Kaze collapsed onto his bed with a loud groan.
His memories of Lunaria being angry at him were still fresh in his mind. From the way she walked away to when she skipped dinner from the rest, Kaze's mind felt mushy from his thoughts getting muddled up.
What he told her was certainly the truth. While Laevia and him hadn't gotten into the details about what Lunaria had suffered, perhaps mentioning the topic was already enough to trigger Lunaria. Kaze hadn't expected her to listen in on their conversation since he figured that Lunaria was only worried about him. She must have suspected that her mother would be up to no good and wanted to look out for Kaze, but unexpectedly what they discussed roused her anger instead.
Sighing at this, Kaze tossed aside the pamphlet and got changed. Since there was no other activity for the night, the group had gone to sleep early after being told the activity the following day required them waking up early. Kaze was one of the earlier ones to retire to his room, mainly because Lunaria disappeared right after dinner ended. If it wasn't for the restriction of wandering around the palace past a certain time, he would have tried to sneak up to her room already.
A knock on the door disrupted his thoughts. Still, he got up to answer it in case it was important, knowing that this was a palace, and anyone could show up.
"Hey… are you free?"
"…. Lucentia?"
Lucentia, the third princess of Aravel, stood in front of his door with her arms crossed. As usual, she had a passive look on her face which displayed little emotion. Unlike her other sisters, it was difficult to read Lucentia's mood from appearance alone since she always acted cold and collected. For her to suddenly show up unannounced made Kaze feel surprised.
He permitted her entry into his room, stepping aside for her to walk in. She took a simple look around his room before sitting at the side of his bed as he closed the door.
Kaze, now feeling more wary from the presence of a princess in his room, observed the outfit Lucentia adorned. Much like how she looked earlier today, Lucentia wore the same royal outfit with her sword by her side. The only difference was that the outfit looked more casual, which Kaze guessed to be something she wore around the palace during the night. The sword was something he was familiar with since it was what Lucentia used during the fight with the devils. It must be something she brought around with her no matter the time of the day out of habit.
"Sorry for disturbing you when you were ordered to get rest," Lucentia spoke first. "Take a seat. I would like to have a few words with you."
"Again?" Kaze sighed, plopping down in his desk chair opposite Lucentia. "I feel like my head's going to explode from all these talks I had."
"So I've heard," Lucentia made a small smile, feeling apologetic for bringing this upon Kaze. "Don't worry, I'm not going to go hard on you like mother did."
"You knew?"
"From Lunaria-nee, yes. I was surprised when Lunaria-nee began screaming and kicking as soon as she was in her room. Congratulations Kaze, you are the first person to officially make Lunaria-nee so frustrated."
"Now I'm at fault? How is it that I am in the wrong?"
"No, you misunderstood what I said. When I meant 'frustrated', I did not mean that you caused her to become frustrated; you aggravated her emotions instead."
"How is that any different?"
"Hehe… Anyway, back to the topic. How are you feeling Kaze? After… that whole ordeal."
When Lucentia got serious again, Kaze stopped whining and fell back into contemplation.
"I'm fine… you?"
"The damage sustained by me, Lunatea-nee, or any other dragonkin soldiers can never outrival the pain and pressure Lunaria-nee suffered."
"So I take it you are fine then."
"Kaze, do you regret taking part in our operation to save Lunaria-nee?"
"In what sense?"
"Regret… as in that you should never have taken part. If it wasn't for your participation, maybe the outcome would have been different."
"I'm going to have to say no. When Lunatea and Reginsleif-sama came to my aid, I was willing to accept it whatever the condition."
"Is it out of guilt for being unable to stop the devils that night?"
"Yes… and no. I felt myself being responsible for what happened to Lunaria when she left to determine the cause of that strange magic."
"You mean the one at the graveyard? Lunaria-nee told us that she would have left, regardless of the outcome."
"Yes, but that meant I should have persuaded her to bring me with her. If Lunaria wasn't emotionally disturbed, she could have won."
Kaze then proceeded to complain about the happenings that night. Since they were supposed to be at a party of sort to celebrate the Moon Festival, Lunaria got insulted by Bryle because of what he did and stormed off. Kaze followed her, wanting to take her back to their house when the initial attack at the graveyard took place. Lucentia listened carefully to his every word, picking up information that Lunaria might have omitted since she was the victim in this.
"Hmm, interesting. Are you suggesting it was a coordinated attack?"
"It has to be. This was in no way a coincidence. Someone must have been at the scene itself to notice Lunaria separating from the rest of us to trigger the orb."
"That is not an impossible theory, so I will take note of that and put it forward to father. We can inform Sir Ethan of this so their investigation would hasten."
