The Wheel Of Fortune

“Open the door.”

Once the door is fully open, Ryou helps me descend the stairs while I scan the hall with my eyes. All of a sudden, most of the commotion dies down in an instant and I feel multiple heated gazes on us.

Everyone in the hall bow at the same time with some people inclining their heads while the rest actually bowing. I raise an eyebrow at the show of power before people raise their heads a moment later. I glance at Ryou from the corner of my eye to find him looking straight ahead. Just from his expression, I can feel how closed off he is right now.

He takes me to the middle of the hall as he searches for someone, I simply follow him without a word. I don’t know anyone so I better stick with him.

“Your Grace, we have been waiting for you.” I perk up at the new voice. I glance at the approaching men and woman. Both the men look in their mid-40s while the women look slightly older, most probably in their early 50s. The sly expression on the man on the right instantly puts me on guard.

Ryou turns towards them with a fake smile, “Then I am grateful for your patience.”

They all greet Ryou with a ‘happy birthday’ before moving their attention towards me. I can feel them sizing me up with their judging eyes. “And who might be this young lady?” The man with a sly look asks while looking between Ryou and me.

There is a pause before Ryou starts introducing them to me, “This is Isla, Minister of Transport.” He points to the man on the left, “Pallas, Minister of Health,” and at last he points to the man on the left, “Chege, Minister of Finance. Isla, Chege and Pallas meet Nadya, my duo.”

As soon as Ryou completes his last word, Chege’s mouth forms into an ‘o’, and his face brightens up. “Miss Nadya, we have been hearing about you a lot. I wanted to meet you since I first heard about you but, His Grace, never let me. But now I know why he tried to not let any of us meet you, he must want to protect you. I would have done the same if I were at his place.”

Though I don’t know what he is talking about, I keep an amicable smile on my face. “I see.”

“No wonder, I was thinking why did His Grace suddenly bring a date when he had always attended this type of function alone,” Isla says in a calm manner. “And, Young lady, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Yes, Miss Nadya is very beautiful, even more than than the people on the list of candidates for His Grace’s fiance. It’s just that only people with a good background are chosen for the list otherwise I am sure Miss Nadya would have made it to the list.”

The underlying remark doesn’t escape me. Ryou’s arm in hand stiffens and the Isla and Pallas look at him at the same time before looking at me.

I cover my mouth with my hand and start laughing.

All four pairs of eyes turn to me as I raise my head with a smile after the laughter dies down, “I am sorry, I can’t help myself from laughing. I was just thinking how far we have progressed but there are still narrow-minded people who judge people based on their background.” I turn towards Chege, “Minister Chege, I am sure you are not like them, right? How would the public react if they heard about this?”

I turn back to Ryou with a trained curiosity and smile, “Ryou, I heard media has been invited too, is that true?”

As soon as I question him, I can see his lip twitching up but at the last minute he still keeps up the smile, “Yes, they have been invited, though only a few selected ones.”

He glances at Chege, “Chege, tell others to be on their best behavior, I don’t want people working under me to expose their true selves because no one is watching them. People tend to expose their dirty side when no one is around, after all.”

Chege’s smile becomes increasingly stiff as we keep speaking and by the end, he answers with greeted teeth. “...Yes...yes, Your Grace. I will take my leave, someone is calling me.” He bows and walks away with a stiff face. While Isla and Pallas stay back to talk to Ryou, I act like I am looking around the hall to stifle the smile which was trying to force itself on my face.

All of a sudden, there is a commotion near the entrance and it draws my attention. Not even a second later, I notice many people near the entrance have started bowing. Slowly, everyone in the back follows the movement therefore I decide to do the same. Ryou also does the same after continuing the movement.

Someone who could force Ryou to bow? There is no doubt there is only one person who is above him on the current social ladder.

The footsteps move around the hall before stopping, I peek at the shiny boots in front of me.

“Rise.” A deep voice commands. For a moment I am not sure if it is only for Ryou or everyone.

I straighten up at the same time as Ryou and at last get a chance to get a clear view of the face. My eyes stop at the old handsome face before settling on Ryou. Oh my god, he is handsome. They don’t look alike at all.

I flinch when I notice Ryou’s father inspecting me. The next moment, I feel a hand covering my hand on Ryou’s arm. Ryou gives my hand a squeeze before letting it go.

I remove my arm from Ryou’s and bow, “Greetings, Your Majesty, I am Nadya, Ryouhei’s duo.”

“...Straighten up,”

Once I am up, he continues, “I have heard the report about you. Good to meet you.” I try to keep my smile as natural as possible but I don’t think it is working. There is no doubt he has done a background check on me from his words. He turns his attention to Ryou, “Happy Birthday.” After this much, he walks away.

Huh? That’s all? That’s all he is going to say to his son on his birthday?

Ryou’s voice makes me snap out of thoughts of criticizing his father, “I will be right back after the speech.”

“Sure. I will wait in the corner. Take your time.” He gives a small nod in return and turns away.

I pick up a fruit juice from the table and make my way to the least crowded corner. The lights in the hall dim and the lights are focused on the spot between the two stairs, overlooking the hall. Ryou takes the mike from the staff, throws his gaze around the room, and starts speaking.

