Ascension Of The Villain

"Did you think this through properly?" Clyde asked skeptically.

"I might have done it out of impulse, but I am not completely stupid," Vyan responded. "And just so you know, I discussed this with Thea beforehand. She was on board with it."

"Naturally, she would be. It was the initial plan, after all," Clyde said, rolling his eyes. "But we had to scrape it because the security was tightened." He narrowed his eyes on Vyan. "You made sure everything went smoothly, right?"

"Well…"

———

Three hours ago.

Princess Maria sat on the edge of her bed, her chin propped up on one hand, as she gazed longingly out the grand window of her chamber. The sunlight bathed the room in a warm hue, but it did nothing to lift the heavy gloom in her heart.

Being locked away in her room like a fragile, porcelain doll was hardly entertaining. It made her miss her family all the more.

With a sigh, she muttered, "When is His Grace going to help me escape?"

Easton must have gotten wind of Vyan and Althea's plan to help her escape. That was why he had locked within her bed chambers for the entire week.

A knock sounded at her door, and she hollered, "Enter!"

The door creaked open, revealing a tall figure in gleaming armor. The knight bowed slightly before stepping into the room, a tray balanced in his hands. "Afternoon tea, Your Imperial Highness."

Maria's eyes lit up as she hopped off the bed and hurried over to the knight, her earlier gloom forgotten. "Oh, wonderful! I was just thinking how much better everything would be with a bit of tea," she chirped.

The knight set the tray on a nearby table and watched Maria clumsily seated herself and started preparing her tea.

As she took a sip, Maria glanced up at the knight, who was still standing there. "Do you want to join me?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Ah, I am afraid I am not allowed, Your Imperial Highness," the knight replied. "But I didn't come just to deliver tea. I bring a message from the Grand Duke. I hope you remember the plan he had told you about?"

Maria perked up at that, her cup pausing midway to her lips. "Really?"

The knight leaned in slightly. "His Grace wishes for you to escape the palace... with me."

Maria blinked, then broke into a delighted grin. "Great! I was waiting for it." She set her teacup down with a clatter and practically leaped to her feet, nearly knocking over the entire tea set in the process.

The knight, who was actually Vyan, managed to catch the teapot just in time and said, "We must be swift, Princess. The palace is under tight security."

It was a terrible disadvantage that teleportation and invisibility magic were banned inside the palace grounds, so Vyan had to go through the entire trouble of escorting her out himself, and since the security was too tight, he had to do it himself.

"Okay, how do we do it? Do we sneak past the guards? Climb out a window?" Maria gasped. "Oh! Do we get to wear disguises?"

Vyan chuckled. "As a matter of fact, yes. You will need a disguise." He snapped his fingers and a neatly folded maid's outfit appeared on her bed.

"You are a mage! Wow!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I am." And that was the reason Vyan wasn't revealing himself to her. He couldn't let someone from the enemy nation know of his abilities yet, even though Maria was extremely nice.

"I will get ready." Maria grabbed the outfit with glee, holding it up and twirling around in delight, though she nearly tripped over the hem of her gown in the process.

This woman is a real klutz, alright.

"You will need to change quickly, Your Imperial Highness," Vyan advised, though his tone was far more relaxed than the situation might have warranted.

Maria practically ran behind a changing screen, throwing her gown off and pulling on the maid's uniform. "This is so exciting!" she called out from behind the screen. "I have always wondered what it would be like to be a maid—although, I suppose I would be terrible at it, wouldn't I?"

"You would certainly bring a unique touch to the role," Vyan replied, the corners of his mouth twitching upward in amusement.

After a few minutes of fumbling, Maria emerged from behind the screen, dressed in the maid's outfit, the apron slightly askew and her hair somewhat disheveled. She looked up at Vyan, beaming with pride. "How do I look? Very maid-like, right?"

Vyan nodded. "Perfect, Your Imperial Highness. You are ready for the part."

Maria clapped her hands together. "Oh, I can't wait for Princess Althea to finally become the Crown Princess after all this! But shh, it's our secret. For now, lead the way, Sir Knight! To freedom and beyond!"

Vyan couldn't help but chuckle as he led her to the door. "Stay close to me, and try not to trip over anything," he advised, though he was already mentally preparing himself for the inevitable chaos.

As the two of them slipped out of the room, with Maria tiptoeing in what she believed was the height of stealth, she gasped immediately at not finding any guards nearby.

"Where are the guards?" She was pretty sure there were at least ten guards in this hallway.

"There might be a big fire nearby or something, who knows?" Vyan casually responded and guided Maria through the palace corridors.

"I hope nobody is hurt in the fire," Maria murmured worriedly.

"You don't have time to worry about others, Princess. We have got bigger worries," Vyan said as they were faced with a real imperial knight.

"Is that Princess Ma–" the knight was quieted as a floating vase hit his head from behind.

Maria gasped. "Are we supposed to do that?"

"Well, I never said we were going to be stealthy." Not that it's an option with how clumsy you are, Princess. "Come on, let's go."

Not once did Vyan hide behind a pillar or anything, he straight up knocked down any guards they encountered. Finally, they reached the palace gardens, where a hidden gate—which Althea told him of—awaited them. Vyan quickly unlocked it, and they slipped out of the Aurora Palace, reaching the Crystal Palace.

After that, Vyan guided Maria towards the doghole he knew of.

"I don't quite understand the point of the maid outfit after all this," Maria murmured to herself in confusion.

Well, it was for practicality, to be honest, Vyan thought to himself.

Once the two of them easily passed through the small hole in the wall and were outside the palace grounds, Maria asked, "Is there a carriage waiting for us somewhere?"

"Ah, no." Vyan held out his hand. "Please hold my hand, Your Imperial Highness." As she did, they were teleported outside an inn in Fremen. "You are going to stay here for a few days until Princess Althea comes to find you, is that okay?"

Maria took a moment to absorb the shock from the sudden teleportation and nodded her head. "Um, that's okay, but," her face got a little red as she asked, "will His Grace come visit me before that once?"

Vyan furrowed his eyes for a moment before settling his expression into a neutral one. "Why? Is there something you wanted to talk to him about?"

Maria chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Only if you promise not to tell him in advance."

Vyan nodded, urging her to go ahead.

"I think… I like him."

———

Present.

"What?!" Clyde nearly shouted. "So," he lowered his voice, "You lit a fire inside the palace, knocked down a few guards without any tact, and got a confession?"

"Well, the last one isn't exactly my fault—" Vyan tried to defend himself.

"What about the first two? I thought you were supposed to be stealthy!" Clyde whisper-yelled.

"Yes, but she is a klutz and I also needed the emperor to know of her elopement as soon as possible," Vyan reasoned.

"All because I said it was low of you to be in love with an engaged woman?" Clyde asked in disbelief.

"Well… yeah," Vyan admitted sheepishly.

"Vyan, did you know," Clyde smiled tightly, "Love makes you a little crazy?"

"Nope, it's all in your head," Vyan rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Anyway, stop raining on my parade because of your upcoming heartbreak. Let's see how the emperor reacts to the news. By now, he should have been informed of it."

Clyde sighed and followed Vyan.

But much to their surprise, the emperor was happily chatting away with Easton, and the atmosphere was totally free of any tension. It didn't take either of them a second to put two and two together.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Vyan muttered in disbelief.

"So, yeah, your plan spectacularly failed," Clyde replied, a little amused. "Because it looks like Prince Easton totally covered up the incident."