That went well.

I smiled as I walked through the palace. The click of my shoes on the polished marble floors resonated throughout the hall.

I was accustomed to Micah's trusting personality, taking everything I told him at face value. He was surprisingly foolish, falling for every prank I ever pulled. Not that I was complaining; it helped now when I didn't have any reasonable way to explain how I knew what I knew. However, for the longest time, he was the only one. Now, with Princess Evelyn, that made two people who accepted what I told them at face value, albeit her trust stemmed from a partial understanding of what phoenix eyes meant.

Could that be the reason they became a couple? A shared trait of taking things as they are?

I shook my head.

To be fair, I suspected I was the exception rather than the rule for such a level of trust.

"You've arrived at a perfect moment," the attendant assigned to me by Princess Evelyn commented. "The lumina blossoms are gracing the Palace Gardens with their presence. They're enchanting during the day but take on an ethereal aura at night."

A note from Jasper revealed that he was engaged in a round of runestone roulette with one of the visiting diplomats and that this predicament would occupy him for another half hour. I felt sorry for whomever the poor schmuck was. Jasper was the very reason I lacked any appetite for gambling, and I only liked certain bets, like the one I made on Kleave versus The Ogre.

Sure, I could have left without Jasper and headed home as initially planned. But Leona's sheer enthusiasm took over as soon as Princess Evelyn suggested a proper lunch in the palace gardens. One would have thought she'd been starved all day, despite having devoured three-quarters of the cake alone.

"A table was prepared for you here," the attendant motioned toward a table beneath one of the lumina blossom trees. Its iridescent white flowers glimmered in the sunlight, and a fragrance that brought images of morning dew filled the air.

I sat at the table and gazed about while a servant set down the food.

Leona and I were far from the only ones having lunch. Princess Evelyn's home may have been the palace, but it was a building where government work occurred first and first most.

I gazed over several tables where men and women wearing no-nonsense clothing and serious expressions sat.

It was also a place for nobles across Adovoria to come and participate in courtly affairs. Or simply socialize. My eyes fell on Anastasia Genuiver, laughing at someone's jokes while gulping down and drinking wine like juice.

Then there were those who believed themselves to be doing the former when in reality, they fell into the latter.

Near my table, in the center of the palace gardens, beneath an oversized and meticulously adorned canopy, sat Princess Naomi, Evelyn's half-sister. She had long strawberry-blonde hair that cascaded beautifully past her shoulders. Her cheeks glowed with a delicate shade of rosy pink while a perpetual smile graced her lips. Unlike her sister, who I would compare to a dark red rose, she was like a delicate lily.

She was a year younger than me, and unfortunately for her and the kingdom, she was naive and easily manipulated by those around her. In my original life, she was a mere puppet, but she was portrayed to the people as a kind and loving ruler.

Princess Naomi sat surrounded by courtiers and advisors, eager to offer their help and opinions and pour her a cup of tea. It was a stark difference to Princess Evelyn, who I learned from the royal attendant, had often been shut away in her office, alone, doing actual work.

"Please enjoy," the servant said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Thank you," I replied.

I looked down at the spread of food on the table to find that Leona had already started munching on a chicken leg.

I blinked in slight horror at the realization.

Does this count as cannibalism?

I picked up my fork and knife and cut a slice of meat for myself.

Well, perhaps not, as Leona is a phoenix and not an actual chicken.

However, there was undoubtedly something very wrong with the image of a yellow baby chick plucking away on what was clearly an adult chicken leg.

"Your Highness, the soup kitchen work you've been spearheading is truly remarkable. Adovoria's people are grateful for your dedication to their well-being." One of the courtiers, a man with a well-groomed beard, loudly praised Princess Naomi.

I bit into the chicken breast and gazed towards her table again.

A chorus of approving nods rippled through the assembled courtiers, echoing the sentiment.

"Your dedication is admirable, Princess," another woman declared. "Your impact on our people is beyond measure."

Another courtier joined in, "Hear, hear. Princess, you embody goodness in a world of power struggles."

Naomi's eyes sparkled with heartfelt appreciation.

"Thank you, Sir William," she replied, her tone filled with sincerity. "I look forward to lending a helping hand to our people again today, as I do every week. Their smiles make it all worthwhile."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I couldn't help but scoff as I took another bite of my food, hastily reaching for a glass of water in a valiant effort to stifle my impending laughter.

A silence fell over the table beside me, and I looked up to see that Princess Naomi and her advisors were staring my way, giving me dirty looks.

"You consider the nourishment of our capital's most impoverished to be a laughing matter?" Princess Naomi asked.

"Don't mind him, that's Luca Frey," the man with the well-groomed beard jumped in. "Of course, he doesn't care for our country's starving and poor people. His family only cares about filling their pockets while the people go hungry."

"He wouldn't know the first thing about conducting charitable work," the woman sitting next to Princess Naomi added.

I rolled my eyes at their hypocrisy.

"I might not be conducting any charitable work, but at least I'm not doing fake charity," I replied.

Audible gasps sounded.

"How insolent!"

"He's a Frey, through and through."

I cut into some sauteed beans.

"Whatever do you mean?" Princess Naomi asked.

"Your soup kitchen is in West Genise, is it not?" I asked. "How can you talk about helping the poor and starving when you don't even go to them? If you really cared, you would have gone to East Genise."

"There are plenty of people in West Genise that are poor," Princess Naomi said.

I scoffed. Just what did she consider 'poor' to be?

"Sure, the servants, but not the people living in West Genise," I replied. "You haven't seen true poverty if you've only ever stayed within West Genise."

