๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.
๐๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ.
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A ceramic bowl was handed to the black-haired male. Filled to the brim with food, a delicious aroma filled his nostrils.
"Solis, do you really plan to go back to your home?"
Li Solis Vernum nodded. He ate quickly, practically devouring the contents without taking a single breath.
"There are unsettled things I have to take care of. It's been ten long years. I have to go back to resolve the things I have left untouched during my hiding in Eastern Clarity." Solis bowed his head in thanks to his friend. "Thank you for assisting me during this prolonged stay."
His friend chuckled. "I should be thanking you. You helped me more than I could have asked for. As Prince of East Clarity, I must thank you for your efforts in helping me unite the majority of Eastern Clarity despite being a part of a rivaling empire."
Solis chuckled. "It was of no harm. You saved me all those years ago, it's only fair that I help save your country."
"But Solis, how do you plan to go back? Are you sure you won't just get killed on the spot?"
Solis's brown eyes darkened. "They won't recognize me. My appearance now differs greatly from my past looks. I will also be using a new name until the time comes for me to reveal myself."
Solis stood, patting the imaginary dust off of his robes. "I will return soon Rafael. This will not be the end of our friendship."
He threw on a black cloak, the material flapping dramatically as it wrapped around him, hiding his body features from view.
He gazed at the sunrise, his black hair flowing in the morning breeze.
"Father...I'm coming back."
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Aurora Yi'Ung frowned as she dismounted her horse.
"Eunuch Sun. Why have you come?"
"Princess, the emperor has requested for you."
Aurora struggled to keep her face straight upon hearing the eunuch's purpose. "I see...tell His Majesty that I will be there within the hour. I apologize, but there is an urgent matter that I must attend to before going to the palace."
The pale-skinned elder bowed his head. "By your command Princess."
She watched the eunuch disappear into the shadows, presumably heading back into the palace.
Aurora could only sigh, the lack of sleep for the past few days catching up to her. She rubbed her tired eyes, hoping for a break.
The bags under her eyes were darker than before, sleep at the forefront of her mind.
She couldn't sleep now. She had work to do.
She cast a look at her manor before shaking her head. "I'll work on it later."
Aurora remounted her horse and headed towards the palace. She couldn't keep the emperor waiting.
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"The nerve of that girl." Li Tempus Ruptor gritted his teeth in anger. "How dare she keep His Majesty waiting?!"
"Calm yourself Crown Prince." Emperor Li raised his hand. "Princess Yi'Ung must have her reasons. She has never disobeyed me before."
"Still, it is Father-"
"Crown Prince, remember where you are."
Emperor Li scolded Prince Tempus for his informality. He lowered his head in submission at his father, choosing to remain silent after.
"Princess Terra, what do you think?"
Li Terra Finxit bowed respectfully. "I would have to agree with His Majesty. It must be something that is utmost importance to keep Princess Yi'Ung from coming."
"Sister, you are only saying this because you are close to her. If it were anyone else you would not take their side."
"Of course I am. It is because I am close to her that I can assure Father that she would not do this without a reason."
Tempus was about to argue again, but a shrill voice cut his words off.
"Princess Yi'Ung has arrived!"
All three members of the royal family were stunned at the rather quick arrival of Aurora.
Aurora's white robes dragged on the ground, bowing deeply to the emperor. "Paying my respect to His Majesty."
The emperor stood from his throne, and held onto her arms to pull her up. "Get up, get up. There is no need for this."
"What matter is there for me to settle?"
The emperor stepped away and motioned at his son.
Aurora took the parchment Tempus handed and read the contents. "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but I don't see anything important. All I see is requests for me to marry into a family."
"Exactly. Aurora, you still have not married. It is already far past the age where most girls marry and you still have not decided on which family to marry into."
She bowed her head. "It has never come to mind. I spent all my time fighting on the battlefield. I do not know any suitors that interest me at the moment."
"It should be no problem. I will gather some potential men for you to choose from. It is only fair you choose a man you want after all the time you spent helping the Great West Clarity."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." Aurora bowed to her emperor. "If that is all I will get back to my manor. I came to the palace instead of taking care of the issue that was already bothering me when Eunuch Sun came to my home. I will take my leave now."
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"Aurora, wait."
She turned around to look at both Terra and Tempus following her out of the palace doors.
"Your Royal Highnesses, how can I help you?"
"Don't call us that." Terra frowned. "We are your friends Aurora. There shouldn't be a need to be this formal."
Terra nudged Tempus, who quickly agreed. "Yes Aurora. We are friends."
He rubbed his side, almost as if Terra's subtle nudge had actually hurt him.
"Thank you for that Prince and Princess, but I must respect my boundaries. We are still within the palace."
Terra nodded. "I suppose that was a bit much to ask for. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I will support you in your decision in this marriage affair."
She bowed to Aurora before speaking with Tempus. "Please make sure to come to my home later, I have something to discuss with you."
Tempus nodded, dipping his head towards her. He turned his attention back onto Aurora as Terra walked in the opposite direction of where Aurora was heading. "I'll walk with you Princess Yi'Ung."
They walked at a strolling pace. "What do you think of marriage?"
Her face contorted into one of disgust.
"I already have a Princess Consort. I have no interest in you Aurora." Tempus rolled his eyes.
"That can be taken in a multitude of ways, Prince Tempus."
"You know what I mean." He stopped and leaned into her. "I know the reason why you have rejected all your suitors. It has nothing to do with your business with war or lack of interest."
She froze. Aurora had thought that she had hidden her reasoning deep enough.
"I know you still bear feelings for your former betrothed."
Tempus straightened. "Make sure you don't slip up around Father. Even he won't spare you from his wrath when you mention your former fiancee."
The Prince turned his back to her, waving over his shoulder. "Do not worry over my words. Even I, of all people, can understand the pain you are going through."
He bowed to her. "I will see you later Princess."
Aurora could only stare at the Crown Prince in stunned silence.
She gritted her teeth in frustration. If Tempus of all people was able to see it, who knows who else knew of her intentions?
She exhaled sharply, leaving the palace.
Forget the matter in her home, she needed to see Terra.
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