Lily's Point of View

I stare down at the hand Catarina holds out to me. How many breaches of etiquette does this make? In addition to that, Catarina is a woman, and thus unable to escort another lady.

...just... take as a test by the gods.

"Princess Catarina. Lady Lily is my partner for the event. Kindly, mind your manners."

Lionel finally decides to interrupt. He's forcing an awkward smile though the rather obvious irritation, and holds my hand a bit tighter. He even has a cream colored flower brooch attached to his formal uniform to match my dress. There really shouldn't have been any doubt.

...now Catarina glares at him.

"Like Lily-chan would ever willingly choose to be escorted by a sadist. If it is merely an order of convenience, then it won't matter if she is escorted by me for the entirety of the event."

...

What was that? I think I heard a squiggling cockroach in a whore dress just started hissing?

Remember, kill a cockroach with force and the rest will come running. We are technically surrendering, so I have to endure this royal cockroach for a little while longer.

"I do not have such interests, Princess Catarina," Lionel sneers back at her, clearly losing his patience with her as well.

Of course, Catarina just glares at him without restraint.

"You were made to be like that, no matter how much you hide it you enjoy watching people suf-"

"Lionel."

I cut off Catarina. He's staring at her like he might rip her throat out... unexpectedly, his anger makes me calm down.

"We should go inside, staying here longer would inconvenience those waiting for us inside."

Give Catarina an elegant curtsy.

"Please excuse us, Princess Catarina." Cockroach.

The shock on Catarina's face almost feels satisfying after all of that. At least for a moment.

"Eh?! You're a masochist?!"

How can she even keep this up?!

Lionel takes my hand and puts it on his arm instead, before swiftly leading me more than an arms width around Catarina.

"I suppose Princess Catarina has a rather lively imagination."

Of course Catarina starts puffing up to protest, but this time Emilia intervenes as she walks past Catarina.

"I am tired. Stop trying to seduce Lady Lily, Princess Catarina. Until the treaty is signed, you are still an enemy. Keep this in mind."

I get to get a glance of Catarina's annoyed expression before Lionel and I make it up the stairs. I look back up at Castle Duvin one last time before we step in through the door. Catarina lead me away from it, but the bad feeling I had earlier should I believe that it is really House Salender's spies?

If they knew, then why wouldn't they have killed them already?

A lie?

I step inside Castle Duvin with a knot gathering in my chest.

—-*-—

As I figured, castle Duvin is a castle mainly meant for war. The narrow hallway leading to the great hall may have countless decorations right now, but it makes for a good defensible position as they are merely two people wide. Glancing up, I can see systematically placed holes shaped as fleur de lis by the top of the wall. They look decorative, but I'm fairly sure they are really for shooting arrows through. Especially as the lanterns of the hallways are in small decorative indents quite far from the ceiling. The holes merely look black to us.

If an archer was there right now we wouldn't see them until it was too late.

Furthermore, this is apparently the only way to the great hall from the outside. All negotiators going here would have to go through this. Usually the path to the great hall is a display of wealth. The message they intended to give at Castle Duvin is clear. 'Make a wrong move and you're dead.'

It shows not only the personality of the owner, but also those expected as guests.

I glance to the two guards ahead of us who are supposed to guide us, and then back over my shoulder to the very back where Catarina walks with a few more guards.

We are surrounded.

My skin begins to crawl. Emilia and Darius are in front of us. She insisted that it was formality.

If this is a trap Lionel and I should have gone first. If it's a trap, will I be able to grab her before she is taken out of reach. Would they close the doors on us and have her surrounded in there?

I vaguely register the scent of burning oil and stare at the lanterns we pass.

Am I... being paranoid?

Even if this is a trap, we cannot back out right now. If we don't sign the peace treaty we will be overrun. There's a limit to what we can deal with. There is just no way to resist four countries and a civil war at the same time.

I... don't want to go in.

This familiar scent of burning oil. The color of fire. This feeling of helplessness.

"Crown of Ristaze, Princess Emilia Blyenberg Schwarthertz graces us with her presence, accompanied by Marquess Lionel Tepet and Lady Lily of House Celeste."

A shudder crawls through my body as a set of doors open in front of us and the dark lit hallway floods with light from the great hall. I hold my breath, but nothing happens.

The ceiling is filled with light from grand chandeliers, all big enough to crush you. The ceiling almost seems to be floating with a flood of fire. It's warm. The heat and dry air from the flames seems palpable and makes it hard to breathe as my eyes dart around the room to take in our surroundings. It's heavily decorated. There's banners everywhere and countless of flowers though even for this time of year. The worst part, however, is the crowd. They form a thick line at each side of the room and all look cautious.

I glance over the vague blurry figures of the crowd as we step in, at least until Catarina walks around us, dashing through through the room until she gets to a neatly placed table in the middle of the hall... and my eyes lock onto the throne at the other end of the room where Prince Jacques is sitting... and then to the crowned figure next to him... King Landon.

Something is off.

