A Slight Reprieve

"So? You won't really tell your big brother what's been bothering you since you've passed through these doors?" Clement asked in between sips at his appetizer.

I sighed, putting down my fork. "I came here to have a good moment with you, brother, not to give you more problems. And so insignificant are my problems when compared to the issues of our nation. Besides, our breakfast will only get cold if we talk about such dreary things."

His shoulders shook in laughter, although his lips stayed pursed, very stringent about his manners on the table. He then told me, "What bothers the princess bothers the whole Kingdom, dear sister."

I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to correct him that, "No. I'm not the princess anymore." Instead, I took a big bite at my salad. Speaking whilst my mouth was full, I said, "Well, I've heard better lies than that, my liege."

It was his turn to roll his eyes. Leaning forward, and all forgetting his proper manners, he took hold of my hand. "Please, Elle. I'd like to help. I wasn't there to save you when you had to leave, but I'm growing more powerful as time goes by. Once I secure the crown, I promise I'll have you back by my side in no time. But for now, at least let me be of meager help. No matter how silly you think your troubles may be."

Observing his sincerity, my mouth suddenly blurted out, "It hasn't been set in stone, but by tonight, I might just find myself hung for speaking out of place. If my friend really turns out to be the crown prince of the Mond Empire, then I am doomed."

My brother's brows furrowed. "Crown prince? Your fiancée?"

"Correction," I mumbled. "Ex-fiancée. But it doesn't matter. He only knows me as Eleftherion, the rash and impudent commoner boy."

"... What exactly have you done that would warrant a hanging?" he asked, his face deadly calm.

Wringing my hand together, I muttered, "Libel and maybe a tad of lese-majeste. Maybe treason? Well, I'm not a citizen of the Empire, but I do have temporary citizenship for schooling in the Academy, yes? Based on the Empire's laws, I might just be liable for that and at least a dozen more charges. Ah yes... I might have also smacked him once, or twice... and I did also use magic against his body. I, uh... Do you think I'll be able to get away with a simple lashing?"

My brother groaned as he dragged a heavy hand down his face. "No, Elle. Once they know that you're a girl, they'll probably sell you off to slavery instead."

I cringed, knowing that criminals who are to be flogged must be checked up medically before the flogging. I mean, this is the modern era. The government was compassionate enough to ensure a couple lashes or so won't actually turn morbidly into an execution.

Besides, I was still so young... and a scholar in a prestigious institution! Surely, they won't just up and kill me, right? But now that I think of it, the Academy is mainly an institution controlled by the Mond Empire itself...

"Oh, I am doomed!" I shouted in despair, hiding my face against the table. "Brother, please do pray for me when I go up to Sun God Solus' palace?"

"Enough," he commanded, and knocked on the table once. "Sit up straight, Elle. You are a princess, a lady of the highest pedigree. You won't ever be flogged, sold, or hanged in any century."

'But you could only watch as I was sacrificed like a piece of meat in the past,' I chided him darkly inside my mind, but shook my head from all these thoughts. That was different, and I knew it, but... Well, I suppose it still hurt.

"So?" I asked. "What am I to do?"

"For starters, didn't you say that this 'might' happen? It isn't for sure, yes?" my brother started speaking in a princely manner, all serious and all.

I nodded my head obediently. "In fact, I couldn't even believe that he's really the prince. If he was, then I would imagine his tutors had done a bad job in raising him."

Unexpectedly, my brother grinned. "Well, much can be said about you, as well."

I pouted. "I was the perfect student!"

"Not always," he said. "Did you know the rumors that spread around on the night you disappeared?"

That caught my attention. "What?"

He chuckled at my blinking eyes. "The maids said they saw that tutor of yours, the one you loved so dearly... Lady Quisling was her name?"

I cringed, and sat back down, suddenly losing all my enthusiasm. "Yeah, her. What about her?"

