Sebastian Tocqueville arrived at the Emerald Palace with a smile as he was greeted by the two Castillo siblings. Dressed in a dark suit, his blonde hair sparkled in the light. It was a different shade of blonde than the pure imperial gold that Aris had. A faint whisper of halcyon that was neatly trimmed. His eyes were a ruby red, almost crimson just like the blood that Lumielle had spilled in her past life. A monocle adorned his face as did long earrings. A gloved hand tenderly was placed upon his chest, "It is an honor to be teaching the Stars of the Endora Empire."
Evangeline quietly placed the teacups in front of the three of them as Sebastian smiled at her warmly, "Thank you." Curtly, she gave a nod as Aris glanced at the male. He was wearing a smile—there was not a hint of hostility about him.
"I heard that the two of you haven't gotten your aptitude tested?" Sebastian inquired.
Lumielle shook her head. Magic was something most people couldn't use. Aris had been blessed with magic as she remembered that he excelled at it. Yet, due to the fact that he had discovered this in his latency, he had never been able to hone it. Lumielle was given nothing. She was absolutely useless when it came to magic skills. Yet, even if she faced humiliation, she would do it for the sake of her brother. He needed someone to guide him; he needed to learn. Some children of nobility unlocked their potential; sometimes, commoner children were given the gift and as such, nobles clamored to adopt them into their family paying high prices.
Sebastian was an example of such. He had been adopted by a Viscount and was now one of the most prized teachers in all of the Empire. "Then, which one of you would like to go first?" The blonde asked, he unlocked a small box and placed a stone in front of them. It was translucent.
Aris nodded, it seemed that his own natural talent gave him confidence. Watching Aris blossom made her heart bleed, he was growing taller and his physique was becoming less like the haggard young adult that she remembered. Full cheeks, she could already see the callouses forming on his fingers from swordsmanship. His hand touched the crystal as Sebastian's lips perked up. The color was almost luminescent; the stone turning almost like an opal with a fleck of rainbow-like colors engraved. "Congratulations, Prince. You have an aptitude for all the elements," words were smooth as Aris's eyes grew wide and he turned his head to face Lumielle who grinned. Indeed, she knew this would be the case but seeing her brother's ecstatic expression brought her newfound joy.
There were many elements: the core four being water, fire, earth, and air. Then, the deviants included light magic and darkness magic. Both were heavily prized and Cosette's affinity for light magic had helped propel her as the candidate for Saintess. Though, she was ultimately beat by Lyanna. It wasn't as though Lumielle despised the Saintess, in fact, she was overjoyed to hear that Cosette had lost. Yet, still, she forcibly married the young girl to her brother which resulted in her untimely death. The question was, who had killed her? Evangeline had been sentenced, guilty for poisoning her but never would her maid act without Lumielle's knowledge.
"Princess, what about you?" Sebastian asked as she gave him a smile. It was as if she already knew. In her first-time she had been appraised along with Cosette; the Duke's daughter becoming famous for her light ability. Light had the ability to heal while darkness had the ability to protect. Allard from her memory had darkness magic as she had seen it once when Cosette had almost tripped and the shadow jumped out to protect her from falling.
Placing her hand on the stone, there was a low vibration and that was it. The translucent stone looked barely untouched, "Congratulations, Princess. You have an aptitude for water."
"Sir. Sebastian, are you not mistaken?" Lumielle asked. Her eyes were wide—that was impossible. She had been told that she had no potential for magic and after seeing Cosette succeed, she had never wished to have any contact with a mage. A dim realization flickered behind her eyes; how dumb was she? Had Cosette been doing this from the start?
He shook his head, "I will not lie to the Princess, you do not have much mana in comparison to your brother. But, you do have the potential to use it, if you wish."
"Is it possible to fake the results of a test like this? Not that I believe Sir. Sebastian would do such a thing," Lumielle said giving him a smile.
