Chapter 4: The Royal Academy (3)
~4.3~
*****
Seventeen years ago, on December 20, 11982…
A dark purple and black mansion sat upon a small rocky island hovering above a sea of purple… water? A man stood in front of a window on the third floor gazing out at the vast empty world before him. The man wore a suit fit for a noble that matched his shoulder-length black hair and black eyes. With him were two men and one woman, the men with short black hair, the woman with long black hair, and all three with the same black eyes and noble outfits. They sat at a table nearby drinking tea.
"Lord Phantom, it seems both the acquisitions failed," said one of the men at the table. "In both cases, the child was successfully acquired and lost. For the child on Nippon Sekai, Allison Barrett and her siblings were there. They chased down the agent and rescued the child. The agent did confirm the child possesses white aether. As for the child on Terra, Atalante Atlantis, James Marshall, and Alexandra Romanov were nearby and rescued the child. That child was also confirmed to possess white aether and has been adopted by Atalante Atlantis."
"So, both children are royals," Phantom replied. "That certainly increases the difficulty of retrieving them. I don't wish to announce myself to the world, so I cannot allow myself or you three to attempt to retrieve them…" He turned around and faced the table with one hand on his chin. "It may be best to wait until they enter the academy. Nobles and royals in this world have very sheltered upbringings."
"If I may suggest-"
"No," Phantom cut him off. "Elliot will use his position in the academy. We will wait until they have entered the academy and acquire them during a school trip that Elliot will chaperone."
"As you wish, my lord," Elliot replied.
"We will discuss details of the acquisition closer to the date."
"Yes, my lord," the three said in unison.
"What of your pet?" the woman asked.
"Let it sleep. We have no need to wake it just yet. Realm 5 has only recently been connected to the first four. I'd like to give them time to establish relations with the other four. The S-class beasts will suffice to keep them in check until I change my mind."
"As you wish, my lord."
"My lord, might I ask for more details on this new aether these two children possess?" Elliot asked.
"It's not new, though it is rather unique," Phantom said as his body was suddenly engulfed in white aether and his eyes glowing white. "I was born with this power and have kept it my little secret, but now that two more have been born in this world and others have seen it… it will soon become common knowledge. I wonder if they are here for pleasure or a mission." He returned his gaze to the world outside the window. "If nothing else, we must discover their purpose in coming here."
*****
On the evening of the opening ceremony, the students were brought to their dormitories and given a quick rundown of where everything could be found. Each dormitory had five floors with various facilities. On the ground floor was a common room, a dorm supervisor's office and living space, and a small cafeteria. A laundry facility and several student rooms were on the second floor. A small private gym, bath, and more student rooms were on the third floor. The entirety of the fourth and fifth floors were student rooms. The fifth floor contained larger rooms and typically went to royals if any were in that dorm or to other high-class nobles that had attendants.
Kye's room was one of the two rooms at the far end of the fifth floor. Her room had a view of the city on one side and a street between dorms on the other, as did Alethea's room next door. Liliana and Aliana stayed in Kye's room since they were her attendants. The girls from the Drachenheim group were assigned a luxury room at the front end of the building with a view overlooking the academy.
Sometime that evening, Kye was fidgeting as she paced around the room. What are we going to do about this?
"Princess?" came Aliana's voice, but Kye was lost in thought and didn't hear her.
Should I just go over and invade her room? We've been staying together for years already.
Kye recalled a conversation she had with her and Alethea's guardians. Since Alethea was transgender, and thus had certain male parts, they were concerned of the two having sex long before it was legal. That concern was unfounded as they only thought about simply being together. They eventually won the argument and were allowed to share a bed.
I don't want to go back to sleeping in a bed alone. Maybe Lily and Ally could keep me company, but that wouldn't be the same.
A knock had come at the door while Kye was mentally arguing with herself. Liliana walked over to the door and pressed a button on the intercom. "Greetings, I am Liliana Venturi of Nippon Sekai, attendant of Lady Kye Akari. To whom am I speaking?"
"I am Andrea Lambros, attendant of Lady Alethea Atlantis.
"One moment, please." Liliana turned to Kye, who was still pacing around the room. "Princess, you have a visitor."
