ESTIA WAS PREPARING FOR THE KING'S WEDDING.
HIS MARRIAGE TO PRINCESS LEAH, HIS HALF-SISTER, WAS DEEPLY UNSETTLING.
YET THE NOBLES OF ESTIA ACCEPTED IT WITHOUT A SINGLE OBJECTION.
EVEN THE FOREIGN DELEGATIONS WHO HAD COME TO CELEBRATE THE WEDDING GRADUALLY BEGAN TREATING IT AS PERFECTLY NATURAL.
THOUGH THEY HAD SHOWN DISCOMFORT AT FIRST, LITTLE BY LITTLE, EVEN THEY STOPPED SEEING THE INCESTUOUS MARRIAGE AS STRANGE.
IN THE END, THEY WERE NO DIFFERENT FROM ESTIA'S NOBLES.
WHY DOES NO ONE SAY ANYTHING?
...BECAUSE WE BELIEVE YOUR HIGHNESS IS RIGHT.
WE WILL FOLLOW THE WILL OF THE ROYAL FAMILY.
PLEASE DON'T MISTAKE OUR LOYALTY FOR ANYTHING ELSE.
EVEN IF I SAID I WOULD HAVE EVERY ONE OF YOU BEHEADED HERE AND NOW,
WOULD YOU STILL TELL ME I WAS RIGHT?
COUNT BARTLEIN'S SEAT...
...ENOUGH.
WE'LL END TODAY'S MEETING HERE.
MARGRAVE OBERDE...
MAY THE LIGHT OF ESTIA SHINE UPON YOU.
GREETINGS, YOUR HIGHNESS.
HE GOVERNS THE WESTERN FRONTIER
BORDERING KURKHAN.
I'VE NEVER HAD ANY PERSONAL DEALINGS WITH HIM.
YOUR HIGHNESS, DID THE BARBARIANS, BY ANY CHANCE...
AH, NO. FORGIVE MY CARELESS WORDS. PLEASE FORGET I SAID ANYTHING.
AH...
WHY IS HE ACTING SO UNLIKE HIMSELF?
I'LL HAVE TO CORNER HIM LATER AND FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
PRINCESS.
THE KNIGHTS AND MAIDS FROM THE PRINCESS'S PALACE RETURNED SAFELY FROM THE PEACH ORCHARD.
ACCORDING TO THEM, THEY WERE DRUGGED WITH A SLEEPING POTION THAT DAY, AND WHEN THEY WOKE, THEY FOUND THEMSELVES CONFINED SOMEWHERE REMOTE.
THEN, WITHOUT WARNING, THEY WERE RELEASED AND MADE THEIR WAY BACK TO THE PRINCESS'S PALACE.
LADY MIRAEL, WHO CAUSED SUCH A MAJOR INCIDENT, DISAPPEARED WITHOUT A TRACE.
SHE EVEN ABANDONED HER GRAND MANSION IN THE CAPITAL AND VANISHED AS THOUGH SHE'D NEVER BEEN THERE.
BLAINE SHOWED NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER,
AND NO ONE ELSE IN THE ROYAL PALACE EVEN SPOKE OF LADY MIRAEL.
MORE TROUBLING IS HOW QUIET SERDINA HAS BEEN.
SHE'S REFUSING EVERY AUDIENCE
AND WON'T EVEN GO TO SEE BLAINE.
BLAINE IS NO DIFFERENT. HE DIDN'T EVEN GET ANGRY WHEN HE LEARNED THE WEDDING RING WAS GONE.
SO MUCH CHANGED AFTER THE PEACH ORCHARD BURNED TO ASHES.
IF ALL OF THIS WAS CAUSED BY SORCERY,
THEN WHO IS BEHIND IT?
THE ONE BENEFITING MOST FROM ALL THIS IS BLAINE.
THERE WAS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEONE CAPABLE OF POWERFUL SORCERY WAS INSIDE THE ROYAL PALACE.
AND WHOEVER IT WAS MOST LIKELY HAD TIES TO BLAINE AND SERDINA.
COUNTESS MELISSA...
SHE'S BEEN BY MY SIDE MY WHOLE LIFE, ALMOST LIKE A MOTHER.
IF I CAN BREAK THE SPELL, SHE SHOULD RETURN TO HER OLD SELF TOO.
I'LL SLIP OUT QUIETLY TODAY WITH JUST THE KNIGHTS.
I'M ONLY GOING OUT FOR SOME FRESH AIR.
I NEED TO SEE BARONESS SINAEL.
THE WAY SHE CRIED, THE SINCERITY ON HER FACE... THAT WAS REAL.
