His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 85

“What!?” Kassian snapped much louder than the other three did.

Raena took a deep breath, keeping her eyes on Zariel since she wasn’t sure she wanted to meet Kassian’s gaze right now. She tried to smile confidently as she spoke, but the tension in the room was so thick, she could literally feel it pressing on her from all sides.

“A few months ago, on my way home, I happened upon a slave market. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t approve of slavery, but the man that was being auctioned looked so pitiful and yet so full of life that I ended up buying him. Then I bought his two siblings when he asked me and gave them back their freedom. I was told only later that they were from Craidal, and by that time I had already promised them a place to stay and work, so I didn’t want to get back on my word. So..”

“We all know the story.” Zariel interrupted her. “Get to the point where you said they were rebels. I thought you checked them and confirmed they were just regular slaves?” He added, turning towards Blaine.

“We couldn’t find anything – good or bad.” Blaine corrected him. “We couldn’t exclude the possibility of them being spies, so we never stopped monitoring them. But this is new.”

“I don’t have proof or I would have spoken earlier” Raena said, finally glancing at Kassian, who was staring at her with such a hard expression that she felt the lump in her throat growing. She would have preferred it if they had been alone when she dumped all of this on him, but he had forced her hand with this meeting.

“It started with small things – a misunderstanding here, a contradiction there. Even now, I don’t know that much about any of them apart from the fact that they were supposedly from some village in the north so high up the mountains that they didn’t know about the war until a group of soldiers stumbled into the village.”

“And you believed that?” Gerrin asked with a condescending frown.

“I’m nota nosy person and it sounded pretty plausible at the time.” Raena sighed. “And I might have been a bit inattentive when it came to them, but I had a lot of things going on at once and all three of them never gave me a reason to suspect them. But then I started noticing things.” She paused, wondering how to better put it all into words.

It was humiliating to admit even to herself that she had ignored something so important just because she was so focused on the main storyline and believed the main character couldn’t possibly be the bad guy of the story. But then again, if she looked at the situation from Elene’s point of view, she was just fighting for her country. For her and Zen and their people, Kassian and the people of the Empire were the bad guys. Considering everything that Raena had read before she woke up in this place, it made more sense for this to be an adventure story of a slave girl fighting for the freedom of her country than a love story where her love interests just tragically died one after another.

Raena shouldn’t have assumed it was a romance book just because she found it lying in the romance section. But it was too late for regrets now.

She couldn’t let her pride cost the lives of the people at her mansion. It was obvious to everyone with eyes that Zen and Kara didn’t get along, so if anything went wrong in the near future, she might be the first to get hurt. Not to mention Zen clearly resented Kassian and the reason for it now seemed to be deeper than petty jealousy. She couldn’t let him hurt Kassian, either.

“I started noticing the small things first,” she started with a clear voice, “like how I could almost never hear them when they approach, how they were good at things most commoners don’t have a knowledge of – or how they can slip a tail – or four – with frightening ease. Or find the blindspots of this vast residence in just a few weeks.” She looked at Kassian, whose face had hardened. “But when I started to pay closer attention, things became more obvious. I think they might even be behind Lady Vega’s murder. Possibly behind Marden’s attack too.”

“If they killed Lady Vega and her household, they might have cleaned up the dungeon too,” Gerrin murmured as if to himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “But they couldn’t have been the ones at the Outpost.”

“What makes you think they killed Lady Vega?” Blaine asked in his usual calm voice.

“It’s something she said to me during the tea party I hosted,” Raena said, locking her eyes on Blaine. So far, he was the only one that wasn’t looking at her with anger or hostility. “Zen came to bring me a present Lara sent and when he left, Lady Vega asked me about his origins. She said that she was from Craidal too and that his hair color was quite rare, but she had seen a noble lady in her parts who had the same silver hair. And that’s when the Craidal girl, who is currently serving as my personal maid, poured tea on her, supposedly by mistake, and interrupted the conversation. Later, that day, l asked Lady Vega to meet so she could tell me more, but l couldn’t make our appointment because of the attack. Come morning, she was dead.”

Silence reigned for a few seconds, then a chair screeched and Kassian got up.

“Those bastards.” he hissed, turning to leave. Raena grabbed his hand with the two of hers, trying to hold him back. He turned and glared at her, but despite the shiver that ran through her body, she didn’t let go.