Red eyes gazed down upon her, "If the stone is faulty then even someone with as much mana as the Crown Prince would be able to fail the aptitude test. If that is what you're asking and the two of you may refer to me as Teacher from this point onwards if you wish to learn." He was sharp.
Aris looked at his sister; he was brimming with excitement, "Then, why don't you teach Aris for today? As he has the potential to become an amazing mage. I suppose bi-weekly lessons wouldn't be too difficult for either of you?" She asked glancing at Artistele who shook his head fervently and Sebastian who gave a polite nod.
"It would be an honor to teach the Crown Prince," he said.
"Then what about you, Princess?" A familiar voice sang; turning her head around, she looked to see the Grand Duke's son. Dressed in casual clothes, it looked as though he had just finished swordsmanship classes. Tresses slightly touseled and his famous smile pulling on his lips. Effortlessly, he looked gorgeous.
Sebastian's smile twitched, "What is my pupil doing here at the Emerald Palace?" His voice was slightly vexed as Asterias simply smiled warmly as if he was trying to goad his teacher even further.
"I heard that you were coming here, Teacher. Thought I should come over and give my greetings to the Prince and Princess as well," he spoke as he walked towards them. Lumielle had turned back around to face the teacher and he leaned against the chair that she was sitting on. He was close to her; closer than she had expected. "And what about the Princess, don't you want to take lessons as well?" He inquired. He was looking down at her as she was sitting.
"I'll take weekly lessons if you would be so kind. Once in a while, we can take some together," Lumielle said smiling towards her brother.
Aris gave a slight chuckle, "That sounds great, but I'll probably be too advanced for you to keep up." He was teasing her.
Lumielle couldn't help but smile, "Don't get too confident Aristele."
Sebastian stood up, "Then would you follow me, Prince?" He asked as Aris stood up giving a wave to Lumielle and a scowl to Asterias who simply smiled back at him. He mouthed not to do anything with his sister as Lumielle only could wave back with slight chagrin.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, he swung around to sit on one of the chairs. Casually coming into the Emerald Palace had become a hobby of the young Everion as did many of his friends. Vera almost always came with an invitation but she had lost count of how many times the servants scrambled around due to the fact that the carriages of Aris's friends were going to be arriving soon and they had nothing set up.
Asterias smiled, "I wanted to see your face."
She could almost hear Leo throw up at the comment as she sipped the tea that had now gotten cold, "Now that you have, would you mind leaving?"
"That isn't all," Asterias said as he took her hand kneeling on the ground, "I wanted to ask you if I could escort you to your debutante."
That was right. The meeting with Cosette would be happening soon. She had been preparing for years and now, she felt as though everything would ripen into fruition. A small journal had been kept of everything that she remembered so that she could keep track of events to foil. Yet, Cosette had been far more meticulous than she had believed. Deceiving Lumielle into believing she had no magic abilities? Was it her mother who was helping her? She would have to look back and see what was written and try to job her memories.
"Will you make me this promise?" Asterias inquired, words were smooth. Honey doused in silk as he spoke without a modicum of hesitation. The vast blue of his eyes made it easy for her to drown in. He was unfair in every sense of the word.
His words were serious; they held some gravity and she was surprised. Who did he go with in the first timeline? She didn't remember. Did he even attend? It would be useless to ask her father so Lumielle wouldn't even bring up such nonsensical talk. "Are you being serious?" She inquired, she looked somewhat puzzled and Asterias smiled. It was almost as though she was flustered; it was kind of adorable.
"I'm being serious, Lumielle."
Her name being said by him made her cheeks flush red, "If you'll escort me, Rias."
The white-haired boy smiled, gently kissing the top of her hand. "I'll be a little late," he said churlishly as Lumielle blinked, "I just thought I should add that in there after you accepted."
"I rescind what I said," she dead-panned.
"You can't," Asterias said smugly as he placed a finger up, "It was a promise."