The Phantom and the Empress - First Chapter

Laughter and loud music could be heard all around the Silver Chalice, one of Nesstrada’s most popular and most expensive nightclubs. From petty nobles to rich business owners, dazzling celebrities and shady criminals, anyone who could afford it had gathered here to show off their wealth, make connections and have a good time in the process. It was perhaps no surprise that Marise von Eidenau was here as well.

A long time ago, it would have been unthinkable to stumble upon a member of her family in such a place. But nowadays, nobody cared if Marise spent a night or two drinking and partying. For all intents and purposes, she was just another noble, and she didn’t have many ambitions beyond making sure things stayed that way.

“And then that moron tried to convince everyone that my watch was fake!” One of the nobles in the booth that Marise was sitting in said. He pulled the aforementioned watch off his wrist and held it out for everyone to see. “I paid one hundred thousand crowns to get my hands on this thing. It’s impeccable. There’s no way it’s fake.”

Marise pretended to listen to his words as she sipped on her drink. She barely knew any of these vain, vapid people, and the only reason why she could tolerate them was the alcohol. Occasionally, she heard things that someone much shrewder than her could have used to put together some convincing blackmail, but for the most part, their stories were rather boring. Still, it was a welcome distraction from her boring days at the academy and all the official events that she was expected to attend, and unless she found something more interesting, she had no choice but to stay here.

“Excuse me.” A hostess with long, brown hair, black pants, and a silver vest approached their booth and looked around. “I’m looking for Marise von Eidenau…”

“That’s me!” Marise raised her arm and waved.

“Oh, milady!” The hostess bowed as Marise stood up. “There’s someone who wants to speak to you. It seemed important. I think it was something about imperial business.”

“Really?” Marise asked. She was a regular guest at the Silver Chalice, so it wasn’t surprising that someone would try to contact her here. “You know what? Why not!” Marise stood up and followed the hostess to the other side of the main hall.

Walking past dancing socialites and waiters carrying trays full of drinks, Marise wondered what this stranger wanted to talk about. Her parents were diplomats, so they were often involved in imperial politics, but nobody expected her to do more than just show up at some galas or festivals and be seen. Still in deep thought, she followed the hostess down a corridor and around a corner to one of the private rooms in the back of the nightclub.

“After you, milady,” the hostess said as she opened the door.

Marise entered the room and looked around, expecting to see someone sitting on one of the couches. At first glance, the room seemed empty. She wanted to turn around and ask where the person who called her was, but before she could react, the hostess grabbed her from behind and stuffed a gag made out of cloth into her mouth. Marise tried to fight her off, but two more people suddenly appeared from the shadows and subdued her. One of the attackers bound her hands behind her back, and the other tied a blindfold around her eyes. Panic set in, and Marise cursed herself for being so naive.

Moments later, the attackers dragged her out of the nightclub. She was thrown onto a cold, metallic surface and tied to a wall with a rope. When she heard the sound of a door slamming shut, Marise realized that she was in the back of a motor caravan. The driver entered the cabin in the front, turned on the engine, and the vehicle drove off.

At first, Marise tried to get out of the rope, but no matter how much she struggled, she was stuck. For a moment, she could hear faint circus music, which meant that they weren’t far from the city center. She tried to cry out for help, but nobody heard the guttural sounds that came out of her gagged throat. Soon, she had no idea where they were, and when the sounds of the city faded away, she had lost track of time as well.

Marise felt a jolt when the motor caravan finally came to a halt. She waited anxiously as she heard the engine shutting off, and her kidnappers gathering at the back of the vehicle. They started talking to each other, but Marise couldn’t understand much through the closed doors. A while later, she heard a click and felt a cold breeze. Instinctively, she turned her head towards the source of the sound.

“End of the line, milady,” one of the kidnappers said and stepped into the caravan. Marise recognized that this was the hostess from the Silver Chalice. She approached Marise and removed the gag.

“What do you want from me?” Marise asked. She had given up on trying to escape the rope a long time ago, but maybe she could still talk her way out of this situation. “The entire empire knows who I am, there’s no way you could...”

The hostess removed the blindfold, and Marise stopped talking when she saw a golden miniature sword pinned to the left lapel of a uniform jacket. Marise’s heart sank when she realized what it meant. This woman was an officer of the Golden League, a paramilitary organization, and judging by the pins on her shoulder, she was a high-ranking officer.

The woman knelt down to untie the rope around Marise’s body. Her hands were still restrained, but she could finally stand up.

“Follow me!” the officer barked.

