Curriculum of Silence

Posted on Wed May 7th, 2025 @ 1:11am by Caeda & Crown Prince Paolo Orsini

Mission: Historiae Terrae Et Imperii
Location: Terra
Timeline: Date 2372-01-09 at 0730
2587 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Following his meeting with Giana, Paolo returned to the Imperial Palace and made good on his promise to spend lots of time with Amalie. They’d spent the entire evening together and ever sat talking late into the night. Before too long, however, he escorted her back to her apartments and then retired to his for some sleep.

After Giuseppe’s displacement, he thought it would be strange to take the apartments of the Crown Prince even though they were larger and more lavish than his own. He had opted to remain in the apartments he’d inhabited since he was a child and returning to them was an interesting experience for him. With little time to waste, he went right to bed, preparing for an early morning.

The next day, he rose before the sun, refreshed himself with a shower, and went to Amalie’s apartments before she would be awake accompanied by two rather young members of the Imperial Guard. It was unusual to have an escort within the walls of the palace, but he had his reasons. He pressed the chime, expecting to receive a greeting from one of her staff rather than her.

As he expected, the door opened and he was met with the figure of a rather short woman in her early forties who immediately looked up at Paolo. She was clearly startled to see the Crown Prince standing there, and blinked once before she remembered to curtsy. “Ah, Highness, good morning.”

“Good morning.” Paolo said, his tone courteous but not conveying the smiling kindness that was typical of him before his experience on Axanar. “I’m here to speak with Lady Cochrane’s Governess.”

“Oh.” The woman blinked again. His request was clearly unexpected and unusual, she had never had to deal with something like it before. She licked her lips, deciding it was better to go along with the request, and stepped out of Paolo’s way. “I will go and get her. Would you like to come in?”

“I would.” Paolo said, and stepped in first before the two guards. He entered with comparatively high confidence, his eyes moving between the decorations and colors. Amalie had been given a budget with which to decorate her space within reason and he was curious to see what she had done. As the woman who had opened the door stepped into the staff hall, he stepped in too, followed closely by his men.

Amalie was clearly in that phase where a girl was growing out of her girlhood and finding her tastes as a woman. The space was undeniably feminine, the walls a soft shade of blush pink while most of the furniture and decorations were white with gold accents. There were a number of flower arrangements displayed nicely, and she had selected several landscape pictures of fields to decorate the walls. The woman guiding him immediately paused when Paolo moved into the staff hall with her and turned to look at him with some hesitance. “Ah… this is the staff area, Highness.”

“Yes, I was born in this palace..” Paolo's aid informatively, his brows knitting together as he looked at her. It was not an unkind move, but it communicated he was planning on continuing exactly as he was. All around him, people managed and scheduled him, and he had grown fairly sick of it.

“Oh… of course.” She licked her lips and continued down the halfway to one of the doors which she knocked on softly. “Vera, there’s…”

She hesitated and looked over at Paolo, an unspoken question of if he wanted to be announced for who he was or not.

Paolo shook his head. If he wanted the woman to have enough prep time to call his mother, he would have set up an appointment. He licked his lips, a mixture of curiosity and impatience showing on his young face.

“There’s someone here to see you.” The woman finished hastily, understanding Paolo’s indication.

“Yes, fine, but I only have a moment.” The woman, Vera, who responded, was clearly quite annoyed by the notion of interruption. Just a few seconds later, the door opened and there stood a woman roughly Cosima’s age. She was of average height and quite thin - the ideal of Terran beauty at the time of her prime, no doubt. Her hair was a rich reddish brown and her eyes could have almost been called amber. She was dressed in a modest dark blue dress and looked quite put together which was no surprise given her position.

Stepping out into the hall, Vera glanced down at the woman and then turned as if to exit the hall only to see Paolo there. Like the servant, Vera too was startled. “Oh… Highness… what… what are you doing here?” .

