorry for being Yerna's daughter, just from looking at her.

"I was concerned that Rayton didn’t have many friends."

She was right. The loneliest person in the palace would be Rayton, followed by Sez.

"But I'm so glad you're here."

"N-no, I'm glad you allowed me to join the dinner."

"Oh, no problem."

'Shoot, I almost forgot.' Sez hurriedly took out a decorated small jewelry box from her pocket.

"I have a gift. It's not something big but...”

"Why don't you give it to him yourself, Your Royal Highness? He’s never received a present from anyone other than me, so I'm sure Rayton will be happy."

She couldn't believe it was his first time getting a gift even after becoming an adult. Sez felt a little sorry for him.

'…Rayton will be happy, she said. Will he though? I'd be glad if he doesn't just throw it to the ground.' Of course, Sez didn't say that out loud.

"How did you get close to Rayton, Princess?"

'Not at all. I'm just making a fuss by myself to get closer to him now,' Sez thought embarrassedly.

"I was a little surprised actually. As far as I know, Rayton doesn't have any acquaintances in the palace."

"That's... right, I know.”

"Other than the… you know what it’s like, Your Highness, but he's also a little shy. I think him always being quiet and blank-faced causes the misunder-"

Lisette stopped talking at the sound of the door opening.

“...”

Sez gulped before glancing back.

Rayton was standing there, wearing the opposite expression to somebody who is usually shy and blank-faced. Disgust and anger were dripping from his every feature.

However, Sez was even more determined this time.

'At least he won't walk all over me like trash this time.'

"Rayton, have a seat. I've been waiting with Princess Sez here."

Rayton's eyes remained locked on Sez no matter what his mother said. Sez looked back at him for a moment and clenched her fists. Just a moment later, she made the loveliest face she could muster.

"Happy birthday, brother Rayton!"

"…..."

"I wanted to have dinner with you. Here's a gift too! I hope you like it..."

Sez couldn't continue as Rayton stormed right past her nose in an instant.