He shook his head with pursed lips. "The palace maids were shocked to see her so very distraught when she left the castle. Rumors say she was all but sprinting out of the palace grounds. It was such an odd sight, in fact, that many suspected her for your disappearance. Was it driven by revenge, they ask? For maybe she was insulted by the princess and she took it too much to heart? It was quite a scene to watch. Many of your personal maids testified against her, astonished and saddened by your loss."

I was silent. I never thought much about those giggling maids in a long time. Sure, I did my best to treat them nicely, but to think that they would pay such close attention to me, and actually show care for me...

"And so?" I asked. "Was she punished?"

The prince laughed. "No, of course not. But it did get close. Alas, there were only so little damning evidence. Ah, forgive me for my roguish words."

"Apology accepted," I said rapidly. "And so what happened to her?"

"You seem very curious about this woman," my brother observed, and added, "But it seems you don't have much care for her at the same time."

I smiled. "Let's just say... Miss Quisling and I have a rocky relationship."

Clement laughed. "Well, if you have to know. That woman disappeared from the noble courts, and taught no one else after you. They say she had left at a fortnight, heading off to Sun God knows where."

I huffed. "Well, good riddance to her."

He scratched at his brow. "What wrong had she exactly done to deserve your wrath, my good sister?"

I giggled. "Oh, you'd rather not know."

But quickly, my mirth disappeared as quickly at it had come, reminded again by my current predicament. "Oh, but what am I to do now? I might be condemned to a fate like Miss Quisling's if I don't do anything..."

My brother, for a long moment, was silent. Then, he muttered, "If worse comes to shove, then I'll have to use my powers as the second-in-line to protect you. Do you want me to come with you later? I know how very disinterested you were whenever the crown prince was mentioned in our past conversations. It must be quite surprising to you that you've actually made a friend out of the very boy."

I sighed. "It's fine, brother. He'll only know something is very wrong when your princely figure comes knocking on his door. But, really, haven't you already seen him before?"

"I have, actually," he admitted. "A few times in the past couple of years."

"And you've really not seen him here at all?" I asked. "You've never caught sight of a sliver of his presence around these halls?"

"Alas, no," he replied. "But don't take these to heart, sister. I hardly pay too much attention to others who aren't family."

I grinned. "You really grew into quite a gentleman, have you?"

"And you, sister, a dashing young man," he said with a grin.

Laughingly, I rolled my eyes and took hold of my fork again, attacking my lettuce. "It must hurt to see me like this. To see your own sister acting so brashly."

Unexpectedly, he shook his head. "On the contrary, I find your crude manners quite endearing. Father always said that in order to rule well, you must know and understand the wiles, woes, and workings of the common man whom you rule over. He always emphasized that the world is very different when viewed through a commoner's eyes. So, instead, I quite envy you. You already seem to understand them to the point of acting very much like them."

I found myself thinking quite seriously about it. "Well, brother. I don't think it's all that hard to understand."

Then, I stood up and placed both hands on his shoulders. Smilingly, I told him, "All you have to do is remove the heavy burden that's weighing you down, and then you'll just be like us."

He looked at me sadly. "Like them, sister. You, too, carry a weight on your shoulders."

I breathed in slowly. "Perhaps, but for reasons quite different from yours."

He smiled. "When you are so resolute, and so very strong as you are to me right now, Eleftheria, I do not think even the Emperor of the Mond Empire could ever hold you down in punishment."

A smile inched up on my lips.

My brother slowly fixed a stray strand of hair from my face. "You are far too powerful for mere royalty like me."

I couldn't really help it. I needed to show him my thanks. So, I bent down to kiss him on his cheek. I've only ever done it once when I had to say my farewells, so my gesture still surprised him. "Thank you, brother. You've given me all the strength that I'll need."

~~

For the rest of the day, I found myself unexpectedly clear-headed. I went through my lessons with a striking swiftness. Due to no longer searching for a certain shadow tailing after me, I found my day quite uneventful.

