"Did you and Aristele fight?" The Emperor asked; golden eyes were staring at his eldest daughter. The man in front of her looked young comparatively to her memory of him. Halcyon tresses that matched her brother and eyes that looked like her own—the aura that he radiated was almost suffocating. A beast that had somehow been tamed by a human body.
Sipping her tea, Lumielle placed her cup down, "We are siblings. Sometimes, there are disputes. I apologize if we have worried you, Father."
A small sliver of hope managed to blossom inside of Lumielle—her father had called her to his office more often. Aris had apparently visited him, although the meeting was apparently short. Maybe, in this life, she would not be abandoned when Cosette came into the picture. Perhaps, she had a chance.
"I'm not worried. I just thought it peculiar. The two of you seemed quite close."
Lumielle bowed her head, "It is merely a small dispute. I thank you for your concern." Indeed, Aris had been cold her to this entire week. The two rarely had conversations and she could see the concern etched on the maid's and butler's faces. Evangeline had told her to apologize and she had tried, but Aris was intent on ignoring her. He simply evaded her as if she was a curse. He was still young so Lumielle tried her best to be patient.
"I hope the two of you make up soon." He set down the cup of tea that he was drinking. Lumielle had noticed that he no longer looked at his papers when they conversed. A small sliver of his day was dedicated to his daughter; how awful of her to have some type of expectation for him. "Where is Aristele today?"
"He's practicing swordsmanship with the Knights and then, his friends are going to be arriving at the Emerald Palace today."
There was a knock on the door as she looked to see Evangeline, bowing to the both of them she spoke, "I apologize your Imperial Majesty, the Princess has lessons with the Countess. I'm afraid she's running late."
"Then, I shall see you later, Lumielle." The calling of her name still made her cheeks flush as she curtsied bowing to her father and exiting the room. She knew that Evangeline was worried—yet, she had not wanted to shorten the time that she had with her father. Perhaps, there was a small hope that the man that had abandoned her in her first life, would cherish her in this one.
A slap in the face hurt, her neck turned to the side and her cheek pulsed from the contact. "I apologize, Countess. I was visiting his Imperial Majesty." Words were simple, they held no intonation, blank, and fruitless, Lumielle had erased all emotions from her being. She knew better than to react.
"Even after all my lessons, you still lack etiquette!" She snarled out, as she tapped the whip against the palm of her hand. Lumielle bit back her laughter; she was with the Emperor. Did the Countess think that she was above the ruler of Endora? Yet, Lumielle knew that there was no point in frivolously running her mouth. She should endure; all she needed was a couple of months until her debut in high society. Then, there would be no reason to have the Countess along, and knowing her dirty secret meant that she could manipulate her.
Lumielle bowed her head once more, "I apologize."
"Apologizes are useless, get on your knees."
The lilac haired female took off her shoes as she placed her hands in the air; the soles of her feet were crimson, bright red as she awaited her punishment.
"Is your sister not going to bring strawberry tarts?" Ruenti asked looking at Aris and towards the door with a slight sigh on his face. Aris scowled at the mention of his sister. Lucius who quickly understood the social cue, jabbed the red-haired male in the ribs as if to try and silence him.
"Did the two of you fight?" Asterias asked curiously tilting his head.
Aris glared at him, "Can we not talk about my sister?" He felt exasperated. Aris felt guilty for avoiding his sister. She had tried to come to talk to him on multiple occasions but he simply turned the other way, ignoring her. Seeing hurt flash on her face, made his own heart pang.
"Fine, fine," Asterias said waving his hand, "We won't talk about the Princess. I'm going to use your bathroom." He stood up, a smile curved on his face as Aris gave a nod leaning against his chair.
"Do you really have a problem?" Ruenti asked somewhat concerned for his friend who always used the bathroom whenever they gathered at Aris's estate.
With a firm punch to the skull, Asterias walked away with a smile. Lucius sipped his tea commenting that he had deserved it. The halls of the Emerald Palace seemed to befit the Crown Prince. The interior was gorgeous and walking through the gardens had been a pleasure. Aris had shown them around and they were finally lounging inside of one of the break rooms. There was only one issue with the Emerald Palace and how it failed him; he had no idea what room Lumielle was in.
"Excuse me," Asterias called out as a young maid turned around. Dark black hair and purple eyes—from his memory, that was the woman who was near Lumielle. "I'm looking for the Princess," he recited calmly as she smiled sweetly.
"I apologize, she's busy."
Asterias should have expected this as he gave her a smile as well. Both of them retained plastic smiles, "It must hurt when she walks. The Princess is quite good at masking her pain."
The smile from Evangeline's face fell as her eyes narrowed, "Is this a threat?" Something sinister was twinkling in her voice as she took a step closer to the male, "Are you threatening the Princess right now?"
The white-haired male put up his hands in defense, "Not at all. I just wanted to see her. I promise. I can help her." At the start, his words were quite light and airy—but his eyes seemed to glitter seriously.
There was hesitance in her eyes as Asterias simply kept the simper on his face. Placing the bandages into his hands, she started to walk silently and Asterias followed her. "Do I take this as Ms. Evangeline as trusting me?" His words were musical as Evangeline stared at him; the older woman still looking rather distrustful.
"No."
Walking inside, the sound of the door alerted Lumielle that her maid was back. "I'm sorry for making you do this, Eva," she spoke as she looked up from her position to see the Grand Duke's son instead of her maid. Rushedly, she pulled down her skirt to cover the wounds and stood up haphazardly.
"Heir Apparent, I-I, what are you doing here?" She exclaimed.
