The path to the royal garden was a redundant walk through one of the palace courtyards. Many maids carrying big plates and cleaning tools passed by. Most of the king's servants lived in the palace quarters for convenience.
While walking through the courtyard, Anura paused, noticing a familiar green-haired girl. There, behind a pink widow tree, stood a young girl with beautiful lime green hair. She held a potted plant that glistened with sparkling blue light. The girl looked as if she was more interested in staring at the plant then where she was going. She almost walked into one of the pillars that surrounded the courtyard.
Anura excitedly ran in front of the young girl. With a big glowing smile on her face, she greets, "Hi, Lily!"
The girl was Lily Melens, daughter of the royal family's gardener and herbal culinary chef. Lily was without magic, similar to Anura, though she was a commoner so it wasn't surprising. Lily and Anura had met coincidently around 5 years old and bonded, becoming the closest of friends.
Today, Lily was carrying one of her dad's newest acquisitions.
"Where are you going?" Anura asked, gleefully. Anura often hung out with Lily during her palace visits as Lily, like her, was born without magic. So she didn't really suffer from the scrutiny of the upper noble class. Anura still befriended her though, and they quickly grew close over the years.
Seeing Anura, Lily's face immediately lit up. "The garden. I'm bringing my dad one of his new plants! I think he got this from one of the nomads traveling from the far east!" Lily smiled, looking towards the beautiful flower she held. "He called it a Blue Crystal Tulip, I think!"
Anura giggled. "You think? Don't you pay attention to what he says?" Lily wasn't much of a book smart girl and she struggled to memorize new things. Anura would tease her because of it.
Lily's face scrunched into a pout. "I do!"
Chatting, the two young girls walked to the garden with Anura's mom not far behind them.
When they arrived at the garden, Lily's father was asleep under a big oak tree. It wasn't any normal oak tree though. The oak tree's leaves were strange and held colors tinted in different shades of blue and red.
This oak tree had been growing and harnessing mana from the air for longer than the Nova Kingdom's existence. The tree has collected so much mana that its leaves became different shades of blue, and even some, different shades of red.
It's one of the special trees that can collect mana called, "Valeska Trees". Valeska trees like this one, are very hard to find and hold magical powers.
It is said that if Valeska Trees didn't exist then it'd be too hard to breathe since there would be too much mana in the air.
Valeska Trees are old and few exist in the world, but they play an important role in the balance of the world.
"Daddy!" Lily shouts. Her dad, startled, wakes up and smiles when he spots Lily.
"Lily, you brought the flower," he kisses her forehead and takes the potted plant in his arms, "Thank you." He places the plant on a nearby glass garden table.
"Walter, nice to see you're doing well," greets Anura's mother.
Walter turns when he hears her voice and lowers his head to the high noble. "An honor to be of your presence again, Lady Silvia of House Soma."
"Likewise, Sir Walter."
"Mommy, can I walk around with Lily." Anura pulls on her mother's dress as a signal that she wanted to go play.
"I'm quite tired of walking in my heels, Anura. Do you and Lily mind staying where I can see you?" Her mother asks, patting Anura's head. Anura gives her mother a pleading face, which Lily copies while looking towards her father.
Lily's father sighs in defeat. "Lady Silvia, no need to worry. I'll watch Anura and Lily as they play. As a loyal subject of the king, I swear that no harm will come of your daughter."
Both Lily and Anura beam and run into a hug. "Let's go!" Anura exclaims to Lily. The young girls dash deep into the garden childishly.
"Anura! What did I say about running off?" Anura's mother yells after her. She picks up the skirt of her dress ready to run after her.
Walter, Lily's father, stops her and shakes his head. "It's fine, let them have fun. I know every inch of this garden by heart, they'll be safe."
Anura's mother lets go of her dress and nods. "I'll be here on this bench."
Walker turns and runs after the girls. "Lily! Anura! Don't run too far, if you get hurt there will be consequences!" he shouts towards the direction the two girls ran.
Hiding in a faraway corner of the vast garden Anura giggles. "Do you think he'll be able to find us?" Anura asks, poking Lily's chubby baby cheeks.
"Well, if the plants tell him…" Lily replies as she glances around at all the plants around them, wary of which plant would give them away.
Certain mana plants can understand humans and react to them, and the Royal Garden was populated with them.
Lily's father can control plants, but he can also converse with mana plants.
Anura stomps her feet and glares at all the plants. "Don't you guys dare say a thing or when I come back I'll rip you apart."
The plants that were facing them shivered in fear and lowered their petals and leaves towards the ground as a way of bowing to their master. Anura smirks and laughs devilishly.
"Anura, stop scaring the plants," Lily says, with a 'are you serious face.'
Anura shrugs in response. "I'm just trying not to get us exposed, Lily."
Lily rolls her eyes. "It's okay, Anura won't hurt you, babies. Mother Lily is here, I will use all my strength to protect you from this evil being."
The plant's petals and leaves point at Lily and change into lighter shades, obviously blushing at her kindness.
"Really, Lily?" Anura pouts. "How will they know I'm a god if you protect them."
"That's the thing, Anura. You aren't a god." Lily winks at the plants. "I am."
Nearby, the girls hear the sound of twig crack. Lily and Anura, both startled, jump into each other's embrace.
"What was that?" Lily asks, looking into Anura's golden eyes while Anura looked into her emerald green ones.
