THE ARCHAIC SKY

CHAPTER: THE MINOR FOUR

for days Amara would only stroll around the palace grounds. the estate was so large amara didn't even wish to think about how massive the land the prince controlled would be. even if it was just a duchy, it was still the biggest in the entire empire. had it not been for the meddling of the emperor, amara was sure title of king of Kitarai would strike fear into the hearts of every person. In the empire.

a shame the selfish emperor was a paranoid tyrant. Because of him, even before he had taken the title of king of Kitarai, the king in this kingdom barely had power of his own, merely a figure head. A doll.

for that moment, the court and every noble in the duchy, even in the kingdom, kept an eye on Amara. for that moment, the entire socialite world was watching her every action with bated breath.

"why is she only lounging about?"

"why does she frequent her visits to the grand library?"

"is there really something special about this doll of a noble lady?"

however, by lazing about, it would give off the impression that amara was a noble lady without worries. she needed to take away people's attention from her after all.

the attention given to her when the prince made her a target. an eyesore. Though it was hard since every other day the uncrowned prince would make her eat together with him, destroying the work she had put into being ignored in the previous day.

the more she was looked down upon though, the easier it is to conjure up the act that she had abandoned the prince due to her lack of power and prose. that way, no one would bother looking for her after she escapes the palace for zhong yuan.

at least that's what she was hoping when an intelligent one would gaze at her and wonder why she was just doing nothing, they'd see someone useless. when in truth, half of the time, she truly was just too lazy to get anything done. Then again, not much was left to be done.

Every single outrider and envoy within Higana was pulled out and sent to stand by in other nations. Though that does mean the subordinates she placed abroad will have a harder time contacting her, even when those she left within the country already seemed to struggle.

kirika has been on leave for some time now. the tanuki and Kuma was still off abroad as emmisarries, diplomats for the seikatsu. eira was Kinsei and the last member of the council left within the city. meissa had run away. sayami is fufilling her vow, her pact. Amara used to have nine reapers in total, now she only has seven. A fitting number, the seventh herald and her seven reapers. But the damsel has eleven, and the balladeer has fourteen.

Four false reapers, three true ones. One of them was dead set on keeping a close eye on her. and currently he's lounging in her bath with the screen open so he can keep seeing her.

"...I wonder... why isn't kafka and reunan as terrible at their job as you are at yours?" Amara teased as she dried herself. Her handmaidens off to grab her latest garment that costs more than her house and the bill was footed by none other than the prince Hayato.

He laughed, resting his arms on the rim of the bath. He stretched his neck, then resting his head on the towels he placed behind it. "maybe they realized that I'm more powerful than both of them combined" he flashed her a smirk. "I can take care of you alone, milady" Amara's eyes drifted from his haughty expression to the water.

"I wish you could be here all the time... but..." Amara dipped her toes in the water. Sitting at the edge of the tub, she hid her smile behind her knees. At least he was here now.

"but?"

So silky and steamy Amara couldn't see under it. Her eyes then began to ascend upwards, seeing his wide shoulders and then his clean smooth chest. pale battle scars left over, one from when Amara stabbed him. in the abyss, where he abandoned her. when she was sure she had forgiven him, memories of those endless nights returned. Amara shook her head harshly, shaking the thought off her mind. "but...aren't you just using this as an excuse to procrastinate?"