When Marise stepped out of the motor caravan, she was blinded by the headlights of another vehicle. She squinted her eyes and tried to look around. There were two other members of the Golden League standing next to her. Judging by the lack of pins on their shoulders, they were nothing more than plain troopers. One of them had a pistol in her left hand, so running away wasn’t an option.

“Look, I don’t know what you want from me, but this has to be a misunderstanding,” Marise tried to explain as she was led to the middle of a snow-covered field. They were somewhere on the outskirts of a forest, and she could tell that nobody would hear her if she called for help. “I’m a loyal subject of the empire! I have done nothing wrong!”

“We know.” The officer stopped walking. “You’re not the one who’s at fault for what’s about to happen.”

“Then why am I here?!” Marise asked. She was freezing without her winter coat that she had left behind in the Silver Chalice. “You won’t get away with this. If my parents find out about this, they’ll…”

“Your parents are dead,” the officer said with an indecipherable expression on her face.

“What?” Marise felt a shiver running down her spine, and her knees trembled.

The officer cleared her throat. “Anselm and Paisley von Eidenau were executed several hours ago. They were found guilty of conspiring against the empire with the help of traitors from the Unincorporated Territory and other undesirable organizations. The order was given by the emperor himself, and there is no room for appeals.”

Marise’s knees gave in, and she collapsed to the ground.

This could not be true. Her parents did not deserved to be executed. Sure, she had heard rumors about some kind of conspiracy, but even then, she didn’t believe that her parents had any malicious intent. They only wanted what’s best for everyone. No, it had to be a lie.

The officer continued to speak, but Marise had stopped listening. Instead, she just kept staring at the snowflakes that had started to fall all around her as she tried to make sense of everything. After a while, the officer put two fingers under Marise’s chin and forced her to look up.

“Milady, you should face the moment of your death with dignity,” the officer said and let go of Marise. “You are not at fault for anything that’s about to happen, so I will look you in the eye when I give the order. I owe you that much.”

“How kind of you,” Marise scoffed as a tear ran down her cheek. Blind rage began to fill her thoughts and cloud her vision when the reality of her situation sank in. Her parents were dead, murdered by the emperor, a man that she had known personally since her early childhood. And she was not even given enough time to grieve.

The officer took a step back and made a small gesture, ordering one of her troopers to raise her gun. “Aim for the heart,” she said. “Her face must stay intact for the state funeral. Multiple shots. Make sure she’s dead.”

Then Marise felt a series of dull punches hitting her chest. She fell to the ground, and a burning sensation spread throughout her upper body. In her last moment, Marise tried to remember the strict, but caring eyes of her mother and the warm smile of her father. One by one, her organs stopped working. The world around her faded away, and she died.

A dark sea full of glittering lights appeared in front of Marise’s eyes. Even though the endless expanse that she was floating in had an eerie, violet glow, it reminded her of the night’s sky.

Marise had no direction or goal in mind. She had no hands, no legs, and no organs. If a mirror suddenly appeared in front of her, she would see nothing more than a blinding light.

Two more stars joined her out of nowhere. Marise didn’t know what they were, but their presence filled her with pure joy. All of her fears, worries, and responsibilities faded away, and she was finally at peace.

But just when Marise got used to her new form, she felt a violent force repelling her from all directions. She was shaken and thrown around as the dark expanse began to fall apart. For just a moment, Marise could see glimpses of an intricate set of cogwheels and mechanisms that was beyond her comprehension. She felt a cold breeze and saw a snow-covered forest through something that seemed to be a tear in the fabric of reality. The last remnants of this strange, surreal universe disappeared, and Marise was back on the empty field. Half of her face was buried in the snow, and she felt a dull pain in her chest.

Marise moved her eyes and saw one of the troopers standing guard next to her while the other one was looking for something in the motor caravan. She noticed that the second vehicle was gone, which meant that the officer had already left the scene.

The rage that had stormed deep inside her returned once again, and Marise felt a strange sensation when she tried to rise from the ground. To her own surprise, she actually succeeded. However, her physical body was somehow still lying on the ground, which didn’t make any sense because she was looking at it from above.

Shocked and confused, Marise raised her hands and saw that they were no longer made out of flesh and blood. Instead, they were composed of a shadowy substance with a purple hue, resembling a fire that barely gave off any light.

Marise didn’t have any time to figure out what was going on. The trooper who was standing guard next to her turned around and gasped when she saw this strange figure towering above the dead body. Marise rushed towards the trooper and tried to grab the pistol. However, she had underestimated the speed at which she was floating through the air. Instead of colliding with the trooper’s body, Marise passed through it as if it was nothing more than a cobweb.

