Chapter 49 - The Elysian Proclamation
Evelyne watched on as the huge sight of the Dawnlight Palace drew closer and closer. Their carriage was slowly traveling across the Dawnset Bridge towards the palace, a long line of other noble carriages trailing behind them. The gleaming bronze-red walls that surrounded the palace reflected the midday sun, with large banners bearing the imperial crest hanging at even intervals over the stone.
It had been years since she last had an opportunity to attend an event here. Not since her father had still been alive. She was both a bit nervous and expectant.
Her head turned to the opposite end of the carriage cabin, where her older sister was looking out the window with a serious expression.
They hadn't talked much since Scarlett left for her trip two days earlier. Evelyne had heard that she returned the night before at least. Unharmed, thankfully. After that most of this morning had gone into preparing for the Proclamation.
Evelyne herself wore a white undershirt with a deep green jacket over it, gilded with silver buttons and studs. It was one of her more expensive pieces of clothing, but not one that was likely to stick out much amongst the noble cliques of the capital.
Scarlett, in comparison, wore a lustrous dark red dress that left her shoulders mostly uncovered and flowed into a captivating v-neck. It was a tight fit, focusing more on gracefulness than comfort, but it wouldn't surprise Evelyne if that was what was in fashion right now.
And while the dress did look relatively simple outwardly, Evelyne knew how expensive it actually was. It was made of blossom satin, after all. She remembered how livid she had gotten when she originally saw the order for it.
In addition to the dress, Scarlett also wore those same amber earrings that Evelyne had seen before. It surprised her that Scarlett chose to wear them even to this event. Usually, her older sister switched accessories and jewellery as often as she did clothes. But lately, she'd seen Scarlett not only wear those earrings more than once, but also wear the same necklace most of the time, along with a black ring on her right hand. She wasn't wearing the necklace right now at least, but the ring was still there. Along with another ring Evelyne had never seen before, that looked to be made out of gold-colored wood for some reason.
Judging from recent events, it was entirely possible that all of those items were artifacts. Or enchanted in some way.
What Evelyne didn't fully understand was why she wore them so much these days. The only reason she could think of was whatever threat it was that Scarlett was under, but she had so little knowledge of what was going on that it left her anxious.
Not that her sister seemed to care any about that.
She turned her attention back outside. Eventually their carriage passed through the large gates of the palace and into an extensive square bounded by royal oleander trees, the gold-red leaves hanging off them kept ever in bloom through magic even during the colder times of the year.