Chapter 3

The grand and vast central chamber of Corbella Hall was dominated by a wide dining table. Emperor Urubasi sat at the head of the table, flanked by the empresses Matilda Beaubont Corbella and Roche Bahala Corbella. Next to Empress Matilda were her children, Nigel and Rose, and across from them sat Empress Roche and her own children: Deimos, Kaisan, and Daisy.

The emperor had taken two recognized wives—the empresses—and one unrecognized wife, fathering three princes and four princesses in total. The only children missing from this gathering were Roche’s daughter, Lily, and Melody, the unofficial daughter. Princess Lily’s absence was explained by the fact that she had married into a distant empire across the strait three years earlier. The problem was Princess Melody.

“Is there still no word from Melody?” Empress Roche asked, frowning.

A nearby servant bowed his head. “Not yet, Your Majesty.”

Deimos smirked. “She never does anything right. How dare she make Their Majesties wait?”

Already drained from the morning’s events, the emperor sighed and took a swig of water, attempting to quell his frustration.

At that moment, swift footsteps approached and the doors swung open without a knock. At some point, Melody had apparently sworn off knocking. “So sorry I’m late!” Her cheerful and carefree greeting collided with the tense atmosphere.

Deimos gave her a sarcastic sneer. “Late? You’re earlier than usual.”

“My sincerest apologies, I just nodded off. Oh, did you delay dinner because of me? How awful! Please, bring out the food, I’m absolutely starving!” Her rambunctious chatter was so disarmingly cheery that even the standing servants had to shake their heads.

Melody slipped into the chair a servant pulled out for her. Since the spots on Roche’s side of the table were occupied by her three children, Melody was always seated on Matilda’s side next to Princess Rose.

“Hi, Rose! You’re as gorgeous as always.”

Rose, who had been staring down at her glass of water, only nodded in response.

This kicked off a round of informal greetings. “Hello, Daisy! Your skin is absolutely glowing, just radiant! Good evening, Your Majesty! I can’t apologize enough for this morning. And good evening to you, Emperess Roche, I’m sure you’re famished. I’m sorry to make you wait. Oh, I saw your painting, it was marvelous! I’d love to display your next masterpiece in my quarters.”

Melody leaned past Rose to greet Matilda and her son Prince Nigel. “Good evening, Empress Matilda. Gosh, you look amazing, even from the side! What an elegant profile. And Prince Nigel, I just saw you this morning, yet here we are again, huh? The same to you, Kaisan. And...” Her words trailed off as she shifted her gaze to Deimos, eyes narrowing.

Deimos, freshly reminded of the morning’s events, made no attempt to conceal his animosity. “You just had to barge into the meeting this morning, not minding your place, and turn it into a complete disaster. Are you trying to make a joke out of the imperial family?”

Roche chimed in, echoing his sentiments. “I heard about what happened, Melody. The advisors’ meeting is for court officials only. Why did you cause such a fuss? I heard Deimos was expelled as well!”

Emperor Urubasi issued a soft warning. “That’s enough, everyone.”

I’m sorry, Father, but I can’t stop here. Melody leaned back slightly, enough to avoid her father’s gaze, and smirked at Deimos mischievously.

The silent taunt caused Deimos to explode in rage. “You’ve defiled the imperial bloodline! Only the heavens know what we’ve done to deserve this!”

The footmen serving the family jumped back in surprise.

“Enough!” the emperor roared in evident frustration. He gulped down the rest of his glass of water, looking utterly drained. Even as an emperor, enviable in every aspect, he found his children to be his greatest challenge. “Melody Corbella, if you dare set foot in the advisors’ meeting again, you’ll be confined to your chambers,” he stated without raising his eyes.

“Your Majesty!” she whined.

“Silence! I’ve tolerated your behavior for an entire year, but no more! I will no longer put up with your misbehavior. Have you taken any time to reflect on the trouble you caused today?”

Melody worried that her father might collapse at any moment from the stress. But there’s more I want to say... Her clear blue eyes shimmered with concern.

She lowered her head. After a few moments, she could hear the emperor’s breathing start to calm. She carefully listened to his breaths, then slowly raised her head to find him observing her quietly. Blinking a few times, she cautiously began her appeal. “So... What are you going to do about the royal marriage?”

“Leave.”

“Your Majesty!”

“I said go!” At his thunderous command, Melody sprang from her seat. He continued shouting. “Get out! You are not to meddle in official meetings ever again. And put aside any hopes of royal marriage. I will not overlook it if the topic is brought up again!”

