Suna seemed to sense her discomfort. From where she was, she could clearly see the letter's contents, and so, as her personal servant, she felt duty-bound to say something. But before she could do it, a servant suddenly came in warning about Celine's last encounter with her private teacher in Celestia, as she was now going to the famous College of Fenymia in the south.Celine rose silently and followed the servant out of the room. Suna trailed a few steps behind, respecting her young mistress's space. Though Celine's silence was customary, this time, it carried an unusual weight that Suna couldn't quite place.The princess's quiet presence seemed to envelop the palace, and even the birds refrained from breaking the stillness with their songs. The only sound was the soft echo of footsteps as they calmly made their way through the corridors toward the library, where Celine's study room awaited.As soon as they arrived, the servant bowed and left, leaving Suna and Celine standing in front of the door. Suna opened the door and ushered Celine inside.
Inside they quickly noticed the murmurs coming from the study room.
– It's probably Miss Tabitha – Suna smiled as she said.
Celine nodded and smiled back, walking to the study room she opened the door and walked in, finding right away a huge mess of books and papers on the floor.
In the middle of the mess was a woman, who stared at those who entered, seeing her situation, she froze, and after realizing who was, Tabitha breathed a sigh of relief.
Suna and Celine were willing to help her with the mess, organizing everything quickly.
– Fortunately, it was Princess and Lady Suna – She said with a smile.
Suna laughed – You look relieved.
Tabitha laughed along and said – I'm sure I'm relieved Suna, do you know how much these books cost? Not even in fifteen reincarnations could I pay for the damage on a single page of them.
Suna raised her eyebrows and looked a little shocked as she carefully placed one of them on the shelf.
– Miss Tabitha, you don't have to worry, even if you ruin one of them it's not like they're going to take your life, it's just a book, it's not worth a person's life – Celine said calmly as she put the last ones away on some shelves in the back of the room.
Both stared at the princess with complicated eyes for a while, and then Tabitha finally spoke – My princess, these books 'cost' the lives of thousands of people, either to keep some secret hidden in them or to protect your written culture for the generations to come. Although for the younger ones, this is just two pieces glued to one side and filled with leaves, for many others who have suffered over the years it is a priceless relic.
Celine froze. Then turned to her teacher and bowed respectfully.
– I'm sorry, I was wrong, please Miss Tabitha, don't take my words seriously – She said when she realized his lack of consideration.
Suna took her to sit while Tabitha spoke:
– Don't worry princess, as long as you understand there is no reason for such despair.
She smiled pointing for Celine to sit – Let's continue our study of the peace treaties and wars that shaped the Nine Great Realms. Do you remember what we discussed about the BloodVeil War?
Sitting in her chair and taking a small notebook from under her desk, Celine listened carefully to her tutor's question, quickly responding – It was a territorial dispute that lasted a hundred years. It was started by Aelaric Alhire, Lord of Letagia, who attempted to seize the fortress city of Bloodspire from the Kingdom of Tiszod, which was under the control of the Albretine family.
Tabitha nodded as she stared at the book in her hands. Taking a few steps across the small room, she continued – Very good. What do you think was Lord Aelaric's most significant mistake?
Celine frowned, taking a little more time to think, Tabitha patiently waited for the answer while taking her notes. Finally, Celine looked at her, responding – He underestimated the Albretine family's combat strength, assuming that Lord Morvahn had lost subordinates during a conflict near the city of Embervale between the vampires of Tiszod and the Fire Mages of Almalorantia, and that he would be too preoccupied to respond to this conflict.
Tabitha nodded distractedly – Exactly. However, the treaty that ended this war, do you know what it entailed?
Like the first time, Celine responded quickly – The Treaty of Two Shadows established a trade agreement. The Alhire family received the fortress, but what the Albretine family gained in return remains unknown. To this day, the families maintain a neutral relationship and avoid discussing the conflict further.
Tabitha closed her book, walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out another one – Correct again, very well. You mentioned the conflict between the fire mages of Almalorantia and the vampires of Tiszod. What exactly happened?
Celine responded automatically. The content of her lessons was always the same: treaties, wars, trade routes, and only a small amount of material about magic. Her mind wandered everywhere as she gave the usual answer – The Embervale conflict was a disagreement between the fire mages of Embervale and some vampires who crossed the border to purchase Nycth stones produced in that region...
Tabitha paced the room, engrossed in her book. Both seemed to have entered their own worlds, wandering alone through their private doubts and research.
Although the class was interesting, Celine still couldn't get those eyes out of her mind... thinking now, they were beautiful eyes...
Celine supported her head with one hand while the other she used to sketch what was on her mind, after so much effort, that was the only thing she could remember about that dream, well, and that weird feeling in her chest, a kind of tingle...
Trying to forget this feeling, she focused again on her own words about the conflict, but again in vain, those eyes seemed to seduce her into thinking only about them...
Celine sighed and thought: 'This is strange, I've never had any contact with anyone but my parents and some servants in this palace, how do I suddenly imagine eyes like that, I've never seen anyone with such eyes, the closest thing to that might be the shifters of snakes and lizards, which I've only seen in books... but these eyes aren't like theirs'
Celine scribbled in her notebook, not being able to think of anything else to solve she just started looking around the room while still answering what her tutor had asked, but now a little more slowly, there were some tapestries on top of the wall.
Some of them depicted kings and queens at their coronations, others depicted the great battles of centuries ago. Celine was about to turn her attention once again to class when one of the tapestries caught her eye, she hadn't noticed it before because she ran her eyes too quickly over them.
Celine focused her gaze on the figures on the tapestry, her speech gradually disappearing as she concentrated.
There were four men. They faced each other, but due to the antiquity of the tapestry, it was impossible to tell what expression they had on their faces, at first glance they looked neutral, but the gestures the tapestry portrayed showed that they were close, above each of them there was a symbol.
Celine looked at the second man, he probably belonged to royalty, and above his head the peculiar symbol that caught the princess's attention. She held the pen tightly and tried to draw the symbol on the paper, although the tapestry was far away, Celine had a peculiar vision, apparently inherited from her father, Lord Aillard, and therefore she managed to perfectly draw the symbol on the tapestry.