___

The dinner with the Empress and Klydeur was a first. We never had a meal together so I wasn't comfortable. However, the tension around us got more suffocating when Eldest joined us.

With Jamie and the other maids serving the meals for dinner, all four of us are all seated in our respective seats. With the Empress on the middle, me and Klydeur on the left, and Eldest sitting alone in the right side.

She's tapping her fingers on the long dining table impatiently as her bored golden eyes stared down at the utensils infront of her.

Klydeur and I are calmly seated in our seats, but I'm busy assessing which fork, spoon or knife I should use. There's many sets and I don't even know what to use!

The Empress herself is the living proof of calmness. Ofcourse, she knows what to do with everything. Etiquette must be the one of the many things she's good with. I need to learn more about etiquette aside from greeting other nobles.

Silence. No one among us dared to speak, not even the talkative Eldest. Her mood must be really bad today. Klydeur also didn't have anything to say, and I don't have the guts to compliment the Empress and be a mama's boy infront of these people. I've had enough embarassment to survive.

The moment the meals are served until it reached the point where we finished our meal, no one still dared to talk. Really, what a wonderful dinner. But what matters is I managed to use the proper utensils and calmly sliced the steak, tho my hands are trembling since both Eldest and the Empress stared at me with squinted eyes.

While Klydeur himself had fun in using a fork and just ate the steak in one go. He earned a disgusted look from Eldest while the Empress paid him no mind.

I sighed as I remained seated in my seat. The dining table has been wiped clean by the maids already, so I wonder why we still aren't leaving?

"How's the war doing?" The Empress broke the defeaning silence with a question that didn't make sense to me and Klydeur.

Well, I have an idea about it but I didn't know that a war occured.

I don't know she asked the question to, but then Eldest answered. "Half-half. We can't win if they always fall back and went astray."

"I doubt it."

"So do I. Maybe someone is fabricating the news and we'll end up losing the war."

"Tell them to play it safe. If they look down on the enemy, it will drag them lower."

"Noted."

I squinted my eyes as I tried to understand what they are saying. But it doesn't make sense. Whose falling back? Who went astray? Who fabricates the news? Who'll lose the war?

Are they trying not to be specific because Klydeur and I are here? No, I don't think so. If they don't want us to know, they wouldn't even bring up this topic in our presence.

I looked at Eldest who crossed her arms, leaning her back in the chair. I then glanced at the Empress, who glanced back at me. I suddenly felt uneasy, her silver eyes pierced through my soul, and I trembled at the sight and familiar feeling.

This was what I felt in that dream where she had me executed.

Klydeur seems cluelessly sitting beside me, his eyes glancing from me, to Eldest then to the Empress. But his silver eyes seemed different to me.

"Oh, the princes must be clueless about what were talking about." Eldest stated the obvious with a grin. "Apologies. Maybe we can talk about the war some other day? There's still a long way to go for the war to end."

The Empress sighed. "Alright." As if on cue, we all stood up from our seats.

Klydeur and I bowed down to her before taking our leave, with Jamie escorting us back to our rooms. I promptly glanced back, only to see Eldest looking at me. I don't know, but it somehow warned me about something.

Whatever it is, I'm just hoping it is nothing serious.

~*~

Months passed and my daily life didn't change much. Eldest started to return to her usual self, being sassy and all. The discussion with her as my tutor went smoothly than I thought. She didn't just taught me about the nobles and nobility, she also taught me every etiquette lessons that I need.

To be honest, it wasn't easy. She's a perfectionist, and whenever I made a simple mistake, she'll give me a stare and tell me to do it again from the start. I can only look at her in disbelief.

Seriously, why do I have to study so hard like this? I'm too young for all of this!

"Age doesn't matter," she retorted once when I protested. "If you don't start learning now, what can you do when you grow up?"

And so I had no choice but to stuff all those even bigger books in my head.

"Eldest, can I ask a question?" I lifted my head up to look at her whose busy using magic.

She glanced at me momentarily before raising a brow. "You're already asking." An irk mark probably appeared in my forehead but she chose to ignore it.

"About the war," I stated, making her stop from what's she doing. "It was already months ago, but I'm still curious. What war was it?"

Crossing her arms, she tilted her head on the side. "It's nothing. Don't bother."

I stared at her and her position, before speaking again. "Why are you in the defensive then?"

With squinted eyes, Eldest stared at me. "What do you mean defensive?"

"My previous tutors told me that if someone is crossing their arms in a conversation, they are defensive in a specific argument." I raised two fingers. "Maybe because you don't want me to know more about the war, or because you don't want to have me involved in a political mess."

"Ha." Eldest scoffed as she leaned back into the couch. "For a 6 year old kid like you, the way you talk reminds me of an adult scholar whose so curious about almost everything."

"And so do you." I pointed out with a frown. "I bet you and the Empress is trying to say something about the war."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we did talked about it in both you and your brother's presence. But you don't need to get involv—"

"Is it because of the Arhams?"

Silence. For the first time, Eldest was at a loss for words. Even I didn't expect this to happen.

Arhams. They are those who came third in position in the Empire. If there's the Imperial Family and the Sacred Temple, there's also the Magician Tower of the Arhams. They call those skilled magicians as Arhams, but it's a bit different.

These Arhams were actually living beings who were tainted with forbidden magic. They were obedient to the Imperial Family ages ago to find a cure that bind them from a forbidden magic, but something snapped that made them went astray.

I had a hunch that the war started to dispose of them, since the Master of the Arhams recently found out how to use forbidden magic. Black magic to be specific.

The Empress is trying to get rid of the useless pieces on the chessboard, but by necessary means of using them against an enemy. The war pushed them into the cliff and they had no other choice but to jump from it. Meaning to say, they decided to fall back from war and try to get rid of the Caners.

They took the risk and tried to calculate it, and so did the Empress from scheming all that to happen out of a single war. And she nailed it, she didn't suck at math!

Althou my memories are vague about this life of mine, I remember the fact that she used the Arhams against the Caners. She actually hit two birds with one stone. And—

I blinked my eyes, glancing back at Eldest. Her stare pierced through my soul, her expression tells me that she's wary of me. As if she can't believe she saw something unpredictable. "You know too much." She blurted out, sighing as she massaged her temple.

"Then was it true?"

"Do you expect me to deny it?"

"No—" before I can finish my sentence, someone unrespectfully barged into the room. Eldest and I both glared at the person who went in.

I should have locked the door.

"Greetings, crown prince."

~*~

While waiting, you may try to read my fanfic stories about and . You can check them out in my profile. Titled:

• Reincarnated in a Fictional World | KnY.

• No Hero | Weak Hero