A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
Annabeth had many principles in life she would follow. Never steal or plagiarize. Always work hard for her own achievements. And never come for someone who has not done anything to her. So for the days after the wedding where many representatives of the foreign countries stayed for a pleasant retreat, Annabeth didn't bother making things difficult for those countries who had less than warm relations with Eldoris.
But that didn't mean the people who had ill will towards Annabeth didn't stop their nefarious actions behind the scenes. Of course, they had been daunted somewhat by Annabeth's display of chess mastery and verbal sparring. Those who were smart realized that it was not that the Eldoris Queen was weak. Rather the queen didn't care to attack others if she wasn't provoked by anyone first. Only the truly smart would not engage in drama but merely be onlookers.
Annabeth found herself in this predicament when she and the foreign guests went on a boating trip on the natural lakes just outside the Eldoris royal palaces.
"Oh my, Your Majesty, I heard quite the praise about your knowledge!" An elderly man complimented.
Annabeth smiled blandly. That was the fakest voice and compliment she had ever heard from these hidden vultures. Who was this man again? Ah, that's right. Some grand duke, the son of a second prince, whose family was clinging onto its last vestiges of power from a small country called Mandol. Wasn't Mandol a tribute country to Kiran? Annabeth wouldn't be surprised if this had Princess Alana's fingers all over it.
"You flatter me, Grand Duke, as I am lacking in many aspects." Annabeth gently said.
"You are being modest, Your Majesty," the Grand Duke pressed. "I am sure that you will have quite an easy time managing Eldoris. After all, with your origins, you'll be able to relate to both the commoners and the nobility."
People began to stir at the Grand Duke's words, while Annabeth looked on, passively smiling. This little motherfucker, she thought. So it seemed that the information leaked out that the elder Kiran princess was of half legitimate birth. But Annabeth had already expected this.
Princess Alana didn't look too pleased. The reason why Alana didn't want to expose Annabeth's birth was because Annabeth could potentially in turn reveal the abuse at the Kiran royals' hands. The Kiran royals prided themselves on their reputation as clean as their light magic that ran in their veins. Revealing an affair and then abusing the child elicited from their affair would stain that fake holier-than-thou reputation.
"My origins, Grand Duke?" Annabeth said. "Did you mean how Kiran cares greatly for the interests and wellbeing of its people as well as its surrounding tribute countries? If so, I, too, plan to care for the betterment of Eldoris, following what I have learned from Kiran. With the care of my husband, I have been trying my best."
The Grand Duke of Mandol could not easily refute this, or else it would mean he was saying that Kiran had a reputation for not caring for its people. Wouldn't that slap Princess Alana's face?
Coward, Annabeth thought. If the Eldoris king had been by her side, these fools wouldn't have dared to pick on her.
"Some of us forget our own origins," a quiet voice inserted.
Princess Annabeth turned to see another princess sitting by the side, stirring a spoonful of sugar in her milk tea. This woman seemed to be Princess Reyna of Barinia. Why was Princess Reyna helping her?
The Grand Duke flushed. His country, Mandol, had been founded by a commoner who started out as a simple leader of vagabonds that eventually grew to a country just a mere two hundred years ago. Not just Mandol, but many countries had humble beginnings. Even Princess Alana was giving a cold reception on the surface to this Grand Duke who didn't seem to inherit the brains of his predecessors.
"If you have any advice to impart on the matters of governance, Grand Duke, we would all be glad to hear it." Annabeth said with a gentle smile that was in contrast to the sharp gaze in her eyes.
"I do not dare, I do not dare," the Grand Duke said hastily.
How could he give advice when he was just barely related to the Mandol royal family? Besides, Mandol now had to depend on Kiran for protection in return for annual tribute fees. If he offended Kiran, Mandol would pay dearly.
Annabeth returned a cold smile. Idiotic to the bone, this one. This Grand Duke wasn't going to have a good end.
"Shall we set off on the boats now?"
A small fleet of boats began drifting onto the lake with joyous laughter alight.
Being rather delayed in his work, Percy ended up being late to the boating trip hosted. On the way, he met Crown Prince Jason.
"You are late to the boat outing as well, Your Highness?" Percy called out to the Tynan prince.
