Chapter 22: Pleasant Irony
The morning sunlight drowned the bedroom in its sparkling white glow, leaving prismatic patterns on surfaces as the rays of light bent through the texture of the thick window glass.
Aideen opened one of the drawers of her closet and dived her hand inside it in an attempt to fish out something with her thin fingers.
As her bare skin touched the items she was looking for, her lips curled into a light smile. It was her treasure. The only things that truly belonged to her. The only things she could never sell or exchange. The only things she first took from the Royal Palace and then from the Count’s mansion.
Her treasure was a roll of silk ribbons from the flower crown that her mother, Princess Yuliana Imrie brought with her from her homeland, the Kingdom of Utar when she was offered to King Euris Ruan as a royal concubine after he captured the throne.
Carefully, the princess unrolled the ribbons and slowly touched them one by one as if expecting their soft silky surface to evoke the memories of a person who used to touch them before her.
’I couldn’t have been mistaken. Even when I was a child, the maids kept stealing these ribbons from me because the silk brought from Utar is one of a kind and is incredibly expensive. Queen Fleur, however, has forbidden the import of these ribbons which means I am the only one who still has them. I have touched items made of silk before but nothing has the same feel. I am certain the ribbon on His Grace’s wrist was Utarian silk. But how did he get it?’
A soft knocking sound pierced through her quiet inner musings, prompting Aideen to quickly shove the ribbons back into the drawer and hide them underneath a pile of clothes as if to protect them from the curious glances of whoever might appear near her.
"Your Highness, it’s me, Bella! I brought your breakfast!"
"Yes... Please come in."