Jasper and Amelia Luna-dynn
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The Fashion Boutique of Hildeth and co.,
The Town of Crimsonton,
Kingdom of Velicia,
Darkling hours of Nightfall,
The Eighth Day of the Month of November,
Thirty Third Year of the Reign of King Jesse Crestings
It was terribly late by the time Amelia Luna-dynn was finished with work. As per the regular schedule of her day, the damsel made her way towards the School House where Jasper would be.
The young lad was a smart one, faster than the rest of the children his age, being both ambitious and showing prowess in both education and sport. He had always dreamt of becoming a Knight or a General someday, to be placed well in the Kingdom.
Amelia had never shown any particular interest in these passions that her little brother held, for she had always thought that she would marry a foreigner and settle far from the kingdom, in order to avoid the Royal family, when her secret of being a survivor of the Celeste Clan would come to light.
And if Jasper was to be serving in the Velician military, he would be put to great risk if he had affiliations with a person from another kingdom, such as his own family. However, ever since meeting Erion and seeing how kind he was to her, lovingly taking her along, she imagined what it would be like to stay close in her familiar country and still be loved by a man who would love her despite everything.
The dark haired knight showed a special amount of interest towards her, like he would even marry her if their relationship continued the way it did.
Further, the things he had told her about preferring to marry a damsel of the village where he belonged and not someone from high society where he would not fit in made Amelia think of her own situation, where she did not wish to move away to a foreign kingdom with unfamiliar culture and language and have to blend in for the rest of her life.
The damsel of long curly hair walked down the nightish streets towards the training grounds behind the school house, where Jasper would be getting his physical training. It was always so wonderful to see how he was building himself up.
If the lad could reach a certain amount of calibre within the next month, in time for the Royal selections, he could even be chosen to receive some real knight level training from the Chiefs of the Imperial Castle in order to join the defence and offence forces of the Kingdom.
Amelia wondered how daring it would be if Jasper really made it as far as he wished. She would support him in every way. If they hadn't enough food, she would sacrifice her share without his knowing in order to provide for him as much as he would need.
She further imagined hopeful scenarios of how Jasper could even receive personal insight from Head Knight Erion. For the amount of interest the man seemed to have been showing her, he would possibly get along quite well with her younger brother as well.
As Amelia neared the barracks where the young lads of school were trained, she found that solely Jasper and the coach were there, doing the physical activity. The damsel hastened to the grounds, realising that it was far past the time she should have been there to pick him up.
"I am so sorry I'm late!" she said, breathlessly. Usually, Jasper would return home by himself, but on some days, he would get so caught up with the training that he would not realise the hour. And on days after her special cleansing, Amelia always made it a point to pick him up and so the lad would wait no matter what.
"It's quite alright, miss. Your brother is fine with me", the coach teased, giving her a friendly smile.
"I am still so sorry, you would wish to be about your own day", she apologised, turning to look at Jasper who was bathed in his own sweat.
"Training a talented child is always a pleasure, time regardless. Don't you agree?" the man chuckled. "You've outdone yourself, Jasper. Time to take your sister home", he said, landing a fist at the young lad's chest.
Amelia's brother did not seem to be able to say anything, for he was clearly out of breath, but he nodded to the man before turning to his sister. He dabbed a towel over his neck and arms, before shrugging his poet shirt on. "Let's go", he told her, still fairly breathless.
"So I assume training was wonderful today", Amelia asked, looking up to give the lad a smile.
Jasper gave her half a shrug before saying, "I will be helping Mister Frevour at the Black Smith shop tomorrow after school. So you won't need to come looking for me here."
"Aw, come on, Jas, you know we don't need you to be doing that", the damsel of long chestnut hair said, feeling guilty. It was practice that some days, her little brother would work at some establishment for a menial wage after school.
Amelia felt like she was disrupting his education, for she was already working long and hard to repay their debt and simultaneously earn an everyday living, but it did not seem to suffice. It was suffocating to imagine he wished to add to their earning despite how young he was.
Jasper shook his head no in response, and replied, "Consider it training. I get to forge weapons and metallic objects at the Black Smith's and deal with fire and carrying weights. It would help me build myself.
The damsel remained silent, for she knew he was delivering her an excuse. Then, she relented, "Well, alright, but when your school concludes, I will come over with some food so you can eat well before you leave for Mister Frevour's."
The young lad shrugged in response, "Alright, alright, but you don't need to trouble yourself about it."
"I do", Amelia huffed.
Just then, Jasper looked about and turned to her, asking, "Where are we going?" for they were walking further into the Town of Crimsonton, instead of heading homeward.
"Ah, we are paying Madame Mirie a visit", the damsel of curly brown hair replied. "I had left a book of mine with her earlier during the day and intend to collect it."
"What book?" the young lad raised a brow.
"Ahhh, well you know~ just something", she said, hoping to stall the conversation until they could get home and she could explain everything to him. "I'll tell you all about it later", she giggled.
Jasper gave her a tired expression, before running a hand through his dirty blond hair. "Alright whatever", he shrugged.
After a few minutes longer of talking and walking, the two adoptive siblings had reached the Florist's shop, to find it closed. Amelia frowned, for it was not natural to see Madame Mirie finish business for the day earlier than usual.
After all, most people resorted to buying flowers when they were leaving home after work or going to visit a loved one. "I wonder what's wrong", the damsel mumbled, before knocking hard and loud, but there was no response.
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