19一 your expectations burn me

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LILY HAD AN ARGUMENT WITH THE woman that brought her what she was to study in the foreseeable future. She didn't know what it had been about, but the loud yelling of her normally composed caretaker was enough to tell her things weren't going in a way that pleased Lily.

Athanasia, for her part, didn't really mind the mountain of books she had been given. They were boring in general, with lessons on management and accounting, but they were another way to pass time besides playing and eating.

Claude made time for her, she'd noticed a month after Athanasius' departure. Or perhaps he was filling the now empty time he reserved for his son with her presence. Either way, she'd rather him not stay too much with her. It unnerved her and she didn't know what comments and questions would garner what reaction from her father.

She was, however, thankful that he didn't spend that much time on her. If truth be told, he ignored her for a large duration of the days, and she couldn't be more thankful enough for that fact.

Accompanying the stacks of books were now lessons she was required to attend. Madam Iris一the woman who apparently managed her brother's palace一was her primary teacher for most of her studies. During these lessons Athanasia learned that the elderly widow had been the former empress's caretaker during her youth, fact which gave her enough clout in several political parties for the Crown Prince's agenda.

When Madam Iris was too preoccupied by something that couldn't wait for her attention, the little princess was taught by either Lilly, who tried to make the lessons as interactive as possible, or a woman she'd come to know as Lady Fallis. A tall woman with lavender hair and golden eyes that belonged to a neutral noble family.

During the course of her lessons with Every Fallis, Athanasia learned that the older woman had two younger siblings, twins, a girl and a boy and that the sister was engaged to some regent head of a proeminent noble house whose name she couldn't remember, while the brother was training to become an imperial knight under Felix's tutorship.

When asked about Every's brother, the red haired man simply smiled indulgently and said that many a knight knighted under the Imperial Guard were former students of his, bringing into his responses references to her brother's guard dog, Kassian Claes, mentioning him as one of his oldest students.

With Felix's assurances, Athy quickly waved away the thoughts about Every's family. The older woman was nice and meant well, but dwelling on the matters pertaining a near-stranger's family didn't really sit right with her.

Today she was reading an account about the most proeminent noble families that were found in high society as homework from Madam Iris.

The formost proeminent families that supported the empire of Obelia were the Duchy of Alpheus that resided here within the Capital and acted as advisors to the Emperor; the House of Saint that mainly interacted with the lower class and the church and maintained the protective barrier of Obelia; the Grand Duchy of Banafrit whose stronghold guarded the North-most borders from mana beasts that threatened to enter the empire; and the Marquisate of Aegena, known to produce highly skilled mages that oftentimes entered the Black Tower to further their knowledge and power.

Out of those four, one stands neutral, one supports the crown and two have allied themselves to the Crown Prince.

The Aegena, as described in her book, were not keen on conflict, be it internal or external. The only difference between the two being that they will involve themselves in the latter out of necessity.

The Alpheus are loyal only to the crown and, subsequently, to the person wearing it, meaning that trying to ally yourself with them to gain leverage in the fight for the throne was as easy as herding cats.

The Saint stand with the Crown Prince mostly out of loyalty, but also out of principle. Her brother is the son of the Empress, a woman raised with the name of their House and a wielder of healing mana which is highly sought out by the Church, with whom they have close ties.

The Banafrit, while oftentimes preferring to isolate themselves in the Northern Mountains, are currently represented by Duke Rohan, a highly skilled swordmaster and childhood friend of Athanasius.

It was a bit amusing to see that because of his bloodline, the eldest child of the emperor was backed by the House with the most sway over public opinion that held close ties with the Aegena simply because of their families' nature of producing talented individuals in the field of mana. If push came to shove, then the Marquisate will side with the Imperial Heir in any political infighting simply because of those ties and his unmatched power over Court. Her brother had also been lucky enough to snag the heir of Banafrit to his side from when they were young.

The image this book painted of the ruling government of Obelia was heavily in favor of her brother as he has been gathering allies and forging connections both within and outside of the empire.

She was literally looking at Athanasius's life's work from start to finish.

By using his maternal House's name, he created the public courthouse for commoners and lesser nobles. With the influence of his title as Heir to the Crown, he furthered trade outside of the empire and made connections with established foreign merchants. Taking advantage of the connections made by both his ancestors and himself, he gathered a select number of people that he could trust with highly sensitive matters that were not for everyone's eyes and ears.

She was, begrudgingly, impressed. It was hard not to be. This relatively young boy took every asset life gave him and turned it into an irrefutable advantage to aid in making his ascension to the throne as smooth as humanly possible.

She doesn't dare ask anyone what happened to those who opposed him. (She knows better than that.)

Lily tells her that she can take the lessons as something similar to playtime, but Madam Iris is made of much sterner stuff and she rebuts the maid at every turn. Every finds their interactions amusing, if her constant hiding behind her fan is anything to go by.

