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"You will marry me."

Over the next several days, Kel's life began to change immensely.

In addition to securing Mevani as the newest province of the Serin Empire, news of the Dragon Emperor's official selection of a fiancé had begun circulating.

Preparations were already underway for a lavish engagement ceremony, which would take place in the newly conquered province before the Emperor and his army proceeded southward to Pandreia.

On the surface, the ceremony was simply what it appeared to be, but the extravagant event was really the Emperor's last offer to the rest of the continent to stand down.

Of Vitocia and Pandreia, the two remaining free kingdoms, officials who wished to surrender peacefully to the Dragon Emperor and negotiate their provincial governance on their own terms would attend with many gifts for the happy couple.

If either kingdom did not attend, they would soon find the armies of Serin at their doorstep.

As Kel was whisked away in the busyness of it all, she seldom had time to stop and think.

During the rare moments she found herself alone in a quiet place, however, she couldn't help but wonder if, in a life full of choices she didn't get to make, this was just another cage.

Did she want to be the Empress?

Probably not.

But did she want to marry Calix?

She couldn't give herself a straight answer.

Despite the turmoil in her heart, preparations marched on, with Kel getting ready to appear for the first time not as Adriell or a soldier, but as herself.

As Keliyah.

With long golden hair and a strange, fiery gift.

I should have cut this cursed 'long golden hair', Kel grumbled to herself as maids tugged a comb through her tangled locks.

She recognized them from having served her when she lived in the palace before. Evidently, they'd chosen to submit to the new ruler and keep their jobs.

"Urk!" Kel grunted at a particularly sharp tug.

"Sorry, Your Highness," the woman holding the comb offered half-heartedly.

Of course they'd feel bitter toward Kel.

They weren't just maids she knew, they were maids that had served Adriell as well.

In their eyes, Kel must have seemed like the one who betrayed the other.

Kel sighed, her mind drifting to thoughts of her old friend.

With the old king's condition, they probably hadn't traveled very far yet--maybe not even to the border. No doubt, the trio had heard news of the Dragon Emperor's engagement, and if they didn't already realize who the chosen woman was, they soon would.

Did they think of her as a traitor too?

Not that it should concern her what three people who willingly threw her away (though Dash did his best to bring her back) thought of her.

Urgh. Kel frowned as the comb pulled too harshly against her hair yet again.

In her poor attempts at expressing her distaste, the maid seemed to overlook entirely that, with a single word, Kel could have her thrown into the streets.

Not that Kel had any desire to abuse her position that way.

But, on the other hand, if Calix ever caught wind of a maid purposefully causing his fiancé pain..

Well, maybe it was better for her to do something, after all.

"Put it down."

Kel mustered her most imposing princess voice from years of training in the palace.

"Excuse me?" the maid continued brushing.

"I said, stop," Kel repeated.

Hesitantly, the woman pulled back from Kel's hair, exchanging glances with the two other maids standing by.

The gesture only made Kel angrier.

"Get out," she ordered, staring at the maid through the mirror.

"Uh?" The woman looked genuinely confused. "I was ordered to brush your hair, so I'll leave when I've fini-"

"No, you'll leave now," Kel interrupted, doing her best to maintain a dignified face.

It felt strange to be acting this way, but if she didn't set any boundaries now, she could never hope to receive respect.

And, for better or worse, right now she was in a position that required immense amounts of respect.

"Ugh, seriously!" The woman hardly tried to mask her irritation. "Why are you acting like this all of the sudden?"

"I won't ask you to leave a third time. I'll leave that to the guards."

Kel refused to give the unruly maid the satisfaction of stooping to her level. Obviously, the woman knew why Kel was dissatisfied with her brushing. There was no need to say it.

The woman's face turned red while she bit her lips. Finally, with a scoff, she threw the comb into the hands of the maid next to her and stomped out of the room.

In the end, I couldn't stop her from disrespecting me, Kel thought sullenly.

No.

It was fine.

This was just the start.

Slowly, over time, she'd get better at this.

Better at.. acting like an empress.

Deep down, had she already accepted her fate? Was the indecision plaguing her thoughts nothing but her overthinking?

Ah.

Through the mirror, she made eye contact with the maid that had been given the comb. She was standing uncertainly, fidgeting with the hair tool.

There would be time for Kel to sort out her tangled mind later.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Y-yes? Oh, nothing, Your Highness," the woman stumbled toward her and quickly resumed the task of brushing her hair.

At this rate, it'd be easier to just brush it myself, Kel snorted to herself, closing her eyes.

If Calix heard of the incident with the maid, he never spoke of it. Such a trifling event had no place in a busy Emperor's attention, but still, Kel thought that when it came to her, the man tended to overreact.

"Does it mean he trusts me?" Kel wondered aloud as she lay in bed.

Though Calix had been stubborn about it, his officials had finally convinced him to give his fiancé her own room.

"Either he isn't watching me as closely as before or he thinks I made the right decision.." she mused, rolling to the side.

She couldn't say the treatment from the maids had improved since the episode, but there had certainly been less hair pulling.

Would it have been better to do something drastic in order to strike fear in their hearts? That certainly seemed like something the Emperor would have done.

Maybe it was yet another sign that she wasn't cut out to be anything like an Empress.

Not that she could run away from it now.