“You can’t just storm in there.” She insisted. “If you go to arrest them now, not only some of my servants can get hurt, but they will be alerted that you’re onto them. Why do you think I haven’t chased them away already? Sit down and listen to me.” His face hardened, but he slowly lowered himself into his seat. Raena held onto his arm, just in case. “I tried to find the name of the lady Lady Vega was talking about, but with no luck. But it makes sense if his mother was a noble lady. From the start, his manners and speech were not one of a commoner and the way he looks at people – he has pride and carries himself with confidence. I thought that was fine since l didn’t want them to get a slave mentality, but thinking back, his demeanor bordered on arrogance.”

“I can’t let such dangerous people just wander around my residence! If what you are saying is right, those people are murderers!” Kassian snarled. “Worse, they are plotting to kill the next emperor!”

“If they wanted to do something to you or the people here, they would have done it already.” Raena said with more confidence than she felt. She didn’t like the cold tone of his voice and she was afraid that coldness will affect the others too.

“They did! To Vega!” Kassian said through gritted teeth.

“Only because their cover was about to be blown,” Raena said carefully. “For months, nobody got hurt. They reacted to a threat. If you go after them now, they will react again.” Raena took a deep breath, sending him a pleading look before looking at the others. “l am not defending them and I am not saying they should be left alone. Al l am saying is… not now. Not yet.”

“You want to catch them in the act,” Zariel spoke, abruptly leaning forward as if he had figured out what thoughts were running in her head. “You want to catch them as they attack in the Imperial Palace.

His eyes remained on Raena, who nodded. Then he ran a hand over his mouth as if he was weighing in the options in his head. His expression wasn’t as harsh as before, and judging by the spark in his eyes, he didn’t hate the idea.

“Most of you know their faces, which means you can easily recognize them even if they are in disguise. I can draw portraits of each of them to show to your soldiers. If you watch them closely, you might find the rest of their conspirators since l doubt just the three of them could infiltrate the Imperial Palace and kill the crown prince.” Raena said with a careful tone, letting her hands slide from Kassian’s arm to his palm. She caught his hand, under the table, intertwining her fingers with his. He didn’t react. “We know their goal, their place of attack, the date, and their faces. This is more than enough for Yul.. for the Crown Prince to devise a countermeasure plan. If we can catch them alive and link them to the Empress, it’s all over. We can resolve two problems with one swift swoop.”

The room fell into silence again and Raena waited patiently, watching as the light of the candles flickered excitedly between them. The others exchanged a few long, meaningful glances as if understanding each other without words before they all nodded one after another.

“There is one problem though,” Blaine said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “There is still a week until the Anniversary ball. This means you have to stay under the same roof as them for that time and pretend nothing is wrong.”

“Have you forgotten? I am very good at pretending.” Raena smiled even though just the thought of going back to the North Palace and making conversation with them made her stomach turn unpleasantly. It was funny how little it took for a heart to change, but once filled with fear and suspicion, it was just impossible to see things the same again. All those funny moments, laughter, and jokes she shared – even with Elene who seemed like she had a zero sense of humor – all seemed twisted now since she had no idea how much of it was true and how much pretense. The thought that Kassian might feel the same thing about her with all her lies and deceit made her chest hurt.

“No.” Kassian sighed tiredly. “That’s not, happening.”

“Kassian, it’s a sound plan. We can’t show our cards yet,” Zariel said, but tensed as Kassian looked his way. “At least until His Highness hears about all of this and makes a decision.”

“It’s fine, really.” Raena turned to look at Kassian, squeezing his arm. “They won’t harm me. They might even be the reason I am still alive. Why else would the second prince want me kidnapped, not killed?”

Kassian turned to face her. His angry expression from before was gone, giving place to complete calmness, which looked even scarier.

Raena held her breath, waiting for him to stay something, but he just stared at her. When he eventually spoke, it wasn’t to her.

“Blaine, I am going to the Imperial Palace with Zariel. Make sure the wake ends without problems and everybody leaves. The residence is in your hands.” Blaine nodded readily. “Gerrin, wait outside. You’ll escort her back to the North Palace.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” The aide nodded, getting to his feet. The other two followed silently, making their way towards the door. Once the metal screeched, announcing their departure, Raena looked back at Kassian’s whose eyes had remained on her the whole time.

