"To what do I owe this pleasure, Crown Prince?" Callisto straightened up, one hand still holding the curtain and attention still fixed on the balcony.
She knew she felt a presence, and there was someone on the balcony, yet how could they disappear like that?
Her back was towards Nox, head turned to address him, a clearly disrespectful sign that she was not interested in continuing the conversation.
The eyes were not the love-fogged ones of Cordelia, a sacrificial puppet of this world, but of Callisto, a girl hardened and uninterested in anything but her goal.
But to Nox Regus, who had barely paid attention to the young lady in the first place, didn't notice anything was off. Though, she did seem more arrogant than usual.
"Any noble lady disappearing for a week would cause an uproar, especially if it comes from the Duke's family. Though, I'm surprised they made such a fuss, considering…" He trailed off, not wanting to say anything that would make her throw a fit.
The good thing about Cordelia is that she's pretty stupid and doesn't know any semblance of complicated strategy.
The bad thing is that she does know some recording magic and could go cry to his father the minute he says something that offends her.
The last time he let himself get angry, the king forced Nox to give his late mother's beloved ring to the spoiled wench.
He swore to always be cordial with her after that, but it was damn hard sometimes. Just looking at her gave him a gross ick.
"Considering that no one cares about me? Yes, I find it odd as well." Callisto finished his thought but seemed to be talking to herself.
She appeared to be deep in thought, before she looked up at Nox. It was only then that he noticed a subtle difference in the lady's eyes.
They used to always be lovesick and desperate for attention, but now he noticed they were clear, blazing with a sort of passion that was clearly not directed at him. And more oddly, her pupils were vertical slits, like some sort of draconic or infernal being.
A purple corona outlined the black slit pupils, and against the scarlet red, was somewhat unnerving to look at. With his intense training as crown prince, Nox could now sense something was different about her.
"Where did you run off to?" Nox demanded, pocketing the information he learned for later, not thinking it was important as of now. Callisto took a seat on a comfortable-looking chair.
"Please calm down, Crown Prince. Patience is an important aspect of leadership that it seems you have not mastered."
Callisto huffed, giving a few moments of silence before talking again.
"I apologize for the panic that I caused with my absence, though I will say that it was not intentional," Callisto said, not looking apologetic at all.
"Regardless, your family has been alerted that you have appeared. That young maid was fumbling around stuttering about how she saw you, and I happened to be the closest one."
"What would it take to annul our engagement?"
"Excuse me? Do you have any idea what you're-"
The door to her room burst open suddenly, and the two nobles in the room jolted as they looked at the site of commotion.
Barreling into Callisto's room was her youngest brother, Cornelius, their mother, Selene, and Annette following worryingly behind them.
Their mother Duchess Selene Vega Azel used to be part of the Mage Tower, which is why some earlier portraits of the Azel couple showed the duchess with pale lavender hair, the lighter hair color a symbol of magic power.
Now, in her late 30s and no longer practicing magic, Duchess Selene and her children have more purple hair, aside from Cordelia. In the game, the duchess was hardly mentioned, and Callisto largely assumed that she was dead.
"What happened to you?" Cornelius demanded. He had black hair like their father, but with a bright purple underside, and baby blue eyes like their mother.
A well-known scholar in the noble ranks despite being only sixteen, and avidly in contempt of his older sister, thinking she was a blight on the family.
With a swordmaster older brother, a genius tactician younger brother, and a great mage mother, it was no wonder Cordelia had an inferiority complex.
"Um, teleportation spell gone wrong?" Callisto thought aloud, and Cornelius looked at her in disdain.
Wow, why does everyone hate her? She really needed to stop causing trouble from now on, there was already way too much heat on her back.
Despite all of it though, she noticed the duchess looking at her softly, worried.
Callisto didn't realize that the woman had been holding her hand as soon as she got close., squeezing it assuredly.
"Don't be silly. If a teleportation spell went wrong you'd be in pieces." Cornelius grumbled, looking critically at Callisto.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"
"I'm starting to get an inkling," She grumbled, acknowledging her mother with a small nod and curtsy.
"Mother, did you heal me? It seems like all my wounds have disappeared in a magnificent sort of way."