I KNOW WHERE THE SMALL FARM IS, SO I'LL START THERE,
AND IF SHE ISN'T AROUND, I'LL LEAVE A LETTER.
GET LOST, YOU SCUM!!!
IS THAT... A GYPSY?
CALL HER OVER FOR A MOMENT. I'D LIKE TO BUY SOME FLOWERS.
BUT, YOUR HIGHNESS!
THE KNIGHTS ARE RIGHT HERE. WHAT IS THERE TO WORRY ABOUT?
CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY!
SHE'S A NOBLE LADY, SO MIND YOUR MANNERS.
...I'D LIKE TO BUY SOME FLOWERS.
THIS GYPSY... HER FACE LOOKS FAMILIAR.
...I OWE YOU AN APOLOGY.
SOME TIME AGO, I SOLD A POTION...
I HAD NO IDEA YOUR HIGHNESS WOULD BE THE ONE TO DRINK IT.
IT SEEMS AGE HAS DULLED MY ABILITY TO READ THE HEAVENS.
THIS MEMORY... WHAT IS IT?
NOT EVERYONE FOLLOWS ROM... NOT EVERY GYPSY OBEYS HER WILL.
JUST AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING.
NOBLE ONE, I HAVE SEEN WHAT LIES AHEAD.
AND SO I HAVE A REQUEST.
...WHEN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT COMES, PLEASE SHOW MERCY TO THE INNOCENT.
THEY WON’T LET US LIVE.
THIS TIME, THEY’LL WIPE US OUT COMPLETELY.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE SAYING.
I’M BEGGING OF THE QUEEN OF KURKHANS TO SPARE MY LIFE.
...WHAT NONSENSE.
WHY WOULD I BE THE ONE TO SPARE YOU?
THIS WILL HELP CLEAR YOUR SIGHT.
IF YOU DOUBT ME, ASK THOSE WHO WATCH OVER THE QUEEN WHAT IT IS.
...I'LL TAKE THE FLOWERS.
BUT I CAN'T PROMISE TO SPARE YOUR LIFE. I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF AUTHORITY.
IF THE QUEEN WILLS IT, THE KURKHANS WILL OBEY.
PLEASE REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED HERE TODAY...
THE QUEEN OF THE KURKHANS...
I MISS ISHA KHAN...
AFTER DRIVING A STAKE THROUGH HIS HEART AND COMING BACK HERE, I HAVE NO RIGHT TO MISS HIM...
THAT'S WHY I NEED TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING, AT THE VERY LEAST.
I'LL DO EVERYTHING I CAN WITH THE TIME HE GAVE ME...
IF THE BARONESS WERE STILL MANAGING THIS LITTLE FARM, IT WOULDN'T LOOK LIKE THIS.
SHE COULDN'T HAVE SOLD IT EITHER...
AND THE WEEDS HAVE COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER...
...LET'S GO TO THE TEAHOUSE.
YES, YOUR HIGHNESS.
YOU'LL WAIT DOWNSTAIRS.
AND I WANT TODAY'S DESTINATION TO BE KEPT SECRET.
W-WE CAN'T DO THAT, YOUR HIGHNESS!
SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN SO CONCERNED ABOUT MY SAFETY?
PRINCESS!
YOU WERE DRUGGED AND PUT TO SLEEP AT THE ORCHARD - WHICH MEANS THERE MUST BE AN ACCOMPLICE INSIDE THE PRINCESS'S PALACE.
MY MAIDS WOULD HARDLY HAVE HAD ANY CONNECTION TO LADY MIRAEL...
WHICH MEANS THE CULPRIT MUST BE ONE OF YOU.
YOU KNOW VERY WELL THERE WOULD BE NO END TO IT IF I CHOSE TO HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE.
SO REMEMBER THAT I'M THE ONE WHO LET YOU LIVE.
IT SHOULD BE ABOUT TIME...
AH...!
PRINCESS!
ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!
WE NEED TO GET MORGA AT ONCE...!!!
YOUR STOMACH... DOESN'T IT HURT?
...BEFORE YOU ASK ME ANYTHING ELSE,
I HAVE ONE FAVOR TO ASK.
THERE'S SOMEWHERE I NEED TO GO.
COULD YOU TAKE ME THERE TONIGHT?
Estia prepares for the king's wedding to his half-sister Princess Leah, and nobles and foreign delegations strangely accept the incestuous union without objection. Troubled by blind loyalty, strange behavior from Margrave Oberde, and changes since the peach orchard burned, Leah suspects sorcery benefiting Blaine. She slips out to find Baroness Sinael, meets a familiar gypsy flower-seller who begs mercy from the Queen of Kurkhans, then confronts her knights about a traitor before collapsing and asking for help.