“I know.. I know that what you’re saying makes sense, even more so because Zariel agreed, but.” he took a deep breath, licking his lips before reaching out and catching her other hand. He brought both her hands to his face, leaning his forehead on them. “Now that things are finally out in the open, the idea of something happening to you is driving me insane. I’m fine with me being in danger or surrounded by enemies and death, but I don’t want you anywhere near that ugliness. Not after seeing your expression that night. I never want to see you make that face again.”

Raena smiled, letting out a soft sigh. She reached out and slid her fingers under his chin, making him look up at her. His expression was still stiff, the helpless anger in his eyes more than evident.

“I will be fine, I promise.” She whispered, caressing his cheek with her hand. She pulled her hands away, getting up and sliding into his lap instead. He looked surprised for a second, but his hands quickly wrapped around her waist. “Even after you come back from the Imperial Palace, you can’t come to the North Palace or summon me.”

She added, and he opened his mouth to protest. Kassian, you can’t. I’ve already spent way too much time here and I can tell they are getting suspicious, especially Zen. Hopefully, they still think I plan to leave you and this place so, in order for them to stick to their original plan, we have to make sure nothing else changes.”

“I’m so sick of things getting in the way,” Kassian said quietly, burying his face in her neck and tightening his hold on her. “I am so close to just grabbing you and getting out of the Empire- somewhere where no one will find us. Then we might get some damn peace.”

“That sounds nice.” Raena chuckled.

Kassian pulled back to look at her, his dark eyes staring with such determination, she shifted awkwardly.

“After this stupid ball is over and we have bagged the Empress and those bastards, you’re mine. I don’t care if the Emperor is dying, or the sun is rising from the west, I will murder everyone that does as much as knocks on our door.”

“I thought you said I was already yours?” Raena laughed, enjoying the warm feeling that filled her chest as she held his gaze while his hand rubbed her back.

“Don’t get cheeky with me,” Kassian whispered in her lips right before kissing her eagerly. He broke the k**s earlier than she expected, and she watched him pull back with regret. “Promise me you’ll stay safe. You’re not allowed to get hurt, not even a little. And if that bastard touches you with even one finger, I’ll cut him to pieces.”

“I promise I’ll be fine” Raena assured him.

“l am not a damsel in distress that needs to be saved at every turn, Kassian. Have some faith that I can hold my own too.”

He sighed in surrender, getting up to his feet and setting her on hers. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, then grabbed her hand and led her towards the door. He didn’t say anything else, but she felt him release her fingers before stepping into the corridor.

Only Zariel and Gerrin were waiting outside, both quiet and lost in their own thoughts, until they saw them.

“You leave first, we’ll follow in a few minutes,” Kassian said to Gerrin, finally glancing down towards Raena. “Remember your promise.”

He whispered barely audible.

Raena nodded, then followed Gerrin, who had already taken the first few steps. They walked in silence, the only sound coming from his boots and the rustling of her dress. When they were almost at the North Palace, Gerrin abruptly stopped and Raena almost ran into him. She stepped away, watching him wearily, but he just stood there with a stiff posture before slowly turning to face her.

“May ask you a question, Your Highness?” He said suddenly.

“Sure.”

“Do you love him?” Raena blinked in surprise, trying to decide whether she should answer or not. Gerrin watched her with a dark expression, but no hostility. “Actually, that doesn’t really matter since he is already in love with you.”

He answered himself. “I’ll make you a promise, Your Highness, and I hope you won’t take it the wrong way.” He paused, looking down for a second.

“Kassian doesn’t trust people easily, nor does he open his heart to them. So l sincerely hope you’ll be kind enough to return his feelings and give him the happiness he deserves. I hope both of you to be happy, really. But if you break his heart or betray him, I will kill you with my own two hands – even if he kills me after that.”

Raena stared at him with a smile. Not that it was particularly pleasant to be threatened by yet, another person, but it was good to know Kassian had someone like him to watch his back. It made her less worried about what was to come.

Before she could say something, Gerrin bowed and turned his back on her.

“Let’s go, Your Highness.” He said again in his respectful tone. “You look like you could use Some rest.”