Memories streamed through Marise’s mind. She saw an orphan who had climbed on top of a statue to watch a parade of soldiers marching down the street. She felt the pain and regret of someone who was had been rejected by the Imperial Army, only for it to be replaced with pride when the Golden League accepted her instead. At last, Marise’s soul gained the upper hand, and the memories faded away.

For a while, Marise just stood there motionlessly and processed what had just happened. She looked at her hands and noticed that they were once again made out of flesh and blood, but the skin tone was unfamiliar, and she was now holding a pistol.

“You alright?” someone asked her from behind. The other trooper walked past Marise, glanced at her face, and raised one of his eyebrows. “First time?”

“First what?” Marise scrambled to reply.

The trooper pointed with his thumb towards Marise’s actual body that was still lying on the ground. “First kill. Are you sure you’re feeling well?”

“Eh, yes, don’t worry about me,” Marise said. She noticed that her voice had changed as well, and she probably sounded like the woman whose body she had somehow possessed.

“I don’t know if it’s any help, but I had the same reaction when I was in your situation.” The trooper put down the stretcher that he had been carrying in his other hand and began to unfold it. “But, you know, it gets easier as time goes on.”

Marise raised the pistol and aimed at the trooper with an unsteady hand. She wanted to get rid of him and every single member of the Golden League for what they had done. It was the least that she could do.

Her finger was already on the trigger when Marise realized that she had no idea what was actually going on. So she lowered the pistol and clumsily inserted it into a holster that was hanging from the belt of the woman whose body she had possessed.

“It’s something you have to learn to live with,” the trooper continued to reassure her. “After all, you can’t fight degeneracy without cracking a couple of innocent eggs in the process. Can you grab her shoulders?”

Marise approached her actual body and helped the trooper heave it onto the stretcher. Seeing her own lifeless expression from this angle was a bizarre experience, and she hoped that she would never have to do it again. Together, they grabbed the stretcher and rose from the ground to take her body back to the motor caravan.

“What are we supposed to do with her again?” Marise asked as casually as possible.

“We need to drop off the body in an alley close to the Celestial Gardens,” the trooper said. “Once that’s done, we need to report back to Capitaine Mazzo.”

“Why can’t we just leave the body here?” Marise asked as they set the stretcher down next to the motor caravan. She made a mental note of the name Capitaine Mazzo, which probably belonged to the officer who had ordered her execution.

“Didn’t you pay attention during the briefing?” the trooper asked while rubbing his hands together to warm them up. “The emperor only wanted her parents to die, so we’re making it seem like she was caught in the crossfire.”

“I remember that,” Marise lied. “I’m just complaining, that’s all. Was it even necessary to kill her?”

“I have no clue,” the trooper said and shrugged. “I guess the chef has his reasons. Either way, I think it’s a bad idea to question your orders.”

He opened the doors to the motor caravan, and they raised the stretcher high enough so that it could easily be pushed into the vehicle. The trooper climbed into the caravan, turned on a light above them, and secured the body with the rope that they had used to restrain Marise.

“Hang on a second…” The trooper had knelt down next to the body to investigate something. Alarmed, Marise put her fingers around the grip of the pistol and waited for his reaction. “Are you sure you actually shot her? I could swear that I just heard her groaning or something.”

“The wounds speak for themselves,” Marise said and gestured towards the body’s chest.

“Sure, but… there’s barely any blood.” The trooper scratched his head and stood up. Just as he was about to turn around, Marise raised the pistol and pulled the trigger. She had no experience with firearms, and the recoil was far stronger than she had expected, so her shot barely missed the trooper.

“What are you…?” The trooper took a step back and looked at her with a shocked expression. But before he could react, Marise steadied her grip and pulled the trigger once again. This time, she hit him in the neck. Blood gushed out of the wound, and the trooper collapsed onto the ground while making strange gurgling sounds.

Marise breathed heavily as she looked at the light fading from his eyes. Afraid that he might still be alive, she once again aimed at him and pulled the trigger three more times just to be sure.

For a while, she just stood there and stared at him as she waited for a sign of his soul returning to his body. When she realized that he would remain dead for good, Marise relaxed and sank to the ground with her back to the wall of the motor caravan. In the silence, she could hear faint sounds of life coming from her actual body. She wasn’t sure if it was actually alive. After all, one of the bullets had pierced her heart. And yet, she had been able to move her eyes before she had left her body in that shadowy form, so it might be stuck in some kind of state between life and death.