"Princess, wait!" He quickly crossed the distance between them, his expression looking worried.
"Leave!" He had seen her.
"Princess, give me a second to explain."
Her head hurt. Lumielle had never been expected to be found out. Yet, now it made sense. That one day that the door was opened; it must have been him that finessed his way inside. How bothersome. "Did you tell Aris?! Were you the reason that he started to ask all those questions?!" She demanded—was he cause of Aris's sudden distrust? How much did Asterias know about the Countess and her? What had he seen?
"Lumielle!" He spoke loud enough to cut her off as he grabbed her shoulders with his hands. He had broken up her fit of anger. Asterias was surprised at her acrimony. She always contained herself—the lilac-haired female smiled graciously and for the first time, he was shocked at how emotional she was being. When Asterias first saw her, he believed that she was like a doll. The type of waxen figures that held a smile but never truly laughed. The bandages had been abandoned on the ground. She fell silent as her golden eyes looked at his, "I apologize, Princess."
In an instant, he had grabbed her. He was carrying her bridal style and her eyes widened, "Sir. Asterias, w-what are you?!"
She could have sworn that his face hardened but as quickly as it was there, it vanished. She was being cradled by him. Never had she experienced something like this before. "I should have done this the last time we met."
Calm down, Lumielle. She needed to calm her racing heart and fuzzy mind. She had let her composure slip. "You never answered my questions."
He smiled down at her; he looked utterly beautiful. Fair crystalline blue eyes and snow-like hair. It was implausible to describe. She understood why women would be easily cajoled by Asterias Everion.
"I'm quite heavy," Lumielle said, her words attempting to sound composed, as he placed her down against the chair with ease.
"It doesn't suit the Princess to lie," Asterias responded with a smile; "You're as light as a feather." He spoke well. Flowers budding on his tongue and she couldn't help but wonder if he was like this in her first life. Then again, she did have a hazy memory of Cosette talking about how popular the Grand Duke was. Yet, all those women who surrounded him had been graciously let down. The only woman he showed affection towards was the Saintess. Then again, no one else lingered around him after he was scarred.
He got down on his knees, "What are you doing?" Lumielle asked.
"You ask a lot of questions, Princess. Which question would you like me to answer first?" He inquired, his words were impish, as his fingers gently touched the arch of her foot and she winced. All of a sudden, there was a warm glow. It was magic. Lumielle was completely inept at using magic or conducting mana. She had gotten her aptitude test with Cosette and it was proven that she was lackluster. As such, she never touched magic again. It was an embarrassment to the royal family to be so weak.
"To answer you, I didn't tell your brother anything."
Lumielle felt flustered as his fingers gently wrapped around her ankle, "I see. Then, I apologize for my conduct."
He laughed, "It was actually quite amusing. I actually enjoyed it." His eyes were focused on her feet as Lumielle swallowed. His hands were gentle as they brushed along her calf and finally, he let go of her left foot. She couldn't help but exhale, "Are you always that emotional and just hide it well? Or was this a one-time thing?" He was teasing her; his eyes glittering warmly as he took her right foot.
"It was a momentary lapse of judgment. It won't happen again." She seemed rather adamant about it.
The warm light tickled the sole of her feet once more, "If it does happen again, be careful. That side of you is quite charming. What would happen if the entire male population of the empire became smitten over you, Princess?" He smiled at her and Lumielle felt the urge to slap him. This child was seriously teasing her.
Yet, what caught her attention was something else. It was the gentle luminosity that escaped his fingers. He was healing her. His touch was slowly stitching together the wounds and alleviating the pain. That was right. Asterias Everion was a magic prodigy; he continued to be one even after his scarring.
"Did you come here to make fun of me?" Lumielle inquired.
Asterias fixed his position, his fingers brushing across her skin once more as he sat on the ground. Legs spread out and still facing her. "I came here to heal you, isn't that obvious?" He asked.
"And why would you do that?"
"Who knows, maybe I've fallen for you, Princess," he said, a smile curving on his face.
Reaching down, she touched the bottom of her feet. They were smooth; not a single mark left. "Are you saying you did this because of love?" Her words sounded somewhat amused at his statement. How foolish.
Asterias laughed, "If that is what you would like to believe."
No wonder women enjoyed his presence, "It's not good to toy with the heart's of young maiden's like that."
"Are you saying I'm lying?" Asterias asked.
"Who knows," Lumielle responded back, "Maybe, I am."
Lumielle was amusing; she never faltered when it came to a conversation and after seeing her lash out, he had to say that he was even more intrigued. But, even Asterias couldn't deny the reality of the situation, "So were you just going to hide this forever?" He asked as Lumielle's face hardened.
"And what is it to you?" She shot back.
Asterias blinked, "Would you have done nothing? If you knew that someone was hurt. Would you have turned a blind eye?" He was staring directly at her as Lumielle couldn't help but fall silent. If she wanted, she could change everyone's fate. She could completely eradicate people's misery. Self-serving and awful, Lumielle was not the hero.
"You're right. I'm a horrible person. I would have done nothing," Lumielle admitted, her nails dug into her palm. A habit that she had retained from her first life, "I'll admit that I'm a bad person." She had committed atrocities. She had sullied her hands with so much blood that she wondered if she still bled crimson.
He quickly stood up and grabbed her hand, "I'm sorry." Asterias spoke softly, his fingers brushing over the reddened crescent moons in her hand; she hadn't torn through the skin. "It wasn't my intention to insinuate that about you, Princess. You," he paused a sigh escaping his lips, "You aren't a bad person at all." She smelled like lavender and peonies, the scent that lingered on the handkerchief that she had tied for him.