Chapter Seven

Chapter 7

The carriage rattled as my heart thumped. Anna sat opposite me as we made our way to the imperial palace.

This was it, there was no turning back. It was either do or die and no other alternative. I was walking straight into the den of a beast with no guarantee of survival.

Time passed by as the anxiety rose making me ball my fists unconsciously. Anna touched my hand, trying to calm me down.

"there is no need to be scared Vanessa, if you do as you were thought and carry out the task as it was said, you will come back alive." Anna tried reasoning with me. I took a deep breath nodding.

She was right. There's was no use panicking, this was it.

The carriage stooped as we arrived in front of the large gates of the palace. The coachman had come open the door for us in courtesy.

"halt and state your business." of the guards questioned

"I'm Anna and this is Vanessa, we are here at request of the crown prince in reply to the Duke of Azkalev." Anna spoke calmly.

My Palm's felt sweaty as my eyes fell to the ground. I followed behind Anna as one of the guards directed us. I looked back slightly at the gates as they shut.

Reaching the main entrance of the prince’s palace, the guard had left us and called for one of the maids passing by to escort us. It felt as though their walking was never ending. I hadn’t felt like this ever since I had been bought out of slavery by Conrad. Reaching the reception room, the maid had seated us.

“Please be patient, I will tell the butler to inform the Princes aide of the arrival of the new lady in waiting.” She bowed as she excused herself.

Someone walked in bringing in refreshments as I felt my hands tremble and the sticky sweaty mess of the stress that I had accumulated had made me conscious of my situation.

I was not ready.

I definitely was not.

To think that id be summoned this early before even finishing my training made no sense whatsoever. A lady in waiting? This felt more like a death parole. I was walking steps to a bladed path that had been set out for me, and funny enough there was no way to escape, because even escaping meant death.

Anna placed her hand on mine, giving it a light squeeze, trying to calm me down.

Seconds felt like hours, as the clock ticked unsympathetically. The door then pushed open as a man made his way in. a man, almost 6ft tall had made an appearance. His face held no emotion as his crustal blue eyes pierced anything that he looked at including me. A displaced scar on the side of his cheek had blemished his charming appearance. his black hair, untamed as his posture yelled “authority”.

“I apologize for the wait” he excused himself.

I stood up along with Anna as we curtsied in respect.

“No, it was no big deal, Commander.” Anna said courteously.

“So, she is the lady in waiting assigned for the prince?” he questioned Anna, as he glanced over my appearance slightly.

“Yes, she was hand picked by the grand duke himself. I hope you will treat her well under your wing.” Anna said answering him

He simply hummed as he turned to face me. Sweat trickled down my neck in discomfort. He was the commander, which also meant he was the one of the Prince’s aides, Jeremy Stein. A man known for his mercilessness and indifferent demeanor. A man of the battlefield and war.

“Well, we shall have no problem as long as she follows the rules that are set out for her.” he said in a stone tone as though warning me. “You may leave her and take your leave. There re people set in place t direct and guide her, so worry not.” He finished.

Anna simply nodded without a word. I guess this was where I was going to start doing everything on my own. Anna held my hand as she hugged me one last time, whispering a simple ‘good luck’ I nodded as she exited the waiting room, leaving me to stand in a piercing atmosphere.

“Well then, let us introduce ourselves, I am Jeremy Stein, commander of the imperial knights, but also the aide of the prince, there are two of us, so I am sure, you will not blunder our guidance.”

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I simply nodded at his words before clearing y throat, to shake off the nervousness.

“I am Vanessa Evanheart,” I introduced. A slave with a surname was unheard of, and a slave as a lady in waiting was preposterous.

I was documented under the Evanheart county as a means of hiding my identity. Conrad had made sure to take the equivalent steps to make sure everything would go according to plan, and this was one of them.

“Well lady Evanheart, shall we?” he asked as he opened the door for me.

I nodded taking a step outside the door. He closed the door and began waking with me hot at his heels. For someone tall you would expect them to have some mercy when walking but that was not the case. I followed him in hot pursuit as he directed me to what was supposed to be my first tasks.

“I will not be taking you step by step through your tasks, therefore I have assigned Melioda as your supervisor. She had been the previous lady-in-waiting for his majesty the emperor, so she is of experience. She will guide you well.” he said as we came to stop before the door.

He knocked as a small come in brushed my ears. Pushing the door open I came to stand before a few women, on of which by appearance could be seen as the head.

“Melioda, This is vanessa, the one assigned to his majesty.” Jeremy said curtly.

“Her?” the woman questioned.

“Yes, I trust you will be of guidance than Allen and I.” he said before leaving without another word.

The woman before me of simple stature, her gray hair spoke of her experience as her expression remained unchanged, her dull eyes looking at me as though I had made the worst mistake by deciding to do this work.

“You do not seem strong enough to uphold the duty as a lady in waiting, so I am unsure as to why the grand duke had recommended you to us.” She said as she tsked at me.

I could not find the words to refute her. she seemed to have some authority and my disrespect would lead to a punishment of some sort. Her disapproving gaze had already set me in a bad life and for some reason I felt that this was going to be an unnecessary