In the second week of the competition, Luna was feeling insecure.
Yesterday's elimination saw three of her "minions" sent home, and the upstart commoner, Guinevere—no, Anastasia—was gaining favor with the court.
Luna decided it was time to charm her way back into the Emperor's good graces.
She found him in the courtyard, where a guard had silently informed Azriel of her arrival.
"Your Majesty, it's been a while," Luna said with a sweet, practiced smile, sitting beside him on the stone bench.
Azriel didn't spare her a glance, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
"I've missed you so much," Luna continued, pressing a little closer.
Azriel didn't say a word; some days he was just like that, silently brooding in his power.
"Actually, I want your help with something. I want you to help me get rid of someone." Azriel finally looked at her, his dark eyes intense and cold.
"It's just that I want you to help me get rid of Guinevere."
The mention of the name snapped his attention fully to her.
"She pretends to be so righteous, but she's actually the devil," Luna spat, the mask of sweetness dropping.
"I want you to help me get her eliminated."
Azriel raised an eyebrow. "You want me to get rid of someone?" he finally spoke, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
"Yes."
Azriel took a slow sip from his wine.
"I don't have the power to eliminate someone if they worked diligently to secure their position," he said calmly.
"She didn't work hard for it; she just manipulated her way in order for her to stay. I even suspect she bribed the teachers," Luna insisted, digging her own grave.
"That's a strong accusation. Do you have evidence to back it up?" Azriel asked, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
"Not yet, but I will," Luna said with determination.
"You are violating the rule of no cheating," Azriel noted, the accusation hanging heavy in the air.
"You think I'll help you get rid of someone? Are you jealous of this person?"
"She wishes I were," Luna snapped.
"I know her too well to know when she's pretending. She claims to not want the throne but still fights hard to stay."
Azriel remembered what Anastasia had said to him: "I am only here because I don't have a freaking choice. It's either this or..." He wondered what the "or" was.
"Your Majesty, are you listening to me?" Luna asked, annoyed by his distraction.
"I don't have time for your girly games. Go sort this out yourselves," Azriel said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.
Later that afternoon, the girls were taken outside the main castle area. Each carriage stopped at a vast, open field.
"Today, you will be tested on how well you can work together and also trying hard not to die," Mrs. Harper announced, her voice flat.
Anastasia stepped out of her carriage, observing her environment.
The field was covered in grass but reeked of damp soil and the unmistakable smell of dead animal carcasses.
Far away, atop a raised platform, she noticed Azriel sat on a throne, watching them.
"May I have your attention," Mrs. Harper continued.
"The rule of this game is simple: whoever can survive or learn a moral lesson from today's friendly game wins a surprise."
Ladies whispered among themselves, nervous laughter echoing.
"Are you ready?" Miss Sunshine asked, a strange edge to her usually cheerful tone. There wasn't an audible answer.
"Release the lion," Mrs. Harper commanded.
"Wait, did she just say lion?" a lady asked, panic setting in.
A loud roar echoed across the field. Anastasia felt stuck; she didn't know why, but for some reason, this felt too familiar to her. Everyone ran for their lives.
Anastasia heard screams of girls being devoured. "What kind of a sick game is this!" Anastasia yelled, the horror of the situation finally settling in.
Luna hid behind a nearby tree, while others scrambled for non-existent cover.
A girl ran past Anastasia. Unconsciously, Anastasia's keen hearing picked up a faint click as the girl's foot landed on the ground.
"Gabriella, don't move!" Anastasia yelled. How was I able to hear the landmine when I wasn't close to her?
The lion circled around the field, momentarily distracted by the carcasses scattered about, beginning to eat them.
"Gabriella, you are stepping on a landmine; if you move, you'll die," Anastasia said, her voice urgent but calm.
Gabriella panicked, tears streaming down her face. "I can't... I don't want to die. Rita is dead, I don't want to die..." she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Hey, look at me," Anastasia commanded. "I'm not letting you die, I promise. How about we count sheep together?"
