Unbeknownst to me, a certain red and blue haired fellow had woken up from his seclusion, and was now making his way toward my position. But at the time, I still hadn't a clue.
As for me though, it was now the dawn of Year 1198 of the Septian Calendar. Grandmother's birthday banquet went off without a hitch. It was fun meeting the individual mayors of each city for the first time, as well as introducing myself to Jenis Royal Academy's Dean. Otherwise known as Headmaster Collins. Collins was of course already acquainted with Kloe, but he was happy to meet me in our first Royal Assembly. He is now very much looking forward to both of our enrollment at Jenis.
To add to that, besides announcing myself to Grancel City about my return a year ago and attending my first Royal Assembly this winter, I was surprised to see no one was in opposition to me ascending as the Crown Prince, minus a certain Duke's small outburst. Phillips, my Master, was kind enough to escort him out and that was a sight to watch.
But besides him, no one opposed me. In fact, everyone had a relieved look in their eyes knowing that the position of Crown Prince has been filled once again, taking the pressure off of Kloe's back as the Crown Princess. Sure Liberl is known to be matriarchal, but there have been patriarchal kings in the past who have been very dominant in what they did.
If we are speaking of technicalities though, Judis was Kloe's father before his passing. Queen Alicia II is both her and my Grandmother, while Aurora was Grandmother's sister. Since I am Aurora's son, that puts me as half-brothers with Judis which therefore makes Kloe my niece in a way. It is very convoluted with how wide an age gap that was, but father still ended up taking a fancy to Aurora. Unfortunately all of that was long before I was born, and I can only live in the present. To avoid these complications, Grandmother made me Kloe's brother, but we would both be ascending the throne of Liberl as husband and wife later on. If there was an upside to this, only Grandmother and Father know the truth.
I have not told Kloe that I am Giliath's son, even though she had met him already. I am not sure if she has taken a guess, but I do plan on telling her at some point. Now is not the time. And for this last year I have spent in Grancel Castle from me becoming the Crown Prince, Kloe has provided a ton of support to which I have been thankful for.
With the Royal Assembly now in the close to look at how next year will fare, the celebratory mood soared around Grancel City. Every one of its citizens was now in a festive mood to celebrate Grandmother's birthday. Banners were hoisted, tournaments were to be held, pubs to be open to everyone. Since it was now on the cusp of Year 1198, Grandmother had turned Fifty-five. Near the end of the first chapter in the sky saga, she would turn sixty.
It wasn't just the citizens to take advantage of this festive mood. Myself included, we were going to enjoy it to its fullest.
Now with that said, it was the first week into Year 1198. With the morning well underway and the festivities already started, a violet haired boy could be seen in casual clothes, standing right outside of Grancel Castle. Its giant marbled doors could be seen closed shut.
A couple soldiers dressed in green military uniforms could be seen holding a standardized orbal rifle of Liberl's military, standing guard for Grancel Castle. However, cold sweat could currently be seen going down their backs, likely for realizing who the violet haired boy was who was standing not too far away from them. But they knew to stay quiet.
This violet haired boy wasn't alone either. A girl of matching height and violet hair could be seen standing right next to him. And it appeared the couple of guards were more frightened of her than they were of the violet haired boy.
These two weren't alone. A brown haired girl who seemed to be of the same age as the two could be seen before them. Beside her was also a rather pretty black haired boy who sported amber eyes. A look of amazement could be seen seeing the violet haired duo standing beside each other.
"You really are the boy from back then. Now that we can see each other close up like this, you almost look like Kloe's twin!", The brown haired girl responded happily.
"True. If one were just to take a glance, it would be rather hard to tell the difference.", The black haired boy also said with a nod.
"Heh. We get that a lot.", I replied, letting out a chuckle seeing this brown haired girl and black haired boy in front of us.
"Well, if we're being honest, Brother and I aren't actual siblings.", Kloe decided to say but uttered softly so only we could hear it. The moment Kloe said that, the brown haired girl's eyes turned wide in surprise.
"Ehhhh? Even though the two of you look so much alike?", The brown haired girl responded back in shock.
"Hmm...", The black haired boy began to say. "Now it makes sense. It's no wonder why the Queen was so willing to announce the both of you.", The black haired boy responded, as if he had realized something. Hearing that, the brown haired girl's eyes sparkled.
"What do you mean, Joshua?", The brown haired girl tried to ask, only to become more confused. Yet the moment she asked that, the guy named Joshua swiftly moved his hand, and chopped the girl's head.
"Would you use your brain for once, Estelle? Keep this up and you'll fail our Bracer Exam in no time flat. I see no hope for you, even if its still a couple years out.", Joshua said as an annoyed look appeared in his eyes.
"H-Hey! Now what's that supposed to mean? Are you asking for another beating with my staff?", The girl called Estelle retorted Joshua.
After Estelle retorted that, it caused Kloe to giggle.
"Hehe. You two seem rather close. So you're Estelle's new brother I've been hearing about huh?", Kloe asked as she observed the black haired boy before her.
"That's right. It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.", Joshua said, greeting Kloe.
