The characteristic blonde hair and amythest eyes were recognition enough for Vivian to shoot out of bed and fall into a curtsey. "Your Majesty, Your Highnessess, I apologise for the intrusion," she greeted, bent in a bow. Her limbs ached and her stomach churned but she maintained the bow with as much dignity as she could muster.
"It is quite alright, Vivian, you may rise. Even though we are Veronian Royalty, we are your debtors first," Queen Feelin grabbed her shoulders and raised Vivian to meet her pale blue eyes. Her dainty face contoured into a look of pity and sorrow as her eyes skimmed Vivian's tired features.
"We offer you our condolences," King Hart addressed her, "We couldn't make it to the funeral because of the Tri-kingdom blockade on Grimory road and sky."
"It's alright, you know my father wouldn't hold a grudge," Vivian smiled at him. Though his curly blonde head was bent and his amythest eyes looked down with evasion, she knew that he was being sincere through his tone and words.
"You poor thing, you must have suffered so much over there. Your father had been bedridden for three years...you brave little girl," Queen Feelin sobbed and pulled Vivian in a hug. She ran soothing hands over her back in order to relax her stiffened muscles. "It's alright now, you've made it. You can rest now."
Rest.
Vivian hadn't rested in three years. It felt like a foreign word to her.
At the Vermilion Estate, she was supposed to be on guard, every second of the day, she had to be wary of what her mother and brother might be plotting. As soon as her father contracted a mysterious incurable illness, the Royal Crown broke off her engagement with the Crown Prince. The boy she had grown up with suddenly disappeared out of her life when she needed him the most.
Medical bills pressed the treasury and neighbouring Land Lords turned their backs on her. Their ballroom still held galas every season but she would be locked in the unused pantry, kept away from the society, while her mother and brother gained support. Nonetheless, Vivian used the time to study and educate herself, hoping that one day she would be able to make it out.
But, it wasn't until an year ago, when she found her father's journal collection hidden away in his study, that she realised that Heath Vermilion's illness held more than what met the eye. She found his unsent letters to the Emperor and those of Veronia's King, addressing gratitude for saving their son's life and how they owed Lord Vermilion, "a favour of equal measure."
His journals were a collection of ten thick diaries that Vivian spent an year to memorize by heart, everytime her mother or her maids would lock her up. In his fifth diary, he wrote about Betty Baudelaire, her mother, and her suspicious activities at the Royal Trade Centre. He never got to investigate more because of the sudden illness and everything else he wrote in the latter diaries was about the Empire and its Management.
Coincidentally, when Vivian sent Allistor to investigate her mother's connections at the Royal Trade Centre, her father passed away the very next day. And before the land could consume his body, Betty reached Vivian first, like a maneater, ready to gnaw at her flesh and rip her apart.
Rest might be the only luxury Vivian couldn't afford with her wealth. Yet, in Queen Feelin's arms, the thought did not feel all that far-fetched. Maybe, if she could lean in more and capture the warmth of her body— maybe then she would finally be able to rest. She needed it. Even if there was so much to do. A little rest— she required it...
"We have food prepared for you. Join us for dinner. You've been asleep for a whole day," King Hart said as he patted Vivian's back, "You'll fall sick if you don't eat well, kiddo."
Vivian pulled back from Queen Feelin's hug, eyes widened with surprise. "A whole day?!" She questioned, rhetoric.
"Most of it," Queen Feelin smiled at her, "Let me introduce my kids to you," she held out a hand in front of the boy who was now lounging on a couch placed opposite to the bed.
He got up and placed his hand over his mother's as she introduced, "He's Prince Amaris Veronia, the one who got you here." Then, she directed her hand towards the girl who had been lounging beside him. She took her mother's hand and stood in front of Vivian. "She is Princess Relia Veronia, Amaris' twin," Feelin informed.
"My greetings to Your Royal Highnesses," Vivian curtsied again.
The twins had curly blonde hair and amythest eyes like their father but their faces were as daintly crafted as their mother's. Amaris stood tall and lean with soft features and a devious smile gracing his otherwise innocent face. Relia stood equally as tall as her twin but unlike his lean figure, she had curves in all the womanly places. Her siren eyes wandered over Vivian with scrutiny and her sharp features contoured in a look of disdain at the proximity of Vivian and her parents.
"You may rise," Relia ordered while Amaris said, "You do not need to curtsey at Veronia. You're the most important person here."
"Oh! I wouldn't dare, no no," Vivian waved her hands in a cross.
"You surely can," Queen Feelin patted her back, "I'll send a maid with new clothes. She'll guide you to the dinner table, yeah?"
"I am most obliged," Vivian curtsied, against her better judgement. Her honour was met with eyes full of resentment.
"We'll see you downstairs," King Hart cleared his throat and walked out, hopelessly shaking his head.
"If you do not consider us friends, just say so. No need to act so pathetic about it," Relia snapped and folded her hands against her chest as she followed her father.
Vivian gulped, eyes widened as she breathed out, "No, no, that's not what I meant—" to Relia's retreating figure but she was long gone.
"Don't mind her. She's a tusundere," Amaris grinned as he patted Vivian's head and jogged behind his sister, "Wait for me, pettiness!" He called behind her.
"My kids are bit handful. I would appreciate it a lot if you got along well," Queen Feelin grabbed Vivian's hands, "We will wait for you downstairs." She patted the back of her hands and passed her a smile as she too walked out.
Vivian sighed as she fell onto the bed. As kind as they had been, Vivian couldn't bring herself to ease up. She hadn't planned to stay at Veronia anyway so she did not ponder over it too much.
After dinner, Vivian got permission from the King to spend as much as she pleased from the Veronian treasury. She ordered the maids to buy her a phone and a high performance laptop. She used the laptop to breach into the Empire's population dataset from twenty-years ago and forged a birth of Azelie Darmier, a peasant girl from the Lowlands of Hester.
Then, she logged onto the website of the Imperial Academy, Academia Gradenia, and registered Azelie Darmier as a new student for the upcoming session's enrollment exam.
Lastly, she ordered herself some hairdye, coloured contacts, teeth tools and a whole new wardrobe.
While she waited for the examination, she spent her time in the Castle library revising study material about the Empire and the Academy. Amaris and Relia had been students at Academia Gradenia for a year now but Vivian couldn't go to them for help — owing to a lack of trust. Her plan could fall apart very easily if anyone with ill intentions got a whiff of it. The consequences would be quite deadly for her.
Academia Gradenia, also known as the Imperial Academy, was the hotspot of education and growth in the Valarez Empire. The royals attended it to build connections, learn management or research in order to grow their Kingdoms. The Nobels attended for similar reasons if not for finding themselves a Royal or a Higher Nobel partner for a marriage of convenience. Though Gradenia wasn't explicitly an academy for the rich and affluent, commoners were rarely able to snag a place for themselves.
Competition was always intense and no more than 10 commoners had been selected at a time to study at Gradenia. For, if a commoner was able to graduate with laurels, they would be awarded a land and title by the Academy — making them Nobility by default. That was also how the Vermillions had made a place for themselves in High Society.
And even without the Vermilion name backing her, Vivian knew it in her blood that she would be able to earn power enough to ruin her mother for good.
Though, her plans were met with surprising aide when an announcement was released by the Vermilion Household. A week into her stay at Veronia, Vivian Vermilion, the first daughter of Heath Vermilion, was declared dead.