Feelings in a Dream - Chapter 8

-Chapter 8-

‘Kaiden’s in the library? At this time? What’s going on?’

Lizen was startled. She quickly packed up her things and headed towards the door. Only then did she realise why there were so many female students. Everyone was gathering around to see Kaiden. Kaiden was rather popular among the female students. Lizen never understood why because she only had eyes for Daniel, but she could see why there were so many girls who liked Kaiden after getting a closer look at him in their dreams.

He was handsome, athletic, and intelligent. But he was also blunt and somewhat arrogant, yet at the same time, Lizen yearned to be in his embrace. For some reason, the more she looked at his eyes, the more they appeared to shine, and his black hair began to seem somewhat chic.

“What crazy thoughts are you having, Lizen Hakart?”

Lizen muttered to herself and trudged home. She’ll have to spend the next few days scouring the library, but what if she doesn’t find any clue to the antidote? She had a gut feeling that she wouldn’t find it and her expression gradually darkened.

If the library of the Royal College of Magic doesn’t have the answers Lizen is looking for, then there is only one other place to conduct in-depth research of reagents.

“Fortunately, Father has overcome the crisis. Now that his breathing has stabilised, he should be fine if he gets a good rest.”

Ametan’s 23rd king, Zeppeltan, was lying on his bed, his life hanging by a thin thread. Everyone sighed in relief upon hearing the calming words.

“I’ll be right by your side, Your Majesty.”

Queen Tessti sat proudly. She was still beautiful and slim even to this day, garnering the favour of King Zeppeltan. According to the law, a concubine cannot become a queen. However, Zeppeltan, who loved Tessti since they first began their relationship when he was still a prince, appointed Tessti as queen despite all forms of opposition from his officials.

“Alright, then we will leave first.”

William bowed his head politely and led his younger siblings out of the room. Shatin, one of Zeppeltan’s other concubines, was not present under the pretence of a cold. But everyone knew that she was simply hiding after being warned by Tessti not to stand out.

“I’m going to the drill hall.”

As soon as he left the king’s bedroom, Reuben, Tessti’s only son, spoke as if making a declaration. He then turned and walked down the hallway in the opposite direction. This wasn’t particularly surprising because he never spoke much to William, Daniel and Ashé. William sighed and slowly made his way back to his palace.

“Things like this are happening more often these days. I think Father’s condition is worsening.”

“That’s true. Either way, I’m glad Brother took good care of the affairs,”

Daniel said as he smiled at his reliable brother.

Due to the King’s worsening condition, William had been seeing to the majority of the political affairs. From a young age, William was always considered as a good right-hand man to the King due to his intelligence and good personality. During the King’s absence, he’d been meticulous and wise in dealing with political affairs, living up to the reputation he earned while growing up.

“This time, the degree of freedom with regards to taxes was increased. The response is really good. Everyone’s complimenting the change at school.”

Ashé agreed gently, and continued,

“Then, I should go look for my mum! She must be curious about the situation even though she couldn’t be here in person. You’ve worked hard, Brother William! See you tomorrow, Daniel!”

Ashé went running down the hallway, her straight red hair fluttering behind her. Unlike how she dressed  for school, she wore  a fancy dress. At school, she was able to live like an ordinary person, but in the royal palace, she was  just the daughter of a powerless concubine. Shatin was a foreign concubine that married the King for diplomatic purposes, and it’s speculated that she wasn’t very emotionally involved with King Zeppeltan. As an introvert with a timid personality, Shatin rarely came out of her palace. Only her daughter, Ashé, would go to and fro like a sparrow to ask about the latest news.

So only Daniel and William were left in the hallway. Both William and Daniel were the sons of the late Queen Suzanna, making them full brothers.

“Cheer up, Brother. Everything is as we expected.”

Daniel consoled, patting his brother on the shoulder.

Both of them had expected that the King would not live for much longer. This was only a repeat of something that had been happening since the beginning of the dynasty—the king dies, and his successor inherits the throne. William is the eldest son and from the main line of descent. People have praised him for being a competent right-hand man to the wise King and remarked that his position as heir to the throne was secure since he was young.