It is one day that the Madam informs her that she should visit the imperial library. When asked why, she simply informed her that "It was high time she did so."

Apparently, not entering the imperial library before the age of six is considered as a disregard for the knowledge accumulated in there. There wasn't a law stating so. There was, however, an unspoken rule to cement this fact. Many a nobles brought their children to the public part of the library as to not bring upon their families attention of the unsavory type.

Therefore she could confidently say that the elderly widow was looking out for her in her own though love, get moving, don't act stupidly, kind of way.

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THE MASSIVE DOORS OF THE LIBRARY were a statement in itself for the wealth of knowledge sealed within. Even from her spot in Felix's arms she feels small before the engraved, marble-like entrance.

It was at that point that the red haired knight gently sets her down and crouches to her eye level. "I'm afraid I can't follow you any further."

It's most probable that he can read the confusion suddenly present on her face, that he elaborates but a moment later. "It is forbidden, Your Highness, for citizens not granted express permission from His Majesty to enter this part of the library."

"Alright." She nods at that, understanding the concept of safeguarding these rare and (possibly) dangerous books, yet not liking it one bit.

It is but a few passing seconds later that Athanasia turned to walk towards the massive (with a capital big) doors that they open on their own. The only comparison her mind can come up with is the automatic sliding doors from the twenty first century.

She ignores it with practiced ease. Many strange things have happened since her arrival in the world of 'The Lovely Princess' that she has grown accustomed to not embarrassing herself with overly-emotional reactions.

What greets her when she enters is rows upon rows of bookshelves filled to the brim with differently coloured books, rolled parchments and stacks of letters neatly organized.

(She silently questions how much of a hazard cleaning is.)

Standing in front of the section she recognizes by the star sigil on the bookshelf as belonging to the House of Saint is a sharply dressed man whose curly long hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, verdant eyes almost glowing as they scrutinized her from atop high cheekbones.

She vaguely notices that he's looking at her as if she is an interestingly shaped stain on the bottom of his polished leather shoes. It rackels at her nerves, but it also confirms certain facts to her.

Every said that, because of her sudden appearance at the Emperor's court, many people would blatantly stare when she is in attendance一if ever一and contemplate if aligning themselves to her side would be beneficial.

She already received such glances when accompanying Claude, but the gaze this man gives her is fundamentally different. He's looking at her as if searching for something, sizing her up and cataloguing her, measuring her to some standard she is unaware of and finding her lacking in multiple ways.

It feels... unnerving.

The man breaks his gaze with such suddenness that it leaves her reeling back in the confines of her mind. He smiles to her as he bows, but the edges of his expression are tinted with mocking smugness and his emerald-like eyes shining with something akin to a cat that got both the cream and the canary.

"This one greets Your Highness, Princess Athanasia." He raises his head, curly red bangs fanning the tops of his high cheekbones, a hand placed atop where his heart should be. "My name is Atropos Di Saint, I am the Regent Head of House Saint."

'Ah,' She blandly thinks, 'One of her brother's people.' This fox-like man was the person the Crown Heir trusted to run his maternal household? She found him annoying.

"I believe I am imposing on the Princess' relaxation time." She doesn't know how the man manages to turn that sentence into an insult, but he does and she is mildly impressed. "I shall not steal more of your time Your Highness. Glory and Blessings upon Obelia's Star."

Performing a bow with the fluidity of a flowing river, the redhead leaves her alone in the silence of the labyrinthine library.

It takes her a while to find a book about the Saint lineage that allows itself to be opened by her, but she manages to finally do so.

Turns out the noble she just met was the cousin of Empress Lucille, a man with an unparalleled talent at playing the negotiation table like a fiddle, a man who knows when to say what to have everyone dancing to his merry tune.

She briefly thinks of how much political damage the redhead could do if not for Athanasius holding his leash in an iron grip. (She does the math and with an attitude the furthest thing from mulish, she pushes those conclusions in a box and throws them in the deepest recesses of her mind一 not to be touched again.)

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I am sorry someone loved you badly, and that they made you feel like you take up more space than you deserve.

I am sorry they abandoned you when you needed them the most and it has made you believe that love is an awful thing that hurts.

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"Atropos Di Saint" is named after one of the three Fates, the others being Clotho and Lachesis. Atropos's name (meaning "unalterable" or "inflexible") indicates his function, that of rendering the decisions of his house irreversible or immutable.
(Atropos canonically radiates dilf energy 😌)

Every isn't really going to be that much of a reoccurring character, but here's a reference picture for her:

I was writing this chapter and I'm glad that my phone knows me so well already 💃🏻

Also, on the note of Harry Potter, here's something cursed that I found while looking for fanfics to read 🧍🏻‍♀️💀

I need to bleach my eyes after glancing at this thing 👀👩🏻‍🦯

I've been running a fever for the past few days and my throat feels like barbed wire and let me tell y'all, being sick is an absolute joy.