Marise looked at the dead trooper. This was not enough. Killing a single man who was just following orders would not bring her parents back, nor would it avenge them. If she wanted justice, then she had to set higher goals.

She stood up and examined the mess inside the caravan. First, she had to get rid of the evidence, and she couldn’t do that alone. She had to find someone that she could trust. The list of people who came to mind was rather small, but there was one man who might still be trustworthy.

Roughly two hours later, Marise was sitting at a table in the corner of an inn and sipping on a mug of beer. She had tried to hide the uniform of the trooper that she had possessed with a cape, but that wasn’t nearly enough to stop the occasional suspicious stares that she was getting from the other patrons. It was almost midnight, and they were no doubt wondering what a uniformed woman was doing in their town. However, they refused to approach her out of fear, and she was more than happy about that.

Marise had almost finished her drink when the door opened and a timid man with curly hair entered the room. Her squire looked around the room before he approached the man behind the counter. The innkeeper listened to his question and pointed towards Marise, who raised her mug when her squire spotted her.

“Y-you said you had some information on where the countess was, right?” her squire asked. He seemed afraid, most likely because he thought that he was talking to a member of the Golden League.

Marise didn’t know if she could rely on him. Until very recently, she would have trusted the emperor himself with her own life. But now, she only felt bitter hatred whenever she glanced at his portrait on one of the walls. She had to test her squire before she could reveal anything.

“You’re Kai Forsberg, right?” Marise asked and gestured towards the chair on the opposite side of the table. She pulled a notebook out of her pocket and pretended to write something down.

“Yes,” Kai said and sat down, nervously staring at the notebook.

“Before I tell you more, I’d like to know if you’re aware of anything that happened tonight,” Marise said. “Were you contacted by anyone prior to the countess’ disappearance? Did anyone offer you money or favors in exchange for your services? If you’re honest, I’m willing to be lenient with you.”

Kai shook his head. “I don’t know about anything. I swear it!”

“Please keep your voice down,” Marise said when she noticed that the other patrons were staring at them. She cleared her throat and asked, “Can you tell me all you know about what happened tonight?”

“I was waiting for the countess in the parking lot next to the Silver Chalice,” Kai explained. “When she didn’t leave the building at the designated time, I got worried and started asking around, but nobody had any idea where she was. Then I went back to the mansion because I hoped that she had found her way back home on her own, but she wasn’t there either. About an hour later, I got a call from you, and now I’m here.”

“I understand,” Marise said and added another line of gibberish to her notes. “Do you have any idea where her parents are?”

“The duke and the duchess?” Kai asked and raised his eyebrows. “I have no clue. As far as I know, they’re at a dinner party somewhere in the city.”

Marise nodded. She felt a bit guilty for treating her own squire this way, but part of her enjoyed pretending to be an interrogator. “Right now, the countess is in a precarious situation, and her fate depends entirely on your cooperation.”

“What happened to her?” Kai asked. “What can I do to help her?”

“For the time being, the countess is in our custody,” Marise said, and she saw her squire’s eyes widen. “If you’re willing to reveal anything that might lead to her conviction, then this is your chance to tell me more. In exchange, I will make sure that…”

“No,” Kai interrupted her, throwing her off-guard. His expression had hardened, and Marise knew immediately that he had passed her test. “I swore an oath to protect and support the countess no matter what. Even if I knew something like that, I wouldn’t do anything to endanger her.”

“I’m surprised,” Marise said and chuckled. “Honor doesn’t mean much to the average squire these days.”

Kai shrugged. “I take my job seriously.”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to hear,” Marise said and finished her drink. “If you want to help the countess, then follow me.”

Marise stood up, paid for her order, and left the inn with her squire. Outside the building, she could see her own motor vehicle, a Prisa-Sallan V7 imported from the Kingdom of Mereland. Even at night, it stood out with its folding roof and intricate decorations. Nobody who lived in this small town could even dream of being able to afford something like this.

“Is that your car?” Marise asked as she approached it. Normally, she would have been mad that her squire had left it unattended, but right now, a damaged or stolen car was the least of her concerns.

“The car belongs to the countess. I’m just her chauffeur,” Kai explained.

“Well, that’s convenient,” Marise said and approached the passenger door. “You have to drive me to her location. Don’t worry, it’s not far.”

Kai sat down behind the steering wheel and turned on the ignition. The engine started with a satisfying roar, and after a short journey, they arrived at the end of a road on a hill from which they could see the small town in the distance. Marise had left the motor caravan here, and she hoped that the few trees and bushes had been enough cover to hide it for now.