I jolt with the sound of the doors closing behind us.

Our escape route is cut off.

Where is Jacques' father? Jacques is the crown prince, but he is not yet king. He does not have the authority to sign a peace treaty.

What about the king of Zocria?

I look over the crowd of nobles one the room again. There are some from Crinia, Semor and Headal. Where is the members from Zocria?

I feel my stomach rise and knot up.

There's only the ones that schemed all of this and what I can only assume to be their supporters.

...Landon... no, Michiko, is this your plan?! Is it you again?!

You already drove Kenta and I that far. You already tried to seduce Kenta, and tried to use Kenta against me! You even guided Kenta to the poison and made him sully his honor by killing me, because it was the easiest way! and for what?! Just to be able to cause more crimes! Haven't you done enough?!

If you intend to hurt Emilia or Magdalin, I will rip you apart be it the last thing I do!

A vague and distant pain in my hand snaps my attention from King Landon, and while turning my hand to a fist, I find myself staring at Lionel's hand gripping mine so tightly that his hand trembles around mine.

I look up to his face for an explanation, and find his eyes meeting mine. His eyes are staring at me intensely, but the golden glow from the flames reflect in his eyes.

Then he turns his eyes to the crowd with a small nod of the head, hinting at me to look as well.

I scan the part of the crowd near the table which he hinted at, and there stands Helena Fox and Jesmaine Polliet, Jacques fiancé...

...neither of those two can handle battle. They're both innocent and naive.

"... exten- ... gra-...."

The pain from Lionel's grip gets clearer, and I start picking up words around us, though it sounds distant and foggy. Was this there before?

Helena meets my eyes and goes white quite quickly, her eyes lowering like she's pretending not to be there.

I feel a light pull from Lionel and look back to him. Our eyes meet again, and he lifts our hands a bit higher, this time instead rubbing the back of my hand as he leans towards me.

"This isn't that battlefield, Lily."

He whispers against my ear before pulling back. He still rubs the back of my hand and now stares at me as though waiting for acknowledgement.

I know this isn't that place... but... if he thinks I am mistaking it, then I must look quite... horrified. I suppose he's trying to tell me that it is safe.

I look down at his hand that is still holding mine... stroking it as though to comfort me.

The smell of fire, and my lord heading ahead of me into danger. Was I overlapping it? Was I heading into another waking dream?

I take a deep breath to calm myself, letting Lionel caress the back of my hand without complaint... it pulls my mind from the fire above.

This could still be a trap... but if I'm in this state then I am useless.

I breathe in deeply once more and go over the surroundings systematically once more as we approach the negotiations table. Watch. Analyze. Be calm. If I lose my mind then... no. Let's not go there.

...The crowd is big, but they don't appear to be armed. The guards in front of us are now on the other side of the table with Catarina, and the guards behind us are at the door looking quite... relaxed. If it was a trap then they would be far more tense.

"We have prepared the contract for you ahead of time. Take your time to read it, Princess Emilia," Landon speaks calmly.

I turn my attention back to the situation at hand, as Emilia starts reading. Mikoto... no, Landon, is looking at Emilia with a small and worried smile. He looks like Claire would while watching a deer stand up for the first time... while he cannot be trusted, I... don't think it would be an expression you fake easily.

Catarina is glaring at my hand being held by Lionel, thus being far too distracted to make a move, and Jacques keeps trying to glance behind Lionel where Asher is standing... if Jacques is curious about Asher then he shouldn't make trouble.

Jesmaine is looking far too busy glancing awkwardly towards Jacques and Helena is still pretending not to exist.

I can still feel the tension from before lingering throughout my body, and though Lionel is stroking the back of my hand I still don't feel safe with the situation as it is... or Landon being this close to Emilia... but I suppose it wouldn't make sense to attack us right now... none of them seem to have ill intentions... but we still do not have a clear way out.

"...and you have all agreed upon this treaty?"

Emilia speaks up, curious but doubtful. I try to shake off the discomfort and pay proper attention to what is going on... as much as I can while trying to ignore the affectionate caressing of my hand.

Jacques gives a smile in return as he replies, "Yes. Everything is as it should be."

Asher shifts behind me at those words.

"There shouldn't be a need for anything else," Catarina says with a crude shrug. Landon gives a simple nod and a smile.

"I understand. We, Ristaze, accept your terms. By my words as the Crown Princess of Ristaze, Emilia Blyenberg Schwarthertz, we swear to uphold this treaty. The borders to Ristaze shall remain as they are, a dedicated embassy shall be constructed in each country to deal with future diplomatic issues. All prisoners of war shall be returned to their homes within two months. We shall, as stated, take equal part in taking care of refugees, as well as open trade routes to Headal, Crinia and Semor."

Emilia takes a breath before leaning down to put the last signature on the treaty. When she straightens up again she gives a smile.

"May our futures be bright!"

With that, the great hall erupts in a cheer from the crowd around us.

Far more easily than I thought or worried, peace seems to have been achieved.