While Valeria was on her way to the Adventurer’s Guild, Oriana had just woken up, and after taking care of her morning routine unhurriedly, she was ready to move on to the next thing on her list of things to do - reading.
From what she gathered the day before, both the Prince and Lin Xuelan appeared to be busy with formal meetings for the time being. Then, in the morning, Kyra gave her the wonderful news that the Bastard Commander would be away for some important business, which meant that for the first time in weeks, she had the whole day for herself.
After making sure that she had enough tea and snacks for the next few hours, Oriana sat comfortably on her favorite reading chair with a brand new volume of “The Beauty and the Werewolf”.
The recent visit at the Temple and the talk with the Head Priestess made her want to read more about the people of Faolán. As coincidence would have it, a fresh new story starring a main character who was able to take the shape of a wolf had just shown up in the bookstores.
A sign from the Heavens, Oriana thought to herself happily while opening the book.
The minutes were passing, and the Princess’ eyes were gliding smoothly over page after page. As she was progressing through the story, however, she started slowing down and later even catching herself reading the same line over and over. Eventually, she closed the book with frustration.
Not because there was something wrong with it. But rather, because no matter what, she was unable to focus on the words she was reading. She wanted to relax, and take her mind off of recent events, but instead, she kept feeling uneasy, and as if there was something missing.
Then it got even worse, because her stubborn mind kept wandering away from the book to none other than the Valeria she was so desperately trying to catch a break from!
As if I would ever miss a swindler like you! Humpf!
Feeling like her own mind had become her mortal enemy, Oriana started regretting letting Kyra take the rest of the day off. Nevertheless, she wasn’t so heartless as to just go back on her word and summon her again, simply to keep her from thinking about “that Bastard”.
Fortunately for the Princess, the Swindler Commander knew her all too well, and just as she was about to lose her mind came her savior - Felix.
He entered the room and bowed to Oriana with stiff, robotic movements, and introduced himself with a slightly shaky voice.
— Your Highness. My name is Felix, I am the captain of the First Unit of the Royal Guards. The Commander has requested me to be her substitute during her absence today.
The Princess looked at the man curiously.
— You can relax, Felix. I’m not as terrifying as that bas… — she cleared her throat — The Commander is making me out to be.
Sensing that his actions gave the Princess wrong idea, the young guard immediately jumped to explanations. The last thing he wanted was to cause a misunderstanding between the two.
— No, no, no… Commander would never say a bad word about you, Your Highness. She always praises you and, and… and always tells us that we have to be on our best behavior around you, and show you proper respect. The Commander thinks very highly of you, Your Highness!
— She does?
— Y-yes, Your Highness! When she came to me today, she gave me a full lecture about what you like and what I should do and should not do, so that you can feel comfortable. — To prove his words, Felix took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. — I even had to make notes to remember everything. Look at this, Your Highness.
Oriana took the list from the guard and looked at the crude writing with a few errors.
“Don’t come before noon. Her Highknees Highness likes to sleep until late morning. Otherwise grumpy.”
“Don’t leave Her Highness alone with the Prince.”
“Don’t let Her Highness leave the Palace.”
“Don’t let Her Highness eat too much sweets.”
“When bored let Her Highness read book.”
The Princess tightened her grip on the note, trying to act calm despite wanting to scream inside.
Is this what you think of me, you Bastard?! You think I’m a spoiled child?! Oh, I’ll show you who’s the real brat!
Oriana put the sweetest smile on her face and invited Felix to sit with her.
— Would you care for some tea, Captain? — she poured the hot brew into a second cup without waiting for an answer — Now, tell me, Captain, what else has the Commander said about me?
The Adventurer’s Guild turned out to be a bust, which wasn’t really surprising to Valeria. No matter how much she tried, there was just no way to get any information out of any of the employees. The fact that she was working directly for the King was enough to shut their mouths the moment she stepped through the door.
Standing in front of the Guild, she looked at the sky.
It was almost sunset, which meant that it was about time to head back to the Palace.
Valeria trusted that Felix was up for the task, and she had no doubts that both the Princess and Kyra were safe with him around. Still, after seeing so much bloodshed and being away for so long, she couldn’t rid herself of the unease that accompanied her the whole day.
She was ready to hurry back to the Palace, when a familiar melody reached her ears. She recognized it immediately.
It was a popular song among her people. Her mother would often sing it to her when she had trouble falling asleep as a child.
With Faolán gone, however, there shouldn’t be anyone but her to know it.
Valeria looked around the plaza, trying to locate the source of the tune.
On the far end of it, she noticed a mysterious hooded person, seemingly looking her way. Noticing that they had the Commander’s attention, the Stranger disappeared into one of the adjacent alleys.
Without thinking much, Valeria hurriedly followed after.
The Stranger seemed to wander aimlessly, every once in a while turning around to make sure that the Commander was still behind. Every time she was certain she lost them, the mysterious person appeared in the corner of her eye, as if inviting her to follow.
The chase kept going on like this for a good while, taking Valeria away from the city’s center all the way to its industrial parts in the outskirts.
The destination the Stranger was heading seemed to be an abandoned storage house, located inconspicuously between other ruined buildings.
Seeing them heading inside, Valeria rushed after them. This was a chance for her to confront the mysterious person.
Upon entering the storage house, she realized, however, that aside from her, the place was completely empty. There wasn’t even a single box, or a chest left to be used as a hiding spot. What was even more surprising was that the entrance that Valeria used seemed to be the only way in or out of the building.
Despite all of that, the Stranger was nowhere to be seen.
The Commander walked around the interior, investigating every crack in the wall or the floor, hoping to find a secret passage, or something that would explain how the person managed to get out without her noticing.
While looking around, she noticed that she had stepped on something.
She took the small round object from the floor and studied it closely.
It looked like a normal copper coin at first glance, but upon closer inspection, she noticed the unique design forged on both of its sides.
A snake wrapped around a dagger.
From the looks of it, this copper piece was a token used by one of the underground organizations. They would hand coins like this to their trusted customers, allowing them to access their not-so-legal repertoire of services.
Even though Valeria didn’t recognize the specific organization behind the design, she knew someone who could help her with that.
She hid the coin safely in her pocket and rushed back to the Palace.
