CHAPTER XI

As both of them finished talking, Jean was the one to lead Celestine out of the room, with Meira greeting them just by the entrance of the palace.

Slightly squinting her eyes, Celestine looked up towards the sunny sky. Even though the wind was cold, which was only given because it was already winter, the sun was shining brightly. It seems like it understood the victorious and joyful feeling of the people who were finally given a chance to bring justice for themselves.

Looking at Jean, Celestine voiced out the question that has been bugging her since earlier. "What will happen to Ronald and Roux?" She asked, her eyes shining with pure curiosity.

Jean smiled at Celestine, before looking up towards the sky, his smile, wiped from his face, "They'll be sentenced to death." He answered with a serious voice.

Celestine did not talk and only looked at Jean's face. Her brows slightly twitching. Of course, it was not her position to intervene with the decision of the higher-ups, given that she has also tried to kill Ronald herself, however, as she pondered on the matters at hand, doesn't it seem like death is an easy escape for the both of them?

The words of the Emperor made her think clearly. She'd rather have them live to pay for their sins rather than to die, acting oblivious about their wrongdoings. Given both of their personalities, she knew that they would be denying all of the accusations, with evidence or none. That was just how they were, and quite honestly, it's sad.

It's sad, due to the fact that they would never admit their mistakes, which is both a pain for those that they have trampled over, and for themselves, in the afterlife, for she knew, that even though they'll be punished for their mistakes while living, but if they fail to learn from it, then they would be facing the never-ending torment that was waiting for them after death.

Swallowing her opinions, Celestine once again opened her mouth, now to ask about herself. "Wha-What will happen to me?" She asked hesitatingly, her voice small.

Jean left his sight from the sky and looked at her in the eye. Nimbly changing his aura, from serious, he was now quite joyful. "You'll be fine, Celestine. I can assure you that." He said smiling before looking once again towards the sky, with his smile still plastered on his face.

His words made Celestine feel hopeful. She clutched her chest for it was tightening. Once again, she has remembered her family, and hearing Jean's word made her hope, that they will once again be meeting and joining hands. She missed the times where she bonded with her mother and sisters.

She missed them.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by Meira, who walked towards her, whispering, "Celestine, do you want me to accompany you to bathe and change your clothes? I know that today is going to be a long one, and perhaps, you might want to be prepared?" She asked, out of consideration.

After pondering for a while, Celestine nodded in return.

Quickly turning towards Jean, she asked for his permission to be able to leave.

"Jean, I want to be a witness of Ronald and Roux's... interrogation." She said, not knowing how to describe what was going to happen between the father and son. Shaking her head, she continued, "However, I do want to prepare myself." She said, pointing towards her unsightly clothes. "May I and my friend be excused for a while?" She asked, finally getting to the point.

Jean nodded, smiling understandably. "Do not worry, Celestine, for even without your will, you are required to witness their... interrogation." He said, slightly cringing, also not knowing how to describe Ronald and Roux's soon to be situation, therefore, choosing to copy Celestine's words.

He looked towards Celestine's clothes, which she was pointing, and then back to her slightly blushing face, once again nodding in understanding. "Alright, I'll give you time." He said, agreeing to her request.

"Thank you." Celestine said smiling before turning her head towards Meira who was waiting for her.

"Let's go." She mouthed, in which Meira nodded to, understanding.

Both of them went back towards Celestine's room, deciding to take a bath in the small man-made spring behind her room instead of the original bathing house of the residence.

Celestine would rather stay looking like trash all day than to once again bring her friend to that wretched place.

"Meira, let's both take a bath." Celestine said smiling, inviting her friend to take a bath with her.

"You know I can't do that, right? After all, I'm still your servant." Meira said, smiling at her sadly.

But she was insistent. She doesn't want her friend to draw a line between them. She doesn't want their friendship to be drawn over by their master and servant relationship.

"No, you're not. We'll be taking the bath as friends, not as master and servant." Celestine said, but Meira was still looking hesitant.

Sighing loudly, Celestine thought of what she can say in order for Meira to agree.

Her brow slightly twitched when she thought of a reason.