“Keep the lights on,” Marise said as she stepped out of the Prisa-Sallan and walked towards the back doors of the caravan. She bowed down and picked up the rope that she had put on the ground next to the vehicle. Then she pulled the pistol out of the holster and handed it to her squire.

“What are you doing?” Kai asked, refusing to take the pistol.

“You are going to see things that will seem unbelievable at first, and I want you to be ready if anything goes wrong,” Marise said. She had decided that it would be far easier to show everything to her squire instead of trying to explain it.

After looking at the pistol for a couple of seconds, Kai nodded and grabbed it. Then Marise walked up to a birch tree that was illuminated by the Prisa-Sallan’s headlights and handed the rope to her squire as well.

“I want you to tie me to this tree,” Marise said, and Kai stared at her in disbelief.

“I don’t understand,” he said and looked around as if he was sure there were other people watching them from the shadows, waiting for him to do something incriminating.

“Do you want to see the countess again?” Marise asked and once again insisted on giving him the rope. Kai sighed, grabbed the rope, and did what he was told to do. “Make sure that I can’t move and take a step back.”

Marise leaned against the tree in a location where the light of her motor vehicle blinded her. When Kai was done tying her up, she wiggled around to see if the rope was enough to restrain her. Satisfied with her squire’s work, Marise closed her eyes and tried to focus on the strange sensation that she had felt when her spirit had left her body for the first time. Then she passed through the rope as if it was nothing more than thin air. When she opened her eyes, she saw Kai taking a step back. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

“W-w-what are you?!” he shouted, breathing heavily.

“Don’t you recognize me?” Marise asked and approached him. Her voice echoed as if it was coming from the inside of an empty temple. Without a physical body, she was no longer blinded by the lights of her motor vehicle, and she could clearly see the horrified expression on her squire’s face.

For a while, Kai kept staring at her. Then his features gradually relaxed when he realized who she was. “Milady, is that you?”

Marise smiled and nodded. She floated towards the motor caravan and passed through one of its walls. A couple of seconds later, she opened the doors from the inside and stepped out of the vehicle, once again in control of her actual body.

“Unbelievable,” Kai said in a low tone and stood up. “What happened to you?”

“I have no idea,” Marise replied. She still remembered what she had seen in the short period between her death and the moment she woke up in this new state. Even though it had seemed so real to her, she didn’t know if it was just a dream or if she had actually been to the afterlife.

“By the Moon, milady, you’re injured!” Kai said when he noticed the wounds and the dried blood on her tailcoat suit. “We need to find a doctor as soon as possible!”

“Oh, are you talking about this?” Marise looked down at the spot where the bullets had pierced her body. “The bleeding stopped a while ago. I’m not even sure if this body is dead or alive.”

When she saw something moving in the corner of her eye, Marise glanced towards the birch tree, where the trooper that she had possessed was about to wake up. Kai followed her gaze, and together, they made their way to the uniformed woman.

“Where… am I? What happened?” the trooper muttered as she opened her eyes and and was immediately blinded by the light of Marise’s motor vehicle.

“What do you remember?” Marise said.

“I was on a field, guarding something…” the trooper said.

“Do you remember what happened after that?” Marise asked, but the trooper only shook her head. “Good. That’s all I needed to know.”

Marise held out her hand and asked Kai to return the pistol. Her squire hesitated for a second before he did as he was asked. With a much more confident motion than before, Marise aimed at the trooper and pulled the trigger several times. The shots were probably loud enough to alert the people in the town downhill. But it would take them about half an hour to reach their location on foot, which gave them enough time to take the body to the caravan and leave the scene.

“Was that really necessary?” Kai asked in an unnerved tone.

“She tried to kill me,” Marise said and stuffed the pistol into her suit jacket. “Or rather, she succeeded.”

“What are we going to do now?” her squire asked, still staring at the body that was tied to the tree.

“First, we are going to get rid of the evidence,” Marise said. For what it’s worth, the emperor didn’t want her dead, and she doubted that the Golden Brigade would try to take her out right now. All eyes would be on Marise once the public found out about her parents’ death, and trying to assassinate her would be too risky. Capitaine Mazzo was the only remaining person who knew for sure that Marise had died, and that’s something that she could use to her advantage.

“And then?” Kai asked and finally managed to look away from the dead body.

“Then?” Marise smiled. “Well, once we’re done with that, we’re going to kill the emperor.”