Chapter 71
Wracked with sobs, Lysei insisted on seeing for herself. Trey, at a loss, examined her torn thumbnail, his face hardening.
“Let me go! Please, let me go! sob!”
Lysei twisted in his grasp, her cries escalating. Trey, with no other recourse, pulled her into his embrace, soothing her and urging her to calm down. He knew he risked his own head if he took her outside the Rose Palace, but it was the dead of night, and he knew a secret route. He decided to risk it and sneak her to the Imperial Palace. First, to divert the attention of the other knights, Trey led her back inside her room.
“Please, compose yourself. I’ll get you there once the other knights are gone.”
Lysei nodded tearfully.
A short while later, cloaked in a dark hood, Lysei followed Trey through the secret passage to the Imperial Palace. They passed the library, heading towards the Emperor’s chambers. As they approached, Lysei noticed a dark magical aura shrouding the rooms on that floor. It was then she realized she could see dark magic. She kept the revelation to herself, pulling her hood lower and silently trailing behind Trey.
Suddenly, they encountered the Imperial guards. Trey drew their attention, giving Lysei a subtle signal to go on ahead. Quick-witted, she overheard him telling the guards she was one of Nyxna’s maids. She slipped past them and continued towards the Emperor’s bedroom.
“Open the door.” Lysei lowered her hood and addressed the guard.
She had been prepared to claim she was the Empress Nyxna if necessary, but the guard opened the door without question. Unbeknownst to Lysei, the guard had already been bribed by the Empress. Lysei mistakenly assumed the guard recognized her from her time as Nyxna.
Inside, the room was unchanged from when she had practically lived there. She glanced at the moonlit window, then turned towards the bed.
Just as she had feared, two figures lay sleeping side-by-side. Her heart felt crushed. Biting back a sob, she slowly approached the bed.
As she had seen in the communication device, they lay entwined in a deep sleep. Lysei ripped back the covers, then froze, utterly devastated. Both of them were n4ked.
She spun around and fled, nausea rising in her throat. Grief overwhelmed her. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she ran.
Trey called after her, but she didn’t stop. He instructed the guards and the doorman to tell no one they had been there, then hurried after her.
Back in her room at the Rose Palace, Lysei stumbled into the bathroom, retching.
Trey paced anxiously outside. Lysei finally succumbed to her grief, the tears coming in a torrent. Dawn was breaking when she finally emerged.
“Are you alright?” Trey, who had remained outside the bathroom door, asked.
Lysei, her eyes swollen almost shut, gave the slightest of nods and stumbled towards her bed, collapsing onto it. Trey gently lifted her legs onto the bed and covered her with the blanket.
“Last night…” Lysei began, her voice hoarse.
“Don’t tell anyone… that I went there…”
“Don’t worry. We were never there.”
“Thank…” Before she could finish, tears welled up again, and she bit her lip.
“You should try to sleep.”
Lysei simply nodded, afraid that any sound would break the fragile dam holding back her tears. Sleep wouldn’t come. Images of their betrayal, of their intertwined bodies, played endlessly in her mind.
She buried her face in her pillow and wept, the tears seemingly endless. She wondered if she would cry herself dry.
***
Early that morning, Theor arrived at the Rose Palace and went straight to Lysei’s room. Trey, guarding the door, tried to stop him.
“You can’t go in right now.”
“Step aside, Trey.”
“But she…”
“Is my order a joke to you, Sir Trey?”
“…It really would be best if you didn’t go in right now.”
“Why?”
“She’s unwell.”
“I said, step aside.”
“Your Grace.”
“What is this? Are you defying me?”
“.…”
“Move.”
Theor’s stern expression finally forced Trey to yield. Theor entered the room.
“Lysei.”
He approached the bed where she still lay, even though it was morning. His face hardened when he saw her.
“What happened to your face?!” He touched her cheek, and fresh tears spilled from Lysei’s eyes.
“What is it, Lysei? What’s wrong?” Theor asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Take… take me away,” Lysei struggled to speak, pushing herself up.
“…What…?”
“I don’t want to be here… Please… hide me… please…”
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