It might not come to that, honestly, though I wasn’t above torturing a civilian. Or should I say royal in this case? I glanced at Zinnia for a moment before returning my gaze back to my sandwiches. I had to admit, the royal sandwich was delicious. Yes, sandwiches, the most important meal of the day. 

Shaking my head lightly to free myself of that food trance, I went through that rancid political breakfast scheme with only half a mind to respond to the King and his subjects. My mind was on another more important thing.

Where was Neyla? She seemed trusted enough by the King that she’d be able to attend this breakfast. Was she busy? Did she decline? Or was she not invited?

She must’ve been with Bodhi, that was for certain. Maybe I’m thinking too much of it, I thought to myself as I bit into my sandwich, Though that doesn’t get rid of this bad feeling I got rumbling in my gut.

I still had a whole day to search for Neyla and Bodhi. Best not to be impatient, I figured. 

A part of me felt like I was rushing through the plan, even including an extremely risky plan of torturing a princess in her own castle. I thought that was reckless, even for me.

Have I been getting restless? A sardonic grin warped my lips. Quite possibly, yes. 

Fyodor would’ve told me to slow down and calmly think things through. He was always the genius of my rambunctious group of ‘siblings’. I should’ve paid more attention to his lectures on manipulation tactics. I was only ever good at assassinations. I was never good at confrontations like my brother Sefyr, nor was I good at seduction like my sister Sonia, and much less a planner like Fyodor.

In my own sick way, I missed my siblings, even though if I went to meet them again, they’d most likely bury me six feet underground, for good measure.

Not like I ever wanted to go back. None of them ever tried to avenge her. In my mind, I reaffirmed my goal. I will kill you for what you did to her, A-

“Lady Allyson!” A squeal pulled me out of my thoughts, “What do you say we have a tea party at noon? My friends are going to be attending,” she smiled widely, albeit a bit too forcefully, “It’ll be great to have you there!”

A part of me chuckled, seeing Zinnia nervously invite me. She clearly wanted to avoid her father’s wrath, but she still invited me. That girl had courage.

Oddly enough, Hya and Amaryllis were both silent, but I knew why. After all, this was a part of their plan. A poor one, but a plan nevertheless.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the breakfast - more like political gathering - had ended. Since Zinnia invited me to a tea party suddenly today, the maids scrambled to get me out of the suit and into a dress.

Before I left the eatery, I glanced at the King. I considered trying to bring up the subject about Neyla, by asking something along the lines of ‘Who was that next to you in the throne room? May I meet her?’ but then my sudden interest in the Sage might come out as suspicious. I had no real way to approach the subject.

Claire gazed over me after she and a handful of maids forced a light blue dress on me. It had dark red flower embroidments on it and reached to the bottom of my knees. “Perfect!” She smiled at me, content with how I looked.

After that, they placed moderate amounts of make-up on my face, mostly to hide my scars. Apparently, Claire said I had ‘natural beauty’. No idea what standards that woman had but at least they didn’t cake me with make-up. 

It was almost noon, so the maids ushered me out of my room and into the garden, where I noticed three noble ladies around Princess Narci’Zinnia. She noticed me and smiled. With a wave of her hand, her eyes steered me to a chair. When I parked myself there, I felt a sudden comfort. The azure-blue chair was made of extremely soft material. To be frank, it was so comfortable I felt itchy and restless. I would normally sit or rest on extremely rough material, so something as soft as this chair was too different from my norm.

“Lady Allyson!” She cried out joyfully, “You look gorgeous!”

I noticed the Duke’s daughter next to her. What was her name, again?

“Princess Zinnia, Lady Renold, it’s good to see you,” I bowed lightly, “And a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ladies,” I referred to the other two nobles who I haven’t met before.

“Call me Carmen,” Lady Renold responded.

“I am Marilyn Estovaz, second daughter of the Marquess Estovaz house,” the redhead stranger said. The girl next to her then stood up and started to sweat buckets. 

The last girl was practically a nervous wreck, just barely pushing out the words, “I-I am D-Debrett Mozaine, only daughter of a Baron’s family!” The brunette’s hair was so short it didn’t reach her shoulders. In a way, she appeared homely. She was a teenager in her later years, with freckles on her face.

Ah, now I figured out why she was so nervous. Barons were practically bottom of the food chain, a step just barely above commoners.

So, rain check: Zinnia the Princess, Carmen the Duke’s daughter, Marilyn the Marquess’ daughter, and Debrett, the Baron’s daughter. 

