Chapter 189: Chapter 40. Sleepless Night

— Give a warm welcome to Her Majesty!Crowds of people from all corners of the capital began to flock to the center. After all, someone you don't see very often was passing through the main square. Rachel Cassius had pulled off a coup a year earlier and become queen. It was still the loudest topic of discussion among the public. After all-an incident like this had never happened in the history of the empire's founding.

Rachel rode her horse and led a detachment of imperial cavalry into the palace. Beyond the ruler herself, however, something else caught people's attention.

Count Louis was known for his impunity during the previous dynasty. A most ardent rogue — all of whose antics were forgiven because of his good relations with the king. Now this man was deprived of all titles and possessions.

Half dead, he was tied with a rope to his horse and spent the entire journey in this manner. His whole body was scarred with stones, and the count himself was dragging on the ground like a piece of garbage. Those present were shocked. No one had ever treated aristocrats like that before.

But Rachel didn't care. She visibly punished one of the most insolent nobles-so that all others would be discouraged from following in his footsteps. A new era had indeed dawned for the secular society of Azeroth. Now anyone who went against the rules set by the queen ended up doing just that.

There was excited whispering among the crowd. Everyone was discussing what was happening. And only Camilla froze, unable to tear her gaze away from the new queen. Suddenly she realized she had never seen a prettier person.

Her face was cold and indifferent, but that only added to the charm. Long black hair and extraordinary scarlet eyes. If love at first sight existed, it was now. The viscount's daughter's heart skipped a beat.

«Am I awake now…?!»

All her life, Camille had hated aristocrats because of their disdainful attitude toward people. In particular, and to herself. The girl thought these people were jealous and greedy. But, worst of all, power was always on their side.

Ever since she was a child, Camille had lost faith that justice really existed in this world. It's only her background and connections that decide everything. And so… she was utterly discouraged to see it.

People who once considered themselves the center of the universe, now suffered humiliation worse than commoners. It was something out of the realm of fiction. The scene took her breath away. She almost dropped the basket of cakes.

She stared at Rachel all the way to the end. Her mind was still filled with thoughts. And most importantly…

There was hope in Camille's soul. That for someone like her, it wasn't over yet. As a bastard daughter, she still had a chance to prove herself in this world.

In particular… Camilla Fernandez's main dream was to be near the queen.

***

There was a silent silence in the crown princess's chambers.

The wedding ceremony, which was to take place this afternoon, ended without beginning. All the guests were perplexed by what had happened, and the servants urgently had to come up with an excuse: the wedding did not take place due to the queen's poor health.

The excuse, invented at the last moment, did not convince anyone. Still, there was nothing to be done. The feast was cancelled and the servants cleaned the main hall all evening. There was a tense atmosphere throughout the palace as no one knew what had happened.

And only Camilla guessed. She guessed that it was all over for her.

Despite the cancellation of the ceremony, the girl still had her headdress on and was sitting in her wedding dress. In the reflection of the mirror in front of the dressing table, a very beautiful bride with a sad smile was looking at her.

Douglas was beside her and was as discouraged as her mistress. One could hardly find words of encouragement in such a situation. From the outside it looked as if Rachel had abandoned her own bride at the altar. A disgrace to the empire.

— Your Highness…» The maid paused. «Don't worry. Perhaps something's happened to Her Majesty.

Camilla didn't say a word all evening. But now she grinned bitterly.

— Has something happened? — She said again. «I think it's obvious. Only you don't understand it.

— Your Highness…!

Camilla sighed.

— Her Majesty has already made her choice. What can I change?

Tears came to Douglas' eyes.

— Y-You mean… You mean…

— I will most likely die today,» she affirmed, «You should leave quickly while you can.

— NO! — No!» she objected at once, «I won't leave you!

— But you must,» Camilla answered calmly.

— Your Highness, I will not leave without you! — Douglas stood her ground, «Let's go together!

Camilla grinned.

— Shall I? Where to?

She could not answer and remained silent.

— I executed my family with my own hands. The Fernandez family is ruined. But even if that did not happen… Do you think I would want to go back there?

— Your Highness…!

— I've said everything,» the princess cut off, «Take the jewelry from my room and go. That's enough money for you to leave the Empire safely and live well for the rest of your days.

— No!» the maid shook her head in tears.

— That's an order,» Camilla repeated harshly, «Are you going to disobey it?

