Chapter Three: Old Rial's Bedroom

Leia sat before the candlestick, her palms repeatedly stroking a white gauze dress lying on the table. It had just been delivered to her by a palace maid from her sister's chambers, accompanied by a single message: "Prepare for your wedding!"

"When did my sister submit the petition to the Sovereign?" Leia asked.

The maid lowered her head and replied cautiously, "Two hours ago."

"Did the Sovereign agree on the spot?" Leia asked.

"This humble servant does not know. The Queen commanded me to deliver the gown, so presumably, consent was granted."

Realizing that no useful information could be extracted from this maid, Leia rewarded her with a cucumber and dismissed her.

"They can hardly bear the sight of me lingering here for another moment," Leia said with a trace of anger.

"However, this may not be a bad thing. If it helps the neighboring residents migrate to the Lanling Void, what does the sacrifice of my personal happiness matter!"

Leia slowly set the gown aside, rose to drape a lightweight fur cloak over her shoulders, and stepped out of her bedchamber.

She did not wake the maids who served her. They were far too exhausted, toiling ceaselessly day after day with meager rations. Though she had already shared a portion of her own food with them, their numbers were simply too great to ensure everyone had enough to eat.

Rounding a corner at the end of the stone corridor, she came upon the massive gates of her father's bedchamber. Two towering guards stood watch, their long halberds gleaming in the torchlight.

"Princess Leia," the two guards murmured upon seeing her, promptly striking their chest plates with their third hands in a military salute.

"Greetings! I wish to see my father and speak with him about a few matters. Is it convenient to go inside now?" Leia asked in a soft, gentle voice.

The two guards clearly looked troubled. They exchanged glances, and one of them spoke to Leia with a strained expression, "We are truly sorry, Your Royal Highness. The Queen's orders are that His Imperial Majesty's sacred health is indisposed and he should not be disturbed, so no visitors are permitted."

Hearing this, Leia's eyes instantly welled with tears. "I am deeply worried about my father. May I not go in just to take a single glance?"

The guard shook his head and said, "Your Highness, please do not make things difficult for us. We are merely following orders."

Leia nodded, her tears falling from the air to strike the flagstone floor, stirring up a wisp of dust.

"Very well! I shall return then." Leia turned away in silence, preparing to leave.

"Princess Royal, please stay your step," a voice called out.

Leia turned back to see that the stone door behind the guards had cracked open a sliver.

The guard said nothing, merely waving urgently at Leia.

Stunned for a moment, Leia quickly grasped his intention. She hastily murmured her thanks to the two guards and darted inside.

"You're going to get us dehydrated for this," remarked the guard who had remained silent the entire time.

"Then why didn't you stop me?" the tall guard asked.

"Because I'm not afraid of dehydration, and I simply didn't want to make Princess Leia sad."

The two exchanged a brief smile and said no more.

Entering Rial's bedchamber, Leia found that the place had completely transformed. In the past, the room was adorned with oil paintings, the walls hung with the heads of various beasts her father had hunted, and the display cases filled with swords and weapons.

Now, however, the entire space was heavy with the scent of alcohol and cosmetics. All the previous furnishings were gone, replaced by colorful draperies and floors strewn with dried flower petals.

"What is the meaning of this?" Leia frowned, calling out cautiously, "Father?"

No one answered.

She raised her voice and called again, "Father, are you in there?"

The bedchamber remained utterly still; Leia felt as though she could hear only her own breathing and heartbeat.

Emboldened, she walked deeper in, reaching the innermost bedchamber.

The door was left ajar. Leia reached out and pushed open the heavy wooden door, the creaking sound shattering the suffocating silence.

"Father, are you inside?" Like a easily startled little beast, Leia poked her head through the crack of the door.

Still, there was no reply.

Subconsciously, Leia cast her gaze toward the grand bed, but after a single glance, she covered her eyes in fright.

She retreated in a panic, her face flushed red, her heart pounding so violently that her breath grew shallow.

"Father, how could Father be so absurd?" Leia beat her chest frantically, hoping to calm herself as quickly as possible.

"No! How can Father's health withstand such torment!" Steeling her resolve, she turned back, covered her eyes with her hands, and rushed into the bedroom.

First, she snatched a brocade quilt from a chair and draped it over the two scantily clad, undulating women on the bed. Then, she wrapped Rial tightly from head to toe in a blanket.

She tried to drag the aged king out, but Rial had consumed so much alcohol that he was as limp as a puddle of mud.

"Father! Father! Wake up!" Leia cried out anxiously for her father, truly terrified that this aging man might drink himself into a permanent sleep and depart the mortal world forever.

Splash! Leia seized an ice bucket from a nearby small table—ice cubes and ice water alike—and dumped the entire contents directly onto Rial's face as he lay on the bed.

"Agh! So cold!" Jolted awake by the sudden chill, Rial flailed blindly, brushing the ice and water from his face while staring wildly around to figure out what had happened.

"You? Leia?" When his vision cleared, he saw that the person who had splashed him with ice water was none other than his own daughter.

"It's me, Father! Are you all right?" Leia bent down, squatting beside her father with a look of concern.

"Who let you in? Get out of my sight!" Rial bolted upright, entirely unconcerned that he was stark naked, and roared at Leia.

The two fair-skinned women beside him were startled awake as well. Not understanding what was going on, they shrieked and fled the room, wrapped in a blanket.

"Father, you are being placed under house arrest by Gona and Ligen. Did you know that?" Leia did not leave; instead, she patiently remained crouched by the bed.

"None of your business! You jinx! I am quite content this way! Every day is carefree, with endless wine and women to enjoy. Before long, my two daughters will be the first to send me off to a paradise on earth," Rial said smugly.

"But I am your daughter too! Why have you always hated me so much?" Leia's tears once again fell uncontrollably.

"You? Do you even deserve to be called my daughter?" Rial roared. "Back then, to give birth to you, your mother was willing to sacrifice herself just to keep you alive. If not for her final words to me as she died, I would have thrown you into the Moonlit Forest ages ago to feed the direwolves."

With reddened eyes and a sob, Leia said, "Mother's death was not something I could control; I never wished for her to die either. How can you call that my fault?"