Irene had never been in the Palace before, when her Orphanage had been selected for the Festival of Love Sleepover, she was away for a Skating Contest. She hadn't lamented it back then, she did win after all, but now? She wondered if she would have met her Father then. Now, she would meet the Man they said was her Brother, the Man she had tried to marry. A cold unpleasant shiver ran down her spine at the thought, not only had she been the most promising candidate, she had been with a fair lead over Lady Shin.
When she rode the Tram up to the Palace, it wasn't one of the Tourist Carts, no. She had been picked up with the family cart, and been told to bring at least enough supply to stay for a few days for all to figure the situation out. Now she stood at a part of the Palace the Tourists usually didn't get to. No, only the family and guests the Imperial family actually got along with usually entered the old Castle area.
An elderly woman stood at the Gate, waving enthusiastically at her. She seemed familiar but Irene couldn't immediately place her, for now the woman gave her a smile and grabbed the luggage of her:
"Irene, let us handle your Luggage, Ori is waiting for you in his Studio."
The woman pointed up to one of the towers, and a somewhat confused Irene followed suit, just where did she see her before? It took Irene a moment to find the right stairway, the inner palace being a labyrinth of repurposed and remodeled buildings over several centuries. As she finally made it, the door was already slightly open:
"Come on in."
Orion sat in a chair in front of an empty canvas, paint and brushes ready to get to work next to him. Though Irene felt as if she was an intruder, he didn't even acknowledge her. No, whatever this was, the emperor was angry.
"Your Highness?" she asked, careful. This was a tricky situation, she knew his father's infidelity to the late empress must be a heavy burden on him right now. Though, she wasn't even the one to raise that flag. For all her plans she would have become his wife.
"Take a seat, over there. and wait a moment if you don't mind."
Again, the emperor didn't look at her. He wrote some text on his Smartphone and worked on his utensils. The stool for Irene was placed across from him. Studio lamps glowing on to her as she took a seat and a white background setup behind her. Was this for a Photograph? Did he want to paint her, or was this just his casual place? And why did he still not look at her? Two more sets of feet. Smaller, faster steps and giggling. But when the two walked up the stairs Orion beamed at them, happy. Only that Irene almost jumped out of her skin and up from the stool when she saw them.
"Leo? Charles?" she stammered as she looked at the two youngsters from her teaching class. Well, temporarily she had been taking over before the contest. Their trainer had been i'll and she was called as a substitute by the association. Bloody hell, who where those kids?
Orion gave both of them a nod, and looked over to Irene:
"Well, i guess i'll have to reintroduce them. Prince Ludwig and Prince Karloman. Meet your Aunt Irene. Though this is a bit of secret for now, got it? Training continues this afternoon. Stand over there, would you two? Next to Irene."
"Hey Coach!" the two grinned: "Uncle Ori said you are really his sister? Weird."
the still baffled Irene sat back down, and before she knew it, Orion had snatched a Picture of her with the two boys:
"I'll be taking some creative freedom for the clothing boys. now, hopp hopp. get changed."
Irene was still puzzled, but Orions demeanor had changed, he was softer, his shoulder slumped:
"Sorry for that, i had to make sure it wasn't you who had set that up. Now, though. I will need your help to find out who from your association has broken our trust, because that was no coincidence. Also, do make sure the two don't end up fighting again with the other kids. I hate Bunny Stew."
Irene was just overwhelmed, she was out of the contest, but in the middle of politics. She then blinked:
"Wait what, the Bunny stew wasn't a joke?"