A fireplace dimly lit a sizable living room. Two figures were sitting on vouches across each other staring at the bonfire with a melancholic gaze.
Both of them looked handsome and was around the age of thirty. One had a distinct dark aura and black hair while the other had a bright aura and blond hair
They were Renwick Aventus and Lucian Ignatius.
They occasionally sipped wine from the glass wine situated on their hand.
Renwick was the first one to break the silence
"It's been a while since we've hung out, just the the of us." Renwick said, smiling wryly.
"Three year ago, I believe" Lucian replied as he took another swig of wine.
"Yeah, it was when your daughter had her 18th birthday."
"Yeah..."
The brief reply of Lucian was followed with silence once more.
The reason being that both were shared the same feeling of reluctance and worry for the future.
Once again, Renwick was the first to break the silence
"I don't know how much time we have left. I've been neglecting my country for so long just to get stronger. My country is once again split into two."
Renwick held his hand on his forehead, rubbing it from the headaches that he was occurring.
"We couldn't help it. Reaching the Pinnacle tier was our top priority. We still have time to fix things before 'it' happens like what master told us"
Lucian calmly said whole gazing at the flickering fire of the fireplace.
"This is our destiny, Renwick. Sacrifices have to be made. We can at the very least mitigate the damage as much as we can"
Renwick who drank his entire glass before pouring himself for another.
"All that effort to become Pinnacle just for us to potentially survive? I feel like a fool"
A man standing literally at the Pinnacle of Humanity and the world, was drowinng himself with wine in sorrow.
"...."
Lucian could only reply in silence, basically agreeing with the statement Renwick made.
As if sensing the sorrow that filled the air in the room, the flames of the fire place crackled and dimmed at the suffocating atmosphere.
Lucian and Renwick could only hope that their future movements could atleast save their families.#
******
"It seems it'll be a while till we meet again, Theo" Selene spoke in her noble lady voice.
Selene sipped on the black fragrant tea, enjoying the cool breeze of autumn of the garden.
"Almost two years, I presume. We will be meeting here once again before we attend the Academy" Theo spoke in a exquisite manner.
There were once again meeting in the garden having lunch one last time before their departure later in the afternoon. They were waiting for their parents to finish their meeting about their respective countries.
Their elder siblings were also there, because they were already part of the ongoing politics within their respective countries and Their mothers are there, helping their husband whenever they could.
That left Both Selene Theo and Kali behind to themselves. They were still kids after all, making them exempt to any political matters.
The trio decided to stay in the garden to wait, but Kali fell asleep so she was taken back to one of the bedrooms close by.
Selene
Kali kep asking questions to Theo in rapid pace, he hasn't even answered a single question, she already had another set of questions that she threw at Theo. Selene was also asked a ton of questions, but retaliated in response by shoving cake in Kali's mouth, shutting the chatter box up.
Luckily for them, Kali was actually happy eating tons cake, because her mother, always limited her to one slice of cake per day.
In the end, Kali finished the whole cake before falling asleep
Sadly for Selene, she only had a single slice of the chiffon cake before Kali started blasting them with questions, so she was started having cake withdrawals.
The cake was actually a birthday gift that Theo made. He made it early in the morning before the sun was up.
He couldn't think of anything to give her, so he settled to baking a cake as gift for Selene.
Theo
Selene widened her eyes and stoop un from her chair, banging the table in excitement.
"Seriously!?" Selene shouted in elation.
Theo, Bennet and Elsa jumped from their place in astonishment, because of Selene's spontanous reaction
"Lady Selene?" Elsa questioned her master in visible confusion.
Elsa and Bennet were especially confused by the outburst Selene portrayed
"Ah! Sorry"
Selene went back to sit and lowered her head in embarassment.
< Oh my God! Your the best Theo!> Selene
They would realize that Theo should have given her the recipe before they parted ways
*****
Unknowingly to them, their heart sigils actually blinked for a few seconds, indicating that Resonance was partially activated because of their momentarrily mutual feelings of mischief.
"Young master, His Majesty has called for our presence, we are about to depart soon"
Bennet came took a few steps closer to Theo and bowed as he delivered the message he received through another servant of the estate.
"I see" Theo muttered with a disheartened expression
"...." Selene also frowned in silence.
Selene and Theo gazed at each other's eyes, they knew even without Resonance activating that they vividly felt saddened by their parting.
Selene thought that the month flew by so fast as if she only got to know for a few days and Theo thought the same.
From their entire two lives, they never felt so close of a connection with someone before. It was different from a family member or maybe even a friend.
Their hearts became weary and heavy.
Now that the time of seperation arrived, they felt that they could've done something more than just training and fighting.
