Audelia

Audelia looked down at her plate feeling nauseous. The hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach was something she had gotten used to by now. Poking at the well-made beef on her plate she was contemplating eating it before later deciding to instead pick up the carrot beside it and put it in her mouth.

"Oh dear, you've gotten more beautiful since the last time I saw you, the efforts I put into managing your care certainly paid off well." The lady sitting at the head of the table, clothed in a beautiful blue dress covered with jewels, gave Audelia an innocent smile, her aura screaming of regal bearing. Audelia forced herself to lift her head and look at the lady, " Thank you, queen mother, I thank you for your care." Her face was as emotionless as the doll sitting in her room.

The queen gave her yet another smile that reflected none of the sinister meaning behind it. "You still need to ensure you keep looking beautiful for our guests from Qasha". She put down her fork on the lace-clothed table and gestured to Audelia's plate, "Which reminds me, don't you think you've had enough of the food dear? We don't want you gaining weight am I right? It is highly inappropriate for the princess of our empire to be...chubby, after all, you'll be representing the face of the royal family." Audelia was speechless, was the lady insane? Not only did Audelia starve for the whole day but she had barely touched her food now when she had finally gotten her dinner.

Audelia without giving her stepmother any reply, put down her fork a tad bit too hard making a slight clinking sound when the fork hit the delicate marmot table. The empress, ready to pick at any fault Audelia made immediately took the chance. "Ah... I did not mean to upset you, dear. I just wish the best for you and did not want you to overeat…" her voice came out dramatic and upset making the king, Audelias father, turn his attention to his upset wife.

The two men sitting at the dining table turned their attention to Audelia. "Impudent child! Show your mother some respect! She wishes you well and works so hard every day to keep the palace going yet you act up like this!" The emperor shot daggers at her for making his beloved wife upset, she, on the other hand, was all but upset, she was silently enjoying slowly tearing on Audelia's sanity day by day with the passive harassment. Audelia in response silently stood up and curtsied to the queen, "I ask for forgiveness mother, father. I did not mean to upset you. I'll be more careful with my actions from now on".

Audelia glanced at her brother whose attention had now shifted back to his food. "Let her eat her food mother, it would be a pain if she fell ill during the reception of Qasha '' Her elder brother, Alexander, spoke up.

To Audelia's ignorance, he had observed how she had become thinner and thinner every passing day. He usually did not interfere with his mother's disciplinary actions on his sister but afraid that his mother's constant pressure on his half-sister would slowly lead to her death, he had decided to at least back her up when it came to this. The queen gave him an unapproving look knowing her son had a fond eye for his sister but said nothing more.

***

The moonlight shone brightly into Audelia's bedroom through the two big patio doors leading out to the balcony. She sat quietly in front of the vanity staring blankly into the mirror where she was met with her ghostly complexion staring right back at her. Her pale hair shone in the darkness illuminated by the moon, her eyes dull with exhaustion. Her lady in waiting was helping her put on a black wig, hiding her identity as a royal offspring, her silver hair. The color of her hair was a characteristic trait of the royal family, it was physical proof of her connection to the throne.

At least because of this, no matter what the empress did Audelia would always have a place in the palace. As for her brother though, he did not inherit the silver hair. Though there was no denying his connection to his majesty as he had the same blood red eyes as their father, the king. This did not apply to Audelia, which she did not mind in the slightest. She had gotten her late mother's blue eyes. The fact that Audelia was the only one inheriting the silver hair gave Catherine, her spiteful stepmother, a terrible exasperation.

Because of this Audelia and her brother looked nothing alike. Her pale hair was a stark contrast to his deep blue hair that was inherited from Catherine. The color of their eyes clashed, like water and fire.

"Princess do you really have to go today despite the spreading of the disease? What if you get sick!" her lady in waiting voiced out her opinion knowing very well she would not be able to change her master's mind. A pandemic had been unleashed in the villages near the north territory of the empire which was not far away from the capital and the imperial palace. Audelia lifted her gaze to look at Anna through the mirror and gave her a soft smile, " Does that not give me more of a reason to go today Anna? I need to check for myself how things are going among the villagers and how bad the situation is."

It wasn't that Audelia did not understand her position as princess of the Lucrezia empire or what consequences it would bring for her and her servants if she would get sick. Not only would the court be in chaos due to her absence, but her servants would be blamed for letting their princess catch a disease that was supposed to be spreading only among the peasants. Despite knowing this Audelia could not simply stop going out on her explorations like she used to. Without her, the villagers had no support at all.