"It is not safe for me to go east," Princess Naomi replied. "I do charitable work where I am able to, within the confines of my rank."

"That's right; it would be too dangerous for someone of Princess Naomi's position to venture into the slums of East Genise," one of her courtiers agreed.

The others at the table nodded.

"Besides," Princess Naomi continued speaking. "People come from East Genise and line up for many blocks to eat the food. It's an opportunity for them to temporarily escape the dangers of that part of the capital city."

I didn't bother explaining the fault of her logic further. East Genise had layers to it as well. The farther east you went, the more chaotic and impoverished it became. The people who made the trip to her soup kitchen were likely living in the most western part of East Genise, which wasn't what I'd consider living in poverty. Thus the most needy weren't being helped. Or some were carted in, but that was an even more disingenuous practice.

"Now, excuse me, I have a soup kitchen to run and sweet little children to feed." Princess Naomi stood up from her table and walked away, accompanied by the men and women who had sat with her.

"You'll pay for such insolence," one of the men told me as he passed.

I shook my head.

Tsk. Perhaps I shouldn't have picked an argument with Princess Evelyn's sister. Still, something about the whole conversation annoyed me too much. And the sweet little children that Princess Naomi spoke of were the biggest deceptions of all.

I heard all about it in my original life while living in East Genise. A man would arrive in East Genise at one of the orphanages, select the cutest and prettiest children, and cart them off to Princess Naomi's charitable works. They were instructed to smile and thank the princess for providing them with food. For this reason, only children with all their teeth and capable of speech were taken.

The whole soup kitchen thing was a sham. But it appeared Princess Naomi was blissfully unaware. She was but a puppet ruler in my original life. Her advisors moved the strings while staging everything to keep her happy and appear as a kind and loving queen.

"Duncan!" Anastasia's loud voice sounded.

I looked up to see him enter the palace gardens.

Anastasia jumped out of her seat and led him to her table. Her enthusiasm at his presence was obviously genuine.

Maybe Duncan wasn't as naive as I thought about his relationship with his sister.

But I still had a low opinion of how she had managed their dukedom in my original life.

Looking at the faces of the young women and the one man sitting at Anastasia's table, they clearly did not share Anastasia's enthusiasm for Duncan's presence. And Duncan clearly had a similar sentiment about them.

I lifted my cup of tea and took a sip.

Perhaps it's the advisors in this world that bring out the worst in people. If better people surrounded Princess Naomi and Anastasia, would they have managed their territories effectively?

The thought was purely hypothetical. I intended to see Princess Evelyn and my brother take the throne, and Duncan take over the Genuiver dukedom upon his parents' passing. I didn't need naive idiots in positions of power.

I pursed my lips, realizing the incredible irony of this.

I was a naive idiot in my original life as well, relying entirely on my head butler on all matters regarding the Frey Manor and Merchant Guild. Charles was old but exceptionally capable, so there was no escaping that the fault lay with me in the end on why everything fell apart.

"Luca, I heard you had come by," Duncan walked over.

A servant quickly raised a chair and plopped it beside me for him to sit on.

"You didn't wish to have lunch with your sister?" I asked.

Duncan shook his head and sat beside me. "I see her enough at home—I'm staying with her at my family's mansion."

"How goes the work with Princess Evelyn?" I poured him a cup of tea.

Duncan lowered his black silk mask to reveal his scarred face and sipped his tea. "It's been…. Enlightening."

He had a smile that suggested he knew something that he couldn't speak of. Quite literally. I saw the runic royal promise tattoo etching that peeked from under his wrist.

"I'm glad it's going well," I said. "The work you put in should help regain your position, especially once Princess Evelyn takes the throne."

Duncan nodded. "Thank you for all your help, Luca. Truly."

"No need." I waved my hand and spoke in a lowered voice. "Our interests are aligned. If Adovoria is to stand a chance against the Kobar Empire's invasion, we're going to need as many people as possible. And I need you in a position to make strategic decisions."

With Lady Sedna's financial support for war preparations, Princess Evelyn's agreement on resource allocation, and Duncan Genuiver's transformation to reclaim the Genuiver Dukedom, everything was proceeding smoothly. And I was but on day ten.

I set down my napkin and smiled. Everything was unfolding as intended.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DisguisedPigeon: Has anyone here been able to play Adovoria's Fall? I got an error message when I tried to enter it: [ Error: Realm Matrix #78 Inaccessible ]

Canton_fancy2: You seriously tried to go for another round of that hellish game after all??

GreenNoodle: I got an error too. I thought maybe it was just me: [ Error: Realm Matrix #320 Inaccessible ]

OrangeKiller: Oh same. I thought they weren't letting any new players in. But it looks like it's not letting anyone enter?

GreenNoodle: Does anyone know what this error is?

Shadow_King: I've seen that error once before.

Canton_fancy2: Oh boy! Oh boy! Another OG of Adovoria's Fall is here!!

DisguisedPigeon: @Shadow_King, what does it mean?

Shadow_King: It means that only one of the realm matrixes is currently accessible.

DisguisedPigeon: So it's an actual one-player game now? What kind of BS is this?

Shadow_King: If I had to guess, since BlueLizard was the last to exit the game, that's the only matrix that's currently accessible.

GreenNoodle: Where is BlueLizard anyhow?

DisguisedPigeon: I just pinged them. They're currently playing Finding Love in Ethereal Academy.

Canton_fancy2: ???? Is that the over the top cutesy Otome game?? After Adovoria's Fall??

DisguisedPigeon: If you've been playing a male soldier that’s constantly on the battlefield for who knows how many game years, you'd want a 180-degree break too.