Prince Jason gave him a half-amused, half exasperated look. He had been trying to avoid the advances of Princess Alana for the past few days. Unbeknownst to Prince Jason, both Percy and the Eldoris queen had been deliberately blocking Alana and Jason from meeting as much as possible. Coincidentally, Queen Annabeth had been sending Lady McLean on many errands that happened to cross paths with Prince Jason. Lady McLean had even given Prince Jason an individual tour of Eldoris royal garden grounds.
"I was just changing my clothes, Your Majesty." Prince Jason answered.
"Shall we head down to the lake together?" Percy proposed.
Never once had he thought that he would ask a former enemy to walk alongside him. Forgive and forget. Percy might forgive, but he would never forget. Still, the bigger obstacle was Princess Alana and the Kirans, not the crown prince of Tynan who had fallen victim to Alana's lumokinesis. A temporary truce, Percy begrudgingly thought.
"Please lead the way, Your Majesty." The prince accepted.
When they arrived, the boats were already out on the lake. Percy scanned the attendees and quickly found the queen sitting with Lucy and Lady McLean on one boat. Princess Alana and her escort, Sir Luke, were on another. A few other boats were behind carrying noble personages from other countries.
Then in just a few seconds the scene of peace and joy changed. Disaster struck as Percy watched in horror as the boat behind plowed right into his queen's.
One moment, Annabeth was laughing as she was talking with Piper. The next, she felt a hard bump from something knocking into her boat. Screaming was the last thing she heard until the boat flipped into the water, throwing its occupants into the freezing lake.
Annabeth's head bumped into the side of the boat as she flailed her arms, trying to get her bearings. She had learned how to swim before, but her dress had become heavily soaked and was weighing her down. Annabeth grimaced through the pain on her head and opened her eyes a little. Though the water stung, she steeled herself to swim up to the surface, cursing the fates once more.
As she swam, she passed the figure of a young girl. Wasn't this the young princess from Mandor in the boat behind her? The little princess wasn't swimming. Annabeth grabbed her and managed to push her up to the surface.
Just as she managed to grab a breath of oxygen for herself, a sharp tug on her foot suddenly pulled her down, causing her to go back down in the lake. Annabeth hurriedly looked down and discovered that the Grand Duke of Mandor was grasping onto her ankle.
What was this fucking bastard doing now? Trying to kill her after his boat knocked into hers?
Annabeth furiously kicked her legs, but the Grand Duke panicked and held on tight. He didn't know how to swim. But she really didn't need this dead weight pulling her down. Losing air, Annabeth felt her adrenaline rush in as she kicked once more. Her hands reached for the dagger she had hidden in her dress and slashed as much material off the bottom of her dress as possible.
But precious moments of air and time were lost. Annabeth could feel her lungs gasping for air, almost prompting her to open her mouth. Not like this, Annabeth grimaced. She refused to die like this after escaping the original character's death. With her last surge of energy, Annabeth extended her arms up to the surface.
The moment the boats flipped into the water, Percy was running with Crown Prince Jason behind him. The boats were in the middle of the lake but that didn't matter to Percy as he summoned his hydrokinesis and dove straight into the lake. With a surge of water, the lake's contents seemed to upend right where the boats had flipped. The lake water became an extension of Percy's consciousness as he searched for the queen.
There! She was almost at the surface when the man grabbing her ankle tugged her down. Immediately, Percy forced the water below Queen Annabeth to go up, pushing her and the man up to the surface.
"Kwak!" The queen floundered as she broke into the surface, coughing the water out of her lungs.
Percy reached her in the next second and held onto her tight. With another force of his magic, he brought her out of the lake and onto the shore, shivering and gasping for air. Tentacles of lake water and bursts of wind from Prince Jason reached for the rest of the people who also shared the misfortune of falling into the lake.
The queen was quivering with cold. Though it was a warm day, the lake's temperature was unsuitable for someone who was still recovering. The damp clothing plastered to the queen's body certainly wasn't helping. Percy noticed that the queen was clutching her knife and her dress was torn, exposing her legs. It was a miracle that she hadn't cut herself or others. He handed the dagger to Lucy who was at the side, tears streaming down her face.
He waved his hand and all the water on Annabeth's body was sucked off. Quickly, Percy took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Not only was she still cold with her lips turning blue, it was inappropriate for others to see her in this state. He had to get her back to Dahlia Palace.
