Bianca, listening to me and my brother, stood between us, her chin bent and her eyes closed.
“But Elpine.”
“Yes, sister?”
“A jeweler sold to you this bracelet?”
“Uh… maybe.”
“How much does it cost?”
“What?”
Elpine’s pupils began to shake left and right.
“What is the price of this precious jewel you bought for that great jeweler? If you bought it, you must know the price.”
“Oh? Uh…”
Suddenly everything became strange, Elpine began to panic. And looking at him… it could be that… I understood the truth right away.
This bracelet must be a little cheaper than I thought.
Oh, God, I wish I had something like that. I liked the gift.
“Stop it, sister. It’s very rude to ask the price in front of the person who bought the gift. It’s not polite,” I said to Bianca.
Ugh, I’m a big girl, don’t get involved.
I almost replied when the dining room door opened and someone rushed in.
Someone did, and it was the butler. He was standing there with a tray in his hands and quite worried features, and he came over to my father.
That silver tray contained a list of letters that had to be checked immediately.
When my father saw the letters, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and frowned.
“It looks like it’s going to start sooner than expected.”
That’s when I blinked.
“Are you sure?” my mother said, very surprised. “Wasn’t the attendance at one o’clock?”
“I thought so, but there seems to be a lot to see, you should go with me, I think the Marquis of Daim has already arrived at the Imperial Palace.”
“I understand,” my mother mumbled.
At the words of my parents, we were all speechless.
What was happening?
“Father, where are you going?”
Suddenly, everyone in the room looked at me.
Did I say something wrong?
The disbelief in everyone’s eyes felt like a stab wound.
What’s going on?
Elpine frowned.
“To the Imperial Palace,” my father replied.
“What?!”
My mouth opened, to the palace?
I jumped out of my seat.
“Why?”
Bianca laughed, got up from her seat and put on her coat with the help of the maid behind her.
Then I noticed a lot of things, everyone was dressed fancy this morning.
I thought they just wanted to dress up!
“Ira, you must, too. Go with us.”
“What? Why? Why should I go?”
“Oh, you really don’t know what today is?” The disbelief in my father’s eyes threw me.
“I don’t know! What is it?”
“It’s an emergency,” mumbled Elpine.
“What?”
I turned around and screamed:
“What do you mean?!”
“I must go now” Elpine scratched her cheek.
“It’s the coronation, the day when Prince Rubellus will be the 14th Emperor of Jahud.”
“What?!”
I jumped out of my seat.
The emperor?!
The emperor!
No, of course he was a prince, and it would be natural procedure to be an Emperor. Of course, he had difficulty being Emperor and today is his coronation… Ah!
“No! I’m not going!”
“What do you mean? The coronation is today, the whole aristocracy of the country has been waiting in the capital for a week!”
Oh! There were so many people in the capital then!
“No! No! I’m not going! I’m not going!”
I’m not going! I’m not going! Why should I go?
“Oh, Dad, didn’t you tell him?” Bianca asked with a smile towards my father.
Shut your mouth!
“Ira, darling, I told you three months ago.”
Three months?!
“Three months ago, when?”
“On the morning of the fox hunt.”
“No way…”
I was about to deny it, and suddenly in a blurry way I remembered, it was one morning, early in the morning, my father mentioned something about the coronation.
I think I asked him where he was going and he said I would go with him.
I was stunned and Elpine placed her hands on my shoulders.
“Ira, wake up, you can’t help but insist, you have to go.”
“But, brother…”
“You have to go.”
Elpine held me firmly, while my father walked to the door.
“Listen to Elpine, Ira, you have to go. Before we are men and women, we are the people. Don’t forget your duty of loyalty.”
My father’s eyes glowed. Every time he spoke of this country, I saw the pride in his eyes.
I knew it very well and he loved it.
And I know I can’t beat my father.
“It’s okay” I whispered weakly and shook my skirt.
Elpine stroked my cheek as if trying to thank me in silence.
As I felt, I had just dug my own grave.
* * *
I am Ira Waldenbiston, daughter of one of the most prestigious families in the Empire. Before, I was a small woman who knew no shame and now…
A woman struggling to stay out of the carriage.
“I really don’t want to go!”
“Oh, you’re a disgrace. We’ve been in the same situation for half an hour, I’m getting tired, if you keep this up you’ll be in the carriage with Bianca.”
Lennie, in front of me, frowned and complained.
Lenninebonne Delion, nicknamed Lennie, the only daughter of the Count of Delion, future Count of Delion and my friend.
She was the best person I had ever known, since she was a child she did business as if she were an adult, so her very proud father gave her everything, from the family inheritance to the title of Count.
Lennie was so smart that she made sure that if she ever got married, her husband would inherit nothing. So she managed to keep away the ill-intentioned suitors, who only wanted her for her wealth, she wanted someone who would love her for who she was, not for her assumption and money.
In addition, she was fortunate to have an understanding father and the law of inheritance, which gave women the right to vote and inherit titles at the same time.
“Why do I have to go? This will be embarrassing,” I complained.
“You’ve spent most of your life in the palace and now you refuse to go?”
I started banging the cushion next to me.
“You’re not a baby! Stop doing that!”
Lennie’s opened the carriage window, upset. Through the open window, the street was visible.
The whole city was very colorful. The faces of the people who filled the streets were full of joy. There were people playing flutes, people playing trumpets, and people with balloons scattered all over the place.
It has been a long time since I visited this lively city. Everything seemed very quiet, until a man who had passed by our carriage raised his hands and shouted:
“Hurray, to the Empire!”
Hooray!
“Hurray to the Emperor!”
Hooray!
“Emperor Rubellus.”
Oh, shit!
As soon as I heard his name, I closed the window. In the carriage it became dark, Lennie and I looked at each other silently.
“…..”
“Why… bah! I’m not going to ask.”
She looked at me for a moment, then shrugged slightly.
As I sat in my seat, collapsing with nerves, no matter how hard I tried to keep calm, the carriage moved forward and soon reached the palace.
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The porters and guards were standing in front of the door, checking the identity and position of the people in the entrance.
“You may enter.”
After examining us, the guard let us in.
The carriage began to move again, past the palace gate, until it slowly positioned itself in line with the other carriages.
Smile, Ira, that’s all you have left, your smile.