His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 33

Kassian stepped out of the carriage, looking around in surprise. He had often passed by Ruby Street, but it had always been empty and abandoned despite its favorable location. He had heard from Blaine that people avoided it because of his grandfather’s assassination, but that made little sense to him.

Now the place looked nothing like the quiet, dark dump hidden beside the central street. The cobblestones were swept off and the trash piling on the streets had been cleared. The fronts of the stores looked polished to a gleam even in the sparse light of the street lamps, which were all throwing off a merry shine.

And the people. There were almost as many people as there had been on the main street. Most of them were crowding around the tallest building that shone even brighter than the others, with light spilling out its windows and cheerful banter and delighted laughter coming from the wide-op doors. Some of the people looked impatient, craning their necks toward the entrance where a pair of heavy-set men stood on each side of the door, looking around with calm, serious expressions.

A short, dark-haired girl in a tight black dress waited next to them, glancing inside from time to time, then returning her attention to the line, all while keeping her smile on. She wasn’t overly pretty, but with her long hair down and the dress carefully accentuating her delicate curves, she was quite easy on the eyes – just as one of his companions mentioned.

Kassian’s eyes stopped on Blaine, who was standing by the girl, waiting patiently for them. The crowd had already parted after the initial complaints about people cutting in line died down, and all eyes followed them as they made their way to the entrance.

“That’s a big crowd for an opening night.” The vice-president of the union pointed out. “I wonder who the owner is. I’ve barely heard of this place until now. I’m definitely curious to know how they got all these people to venture into Ruby Street.

“Yeah, me too.” Kassian nodded. What he was even more curious about was how they got his half-brother to come here where even commoners could enter. Considering the name of the restaurant and the special permission from the Empress, Kassian should have known about this place a long time ago. His first job after getting back home would be to get his Shadows to look into this new venture. Blaine could go through the proper channels and investigate the owner and their connection to the Empress and the second prince, but there were some things that could only be found from the shadows.

“Welcome, gentlemen!” The dark-haired girl greeted them the moment they took a step up the stairs. She bowed her head respectfully and kept her eyes down. “Please wait a moment while your table is being prepared.”

Kassian looked at Blaine, who glanced at the stairs leading to the upper floors. So that was where his brother was; he hoped they’d give them a table on the same floor as him since asking for that specifically would only make his goal obvious.

“Welcome to Her Highness’s Secret Palace gentlemen!” Kassian froze. That voice… he knew that sweet, melodic voice.

His head snapped toward the owner of that voice and his eyes widened. He had been so sure that voice belonged to Raena that when greeted by the woman standing in front of him, he forgot how to speak. She had long blonde hair as well, but unlike Raena’s unruly mane, hers was carefully arranged in soft curls and fell over her back, held in place by a big blue flower ornament. She was wearing a veil that covered everything but her eyes, which looked even more striking, embellished by her makeup.

And her dress… that was the most revealing dress he had seen. Even the most promiscuous ladies in court wouldn’t dare wear something like that in public. Yet she held her head high, her shoulders straight, and judging by the twinkle in her eyes, she was smiling.

“l apologize, but because of your late notice, we are not able to offer you a choice of table. But we have prepared one for you on the last floor, where we serve our special guests. Please, follow me.

She turned without delay, heading toward the staircase. Picking up a handful of her skirts that resembled a river running from her tiny waist down to the dark wooden floor, she climbed up, glancing back once to make sure they were following.

“Did you see her?” Ramor murmured to somebody behind Kassian. “Who is that?”

“This can’t be Raena. There is no way’ Kassian thought as he stared at the frail back of the woman. She might have had blue eyes and blonde hair like his wife, but so did many other women. Vega did too. And if it was his wife, her brother should have recognized his own sister right away. Not to mention this woman clearly had nothing childish about her – from the way she dressed to the way she talked, she was the exact opposite of his wife.

Yet their voices sounded so similar, it was unsettling.

Kassian noticed Blaine catching up to him.

“Her name is Madam Lydia, or so the hostess said. She is the manager of this place,” he reported, glancing after the woman just as she disappeared through the door on the third floor.

“Does she look to you like…?”

“Yes.” Blaine nodded, pausing at the threshold so Kassian could go in first. “But that’s… improbable.”

As he stepped into the room, Kassian froze, looking around in confusion. For a moment he thought he was in the Imperial Palace, but the proportions and the lighting were all wrong. When he noticed Madam Lydia standing by a big rectangular table and waiting for them, the illusion broke. This decent imitation could have only been done by somebody who had attended a social gathering in the Imperial Palace. As far as he knew, Raena had never done that due to her condition.

But what of the owner of this place? Who were they?

