The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 115

#115 The Forbidden Area
The six men guarding the door to the second Prince’s apartments were bored.
They didn’t quite understand why a simple entrance door within the Palace was so heavily guarded, as absolutely nothing was going on in that area of the Imperial Palace. Of course, the death of the First Prince had caused quite a stir, but since the funeral that had been held in a hurry, and the second prince had left, it had been rather quiet over there. Those men actually had no idea what was going on behind those doors, or who they were truly guarding. They were aware of some rumors that the emperor had been placed in the second Prince’s apartments, but they had no confirmation of it. The servants always talked a lot between themselves, while the soldiers were supposed to keep their tongue tied unless they wanted to lose their position.
Becoming an Imperial Guard was such a prestigious position, with a heavy salary yet not much actual work to do, that many envied their position. It took either a lot of work, a lot of money or good connections to get there. . Sometimes a bit of all of that, but in any case, they had done the hardest part. Unless they were aiming to a higher position, those men could spend their days guarding doors and simply wait for their paychecks to come. They didn’t need to guard the inside of the Princes’ or Princesses’ apartments, either: most of them had their own militia, and the others hated any intrusion on their privacy. Plus, there was a long history of concubines getting into some bad fighting over rumors of one another sleeping with the personnel and since the latest scandal that had the Emperor see red, all of the Imperial Guards had been strictly banned from entering the private chambers of the Imperial Family unless explicitly being told otherwise.
Those men didn’t have much to entertain themselves with. They would lurk at the pretty young servant girls going by, but that was pretty much their only entertainment all day long.
Hence, when the two women appeared at one end of the corridor, they turned heads as soon as they heard the first screaming. Those among the soldiers who recognized them frowned or chuckled nervously, already aware of what was going on.
“You useless little bitch!” Was yelling the middle-aged woman. “You can’t even give me one heir, one! What did you marry my son for if it’s for just standing here like a decorative vase! You’re useless! Useless!”
“Take it down a notch, you old harpy! Fucking get a clue! Because Ophe agreed to marry me doesn’t mean I’m gonna pop out a kid within the year!”
“Don’t call him so familiarly before you even get pregnant! I don’t know why my son was so adamant about marrying you, but you better give me a grandson quickly, or I’ll have your head!”.
“My head? And what are you going to do with it? Did you forget that I am his wife? He can’t get another woman, now, I’m never allowing it, so you better be happy with who you got and suck it up!”
The soldiers were trying hard not to laugh at the scene. Aside from the Imperial Concubine, no one was blind as to why the fourth Prince had agreed to marry Lady Mariana. Certainly not to produce any heirs, for one. It was even quite surprising that his mother was still holding on to the pitiful illusion that Prince Opheus could ever produce any children, given his tastes. Lady Mariana was actually doing a good job of acting as his fence against his delusional mother, but even the Emperor had completely given up on his fourth son… and his hysterical mother.
“I should have never agreed to that! You’re just a useless little scheming swine! You did it all for the money! And to kill me! You’re going to kill me!”
“Yes, yes… Aren’t we getting a little big on the drama, mother-in-law?” Said Mariana, ignoring her to keep going towards the soldiers.
“You’re useless! Useless!” Kept screaming the woman behind her.
“Old hag,” sighed Mariana, approaching the men with a smile. “Sorry about the ruckus, soldiers. Can I go in? I was supposed to have tea with Concubine Gloriata, but I can’t find her.”
The men felt a bit flustered for one of the Princesses to address them so politely and gently. They were more used to the rude and mighty attitude of the concubines. Môreover, Marian was a very pretty woman, and she was standing a bit closer than naturally in her flattering purple dress.
“S-Sorry, Princess Mariana, we are not supposed to let anyone in…”
“What? Really?” She said, looking surprised. “Is everything alright in there? I…”
“You swine! I’m not done talking!” Yelled the woman behind her.
“Oh, shut up!” Roared Mariana, turning to her; “Can’t you see that I’m talking to thosè gentlemen? Do you have to make a fuss all the time? I don’t know how Ophe put up with you all those years!” (1
“He is my son, you little bitch! I am his mother, he’s nothing without me!”
