the kiah

chapter 8: the second prince

[Lady ailith] aziel remembered the moment he saw her. It was when she entered the ball room. She had a weird charm to her but he had planned to ignore the lady.
The queen, his mother was the one who ordered him to win lady ailith from the crown prince. Aziel had mostly refused his mother's request most importantly the one to be the next emperor.
Aziel just wanted to be a good brother and a helping hand to the future emperor by keeping the territory safe from threats. But his mother wanted him to destroy the relationship of the siblings and for him to be the emperor. When aziel refused countless times he got irritated and started to stay as far away as the palace, either in the training camp or on the borders.
Those places gave him a sense of peace, a place he can be free. There he merely have to train and lead the soldiers to beat up the enemy. And at other times he was just another soldier with no political schemes.
But here all the schemes and poisons, he cant handle them.
When he heard about the crown princess having her coming of age ceremony he was going to ignore it but who would have thought that his mother would ask him to return, she went as far as to threaten him by killing herself if he didnt return and listen to her one request.
Aziel had to return, but what suprised him was that his mother did not ask him to become the emperor this time but to try and woo lady ailith.
Aziel was about to refuse when the queen told him about the emperor's words.
Lady ailith would have freedom to choose her partner! It was to say that no lady in the empire had the right to choose her partner, much less the noble ladies. The marriage were determined either by their parents or by the noblemen who took fancy to them.
The emperor giving lady ailith the choice to choose her partner made it clear that she was not the crown princess yet, and hence he agreed to his mother's request to try and woo lady ailith.
But when he saw her, he was captivated by her looks. What he did not expect was that her demour was different than noble ladies, sure she was elegant and graceful not to mention beautiful but her eyes spoke a different story.
When she entered and walked to the royal family, she glanced around taking everything in her sight but her eyes were mainly focused on few particular spots.
Aziel followed her sight and noticed that those spots were either a good hiding place or good for emergency exit.
This made him confused as to why a lady would focus more on finding places to leave just when she arrived? But then he remembered the rumors-about the assasination attempts done on lady ailith and her mother.
When she talked to the royals and left no one noticed that she gave the royal family an icy look hidden by her veil. But he did, her eyes only calmed when she went back to her father.
Aziel wasnt sure why but he felt that lady ailith was hiding behind a wall, trying to be strong when she was actually weak. She wanted someone she can rely on and protect her. This made aziel have an urge to be the one protecting her.
But then he saw the lady with his brother eating and talking, he caught his brother's smile and hesitated. Aziel did not want to compete with axelle but they always somehow ended up as rival- no competetors.
The time aziel hesitated his sister had pulled him to their brother and lady ailith had vanished.
What he wasnt expecting was for axelle to show his vulnerable side while talking about lady ailith.
This gave aziel an idea. Axelle seem to like lady ailith but lady ailith had outright denied his proposal that too in front of nobles. But still his brother was not angry, he seem to like her genuinely. If he helped his brother to charm lady ailith wont his brother finally open up to him?
Imagining about the moment where the three siblings were talking and relaxing together with lady ailith made aziel feel happy and he decided to help his brother win lady ailith heart.
It wasnt like his mother would stop him from meeting lady ailith anyways. He can confront her at her home and ask her to give his brother a chance.
That decided aziel became happy.
As for ailith she had not left but went to her brother who introduced her to his friends, the youngest duke, and other nobles and even many noble ladies their age.
She would occasionally be asked about the rumors about her and the crown prince. Their initial interaction was heard by few nobles but then they had shifted to a private place so their final interaction was hidden.
Ailith calmly refused to talk about that topic and denied all the accusations of her refusing that crown prince proposal.
It wasnt due to her wanting to be with him but because she doesnt want to disrespect the crown prince and get in troube with the royals.
The ball went normally and ended peacefully with ailith having no interaction with royals other than greeting them when they left. Thankfully axelle did not mention about their conversation. Ailith also noticed the second prince giving her a strange look as if watching a prey but one icy glance from her made him look away.
As ailith went back to her mansion with her family, her stepmother had heard the gossip of her conversation with the crown prince and confronted her about it but she calmly denied those with the help of her father and brother.
ailith was finally back to her own world ready to  take a step closer towards her goal. But who would have thought that the second prince would pay her a visit just days after the ball?