Nearby, the other people who had flipped into the water were rescued by Percy's power. Princess Alana was one of them. With the water sticking her hair and clothes to her skin, the Kiran princess looked like a mermaid washed onto the shore. Looking up as she shivered, Princess Alana seemed a pitiful young woman as her eyes drifted towards Prince Jason of Tynan.
Percy sneered. Princess Alana was the director and main actress of this play, but it was a pity for her that Prince Jason had ignored her outright and wrapped his cloak around Lady McLean.
"Sir Luke," Percy called as he walked by carrying the bundled queen in his arms. "You should take care of the princess."
Or was Sir Luke going to let every man stare at the Kiran princess in her wet and vulnerable state? Princess Alana was purposefully giving everyone a show as the wet clothing left little to the imagination. But whether Sir Luke knew it or not, Percy didn't care. The man Princess Alana was showing on purpose to was already giving his affections to another beauty. Princess Alana embarrassing herself in this state was of no concern to him.
Sir Luke had fallen into the lake himself, causing him to have no dry clothes to offer. A few palace staff came forward, offering blankets and hot tea. Princess Alana bowed her head, hiding her stony expression as her personal knight wrapped the warm blanket around her shoulders.
"Your Majesty-keuk!" The queen coughed as she trembled with chills. "The little girl-"
"Save your energy." Percy said, shortly. "That child is safe."
As he quickened his pace towards Dahlia Palace, the servants paled with fright and quickly set to work, some rushing a bath while others went to grab physicians and warm clothing. The Eldoris king was incensed as his green eyes burned with fury. Someone was going to pay for what happened today, and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of that anger.
"I don't think, ah-choo! I don't think what happened today was an accident," the queen managed to finish her words.
"I know, I saw," Percy grimaced.
Right before the impact of the boats, he had seen the boat behind the queen's speed up and strike against hers. As for the occupant of that boat… Percy narrowed his eyes. Things would not end up well for him.
His swordsmanship aura leaked out as his emotions grew turbulent. How dare they touch one of his people in his very own palace? These bastards didn't want their own lives, it seemed.
"Your Majesty…" The queen coughed in his arms.
Immediately, Percy quelled his aura and tried to keep his emotions stable. His aura had been oppressing the queen who already had a weak constitution to begin with.
"Save your energy," he told her. "Don't try to speak."
The queen shook her head. "Thank you…"
She buried her head into the crook of his shoulders and neck. Percy's heart stilled for a moment.
As soon as he entered the queen's quarters, he saw that a hot bath had been set up.
"Lucy, take care of the queen. Let the physicians see her as soon as she's done."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Percy turned back to the queen. "Rest for now. I'll come see you in a little while. Don't worry about anything, and I will take care of it."
His words told her that the people who dared to harm her, he would pursue them to get the justice she deserved.
When the door to the bedroom closed, Percy's eyes turned cold.
A/N: Aha! You were expecting sword lessons? Nah, just attempted accidentally-on-purpose-maybe murder! But as if Percy would ever let Annabeth drown. I mean, there's probably a lot of ways she could die, but drowning is not one of them.
To guest reviewer: I don't have a tumblr account, I'm so sorry! I'm not good with social media or sites, because I get really easily distracted. I have stayed away from Instagram and TikTok so far...
To ayanminhamkhan77: I've heard now and then of these discord spaces where authors get to interact with readers about their works. I'm not very familiar with Discord, though those communities seem great. I just don't think I would have much time to be on the community for now. Maybe once a week, at most I'd be able to spend 20-30 minutes to it? Like, I legit can spend only 10-15 minutes editing and updating this story and already I feel guilty for not studying hahahaha... But even these 10-15 minutes updating is a good stress reliever. :D
To other guest reviewer: I do like reading Remarried Empress, although Trashta just makes me want to pull my hair out from my roots. Like it's not okay for someone else to steal your husband, but you're the one who stole the husband from someone else in the first place? Gah! But I think Sovieshu is the worst. Like it's bad enough to cheat with someone you know is married, but it's worse for the person who is married to knowingly cheat and expect your husband/wife to be okay with it. What did you expect, Sovieshu, you dumb end piece of white bread that no one likes.
Thank you all for your lovely replies! I do read all of them and they are near and dear to my heart, even if I don't always get the time to reply.
I unfortunately did not have time to edit this chapter of any mistakes, but I will fix them later! As always, see you all next week! (if i survive another round of exams)