Cornered

Mei Ruan: April 19th, 20XX

“YOU WISH TO CANCEL THE ENGAGEMENT?”

I held back a wince as her high-pitched voice pierced through my eardrums and shocked my senses awake.

Her thin and pale fingers gripped so tightly around the parchment I momentarily worried that she would accidentally rip it to pieces. But, then again, I wouldn’t be held accountable for it, so I didn’t particularly care. I’d already gotten the information I needed from it and a backup recording for future study.

“I’m not too fond of repeating myself, Esmeralda. This engagement… Is impossible.”

“General Ruan! you can’t-”

I cut her off with an irritated tone. I wouldn’t have come all the way to the castle if it wasn’t something unsurpassable, so being talked to like I was a troublesome guest was irritating to hear.

“I’m not fond of being told what I can and can’t do, either, Esmeralda. But, you already knew that I’m sure. You seem to know a lot about me, perhaps more than I know about myself.”

Her wings broke their regular tempo and temporarily became erratic as she processed my cryptic words. Then, finally, she opened and closed her eyes in long and slow movements as she reached for another plan.

“G-general Ruan. I’m not too sure what you mean by that. Of course I have done my research into you and your family. It is but a facet of my duty as the late queen Belpheobe’s aide.”

She spoke well and attempted to use her station to intimidate me out of pursuing the line of questioning I had opened, but it looked like she had gotten too accustomed to being one of the most influential people in the room.

Since she planned on ignoring what had happened the day before, when I first met the prince, then I had absolutely no reason to watch my actions.

Well, even if she brought up the events of yesterday, I wasn’t planning on stopping and letting her off. Especially with the audience I had somehow garnered, I needed to put on as best of a show as possible.

“Does actively exposing the prince to harm count as a ‘facet of your duties? Or was that more of a personal endeavor?”

My voice was stiff as I employed the heavy amount of sarcasm and tried to control my fury.

It was impossible for the previous queen’s aide to not have known what would have happened yesterday. It also explained why they left me alone with the prince so easily.

I’d been out of my mind when I’d sent them off, but it made little sense that I hadn’t received even a single complaint of propriety.

The only kinks in my theory were the Gagnon sister’s actions, but Esmeralda’s guilty status was indisputable regardless of how that worked out.

I slowly drew out my wand and casually twirled it between my fingers. Its battle-worn wood and ornaments clashed against the grand and elegant table it rested on.

“See Esmeralda. At first I couldn’t understand and I was overcome with feelings of guilt, anger, frustration. Why hadn’t I looked more into the royal’s impact before heading over to the palace? Why had I let my arrogance and greed for the throne cloud my judgement as much as it did? I thought it over again and again as I looked through this space.”

Esmeralda’s eyes darted about even more frantically as she searched for an escape route, but I ignored her and continued to talk. Even if she tried to escape, it wasn’t like she would get far.

“Well, I found the answer on why I had behaved as I did and since I planned on voiding my claim to an engagement, I didn’t plan on investigating more than I already had-”

I got out of my chair, intending to do something more threatening, but that was enough to scare Esmeralda back by a few feet.

She was more cautious than her reckless plan would have led me to expect but seeing that only confused me and put me in a worse mood. Esmeralda was a half-witch, and her fairy mother had been no higher than a baron. So it made sense for her to fear me as she did now, but it contradicted the insolence she’d used to scheme against the prince and I.

“But then it occurred to me. Why was I allowed to get as far as I did? Even if I was ignorant of what happened when an individual with high magic perception meets with royalty, there is no way that Esmeralda did not? Did she have such Faith in the General of the Ruan clan? To the extent of taking his guards out of the room? Or-”

I withdrew a dagger from my boot and flung it in her direction. She wildly flung her wand about as she tried to deflect the attack, but froze like a paralyzed vermin when she registered the hilt of the deeply planted weapon, mere inches from her face.

The frightened expression on her face did little to alleviate my anger, but hopefully, I wouldn’t be stopped when I went further.

“- was this your plan all along? Using me as a puppet to act in whatever play you wished to act out?”

She shook her head as quickly as she could, causing her elaborate updo to fall out of place, and desperately justified herself, realizing that her life depended on her following answer.

My previous actions and thoughts aside, I was still a loyal citizen of the Queendom before I was a member of the Ruan clan.

For someone to dare attempt to harm the prince was a grave crime in my eyes. This even included me.

But to use me as the weapon...

Well, such actions only came at the price of a debt that had to be paid in blood.

After dealing with Esmeralda, I would have to surrender control of my army to the crown and merge with the royal family for the next few centuries. However, I had confidence in my skills and my potential value as a royal general.

I would also convince Aruna to swear loyalty to the crown in a grand ceremony. Something flashy enough to show the Ruan clan’s support of the royal family. Hopefully, this would also be enough to take Aruna under the protection of the crown.