"And besides, Meira. You probably know what was going to happen towards Ronald and Roux... they will be punished for all of their crimes. Thus, that makes me a free woman. So I guess you can say that for now, I'm just a nobody?" Celestine said, trying to convince her friend, laughing at the end of her statement.

Meira stopped in her tracks, thinking about what Celestine has said. In that context, she thought that it was okay, thus, smiling, she turned towards Celestine.

"Alright. I agree." She said smiling, but once again, stopped in her tracks as she recalled what her friend said.

"M-Master... He's gonna be...?" Meira asked, trailing off. Celestine walked towards her and held her hands.

She gave Meira a slight smile. "Yes, Meira. According to Jean, they will be given a punishment that is suitable for their crimes." She said, looking at her friend in the eyes.

Meira gave her a slight smile, "Finally..." She said, trailing off as tears built upon her eyes.

Celestine hugged her friend, "Yeah... Finally." She said, agreeing to what Meira said.

Earning a light chuckle from her friend, both of them released each other from their hugs.

"Let me choose your clothes." Meira said, smiling as she wiped her tears.

"Let's do it together." Celestine said, "And pick one that you like to wear too." She continued.

Seeing that Meira was once again about to refuse, Celestine raised her hand, her index finger moving left and right. "No but's." She said, raising her eyebrows.

Sighing, Meira accepted her defeat. "Alright, Young Mistress." She agreed, smirking.

Celestine jokingly rolled her eyes in return before the both of them burst out laughing.

"Let's hurry or else, you'll be late." Meira said, trying to be serious, in which Celestine agreed.

As both of them finished bathing, they decided to pick clothes from Celestine's closet. Celestine chose a minimally decorated white dress, while Meira decided to choose a one that was colored green, which was the same color as her normal clothing as a servant.

Celestine frowned upon seeing her friend once again trying to draw a line between them but decided to let it go when she saw Meira's solemn face. She can understand where her friend is coming from, after all, she was raised by such a terrible master who only thought her how to serve. However, those beliefs will be changed once Meira has been freed from her duties as a servant, and she will be the one to help her.

They both left Celestine's room in haste after they have both finished getting ready. As they walked past her room, a eunuch who was waiting, lead them towards the Government's Office.

According to the eunuch, many officials from the city have gathered as they received a call from the Emperor.

With lightly sweaty palms and loud beating hearts, both Celestine and Meira went towards the Governor's office.

There were indeed many officials gathered there, creating a loud chattering noise as they continued to talk about why they were summoned.

However, as Celestine looked around, she can't seem to find the Emperor. That must be the reason why these men are all blabbering. The one that they expect to see is still not here.

As she looked around, she saw Jean alone just by the end of the room.

Suddenly, her eyes sat upon the wonderful throne at the middle-end of the room. It was made of gold, decorated with red ornaments, the seat being colored red too. The design was the Emperor's symbol, which was the Dragon.

She swallowed in her admiration and went towards Jean, both her and Meira bowing down as they passed by each of the officials.

"Jean." She called out as both of them approached him.

"Celestine, and...? I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name." Jean said, smiling sheepishly towards Meira.

Taken aback, Meira looked at Celestine who only smiled at her. She immediately bowed down towards Jean, "I-I am called Meira, Sir Jean." She said politely though quite stuttering.

"Meira...?" Jean repeated, in which Meira nodded to, "That's right, Sir."

Jean gave her a frown which earned him confused gazes from the two.

"Don't you have any surname?" Jean asked, his voice low and considerate.

Meira's mouth formed into an O-shape. She finally understood what Jean was talking about.

"Apologies, Sir, but... Since I have never been with my parents, I never knew what their names were... All I know was that they were traveling merchants. I was not given a surname by my adopted mother, and my name was engraved from a necklace that I was wearing when I was left behind..." Meira explained as she trailed off, not knowing what to say anymore.

Even Celestine was just as shocked as Jean, their eyes widened as they looked at Meira who just finished her story. The both of them did not know how to react and was only snapped back to reality once Meira called them by their names.

"Celestine? Sir Jean?" Meira called out, confused.

Both Celestine and Jean shook their heads and smiled. They gave each other a meaningful look before quickly looking back towards Meira.

"It's nothing." Celestine said as she smiled towards her friend.

