His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 38

“Tell me this is the last one!” Raena g*****d as Kara piled up the papers she had been signing for the past hour and a half. She had ink stains all over her hands and her eyes were tearing from staring at the small letters without a break. Her maid had used her ‘grounding’ as an excuse to make her catch up on all the paperwork for the North Palace, and now that Raena looked at her, she seemed quite pleased with herself.

“This is the last one.” Kara nodded, setting the neat pile back on the desk.

“Can I go now?” Raena sighed, straightening up in the chair.

“Go where?” Kara asked, crossing her arms. You can’t leave the North Palace, remember? Just so you know, I didn’t want to interrupt your work earlier, but I got the news that the third prince left for Craidal last night, but he will probably be back for his birthday celebration in nine days.” Raena’s face brightened, but when she saw Kara’s expression, she sank back in her chair. “There are guards outside the mansion’s door. You’re not going anywhere soon. If you need to send a message to the restaurant, I can arrange as much”

“Where is Zen, by the way? I haven’t seen him around,” Raena asked. She had thought it weird earlier when he didn’t wait in front of her room in the morning, but decided that since she wasn’t leaving the North Palace anyway, he probably decided to catch up on his sleep. Still, it was now past noon and he still hadn’t appeared.

“I sent him on errands outside the North Palace,” Kara replied, caresing an eyebrow and plastering an annoyed smile on her face. “His Highness sent his Head Maid to educate me on how to make sure I protect you from any ill rumors and inappropriate behavior. Her lecture lasted hour. Her first advice – removing his constant presence from your side.” Kara siqhed. “It doesn’t matter if the rumors are true or not. I already told you about them. Or at least I tried to.”

“When?” Raena grimaced.

“Before leaving for the Imperial Palace. I was trying to tell you, but you kept getting distracted, and then so much happened. I thought you knew, considering how calm you were.” Kara ranted as she gathered the papers from the desk and hugged them. “Anyway, stay home and make sure to play your role if you run into any maids.”

“Hey, I’m your boss. Stop micromanaging me!” Raena murmured, getting to her feet.

“Micro-what?” Kara grimaced. “Oh, nevermind.

‘I’ll go carry those to the Grand Chamberlain and be back. Don’t..” she hesitated as to what she planned to say, then her expression changed and so did her train of thought. “Take this time to rest properly” Raena scoffed as Kara left the room, looking around her office.

Everything was so neat and clean and now that her work was done, she really didn’t know what to do. There were too many people to go into the kitchen and cook something delicious and with Zen and Kara out of the picture, she had no one to talk to. All that remained was… to rest, really.

“Rest it is,” she sighed, heading toward the door. The corridor was quiet as usual, with occasional laughter or cries coming from downstairs. With the new maids, workers and guards, the quiet North Palace had become a lively place. Even though everyone walked on eggshells around her for some reason – maybe Kara gave them the same threat about the fertilizer – it was somehow nice to not live alone in this abandoned Corner.

She was on her way to her bedroom when a low hum coming from one of the empty rooms caught her attention. She stopped, listening in until she heard it again – a soft, mournful melody sung by someone distracted by their own thoughts. It had no words, and the notes didn’t really repeat like the singer was making it on the go.

Raena stepped closer to the door, peeking inside. The room was mostly empty, with just a few pieces of furniture covered with a white cloth lying around. The smell of paint was really strong and after a look around, Raena realized that half of the walls were already decorated while the other half stood bare.

At first, she couldn’t fiqure out where the sound was coming from, since it didn’t seem like there was anyone inside. Then a figure rose from behind one of the couches, brush in hand. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun on the back of her head and she was wearing a maid’s uniform with her sleeves rolled to her elbows.

Raena hesitated – Elene hadn’t noticed her yet – but then she stepped inside, looking at the walls.

This room had to be a bedroom, judging by the size and the placement of the windows. The base color was dark blue for the lower part of the walls and sky blue for the top section. Soft, pale clouds and colorful birds dotted the painted sky, spread around as if in joyful chase of one another. The detail on their plumage was so striking, Raena instinctively reached out to touch one of them, to make sure it wasn’t real.

“Don’t touch!” Elene’s startled voice echoed through the room. Raena’s fingers froze just an inch away, and she quickly let her hand drop. Elene’s face relaxed. “The paint is we*t, you’ll smear it.”

“Sorry” Raena mumbled, taking a step away from the wall and looking around again. “This is amazing! Great job!”

“Thank you,” Elene muttered and for a second, Raena thought she saw her blushing. Then the girl returned to painting the body of a bird with bright red, orange and yellow colors, her attention completely taken by the task.

Raena studied her work for a while and soon she got a better sense of her style of drawing and the way she liked to mix her colors. It had been so long since she had watched other people paint – or did it herself – that she felt the sudden urge to join. She glanced toward the brushes lying in a jar by Elene’s feet and hesitated.

“Do you mind if I paint one as well2” she asked “Why are you asking me? It’s your house.” and Elene froze with her thin brush still touching the wall. She slowly turned to look at Raena and her expression clearly said she definitely minded, but in the end, she lowered her head and returned to her work.