— I…

— If you really still think of me as your mistress… Do not argue. This is my last command. Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Despite the gravity of the decision — Douglas had to obey. Sobbing, she bowed low to the princess one last time, touching the floor with her forehead. Then she did her will and ran out of the room.

Camilla sighed in relief. And just in time. After a couple of minutes the door opened again, and without even turning around the girl immediately realized who it was.

Knowing her future fate, Camille felt peaceful. It was useless to fight the wave that had already come. All that remained was to accept everything as it was.

There was silence in the room for a while. Rachel said nothing to her, though it was clear she was doomed. Even without seeing it, Camille knew she had a sword in her hand.

Only now did Camille realize the truth of the situation. Because of this, she could not hold back a chuckle.

After all, the girl had become one of those she had previously despised. All her life, Camille had hated aristocrats because of their rotten nature. However… How is she different from them now? In a way, Camilla even understood them.

The more power, the harder it is for a man to remain himself. Only after gaining and losing everything did Camilla realize this. And it made it hurt so much.

Now she finally understood why Her Majesty loved Leriane Ashford so much. The girl remained in her heart even after losing her memory. Before, Camilla had only thought of her as a spoiled and useless girl. But now she realized how different they were.

In fact, it was all so obvious.

Rachel stopped right next to her. Camilla finally broke the silence and turned to her.

— Your Majesty, I have only one question for you,» she muttered, «If I had met you before Leriana Ashford, would you have… Loved me?

Rachel answered without thinking:

— No. It would never have happened.

Camilla smiled. As if in her heart she'd expected something like that.

— Good. Then let's just get it over with now.

The viscount's daughter closed her eyes. And the last thing she saw was the blade of her once-in-a-lifetime love swinging over her. The next second, Camille's body was pierced with cold metal.

***

I still couldn't believe it was over. All the problems that had plagued us for the past few years were finally over. But most importantly, Rachel and I understood each other. The quarrels and misunderstandings were a thing of the past.

Only a new and bright future lies ahead. I wondered what it would be like…?

Current events were changing so fast — we couldn't even keep track of them. A joke began to circulate among the empire's subjects that the title of crown princess had never changed «from hand to hand» so rapidly. But this time Rachel promised that we would marry even if the heavens collapsed.

The more the empire stabilized, the sooner our wedding date approached. Everyone was happy for us. Or… Almost.

— Belle, I don't understand you! — Maxie sighed sadly, — You're missing out on such a diamond in your life. You'll regret it later…!

When the daughter of the Marquis learned about my firm intention to link life with Rachel — she was trying to change my mind. However, all I had to do was make jokes.

— I hope this «diamond» goes to someone other than me.

— Oh, no! — Not every woman I met was worthy of it, she said.

At this point, Rachel made an unexpected intervention. Well, how unexpected…? She was almost always present where Maxie was, to make sure there was no «unnecessary» between us.

— Something seems to have changed in you since the last time we met,» she said.

Maximiliana held her head up proudly.

— Aha!» she exclaimed, «even you noticed. Compared to the past, now my eyesight is better than all of you together…

Rachel interrupted her:

— If you're still unaccustomed to it, I can put it back the way it was at any time.

After the girl politely offered her her «favor,» Maxie was terribly offended.

— Cassius… You are so mean after all!

Then I couldn't stand it and laughed. It was nice to be back in the good old days. Especially since I was sure Maxie would understand. I wished the best possible future for her, too. Even if it did turn out differently.

After the reunion, Rachel and I spent a lot of time together. It was as if we were trying to make up for all the things we'd missed in recent years. The girl had even put her public affairs aside, entrusting nearly half of them to the new secretary.

The poor old man had to take care of the four of us while we sailed the boat, went to ice-cream parlors, strolled around the town in the guise of commoners, and so much more. I rightly decided that after all that Rachel should give him a bonus.

Tonight we also spent the evening together. Nestled on the balcony of the imperial chambers — playing chess and drinking wine. It was already late at night, and we were probably the only people in the palace who were still awake.

The stars were shining in the dark sky.

Rachel noticed that I was starting to peck my nose and picked me up in her arms. As she carried me across the room, I involuntarily woke up. Finally, once on the bed, the expected happened.

Hovering over me, Rachel kissed me, and I wrapped my arms around her neck. The air in the chamber was tangibly heated. Despite the fact that they'd both been drinking, they'd sobered up sharply under the circumstances. And it seemed to work on Rachel.

The moment her hand was about to undo all the buttons on my collar, she seemed to wake up. She opened her eyes abruptly and pulled away from me.

— I'm sorry.