It was almost boring, but at least this time, I really had the calm to study normally like a normal student. Well, as normally as I ever could. By the time my last class had ended, I was called out by an upperclassman, telling me to go straight to the Second Head Professor Whitaker's office. He tried to lead me there, but I brushed him off, fully knowing I should be heading there alone.

'What was this about?' I thought a few minutes later, finding myself staring idly at his door.

"Knocking should do it, boy," a muffled voice called from inside the room.

I sighed, before knocking ceremoniously at the door. I announced monotonously and mockingly, "May I come in, Professor Whitaker?"

There was a short pause before he called out, "Come in."

His office still looked the same, with the desk at the very center. The sides were filled with books and yellowing rolls of parchment. The man himself looked much like the way he did a week ago, with the same robes and same dry look.

"Sit down, Eleftherion," he commanded. "This won't take too long."

I did as he asked, and simply stared at him. It took a long while for him to look up from the paper he was holding. When he did, he peered at me with his gray eyes. "Do you know why you're here, boy?"

I gulped at the sudden attention. "You missed my presence?"

"No," he mumbled. "I'm here to speak to you about stupid actions and their possible consequences."

I flinched, knowing this was not going to be a fun talk.

"What were you doing on the first day of official classes, at around seven to eight in the morning?" he asked.

I tried to act ignorant. "... Sleeping?"

It didn't work.

"A whole classroom claims they are a witness to a little fighting bout between two students," he added dryly. "Although many have given their varied speculations about the other student, all of them agree on one thing. You, Eleftherion, were the other boy."

My eye twitched. "Well, has any one of them seen the whole thing from the start?"

"And what, pray tell, happened... from the start?" he interrogated almost with boredom.

I sighed. "A student... a special one, came running from the Forests of Elara, with great and inhuman speeds. He bumped straight into me! Oh, I was greatly hurt, so I could only push back at him, not even knowing what creature he was back then! It was purely an act of self defense!"

"... Even though some students claim you were screaming out in anger instead of pain?"

"How... How could they possibly know that? That isn't... damning evidence," I replied, opting to use my brother's words.

A brief moment passed when humor twinkled on his eyes, but it was soon over. He asked, "And do you perhaps know what to do about the damages done towards the ancient gardens?"

I blinked at him. "Sir... I'm only a commoner with no money nor land to my name."

"As you say," he muttered. "Then I have an offer."

I leaned forward. "What kind of offer?"

"If you agree to place all the blame on your miscreant, then you will go free," he muttered.

I flinched in shock. In perfect truth, this really was how it was supposed to be. I shouldn't be guilty about it at all. He did come running at me, enough to injure any other student... He should pay for his wrongs.

But, I did push him back, with far too strong a force, enough to injure any other student...

If he was a mere commoner like me...

But if he really was the crown prince...

But... simply as my friend...

I shook my head. "I don't think that's right, either, Professor Whitaker. What happened was merely an accident. It was an uncommon accident, but it really was so. If... If punishments are to be made, then it must be placed equally on us both, for we were the unfortunate creatures to be there at those times, and at those specific circumstances..."

'Much like fate, it applied to both sides...' I thought. 'I couldn't find it in myself to blame the boy.'

Unexpectedly, the man laughed. Short it was, but still very much a laugh. "Leave then, boy. I'll have the fees deducted from my personal stash."

My eyes went wide. "But-"

He held up a hand. "There's nothing much to it. Although a very rare flower went nearly extinct due to your circumstances, an accident is an accident, and neither one of you should be held accountable."

'That's a bit different from the law, but...' my mind worked against my favor, so I kept silent.

"Well?" the man asked, his smile gone. "Didn't I tell you to leave? Go now, lest I change my mind."

Immediately, I sprang up into action. Bowing all the way to the door, I expressed my thanks before clicking the door shut. I found myself grinning by the time I had arrived at my quarters, only to find it gone the very next moment.

A sharply-dressed stranger was standing right outside my door. He bowed towards me.

"Sir Eleftherion," he said in a respectful tone. "The crown prince of the great Mond Empire invites you to his quarters as his renowned guest."