Chapter 119: Two Paths
MARIUS
I couldn’t quite concentrate on the conversation between Liesel, Fabian, and the Second Consort. My feet had left Skylark’s picture in haste, but his words weighed heavily on my shoulders.
The same face that could smile so brightly only the night before had looked so sad and disappointed recalling the scene at Hoffberg.
I never questioned the validity of our operation. The magician broke the law. Although I did not understand the full extent of the consequences such a transgression could bring to the Empire, the scale of the operation Falken devised to catch the man was proof that it wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
And I thought—for some time—that it was perhaps Skylark’s naivety that made him disregard the criminal aspect of the magician incident and think only with pity about the consequences the man had to face.
He had a good heart, yes.
The capacity to feel pity, even for someone who deserved his fate, was an honorable thing.
But I, despite my best efforts, couldn’t help but question—would Skylark ever accept the reality of the duty we were to fulfill in the future?
Part of me didn’t want him to.
"So what do you think about this lady?"
I came back to my senses as I heard the Second Consort ask Blanche, whom I had only half noticed coming into the exhibition hall earlier.
"I didn’t think much about that," Blanche said.
Evasive.
"But surely you must have had some thoughts—opinions about what you were painting?"
Blanche seemed to think about it for a moment, looked at me, grinned, then said,
"If I were to be perfectly honest—still no. I didn’t think much about what kind of person this lady might be. But I had an inkling that it would piss off a lot of people. Just a gut feeling, so to say."
"Ha! And you just went and did it!" the Second Consort said, delighted.
"Indeed. But some people did like it, though."
"Oh? Who?" the Second Consort asked cheekily.
"We had a special guest yesterday who seemed to like this picture very much too."
The disguise the Second Consort had put on—I had no idea how she’d done it; ladies’ makeup was truly a kind of magic, and the blond wig she had put on was probably made of real hair too—was perfect. Nobody had recognized her for who she was yet.
"A special guest... I see," the Second Consort said with a smile.
"Just one final question, if you don’t mind."
"Sure."
Blanche was being unusually cooperative.
"Have you ever seen a necklace like that before?"
Blanche looked at her own painting, then at the Second Consort, shook her head, and said,
"No. Never. Only in that dream."
The Second Consort said nothing and just nodded.
Just as we left the exhibition hall, the Second Consort tugged on my sleeve, saying,
"Can I have a moment with you?"
"Yes, Ma’am."
"Maria. But never mind." She sighed, and we moved a few steps away from Skylark and Dorian. Dorian kept his eyes on us. I had a feeling he was trying to eavesdrop on our conversation, but if the Second Consort wanted to talk about something privately, there must be a reason for it. So I put myself between the Second Consort and him, blocking his line of sight with my back so he couldn’t read her lips.
"Yes, Ma’am. I’m ready," I said.
"I want you to arrange a private meeting with her for me."
There was a sudden authority in her voice.
"Excuse me?"
"I need to see that girl alone. I will get my attendants to arrange the time and pick-up. But it must be discreet. I want you to talk to her in advance so she’ll be prepared for it."
"Your Imper—Ma’am, I don’t understand."
"You do not recognize that necklace. Nobody else outside of the palace would. That... lady in the picture had never worn it outside of the palace. That girl who painted that picture is special."
"Ma’am—I think there are better ways to arrange this. Although I’d do my absolute best to serve you, I’m merely a student. I could talk to someone with the right authority for—"
"You shall NOT talk to anyone about this. Especially no one that you’d consider ’authority’."
I took a deep breath.
Something extraordinary.
The Second Consort’s request certainly qualified as such.
I had to report to Falken.
But—
I couldn’t reject or defy the request of Her Imperial Highness.
"It shall be done."
"Good."
After that, she suddenly burst out laughing, as if we had just shared a joke, and headed back to where Dorian and Skylark were, saying—loud enough for them to hear—"You are so serious, Marius."
"Yes, he is! Don’t you think?!" Skylark jumped in to join the conversation that was never there.
"Yes, I can tell that much already!"
The Second Consort exchanged a knowing smile with Skylark.
Dorian did his best to look disinterested, but I could see that he was paying very close attention too. When our eyes met, his eyes seemed to be trying to pierce through mine to read what I was hiding in my mind.
It then started to click in my head.
Falken.
Falken put Dorian on us to ’keep an eye on things.’
What kind of things?
I couldn’t fully answer.
But I remembered his reaction when the Second Consort laughed at Blanche’s picture just the day before.
Did Falken know ’Maria’ was the Second Consort?
How?
And what if he did?
I watched Skylark lead the Second Consort down the hallway. They seemed to be getting along very well.
Chatting and laughing.
Things were getting complicated, and I could seek no guidance from anyone. I felt like two paths had opened up in front of me, and each led to a different wrong end.
But either way, it was a path I had to walk alone.
I couldn’t get Skylark involved in this.
I would fulfill at least one duty that I had been given before. That was the only thing I knew for certain was the right thing to do.
Protect Skylark.