The Emperor's Concubine

Chapter Sixty-Three

Duke Oslo enters his office, noticing the window slightly opened.
He walks closer to the window, noticing wet foot prints on his window frame with the steps leading to his desk.
He notices an envelope.
Picking up the envelope, he opens the letter and smiles, shaking his head.
"Your grace, would you like brunch?" A butler enters his office.
"No. Prepare my horse, I'll be going to town for an inspection."
"An inspection? Your grace, wasn't there an inspection recently?"
Duke Oslo notices wet footprints leading to his closet.
He grins, snickering.
"I just want to be sure. I'll return to my estate afterwards."
Duke Oslo changes his jacket, wearing a waterproof cloak. He exits his office.

"Your highness, Princess Levita will arrive earlier than expected." Lance bows, speaking to Emperor Cabel.
"Is her room prepared?"
"Yes, we've prepared the sapphire palace to house the guests."
"Perfect, ensure she's welcomed kindly." Emperor Cabel sighs, reading a document.
"Yes, your highness." Lance nods, "Your highness, I haven't seen Lady Luna the past couple of days."
Emperor Cabel's brow twitches.
"I've been busy." Emperor Cabel replies coldly.
"I see... Shall I call her for some tea?"
"Don't do something unnecessary."
Lance shuts his mouth, surprised.
He glances at Emperor Cabel as he frowns. Lance looks away, quietly standing by his desk.

"C'mon, what the hell are you doing?" Cethin calls out from the other side of a door.
He stands in a knight's suit of the dukedom.
"Hold on, I can't figure out the cravat." Luna calls out.
Cethin grows irritated and barges into the bathroom.
Luna stands in woman's uniform with the duke's crest on the chest.
Cethin's eyes open wide.
"Wow! This suits you so much better than those frilly dresses!" Cethin grins.
"What- Are you telling me I don't look good in them?" Luna replies, baffled.
"Don't be dumb. It's because how you present yourself doesn't match a noble lady, who just occupies her time with boiled grass water. This makes you much more cooler."
Cethin approaches Luna, grabbing the cravat from her hands.
He wraps it around her neck, clipping it up properly. He pins a broach onto the cravat finishing the uniform.
"Tada! Look." Cethin smiles, amused.
He pushes her in front of a mirror.
Her hair is tied into a ponytail, the uniform hugging her curves.
"I will say, this is much lighter to move in." Luna stares at the outfit, stretching her legs.
"Of course it is, it doesn't have dead weight attached." Cethin mimics a giant skirt.
Luna giggles, putting on a rain coat. She grabs a knights headgear, clipping it to her belt.
"Come on." Luna passes Cethin a rain coat and headgear, opening the window.
"Wait! You're going out through there?" Cethin exclaims, throwing the coat on.
"Well, we can't really walk out the door masquerading as the duke's knights. It'll be fine! You'll catch me if things go wrong, right?" Luna winks, jumping out the window to swing onto the balcony beside his room.
"What the hell?" Cethin laughs amused, shaking his head.
He jumps out the window, following her.

"Here." Cethin hands a saddle to Luna outside a barn.
"We're riding horses?" Luna looks at Cethin.
"Yeah, I'm not walking all the way there, walking with you could take days to just reach the districts."
"That's rude! I'm not that slow!" Luna pouts.
"Plus we can't sneak out in a carriage, now can we?"
"I suppose..."
"Don't tell me, you don't know how to ride?" Cethin's jaw drops dramatically.
"I-I do! It's been so long though, so I might not be as good as I used to be..."
"I'll help you if you struggle, come on."
Cethin walks into the stables, he throws a few gold coins to the stableboy.
The stableboy looks at them, his eyes widen as he looks at Luna.
"Give us two horses, keep it a secret we were ever here." Cethin grins, swiping his finger across his throat to threaten the boy.
"Oh, yes!" The stableboy nods quickly, rushing to grab the horses.
"Do you really need to threaten him?" Luna scoffs.
"If he runs his mouth about seeing the concubine then we'll both be in shit, seeing as how you and his highness aren't on good terms."
"How did you know?" Luna looks at him dumbfounded.
"If you were on good terms, we wouldn't be sneaking out, now would we?"
Luna's face flushes, looking away from Cethin.
"Here you are!" The stableboy returns with two horses, "This one is Bruno, and this one is Adonia. They're both very easy to ride and obedient."
The stableboy hands Luna the reins for Adonia, an astonishing black horse with shining hair.
Cethin takes the reins for Bruno, a noble horse with white hair and black speckles.
"Would you like me to prepare them?" The stableboy asks.
"No, we'll be fine, thank you for your help." Luna kindly smiles.
The stableboy nods, turning away.
Luna and Cethin put rain covers on the horses before attaching the saddle.
Luna slides on her headgear. Cethin holds his hand out to Luna to help her up, but she quickly jumps on by herself.
"I told you I know how to ride, I just might be bad at it." Luna snickers.
Cethin scoffs, jumping on his horse.
"Well, how bout that. You sure you can keep up?" Cethin grins.
"Probably. Lead the way."
Cethin nods, putting his headgear on. He takes off with his horse, Luna following behind.
They enter the forest to stay out of sight, but the scenery of the rain dripping through the trees, the images of their surroundings flying by them causes Luna to smile. Luna tightens her thighs around her horse, making her gallop faster.