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Zylith.

You guys must be thinking, drugging a guard or two with slumber dust is not much of a big deal, right? I mean, after all, I am their Queen superior, and its not like its gonna harm them or anything, right? But, wrong; You guys are so very wrong. But I can't blame you here, because I thought the same.

I thought, what trouble could a little slumber dust here and there bring me. Now as I was staring at the scene of a mass of epileptics sprawled on the cold hard floor outside my bedchambers, I realized it brought me big troubles.

Slumber dust, as the name suggests is a shimmery magical powder that puts one to a cataleptic kind of sleep for a certain period of time. It has a silky texture to it and no matter the temperature of the day, the powder is cool to the touch, as if it is set apart from the very environment. Slumber dust is a very rare kind of magical item and I was not even aware of its existence until today before Lord Gilbert brought me a sachet of it. He, like an over-protective anxious mother, handed me the pouch of slumber dust, saying it was for self-defence purposes, that I should use it only when I found myself in a very unfavourable situation without any other way of withdrawal. I thanked him with the sincerest of hearts, saying that I will use it well, and I did used it well, is what I thought until the moment I witnessed the catastrophic situation in front of my chamber.

I was still a bit confounded with Reuben's out-of-character restive behaviour when I told him I had used a little slumber dust, but now I finally understood why he looked so uneased and rushed out here without another word.

The slumber dust swirled in the air above and below, making the whole corridor fragrant with a smell of fresh apricots. I could distinctly see the shimmering particles churning in the air as if they had a mind of their own, creating a glorious cloud of sparkling glitters; beautiful yet somehow precarious.

I frowned when I saw the crowd of people slumped unconscious on the ground. I had only dusted that one incompetent guard, how the hell so many people ended up collapsed? When I was busy scrutinizing the current situation, a weird crazed noise pulled my attention to the comatose bunch. It started with one victim, and then like a plague spread to the rest of the mass. They first let out a startled cry with wide-opened eyes and then started convulsing and shaking in an erratic manner. Like being shocked by electricity, their arms and legs jerked and jolted uncontrollably.

Looking at this scene, my scalp couldn't help but go numb. Was this the real effect of magical slumber dust?

I noticed the knight, called Fredurd Vanner was one of the epileptics and suddenly felt a rush of indefinite pleasure as I watched him being attacked by intermittent fits now and then. You see, Karma is like a rubber-band, it can only stretch so far before it comes back and smacks you in the face with a 'HAA! Take that!', since this guy was a hypocrite who liked to relish in other's shows, now it was my turn to enjoy his epileptic show. I didn't realize that my lips had curved up in the shape of a little arc as I watched the spectacle.

"Very happy?" A slightly chilly voice whispered in my ears stirring me awake of my trance.

On the spur of a moment, my throat had gone as dry as the desert and I had to gulp hard to alleviate my parched throat. Hesitantly so, my head mechanically turned sideways to look at Reuben's stony cold face.

"No I... I..", There is a saying, 'if you can't take the heat, don't tickle the dragon', and I was the idiot who choose not to heed the warning and ended up tickling the dragon, now I felt I would surely burn alive under this heat.

Biting and gnawing onto my inner cheek, I couldn't find a word to refute but my rapid excuse-searching thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Reuben pulled me hard towards him without any prior notice. I was puzzled for a second when I fell into his embrace but soon realize the gravity of the trouble that I'd caused.

The swirling cloud of slumber dust that overflowed the corridors suddenly seemed as though it had come alive and charged towards us in a flashing speed, I widened my eyes and was taken aback for a moment, my mind had gone into a vacant malfunctioned mode.

Reuben grabbed onto me and took two steps back while muffling my mouth and nose with his thick deep blue cloak in urgency.

"Don't breathe in the dust!" He muttered and he didn't need to say it twice.

We retreated from the afflicted corridor in a haste when we realized the slumber dust was chasing us very ardently. We had to scamper through three wide corridors of the immense dark castle before the fiendish demonic slumber dust finally let us off. Maybe it had a radar system or something, I was not sure, but I sure was glad to have escaped its clutches unscathed.

"Oh my God! I'm never dabbling with magic again!" I wheezed in utter terror.

".... My dearest Queen," I heard a frosty inimical voice hum in my ears, "Exactly, how much slumber dust did you use?" I just felt the soft hairs on the back of my neck rise up like erect saluting soldiers.

At that moment, I realized Monsters were real, and they looked very much like the man standing in front of me.

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The night was no longer young, the common parlor of the eastern palace stood alit with a soft flickering flame, giving the illusion of a wonderful medieval twilight lounge view. But nothing was wonderful on my end.

I sat, stranded amidst four transcendent beings glaring daggers at me. Reuben and Co. were staring at me with eyes of utter disapproval and I could only

swallow in shame.

"I... I... I didn't mean this to happen. I swear...." My urgent voice lost its initial stimulus as I spoke and became somewhat of a squeaky kind.

"Your Highness, I gave you the slumber dust for your self-protection, not to wreak havoc in the palace in the dead of the night! It's been four hours and the neutralizers' effect has not set in properly yet! How much in Goddess's name did you use?" Gilbert's badgering tone had a miserable kind of apprehension to it, as if he was now very afraid to leave the castle under my prerogative.