He thanks the crowds and tells them how happy he is with their presence. He must have practiced his beforehand, there is not an ounce of emotion in his voice other than that fake smile. I gaze around the hall to find people looking at him like it’s the most interesting speech in the world.

As he keeps on speaking under that light, all of sudden, I feel like there is a distance between us we can never reach. I had never stood on a stage, addressing such a large crowd. I only imagine what he can see from up there.

The lights in the hall brighten and Ryou steps down the stairs. As soon as he takes two steps, a crowd of people surrounds him with all kinds of expensive gifts and bouquets. I watch him as he accepts the gifts before looking around the lonely corner, where I am standing. The nearest lighting is kind of far away so the corner is almost dark, the darkness I have long become accustomed to.

A self-mocking smile graces my lips while I take a sip of the juice. That’s right, we are different, we have always been.

As soon as Ryou glances at me through the crowd, I remove my dark expression and show a natural smile. He gazes for a second and goes back to his previous conversation. I hope he didn’t notice my earlier expression. Soon the slow music begins and I know this is the beginning of the ball.

I put down the glass and walk into the inner corridor after asking for the direction to the washroom. While I am inside the stall, I hear the sound of the door opening, I don’t pay heed to the noise and focus on adjusting my dress. But as I am opening the door of the stall to go out, I hear a voice from outside. “Did you see that girl beside Ryouhei?”

Slowly, I draw my hand back from the handle.

“Yeah, why was she even with him? This is the first time I have ever seen her. Whose daughter is she? Her dress was expensive. Maybe a Minister?” A different voice answers.

“Who knows. And she is ugly, what did she do that Ryouhei is with her? I am sure he would have not been with her without a reason. He should have chosen someone up to his standard, even Kiara is far better than that unknown girl.”

“Oh, did you see her standing alone in the corner?” The second woman continues with a laugh, “They are already making it clear that no one wants her here. His Majesty also didn’t recognize her, his expression was not good during their meeting.”

“Leave her alone. She will know her place soon, innocent girls like her can’t stand the currents of politics. She will run away crying as soon as Kaira will come after her. There is no need to involve ourselves, she will do all the work for us.” I can almost imagine the smirk on the lips of the woman outside. Judging by their voices, they should be around my age.

As they keep talking, I grab the handle and pull open the door loud enough to alert them. The loud noises attract their attention. I step out and look at both the girls from up to down. I freeze for a second once I spot Thea, though I have only seen her once in my dream but I can vaguely remember her because of her attitude.

I sweep my gaze over them without stopping and step in front of the sink beside them. They keep watching me in silence as I leisurely wash my hand without saying a word.

I give them a swift glance from the mirror while applying my lipstick. The woman on the other side is tense but I can see Thea is trying to act like there is nothing wrong.

I put the lipstick back in my clutch before opening my mouth, “If he does not deserve to be with me, who does he supposed to be. You?” I meet her eyes through the mirror and curl my lips in a smirk.

She blinks in disbelief before getting back to her composer, “Are trying to teach me my place? When you don’t even have a place for yourself, other than hanging on to Ryouhei? You should look at the mirror. Do you know how you look?” She looks at me up and down with disgust.

“But,” I turn towards her with innocent eyes and cover my mouth with my hand, “the place beside Ryou, isn’t that the place you want?”

This time, the impact of the words is greater than before, my words make her speechless. The girl behind her lets out an audible gasp. While I continue my answer, “Oh, and, yes, I am aware of how I look and I look in the mirror all the time. Do you know why? Because I never get tired of how beautiful I look.” This is in fact true. I glance at the mirror at least 5 times a day but that doesn’t mean I am a narcissist.

“You-”

I swiftly get her off, “I know, I know. I am beautiful but please, don’t be jealous. I don’t want people to misunderstand me, I was hoping we can be friends but....maybe I hoped for too much.” I let out a disheartened sigh and begin walking out of the washroom but stop right before the exit. “One last thing, about what you said, you are right, there is no place for me here. Thank you very much for caring about me but I don’t need others to create a place for me since I am perfectly capable of making a place for myself.”

With those words, I exit the washroom.

Once I cover some distance, I let out a sigh of relief. They just have to talk behind my back and dampen my mood but there is another problem that I have to worry about now.

Where am I?

I walked away randomly and now I am lost. I can’t identify the pillars but I am sure this is not the route I took while going to the washroom.

I try to hear any type of sound to get the satisfaction of someone walking my way. Unfortunately, the whole is covered in silence and there is no worker around. I do get some relief since stand in the hallway lit in a yellow glow while many hallways are covered in darkness. Why did I run off on my own? The lights may kind of gives me an idea of where the hall might be so I decide to follow the lights.

The palace is like a maze, I have been walking for 20 minutes but why can’t find my way out? How does one manage through these? All the doors and hallway look alike.

On my way to find the hall, I locate a person walking somewhere in the dark hallway, opposite me. I cannot make out if it’s a woman or a man. I raise my hand to call the person out but he makes a turn. Picking up my dress, I run after him. At last, I have spotted someone, how could I let him go?

I make a turn and try to follow the man but I freeze in my place as soon as I hear the voice in the silent passageway.