“...Is th-that why you had me c-come here?” Cessilia said, not hiding the anger in her voice.
“Princess or not, you have to follow the rules of the competition,” said the Yekara Leader. “We have several witnesses claiming they saw the Princess going out alone last night, and you came back to the castle late in the night.”
“Princess Cessilia and her cousin were invited to the Hashat Family house,” retorted Hephael. “I already told the Council that, and many witnesses will confirm this as well.”
“Oh, we know. But the Princess was seen parting ways with her cousin, and a man came to her after that. She definitely spent a part of the night with him.”
Cessilia was frustrated and mad. She exchanged a glance with Ashen, but it was now clear why he had requested her presence. He wanted her to decide whether to reveal their relationship or not. At the very least, Jisel wasn’t here this time. It should have made her glad, but somehow, she had an ominous feeling about her absence.
“Well?” said the Yekara Lord. “We knew you aren’t quite eloquent, Princess, but we still ought to hear at least an explanation. Or proof we’re wrong. After all, we do have means to check your words...”
An old woman stepped forward, probably a nurse or something of the sort, but she ignored her. Instead, Cessilia glared at the man who was now trying to annoy her. He had the look of a predator toying with his prey. He knew he was right, and perhaps, he even knew who she had actually spent the night with. What he wanted was to humiliate her, expose her in front of the Council. He may have thought a young woman who had just lost her virginity would have been terribly embarrassed of the situation and ashamed. However, Cessilia crossed her arms, not shy in the slightest.
“It’s t-true,” she said. “However, it d-doesn’t disqualify me as a c-candidate if the man I spent the n-night with was His Majesty.”
Many eyes shifted from her to the King.
The White King was smiling. For many, that unique sight was absolutely terrifying. Rather than a happy man, it looked like a predator showing its fangs, and when he relaxed his shoulders and sat back down, many got chills. He remained silent, though, so the Yekara Leader was confused for a second, his eyes going from the King to the Princess.
“B-but you already knew th-that, d-didn’t you?” said Cessilia with a smile.
“You... you broke the rules! We will not accept a sullied candidate as our Queen!”
“You’re not making any sense, Lord Yekara. ...Surely you were not expecting the future Queen to remain immaculate?” retorted Ishira, raising an eyebrow. “How is His Majesty supposed to have his heirs then?”
“We shall not accept it,” the man insisted. “The purity of the candidates is one of the rules for–”
The Princess suddenly stepped in his direction, suddenly seeming taller, making the older man sit back in his chair and almost swallow his tongue.
“His Majesty can confirm I had b-been with no other man b-before him,” retorted Cessilia, her angry voice suddenly echoing in the room, “and I will not b-be humiliated b-by the mere loss of my virginity b-by any man. If you want t-to reduce your c-candidates to mere child-making t-tools, th-then all I did was g-get a headstart on them!”
She looked around, glaring back at those who had been prepared for her humiliation.
“You c-can’t even honor the rule of not k-killing or harming other candidates,” hissed Cessilia, “and you’re t-trying to corner me with your rules that d-don’t make sense? A K-Kingdom where a man c-can take mistresses, b-but his wife has to b-be a virgin? How c-can you ask that of your d-daughters and nieces?!”
No one in the room dared to utter a word anymore. In fact, most of the Lords were stunned and stuck to their chairs, some of them sending guilty glances toward their candidates. But Cessilia’s angry eyes suddenly went to Ashen. The King had completely stopped smiling.
“Next t-time, at least ask your King to stay pure too.”
A heavy silence befell the room after her words. She hadn’t meant to target Ashen with this, but she couldn’t spare him, and the guilt was legitimate too. After all, he had agreed to those rules as well as the others, and even if she knew it was her own pride talking, Cessilia was still bitter about Jisel. Even worse, she couldn’t swallow the hypocrisy of these men toward their own female relatives, and she refused to let him be used against her. If anything, Cessilia had grown up in a house where women were not looked down upon, and she wouldn’t let herself be here.
After a short while, someone in the room chuckled, awkwardly breaking the silence.
“...This is why I admire the Empress so much.”
The woman who had spoken was the only one seated as one of the Family Lords. In fact, she could have almost been mistaken for a man, with her short hair, strong jaw, and the fact that she wore the least jewelry out of all seven. She was wearing a modest, dark brown outfit too, with her legs open and large boots, some muddy water staining the beautiful floor under her. She turned to the other Lords with a smile.
“The Princess made a reasonable point. If it was indeed His Majesty with her, I don’t believe there’s any valid reason for her to be taken out of the competition.”
“The Hashat Family supports this,” immediately nodded Hephael.
“We’re not holding a vote!” exclaimed the Yekara Leader.
“We are,” retorted Ashen.
Because he had been so silent until then, the King’s ice-cold voice took them all by surprise. The Yekara Leader glared his way, and for a while, it seemed everyone was suddenly reminded the real monster was still there, just unusually passive. There was a very faint general movement in the room, a lot of people stepping an inch or two farther away from the throne. Some of the Lords even nervously shifted their positions on their chairs, sitting straight or leaning away. Even when he was slouching on his throne, Ashen was effortlessly dominating them all.
The leader of the Yekara Clan did try to hold his stare for a while, but Ashen wasn’t even glaring; he was like an ice fortress, a wall of contempt with the eyes of a monster. Soon enough, the man was forced to look down and admit his defeat toward the King. Still, he raised his head high again, gripping his seat and looking sullen. Since he couldn’t convince the King, the leader of the Yekara glared at his peers as if to dissuade them. Much to his annoyance, though, the leader of the Sehsan Tribe then raised his hand.
“The Sehsan Tribe also supports the Princess’ statement. We won’t require any more proof, either.”
“The Dorosef Tribe too!” exclaimed the man in the next seat.
With already four out of the seven Lords having spoken up, the outcome didn’t even need to be said. This was Cessilia’s win, and her green eyes went to the Yekara Leader as if to dare him to speak up and raise this issue again.
“...Are we d-done?” she asked in a loud and clear voice.
Despite her stutter, the imperious tone in her voice was leaving no doubt as to her superiority there. Those who had tried to humiliate her had completely lost. This Princess who had seemed to almost hide behind her cousin all along was now clearly standing her ground alone, and making a laughing stock out of the Clan Leader.
“...The competition isn’t over,” the leader of the Pangoja Clan declared suddenly. “At least now it is clear a few of us actually have the intent to keep things clean.”
He was actually glaring at the leader of the Yekara Clan, not Cessilia. It surprised her a little, but after all, he had lost one of his candidates, probably one of his younger relatives, to this competition already. From the murderous glare he was sending across the room, he had probably identified the culprit as well. However, his rival smirked. He may have lost to the King and the Princess, but the Yekara Clan Leader wasn’t going to be afraid of one of his peers.
“It’s not over indeed,” he said. “Perhaps we need to reconsider this... competition, after all.”
While the two of them kept exchanging glares, Cessilia sighed and turned to Ishira, mimicking with her lips for the young woman to meet her outside. Ishira nodded, and after whispering in her cousin’s ear, quietly stepped out first. Cessilia turned back to Ashen, giving him a little nod.
“Your M-Majesty,” she said, bowing faintly, “Lords, I will see you all at t-tonight’s banquet.”
