Dianthus Insignia

Princess Amelia was kept in the dark about her guard's imprisonment.

At this time, she was browsing through a few documents, diligently studying the kingdom's affair and searching for a way, any way that she could use to win the nobles to her side.

Amelia realized that what Laif had reminded her the last time was right.

Now that her brother had passed away, Amelia was in a perilous situation. Whether she chose to stay or leave the Kingdom, she will always be in danger.

If she ran away, the others will hunt her, the nobles and commoners both will point their fingers at her and accuse her as a traitor. There was nothing else worst than a ruler who chose to run away and giving up at the sight of danger.

Her enemy will have a valid reason to have her killed. The only way for her to survive was to continuously run away.

If she chose to stay, Amelia will have to face her enemy's plotting to bring her down.

Both roads will only lead her to danger, but if she stayed, she can choose to get stronger and fight. If she wanted to hold on to the throne, she needed to get ready to face her enemy.

"Your Highness," Rae bowed a curtsy when she entered the princess's chamber. "The people from the Royal Infirmary are here for your checkup."

Amelia waved her hand lazily. "I'm occupied with something else at the moment. Please send them away."

Rae knelt on both knees at the Princess's rejection. "Your Highness, please reconsider your decision. You have missed your daily prescription for days and you haven't been eating much for the past few days. I'm worried. Please let the people from the infirmary to check on you." She looked up to peek at the princess and saw that she had the Princess's attention now. "Your Highness, you have to look after your health."

Amelia froze at her maidservant's reminder.

Rae was right.

She has to look after her health if she was going to fight against her enemy. If her health deteriorated, she will not be able to do anything.

"You're right," Amelia smiled. "Rae, arise. Send those people in."

Her eyes instantly brightened. Rae stood up quickly to call those people from the Royal Infirmary in to check on the Princess before she would change her mind.

A few seconds later, three ladies dressed in pale blue uniforms and white aprons entered the Princess chamber. They stopped at a distance and bowed.

"Your Highness," the lady in the center spoke up. Her outfit was slightly different than the other two girls. Her uniform was in a darker shade of blue and the ornament pinned at her blouse showed that she had the highest position among them.

Amelia lifted her head and paused when she saw the lady. "You are not my usual physician," she pointed out. "What happened to Physician Williams?"

"Physician Williams is unwell and unable to attend you right now," The lady bowed again. "My name is Jane Eastlake and I will be attending you as your physician until Physician Lucy Williams is well enough."

Amelia nodded and let the new physician proceed with the checkup. After a while, Jane sent the two nurses who were tagging along with her to with a prescription and asked them to prepare the supplement drink for the Princess.

"Your Highness," Jane turned to the Princess as soon as the door closed behind them. Her eyes swept around the room and a breath of relief escaped her upon finding that they were alone.

Because of the gender difference, the two guards who were supposed to look after the Princess have been stationed at a distance. They were close enough to act if the Princess was in trouble, and far enough to hear the conversation between the Princess and her physician.

"I have something that I would like to report to you."

Amelia straightened up when she heard the new physician tone. Her gaze darkened, knowing that this new physician had another intention to see her.

"I am sorry for my impertinence, but this is an urgent matter." Jane searched into her sleeves and produced a letter. "I have a letter addressed to you. It was meant for your eyes only."

Amelia eyed the paper suspiciously and was about to ask the physician to leave when her eyes caught a familiar insignia on the paper. She stood up quickly and stopped in front of the physician to get a clear look at the insignia.

Her hand trembled as she tried to reach for the letter.

Amelia sucked in some air as she got a closer look at the insignia. She looked at the physician again and asked, "Whe—where did you get this?"

"A messenger arrived with this letter to my husband a day ago. We were told to hand this to you as soon as possible," Jane spoke.

Last night, they received important guests at their residence.

Her husband then asked her to find a way to meet the Princess and deliver the letter. It was not an easy task. First, Jane had to spike the Physician Williams' drink before she can take her job to attend the Princess.

"This insignia... It's Dianthus flower," Amelia said breathlessly.

The flower was her late mother's insignia and later became her brother, Asher's favorite flower. Asher would always pick up the flowers for her, and told her that their mother will always be with them. When they grew up, the insignia was used when they were passing secret messages to each other. However, after their father passed away, the two siblings had no longer used this symbol.

"A messenger you said?"

Amelia watched Jane nodded and quickly grabbed the letter. Seconds later, Amelia began to hesitate.

She wanted to read the letter but was afraid of knowing what was written inside.

Seeing the insignia, Amelia knew that it was from her brother.

The insignia of the Dianthus flower was there to validate that the letter was from her brother, and no one else. After all, no one else knew that the two used to add in the insignia of their mother in their secret message for each other.

What if the letter was a sign that his brother was alive, somewhere, and he needed to reach her to return to the palace? But what if it wasn't? What if the letter contained her brother's dying message?

There were too many scenarios playing in her mind, but Amelia always feared for the worst.

After struggling in her mind for a minute or so, Amelia decided to be brave and face whatever situation in front of her.

The Princess took a deep breath and slowly, she broke the seal to read the letter. Her eyes widened and her hand spontaneously covered her mouth when she saw the handwriting that she recognized.

It was her brother's.

In this letter, Asher apologized that he was unable to return to the palace as promised. He told her that he was alive with Leo beside him. Daren had stolen his crest and she should not believe that the body belonged to him. He ended the letter by saying that she should trust the physician in front of her and that he will try and contact her soon.

It was a short letter and Amelia reread the letters a few times, trying to find another clue of her brother's whereabouts and his situation.

Tears streamed down her cheek, knowing that her brother was alive. Even if this letter might be a hoax, Amelia wanted to believe in the news that her brother was alive. Her resolution was stronger as she stroked her fingers on the familiar insignia.

"Your Highness?" Jane called. "Are you alright?"

Amelia nodded weakly. She dabbed her tears with her finger, took a deep breath, and looked up. "This messenger. Do you think I can meet him?"