Chapter 39

Ch. 39: Austin, Texas

“Nothing! There’s absolutely nothing!” I yell furiously.

Emma doesn’t jump as I slam another heavy book onto the table, the weight of it making my arms tremble.

My mood, which was high as a kite two days ago, has crash-landed to the ground.

I look at Emma frantically. “You gave Henry the paper with my request right? He read it correctly?”

“Yes, your highness,” Emma replies.

I throw my hands up in irritation. I had felt so close to a breakthrough after five years of scrambling around in the dark, subject to Peppermint’s whims, but alas, I’m back at the start. It’s like a game of Monopoly where I’ve been sent back to go without the two dollars compensation.

“No, I can’t just...”, I start dejectedly before rapidly rushing out of the room. Emma finally shows signs of life, following after the quiet pitter-patter of my tiny feet with her slower, longer steps.

“Your highness!” Marie says in alarm as I nearly run into her carrying trays of food.

.....

Out of habit, I turn and apologize to Marie before running out the door.

“Your highness, please take a cloak! It will get dark soon!” Marie exclaims as she rushes after me with a huffing chest. I feel a pang of guilt as I slow down and accept the cloak, my nursemaid’s deft fingers tying it into a cute bow around my neck.

Marie and Emma do not ask where I’m going as I rush I miss a few twists and turns, but I largely remember the route. Marie draws in an audible breath of air as the small clearing with the abandoned shrine comes into view.

“Your highness, this place is no good for a young princess such as yourself. I think we should return,” Marie stammers out nervously.

“No, I have to speak with someone,” I say resolutely. The shrine doesn’t have the smallest spark of life and when I look around for the crazy Meliorn I see no one. Swallowing down the blooming fear in my chest, I take hesitant steps towards the shrine, feeling like an unwelcome visitor.

Emma and Marie follow, but I can hear from her heavy breaths that Marie is equally as fearful. This is the imperial palace after all. Secrets lurk in every corner, a thread that once tugged can reveal unsightly conspiracies. The entire palace glimmers and shines, reflecting the pride of the Erudian empire, but this dismal shrine and its courtyard and overlooked. Only an idiot would look at the abandoned shrine and assume that it was just forgotten over time.

“Your highness-” Marie says again, the panic in her tone more evident.

“There’s a rose,” Emma breathes out softly.

I whirl around and find Emma’s eyes trained to the ground, near the steps of the entrance. I feel slight dampness soaking through my thin, cloth shoes as I bend down to peer at what she’s discovered, my heart going cold at the sight.

A rose. The Duvernay rose.

“Shit!”, I mutter under my breath.

I back away from the noble sigil like it’s the plague, ready to heed Marie’s words when the crunch of gravel underfoot alerts me to the fact that we aren’t alone. Just ahead of me, up the stairs and within the shrine, the footsteps approach me, unhurried and leisurely.

“Nice to meet you, Winter,” says a youthful male voice and I look up a black military suit, complete with gold epaulets at the shoulders, to see my golden-haired half-brother.

“Prince Julian,” I greet with gritted teeth, dropping into a curtsey.

I shake my head at my stupidity, my excitement for answers dragging me into this mess. If I hadn’t been so emboldened by the words of that loony old man, I never would have come back. I can’t help but scold myself for this stupid mistake and wish for nothing more but to flee and never look back.

Prince Julian in the webnovel was an arrogant arse who battled Prince Augustus, the male lead and my older half-brother, for the position of heir to the throne. Along with Empress Katya and his younger sister Julia, they hounded the poor main couple with various schemes until Clara’s quick wit cornered them in checkmate.

He was a clever villain, making use of his strong military power and his mother’s genius to create misunderstandings between the couple rather than confront them upfront. Such tactics can’t help but make me nervous even though he is just a 10-year-old boy right now since he was said to be remarkably intelligent from a young age. I bite my lip in frustration at the sight of his sunny smile towards me from the top of the stairs, his gaze telling me that he was privy to the thoughts running through my head.

Julian waves his arms as if he is conducting an orchestra. “This is not quite where I imagined meeting my newly discovered younger sister, but it’ll do won’t it?” Julian says with a carefree smile.

“It will,” I reply respectfully.

“Now... what shall I call you? I am fond of nicknames, you see. Augustus is Auggie, Julia is Julies and you shall be... Winnie!”

I sputter at the horrible nicknames but swallow down my disdain.

“If that is what you’d like, Julian,” I say emotionlessly, channeling my inner Emma.

After my run-in with Julia not that long ago, I’ve come to the conclusion that meeting with Katya’s children will never bode well for me. But Julian isn’t satisfied with the short, mindless answers I’m giving.

A breeze rushes by, causing me to shiver slightly and giving Julian the opening he needs.

“Winnie, you’ll catch a cold if you stay out too long. Come in here with me, I’ve got tea and snacks and by luck, there is enough for the two of us.” Julian cleverly says. He looks over at my maids dismissively. “They can wait out here.”

As I follow my older brother in, I am all but certain that he and that Meliorn fellow are in cahoots, and he has been waiting patiently for me to bite the bait. To be played like a fool, it is not a good feeling, and I rub my chest to console myself as I settle down in the same seat I sat in with Meliorn.

Julian notices my subtle action. “Too stuffy? Felix, go open the window. I will personally pour tea for my dear sister.”

With a dexterity beyond his years, Julian expertly pours two cups of tea, setting down the pot without a sound.

“Cheers!” he says enthusiastically, raising his glass towards me. I clink cups with him reluctantly, shocked by the modern behavior.

Could it be that he too...? No way. I shake my head, just dismissing his gesture as something the author added as a tradition into this world.

“Do you find my greeting to be unusual?” Julian says cryptically. One can not tell if his handsome little face is angered or happy. His gold eyes carried a deceptive calmness that kept me on edge.

“Felix, leave,” my brother says in a curt manner, his smile gone. I gulp nervously as the servant bows and quickly departs. I am apprehensive and the deep breath I take does not help abate my fear. I don’t know what Julian’s next move will be. Will he tell the Empress what Meliorn spoke of with me? Is he here to threaten me? The feeling of being out of my depth plagues me again as I remember I was an ordinary college student before all of this, not a master at scheming.

“So... where are you from?” Julian starts when the footsteps of the servant are no longer audible.

“Um, here?” I say, my voice going up at the end as if I’ve asked a question.

“No, really,” he says with a humorless chuckle. His aura is every bit as imposing as one would expect of royalty and my hands quiver in my lap. “Where are you from, Winter? And don’t just tell me the capital or the Erudian Empire, I mean what world are you from?”

My brother leans back in his chair his earlier friendly veneer long gone as his eyes pry fiercely into mine. They woefully remind me of my father’s burning gaze what feels like a million years ago in the throne room during my inspection. Julian has ripped off the mask of Winter and now he is speaking with Maria.

“I-I’m from Earth,” I start vaguely. Now that I think about it, the webnovel never elaborated on what planet this world was, just naming a few continents and kingdoms like most fantasy stories. Perhaps this would assuage Julian.

“Where on Earth.”

“T-The US?”

“Oh, and what state?” He asked with a friendly smirk. I can’t help but gasp.

“What? You-Your from my world too?” I almost shriek. I almost stumble as I get up from the rickety wooden chair, grabbing the table to stabilize myself.

‘Born and bred in Austin, Texas,” Julian says with a grin, crossing his arms over his small chest.