The greedy councilmen of the court would feign ignorance over the situation among the villagers to save themselves from the tedious act of pulling out money from their own pockets for the sake of the country. It would always spark an argument whenever Audelia would bring up the topic during the council meetings. It didn't mean Audelia would give up on her people, they needed her more than ever and she was not going to let them suffer whether it be under her father's or brother's reign.

"But princess you are already in such bad health what if the queen-" Audelia's lady in waiting stopped herself before voicing out something offensive about the queen of Lucrezia. The color was drained from her face and she realized that she had stepped over her boundaries, quickly she bowed down lowering her eyes to the ground, "I apologize my princess…"

Audelia did not care much for the fact that Anna would speak up her mind occasionally, she had gotten used to it. But for Anna's own good, Audelia never encouraged her lady in waiting to do so, not even when they were alone. In the palace, you always have to be wary of what you do or say. Audelia gave her servant a nod as to put an end to their conversation, her point had been made and there would be no more discussion about her going out tonight.

Audelia raised from her seat and Anna swiftly helped her to put on her black cloak with a hood covering her face. She took a last look in the mirror, No one would be able to recognize her as long as she covered her face.

"Go rest until I'm back, and if anyone would pay me an unexpected visit you tell them I'm not feeling well." She walked to the back of her bedchamber and reached out her hand to sweep away the red drapery covering part of the wall, behind it was a painting of a single flower, a daffodil, standing alone in the middle of a forest, surrounded with snow. She carefully lifted the painting to reveal a key attached to its keyhole. She turned it and the sound of a lock unlocking could be heard, the secret passage made for the royal family if a siege would ever occur revealed itself.

It was barely a small opening in the wall which fitted Audelia's body just right. If any of the other family members were to try and use it, she doubted that they would fit. The musty smell in the small and dark passage made Audelia speed up her steps. No matter how many times she's been in there she could never simmer down the anxious feeling she felt from the murky atmosphere.

Her steps echoed in the narrow passage but soon started to fade as she was nearing the exit. She was met with a black carriage devoid of any family crest and a horseman opening the door for her to step in.

She gave the horseman a nod of acknowledgment for his risky work of escorting her and then proceeded to get into the carriage. As the carriage was going through the darkness of the night Audelia was lost in thoughts. She couldn't stop thinking about her future, her inevitable horrid future. She knew very well what was waiting for her.

She would be married off, or rather, sold off to the old duke of Hestia who had lost his former lady wife just barely a year ago.

The agreement was made between the imperial family and the kingdom of the west, the dukedom of Hestia, with the official reason stated to be that the marriage would be a sign of diplomacy between the two families. It was a known fact that the land of Hestia was an unpolished diamond that with the right leader, could become a great power in the empire. It was a territory bordering the sea in the west of the empire with merchants flocking from all over to sell and trade exclusive products.

The Lucrezia empire was divided into three lands, each land was ruled by a duke or duchess appointed by the emperor himself. The kings of each land themselves were under the direct order of the emperor and the imperial family of the Lucrezia empire. In the southeastern border, the empire laid Qasha, which currently played an important role in maintaining peace between Lucrezia and the neighboring kingdom, Aeropos. The household of the duke of Qasha has great influence over the empire as they are the ones protecting the southeastern border. The imperial family of Lucrezia used to be a powerful family that ruled over the empire with an iron fist. This was before Aeropos rebelled and announced independence from the empire. What used to be an empire of four kingdoms was now only three. Ever since then, the power of the imperial family had started to degenerate as Qasha, and Hestia became more and more powerful. From what it used to be, the imperial family of Lucrezia was now merely a facade and the power was no more.

The duke of Hestia was an old man who had no children despite his many concubines, he was said to be impotent. Of course, this made it even more favorable for the imperial family to send Audelia off to marry the old man as all of the lands would fall into Audelia's, or rather, the imperial family's possession once he passed. It was a political marriage. Her father had hoped to restore the glory of the empire once again before handing over the throne to his eldest son, Audelia's half brother, Alexzander de Lucrezia. It was no surprise for her that she would be used as a pawn, after all, she was the princess of the empire. She never thought she would be able to marry someone because of love, she has always known that but still she couldn't help but feel like the dreadful time had come too soon. The old man would become her husband, and she would live the rest of her life in despair without ever having children or a family of her own.