Upon hearing Meira's story, she cannot help but feel sad. Both of them were the same. Like Meira, she was also adopted, however, she was one that can be considered lucky compared to her friend.

Unlike Meira, she did not have to serve as a maid. She and her sisters were given the education that their mother can provide and aside from that, they were allowed to have their own hobbies. They were provided by the best life that she could ever think of.

But Meira, ever since she was a child, has only been serving the Maynard Family and apart from that, she's afraid to show what she truly wants. She never had the chance to act freely according to her will, but can only follow as she has been ordered.

Smiling, Celestine tried her best to hide her emotions as she faced Meira. She did not want her friend to feel sad and she knew that she did not need someone else's pity. She has already gone through so much in life.

"Uhm, Jean?" Celestine called out hesitatingly.

"Yes?" Jean answered, facing her.

Celestine looked around, seeing all the officials that were talking to each other, the room was quite noisy.

"Why are these officials called out? I thought it was supposed to be Ronald's punishment...?" She asked, trailing off.

Jean looked at her with a surprised expression before smiling. Slightly chuckling, he patted Celestine by her head. "It seems like you still are a child." He said.

Celestine pouted, slightly feeling insulted over Jean's remarks.

"Well, I'm sorry for being such a child. Unlike you, I am after all, still younger." She said before smirking, "Old man." She continued, looking at Jean trying to annoy him.

Hearing her comment made Jean laugh. In return for her words, he continued to ruffle her hair. However, as they were both laughing together, Celestine remembered the first time that they have met.

"How is your relationship with your wife?" Celestine asked, trying to be serious as she removed Jean's hand in her head.

"Err... About that..." Jean smiled hesitatingly, his hand lightly scratching his head. "I actually don't have a wife." He admitted.

"What?!" Celestine screamed, therefore making her the center of attention of all the people as they all looked towards her.

Slightly cringing, Celestine bowed down to apologize, making the officials once again return to their businesses.

As she was about to open her mouth again, she was interrupted by Meira who lightly pulled her dress. She looked at her friend with confused eyes.

"Celestine...Uhm... Don't you think you're acting too familiar?" She said, her eyes not meeting Celestine's.

"Huh?" Celestine reacted in confusion.

Suddenly, Meira raised her head to look at her. She bit her lips lightly before talking, "I mean, Sir Jean is the Emperor's brother, right? Which means he's a part of the Royal Family... I just think that maybe we should act like how we should?" She said, not sure whether it was right for her to say it towards her friend.

Celestine looked back and forth towards the two people in front of her.

She sighed loudly, earning the attention of the two.

"This guy here, used me for their plan against Ronald and Roux, and yes, I accepted his apology, right, Jean?" Celestine said, turning towards Jean who nodded in answer to her question.

"But then again, he still lied to me, so I guess acting like this doesn't bother him at all, right?" Celestine asked Jean once again.

"R-Right." Jean answered, stuttering, trying to mask his light panic as he smiled. Somehow, it felt like Celestine's voice had a little threatening tone... Or maybe he was just imagining?

"And besides, Jean told me to 'treat each other as friends', right, Jean?" Celestine said, adding in what he told her during their first meeting.

Jean cringed. It wasn't just his imagination... Celestine was using his own words against him.

"Th-That's right, Meira. It's alright. I was the one who told Celestine to treat me as his friend." Jean said, smiling. "Oh, and perhaps, you can treat me the same too?" Jean asked as he smiled sincerely, facing Meira.

However, Meira was still uncomfortable. "I-I apologize, Sir Jean but... I cannot do that." She said, looking down.

Both Celestine and Jean exchanged meaningful looks.

Sighing, Jean nodded understandably, "Don't worry, Meira. Let's just do this, one step at a time, alright?" He said smiling.

Hearing his kind reply, Meira let out a relieved smile before nodding. "Thank you, Sir Jean." She replied, smiling.

The three of them continued to engage in various topics; their lives, hobbies, work, family, and relationships. As they continued to talk, they too joined in the loud chatter that was created by the officials who were talking, the whole room seemingly buzzing due to the mixed voices that can be heard throughout its four sides.

As the three of them laughed at Jean's stories about his life, suddenly, the loud room turned quiet, with only murmuring sounds lightly being passed through each person.

"The Emperor has arrived."