"Shhhh…!" Anura whispers as she covers Lily's mouth with her hand.
The two of them move under a plant with a big leaf quietly, barely making a sound. They snuggled closely together to use as little space as possible.
"Hey… Sir Plant, could you please hide us from the man walking by?" Lily whispers to the stem of the big green-leafed plant. To her surprise, the plant lowers its big leaf, hiding Anura and Lily under.
The footsteps kept getting louder as they moved closer towards the girls on the dirt and pebbled ground. Each step sent chills through Anura's body. Lily on the other hand was excited. The two exchanged a series of glances at each other.
Communicating through facial telepathy. Anura had the urge to pinch Lily because she kept moving and brushing against the leaves making noses.
Black polished shoes soon appeared in front of the girls. That was all Anura could see since the leaf was covering the outside world from her view. Lily's father would never wear such nice shoes so Anura was confused who could have found them under the leaf. Then a male voice asked, "Girls, what are you hiding from?"
Lily shrieked, surprising the plant whose leaf now had arisen, exposing them to the man with the black polished shoes. Anura glared at Lily, but Lily paid Anura no attention. She was busy staring up at the tall man.
Anura then lifted her head towards him too, and when their eyes met Anura's skin spiked goosebumps all over. There standing in front of Anura and Lily was none other than the Priest Zekiel.
Anura didn't like other nobles. Nobles were always mean and said rude things to Anura, so she was cautious of them. The Priest Zekiel was strangely nice to her though, which made her somehow wary of him more. But as Anura's face lightened when she spotted him, he smiled.
"My Anura, you know it's dirty to play with plants in the garden. There is dirt all over! You wouldn't want to ruin your pretty dress."
Although he seemed concerned, the gleam in his eyes frightened Anura. But Anura had always been afraid of nobles, and to her, although he was being kind, he had just called her 'dirty'.
"Anura, let me take you back to Lady Silvia," he says kindly, reaching out his hand and brushing her pale golden hair through his fingers. "I'm sure she's worried."
Anura's eyes even begin to water, her breath quickening. This time she didn't have her mother, she was too afraid to do anything. She didn't want him touching her, nor did she want him around. But she didn't want to disobey a high class noble such as Priest Zekiel.
Lily notices Anura's ever paling face, and the fear growing in her golden eyes. It was this that made Lily realize Anura's fear of the tall man.
She looked up at Priest Zekiel, fire burning in her eyes, ready to protect her dear friend. "Don't touch Anura!" Lily shouts, slapping the hand that held Anura's hair.
Anura huddled closer to the plant that before had shielded them. Lily moved so she blocked Zekiel's view of Anura, and for the first time, he noticed Lily. A commoner girl with blue overalls and green hair.
"Oh? Who may you be? The security must have not been paying attention to allow a commoner such as you to sneak in. The palace is reserved right now, this banquet is only for noble participants"
Lily put her hand on her hips and pointed an index finger straight at his face. "I am Lily Melens, and I did not sneak in! I was raised here you thick-headed fool!"
The bravery one must have for a common girl to call the priest a thickheaded fool with a finger pointed at his face.
Lily surprised Zekiel, and he laughed. "Melens… you must be Walter's daughter. Quite a shame you weren't born with the same magic power as your father."
Lily's father, Walter Melens, was famous for his powers. He had the ability to speak the language of plants and create connections to them as humans have with each other. He had a green thumb that gave him the ability to make plants grow faster. He also could dry and extract the moisture from a plant to make tea.
Walter is mostly known as the inventor of mana potions. He used small mana plants that grew in his garden to make them. Walter would first befriend that plant and ask him for sacrifice to make tea.
Mana plants were part of the world's mana ecosystem, and the plants knew that, so they allowed him.
The mana plants absorbed mana in the air, which Walter would use his power to extract liquids and dry it so nothing was left except the mana filled leaf.
Then he would use a special brewing technique to make the best herbal mana tea. This tea helped regenerate mana faster than normal, so children who were in training wouldn't have to take long breaks to regenerate power.
The nobles praised him for his creation and the king bestowed him many awards. He even sold them to traveling adventurers and neighboring kingdoms, making Walter rich. Although Walter gained much recognition, he didn't want anything more than a normal life.
His control over plants could have given him enough strength to fight alongside the king's knights but he refused to use his power for battle. He wanted to use his power for the beauty of nature. He spent his life in the king's garden arranging beautiful scenery and marvelous art.
The birth of Walter Melen's child was news that spread across the whole kingdom, but once it was revealed that she was magicless, the child was brushed aside as if she was never important. That child was Lily Melens.
It was said that if Walter passed down his magic, he could raise his own noble house. Yet Walter was content with Lily, his only child from his dead lover.
His words hurt so much, Lily had the urge to hit him. Anura reached out her hand and grabbed Lily's. Anura stood up and looked up into Priest Zekiel's eyes.
"Thank you for finding us! Lily and I will be heading back now," Anura blurts out. She smiles while curtsying to the priest like her teacher had taught her in etiquette class.
"It seems so. Very well, Anura. I look forward to the next time we meet," Zekiel chuckles.
Anura nods and the two girls run back down the path towards the Valeska Tree, leaving Zekiel behind. His eyes follow them, lost in a mysterious daze.
"Two birds with one stone," he mumbles.