"Laevia-sama told me that it was suggested there was a third-party insider within the ranks of the soldiers in Tristania. Have you heard of that?"
"Yes, but that was found to not be true after the coordinated bandit attack. It would make more sense if the bandits were the ones acting as spies who tipped their leader off about the ongoings due to their extensive underground network."
"So you don't doubt Tristania's soldiers?"
"Hardly. Doubt is always present where we haven't ruled out the facts, so it is still a possibility. It just so happened we have more concrete proof that inched our theory more towards one side than the other."
Kaze nodded in agreement at what Lucentia said. Since he wasn't directly involved with the clean-up work or the administration of the nation, he was simply receiving new perspective from Lucentia. There wasn't much told to the public after the attack, other than it was a coordinated disaster that needed more investigation.
"Lucentia… do you think Lunaria hates me?"
"For what?"
"For… for everything… including this afternoon."
"I would think she appreciates you more so than ever. You were there for her twice now."
"Wait, you know about the centipede thing?"
"Why wouldn't we? Mother was there, wasn't she?"
"Right… with Lunatea to take care of Lunaria."
"As you can see, don't you think Lunaria-nee has no reason to hate you over a simple mistake?"
"I'm worried I betrayed her trust in me."
Sighing when she heard this, Lucentia pushed her long pink hair, separated into a loose twin tail by a sort of red hair tie where her shoulder blade was behind her back.
"Kaze, sometimes I wonder if you are plain stupid, or you are too considerate."
"Ow!"
Lucentia had given Kaze a flick on the forehead with her finger, causing Kaze to recoil in pain.
"Kaze, even if you did get Lunaria-nee angry for what happened, that isn't reason alone for her to hate you. How many times has she considered that she would be exposed after she had told you about her past? Do you know what Lunaria-nee felt when you understood her feelings? Before you wallow in self-pity, please know that Lunaria-nee is not a selfish person."
Falling silent from her words, Kaze knew that what she said was true. Lunaria, if anything, trusted Kaze to believe in her and stuck by him this whole time. Her feelings were already exposed the moment she jumped at him after they reunited earlier. Why was it that Kaze felt like he didn't deserve the love and respect he had gotten?
"Sorry…"
"… Truthfully speaking, Lunaria-nee took it a step further than necessary when she confronted you. It was also her mistake for being so insecure. Would you have hated her if her past was exposed by mother, by me, or any of us?"
"N-No…"
Sighing, Lucentia shook her head. As the younger sibling, it was hard watching her eldest sister act so immature at times. Vulnerable times were ahead of them, even more so than before after one of the devils had slipped away with the orb containing Lunaria's powers. It was also why Lunaria was recovering slower than before, such that she was unable to conjure magic properly. It was both the magical and psychological damage she suffered from the event, worsened by her worries for the opinion of a human male.
Lucentia clenched the hilt of her sword tightly in frustration. She knew the look in Lunaria's eyes even if she had never experienced it before herself. It was definitely the feeling of love towards Kaze that had complicated her thought process. Even when advised by herself and Lunatea, Lunaria still acted in a stubborn, almost childish manner towards what their mother was doing.
It was clear, to the entire family, that Lunaria had definitely gained a part of herself after her stay in Tristania. The biggest reason for the change was the effect of hanging around Kaze among the rest of her friends. He was able to do what the others weren't in a few months' time, when their family and her elven and foxkin friends spent decades doing so. When Lucentia and her younger siblings first arrived at Tristania for the festival to visit their elder sister, she felt surprised by the change in Lunaria.
That was also why, Lucentia told herself, she could rely on Kaze since her respected elder sister was doing the same. It was why she supported the notion to rescue Kaze and have him aid in looking for Lunaria after witnessing his fight against Frey, which ended in a disappointing loss. It went against her expectations she had for him after hearing stories from Lunaria about the way he trained and the way he protected her from the centipede.
To all this, Lucentia accepted it with a grain of salt. It wasn't like she didn't believe her elder sister; it was just her resentment towards what the humans had done to Lunaria that prevented Lucentia from directly accepting it. In other words, the dragonkin royalty family had learnt in more than one way about the event that traumatized and broke Lunaria regarding the humans. It was prejudicial, yes, but one worthy of considering that it held back the nation from accepting anymore outsiders over the past few decades.
Lunaria had changed, for the better or the worse. It made Lucentia intrigued to see what sort of person Kaze was.
It was by chance that she managed to fight alongside Kaze on the night of the initial attack. There was a saying that when faced with imperial danger, a person's true self would be exposed. Their enemy that night was no ordinary fear, yet Kaze charged right in without a care for his own safety. It even made Lucentia a little stunned, for a trained swordswomen like her would always analyse the situation before deciding.
