The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 47

"Wait, who are we gonna kidnap?" asked Agis in a low voice, and Anne immediately kicked him in the shin.

"Not now," Anne hissed.

"Hello?" said Sebastian, waving his hand to get their attention. "Aren't you guys pleased to see me?"

"Of course we are!" said Anne.

"I'm not," said Agis.

"I just thought you might be bored and lonely, what with all your Saintess duties being canceled and all." Sebastian's smile was practically sparkling.

"That's very thoughtful of you..." said Anne. "You wanted tea, right? Betty, can you bring us some tea?"

Suddenly Anne felt like it might be kind of awkward to hang out with the Crown Prince in what was essentially her bedroom, even if it had a decent seating area and desks and stuff. So she added, "Actually, can you bring that tea to the Blue Courtyard? We'll take it out there."

The Blue Courtyard wasn't far from Anne's chambers. It wasn't one of the fancier courtyards in the Cathedral complex—it was just a small green space with a few tea tables scattered about—but Anne liked it because it was usually empty. The Cathedral was often crowded and there weren't many places in the complex you could go where you wouldn't be mobbed by people, if you were the Saintess.

"Why is it called the Blue Courtyard?" asked Sebastian. "All the flowers planted here seem to be white, not blue."

"Oh, huh," said Anne. "I hadn't really thought about it before, but that is weird."

"So you don't know?" asked Sebastian, tiling his head to one side.

"No, I have no idea..." said Anne.

"Maybe it's a sad courtyard for some reason?" suggested Agis.

Sebastian let out a short, derisive laugh.

"What?" said Agis. "What's wrong with that answer?"

"I'm sorry," said Sebastian, covering his mouth with one hand. "It's just, a courtyard can't be sad. It's a courtyard."

"Shows what you know, you shitty human prince," said Agis. "The wisdom of the elves has always been clear that places can have feelings. Hey, no, stop laughing! Places can be imbued with any really strong emotion felt by creatures in the space over time, it's like—I said stop laughing!"

While she half-listened, smiling, to this exchange, Anne thought about how guilty she felt about the whole kidnapping thing. Yes, it was to save Sebastian's life, but still... She'd feel better about it if she could fill him in, but Corvina had said not to, and Corvina knew what she was doing with this sort of thing.

I can't believe I danced with Corvina last night, thought Anne. When she first came to this world, she never thought she'd be that lucky. To share that kind of moment with Lady Corvina herself. Thinking about it made Anne feel really grateful for having been reborn in this world.

But still... that story Corvina told of her childhood was so sad. And fucked up. Anne knew the Emperor was a bad person, but how could he be that manipulative and abusive and... murderous without already having been overthrown by someone? It boggled the mind.

Also, how could the original author have left all that out of The Foundling's Wings? Well, maybe it was mentioned at some point after Anne had read. But by the point Anne was at in the story, both Sebastian and Corvina were dead. What more reason was there to mention it?

I suppose it could have been revealed as part of Duke Marshals' backstory... thought Anne. But the anecdote didn't exactly paint the Duke in the best light. If he was meant to be the hero and romantic lead of the book then it would be a strange thing to reveal. Especially towards the end, when he was supposed to have had his redemption arc already...