The thought of having Aruna take my place in this marriage crossed my mind, but she was much too immature for the position of the queen. Malicious plotters would rip her to shreds before she could even warm the throne’s seat. As well, she already had affections for someone else, so I couldn’t force her into the palace. Empathy as an elder sister aside, I couldn’t bear the risk of her stepping out on the prince when she got too tired of carrying a duty.

Well, these plans were contingent on the prince not ordering my head cut off or my wings ripped off my back.

“G-General Ruan! Please calm down! I knew, to a degree, that you had a talent for magic perception, but I didn’t think that it was that strong! I knew you would feel an attraction to his highness but considering that the Gagnon sisters are fine-”

Lillian phased behind Esmeralda and locked both of the green fairy’s wings into her back. Then, she did the same with her arms and violently handled all four limbs, effectively immobilizing the green fairy. Lillian’s magic wasn’t the most powerful, but she was miles better than Esmeralda, who wasn’t familiar with combat magic.

I’d hinted around too much already, and I could sense our audience growing impatient. She insisted on playing dumb, so it was up to me to rip up the truth like a bandaid.

“You’re a significant number of things, Esmeralda, but I know you aren’t an idiot. Of course, the prince would not affect the two royal aides since Belpheobe sealed their abilities upon signing the contract. Their perception of magic would naturally have suffered from the binding effects of the Aide contract.”

I picked my wand off the table and shook it out, extending it into a sword. I disliked the lack of range, but I didn’t have the freedom to use anything else against Esmeralda.

The ‘General Ruan’ was most famous for using the short sword after all.

Esmeralda trembled as she laid eyes on the sword that had slain many Fairies that were much stronger than her. She wisely bit her lip to keep from screaming out for help, but a small whimper still escaped her throat.

However bad Jaya was, she had been right when she’d called me a hot-headed brute. If the green fairy had dared scream, she would have lost her tongue.

And as a close friend of Jaya, Esmeralda definitely knew what I could do to her.

She had lost her strongest backing, which was the queen, and it looked like she had failed to get close to the new prince. I hadn’t seen them interact much, but the little I’d seen was enough to form the opinion I currently held.

As his mother’s personal aide, he should have been as attached to Esmeralda as he was to his mother, but it had been over thirteen hours now since the two had separated, and he hadn’t even called for her.

No matter how mature he seemed for his age, a male fairy that wasn’t even two decades old couldn’t be so independent from a trusted figure.

“My Ruan Clan has been loyal to the crown since the beginning of both families. We have been their daggers, their shields, and their feet for much longer than you could comprehend. If you insist on not clarifying your actions-”

Lillian grabbed her by the scruff of her clothing and forced her to stick out her head, leaving the usually composed woman in an awkward position of being held up entirely by her neck and immobilized wings.

In such a position, she had no choice but to watch as I hoisted up the sword and prepare to swing it down. I let my magic course through the magic conductive wood to give it an imposing glow.

“Wait! General! I’ll explain!”

I wasn’t actually going to behead her. At most, I would have just cut off that obnoxious beehive she called a hairstyle, but she didn’t need to know that.

Lillian let go of her scruff at my command, and the pitiful wretch collapsed to the ground. Lillian kept a hold of her wings, leaving the green fairy in a pathetic state. But it wasn’t like I was interested in preserving her pride.

“I believed you would never actually harm the prince! As you said, the loyalty of the Ruan family to the crown is much too strong. The possibility never even crossed my mind until now! I just couldn’t help but think how nice it would’ve been if the new royal couple could have a royal heir within the first year of the wedding?.. or well, the gestation period for royalty is longer, so perhaps within the same decade?”

A repulsive expression bloomed across her face as she continued and made me seriously reconsider my decision to not behead her. She looked towards me as if she expected me to see the light and work with her to assault a royal family member.

I wouldn’t have cooperated in such a disgusting plan regardless of who the victim had been, but it was especially vile for her to have schemed against her own ward.

Regardless of whether I was marrying the prince, I couldn’t leave such a snake at his side.

As for her position as the queen’s aide, I was sure that the queen would have personally ripped off her wings if she had been around to bear witness to such a scheme.

“You mean you intended to have me assault the prince?”

A self-righteous expression impressed itself onto her face, and she began to preach, having completely forgotten what position she was in.

“It would be the prince’s honor to be with you and pioneer a new era in the Queendom, General Ruan!. And I’m sure you would treat him well after the union, even if it was from a place of guilt. As well, you would be the next queen, and our safety would be guaranteed! It really would have worked out best for everyone!”

Even before I could give the order, Lillian had grabbed Esmeralda by the neck by magic, opting for a single thick rope instead of the thin needles she usually used to attack. Her magic filled the room as she pulled the green fairy into the air by her neck.

Esmeralda hacked out whatever air she could spare and clawed at the rope as her own body weight tried to bring her back to the ground.

The usually stone-faced fairy had a murderous expression on her face as she spoke quietly, but the savageness in her tone could not be hidden.

“It. Would. Be. His. Honor?”

The dark fairy was livid at such a statement, and I couldn’t help but light a silent candle in my mind for the green fairy.

Lillian had been born from a large family with one male as the youngest child and three elder sisters to over-doting on him.

