9. Princess (Patreon)

The figure sitting on the throne caused so many of Aloe’s brain cells to fry at the sight that the whiplash stunned her. Her eyes lingered across the room, trying to search for answers, but nothing in the surroundings helped her.

Two women, one at each side of the throne, stood with their sights tired as they held pieces of parchment. That was enough to confirm some of Aloe’s doubts. They are the scribes of the emir. She pondered, her mind still made a mess. But there should be five of... well, four of them. Not two.

Something had happened.

As she more carefully inspected the two scribes, she noticed the slight distinction in their shapes of exhaustion. One scribe, who dressed more austerely than the other, had bloodshot eyes of pure exhaustion, overwork, and lack of sleep. Whilst the other, who donned an expensive yellow dress and was somewhat familiar to Aloe, didn’t suffer outright extenuation, but boredom.

Aloe could make no more details out of the scenery, anything else was flamboyant decorations of the audience hall. This was her first time visiting the palace, so it was impossible for her to know if there was something different.

“Come forward.” The woman on the throne sang. Her voice was authoritative and powerful, yet it was bolstered by a superior seduction.

The woman dressed in skimpy clothing, alluring but not fully perverted, like some ladies of the night might choose to wear. No, the woman had everything covered, yet the slits in her violet dress were perfectly placed. Exposed shoulders, midriff, and thighs; it was obvious that it wasn’t an unconscious effort.

Especially those thighs.

The way the woman sat lazily on her pillowed throne, highlighting her thick bronze-skinned thighs, was strikingly a deliberate attempt to catch people’s attention. In such an obvious and glaring trap, Aloe still fell for it.

“Is there something wrong?” The woman called out; her voice calm, but the annoyance was palpable.

It was then that Aloe realized she had yet to move since she entered the room, her mind occupied by a mixture of confusion and enthrallment. Hesitantly, Aloe stepped forward, a blush covering her face that she could only hope either her make-up hid it or that the others in the audience hall were too far away to notice.

“Nothing at all,” Aloe explained as she stopped in the middle of the red carpet. Then her mind instantly alerted that she hadn’t used any honorifics. Not even a breath later, she continued talking, as if she hadn’t stopped. “Except one... tiny question, if I might of course.”

She hadn’t used any titles yet, but the woman before her was unknown. Aloe could only hope that the politeness saved her because, after all, nothing confirmed Aloe that the dazzling woman wasn’t the emir. And calling an impostor by that title may be a greater offense than not referring to the titleholder correctly.

“Hmm...” The woman scratched her cheek in a mixture of surprise and ponderation. This was not the reaction she had expected, whatever that may be. “Let it out, amuse me~” The woman’s glistering amethyst eyes pierce Aloe.

She didn’t know if to feel intimidated or appalled by the sight.

“Em... maybe I am wrong, I have been out of Sadina for over a month now,” Aloe added, trying to justify and sweeten her crude question as much as possible, “but isn’t the emir of Sadina, well... a man?”

The room fell silent.

The scribes, who until now had been focused on their documents, turned to face Aloe.

“I see... It makes sense you aren’t aware then.” The words coming out of the gorgeous woman’s mouth weren’t of offense, but acknowledgment. Much to Aloe’s surprise. “Aloe Ayad, aren’t you?” She asked, even if the guard announced her entrance by name.

“That’s right, lady...” Aloe ended her line smoothly, drawing it over time as she implicitly pleaded for an answer.

The woman giggled. “Rani. Princess Rani.” She responded as she straightened her body, abandoning her lazy posture. “But others know me as the new emir of Sadina.”

Princess Rani’s long ebony hair flowed down as she shifted her posture, her breasts swaying slightly along her hips. The woman, no, the emir of Sadina had a seductive smile plastered on her face. One that was impossible to remove your eyes from.

Aloe promptly knelt before referring to her again. “Then I must apologize for my words and lack of knowledge, my Emir.”

“No, no.” The emir denied in quick succession, her voice was but honey. Aloe heard the fabrics of the pillows chafe as she continued to look down.

The emir had stood up.

“Look up.” Aloe obeyed. Her eyes were instantly delighted by the tall and curvaceous figure of the new ruler of Sadina.

