CASSANDRA: The Unfavored Princess-Chapter 47: Every Single Detail

Duke Salvador knew how afraid Cassandra was in general.

She was someone who usually avoided dangerous things, such as himself.

"Anything unusual happened in the Palace?" Aiden asked as if he was getting a report on an everyday matter but Blazh knew that it was something else.

Blazh was the one who had helped the fifth Princess when she was injured under the Duke’s command. And soon after he saw the Duke dancing with her, Blazh knew then that the Princess was a unique existence to the Duke.

The murderous man who never kept anyone in his gaze was interested in someone for the first time. But wasn’t it something unusual? Something that the soldiers would never imagine.

But soon Blazh understood that the Princess was not normal. Blazh was the one stationed to observe her at all times in the palace and although the Princess was usually quiet and kept things only to herself, the things happening around her were anything but ordinary.

"The Empress had called for the fifth Princess .." Blazh knew what the Duke wanted to hear. He was an observant man. Although he was the healer in the army, he was also a hidden informant. The one who was friendly to everyone and looked liked the harmless type but was the most dangerous.

"Empress called for her? Why?" Duke Salvador asked as he raised his eyebrows. His fingers tapped on the table as he was deep in thoughts.

’Why would the Empress call the fifth Princess?’

In between the Emperor and the Empress, the one who pulled the strings in the palace was the Empress. She was responsible for the deaths of many royals over the years but was never caught. If one had no evidence, then one was free to wander around without any worry. The Empress was the best example of it.

It was an open knowledge that the Empress was trying to make her own children the next heir to the throne, and so far she had succeeded to make her son the Crown Prince. But in the Elvira Empire, only the scheming could not make a person the Emperor. They need to have the power. The power to control all the four elements but till now the Crown Prince can only control two.

’What does the fifth Princess have to do with the Empress?’

’Is the Empress planning to kill the fifth Princess?’

’Does she find the fifth Princess a threat?’

Duke Salvador could not understand the motive behind the Empress. "Did the Empress call for her after the engagement was approved by the Emperor?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Blazh was silent for a few seconds. He had no idea what the Duke was thinking anymore. But Blazh had to answer to the best of his knowledge. "No, she called for the fifth Princess before the Princess met Lord Bentham."

"She met Achard?" Duke Salvador’s gaze widened. He could not understand why the Princess would meet with the Lord after meeting the Empress.

’Is she planning something?’ That was the first question popping into Duke Salvador’s mind. The timing was too convenient. Was it all the fifth Princess doing? But soon Aiden ruled the possibility out.

Although Duke Salvador found out that the fifth Princess was mostly always in deep thoughts and sometimes unattentive as she looked at a distance. Duke Salvador could sense that the fifth Princess was hiding something but did not know what.

"Tell me everything from the start." Duke Salvador commanded. His hands formed a fist as his nails dug into his skin.

Although Blazh had kept a check on the fifth Princess, he only had to inform the Duke if anything major happened. And so far he could not find anything out of the ordinary, so Blazh never reported such things to the Duke.

’Maybe I made a mistake.’ Blazh thought as he took a deep breath to control his heavily beating heart. His gaze had caught onto the bulging nerve on the Duke which made Blazh nervous.

"The Empress had called for the fifth Princess a few days prior. I don’t know the exact content that they talked about but what I know is that the Empress wanted the fifth princess to get married soon."

Blazh looked at the Duke before he continued. "She will let every princess get married off before she plans the marriage of the first Princess with you."

Blaze looked up at Duke Salvador whose eyes were burning red like an angry dragon. He could sense the resentment into his master’s mine thus he swallowed hard and continued.

"As for what the rumor says, the Empress had allowed the fifth princess to decide on her own marriage. If the fifth princess had someone she liked the Empress would be happy to accept the union but if the fifth princess had no one in particular on her mind, then the Empress would be the one arranging for the Fifth Princess’s marriage soon."

Aiden was quiet as his face became darker. ’They haven’t given up on my marriage yet.’ He thought.

Duke Salvador’s eyes narrowed as he asked. "So the Empress chose Lord Bentham?"

Blaze shook his head and denied. "No, when the princess left the Empress palace she ran into Lord Bentham and Duke Bentham along her way. It was then that Lord Bentham decided to drop the Princess off but ended up having tea with her. Soon they both came to the conclusion that it would be best for them to get engaged."

After listening to Blazh’s explanation, Duke Salvador understood the whole situation. The fifth Princess wanted to avoid the Empress and Achard wanted to avoid the succession conflict. It was a union with mutual benefits.

Aiden’s fingers rhythmically tapped on the table. His tone suddenly turned low. "So are you saying that the marriage proposed was from Lord Bentham’s side?"

Blazh nodded his head. "Yes, the Lord proposed the union first and soon the Duke went to the Emperor to get it approved."

Duke Salvador’s stiff face turned dark. His lips raised up as he said. "I understand. You can leave now."

Before Blazh could take a breath of relief, Duke Salvador’s harsh voice continued. "But remember, you have to report every single detail about the fifth Princess from now on. No matter who she meets or what she eats."

Blaze found it very unusual for the Duke to use such a tone but he know why the Duke was behaving like this. Blazh himself was a little confused about the princess. Although Blazh had not told it to anyone, he himself was trying to understand the princess’s situation, but yet he could not find anything.

"I understand, Master." Blazh nodded before he bowed his head and left to study.

Aiden was smiling at the space. He was contemplating whether he should have a talk with his good friend, Lord Bentham.

’Why do you want to sacrifice to make your younger brother the future Duke?’

Aiden asked as he thought about Lord Bentham.

’Why decide to marry her?’

’Unless ...’

Duke Salvador looked towards the closed door of the study. He still remembers how Lord Bentham took the fifth Princess away from the mansion. It was a very conflicting feeling for him, something that the Duke had never experienced before, but Aiden could not pinpoint the reason why it was happening.

All he knew about was that he had to understand the situation from the start. Duke Salvador’s mind was trying to come up with a theory of its own.

The reason why he was feeling so low was that if Achard Bentham marries the fifth Princess, won’t his one and only source of information of forbidden knowledge be gone forever? What if Lord Bentham refused to let the princess come in for help like he did today? Can the Duke forcefully take someone else’s wife into his mansion? Of course not.

Aiden knew that things were not in his favor. Making Achard Bentham the husband of the fifth Princess was something he needed to avoid. Although he trusted his friend, Duke Salvador also knew that Achard was a man who did not like to share.

If Lord Bentham knew that the fifth Princess had such valuable knowledge, he would try to have her all to himself. After all, the Lord was greedy for knowledge. He always wanted to learn something new. He was obsessed with the feeling of being the one who was a know-it-all.

’I have to take things in my hand.’ Duke Salvador thought.

A smile formed on Aiden’s face as he could imagine the princess’s frightened face.

’She will try to avoid Achard as well.’

’Who cares if they were engaged. A scared Princess can never be a happy fiancée.’

Duke Salvador thought back at the fifth Princess’s face. Her eyes usually twinkled when she was nervous as she played with her finger, trying to cool herself down. She was not like any regular lady who was crazy for him. In reality, the fifth Princess was the one who was trying to avoid him at every turn, and yet he did not know why he was so bewitched to go near her.

"Let’s meet the Princess soon."