Liora sat by the bed narrating to Lily all she overheard from the maids about the princess, and the more Lily listened, the more frustrated she became.

The princess she was hearing about was a very entitled, vain and arrogant person. Lily now understood what Lucien meant by she was different from what he had heard about her. 

“All the princess cared about was how she looked and how others perceived her. Liora continued the maids are all confused by your change. And all they were talking about was how no vase was broken and no maid was punished today. Which, according to them, was a daily occurrence.”

Lily sighed in exhaustion. “I can’t believe it, that's why they were all staring at me when they thought I was not looking.” She said

“Even Evander was surprised by your behaviour,” Liora added. “But he seemed rather happy about it. I heard him bragging to his guards about how cute his sister was acting. But what surprised me the most was how all the maids gossiped about how Priscilla was falling out of favour, as you seemed to prefer Marian to Priscilla, which was different to a usual day before.  I’m sure there’s definitely something off about that. I’ll keep an eye on her until we know more about her.” Liora finished her report.

Lily nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “So, do I have to keep acting like the princess before? I don’t think that’s possible. It will be very exhausting if they want to let them be suspicious. I can’t pretend to be vain and angry all the time. They’ll just have to get used to the new me eventually.”

“What about the emperor? Do you have any information on him?” Lily asked. Just like Lucien, she hadn’t seen the emperor since she was nine years old. Although they had been childhood friends, she had little contact with the outside world and only knew about major events like his coronation.

“I’ve been roaming the capital for almost a year now and spent a lot of time with other gossip-loving ghosts,” Liora said. “The emperor has a lover, a noble, but of lower birth. Probably a baron’s daughter. I’m sure she can’t become empress, but since she has the emperor’s heart, she might be a problem. But let’s wait and see when we get there.”

Lily tried to think of who it might be, but couldn’t pinpoint any specific lady.

“You’re right,” she said. “As long as she doesn’t threaten me, I don’t care who has his heart. We’re only three days away from the capital and we will be departing early tomorrow morning as she adjusted her pillow. “Thank you, Liora. Good night.”

And that was Liora’s cue to leave. It would be weird to stare at a sleeping person unless it was a handsome man, so Liora floated away as Lily drifted to sleep, only to find herself trapped in a memory.

She was transported to the day her engagement to the emperor was broken. The former emperor issued two edicts in a day, one to break her engagement to his son, the then crown prince and now emperor, and another to betroth her to Duke Thornwell instead. 

Lily was young and naive. She was not in love with Caelan, and she did not covet power. All she had looked forward to was gaining a new family and a mother-in-law she could love as her own mother, having lost her own mother early. But reality had other plans.

On the first morning after her marriage, she rose early to make tea and instructed the maids to prepare breakfast. She sat at the table, pleased and hopeful. Then her mother-in-law, Thelassy Thornwell, the former duchess and the emperor’s sister, entered the dining hall with her son and Lily's new husband. They were both laughing and dressed extravagantly. She had a red gown, her lips painted red, her silver hair shining. Just the air surrounding her commanded.

When their eyes met, Thelassy looked around to find the breakfast table set, and without warning, a crisp slap rang out, and the maid standing by the table fell to her knees.

“Who in the hell gave you permission to set my breakfast table before I arrived? Are you trying to step on my head? How dare you!” Thelassy shouted.

Lily flinched, her cheeks burning. It felt as if she was the one who received the slap, and she sank into her seat, trying to make herself small and praying to disappear. She had only hoped to make a good first impression, but ruined everything had she only known it was going to turn out like this, she would have never dared to.

“Gather all the maids and servants!” Thelassy commanded, shocking everyone present, and the maid rushed to call everyone. The hall turned quiet, and Lily held her breath, her hand shaking.

Then they all heard shuffling as all the maids assembled. Thelassy, red-faced, pointed at the table and hissed, “Who set the table without my permission?”

Two maids stepped forward.

“Pack your things. Butler, pay them their final dues,” she said. “No one is allowed to do anything without my instruction, holding the tablecloth and flipping everything on the table.

Lily flinched. The message was clear to her and everyone, the servants were not to follow her orders. She bit the inside of her cheeks, holding back the tears that were threatening to spill as she saw her dream of having a loving family crumbling before her eyes.

That day marked the beginning of three years of daily humiliation, cruelty and isolation. Neither her mother-in-law, husband, nor the staff showed her any respect from that day onwards.

Lily sat silently as her mother-in-law glared at her, ignoring the tea she had poured, the teacup still trembling in her hands. The duke and his mother chatted laughing, pretending that Lily wasn’t even there.

“Oh, sorry. When I talk to Thor, I get so absorbed I forget you were standing there offering me tea,” Thelassy said, her tone dripping with sarcasm and malice.

Lily extended the cup and her mother-in-law took it, set it down untouched, and rubbed her hands with a handkerchief as if she had touched something filthy.

But nothing compared to what followed.

After Lily gave birth to a stillborn child, she was blamed for it, blamed for her ‘weak body.’ And unclean blood she received no comfort, no one mourned her baby girl, and all the pretence of courtesy disappeared. She was then confined to her chambers, cut off from society. And everyone in the capital was told she was too ill for social appearances.

She became a hollow version of herself numb with no feelings sitting in one corner of her chamber staring at the wall vacantly holding her deceased daughter's little dress she had sewn for her but never got to put it on her and was her life until she met Rigella and a short friendship she had thought was real but even that had ended in betrayal.

She gasped awake, her breath laboured, and her heart drumming in her chest. Her breath came out ragged and drenched in sweat from head to toe. 

“It’s okay. It’s just a nightmare. Breathe in and out,” a voice called gently from nearby guiding the air out of her lungs.

It was Liora and Lily slowly began to breathe again, drifting back to sleep.