Chapter 7

  Caged Bird

  Nightfall returned to them once more, cold and biting.

  Dan and Nora rode back from the hilltop in silence, the carriage cloaked in a heavy hush that neither of them dared break.

  Nora hadn’t said a word since then—not even when they arrived back at the Crystal Palace.

  Dan stepped out at the front gate and found Zeedee standing there, munching on a salt-dusted boiled potato.

  “Your Highness.”

  “You really did go get something to eat…”

  “Where’ve you been all this time?”

  “Nora had something weighing on her.”

  Zeedee peered toward the towering palace gates, watching as Nora entered with her royal guards.

  “…You didn’t tell her to stab the queen, did you?”

  “Do I look like that kind of person?”

  The two walked together down the black cobblestone path. The orange lights of the city began to flicker on across the lampposts. Night’s chill rolled in, their breaths misting white in the air.

  “Want some?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Zeedee handed Dan her potato, and he took a bite to warm himself.

  “You’ve already sent word about the Shadow issue, right?”

  “All done, Your Highness.”

  “…Good. This time, we’re wiping them out for good. After ten years, they’ve probably bred like cockroaches in a sewer.”

  Dan’s crimson eyes were different now—no longer casual, but deadly serious.

  “My job’s not finished yet.”

  “You’d return to the field… in a time as peaceful as this, Your Highness?”

  “Until they’re extinct.”

  “The news will probably hit Diablo right when Miss Nora’s wedding takes place.”

  “Mhm…”

  “By the way, what did she consult you about? I’m dying to know.”

  “Keep eating.”

  “Oh, come on! Why won’t you tell me?”

  “Because knowing won’t help you do a damn thing.”

  Later that night…

  The Crystal Palace

  Residence of Empress Ophilis the Fourteenth.

  Royal guards in black ice-plate armor raised their spears and stepped aside to let the visitor through…

  The Empress worked alone by candlelight, hunched over a mountain of affairs of state.

  She looked up.

  Standing there was her firstborn daughter, the heir to the Ophilis line.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Mother…”

  Nora clutched her black gown and curtsied with perfect form.

  “I have something important I need to speak to you about.”

  The Empress returned her gaze to the paperwork.

  “Is it urgent?”

  “…Yes.”

  “What is it?”

  She paused, releasing the documents and waiting.

  The pressure in the room was unbearable.

  Though Nora’s face maintained its practiced composure, deep down, her throat had gone dry.

  Flashback: the hilltop

  “Mr. Fury… I’m too scared. I can’t face her alone… Will you come with me?”

  “In what capacity, Nora? Tell me that.”

  “……”

  “You have to do this to defend your dignity. Think of it that way—your fear will disappear. Fight.”

  Dan took her pale hand, one palm supporting it, the other pressing over it.

  Nora’s eyes widened. The warmth of his touch startled her. She looked up to meet his gaze.

  “If you’re too anxious to think clearly… then just imagine I’m standing next to you, holding your hand like this. How’s that?”

  “!”

  Back in the throne room.

  “What is it?”

  “…I want to postpone my engagement, Mother.”

  “That’s not possible. The schedule’s already in place. If you’d said this three or four weeks earlier, maybe. But why postpone? Just get it over with.”

  Nora clenched her jaw and continued.

  “I want it over with too, Mother… but my way of ending it is not the same as yours.”

  “‘Not the same?’ How so?”

  The Empress’s voice deepened—lower, sharper… and unmistakably threatening.

  The tension was unbearable. Nora’s hand—Dan’s hand—tightened.

  “…I have no desire to get married.”

  She said it.

  The Empress’s expression froze for a moment.

  Nora didn’t flinch. She stared her mother straight in the eye.

  “Do you understand what you just said?”

  “I do.”

  (Dan’s voice, echoing in her mind)

  We can’t change her… but you understand her. So approach it wisely. Think like a survivor, Nora.

  “This isn’t something I’m saying lightly, Mother… I’ve thought about it for years. I’ve followed your orders since I was a child. I’ve never once disobeyed. So I believe I’ve earned the right to disagree with you—just this once.”

  The Empress’s face remained still, but her eyes widened slightly.

  Maybe surprise.

  Maybe disbelief—that her own daughter would dare defy the life she’d arranged.

  “Nora… my daughter… I must ask—what has changed you so much?”

  “Mother? What do you mean?”

  “Since you returned from Artheris, you’ve changed. Others may not see it, but I do. You can’t fool me. Not even this thought—it’s not yours. Someone’s been planting it in your head. Someone named… Dan Burn?”

  Nora’s eyes flew wide.

  “M-Mother! What are you saying?!”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t know about my own daughter? Nora… I know exactly what you did in Artheris. I know you’ve been tagging along with that boy, Dan Burn, for quite some time. You brought him into your dorm. And now, you’ve brought him here? Honestly, Nora, do you think I’m a fool?”

  What does that boy have that Jacob doesn’t?

  “No, Mother! You’re misunderstanding!”

  “Then what is the truth? Explain it to me. You think I’ll believe you’ve been thinking about this for years? Nonsense. You’ve simply been manipulated—by some outsider.”

  Nora stood frozen, her mind turning white, ears ringing, limbs numb. She couldn’t speak.

  Her chest rose and fell rapidly as panic overtook her.

  “I’ve already had a full report on the boy. Knight scholarship student. Still has a long way to go. No pedigree. He’s not fit for someone like you.”

  “Mother! T-That’s not true! You’re—”

  BANG!

  The doors burst open.

  Nora spun around in horror. She saw soldiers dragging someone into the throne room.

  “Dan?!”

  He’d been napping peacefully in his quarters when he was suddenly apprehended.

  He didn’t resist—though the guards could’ve been gentler.

  As for Zeedee, she’d failed her royal bodyguard duties in spectacular fashion.

  She was fast asleep the entire time. Guess cold air really does knock out aquatic creatures.

  “Uhh… What’s going on?”

  “Mother! What are you doing to him?!”

  Nora couldn’t hold back anymore. She shouted, hands raised in protest.

  “Let him go, right now!!”

  “There it is… the behavior I was referring to. Was it Artheris that made you like this?”

  Dan quickly read the situation.

  It was going downhill—fast.

  The Empress sat down on her throne.

  “Then I’ll ask him myself. Let’s see what he says.”

  “Mother, he has nothing to do with this! Let him go!”

  Nora pleaded again and again, but it was no use.

  Until she saw Dan turn and raise a hand to stop her.

  It was a silent message:

  It’s okay.

  Mr. Fury…

  “Your Majesty… May I ask what business you have with me?”

  Dan bowed politely, yet the pressure in the room remained crushing.

  His calm demeanor—far too composed for someone his age—caught the Empress slightly off guard.

  “Dan Burn… Your grades are acceptable. The only recipient of the knight scholarship. A bright future awaits you.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  “How did you meet Nora, hmm?”

  “We were assigned to the same group project in Professor McClaff’s magic course.”

  “Ah, Professor McClaff… I see.”

  The Empress nodded faintly, then leaned forward.

  “You’re aware, aren’t you, that my daughter is to be engaged in just a few days?”

  “I’m aware, yes.”

  “That it is a private matter of the Ophilis royal family—you understand that as well?”

  " ! "

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Then tell me—why have you meddled with my daughter?”

  “What exactly are you to her?”