One would say it was plain stupidity and immaturity, but in Lucentia's eyes it also reflected Kaze's genuine care for Lunaria.
Without knowing, Kaze had also changed because of Lunaria's influence. Whatever Lunaria did within the time spent together with him must have taught Kaze that Lunaria would have done the same for him if he was put in a similar situation Lunaria was in.
Perhaps that wasn't the case at all. It could just be Lucentia's own perception of the changes around her that were irrelevant to what was actually happening. But that didn't matter.
When Kaze joined them to rescue Lunaria from the bandits, she once again got a chance to see him act. This time, she had the chance to interact more with him than the few minutes she was spared after Lunaria got taken away. It was enough to let her know that Kaze was, through and through, a good person with much to learn.
After leaving Tristania with Lunaria, everyone found out how attached Lunaria was to her group of friends. It was obvious from the lack of motivation on her face when Lunaria realized she was back in Aravel. That wasn't to say Lunaria hated returning, but she regretted being unable to be there for her friends when she knew they would be worried about her. Even when she was at her worst, Lunaria thought about those who had helped her.
When Lucentia told Kaze that Lunaria could never hate him, she wasn't lying. Genuinely, she could feel Lunaria's anguish when she was unable to tell Kaze the way she felt about him this whole time. Those restless nights in the palace where Lunaria would be unable to sleep thinking of what to do, it was the sort of emotion that Lucentia felt conflicted with herself. Should she feel happy that her sister longed to be by the side of her newfound friends, or should she be worried that Lunaria might have fallen into another rabbit hole of pain?
Looking at Kaze again, Lucentia's heart unravelled. She didn't know how much her other sisters had considered this issue, nor did she care, because what mattered was how she would treat the human male in front of her.
"Say… that sword of yours," Kaze spoke after a brief moment of silence. "Is it Lunaria's?"
"… This? It was, and still is," Lucentia looked down at it and tapped the hilt lightly. "Lunaria-nee left it for me when she went to Aravel."
"It must mean a lot to both her and you, if she left it for you and when you carried it around with you at all times."
"Yes. While this was something forged by one of the best craftsmen in our nation, it was also enchanted and refined by Lunaria-nee herself. It was one of her two best products."
"Lunaria… does smithing?"
"She does a lot of things you don't know," Lucentia smiled at this, unknowingly feeling happy that Kaze still didn't know about what Lunaria was capable of. "She has made a few weapons in her time, one of which Lunaria-nee and I still use. I'm learning to smith myself too."
"Wow… I could never do that," Kaze laughed. "It never occurred to me that two of the dragonkin princesses had an interest in forging weapons."
"We dragonkins are strong, so it should come to no surprise that we are capable of many things," Lucentia nodded and stood up. "This blade… it has a sister."
"A sister?"
"Lunaria has the sister sword. It's also the reason she left me with the younger sister, and she took on the elder one. Think of it as a sort of metaphor."
"Is it the same one she used during her fight with Yu Quan?"
"No, that's just another replacement. The only time Lunaria would use it is also unknown to me."
Walking towards the door, Lucentia held onto the handle with lingering thoughts.
"Good night Kaze. Thank you for spending your time talking. I had a lot to get off my chest."
"Me too. I was feeling bad about earlier, but now I think I can sleep peacefully," Kaze laughed, getting to his feet. "Thank you, Lucentia. I didn't know you were so considerate of us."
"I'm still a person, of course I would have thoughts of my own. Now that I am able to lay my cards on the table, the rest is up to you and Lunaria-nee."
Kaze walked over to open the door for Lucentia. Pushing it open, Lucentia took a step outside before turning around to face him again.
"A word of warning: try not to trigger Lunaria-nee any further. There is only so much I can do to help you without rousing her suspicion."
"Didn't you agree that it wasn't my fault earlier?"
"I did, but at the same time I didn't say you never contributed to her uneasiness. Lunaria is emotionally vulnerable at the moment due to the effects of the battle."
"I know that, but-"
Before he could continue, Lucentia inched herself forward and planted a kiss directly on his lips.
When she pulled away after the quick contact, Kaze was left staring with a baffled look on his face. This caused Lucentia to make a small giggle out of humour.
"I-I-I-I… y-y-you…. W-wha….???"
"Everything we have talked and done tonight remains a secret, Kaze. As I have said, the next move rests with you. Good night."
Giving him a rare smile, Lucentia walked away from the guests' area, leaving Kaze with even more questions than before for the night.