“I wish to speak to you about the Lady’s curriculum.” Paolo said, lifting the glass tablet in his hand and taking a step forward. “You may step back into your office and talk to me there.”

Vera pursed her lips. “A highly unusual request, but very well.” She stepped out of her office and indicated for Paolo to enter before her.

Paolo gladly took the initiative in walking first into the office. It wasn’t a large space by any means, so it wasn’t challenging for him tk pick a spot to sit down. As the woman entered with his guards, he crossed his legs in princely fashion and looked at her.

“Tell me about the content of your Etiquette of Royal Ladies course.” He said, looking at her questioningly.

“There is quite a lot of content covered in that, Highness. If you would be more specific, that would be helpful.” Vera prompted though it was clear she wasn’t keen to speak about the topic.

Paolo looked at her for several silent seconds, a hint of impatience in his typically kind eyes. He could tell he was about to get the run-around. Instead, he licked his lips and leaned forward.

“You were hand-picked for this role by my mother, weren’t you?”

“Of course.” Vera confirmed with a smile. “I saw to your eldest sister’s education.”

“Of course you were. Bang up job there, by the way.” Paolo commented, his tone indicating his contempt quite clearly. “There we have a person who has enough training to stay silent about wrongs done but not quite enough to humbly forgive. We have you to thank for that?”

He meant no insult to his sister. In fact he was angry for her. She was a series of tangled up knots because of this woman. He wasn’t going to let the same happen to Amalie.

Vera’s brows went up at Paolo’s venomous assessment of the Princess Regent. “The Emperor and Empress were quite pleased by her education, Highness.”

“I know they were.” Paolo said with a frown. “But I was not. I suppose you deserve an opportunity to explain yourself before I decide whether or not I will make it my sole mission to destroy you and your career.”

The older woman just blinked at Paolo. “I’m afraid I don’t understand the problem, Highness. I performed the task assigned to me by your mother and father and did so in an exemplary fashion.”

“They commanded you to teach my sister never to bother the men in her life with her troubles?” Paolo asked, leaning forward.

“She was taught not to trouble the men in her life with trifles.” Vera explained, crossing her legs at the ankles.

“And would you consider what happened to her a trifle?” Paolo asked, looking almost as if he were testing her.

“To what are you referring, Highness?” Vera asked, quirking a brow at him.

Paolo nodded then, smiling.

“So you’re stupid as well as incompetent. Amazing.” Paolo said as if it were all a joke. He opened the PADD and looked at the details presented. “Explain to me the underlying theory behind this educational teaching? Why is it essential for the noble woman?”

This time, the woman frowned. “Highness, I am not sure why you have come to insult me or my work. The fact is that the Emperor and the Empress themselves have set me to this task. If you have an issue with it, I am not the person to speak to regarding it. You would have to talk to your gentle mother.”

“I don’t like it when you leave my questions unanswered like that. I’m far from stupid and I do notice.” Paolo said, his jaw setting. “Tell me what I want to know and stop trying to distract me, or I will consider us beyond the help of discourse.”

“Highness, I am not trying to offend you, this is simply the way of things.” Vera replied patiently. “Such questions should be answered by your mother if you have any concerns about how the way things are running. This was a regime approved by her.”

Paolo was angry, that much was clear, but he hesitated in his response. It took him several seconds before he finally turned and nodded to one of his guards. The young man immediately handed him a crimson red folder. Paolo opened it, stood and walked over to her desk, and then fanned out a series of pictures onto the woman’s desk.

“You have a daughter named Ariana. She’s a pretty girl and…the son of the Lord of Toscana seems to agree. Here they are flirting outside a party. Here they are kissing in the hot tub and…I'm a bit young for the rest.” Paolo said, his voice shaking just a bit. “Who would have thought that my dear uncle, the younger brother of the Empress, liked blondes so much? Governess..do you think Ariana’s husband would have thought that?”

