"There is a tradition within the imperial family, the children are to never be shown to the public until they reach the age of 5 when they are sent to the temple with 1 attendant. That attendant must not be of imperialty thus the most suitable option is a nanny…" She spoke, it was true that no imperial child had ever been seen before the age of 5 and the Princess had never been seen before she was switched.
"Then why didn't Prince Alistair go with Raven?" I asked.
"Twins can not be sent together, as a Prince, Alistair was sent first when he turned 5 with his nanny and Eva was supposed to be sent when she turned 6 but she came down with a terrible illness. We thought she wouldn't make it but like a miracle, she got better and so I reluctantly sent her to the temple on her birthday last week… If I had known she would be taken from me I wouldn't have done that." she spoke with regret.
"It's not your fault mother, no one could've predicted this would happen." The Prince spoke, trying his best to cheer her up.
"What made her so sick?" I asked curious if this had been planned out from 2 years ago.
"We're not sure… The Archbishop sent by the temple to heal her was unsuccessful, they couldn't even pinpoint which part of her body was causing her pain, she spent 6 months in bed like that but one day she simply stood up and said she felt all better. We didn't think much about it since all we wanted was for Eva to regain her strength."
"Oh, mum you forgot to tell him about Eva's reaction upon seeing the Archbishops." The Prince exclaimed, there was an unknown emotion that lingered with a gleam reflecting off of his face.
"Her reaction to the Archbishops?" I asked.
"Yes her reaction to the Archbishops was strange, to say the least, I remember she begged me to stay by her side while the Archbishops were in the palace, when I asked her what was wrong she said she saw something no one else could… I didn't understand what she meant then but perhaps she saw something sinister." The Prince recalled his days with Raven.
"There must've been something wrong with the archbishops if Raven was afraid to be by herself with them, I'll ask Father to secretly investigate the Temple and see if anything comes up." I made a mental note of visiting my father's office after this.
"Why do you call her Raven still? You know her name now, it's Eva." The Prince asked furrowing his brows together, anyone could tell that he disliked it when I called her Raven.
"Raven is who I know, I do not know Princess Eva I feel that calling her Raven is more accurate when referring to her." I fought back, you can't tell me I'm wrong… I truly do not know what Raven was like as Princess Eva, she could've been the most lovely Princess but I… I do not know that version of her.
"I don't understand… Her name is Eva no matter where she is or who she introduces herself as, she always will be and has been Eva." The Prince stood his ground, wanting me to surrender and call her Eva perhaps he disliked that I felt closer to his own twin than himself.
"Your Highness, to me she has never been Princess Eva… Princess Eva was nothing but a fake princess who took Raven's rightful place and destroyed the Empire. Raven is whom I miss not Princess Eva." I spoke more adamantly.
Was it because I had returned to being a child, whatever the reason was I caught myself arguing childishly with the young Prince something I'd never done before. The Empress who was quietly observing our conversation the whole time started to chuckle bringing our argument to a halt.
"You'll come to realize that there are times when both ends of an argument are correct." She explained looking at the young Prince and combing his hair to help cool his head a little.
"But why? Eva is Eva," he exclaimed once again.
"Yes, however, it's also true that the version of Eva that the young duke met and conversed with was not Eva but Raven. It is inevitable since she will live longer as Raven than Eva… Don't worry, we'll find Eva and then we'll have plenty of time to get to know her better than the young duke."
"So we're both right and wrong?" The Prince asked his mother after having thought deeper about what the Empress said.
"Yes and no, what do you think Lucas?" She asked while looking in my direction softly smiling.
- - -
The twins and I were nearing the end of what seemed to be an endless mana core examination, they had gotten the hang of it after I had supervised them for the 5th time. There were 3 people left, Sam, Grace and Tella.
I had finished with the last girl from Section B who was stuck to me like glue, and looked over to Rein who was trying to get Sam to cooperate with him.
"Why did you come here if you don't want us to check your mana core? If you don't want it done no one's forcing you, go away so I can relax a bit."
"Can't I just come here to see what you three are doing? It's not my fault I don't trust you!" Sam was having another outburst and I could see Rein's last strand of patience snap.
"Then go stand by the door and watch! Why are you getting in the line you dumbass?!" He yelled out loud, making Reuben whip his head away from Grace and stare at the situation that was currently unfolding.
"Okay… Break it up, break it up what's going on?" I asked standing in the middle of the two and pushing them away from each other.
"There is nothing to break up, if we really fought I'd win!" Rein claimed loud and proud.
As I stood in between looking at Rein with an eyebrow raised at his sudden and uncalled-for comment Reuben came from behind Rein and smacked him on the back of his head.
"Ow! Why are you hitting me!" Rein screeched out loud as he held his head and turned around to face his twin. The two girls covered their ears and groaned unable to express their discomfort with words.
'How many times had he been hit on the back of his head by Reuben to know who it is without even having to look first.'
"Why are you fighting again and why are you so cocky? How many times do I have to tell you to stay humble, you always get into trouble by acting like this." Reuben spoke with his arms crossed and looking ready to set his twin on fire.
"Everyone let's calm down, Sam if you're just here to watch don't provoke Rein," I spoke looking at Sam who was standing somewhat near the door. The two girls peered out from behind me to watch the situation.
"Who said I don't want to get my mana checked or whatever?" He spoke as he scratched his head.
"What you bastard! You said you don't want me to check!" Rein whipped his head around, starting another verbal argument…
"Yh, I meant not by you! You're a brickhead." Sam spoke not afraid of the repercussions since Reuben was holding back Rein with fiery eyes.
"Then Who! You ass hat! Who wants to check on you." Rein started kicking his feet in the air trying to escape his twin's grasp and kick Sam.
"Obviously It's by her!" He said while pointing at me…
"Me? Why me?" I asked confused as to why he would want me to check his mana core when he doesn't even like me.
"I might not trust you but you're the most trustworthy out of everyone else here." He said while coming towards me and placing his hand in mine.
I blinked a few times and decided to simply take it as a compliment. I took his hands placing them right side up and searched for a mana core, it was incomplete just like Reuben's was a few days ago.
"Your mana core is incomplete, we might need to awaken your stagnant mana, it'll hurt less than the mana core bursting on its own," I explained and Sam quickly slapped his hands away, looking visibly shaken.
"No, I don't need it." before he could leave I caught his arms and stopped him.
"It's not about whether you think you need it or not, if it bursts and I'm nowhere near to help, you might die. It's better for me to just direct your stagnant mana to your mana core and awaken it." I spoke, warning him of the consequences of his own decisions.