Princess Rani was the polar opposite of Aloe. Tall, curvaceous, sensual... The woman was superior to her in every sense. Even her bronze skin, unlike Aloe’s dark and rather opaque skin, shone brightly, giving the most gorgeous of reflections.

“Do you know why I called you here, Aloe Ayad?” The emir’s voice was authoritative, exuding power, but for some reason, it didn’t intimidate Aloe. Another feeling bloomed inside of her instead.

“I do not, my Emir,” Aloe responded holding her head high, just as the imperial princess ordered. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was complying for other reasons.

“There’s no need for such titles, Aloe.” The sultanzade took a step forward, the familiarity of the tone she used to refer to Aloe melted in her ears. Her heart skipped a beat. “Your mother was a colleague of mine when I worked as the imperial scribe of the court, a friend if you will,” the woman added with a smile, only now Aloe noticed the faintest shade of violet lipsticks in her lips, “so don’t refer to me with such cold titles, just call me Rani.”

“I... I cannot do that, my Sultanzade.” Aloe explained. “It would be an offense to you and the Sultanah.”

After hearing Aloe’s words, Princess Rani snickered. The sudden muted laugh scared the girl, causing her to jump a bit.

“You are truly like her. She also refused to call me by my name. She also used those exact words...” The newly appointed emir commented, a hint of melancholy in her voice, plus something else. Rage. “But what if I tell you that’s an order, my citizen? Would you obey?”

“Em...” Aloe didn’t know how to respond. Her heart was going faster than it had ever gone before. Her thoughts were becoming clogged by the second, and it wasn’t the fault of any pain. “It... it would still be a defiance of the Sultanah’s authority, who put you in power as the emir of Sadina.”

“Good response, diplomatic but noncommittal.” Princess Rani heaved her head up and down in approval. “But you mistake something. Whilst it is true that the Sultanah indeed gave me the name of Rani-al-Sadina, I ask you: do you see Aaliyah here?”

Aloe gasped at the sultanzade’s words. Did she just...? She couldn’t believe what Rani had said. Aloe turned her eyes slightly, looking around the room, but as she saw that no one visually recoiled like her, she got confused.

“Uh...” Have I misheard her? “No, Princess Rani.” The emir frowned, her expression souring as she heard Aloe’s referral. “Um... R-Rani.” She gulped down saliva, part scared, part ashamed of how she had referred to the imperial princess.

“Yes, that’s better,” Rani responded with a nod and a smile.

Unlike before, that smile felt genuine – even warm – not like those seductive ones she had used. The sultanzade truthfully rejoiced at Aloe’s words.

“Come on, stand up,” Rani said, yet now it didn’t feel like an order. There was friendliness in her words now. “As I’ve said before, Shahrazad had been a great friend, and especially a helping hand to the court and Sadina. I don’t doubt that the city would have collapsed after the death of the previous emir if it wasn’t for her work. My useless brother didn’t know how to use her talents, and now I won’t be able to do so either.”

The beautiful visage of the princess was tainted by a mixture of rage and hate. Even if Aloe didn’t know where those emotions came from, it constricted her heart seeing such a precious face being tainted by dark feelings like those.

As she didn’t stand up immediately, Rani went as far as offering Aloe a hand, something unthinkable – even more than calling a sultanzade by their first name as a commoner, but before Aloe even thought of taking Rani’s soft-looking hand – even if their hands were close to touching each other – Rani quickly removed hers away. The darkness in her visage by the lack of Aloe’s cooperation was suddenly replaced by another emotion: shock.

“Is there something wrong, R-Rani?” Even if she had the emir’s explicit order to call her that way, Aloe still had difficulties uttering the princess’s name casually.

“N-nothing.” Aloe lost her breath as she heard Rani’s response: stuttering.

An imperial didn’t stutter, not in that manner.

Did I do something wrong? Fear littered Aloe’s thoughts. Am I going to get executed?

Princess Rani took a step backward as she led a hand to her face, hiding her visage. She turned her back and walked to the throne with the same composure and sensual sway of hips as before, but that look in her eyes still confused Aloe.