"Now?" she asked, bewildered.
"Yes. One sheep, two sheep." They both counted, Gabriella's voice shaky. Anastasia frantically searched for something, finding a heavy rock nearby.
"Ten sheep, eleven sheep, twelve sheep, thirteen sheep," Gabriella continued, her voice trembling less.
Anastasia weighed the rock in her hand and looked at Gabriella. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
Anastasia slowly placed the rock on the landmine, pressing it down hard. "Take your foot off slowly."
Gabriella obeyed. The moment she pulled her leg away, Anastasia pushed the mine, using her weight to activate it.
"Run, hide now!" Anastasia yelled to her. Gabriella ran, leaving Anastasia all by herself.
"What am I doing? The plan was to remain a ghost, now they'll all think I'm seeking attention again. I couldn't watch her die. I wasn't able to save everyone, but at least I saved one person," Anastasia thought to herself.
Another roar interrupted her thoughts. The lion had finished its meal and spotted Anastasia.
"Shit," Anastasia cursed. It charged toward her.
"This is where I finally die and end this suffering," she accepted her fate.
Azriel, who sat on his throne far away, silently begged Anastasia to run for her life.
Why is she just standing there? Why did she take the girl's place?
The lion was so close to Anastasia. "My life was fun while it lasted," Anastasia said, a bitter smile on her lips.
"Guinevere, no!!!" Charles yelled from the observation area.
She let go of the pressure on the mine just as the lion reached her. The explosion was massive.
Anastasia slowly opened her eyes. Her ears were ringing, a high-pitched whine drowning out all other sound. She could see the shredded remains of the lion scattered across the field.
She was alive.
Her hands were bandaged when she finally woke in the infirmary. She tried to sit up, groaning in pain.
"What happened?" Anastasia asked. Hannah hugged her with tears in her eyes.
"Not too tight," Anastasia winced.
"What were you thinking?" Hannah asked, pulling back.
"I'm sorry, I don't know. My mind wasn't in the right place," Anastasia said weakly.
"You could have gotten yourself killed!" Hannah cried.
"That was the goal," Anastasia whispered, sighing.
"I just wanted to die. I wanted to end my misery, my pain, and be free. Why am I awake?" she asked with tears in her eyes.
"What?" Hannah asked in confusion.
Anastasia looked away, a deep shame filling her.
"You deliberately took her place just to end your life?" Hannah was speechless, a look of profound betrayal on her face.
Mrs. Harper and Miss Sunshine entered the room.
"Excuse me," Hannah muttered stiffly, leaving the room. Anastasia was aware that her confession had broken Hannah, but it was the truth.
She no longer wanted to live; she craved the final peace of death.
"We are here to apologize; we had no idea there was an active landmine in the area,"
Miss Sunshine said, her cheerfulness replaced by guilt.
"If you knew, would that have made a difference?" Anastasia asked.
That question left both women stunned into silence.
"I didn't do it just so I could be praised or rewarded," Anastasia said, her voice hollow.
"I did it because that was the right thing to do. Anyone in my shoes would have done the same."
"You're covered in bruises. The Emperor sends his regards," Miss Sunshine said, clearly uncomfortable with Anastasia's honesty.
Anastasia remained quiet. "Who saved me?" she asked.
"Prince Charles was the one who brought you here so the royal physician could attend to you," Mrs. Harper said.
"The physician said that you were lucky the explosion didn't hurt your face," Miss Sunshine added.
Anastasia looked at both her bandaged hands. "It hurts like crazy," Anastasia whispered in a tiny voice.
"The physician left an ointment you can apply three times a day," Miss Sunshine said.
"We shall take our leave now; you need to rest." Mrs. Harper and Miss Sunshine left the room.
Anastasia sat on her bed, replaying the events of today. She broke down in tears.
"What was I thinking? Why did I play hero? Why am I the only one now suffering for the kindness I showed? My life sucks."
She stood by a mirror. "I look like a mummy out of its catacomb," Anastasia whispered. She grabbed a long scarf to hide her hands and went to look for Hannah.