The duchess knitted her eyebrows, looking both upset and concerned at the same time.
"Mother? What happened to Mama? Oh dear, I wish you didn't try to fight your brother. It's been ages since I've used magic, but let's see… Hmm, it seems something powerful must have helped you, my dear."
She started to cast a spell around Callisto, and she felt the aura of her mother, soft and warm, but unlike the burning, passionate heat that seemed to cauterize her wounds.
But then, the magic faltered, and her mother started to cough intensely, and before Callisto could help her, Cornelius swiped her aside with his hand.
"Mama, don't waste your time with her. You're still recovering. Here, hold onto me."
Cornelius, using a much softer tone on their mother, gives one last pointed stare before he turns to leave with their apparently ailing mother, as if to say, 'You better have an explanation for all of this soon'.
The prince had disappeared as well during the midst of her conversation with Cornelius, so it was just her and a couple of maids scurrying around, including Annette.
Callisto was not expecting to meet Nox Regus this early on. In fact, she was expecting their first encounter to be after her debutante, when the king forces Nox to apologize for not appearing at her debutante.
Out of all the characters, she would say that her personality was closest to Nox: stoic, hard-working, disciplined, and honest.
It was too bad he didn't like her at all and immediately lost all intelligence once falling in love with Ethyl. Well, it worked out in her favor in the long run.
The next few months were a bit of a blur. She was still avidly training with a polearm, though it seemed that she reached some sort of plateau, while her magic powers expanded from late-night training in the manor's forest.
The servants were avoidant when she had first arrived, and still were, but have become much less tense now that the sadistic side of their mistress seemed to have disappeared.
For some reason, Blake would randomly show up throughout the day, way more than in the past.
Callisto would be trying to study by herself, since Cordelia had long caused her home tutors to quit when the heir to the duke would appear out of nowhere, and glare at her from the door frame.
She stared back. Or at least tried to, between the stacks of books and notes that she had accidentally barricaded herself with.
'What a weirdo. Anyways, states surround the Regalia Kingdom. In the North, Frostalder, in the South, the warrior-empire Goet-'
"Lady Callisto, the tailor has come with the designs for your debutante dress." Callisto sighed, still looking at the piles of books she had yet to go through.
She liked pretty dresses, but taking measurements and changing outfits for several hours was a different story, especially when she had to get through all this boring history before debutante, unless she wanted to make a fool of herself.
"Alright, I'll arrive at the boudoir soon." With a wave of her hand, servants were gathered to serve her in the dressing room.
The tailor presented her with several dresses after a few minutes of tea and small talk, and she almost spat out her drink in shock.
All the dresses were gaudy and in poor taste, almost covered entirely with jewels or expensive fabric. They were also in bright, mismatching colors, and horribly out-of-style.
Callisto could not see a single redeemable quality in any of the dresses, and the way the tailor seemed to arrogantly smile at her infuriated her, frankly.
"Miss Azel, I'm sure you haven't heard of the latest trends, since you haven't been to many salons due to your high fever, but this is the newest most foremost fashion. You'll truly have all the eyes at the ball!"
"Oh, really?" This was a setup. This woman was trying to mock her, as well as scam her with those egregious prices.
Callisto didn't really know how this benefited the tailor. Embarrassing a noble? Making a lot of money without making that much of an effort?
There were hardly any rewards for the cost of possibly infuriating a lady who was rumored to have a graveyard of bodies. Was it Cornelius that set this up? Or Blake?
But if she got angry, it would only create more rumors about her poor attitude, and she didn't need more attention on her.
Callisto observed some of the dresses, and as ugly as they were, she started to form a plan on what to do. She pointed to a dark red dress hidden in the back, its bodice almost completely hidden by layers upon layers of rainbow tulle and chiffon, and a silver velvet dress adorned with gems. "I'll take those two."
"Great! I will send the bill to duke's manor soon! It's a pleasure working with you, Lady Callisto." The tailor packed their stuff away in a hurry, as if she knew that her ruse was going to be seen through.
Callisto let her go away though. She didn't play with pawns. She had more than enough work to do with the dresses.
One month left.