Kye jumped at Liliana's sudden telepathic message. "What? Oh, who's here?"
"Alethea's attendant." Kye gave her approval and Liliana opened the door.
"Greetings, Lady Kye," she said. "I come with an invitation."
"Very well," Kye replied. "What to?"
"Lady Alethea wishes to invite you to tea."
"Now?"
"I apologize for the suddenness of the invitation."
Kye glanced over to Liliana. Liliana nodded and said, "Yes, Princess."
"Andrea, how many attendants did she bring?"
"Myself and one other, Your Highness."
"Six people, then. Aliana, please remain here and prepare a meal for six. Alethea and her attendants will join us for dinner after tea."
"As you wish, Princess."
Kye nodded and walked past Andrea, heading straight to Alethea's room. "Andrea, Lily, come."
""As you wish, Lady Kye.""
*****
"Greetings, Lady Kye," Alethea said with a curtsy and a wink. "I thank you for responding to my abrupt invitation."
Kye curtsied in return. "Greetings, Lady Alethea. I thank you for the invitation and extend my own to dinner after tea."
"Pfft."
"Pfft."
The two burst out laughing. "Shi-chan, you were so obvious! Hahaha!"
"You were worse!"
Their retainers sighed and exchanged glances.
"Lady Alethea," Andrea said with a simple smile.
After a few minutes, Kye and Alethea calmed down. "Elaina! Come introduce yourself!"
"Yes, Lady Alethea," called Alethea's second retainer from the other room. "Greetings, Lady Kye. I am Elaina Reinhardt, attendant of Lady Alethea."
"Greetings. I am Kye Akari of Nippon Sekai."
"I am Liliana Venturi of Nippon Sekai, attendant of Lady Kye Akari."
Kye and Liliana curtsied for Elaina. A few moments later, Alethea's attendant led the three royals into the dining room which was already prepared for three. They sat down while Andrea stood nearby to serve and Elaina left for the kitchen.
"Do your attendants know about us?" Kye said after taking a sip of tea. Mmm... this tea is just like what's served at the café in Arslade. These retainers are good. I was concerned about her getting retainers after having only Lily and Ally take care of both of us for so long.
Alethea shook her head. "I haven't told them yet. I expect they'll be against it."
"Hmm." Kye looked up at Andrea. "Hi, we are dating and have been sleeping together for years."
Andrea's and Elaina's eyes shot open. ""You've been what?!""
Kye chuckled. "Not like that. We've been together since we were little, and have shared a bed ever since. I assure you there has been nothing sexual."
They were no less shocked, despite Kye's explanation.
"On that note..." Kye trailed off and looked at Liliana.
"This is your battle, Princess."
"Yeah..." She turned back to Aliana's new retainers. "As I said, we've been sharing a bed for a long time... and we'll continue doing so here."
"M-M-My la-lady, you ca-cannot be se-serious!" Elaina stuttered.
"She's quite serious," Alethea said with a smile that left no room for disagreement. "We are a couple and will be marrying at the end of the year. My lovely Shi-chan speaks the truth. We have slept together, trained together, studied together, and even bathed together... daily... since we were eight. If we wished to make love in that manner, we could very easily. But, you must remember one crucial fact. Care to guess what I'm referring to?"
Her retainers exchanged glances. They genuinely didn't know.
"We are royals. There are certain things expected of us, such as self-restraint." She smiled. "We may be eighteen years old and beginning our first year of the academy, but we are royals. And we will stay together every night."
Her retainers exchanged glances again. It was only when Liliana spoke up that they realized they were wrong. "If you do not trust your lady, leave her service. I have attended Alethea since she and Princess Kye met, and I've attended Kye since we were toddlers. Not once have I questioned them. I trust them. If you dare call yourselves attendants, answer me: do you trust your lady? If you do not, my sister and I will continue caring for both as we have done for the past ten years."
The two had a newfound sense of determination displayed on their faces. "You are absolutely correct, Lady Liliana. If Lady Alethea insists it is fine, we will trust her."
Liliana smiled and returned to her tea. Alethea and Kye exchanged smiles and did the same.
*****
Revision: 9-1-2023