When Noah saw Astrea and Icarus seated across from him, he recalled the time when he met them in EtherWorld, albeit now they were six years younger and seated a lot closer.
Noah knew the twins to be as cold as their father, the Mad King. One of the last missions he got to play in EtherWorld was usurping the Equirrion Kingdom, only during which the King got that moniker.
In 890, King Leander Equirrion was named the Mad King after his continuous slaughter and death sentence of innocents. When the King was finally killed, Prince Icarus would try to take over the throne, at which point he would be killed and beheaded by his very own twin sister.
Surprisingly, the revolt finally ended there as Astrea established herself as the new Queen.
'Looking back, it was also the last time I met with Emilia. Strangely, none of the other members of the Wyte house participated in the war. Was the Wyte house at a power decline then? I need to be careful.'
The moment Icarus condescendingly spoke, Noah decided to put a wall between them hoping to end the conversation early and not get acquainted with them any further.
This thought turned out to be only a hopeful wish when he saw Wilhelmina strike down the knight.
'Since when was she carrying a rapier? I didn't sense any mana either. The fuc* was that?'
As if she had just swatted a cockroach with a newspaper, Wilhelmina called for one of the maids to clear out the knight and the blood from the floor as she cleaned her rapier with her handkerchief.
"How dare -"
"Hold." Princess Astrea commanded the knight stationed behind her to stop.
"On behalf of the knight, he apologizes to the Ducal house for his mistake with his hand. Let's leave it at that."
"Astrea, how could you leave it like that," Icarus questioned her decision
"We didn't come here to fight or establish any sort of boundaries or hierarchies." Calming down her brother, Astrea motioned to her knight, "take him out and wait outside."
"..Yes, your highness."
As the situation slowly diffused, Astrea continued, "Noah, we came here to meet you, to talk, not to fight. Can you ask your maids and knight to remove themselves?"
Unlike Icarus, Astrea's tone was completely different from what Noah remembered.
'Is it an act? There's no way that cold-blooded princess speak with good intentions. I need to be on guard.'
Upon her request, Noah nodded slowly to Wilhelmina. After only the three of them were left in the room, Noah continued.
"Astrea, what do you want to talk about?"
"I.., We just wanted to know how you've been."
"Good."
"Good?"
"I was doing good."
"."
"."
Sigh. "Noah. You are the second born of the Wyte family, a successor of this ducal house and one of the candidates to succeed the throne. But to us, you were possibly, no, our very first friend. Back then, when it all happened, when you got separated, we didn't know what it meant. I just wanted to reconcile a friendship that I vaguely remember now."
"I… don't remember anything from back then."
"If you don't remember anything from back then and if this is our first meeting, why is it that talking to you is like talking to a wall?"
"I.."
Noah continued to remain unable to answer.
"...I see… If that's your answer, I'll drop it. Icarus, we'll leave now"
"Yes.." following his sister out, Icarus got up and prepared to leave, "Noah, I don't like seeing my men get harmed. It will do well for you to remember that."
Noah nonchalantly ignored Icarus and continued to stare at Astrea's back as she left.
With an audible click, Icarus too left the room, closing the door.
Standing in the centre of the large room alone, Noah's thoughts ran wild.
It didn't seem like she was acting.
Noah wanted to call her back and talk; to ascertain if her thoughts were sincere, but he didn't know what to talk about either.
'There is a piece I am missing. No, there are a few pieces. The mad king has not earned his moniker yet nor is he involved in any violent killings. The Wyte house is still prominent, unlike in the future. Astrea… she isn't…'
"Young prince."
'She isn't…I need to find a way to investigate more on this. Hmm… some way to get close to them but without directly approaching…'
"Prince Noah."
"Baah" turning around, Noah found himself face to face with Wilhelmina making him almost stumble down.
"Prince Noah, what's wrong?"
"Astrea,... I mean the princess. How often do the noble houses gather?"
"If you meant for ceremonial purposes, there is a gathering once every year, otherwise once a month, but that's strictly only for the house leader."
"I see."
"If you wish to meet the princess unofficially, princess Emilia might be able to take you to meet her at the academy."
"That's it!"
"Why does the young prince want to meet with princess Astrea?"
"I am interested in her," Noah answered casually, leaving the room to continue with his studies.
This time it was Wilhelmina who stood frozen in the empty room.
====
Later in the evening, as the Wyte family gathered together for dinner, Noah brought up the topic of him wanting to join the academy alongside his elder sister.
As Trish and Edwin were about to begin their lecture for his safety, Wilhelmina whispered to Trish.
"Noah has a crush on Astrea?!"
The entire room became silent. Even Noah himself was left stupefied by his mother's announcement.
"What are you talking about? I don't have a crush on Astrea."
"Young prince, there is no need to be shy. Tell them with the same confidence you told me."
"I am just curious about her, I am not attracted to her that way."
"Yes, yes. So, Wilhelmina, how was their first meeting?"
"Frankly, it wasn't good. She described talking to Noah, as talking to a wall. He stuttered as well when she asked him why."
"Ms Walker. You listened in our-"
"Oh, my baby must've been too shy to talk directly to her."
"You really do take after your mother. I remember when-"
"Ahem"
"Um, Noah, what do you like about her anyway?" Emilia asked with a tense voice.
"No!! Can we please get back to discussing me attending the academy?"
Noah sat speechlessly as he watched his family continue with their discussion.