"What do you mean the emperor is coming here for dinner?" Evie asked, looking at Arthur as if he had two heads. "But why would he come here?" she repeated, her voice mixed with laughter due to the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Because the whole empire belongs to him and he can go anywhere he wants to," Arthur replied. "It is a blessing to have the emperor visit you, Lady Elara. Others pray to be graced by his presence," he added with a similar look of surprise on his face.
"Okay," Evie said absentmindedly. She, of course, expected to meet the emperor, but she didn't think she would actually be facing him so soon. She didn't know why he even promoted her in the first place. "Doesn't he have an empress and a beloved concubine to entertain?" she muttered under her breath.
"I will take my leave now, Lady Elara," Arthur said with a smile. "Looks like you will be busy," he said, turning to leave.
"Wait," Evie said, stopping Arthur in his tracks.
"Yes, Your Highness, can I help you?" he asked, his eyes wide with confusion as he looked at her.
"You said you are the emperor's right-hand man?" Evie asked.
"Yes, Your Highness, I am," he replied.
"So you have unrestricted access within the palace?" she asked again.
"I can't say unrestricted, but I can go into lots of places," he said.
"That's just what I meant, never mind," Evie said, noticing Arthur blatantly staring at her with his forehead scrunched. "Can you please repeat your full name?"
"Sir Arthur Oswald," he replied. "I just introduced myself the previous day," he said, noticing the disappointed look on Evie's face. And then her brows raised as the look of disappointment fully disappeared, replaced by curiosity.
"Do you, by any chance, have a middle name?" Evie asked.
"And yes, I do, Your Highness. My second name is Elliot," he responded to her as he shuffled uncomfortably.
"Sir Arthur Elliot Oswald," Evie whispered, her hands tapping her chin. "Elan?" she added, now with a big, beaming smile on her face.
And Arthur, whose hearing was sharp due to martial arts, felt his legs turn to jelly and he almost fell down, steadying himself. Lady Elara just uttered the emperor's nickname as if it were no big deal. Even the empress had never referred to the emperor in that manner. The only person allowed to call the emperor was his late mother, the former empress of the Valerian Empire.
"Who is your favourite emperor?" Evie asked, scaring the soul out of Arthur.
"Lady Elara, I have a lot to do. I will " he said, touching his neck, " take my leave," he added, turning away and sprint-walking out of Moonlight Pavilion.
Evie laughed out loud. "I found you, Elan hmm or do I say Elliot?" she said.
"Who is Elan, Your Highness?" Lila asked.
"No one, Lila. Little girls shouldn't be curious, okay?" she said, tapping her nose the same way her mum did when she asked lots of questions as a small child. "Go help out Helga. We need to prepare for the emperor's arrival," Evie said.
"Okay, Your Highness," Lila said, all the colour draining from her face, and ran towards the dining hall.
"I found my ticket out of this godforsaken palace," Evie said with a smile as she went back to her seat. And then her smile fell as she recalled what happened. She had been resting in the gazebo, enjoying the breeze, leaning against the wall while Lila fed her watermelon, when the servant at the gate announced Arthur's presence. At first, she happily welcomed him, thinking he was going to check on her, but he brought the worst news possible, which disturbed her peaceful mind.
"Okay," she said, standing. "This would have happened at a point in time anyway, so the sooner the better," she said out loud, trying to look at the positive side of things. "And anyway, I have a way of leaving the palace now," she said, dusting her dress and going back to her bedchambers.
Evie sat in the welcoming hall, playing with her nail as she resisted the massive urge to bite them. The whole pavilion turned into somewhere she didn't recognise as she watched her quiet pavilion turn into a buzzing place as the evening neared, with maids trickling in, followed by guards stationed at every corner of the pavilion.
Then she saw someone she recognised entering the hall, followed by male servants carrying a big throne. "Good evening, Your Highness," the butler said. "Congratulations on your promotion," he said, kneeling.
"Good afternoon, Butler Daniel. Please rise, we are not strangers. Helga, help the butler up," Evie said, turning to Helga who was standing beside her seat.
"This is the emperor's portable throne. It will be placed there," the butler said, pointing at a raised stage just above where her seat was placed.
"Yes, sure. Please come place it," Evie said.
"And also, this is the Emperor's head maid of the Supreme Pavilion," the butler said, turning to the door as a slender lady dressed in a nice orange dress entered.
"Good afternoon, Lady Elara. My name is Hillary Johnson, the Emperor's personal maid," the lady said with a slight bow.
And Evie didn't miss the great emphasis on personal. Oops, someone is seething. My man is a player, Evie thought giggling at her own joke. And she looked up to face the furious Hillary. "Nice to meet you, Hillary. Please take care of the emperor," she said, just to rub salt in Hillary's wounds.
"I brought some maids from the Supreme Hall to ready everything the emperor likes when we do it," Hillary said.
The message was clear to Evie. It was to show she was not qualified enough to prepare her own pavilion for the emperor's visit. That would have hurt Evie if she were in love with the emperor or seeking to compete for his affection. But she wasn't interested in either. "Go ahead," she said, surprising Helga, the butler, and Hillary. And then she turned to Helga. "Follow them to learn, so that we can be qualified to welcome him on our own." And Hillary flinched as if physically slapped.
The message was clear from her end: follow them and make sure they don't do anything to frame her. She was already avoiding the empress and Lady Isabella; she wasn't ready to let a puppy-love-sick maid walk all over her.