“Isn’t it the other way around?” Sighed Mariana. 1
The Imperial Soldiers chuckled, some blushing a little bit too. As soon as she saw that, the Imperial Concubine glared at them, and became even more hysterical, agitating her cane all around.
“How dare you laugh! You punks! You useless men! You good-for-nothing!”
At each word, she was dangerously swinging her cane around, making the Imperial Guards dodge it or experience painful hits. She was one of the only concubines older than the Emperor, and though she had lost his favors long ago, the Imperial Guards were completely flustered at how to deal with her.
“Imperial Concubine, please calm down…”
“Calm down? You’re telling me to calm down?” Yelled the Imperial Concubine. “I’ll have you hung! Or beheaded! And then drowned!”
“Oh, really…” sighed Mariana.
While the men were flustered and trying to control the old lady, behind them, they didn’t notice the trio that was walking on their toes to get to the door. Opheus’ mother was so awfully noisy and agitated that even she didn’t see her own son sneaking behind the Imperial Guards and into the second Prince’s apartments. Mariana smiled, seeing that they had succeeded, but she got hit by the cane right after, making her remember that she had inherited the worse part of the plan… 3
As soon as they were inside, Opheus guided Cassandra and Missandra towards a quiet room, apparently familiar with their surroundings. He checked inside to verify it was empty before letting the girls in. All three of them released a long sigh of relief.
“That’s one crazy old woman…” Said Missandra, immediately getting a glare from her older sister.
“You have no idea,” sighed Opheus. “If it wasn’t for Mari, she’d be still sneaking girls into my bedroom every night. A nightmare, I swear. Oh, anyway, we are in. Now we need to find Father.”
“Do you have an idea where he could be?”
The fourth Prince shook his head with a frown.
“Not really… I’ve only been here a few times when I was younger. My mother and his were close a long time ago, though it might just have been to try to get rid of each other. They did end up trying to kill each other until Lady Kareen became the favorite and they changed objectives. Lovely ladies. Anyway, I think the bedrooms where that way, but it is definitely going to be guarded by Vrehan’s personal militia.”
“Any way around?”
Opheus took a few seconds to think, fidgeting with his earring again.
“There are some rooms that were only used for storage back in the day…” he said. “Mari and I used to sneak in there when the Imperial Concubines were having tea, to be alone.”
“Mariana is a childhood friend?” Asked Cassandra, surprised.
“She’s been an Imperial Servant here since she was young, and my best friend. If my mother wanted to punish me, she’d take it out on her…”
Cassandra was surprised. She hadn’t thought some friendships could actually occur between members of the Imperial Family and the servants since the gap between the two was so large… However, seeing how Opheus had always gone against his family’s usual patterns, it wasn’t too surprising. So he had probably married Mariana so they could protect each other… It was a rather touching story, not something she would have suspected to occur inside the Imperial Palace.
Once again making sure there was no one ahead of them, Opheus and the two young women walked out of the room, cautious. They could actually still hear the screams of the Imperial Concubine from time to time, and Opheus made a grimace every time. They carefully took one corridor after another, but if there were any servants around, they had probably gone to see what was going on at the entrance. After a while, though, Opheus started frowning a lot.
“It’s strange… I don’t remember this place being that deserted when I was young…”
That sentence mad the girls worried, but it was a bit late to turn back. Indeed, the atmosphere in that area was a bit unusual. Most of the doors were locked, and it felt like no one had ventured there in a very long time. Cassandra realized that she was getting the same feeling from when she had seen Kairen’s childhood bedroom. It felt sad and desolate around there, but she couldn’t tell why. It was rather clean, but there was no soul around. The further they walked in, the more than uneasy feeling.grew. 3
All the doors they walked by on their left side were locked, and there was barely a couple of windows on their right for the light to get in. They had slowed down their pace, since theirs steps resonated in that silence. Even Opheus kept a sour face on.