“I want you to find who owns this place,” Kassian whispered to Blaine as they took their seats. The others moved to join them, eyes glued to the woman as she passed on the menus while laughing and having a casual conversation with them as if she had known them for years. “And her. Find out everything about her.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Blaine nodded. “But that’s not important right now. Over there.” Kassian followed his gaze, his eyes stopping on the scene outside the open glass doors leading to the balcony. A group of men were laughing loudly while raising their glasses and talking all over each other in loud voices. His gaze immediately stopped on the loudest of them his brother looked like he was having fun without a care in the world. Kassian checked on Rissen’s companions as well, but he knew all of their faces – they were all young first and second sons from the prominent families that formed his brother’s core support. All of them looked half-drunk already.

“Your Highness?”

Kassian tore his eyes away from the group outside and locked his attention to the woman now standing next to him. She waited as if she had asked him a question, but he hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation. As if realizing the same, she let her eyes fall down to something in her hand and he noticed the black leather menu hanging between them. He took it quickly, opening it on the front page.

“Wait, are those drawings really how the food looks like?” one of the men at the table asked, looking back at the woman. “And what is with the combinations?”

“Food is best appreciated with your mouth, Your Grace, don’t you think? Why not order and test it out? If you don’t like it, you can return the dish and you will not be charged for it,” Madam Lydia replied, her hair bouncing off her shoulders as she tilted her head.

“Confident, are we?” the same man smirked.

“I’m sure you’ll like it and ask for more!” she replied with a small bow, her eyes darting toward the door, where a pair of girls in button-up shirts and black skirts reaching the middle of their calves appeared, each carrying a tray with a few bottles on them. “The first round of drinks is on the house, gentlemen. Please enjoy them while you go over the menu. One of our waitresses will be back shortly to take your order.”

‘

She bowed respectfully again, then circled the table and headed toward the balcony where another one of the serving girls was trying to set the orders on the table, but with the loud cackling of the group and the hands reaching out for her, the girl seemed reluctant to go near them. When Madam Lydia appeared next to her, they turned almost timid. The two women returned inside a minute later and disappeared past the big, menacing-looking guard by the door.

“There isn’t anyone suspicious with him,” Kassian said quietly as he took a sip out of the wine Blaine had poured for him. He had used the same bottle that the others shared, waiting for them to test the wine first. When none of them showed any signs of poisoning, Kassian decided to give it a try.

It wasn’t the best wine he had drank, but it was still decent enough.

“Maybe he just came to enjoy the food?” Blaine said with a voice that suggested even he didn’t believe that. Yet no matter how much they looked, all Rissen and his buddies did was eat, drink, laugh and talk so loudly even Kassian could hear every word from where he sat. Kassian’s companions kept throwing the second prince disapproving glances, but just like always, Rissen pretended not to notice anything, even though Kassian was sure he was aware of their presence.

Kassian was still listening to the conversations outside when a muffled m**n came from his right, so he turned, almost expecting to see someone foaming at the mouth. Blaine sat with his eyes closed and a gratified expression on his face. As if sensing the attention on him, he opened his eyes and stared awkwardly at Kassian, a slight redness creeping over his cheeks.

“l apologize, Your Highness, but this is superb!” he mumbled, returning to his usual controlled expression. “I think this may even be better than the food we tasted in the North Palace. Should I?” he asked, nodding toward Kassian’s untouched plate.

He hadn’t even noticed when the waitresses had brought the food after they ordered, but it had been damn fast.

“You don’t have to. I didn’t come here to eat,” Kassian replied, but Blaine was already sinking his fork into the edge of the juicy meat that gave such a delicious aroma, despite his words Kassian felt his mouth water. His aide chewed on the bite for a few seconds, then licked his lips and put down his fork.

“if His Highness doesn’t plan to eat that, may I have it? It’s even better than mine.” Blaine said with such a serious expression that Kassian almost laughed. Seeing how his aide looked perfectly fine, despite the greedy look in his eyes, Kassian picked up his fork and sunk it into the meat. He almost didn’t need the knife it just peeled off the bone with the lightest touch. As he finally tried it, he almost bit himself as the taste spread through his mouth.

It wasn’t just the meat- he had eaten meat before, prepared in numerous delicious ways. It was the sauce, the seasoning, even the side dishes. Apart, they were nothing special, but the combination itself was perfectly balanced.

Kassian raised his eyes, surprised by the reigning silence around the table, only to find his companions devouring their own meals like their lives depended on it. All conversations and distractions were temporarily forgotten as they swallowed bite after bite with the same expression Blaine wore.

“How is it, gentlemen?” Madam Lydia’s voice rang in the air and everybody looked up from their empty plates. She was standing by the table and Kassian had to admit that even he didn’t notice when she had appeared.

“This is amazing!” The Prime Minister’s son blurted out with his mouth still half-full.

“I’ve never tasted anything like this!” the vice president of the trade union joined in, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “You… Did you come up with these dishes? Or do you have a cook from some foreign country?”

“It’s a secret,” she winked, her eyes moving to each of them until they stopped on Kassian. She held his gaze for a moment, before switching her attention to the others. “If you’re finished with the main course, how about a little dessert?”