Who would have known that their mother would pull the same trick as Esmeralda? Leaving him to be taken advantage of by someone from a much higher place of power and then had married him away.

As clear as day, I still remembered the look on her face when the news got out. Others had labelled him a ‘social climber’ and many other less pleasant names.

Afterward, the sisters had overthrown their mother, with the eldest taking control of the family and used their power to make sure that their youngest brother was treated well.

If I recalled correctly, something similar had happened to the Gagnon sisters. Their mother had tried something similar with a friend of mine and had somewhat succeeded. Of course, nothing had happened between the two, but their mother had spread the rumours regardless and had forced my friend into marrying the boy.

My friend loved her husband, but she feared him much more than was healthy because of the random visits he often received from his sisters.

Seeing how Lillian always reacted extremely violently whenever the topic was brought up, I was further surprised by the Gagnon sister’s passivity.

I couldn’t say that was the only reason they had completely wiped out their own clan, but it was definitely a strong contender.

Esmeralda sensed Lillian’s sudden aggression and went deathly pale, but she couldn’t comment as her airways were being crushed. She clawed at the magical rope and desperately tried to fly upwards to avoid being hanged, but each time Lillian would lower the rope to put her off guard and would then raise the rope just a bit higher than it had been.

She really behaved as wickedly as she looked sometimes.

I let Lillian do as she willed but stopped her when Esmeralda looked a few seconds off from death. She had all but given up and would only give a few half-hearted flaps of her wings every so often to show that she was still alive.

The worst part about crimes like this was that they weren’t actually crimes. Unless the victim’s family took it upon themselves to exact vengeance, then it was unlikely for the victim to receive any sort of justice.

“That’s enough Lillian… Sadly enough, she hasn’t actually committed any crimes and we lack the authority to take her life. Even what we have done has overstepped our bounds. Isn’t that right General and Lieutenant Gagnon?”

Corin stepped out of the doorway with a foul expression that was only outdone by that of her sisters’. They looked angry but thankfully made no move to release Esmeralda from the chokehold Lillian had resumed at some point.

Although a significant part of those looks was directed at me, I took no offence.

After all, I was still at fault.

The two came to a stop in front of the spectacle we had created.

I took a knee and bowed to the sisters.

“You have my apologies, general and lieutenant, but as a member of the Ruan family and out of a personal grudge, I took it upon myself to enact a punishment for her actions. She not only tried to use me as a pawn, but she also put the prince in such grave danger. I belive that even if the previous queen were still alive, her execution date would be no later than tomorrow.”

Corin and Cambridge only stared at the fairy that dangled in the air as if they wished they could take over from Lillian and finish the job. Cambridge recovered much faster than her sister and stepped forward.

“Let her go, General. You really have overstepped your bounds. As we now know the full story, we won’t have you killed for your actions… I myself have done worse to the previous queen when we first met. Your self-restraint deserves of praise.”

She was an aide of the royal family, which was a step higher than Esmeralda’s in state affairs. I had at least escaped the death penalty, which I’d feared, but I got the feeling that this wasn’t enough.

True to my suspicions, Cambridge continued speaking.

“But apologies still need to be made to the prince, and punishment still needs to be given-”

A bad feeling arose in me as I looked at my royal counterpart. We were both military people and had both won our own fair share of battles and wars. I knew she had something planned for me and she was a much better strategist than I was. It was futile, but I couldn’t help but fight against it.

I cut her off before she could finish and said as firmly as I could.

“Of course. I am prepared to have my Ruan duchy swear further fealty and alignment with the prince and whoever the queen becomes. As for my punishment, I will temporarily merge my army with the royal army and join with them.. truly devoting my body to the crown and the people under its protection.”

Neither of us were idiots, and our intentions were crystal clear to one another. She was determined to keep me within the royal family and use my transgressions as a collar to keep me under control, and I wanted to make up for those same transgressions but not at the price of my freedom.

My Ruan family was in the perfect position of being the most powerful out of the four duchies and being the smallest in number and, therefore, the easiest to fold into the royal family. Aside from myself and Aruna, there was only my mother and her three husbands, two of which had long passed away.

I’d once had a brother, but he had long passed away since he was more human than I was. I think Jaya had a younger brother as well, but I had heard little of him.

Long story short, joining with the Ruan clan would not face any opposition from other families, but we were also manageable since we were small in number and unlikely to fight for total control of the throne.

There was also the last edge, which was the casual promise of engagement my mother had received from the late queen. They may have been casual words, but in light of her death, that was much more than any other family had.

As the two of us faced off, Corin looked around with an odd frown on her face, much like one would look at an infant that had wandered into an important meeting. But as much as I looked around, I couldn’t find the source of such an expression.

Cambridge drew my attention back to her, and a frightening glint lit up in her ash-grey eyes. It reminded me of the stories I had heard from my mother, who had fought side by side with the sisters.

As fearless as she used to be, even my mother had confessed to feeling terrified whenever she saw that look.

“General Ruan-”