This resulted on their resonance activating, albeit weak, but they felt their emotions succintly.
Both of them stood up, Theo approached Selene and kneeled in front of her.
"We shall see each other once again Selene. I am looking forward to meeting you in two years" Theo said with a genuine sad smile on his face with his head casted down in distraught as he kissed the back of Selene's hand
".... Yes... Two years" Selene weakly said, her voice inevitbly cracking from sadness.
Theo glanced at Selene and was taken aback.
Selene was crying.
"D-don't... sniff*.... look....ugh... awa-sniff*"
Selene could barely make an audible word. She was genuinely sad. For the first time in years, she had someone of her age to talk to with her heart wide open- No walls, No facades, No Masks.
Either in Earth or in Alethea, she finally found someone she could talk to without any superficial bullsh*t she experienced in her past life, where they sucked up to her, because of her status.
Lena had one friend in the past that was similar to Theo, who didn't care about her money or status, but she flew off to another country so fast that the void in heart persisted and grew.
The reason why she always played games so persistenly and try to get number 1 from Theo?
It was for validation.
She just wanted someone to notice her and praise her for her hard earned work with her two hands, not from the support from her family.
She was always happy playing Legends of Alethea cause she related so much with Selene, despite their differences.
Selene was also a person of a high status and many saw her as too and means to get a connection to the imperial family.
She related to the fact that she didn't have many people to confide to about her circumstances about her physique, most people her age were all snakes and tried to use her for their own benefit, unlike Theo who had patrick who treated him normally, despite his loud personality.
Selene had no one. She wanted to be strong in front of her family or even servant Elsa.
She didn't want to be a burden, like Lena was in her past life, she also didn't want to be a burden.
So? What was the solution? A facade. A mask to not let others find any problems to their existense in the family.
The real Selene would only find someone who torn down her mask and saw the fragile broken glass, she really was and it became her strenght.
The current Selene also felt like a broken glass, maybe even more than the original.
That was why Lena's second favorite character was Theodore Ignatius.
Theo was the one who picked up the pieces of the original Selene's broken heart and plastered it together, whole.
In the orignal story. Theo saw right through Selene, so Theo went up from his seat and left her after calling off their engagement.
He said ' I don't want to marry a lady who never loves herself for the sake of others. I shall inform father and call off the marriage' and left the drawing room.
The OG Selene was surprised, for the first time in her life, she wasn't treated as a fragile glass or a tool used to use the imperial power.
She was finally treated like a person.
And that's what the current Selene felt towards the current Theo.
She finally felt like a Human.
So, she cried.
She cried and cried. She even tried to stop crying in front of Theo, but gave up
What if she cried? She was a child in this life. Children cry all the time when they don't see their family or friends for the next two years.
Ugh I look so stupid right now. Why am I-!
Selene felt her body covered in warmth. She opned her teary eyes and saw Theo hugging him.
Selene who was momentarily agape in shock, returned Theo's hug.
She grabbed a hold of him tightly, because she knew he was going to be taken away at any moment.
Then she started crying again, wetting Theo's clothing.
Theo on the other hand also felt depressed and even more so after seeing the fragile visage of Selene after hearing that they had to part ways. It gave a small crack on Theo's heart.
*******
Clack* Clack* Clack* Clack*
"Looks like someone's depressed" Irene said with a smirk on her face.
"I'm not in a mood sister" Theo said as he gazed out of the window with a annoyed expression.
The Siblings were inside the carriage on their way to the northwest to Virtus. There weren't any Transportation gates on the neutral country, so they have to travel a day's worth with the carriage, which was enhanced with weight magic, making the horses feel no faitgue and run to their destination.
Theo was the first one to leave the estate before Selene. Her father wanted to talk more with the lord of the city more about some territorial matters, while Theo's father had something he had to do back home, hence their earlier departure than the rest of the family.
His father even went back to the country earlier with his mother, because he had a meeting that he needed to attend to.
Lucian Ignatius was gone for five consecutive years and left the throne to reach the pinnacle tier, He has only recently came back a few months ago, so he was an extremely busy man. The emperor had to readjust again as the emperor of light once more.
Well to Theo, that information didn't matter. He received worse news the farther he was from the neutral city estate.
I can't hear Selene anymore. Telephaty doesn't work in long distances.
Theo discovered that after a kilometer, their Telephaty starts to weaken and cuts off after ten kilometers.
He felt like shit. Now he was truly alone for the next two years.
And what was worse was the fact that he had to leave the broken mess, which was Selene.
He just discovered how much of a lonely person she was, hence his worry for her.
He promised himself when they meet again that he'll definetely make her, her favorite strawberry shortcake.
*****