District 42-Chapter 167: Vick’s secret

Vick had woke up nearly at the same time as Casper did. There was something wrong with her biological clock since she was getting used to open her eyes always one hour before the sun rises.

It was something good, because she couldn’t sleep until noon anymore, but also annoying because she didn’t feel that she was getting the right amount of sleep. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

During the last weeks, Vick was working and worrying so much that she couldn’t recover entirely no matter how much sleep she got.

It was a lot of troubles coming one after another, and the stress was raising, as well as her anxiety.

It was not just a bother emotionally, but physically as well. Vick’s hair was starting to falling out; it wasn’t too much, but some threads. Also, her shoulders were always stiff, her headache didn’t stop for consecutive days and always reappeared after vanishing for some time.

The anxiety was making her want to cry suddenly, at times. And there were some occasions where she would start to panic and get lost.

Probably all those symptoms showed on her so early and so suddenly because Vick was coming from a life without any worries or responsibilities, to one where she needed to have a whole district on her shoulders. It was a very sudden and extreme change, and so were the consequences of that change.

Her father, though, didn’t bother to look after his own daughter and help her or be concerned about her health. Instead, he kept making more and more pressure, always saying that it was for her sake and that it would turn her into a true Queen in the future.

"I need to find a way to delegate some tasks and get myself a bit more of rest... If just somethings could be done by someone other than the members of the real family... The General Court and the Council are a must, but the others..." She massaged her temples, breathing in and out deeply and slowly. She barely had woke up and her head was exploding.

Vick searched for her mask, which probably was on the nightstand beside her bed. she groped through its surface and could find it quickly.

"Ok, it’s time to start the day..." She looked to her mask feeling a bit relieved. "I am lucky that I can pass some time without it. It’s so annoying sometimes..."

The Princess went to the bathroom to wash and tidy up herself before she began her day.

The first hours of the morning were just routine, she hasn’t too much to accomplish or worry about. In truth, for Vick, her favorite time was mornings, particularly the time when she would have her breakfast.

She always organized everything real quick to go down the stairs to get her food at the kitchen inside the mansion of her family.

That morning wasn’t different, and in no time she was already sitting in the chairs of the long rectangular table of the dining hall, with a lot of different food in front of her, and looking to her laptop on the side.

"Hmmm... I have a lot of calls at the General Court... People are being stubborn again. I don’t even know how much time I will need to pass inside there and..." Narrowing to her screen, she nearly spit out her coffee at that sight. "Wait! Is it scheduled a meeting of the Council today!? No way... For Odin’s sake... I don’t believe it..."

The Princess nearly lost her appetite... nearly.

While she was looking at all those tasks that she needed to get done by that day, someone entered the dining hall and approached her.

"Good morning, Your Highness. Is your breakfast pleasant today? Do you need something?" Raul stood beside her, giving a glance at her laptop.

"No, Raul. I don’t need anything. And my breakfast would be way better if those stubborn Jarls hadn’t ruined it, with their complaints and meetings and everything else!"

The butler giggled, like a father looking to his helpless children not wanting to go to school.

"Responsibilities are a must, Princess Vick."

"Yes, you always say it to me, since I was a kid. But just because they are a must, they are still a bother."

"Exactly. And you answer me the same way since you were a kid." He winked at her, and if she wasn’t in her cold princess mode, she would have giggled at that.

"Fine, then. I will find a better response in the future." She spoke sarcastically. That was the nearest thing to humor that she could afford to do in that state.

Raul was already used to that personality of her, so he understood the intention, and didn’t take it in a bad way.

"Anyway, I am done with my breakfast for now. My schedule for today got me without any appetite. I will be eating something later." She got up from the table, taking her laptop, and letting all those foods on top of there. The maids would clean afterward.

"Ok, Raul, now that I finished eating, you can say what’s going on..." She inquired, looking with serious eyes at him.

Raul smiled slightly behind the mask, crossing his arms in the chest.

"And what makes you think that I am going to say something else to you?"

"And you ask? Raul, in the last weeks, the only thing you get to me are more troubles..."

The butler thought for a moment about that matter and ended up agreeing with her.

"You know what? You are right, haha. Ultimately, crazy things are happening, Your Highness."

Vick rolled her eyes behind the mask, giggling discreetly.

"Well, anyway, getting to the subject again, I was just wondering... Maybe it will darken soon, Your Highness."

"Why is that?" Vick questioned, blankly.

"Because the shadows are already lurking... The sun is settling early today."

The Princess nodded, her heart throbbing. Probably really bad news was coming.

"I will be going, then, Raul." The butler nodded and kept going on his way through the mansion, and the Princess decided to part ways with him.

"Darn... Why the hell do they need to appear right now? In a day when I am so busy like this!" She was burning in anger inside her mind, nearly wanting to kill someone.

Vick left the mansion after some time, walking towards a Teleporting pad and looking to the sides to confirm that no one was chasing after her.

She said some coordinates, and then disappeared.

When she realized, she was already at one of the lasts floors of the Castle. It was a dead zone, and no one really went there. It was said to be a floor destined just for military issues, and just authorized personnel could enter.

If you walked inside there normally, you would come across the same things you see when on another military floor, but without anyone operating.

The Princess called someone. It was in the enterprise that took care of the connection, registering, and operation of the Teleporting pads.

"It’s me. Yes, I am here. I need you to vanish the register of my travel to here, and also that teleports me to the right place... Thank you." Once she ended the call, she walked to another Teleporting pad beside her, which seemed to be inactive, but it lit up suddenly, and once she got on top of it, she vanished again.

"It’s good to see you, Your Highness." Someone approached her at the exact moment she teleported there.

Her mind was still a bit dizzy, so she lasted a long while to see things around her correctly.

In front of her, was a metallic door, painted in black, and a discreet construction that you couldn’t see well its structure in that poorly lit part of the floor.

Beside the door, was someone bowing to her. He had a black mask. It was an exiled mask, just like the ones that the prisoners wore.

"It’s not too pleasant to see you, though, Sgail."

The man laughed.

"You know you can just call me by my name, not by the name of the organization, right, Your Highness?" His voice was hoarse and low. It had a deep tone. It was even creepy.

The man was wearing black clothes overall, and he had some weapons with him that were well hidden in his clothes.

"Cut the blabbering, Sgail. I don’t want to lose time here, otherwise, people will suspect us. I want to know what the heck is going on here, and why you called me."

The man nodded slowly with his head, opening the black door with keys, which was an archaic method for District 42.

The door opened without making not even a little bit of noise, and the man walked as quietly as the door was.

The Princess was going to enter there, but her phone vibrated. She looked at it.

"Sure. I am going to work, then. I will see if we meet later." It was Casper.

"Geez, you always delay responding to me... But it’s okay..." She kept her phone. "I think we won’t be able to see each other today, anyway."

Then, she walked in.