“It’s obvious that Tessti… She’s not going to just back down quietly… But there isn’t much she can do. I’ll be your strength. When the Imperial Princess comes, her presence alone will be a great symbol of power on your side.”

Tessti was a powerful woman of politics who held a considerable force of cabinet officials and aristocrats. Although she would be gaining power by becoming Queen Dowager, her desires were becoming easier to guess; it was every palace woman’s dream for their son to become king. In addition, ever since William and Reuben’s political opinions were vastly different, the number of officials on Reuben’s side was quite sizable.

Now, Reuben’s status had been promoted from that of a concubine’s son to being from the main line of descent, though there would be no legitimacy to that as long as William held out. For some reason, things didn’t seem like they’d go so smoothly, so Daniel immediately agreed when he was offered a political marriage with an Imperial Princess. No matter how independent a kingdom Ametan is, they have no choice but to be wary of the Empire that was founded by a war god.

“And when you become King…”

Daniel lowered his voice.

“I want you to re-investigate it.”

“…”

“You already know, the fire in the Western Palace.”

The former Queen Suzanna died in a fire while attending a banquet at the Western Palace. The incident was a complete catastrophe where over 100 people were unable to escape. But the entire incident was very odd. The King decided to promote Tessti to the position of Queen, stopping investigations at the same time. But doubt among the people began to grow as it was obvious who stood to gain the most from the incident.

“It will be difficult since it’s been a long time…”

Daniel continued in a whisper.

“There are still many victims. I feel the same way.”

“Alright.”

William nodded.

“But I wish Father would hold on for just a bit longer.”

His blue eyes that resembled that of Daniel’s sank calmly.

“I hope he’ll get to see you and Ashé graduate and get married.”

The quiet night at the royal palace deepened. In the King’s bedroom, Tessti stroked Zeppeltan’s rough face and muttered using the same tone as William.

“Please… hold on a little longer. You can’t go just yet…”

Over the next few days, Lizen would scurry to the library as soon as the bell rang and look through all the herbology books she could get her hands on. She felt like she was drowning and grasping at straws for help, but to no avail. Every night, she entered Kaiden’s dreams and would hide till morning if she could find a plausible hiding place. If there wasn’t such a space, Lizen would be stuck with Kaiden for the whole time. As time went on, she let loose since, after all, it was just a dream. She gradually became bolder and would initiate a kiss herself or caress the firm muscles along his back.

‘You’re not even trying to work off frustration. Just what the hell are you doing? Lizen, you’re so disgraceful.’

Lizen rubbed her eyes and averted her concentration onto a thick herbology book. She felt as if she were about to have a mental breakdown. Every day her eyes would chase after Daniel, and every night she would meet Kaiden in their dreams.

‘It’s all because of Kaiden. His subconscious is such a pervert. He gets like that even if we’re only together for a short while.’

She pouted. Deep down, she felt like she was the problem because, to her, that behaviour seemed normal for a guy his age. She had to find a solution one way or another before her dream self got any stranger.

“Lizen Hakart!”

The door of the quiet library burst open with a loud bang. Lizen looked up in surprise. She gasped as she found Kaiden staring right at her.

“Y-You…”

For a moment, Lizen seemed to stop breathing. There were hints of anger and confusion. All eyes were on her, after all, her name was called out in a quiet library. Lizen felt her heart drop and her legs tremble.

‘N-No way…’

He strode closer to her, who was as frozen as a block of ice. He ran so much that his white school uniform blouse was half drenched with sweat. Feeling stuffy, he loosened his tie slightly, stood right in front of Lizen’s seat, and grabbed the desk.

“K-Ka-Kaiden… Ca-Calm down…”

“Why did you write the Bureau of Herbology?”

Lizen, who was unable to get up from her seat due to her trembling legs, gulped as she was so surprised that she couldn’t answer. She groaned in disbelief.

“You said that Investigation was your first choice. Why did you write Herbology then?”

“I-I-Is that… why you came looking for me?”

Lizen let out a short sigh of relief as she felt her body slowly regain its strength.

‘Yeah, there’s no way I’d get caught.’

Only then did Lizen feel the eyes of everyone in the library on them. She jumped out of her seat and grabbed his wrist.

“Let’s go outside! Let’s go and talk outside!”