CASSANDRA: The Unfavored Princess-Chapter 95: Untangle

Cassandra looked at Princess Teimei and smiled.

Princess Cassandra knew that she would not be able to give any response and it wasn’t the right time to show any reaction.

Princess Cassandra smiled and drank the tea without giving any response.

"What took you so long?" The Empress asked as she looked at all the Princesses sitting there. The Vivere Kingdom’s Princess was the first to arrive. She was looking at the garden and touching flowers from time to time.

All the Princesses looked down, not angering the Empress. But seeing this situation where the Princesses were not replying in front of Princess Teimei.

"Have you all lost your tongue?" The Empress said in a low tone. She did not want to show any weakness in front of someone from the Vivere Kingdom. But now it looked like a long-fetched thing.

[Why are they not replying?] 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

[Do they not want their tongue anymore?]

[Should I kill them all?]

[I wish Princess Valeria was here.]

[She would have handled this situation with grace.]

The situation was stiff as no one was ready to say anything. Cassandra looked around but even though she knew the Empress’s thoughts, Cassandra could not act on them. She can only look down and hope that someone would clear out the situation.

"The Empress is taking the situation too far. It was me who just came early and asked to have tea with everyone." Princess Teimei said with a laugh. Her gaze looked at all the Princesses. "I was too excited to have a talk with everyone. Maybe I was careless this time."

The Empress’s eyes twitched. How could she blame the Princess from an enemy kingdom? "No Princess. They should have come faster."

Princess Teimei did not reply but simply took more sips of the tea as if ignoring the Empress completely.

"I am here to have tea with all of you." Princess Teimei said as she looked at the Princesses. "Why don’t the Princess’s not have anything? The tea leaves are prepared by the Empress’s servant. You all can drink it at ease as it is not poisoned."

[That is the reason no one can drink tea at ease.]

[The tea at Empress’s garden, which is prepared by her servant, is deadlier and poison from a bottle.]

[Is it really drinkable?]

Princess Cassandra could not even smile after hearing other Princess’s thoughts. She was also looking at the tea in front of her. Even though they had drunk a few sips earlier, listening to Princess Teimei was a different situation.

—-----------

Princess Cassandra walked into her room with a dull face.

The tea gathering was beyond their control. It was just a back and forth between Princess Teimei and the Empress where both of them tried to show their superiority.

Cassandra sighed as she rested on the bed. She looked up as Amy walked by bringing in some hot water to let the fifth Princess freshen up.

"Princess," Amy said with a smile.

"Amy, how was the tea party?" Princess Cassandra got up as she walked towards the water. "Wasn’t it draining?"

Amy nodded her head. "It was. I thought that Princess Teimei and the Empress would kill each other eventually."

Amy gave Princess Cassandra the towel to clean her hand and face. "It is a good thing that Princess Teimei stopped bickering with the Empress."

Princess Cassandra giggled as she walked towards the balcony. "I agree. If only Princess Valeria was there."

"Princess Valeria?" Amy asked as she sat on the floor.

"Yes. If the first Princess might have been there then the Empress would have been at ease. She is like a comfort blanket who knows how to handle such situations." Princess Cassandra sighed. "Princess Valeria might have stopped the two from cutting each other’s throats."

"Not necessarily Princess," Amy said as she looked out at the balcony. "Princess Valeria is an opinionated person. It is a rare occurrence that the first Princess could see eye to eye with anyone. I just hope that when the first Princess comes out the situation does not get out of hand."

Princess Cassandra did not understand what her lady in waiting was saying. "What does that mean?"

"The Emperor had gone to the palace where Princess Valeria is kept. He had said before that the first Princess could only attend the ball. The Emperor is removing the first Princess from house arrest." Amy looked down as she thought about the rumors going around.

Princess Valeria’s maids were all under huge tension regarding Princess’s coming. It was only speculated that the first Princess would kill anyone for even a small mistake after coming out.

All the maids were running around with dresses and jewelry just to keep the first Princess happy for the time being.

[I feel sorry for Princess Valeria’s maids.]

[It is like their life is on the line today.]

Princess Cassandra smiled. She looked at Amy before she continued. "Will the first Princess go under arrest again after the ball?"

"It looks like that for now," Amy said as she sighed. "That is if nothing big happens."

Princess Cassandra did not understand Amy’s words. She blinked a few times before finally asking. "What does that mean?"

[Should I tell the Princess.]

[I think I should.]

[It is just a rumor anyway and Princess Cassandra does not get involved in empirical politics.]

[It should be safe.]

Amy looked at the fifth Princess as she made up her mind. "There is a rumor going around about the Princess."

"Rumor?" Princess Cassandra raised her eyebrows. "What rumors?"

"Well... They say that the first Princess has been extremely quiet for some time. Princess Valeria’s maids think that the Princess will do something huge."

’Something huge?’ Princess Cassandra thought. She could not understand what the first Princess would do but the maids’ concerns could not be ignored. The first Princess was a hot-headed lady as her gaze burned to kill.

"Are the maids frightened?" Princess Cassandra asked in a soft tone. She could not ask such things freely but she could hear Amy’s thoughts.

"They are. But Princess I saw something which I don’t know if anyone had seen before." Amy swallowed as she looked at the fifth Princess. She wanted to see if there was any change in Princess Cassandra’s face.

Cassandra blinked as if asking Amy to continue.

"When I went to train in the forest the other night I lost the road." Amy’s sight blurred as she recalled the situation. "I came to the palace where Princess Valeria is held."

Amy swallowed as she looked at the fifth Princess. "When I was about to pass it, I saw someone entering the palace and it was not the maid assigned to the first Princess."

"I was confused with the situation so I hid behind the trees. It was a man I am sure of, someone we have seen before. But what made me confused was not the man but what he was holding."

"Princess, do you remember telling me to search for something in the darkness? Some sort of crystals?" Amy asked as her eyes glittered.

"Yes." Princess Cassandra nodded her head as she looked at Amy with interest.

Cassandra wanted to know anything that was related to the crystals. She felt like it was the base to untangle all of her questions.

"He held something like that in his palms," Amy said in a soft tone as her eyes narrowed. "It glittered under the moonlight but it was small. Small as if a missing piece of some jewelry."

"Jewelry." Princess Cassandra’s eyes raised in question.

"I thought that too initially. A man should bring jewelry for the ball under the Empress’s order. But a single crystal had many colors in it. It was red, blue, yellow, and brown. I have not seen any jewelry, especially crystals with a combination of these colors."

Princess Cassandra’s eyes widened. She looked at Amy with a complicated gaze. She knew that what Amy was telling was the truth.

As a lady in waiting, Amy usually chose the combination of jewelry presented to the Princess. Even though Cassandra was an unfavored Princess, Amy as her lady in waiting has seen many pieces of jewelry before her eyes. If what Amy is saying is the truth won’t the crystals have different meanings?

It was a possibility that Princess Cassandra was considering. Maybe initially Cassandra would have ignored just thoughts but now that she knows the existence of the crystals and somewhat understands the situation she is in, the mere mention of it makes her excited.

"How many of them were there?" Princess Cassandra asked in a soft tone.

"How many?"

Princess Cassandra nodded. "Yes, how many crystals were there?"

Amy thought back as she tried to recall the exact number of them. "I think there were two." Amy nodded. "Yes, there were two small crystals. It was the size of earrings."

Princess Cassandra’s gaze narrowed. She looked out of the balcony with a complicated gaze.

’Someone is providing Princess Valeria with the crystals.’ was the only thought in Cassandra’s mind.