It was an odd combination to be sure. One daughter from every class apart from commoner was here. What was Zinnia trying to do? She looked like the ditzy type, but I figured this group was made intentionally. 

I sneaked a glance at her while raising the teacup to my lips. “So,” she said, “Lady Allyson, I have to be honest, before your summoning, I thought every hero had to be male. The Dahlia Kingdom was so surprised when you appeared.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Oh?”

“Yes, you see, in our culture, while there are female adventurers, those are rare,” Zinnia cupped her own cheek in thought, “A female knight is even rarer. They are under constant scrutiny. That’s why…”

“That’s why?” I tilted my head.

She smiled, “That’s why I-no, we respect you. Although the way you stood up to Father was risky at best and downright suicidal at worst, you stood your ground, and even pushed back his authority. Even as a woman.”

“T-truth be told, I want to explore the world!” The baron girl, Debrett, squeaked out, “but the qualifications to be an adventurer, especially as a baron girl, is practically impossible!”

“Your appearance gave more power to us ladies,” Lady Renold pumped. 

When I took a good look at all of them, I realized they all shared a distinct trait - an adventurous spirit. They all wanted to explore the world and experience it as a man would. Men, from my understanding, had a lot more authority here compared to women. But if that’s true, why is the kingdom named after a woman? That doesn’t make sense.

“May I ask something, Princess? Why is this kingdom named after Dahlia? Why is it called the Dahlia Kingdom, if this kingdom has less rights towards women?”

Nodding, she placed her hands over mine. I nearly flinched from the contact. A part of me was never really comfortable with physical contact. And yet Plan A is to seduce her. Who am I kidding?

“Dahlia’s origins are wrapped in mystery, more so than this kingdom’s own history,” she began a lecture, “Some say she was born from an angel and an otherworlder. Others say she is an otherworlder. I think she was blessed by the Spirit herself. There’s also a rumor that Dahlia was a man.”

I nodded, confirming that I was paying attention.

Zinnia smiled as she gently removed her hands from mine, “Either way, Dahlia was said to have created a massive barrier across the Kingdom, shielding us from both the Draconians and the Majin. His or her blood is carried through the royals, which maintains the barrier.”

Debrett had started to scribble something down on a notebook with a ton of fervor. It appeared she was the ‘writer’ type. 

Smiling, Zinnia continued, “The closer to the castle, the stronger the barrier is. We’re all thankful towards Dahlia for their spell.”

“That doesn’t completely answer my question, though,” I called out, “Why is it that the kingdom looks down upon women if Dahlia is such an important founder towards this country?”

“Because many people don’t know the true identity to Dahlia. Many believe Dahlia is a man. I am willing to gamble that she is a woman.”

She inched slightly closer to me, only blocked by a table in front of her. “With your status as the summoned otherworlder, my father cannot touch you as easily as his other subjects. One might say you have near immunity.”

“Go on,” I nodded.

“If you gather enough influence from the nobles, especially the women who can essentially twist their husbands in their private life, you can be a force to be reckoned with.”

Huh, my eyes widened as large as saucers, This princess is shrewder than I thought.

“Join us. Let’s make a movement.”

The princess held out her hand to me. On cue, the other noble ladies placed their hands on hers. Four pairs of eyes landed on me, eagerly waiting for my answer.

I blinked, confused at the term of events. Then a slight smile crossed my face. “I’d be honored to, my princess.” I placed my right hand on top of everyone else’s, and they all had squeals and smiles in response. 

So, a women’s movement is underway, I pondered, I hadn’t expected this so suddenly. Now that I think about it, there are no maids around me. Did Zinnia send them away? That was very smart of her. Can’t afford to have others eavesdrop on what might very well be a conversation to spark civil unrest.

It would be such a waste to have her become a puppet for the Majin. For Bodhi. That spirit isn’t exactly the brightest of the group.

I wonder if there’s a way to use her without drying up all her usefulness in one go. Huh, that sounded vampiric in nature.

Whatever Zinnia has planned, I can’t wait to see it. I cannot wait to see how it’ll end up. It’s going to be a treat.

ExorcistJoker

Was sorta expecting to end this arc by chapter 10, looks like I might have to push it a few more. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I had things planned out for this story but every time I write with Allyson, she tends to do her own thing. Weird.

Also, I've been thinking about writing a story about Dahlia in their own book. Probably not yet though. I don't want to spread myself thin.