“It’s weird,” said Missandra. “We haven’t come across a single servant or guard since we came into that area. If that crazy prince is so on guard, why is there absolutely no one here?”
Cassandra didn’t have an answer, but she felt just the same. Something was strange. It was as if no one was allowed here at all, even if that area was completely deserted, there should at least have been a couple of guards or a servant sweeping the dust.
However, they had no time to stop and check what was going on behind those closed doors. In a tacit agreement, they kept going, following Opheus’ lead.
Suddenly, an old maid appeared out of the blue at one of the intersections. She was carrying a tray with food, and she froze upon seeing them, looking shocked. Opheus moved immediately to stand between the sisters and that maid, preventing them to see their faces.
However, the old woman looked more shocked to see him, her hands shaking on the tray of food.
“W… What are you doing here… That… This area is forbidden…”
“Sorry, I was coming to see my brother,” Opheus lied. “Who is that food for?”
The maid went even paler, stepping back as he was stepping closer.
“Ah… No… no one, sir…”
“No one? This is a large detour for someone going to the main area. You’re carrying a lot of food too.”
Opheus was stepping closer and closer to the old maid, but she kept stepping back, visibly terrified. She had the face of someone who didn’t want to get caught, and from the direction of her feet, was probably considering
running away. Yet, before she could take another step, the fourth Prince suddenly grabbed her, and the tray of food fell loudly.
“Who was that food for?’ He insisted.
“I… I’m sorry, your Highness, I can’t tell…” whimpered the old woman.
“Is it for my father?” He asked.
“N-no…”
Opheus asked her again, insisting, but Cassandra had her eyes on the food she had left on the ground. This didn’t look like a meal that would have been given to a sick old man… but to a pregnant woman. She recognized some of the food Kareen had been insistent on having her eat while she was pregnant with Kassian, at the Diamond Palace.
*P-please let me go,” said the old woman. “If her Highness k-knows…”
“Her Highness? Who?”
Either she had talked too much or not enough, the old woman was now bitterly regretting it. Moreover, Opheus was tightening his grip on her wrist and threatening her with a glare. Just like the rest of his family, the Imperial Prince was well aware of his power, and he kept going until the old woman got teary and talked.
“L-Lady… Madeen…”
Cassandra frowned. She knew that name, it was the name of Vrehan’s Favorite, the mother of his first son. If there was someone else that they should fear crossing paths within that place, while Vrehan and Phetra were gone, it had to be that woman.
Opheus wasn’t done interrogating the maid, however.
“Who was that food for, then? Madeen isn’t pregnant!”
This time, the old maid stayed resolutely mute. However, her eyes slipped to one of the doors for a second, and Missandra caught that. She ran to the said door, trying to open it, but it wouldn’t.
“She must have a key!” said Missandra.
“Ah, no!” Screamed the old woman.
Before she could yell anymore, Opheus grabbed her chin, and brutally flipped her head around, killing her immediately. Cassandra let out a shocked cry, while Missandra frowned.
“Did you really have to kill that poor old lady?”
“She would have been killed by Madeen anyway,” retorted Opheus, crouching down to search her. “If you want to cry, find a corner darling but do it later.”
Missandra sighed, but he probably wasn’t wrong… He suddenly found a key and walked up to her with a sigh.
“Why are we doing this, anyway?” He said.
“Because whatever that sicko wants to hide is good for us to know,” retorted Missandra, opening the door.
The door gave in with a creaking, despite Missandra’s attempt to open it quietly. Inside, it was awfully dark. There was no window, and the only light came from behind them, the corridor they were standing in already rather dark
itself. Cassandra frowned, and stepped forward, past her sister to venture inside, while Opheus stayed behind them with a frown.
Though they could barely see anything, she could feel a presence. She waited a few seconds for her eyes to get used to the dark and looked for the source of the faint breathing she could hear. This was a room with nothing but
a bed. On the bed, was a young woman, curled up against the wall, staring at her with a frightened expression.
She had long black hair, black eyes, tanned skin, and was heavily pregnant.