"Peppers and chili… ok… numbing properties… short term fever like symptoms? but not harmful…"
She snaps the book shut and heads out the library.
"Your highness," one of them speaks up, "It's almost time for dinner."
Violetta, who's still thinking about the peppers, slowly zones out of her thought process and walks towards the dining hall instead. She enters with her 'entourage' and seats herself. Shortly after, her father, the king, enters.
"Ah! My beloved Violetta! How was your day today? I didn't see you for lunch today," he speaks, ecstatically.
Violetta internally frowns, suspicious of why her father is being so… abnormally nice.
"Pretty good, I had lunch in my room today because I was studying an interesting topic."
At that moment, her brother, the crown prince, and her mother, the Queen, enter the hall.
"Greetings, sister and father," her brother speaks.
"Ah yes, Leopold and my dear."
The King gestures to them to take a seat, as they walk over to the dinner table. The servants bring upon the cuisine, and they dine.
The King starts up a conversation, "Ahem, I have a serious topic to discuss."
"Mmm? What's wrong?" the Queen asks nonchalantly.
"Ah, it's almost Violetta's coming of age ceremony."
Violetta pauses her cutting of steak. She furrows her brows out of sight. This is the one topic she would never be prepared for, but she will have to someday, and today seems to be that 'someday'.
Leopold speaks up, "Are you talking about little sister's marriage?"
The King chuckles, "Yes, I was wondering which kingdom would suit her best."
She tilts her head down a bit.
Leopold sincerely recommends, "I think that Jun Empire's new Emperor, Damien will be pleased. The marriage can serve as a bond between our countries, since Emperor Damien was crowned just recently."
"Yes, Damien will not treat Violetta wrongly, after all, Leopold, you and Damien are childhood friends," the King laughs.
Violetta maintains an expressionless complexion, eating. However, if one were to look closely, her eyes show detest by the incest discussion.
"Ah, I thought Damien had a sweetheart already!" the Queen brings up, concerned.
Leopold easily disregards, "Damien's empire has always been quite wealthy. As long as younger sister isn't mistreated, then the marriage should be a success. No one should care about a concubine or two."
Violetta suddenly perks a bit amused, "Oh? I thought I was going to be the concubine?"
"Of course not! My dear daughter has the incomparable knowledge to rule the kingdom, and has the lineage of the royals! Of course you'll be empress," the King pushes, trying to get Violetta to agree with the marriage.
She complies easily, "Very well…I will marry Emperor Damien."
However, she then continues to speak, surprising her family members, who thought the topic was done.
"...However, I'd like to make a request."
The hall falls silent.
"I'd like to visit outside."
"No!" her father immediately bellows, "You are not allowed to go anywhere!"
"Honey… she will go somewhere once she leaves the kingdom for the Jun Empire, anyways. A few days or months before while being in our kingdom's hospitality won't be any different," the Queen persuades.
Leopold nods in agreement; it's only logical.
The King sighs, "Very well then, you may. However, you must at least bring five exclusive fighters , two maids, and one of the mage representatives from the Demigod Society."
Violetta's eyes suddenly glimmer with an idea in her mind. Why don't I go visit the Demigod Society then! This'll be an amazing visit! I can see cool magic and maybe even learn more about the new spicy flavor!
The serious discussion at dinner ended once everyone finished what's on their plates.
The King immediately sends a letter to the Jun Empire, notifying Emperor Damien about the marriage.
Violetta returns to her room to make preparations for her trip.
On her way back to her room she, of course, stops by the library to pick up books, since those are her 'portals' to the real world, as she was trapped in the castle for her fifteen years.
Picking a few satisfying books on the Demigod Society, magic, and cooking, she brings a joyous smile to her face.
She hums while reading on her bed, her maids smiling at the good mood their pure princess is in.
She sleeps after nightfall, like a good girl. In her dreams, she unconsciously goes through her photographic memories of the Demigod Society. Her imagination creates those men and women in white, with magic. The mages chatting happily, and a grand palace in the back, giving a mystifying effect.
In the beautiful palace covered in white, lives the leader of the Demigod Society, and the council members. It's said that the leaders of the Demigod Society, predecessors and successors, are users of light magic. They are mostly referred to as the Supreme Demigod, or your supremacy. Superior mages can actually expand their lifelines, hence the name 'demigod'. The magic council's members are usually dual or triple magic affinity users which are rare, but not as rare as light mages.
There are five affinities of magic: Light, water, fire, wind, and earth. The affinities also have subcategories and yada yada…
Of course, where there's light, there's also darkness. It's the evil magic that many are against. However, this magic is almost forgotten, since all of them are wiped out and gone.
It is said that thousands of years ago… the Demon Lord of the underworld defeated the Light God through shameless trickery, reducing him to a demigod. The Light God then founded the Demigod Society and somehow died along the way…
GROWLL….
"Urgh!" Violetta sits up on her bed.
She pats her stomach. Looks like I'm hungry… She frowns. As a good girl, she usually would sleep like a log at night and so she's never been hungry at night.
'Hmm… should I call my maids or someone to serve me a meal at night?' Scrolling through her memories, she gives a mischievous smile, one that a person would never expect from an innocent girl like her.
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Violetta suddenly hears a creak in the distance. She freezes, but as her curiosity got to her, she started walking towards the door.
The door also opens with a creak. She slowly tiptoes out of the room to see a dark, unfamiliar hallway. She shirks in fright.
'Am I still... i-in the castle? N-no way, t-this … my f-first time out of the castle is somewhere here?'
She suddenly squats down in fright.
'What am I going to do?'
She turns back to the door to her bedroom, only to find something ghastly.
A little ghost floating around, so smoothly, it was DEFINITELY REAL, she thought.
She immediately squats back down, afraid. Maybe she read too many stories, with an ample amount of horror...
Thump, thump, thump...
She didn't know if it was someone getting closer to her, or her heartbeat just getting even louder.
A bony hand pats her shoulder with an eerie voice, "Princess? What are you doing out here?"
Violetta immediately covers her mouth from screaming, knowing that if she does, more of these monster things will come. She slowly turns her head and finds a skeleton, a bony skeleton, with the ominous darkness surrounding it.
Suddenly, another skeleton appears a bit farther down the hall... and boom!
The lights in the room turn on, and the maids take off the skull masks.
Finally, Violetta realizes that these were costumes, the clothes just blended in the dark and the skeleton picture was the only visible thing in the dark.
"Princess, what are you doing here? You should sleep."
"W-what?"
"Ah, one of the kids got lost. The kids are trick or treating right now and trying to find candy around the castle. It's Halloween."
A little boy in a ghost costume comes out of Violetta's room riding a … scooter?
"Come here, we have more candy in the front. Don't disturb the princess's resting time."
To think the princess doesn't recognize the hallway when it's dark... how interesting, but that's because she wakes up and sleeps when the lights in the hallways are on.
Violetta learns about a new part of the castle where she's stayed her entire life: how it looks when it's dark.
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A/N: Surprise! Bonus Halloween Story! Sorry I can't write scary stories, though. This part was just for fun XD.