The Princess's Decision

As she listened to the options she had to punish Lord Benedict for his misconduct, Amelia closed her eyes.

So far, Adviser Damian presented her with only two options—prison or death.

At the thought of giving a decree to punish someone, Amelia then wondered what was going through her father and her brother's mind when they were facing this situation.

"Your Highness?" Adviser Damian called out. "Are you alright?"

Amelia gave him a weak smile. "I'm alright. I was just... thinking about all this."

The adviser stared at the Princess as he wondered what was going through the Princess's mind. This was the first time Amelia had to give out her verdict to punish someone. He could see that Amelia was too terrified to make the decision.

"Your Highness, whatever it is your decision may be regarding this case, I trust that you're wise enough to judge this matter. And you know that I would support you regardless of your decision."

"Really?" The Princess frowned. "You would support me even if I decided to forgive Lord Benedict and let him free without punishing him?"

"I would." The adviser answered without missing a beat.

"You trust me that much?"

"I have known you for years," Adviser Damian said. "I know that whatever it is you have decided, you must have your reason."

Amelia chuckled at his answer. After a few seconds, a smile appeared on her face. "Thank you."

She leaned back in her chair and took a few deep breaths. Then, she took the pen and dipped the tip into the ink and wrote down her verdict. When she was done, Amelia took a few seconds to read what she had written. "I have made my decision. Here," she said, passing the paper to her advisor. "What do you think?"

Adviser Damian took a moment to read. "May I ask you why you decided to send Lord Benedict from the city to a rural state?"

Amelia bit at her lips and a bitter smile curled on her lips as she recalled her confrontation with Count Adlam.

"I know that this is not right. But, if I decide to send Lord Benedict to prison or death, the nobles will hate me even more," the Princess said. "We know very well that I need the nobles' support and cooperation to rule this country properly. Without their cooperation, ruling this country would only be more difficult. And I didn't want my people to pay the price for my incompetence." Amelia heaved a deep sigh as she looked into the advisor's eyes. "Do you think I am making a wrong decision?"

...

Rae was hiding behind the wall as she watched Commander Irvine read the decree from the Princess to Lord Benedict. As soon as the commander finished, Rae turned around to head back straight to the palace as she has to report back to the Princess.

On the way back to the princess's quarters, Rae decided to follow a shortcut and made her way towards the King's quarters. She stopped for a while when she reached that area and prayed that the King was safe and healthy wherever he may be at the moment. She prayed that he would return to the palace soon.

The truth was that Rae was worried about the Princess.

She had noticed how the Princess had recently stopped visiting the King's quarters like she always did in the past. Rae wondered if the Princess had her reason for not visiting the King's quarters. She noticed how the Princess has been a bit more reserved after she took over the throne on the King's stead. Each day that she was sitting on the throne, gradually, the cheerful smile on her face started to disappear.

Rae made a mental note to discuss with the other maidservants to find a way to cheer the Princess. Perhaps she should ask for Lady Evans' opinion. After all, the lady was a close friend to the Princess. She would know what to do.

Rae snapped out of her thought when she noticed a familiar silhouette sneaking into the King's quarter. Her body instantly went rigid. She definitely recognized that uniform. It belonged to the Princess's Royal Knight.

"Kain?" she whispered.

She stood there to weight her options. She could find some Palace Guard and tell them that someone was breaking into the king's quarter, or... she could go after Kain himself to avoid any kind of misunderstanding.

She pondered for a moment and decided to spy on Kain for a moment before she will decide on her next move. Clenching her fist, Rae tiptoed into the King's quarters. She peeked behind the wall and noticed that the man was crossing the King's training ground.

Rae followed him as he entered the room across the training ground. As soon as she stepped into the room, she knew that she was in the King's weaponry room. There were several swords, bows, and other weapons that Rae did not know what they are, displayed on the wall. Rae watched Kain admiring a few of the king's weapons before he then went towards the reference books on the shelf. It was then that she decided that Kain was harmless. Rae was about to step out of the room when she heard his voice.

"Who's there?"

Rae hesitated. She stepped out of her hiding place with a weak smile. "Hi."

"You?" Kain said, puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Rae replied. "I saw you sneaking into the King's quarters and followed you here. What are you doing in the king's weaponry room?"

"I was told that we, the Royal Knights, may use the training ground whenever we like it," Kain said. "That's why I'm here," he held up a book in his hand. "To study."

The truth was that Kain had been sneaking into the King's quarters to help Laif to find that magic artifact. After all, the Magic artifact was the reason why Laif and he decided to come to Noa Kingdom.

But nowadays, Kain began to notice how Laif had a new distraction—the Princess. He had no plan of staying for too long in Noa Kingdom, let alone get involved in the politics the princess was now in. Laif had promised that once they found out the magic artifact, they will both get out of Noa Kingdom. Kain hoped to find the thing as soon as possible so that they will have a reason to leave Noa Kingdom.

"Oh... Well then," she smiled a little, hoping to get rid of the awkwardness between them. "Good luck with your study. I," She pointed towards the door. "I'd better leave now."

"Wait." Kain stopped her.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me something."

Rae leaned forward. "About what?"

Kain began to regret his decision for stopping her as he soon realized that his question would probably sound weird. Looking at the maidservant, Kain suddenly thought that she was probably not a suitable person to ask his question. "I, uh," He cleared his throat and decided to ask."I was wondering if you have heard of something called a moon bell?"