To Meet Asher

The autumn wind was blowing and the wilted leaf scattered on the ground. The path has now turned into a golden orange and yellow road. A few palace maids who were busy tidying the area sighed in frustration as they had to redo their task.

At this time, the Princess's maidservant, Rae, appeared with a group of people trailing behind her.

Upon recognizing the face of the guest, the palace maids straightened their posture and bowed to greet the guest before they lowered their gaze and continued their task to clean up the Princess's garden.

Inside the receiving area in the Princess's palace, Lady Miria Evans sat down as she read the letter in her hands a few times. A slight frown appeared on her face as her mind whirled with too many thoughts at once.

After a while, she folded the paper in her hands and stared straight at the Princess with a doubtful gaze.

Princess Amelia had handed her the letter from the supposedly King Asher and had explained the reason she had summoned her into the palace.

Miria could not agree with the Princess's thought but found that she was unable to change the Princess's mind.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Miria asked. "Your highness, this letter could be a hoax, send by someone who wanted to harm you."

Miria couldn't suppress her surprise and worry when the Princess's maidservant, Rae had appeared at her residence last night and summon her to enter the palace in the morning.

Once she arrived, the Princess had informed her that she intended to meet the sender of the letter before the funeral will be held.

"I know that," Amelia nodded.

She had given this matter careful thought. No matter how long and how many times she thought about it, her heart was telling her that this was the right thing to do. Amelia hoped that her brother was still alive and that the corpse that Daren had bought back was an impostor. Of course, she wanted to meet the sender of the letter and confirmed this doubt.

Amelia took a deep breath and spoke. "But there is also a chance that the letter was indeed from Asher. I can't ignore the handwriting and the Dianthus insignia. The insignia was a secret code for us. No one else knew about it but us. It will be hard for anyone to forge this letter. Miria, there must be a reason why Asher chose not to return to the palace yet. I need to know the reason and find out what was going on. I won't be able to find the answer I am looking for until I meet Asher."

Miria bit her lips as she handed the letter back to the princess.

It was not as if she was not worried about King Asher. However, the Princess's safety remained their priorities. She was worried that someone was trying to lure the Princess and find their chance to harm her, just like the last time with the fake guards.

"This is why I decided to call you into the palace and consult you about the letter," Amelia continued. "I do have doubts about this letter and I am afraid that someone might try to harm me with this, but I cannot risk missing the chance of meeting my brother again."

Hearing her words, Miria's gaze began to soften.

She understood that the princess was hoping that her brother was alive, somewhere, instead of having him dead, lying in the morgue. She too, wished that the dead body did not belong to King Asher. But after receiving the news that King Asher had passed the first time, Lady Evans simply did not want to get her hopes up.

"Miria," Amelia called out softly. "I have a favor I wanted to ask you."

Lady Evans looked at the Princess and smiled. "I will do anything for you, Your Highness."

Amelia clenched her fist as she hesitated for a few seconds. "I need you and a few of your guards to accompany me to the meeting place."

"My guards?" Miria uttered in confusion. "Why do you need my guards? Not that I mind. I did say that I will do anything for you. But, why do you want my guards to accompany you to the meeting place? Your Highness, what are you planning?"

"I couldn't trust my guards enough to have them with me. The news about my brother's life is a sensitive thing. I cannot allow many others to know," Amelia said.

"What about Laif?" Miria asked. "Don't you trust him?"

"I trust him," Amelia spoke quickly. "But I don't think that having him around with me would be a wise decision."

"Why not?"

The Princess fiddled with the hem of her dress. "I don't think that this is the right moment to introduce Laif to my brother. I am afraid that Asher will try to murder him the moment he saw Laif beside me. You know how it is with Asher. He didn't like any boys to get close to me. Imagine how Asher would react when he learned that I have appointed Laif as my First Knight."

A soft laugh escaped her lips and Miria covered her mouth with a hand. She had been around both Princess Amelia and King Asher for years and knew of King Asher's overprotectiveness over his sister. Miria could almost imagine the livid expression on Asher's face.

However, her smile quickly disappeared when the other information registered to her. "Wait. You appointed Laif as your First Knight?"

Amelia nodded slowly and hummed, confirming this information.

"What? When did this happen? I mean, why?"

Amelia heaved a sigh and slumped into her seat. "It's a long story. But this is the only thing that I can do to save Laif from Commander Irvine's punishment."

Miria listened to the Princess's story and found out what happened after Laif had taken Princess Amelia out of the palace a few days ago.

"Then, what do you think? Can you help and accompany me to the meeting place?" Amelia asked again the moment she finished her story.

Lady Evans sat down in her seat as she was deep in her thought. After a while, she lifted her gaze to meet the Princess's eyes. "Alright. I will help you."

A breath of relief escaped Amelia at her friend's answer. "Thank you."

"But, Your Highness, remember... At the first sign of danger, I will ask my guards to pull you out of the area."