Anastasia found Hannah in the palace kitchen, attempting to scrub the dried mud from her dress.
The air between them was heavy with unspoken words and the sting of betrayal.
"Can we talk?" Anastasia asked softly, standing in the doorway.
Hannah didn't turn around. "I don't have the right to refuse my lady."
"You don't need to say that," Anastasia said, wincing at the cold formality.
Hannah finished wringing out a rag and stepped outside the kitchen, leading Anastasia through the winding corridors until they reached an abandoned, forgotten section of the castle grounds—a dilapidated building that offered privacy.
Anastasia leaned against a crumbling stone wall, the cool stone a comfort to her bruised back.
"Annie, I'm sorry," Anastasia whispered. "I wasn't thinking."
Hannah faced her then, her eyes hard. "Why? Because that's the truth?"
Anastasia couldn't look her in the eyes, guilt gnawing at her.
"That wasn't my intention at first. I tried helping her before thinking about ending my life."
"Why? Why do you think you can save everybody, Anastasia?" Hannah asked, her voice cracking with frustration.
"Because no one ever tried to save me," Anastasia confessed, the pain of a lifetime rising to the surface.
"Because I know what it's like to be helpless. Begging others to save you, but they end up spitting on your face."
"Anastasia, that doesn't mean you'll be able to save everyone," Hannah said, softening slightly.
"I know," Anastasia whispered.
"But I was only trying to save a soul, even if I watched five others killed today. Annie, I don't want to wake up every morning knowing I would never have power or will over my own life." The admission hung in the air, dark and heavy.
Hannah stepped forward, the anger fading, replaced by fierce loyalty. She cupped Anastasia's bruised cheeks gently.
"I'll always be by your side, no matter what happens."
"Annie, please, I can't drag you into my mess. You have a lot ahead of you; I can't tie you by my side," Anastasia pleaded.
"I'm already entangled in your mess, whether you like it or not, Anastasia," Hannah said firmly.
A small, fragile light entered Anastasia's eyes. "I will never be reckless any longer, because I have you."
They shared a silent understanding, a bond forged in misery and reaffirmed in the quiet courtyard. Together, they returned inside the castle walls.
Later in the evening, Charles found Azriel in his study, a place Azriel retreated to when the court became too much to bear.
"I was informed Guinevere is awake," Charles said casually, pouring himself a glass of wine.
"Who?" Azriel asked, pretending not to know her name, though the memory of her defiance and that strange, powerful voice lingered in his mind.
"The girl from the explosion today," Charles specified.
"That's good," Azriel said flatly, returning to his paperwork.
"Don't you know her name?" Charles asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Charles, there are about a hundred and ten ladies in my castle; how do you expect me to know them by name?"
Azriel countered, annoyed by his brother's persistence.
"You are so tiring," Charles sighed.
Azriel cleared his throat, the memory of that gentle, aching voice from the garden surfacing.
"Do you know a girl named Anastasia?"
"No," Charles flatly replied. "I mean, maybe one of the ladies might bear the name," he conceded.
"Why are you curious about this person?" Charles asked, mirroring Azriel's earlier question.
Azriel recalled his venture yesterday. He'd received a letter from his younger sister, pleading with him to retrieve an abandoned item from her former home.
While there, he'd heard voices from a secluded area of the estate.
"Why? Why do you think you can save everybody, Anastasia?" a worried voice had asked.
The reply, gentle yet steeped in agony, had stayed with him:
"Because no one ever tries to save me, because I know what it's like to be helpless. Begging others to save you but they end up spitting on your face."
Azriel could feel the pain behind that gentle voice. Zain had approached him then, whispering something urgent in his ears.
Azriel had to attend to the issue at hand, but when he returned, the speakers were gone. It felt like a hallucination, but that gentle voice couldn't have been a dream.
"Hello? Earth to Azriel," Charles snapped his fingers.
"Find out who this Anastasia is," Azriel commanded, his dark eyes hardening with renewed purpose.