Vera looked at the images before her with a frown. “This is a matter for Ariana and her husband to figure out. I’m not sure what bearing it has on this conversation, Highness, unless you are resorting to an attempt of cruelty and blackmail to get your way when I am only following the rules set before me.”

“I am resorting to that, it seems.” Paolo said with a frown. “And if you don’t give me what I want, these images will be leaked to RZI. I’ve got connections that will make sure it’s frontpage news. The scandal at court will be unbearable and you’ll be forced to resign in shame.”

“If that is what you feel you must do, then that is what you must do, but I will not betray the trust the Empress and Emperor have put in me to see to this task for anyone, even you, Highness. They would be extremely disappointed in you right now.” Vera frowned sadly at him, shaking her head. “This is not the first time I have been threatened by someone to divulge the secrets of this family through blackmail. I did not bow then and I will not now. If you have a conversation with your mother and she deems it appropriate that I brief you on Amalie’s education, then I will, but it is simply not proper to discuss girls’ education with a young man. This has been the Terran way for a hundred years, I thought of all the Emperor’s children, you would respect tradition.”

Paolo inhaled sharply, thinking about what she had said. He wasn’t one for blackmail, she was right, but he was also a student of history. His family had done an excellent job of scrubbing the Empire clean of its more jagged traits where it suited them. No knives were poised at their backs and they were surrounded by professionals. He was the dutiful rule follower, but he was a Terran and something deeper, darker lived in him as well. He clenched his fist.

“You’re disappointment means nothing to me. You don’t have my confidence or respect. Your teachings did harm to my sisters and created waves of misfortune in my family. I know what the teaching is supposed to be, but it should be taught by people who understand nuance; that there is a time to bother men with your problems. She didn’t get that lesson from you and it marred all.”

Paolo stepped up to the desk, his one fist balled up and the other hesitating at his side.

“You haven’t answered simple questions for me of the most general kind, and I am the Crown Prince. You’re acting like a fool, and I'm determined to show you. You will offer your resignation to the Head of the Royal Household by noon today or these images will be on the front of every news bulletin in the Empire. And ma’am, if that doesn’t finish you, I will try something far worse. I will not stand by silently while you ruin my wife and teach her not to communicate with me, do you hear me? I’d rather have you dead than do that. I love her, I have all the power I need to protect her, and I’d rather have you die a thousand times over than have you even speak to her again.”

“Highness, you began with insults and ended with threats. I am not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish here. You asked a very broad question, I asked you to be more specific as it is quite a lot that is covered in the curriculum and while it is inappropriate to go into details, I could have perhaps offered some insight; you chose to not clarify. You asked about some incident with your sister, and then call me stupid when I again ask you to be more clear; there were many incidents with your sister, I don’t particularly know why you expect me to remember each one.” Vera shook her head, clearly disappointed by what she was seeing. “Wanting me dead for doing the task given to me by the Emperor and Empress? I thought you were supposed to be better than your brother.”

Paolo’s jaw set, his brown eyes going wide with disbelief. He wasn’t insulted much, and he found this one particularly upsetting. She dared compare him to his rapist, wife beating brother; the one who had so recently tried to kill him with his bare hands? He glared at her darkly. She would pay for this.

“Good day, Madam.” He said, and then turned on his heel toward the door.

“Good day, Highness.” Vera replied, watching him leave and then immediately setting to alerting the Empress about what had transpired.

Once Paolo and the two young guards were outside the door, he proceeded down the hall and made a quick exit from Amalie’s apartments. He turned to the two of them when they were quite alone, his fists both clenched now.

“Take care of her.” He said, looking between them, then seemed to realize what he was saying. “Don’t kill her. A few days in the hospital should hopefully do. Don’t get caught. I’d hate to get either of you in trouble.”

“We’ll take care of it, Highness.” One of them said resolutely.

“Good.” Paolo said, clapping both of them on their shoulders. “Good morning.”

With that, he turned and walked away, his movements quick and decisive.

END