"...(Ahem!) It... It wasn't much, really. Just a small fistful of it." I mumbled in a mouse-like voice.

"....A fistful!!!" Gilbert looked like he was going to have a heart attack and collapse the very next second. I in turn, bit my lower lip and bowed my head in guilt. I now knew, I used it a tad bit too much.

"Oh my Goodness, someone! Someone please bring me a glass of water; else I fear I will start to have a fit like those under the slumber spell!" Poor Gilbert looked very frail at this moment. He slumped down heavily in the nearest couch looking as if he could not take it anymore. Lord Xavier called upon a servant and got Gilbert the much-needed glass of water to ease his distress a bit.

Looking at the aftermath of my mess-up, I couldn't help but feel more guilty due to my unfortunate blunder.

"(Sigh!) It was also my fault to have trusted you with such a dangerous item," Lord Gilbert sighed severely. "I should have explained to you the aftereffects of the powder and the amount that should be used. Yes, it seems it really was my folly. I am beyond words of how much I regret my actions."

I looked at Gilbert's pitiful form and bit my lip harder. Why did it seem as if he was regretting handing me the slumber dust more, rather than not explaining its methods of uses to me? But I refrained from commenting anything as I feared of being dropped back into the boiling hot pan of guilt all over again.

"My dearest Queen, I never realized you were such a spendthrift." A soft indulgent voice spoke out. I looked at Reuben's almost greasy perfectly fake smile and wafted my eyes away from his face in unease.

"Wha-What do you mean?"

"Do you know how much a pinch of the slumber dust you, so extravagantly used costs?" Alexteris exclaimed in contempt, looking at his ugly expression, I was pretty sure I didn't want to know the price of it all.

"What you, so wastefully used is a national treasure and just a pinch of it costs about a whole town's land." Alexteris rebuked in ire; and there, I was pushed in again into the hot pan of guilt. I wanted to glare at the annoying sidekick brother of Reuben but was not daring enough to do so. "Not to mention that you were thoughtless enough to delay brother's departure. Do you know how much damage you have caused us? Huh? Do you?"

At that moment, I wish I was an ostrich, so that I could dig up a big hole and bury my stupid head in to save myself from further mortification. But alas, my fantasies would always, forever remain nothing but fantasies. So I took up a guilt-ridden silent stance and decided to act like I was air for I didn't know how else to deal with this reckless chaos I had created for myself.

"Alright! Since you took such drastic measures as to just arrange a meeting with me, do tell me what is so important that it couldn't be deferred." Reuben asked in a calm tender tone.

Now what do I say to that?

The reason I wanted to so desperately meet Reuben was to merely complain to him about the current imperial studies affair which the Queen Dowager had arranged for me. I wanted to urge him to cancel the imperial education program for I felt it was rather fishy and also, I was very reluctant to attend to such curriculum. But now, after causing such a huge ruckus, where did I have the courage to demand such exigencies.

So I racked my mind to formulate some ideas to back my actions and after a minute's pondering I muttered in a sheepish voice, "Erm.... You see, since I will be in close contact with the Queen Dowager these coming days, I wanted to attain some leverage on her. So I wanted to ask for the ball pen recorder that she gifted to His Majesty, who knows, I might just be able to trick the Queen Dowager into submission?"

Reuben raised a corner of his sharp beautiful brows at my barely passing excuse, not looking very convinced. "So that, was the reason for your unexpected actions?" He asked.

"What else could there be? I had to personally meet you because this matter is pretty confidential, no?" I tried and persevered even though I felt my excuse fell a little short of a watertight reasoning.

".... Hmm, I see. And here I thought there would be some ground-breaking revelations on your part." He exhibited a disappointed look in consequence. His sardonic tone did not go unnoticed by me, but what could I do other than grit my teeth in irritation and scold him a thousand times in my heart. I knew he realized that it was not the real reason why I had so brazenly tried to ambush him. And I was pretty sure that he knew why I had to take such radical steps to ambush him, I comprehended that it was the very reason why he rejected my appeal to meet him when I sent him my invitation for meeting through Lord Gilbert.

He deduced that I wanted him to reject the Queen Dowager's arrangements as I was powerless in this aspect, and since he didn't want to, he refused to meet up with me. The Scoundrel!

Unenthusiastically so, I was reunited with my long-lost baby-pink ball pen and muttered a word of perfunctory thanks.

"Now that my Queen had gotten her wish, I hope she wouldn't wander around the castle blowing slumber dust in the middle of the night." Reuben smiled tenderly, as if ignorant of any of my ulterior motives.

I couldn't help but bite my lips in irritation. At that moment, I felt that smiling mask of his was the most infuriating in this world. it should be banned, ..... No, his whole irksome pretty face should be banned.

When they were getting off to leave the chamber, I yelped out of the blue, "Please wait Your Majesty!" And Reuben turned around.

I hurriedly tore a note from the small tea-counter and scribbled on it in a haste. Then I neatly folded the note twice and handed it to Reuben in a somewhat swift motion. "Please only open it when you are by yourself." I advised and then sauntered away towards my room in a huff.

To be Continued……