The children sneaked out of the palace undetected. Because they have been doing this for several times now, they were at ease with their little secret outing. Unbeknown to them, Tempest and Snow, the imperial couple's familiars, are keeping an eye on them and making sure that they are safe.
They arrived at the busy streets of the capital. They can see the colorful decorations around, something that is not common at regular days in the capital.
"Whoaaaa…" Leonhart said with an excited expression. "I never saw the capital this lively before. I mean, it is normally a busy place but now it seems so lively and colorful."
"I know, right." Aerith replied with the same enthusiasm as her little brother. "There are so many side stalls that sells different kinds of stuff. I bet merchants from all over the continent are here to do business."
"Yes, I believe so." Philip replied with a smile. He was happy to see these royal children happy. "Your highnesses' imperial father had opened the capital for the week long celebration of your tenth birthday. It is also a good way to boost the economy and do business."
"I do not understand what you are saying about business, but I am happy to see many stuffs I have never seen before." Leonhart giggled. "Come, let us see what kind of things they are selling." He pulled his sister's hand excitedly.
"Alright, alright…" Aerith giggled. "Let us look over there." She pointed out to a stall that were displaying toys.
"Sure, let us go." Aliyah and Deimos both nodded in agreement and followed Aerith and Leonhart.
"How about you, your highness?" Philip asked Alphonse who was still standing still and silent.
"I-I will follow them shortly." Alphonse was woken up from his reverie.
"Is there a problem, Prince Alphonse?" Philip looked at him curiously.
"Not really…" Alphonse trailed off. "It is just that when you talked about business, I thought that father have worked hard to make Aerith and I's birthday something to celebrate and also make sure that it will be profitable to the economy of the empire. I cannot but help think that I should not be playing now and start to learn how to be a good leader like my father." Philip smiled while hearing Alphonse's words.
"You sound as if you are an adult, your highness." Philip replied. "You just turned ten years old. You can play to your hearts content since you are still a kid. If you are worrying about the future, then you can learn them in your studies. I believe that playing is one of the tasks a child like you should do. So, you do not need to worry about something in the future, your highness. I believe you are walking the right path, just take it slowly and enjoy the journey." He patted Alphonse's head and smiled.
"I believe you are right." Alphonse sighed and smiled. "Let us just enjoy this festival while we are here." He smiled and seemed that his worries were lifted.
"I believe little Lady Thalia is waiting for you." Philip pointed out to Thalia who was shyly holding the sleeve of Alphonse's short. "You have promised to protect her after all."
"Ahh yes! I am sorry Thalia. Would you like to follow them?" Alphonse saw the shy Thalia beside her and got startled. He offered his hand to her and she nodded shyly. "Then let us go." Thalia took Alphonse's hand and ran towards the other children. Philp followed them silently.
The minutes went by and the children were happy walking around the capital. They bought some toys with the little money they have in their pockets and Philp bought them street food snacks that they have only seen for the first time. Some of the stall owners were foreigners, they are merchants from the countries found in the east across the seas.
"What are this called Philip?" Aerith asked in wonderment.
The children were holding steaming white buns. They were just the right temperature to hold and touch. The children were looking at them with confusion.
"They are called meat buns, your highness." Philip replied. "This are some of the food that are being sold by the people from the country of Xing."
"The country of Xing?" Leonhart asked with a confused expression.
"Oh, you do not know about the other countries outside of the continent yet because you are just starting with your elementary studies." Aerith replied. "It is a country from the east, across the eastern seas."
"Wow, really?" Leonhart asked with an excited expression. "So, there are other countries across the eastern sea?"
"Yes, there is another continent in the east." Alphonse replied. "Can you see that stall? The people you see there are foreigners from Rabanasi."
The stall Alphonse pointed to had people with brown skin and black curly hair. They were selling silk colorful fabrics that is different from the cotton ones that they use in their clothes.
"Why are there skin colored like that?" Leonhart asked in curiosity.
"I heard they live in a very hot place with deserts all around." Aliyah was the one to reply. "We seldom see merchants like that in South Atlantia because they do trade with us."
"I see." Leonhart nodded in understanding.
A Rabanasi woman saw the children looking at them and waved them to come. The children came to their stall with excited expressions.
"Hello little ones. I cannot but help to see your cute little things." The Rabansi woman said looking at the cute little faces.
"Oh my. These little angels are so cute." Another Rabanasi woman in the stall said.
"This color will look good at these little girls." The other Rabanasi woman said while holding pink and yellow silk and wrapping them around the little girls.
"And these will look good with the boys." The other Rabansai woman wrapped blue and green silk around little boys.
"W-We are not buying, I am afraid." Philip said with an awkward face.
"Oh, what a shame." The Rabanasi woman said with a sad face. "Then how about this, I will give you these to these beautiful girls as a freebie." She took golden chained bracelets with little red jewels.
"T-That looks expensive!" Philip was about to reject but the Rabanasi woman put the bracelets to the little girls' wrists.
"This is just cheap accessories." The Rabansai woman said. "Take it as a sign of good will." She patted the heads of the children.
"Then thank you, big sister." Aerith said smiling happily while looking at the bracelet on her writs. ""We will surely repay you for these. bracelets"
"No worries." The Rabanasi woman replied. "It is not every day I see such cute children."
The children were grateful to the Rabansi women and waved their hands goodbye. Philip was inspecting the bracelets for anything odd, but it looked like they were regular accessories and there was nothing to worry about.
"Do not worry. I did not feel anything bad with the bracelets." Alphonse told Philip.
"It is my job to inspect anything you are eating and wearing." Philip replied. "There is no harm in being cautious."
"Those Rabanasi women were so kind." Aliyah replied.
"I heard they have been doing trade with out continent for a long time now." Deimos said.
"How about them?" He pointed out to the people from Xing in the stalls.
The people from Xing had black hair and fair skin but in a yellowish tone, different from the white skin that they have. They also have slanted eyes.
"Xing is a country near the sea. I heard they practice alchemy." Aliyah whispered in a low voice. "I heard that their country had magic in the past, but it vanished some hundred years ago. They replaced magic with the form of alchemy."
"Shhh, lower your voice." Deimos replied. "You know that they are a strict people. They may have started doing trade outside of their country recently, but they are still a closed country not letting others inside. They may have secrets that they do not want other people to know."
The children all become silent. The older kids knew about the country of Xing through their studies, but they learned other things from rumors and hearsay.
The children started to eat the meat buns Philp bought them and they enjoyed the delicious treat. They resumed their walk along the streets of the capital happily.
Unbeknown to them, there were hooded men that were watching their every move.
"Is that the child?" One of the hooded men asked.
"Yes, there is no doubt about it." The other hooded man asked. He was holding a board with strange writings on it. There was a compass like pointer at the center and it was pointing towards the children's direction. It is moving slowly as the children were walking around.
"Then we will commence our operation." The other hooded man replied, and the other man nodded in agreement.
"We will get back what was ours." The other hooded man replied.