"A-Ah-Ah, right now, I'm just Kloe.", Kloe quickly rebutted Joshua.
"Perhaps I'm not as used to this as Estelle is...", Joshua responded, only to shake his head a bit.
"Right? Kloe is Kloe!", Estelle spoke out with a smile.
"Heh. If we're going by that logic, then I'm just Naoto. So with that said, here's the next surprise. How have you been, Joshua?", I decided to play along, shifting my gaze toward the black haired boy.
"It's been about a year, or so? As you can see, due to some...circumstances, I have joined the Bright family. But I've been well, Naoto. Renne also wanted to pass along a message that she's studying hard as ever.", Joshua said, revealing a rare smile. But at the same time, Estelle's eyes turned wide in surprise.
"Wait a minute, are you saying you know Kloe's brother, Joshua? This is the first time I've heard of it.", Estelle tried to ask back in shock.
"You never asked.", Joshua simply answered, which somehow annoyed Estelle instead.
"H-Hey!", Estelle said with an annoyed look.
"Hehehe.", Kloe also responded with a giggle seeing Estelle behave like this. "I'm also curious about who this Renne person is.", Kloe continued to say, only to look back at me.
"I'll tell you about her later.", I only said, for now. I do wonder though, within this last year, has Renne put in enough effort to become an Enforcer?
Unfortunately that thought only lasted for a brief moment before the four of us were distracted by an older, and yet somewhat bewitching voice that I was not expecting to hear so soon.
"My my, so this is where you two were. And here I thought you guys would be off exploring the festivities already.", A voice suddenly called out to us from the opposite side, coming from Grancel City. It didn't long before a figure to come out. Estelle's eyes immediately sparkled seeing this new figure arrive.
"Shera! So you were capital after all.", Estelle said, only to quickly leave our side, and arrived at a very beautiful figure sporting silver hair, along with a rather giant pair of breasts.
"Oh, was I interrupting something?", The silver haired woman said, only to see that Estelle wasn't alone. "You two...", She continued to say, only to have a glint of light streak across her eyes seeing us.
"You remember those people I told you about before, right Shera? This is Kloe and Naoto.", Estelle said, explaining a bit. It seems she had already completely forgotten what we were just talking about too.
"So it is that, then. It looks like you guys were just meeting up?", Shera asked Estelle as she ruffled her hair a bit. She seemed quite older than the rest of us as well, but one thing to point out was the Bracer Guild emblem currently on her clothes.
"Yeah! Do you want to join us before we start exploring, Shera?", Estelle asked Shera.
"Nah. I'll let you kids tend to your own. There's a lot of patrolling quests being issued right now thanks to the festivities, but subsequently, there is no shortage in monster hunting either. I'll be go tackling a coupe of those outside the capital.", Shera said.
"That's too bad. And I was gonna take you to go meet a rather interesting fellow, since that is the first place we'll be stopping by at", I decided to say, only to approach this beautiful silver haired woman.
"Hehe. You're a polite one, but it looks like the castle life isn't all there is to it now, huh? I'll leave Estelle and Joshua in your care.", Shera said, waving her hand a bit as she giggled.
"You can leave it to us.", Kloe also said, nodding her head.
"H-Hey! I hope you guys haven't left yet!", Another female sounding voice suddenly said, reaching out to us. This time though, it actually came from Grancel Castle. Its giant marbled doors slightly cracked open before a single figure came out, revealing that to be a plum haired girl who was around nine years old.
"Well, I guess you decided to join us after all, Emma?", I said with a grin seeing this plum haired girl arrive at our side, taking in deep breaths after sprinting toward us. Seeing this girl appear, Schera had a glance at her for a brief moment, before she bid us farewell, and retreated back into Grancel city.
Which was a shame, considering the first place on the list to go to was the Erebonian Embassy, to which a certain someone was currently staying at.
"Who were you again?", Estelle also asked, becoming confused seeing this plum haired girl arrive beside us. The moment she asked that, Joshua received another urge to chop her head again with his hand.
"I'm Emma. You could say I'm a friend to both Naoto and Kloe.", Emma said, taking in more deep breaths.
"Are you alright, Emma?", Kloe asked, a bit worried.
"Yeah. I'll be fine. Just give me a moment.", Emma responded. "Also, who was that just now? She looked very beautiful.", Emma continued to ask.
"That was Shera!", Estelle responded happily.
"Sherazard Harvey, our senior in a way. Perhaps it was her that we are aspiring to become Junior Bracers.", Joshua also said, adding to Estelle.
"Well it was nice to meet her, even if it was just for a moment. I don't think we have anyone else we are waiting for, so why don't we head out into Grancel City?", I asked everyone who nodded their head in agreement.
"Yeah!", Estelle responded happily. Before I could even react, she quickly dashed toward me, only to grab my hand, and entered a sprint toward the big capital city of Liberl. Joshua and Kloe both blinked at Estelle suddenly doing this, only to have Joshua shrug his shoulders. Emma just stood there, regretting that she may have to enter a sprint again to chase after the two of us.
*
[Insert picture of Sherazard Harvey here]
Giliath demands your power stones!