The beautiful moonlight aided the perfect moment to be replying to a noble girl's countless requests for coming over. I had decided that it would be rude to keep ignoring her letters—plus, it might also be a waste of paper.
Sounds of a quill pen scratching against the wooden table have been echoing across the four corners of my room for the whole night. I kept changing the contents of the letter and worried about my awful penmanship, resulting into a pile of crumpled parchment paper below the table.
At long last, I was finally able to produce a letter quite presentable enough.
"Dear Young Lady Althea of House de Syringa,
I have been busy with my studies recently, hence, the late reply. I am pleasured to be able to meet you. You may come here anytime you like. – Calla Rosa"
It had actually started out very long but the paragraphs kept getting shorter and shorter every time I redid the letter. Well, direct and concise is much better.
I stared at the parchment paper for a long time, contemplating on whether to change it again or not. Even so, I decided to stick with it and sprayed a friendly amount of letter perfume from Lady Wynonna's boutique.
As I had finally placed the seal that bore the Rosa Crest, a knock from the balcony windows made me jump from my seat. Then, I remembered—Lavi was supposed to fetch me tonight. Those 'bad men' are not here anymore.
I wiped the cold sweat on my forehead as I opened the windows that lead to the balcony. This time, I made sure to wear a proper dress and not a nightgown.
Lavi was in his usual wizard's black robe with the golden intricate designs on the sleeves and waist. His dark blue hair almost looked black under the night sky.
"Hey." He greeted. Then his eyes looked past behind me. Lavi whistled. "That's a lot. Like really, do you wear three dresses for one day?"
I just shrugged. "I can do ten." And I still wouldn't be able to wear all of them for the next five years.
The young wizard chuckled which made his eyes disappear from his slightly slitted eyes.
"Sorry for not hearing you out yesterday." I suddenly blurted out.
Lavi crossed his arms then leaned a little closer. He let out a smirk before speaking. "Even if you get mad at me every single day, I still wouldn't mind."
His face… is suddenly getting closer and closer.
I shoved his face away with my hand. "Too close."
Deep inside, I thanked the darkness of the night for hiding the flush on my cheeks. This wizard, he's a little too friendly.
"So," I cleared my throat to compose myself. My eyes were darting everywhere. "What did you want to tell me?"
Lavi was completely focused on arranging his long disheveled hair—it got caught on my fingers when I pushed his face. "Oh, that. You'll see when we get there."
"Huh?" Are they really torturing that man? Should I change my mind? I might not be able to stomach the scene that awaited me.
"Alright, let's go."
He held my hand and the next thing I knew, bright light appeared before my eyes.
We arrived in the same small closed space. The stone walls felt colder than the last time I'd been here.
And what's that?
"Wh-what…"
There I saw, Erion sitting on the table playing… cards?! And against the Northeastern man, at that.
I noticed that Lavi was still holding my hand. I instantly let it go.
"Ah-" Lavi looked away while his hand went to his nape "S-sorry."
"It's alright." I replied, focusing my attention back to the ones sitting across a square table.
Prince Alistair sat at the farthest corner of the room, arms crossed. An audience, just like the wizard and I. He raised one finger to his lips—a sign not to make any sound.
At one point, Erion and the man were cheerfully bickering random phrases. They looked like the best of friends who had known each other for a long time.
It was Erion's turn to pick a card. "Ah, how am I so unlucky today? You might be able to beat me this time, Arne."
This time, the man's fingers hovered over Erion's cards. "Little prince, little prince, what do you have right…" The man picked. "here!" He frowned as soon as he got his card. But he only laughed as he shook his head.
Why do they look so comfortable with each other? Don't tell me this is what "preparations" was supposed to mean?
"So Arne, tell me." Erion said, eyes still on his cards. "What did you come here for?"
"Hmm? I told little prince many times already. We came here to get little lady." The man answered in a broken accent.
"Why?"
"She is Sol, we have good use for little Sol." The man was in a good mood and his tone was basically humming.
"Who is this… Sol? In what way are you going to use her?"
"Ah, Sol—majestic, divine, heavenly Sol… the one who bears Pure Light inside her. She will help us prevent Kairos from taking away our Asiana, but…" The Ventus man paused for a while before resuming. "By now, it is too late… we are too late. The Northeast is now in bastard king of Kairos' filthy hands."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"Asiana was already under siege when my brothers and I had left."
"So you came here to look for this girl… Sol, right?"
The man nodded and his lips curled. "She was very easy to find. With the light glowing above the sky of Edessa… it was very easy. So we came here before the Northern ones could."
He mentioned the East's old name.
"Oh, you know the olden names of our cities as well?"
"Of course, Ventus know them very well. We do not lose out of touch from the ancient unlike the Flos."
"I still quite don't get it, Arne." Erion let out a subtle laugh.
Then the man laid his cards on the table. He leans his chin on his hand as he turned to my direction. "Then how about you ask little girl?"
Since when has he noticed that I was here?
Erion's eyes registered shock as well. "How did-"
"Little gizoya's presence-erasing spell is good but the Ventus can sense the Pure Light inside her." The man crossed his legs as he faced his body towards my direction. "It is faint but it is there. The Pure Light will grow even brighter the more she acknowledges its existence."
This man… it's like he knows everything! I may be able to get more out of him than High Priest Marcus.
I stepped closer to the man.
"Calla, wait-"
I didn't listen to what Lavi was about to say.
I took the vacant seat and faced the man.
"What do you want from me?"
His black eyes narrowed. "Did you not hear me?"
"I did, but it still did not explain everything I wanted to know."
"Do not ask me about yourself little girl, for I have no answer for that. I know only that starting now even more people will be after you and your powers."
"But how did I get this so-called Pure Light in me?"
"I told you, I know nothing about little girl."
I groaned, not satisfied with his answer. The fact that he placed 'little' before our names was frustrating when he is only taller than us for a few inches.
I wanted to ask more questions but Prince Alistair slammed his hand on the table. Surprisingly, none of us jolted from out seats. "You, are your people the ones behind the recent bombings?"
The man was clearly taken aback. Then he tilts his head to the side before answering.
"I thought you already knew the answer to that question by now?" The man grinned mischievously. "The North, they bomb places to lure out Sol from her little mansion. They do not want to hunt you, little girl. Facing them yourself is the best way for them."
"And why is that?" Lavi asked, standing behind me.
The man only shrugged.
Prince Alistair grabbed the hilt of his sword, jaw clenched before turning to me. "Calla, it seems like you know some things as well. I expect you to tell us everything tomorrow."
Uh, what? Why would I tell him? Them?
There was no room left for me to reply as Erion stood from his seat. Prince Alistair urged the Ventus man to stand.
Wait, what's happening?
"Lavi, take her home."
Everything happened so fast. In one second, I was already facing my bed.
"Wh-what's wrong? Where are you going?"
Lavi sighed before answering. "We're going to the Northern boundary, we'll see for ourselves if that man was really saying the truth."
"I'll come with you-"
"No." Lavi's voice came out set. Then his eyes looked directly at mine. "You have things that you're not telling me as well, right Calla?"
What? What's with that tone? Why is it making me guilty?
It felt like something was blocking my throat. I wanted to speak but Lavi removed his gaze from me. His eyebrows furrowed as he summoned a magic circle and faded into nothingness.
My chest was throbbing, as if it was clenched tight by invisible hands.
I let out an excruciating sigh as I slumped against the pillows on my bed, silently releasing the tears that had been welling up since earlier.