Raena stepped next to the brushes and picked the one she liked, then she went over to the paints.

She could feel Elene’s eyes watching her, but she pretended not to notice until she gathered what she needed and moved on to the next wall, where she assumed the bed would be put on later. This way, if she messed up, it would be easy to hide.

She raised the brush, moving it toward the wall, but hesitated just before the tip touched the smooth blue surface. Taking a deep breath, she pressed down. Her hand continued to move on its own and she focused on her colors as she carefully blended them together.

“I didn’t know you could paint.” Elene’s voice took her out of her stupor and she pulled her hand back, only to notice she was finished. “What kind of bird is that?”

“It’s called a hummingbird,” Raena replied, glancing at the other woman who had moved next to her and was observing her creation. “It’s a very small bird, smaller than what I have drawn.”

“It’s pretty.” Elene said thoughtfully, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “Where is it from?”

“Erm, I don’t know,” Raena replied quickly. had no idea if there were hummingbirds in this world, let alone where they might live. She went with the safest explanation. “l just saw it in a book.”

Elene seemed to accept the answer, because she nodded and headed back to her space, preparing to return to her drawing. Raena turned around and put the paints and the brush down – she wanted to draw some more, but her hands were trembling from holding them up for so long. She still had muscle strain from working at the restaurant, so this was only adding to the pain.

“Say, Elene, can I ask you a question?” she said instead, rubbing her fingers on the cloth covering the furniture in order to wipe away the smudges of paint that had gotten on them.

“Sure.”

“What do you think of the third prince?” Elene’s hand froze for a second and a bit of paint dripped on the wall under her bird. She cursed, raising a piece of cloth hanging from her belt and gently wiping it away. When she was done and she returned to her drawing, her voice was as disinterested as usual.

“I don’t think anything. Why?”

“No reason.” Raena shrugged, even though the other woman couldn’t see her. “Don’t you think he is good-looking?”

Elene stopped again, turning to look at her with a confused expression.

“Well, he is not bad looking,” she said as if picking her words with effort. “He is tall and well-built and his face is alright. Is that a sufficient answer?”

“What about his character? Do you think he is a strong, assertive man with integrity and charm? Or you’re more into different kinds of men?” Raena asked again, leaning on the doorframe. Elene completely gave up on her drawing, turning to face her instead.

“l am really confused” she said, frowning. “Are you trying to advertise your husband to me for some strange reason, or are you looking for confirmation that he is good enough for your feelings?”

“I don’t have any feelings for him.” Raena laughed. Elene snorted, turning her back to Raena and locking her eyes on her fat, green bird that was still missing its head. “What’s with that reaction?”

“I don’t want to meddle in other people’s business, Mistress,” Elene said pointedly.

“Answer!” Raena insisted, her voice sounding harsher than she intended. Elene sighed, then returned to her drawing.

“I don’t know why you’re doing all this pretending and games, but from where l stand, the way you act may be perceived as childish… but also as seducing. If a person hasn’t heard about your condition’, then they’ll think you’re trying to make your husband fall in love with you. Or at least want you in his bed. All the smiles, the affectionate words, and you calling him boldly ‘husband’ instead of using his title. Even innocent acts like touching his hand or laughing at his jokes or even raising your skirts without second thoughts – some men are into that. And you actually look like you’re enjoying yourself while you do that, which makes me think you enjoy playing with him. If you didn’t like him, you couldn’t have acted so well.

Raena stared at Elene as she continued to draw with a steady, confident hand. She opened her mouth to reply, when the other woman spoke again.

“l have no interest in your husband. And even if I did, I am a servant and a former slave. This kind of status difference can only be overcome in romance books ladies like you like to read” Raena barely held back her scoff. Elene paused for a second, as if wondering if she should say something more, then sighed. “Instead of asking other women for their opinion, why not get the answer to that question for yourself? He is a good-looking, strong, assertive man with integrity and charm. Even more, you’re already married to him. Why are you trying so hard to keep him away?”

“For you, dumbass,” Raena wanted to say, staring at the back of Elene’s head. She couldn’t understand why the main character was more cold and aloof now than she was in the book. In the original storyline she smiled, she laughed, she talked a lot and liked to spend time with Kassian – and later with his brothers. Yet, here she was, content to stay in the mansion all day and paint.

Was it because she was not abused as a slave? Because she didn’t meet Kassian and he didn’t save her from slavery?

Raena had thought that those minor changes she had made to the plot wouldn’t affect the storyline that much, but just like ripples in the water, she could feel their waves getting bigger and bigger. If this continued, her knowledge of the future was going to be useless, and her safety would be in jeopardy. Even if she decided to come clean about the lies now, there was a big chance this wouldn’t end well. And what was worse, Kara would be dragged into it as an accomplice.

No. Coming clean now wasn’t an option. She wasn’t powerful enough to protect herself and those she cared about. There was only one option remaining.

She had to get the original storyline back on track.