Melody fled the room like a cat with its tail on fire.

“That lunatic is certainly not going to Izen,” Deimos muttered under his breath.

Outside the entrance to the grand chamber, Melody took one last glance back at her family. The storm that she had whipped up had left the family dinner in shambles. She quickly got going before the emperor could collapse, barely able to suppress a smirk.

* * *

After Melody’s departure, the emperor stated he was no longer hungry and stormed out, effectively canceling the dinner.

Empress Matilda returned to her family’s residence on the palace grounds, her expression particularly somber. “Rose, go and have your dinner. Nigel, stay. I need to talk with you.”

Nigel comforted the worried Rose, who was gazing at their mother in concern, and sent her away. He sat in front of the empress.

“You should eat something, Mother.”

“I’m afraid I’ve lost my appetite,” Matilda replied, leaning back in a plush chair and closing her eyes.

The Izen Empire had formally requested that their nations enter a marriage alliance, and Emperor Urubasi was not the type to refuse such a request. In fact, he seemed to actively support sending his daughters off to foreign empires. He was practically selling them off. Matilda wondered if he had ever considered the fate that awaited the girls, all alone in a distant land.

Izen was now the only nation left on the continent that could reasonably propose such an arrangement. It was doubtful that the Vladmir Kingdom’s dying monarch or the leader of the warlike Orsen Kingdom would approach Corbella with an offer of marriage.

The Izen Empire, where their people ride on the backs of the wild horses that roam their lands... Matilda shook her head. “I have long been aware that Izen might propose a royal marriage. If one of the princesses had to go, I thought it would have been Melody.”

Nigel and Matilda shared a knowing silence.

The empress shut her eyes tightly. Emperor Urubasi had scolded Melody in anger, forbidding her even to dream of a royal marriage. Even Matilda had to agree that Melody was hardly a suitable candidate. Sending a girl so volatile to cement their alliance would be political suicide. If Matilda was in her husband’s position, she would easily have dismissed the idea as well. That left only two options: Daisy, or her own daughter Rose.

“It will have to be Rose. My sweet Rose...” Empress Roche’s daughter, Princess Lily, was the oldest of all the girls and had already been married off to a distant continent across the straits three years before. Rose was a year older than Daisy, so based on their ages it was clear who would be next.

Matilda fought the overwhelming urge to cry. She rued how much Melody had changed.

* * *

Melody returned to her residence and immediately sought out her maid. “Claire, I need something to eat.”

“I’ve already made some sandwiches for you.”

Melody thanked her and sat at her desk, pulling out paper and a pen. Claire silently set the food beside her, taking a couple of steps back.

The faint smile vanished from Melody’s face. It was replaced by a serious look, making her closely resemble her mother, Gabrielle. She wrote down the princesses’ names in bold letters on the paper, adding their respective ages––Rose 22, Daisy 21, Melody 21. They were all of prime age to be offered up in a marriage deal.

Claire often told Melody that the emperor had no intention of selling the girls off, but Melody couldn’t agree. Even their names suggested it. The princes had been given the names of gods: Nigel, Deimos, Kaisan. But look at the princesses’ names—Lily, Rose, Daisy, Melody. They were like flowers and music, clearly meant to be decoration or entertainment. They were like precious goods waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.

With this in mind, Melody had been preparing for this day for the past three years. Her year-old habit of crashing the advisors’ meetings, started as an effort to make the name Melody Corbella infamous, was only part of a whole. When her half-sister Lily was sent away, she knew she had to begin meticulously charting her escape, scouting for potential husbands, and studying the palace’s power dynamics. Lily’s mother was an empress and had powerful connections on her side of the family, but that hadn’t been enough to save her from a royal arranged marriage.

Lily had wept the day before she left, her beautiful face swollen from crying as she departed the shores of the Corbella Empire. Back then, Melody had thought to herself: I’ll be next. I might be too young now, but when the prospect of a royal marriage is mentioned again in a few years, they’ll surely send me away as well.

Melody had no mother or even maternal relatives to step in and prevent such a marriage. She was as powerless as a princess could be, relegated to the most remote and modest residence on the Imperial Palace grounds and assigned only five maids.

If I can’t force them not to send me away, then I’ll make myself impossible to send. With determination flashing through her blue eyes, she had decided right then and there on what she had to do. She immediately began to chop off her curly hair.