"Ahh!!!!Luce!!!" Marcia shouted worriedly as she appeared out of nowhere, in a midnight blue ball gown and she went to touch Lucia, who laid on the bed with red swollen eyes "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Uncle Luke brought me inside after I finished crying....Sorry for worrying you" Lucia said, as Marcia casted a spell on a white handkerchief and dabbed it on Lucia's right eye. Lucia flinched from the feeling, but Marcia tightly held the side of her face
"Geez. Can you please stay put? Lu-Lu said, you'd suddenly broken down crying and he didn't know what to do" Marcia said while Lucia took in her attire
Marcia had braided her hair in a crown braid, and had a tiara place before the braid, while the two gold hibiscus combs had been moved to be a bit closer to her tiara.
The ball gown Marcia had worn, was an off-shoulder ball gown. The bodice of the dress had been carefully made with greyish blue lace, and had been detailed with pearls and goldenrod embroidered lace butterflies, while from the waist line, down to the ending of the skirt, was covered in tulle the colour of midnight. A pair of sapphire and gold earrings, and a gold hibiscus festoon were adorned equally on her ears and neck. She had also done some light makeup to match, leaving her lips tainted red and her cheeks, having a slight blush.
"By the way, why are you dressed like that?" Lucia asked as Marcia continued to dab at her eyes
"What do you mean? Doesn't it look good on me?" Marcia puffed her cheeks
"It's looks good, but....what's the occasion?" Lucia asked and Marcia let out a sigh
"Just like you, I'm also a heart who is a member of the royal family. To top it off, I'm the queen, so I have a lot of responsibilities" Marcia said
'With that tiny body?' Lucia wondered
"Lucia, I don't know what you're thinking about, but it's definitely something rude" Luke said while staring at her from the corner of the room, making beads of sweat to appear
"As for the occasion, today is the day when every year, we commemorate the day the House of Lupin, saved the kingdom from ruin after the passing of the second heart, four hundred and fifty years ago. As well as the celebration of the death anniversary of the second heart" Marcia said "As the last remaining member of the House of Lupin, and as the current heart, it would be rude of me to not attend. For everyone in this kingdom, today was the day when the lives of our ancestors change"
"So...it's also because of what happened all those years ago, on this very day, that you're the current heart of Lupin" Lucia said
"The second heart didn't expect to die in such a horrible manner" Marcia said "My ancestors wrote about her in a diary, once. She was a fair person, whose words usually sounded like a child's nonsense ramblings. However, she was wiser than anyone they had ever met. Nobody knows the gender of the child she bore or what even happened to that child..."
"The fact that you're in this state, is reason enough to believe that the child died alongside her" Luke interrupted
"I guess so" Marcia said with a smile
"Wait a second....something isn't right" Lucia said and Marcia stopped dabbing her eyes "Four hundred and fifty years is when the unnamed kingdom appeared and it was also when the Queen of hearts suddenly appeared with the rules"
"The rules were created because of what happened to the second heart of Lupin" Marcia said "From what I know, the hearts of the past were all close with each other. Like a gathering of old housewives"
"Aunt Marcia, you said, 'what your ancestors wrote about her'. What does that mean?" Lucia asked "Don't you remember what she...."
"There are no memories" Marcia said "The royal family of Lupin had only met the second heart, once and her personality was based on what happened at the end of that meeting. Even when I look through the memories of the first heart, all I know is that, the images of the first heart's daughter are blurred out"
Lucia stared at Marcia with a blank face, "Lucia, other than the records in my parents diary, and what happened to this kingdom on this very day, all those years ago, there is not a single memory of the second heart, her spouse or her child, anywhere" Marcia said as she casted aside the white clothe "When I look through my memories, I see the small body of a child, but that child's face, is one I can't remember. And if I try to glance into the second heart's memories, my head begins to hurt and I tend to pass out" she smiled when she saw the confused look on Lucia's face "Now, stay still. Your left eye is still swollen"
Marcia casted another spell on the handkerchief before dabbing it against Lucia's left eye
'I wonder...why were the memories of the second heart erased?' Lucia wondered 'And what became of her child?'
******
West of the centre of Lupin
Inside Yukia's house
"Big sis, thanks for spending some of your time with me today" Elizabetta said, as she hugged Yukia
"Is something wrong?"
"Not at all" Elizabetta said, as she stepped away from Yukia
"Come to think of it, you came dressed up as a noble. What's the occasion?" Yukia asked
"What do you mean?"
"You usually dress in plain clothes, but this time, it's clear the maids helped you dress up beautifully" Yukia said
"I guess the time you've spent here has made you lose track of the seasons" Elizabetta said "Today...is the death anniversary of the emperor's parents"
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I have to return and visit the gra..."
"I'm sure the lady and her husband will forgive you" Elizabetta said, as she placed her hands on Yukia's cheeks "I forgot it was today too...that child of theirs hadn't planned anything and was burying himself in work, without eating. So I didn't realise"
"I wonder if I managed to raise him well" Yukia mumbled, as she lowered her head
"He couldn't have had anyone better to play substitute mum for him, sis" Elizabetta said with a smile "Which is why I know that those two will forgive you for not coming to visit. You've visited them these passed four hundred and fifty years, and this country still celebrates them for all their sacrifices"
"You're right" Yukia said as she reached out and touched the heart crystal imbedded in her forehead "It's ironic. Even now....she's still comforting me. As though to say, 'Thank you for everything. I'm very happy right now'"
"Big sis, I'll look after the emperor while you're gone. So please, focus on your mission" Elizabetta said, with a smile as the space behind her distorted and a shadowy void opened up "I hope we can chat like this another time" she said, as she took her hands off Yukia's cheeks and turned to leave
"Say hello to Eles- sorry...say hello to the emperor for me and tell him to please eat...I'm worried about him" Yukia said and Elizabetta gave a thumbs up, before going into the void 'I almost made the mistake of calling that child's name here' she thought as the void shut
"Don't say his name or even think about it when outside of the empire" Yukia mumbled as she transformed back into a man and left the house for the Lupinite mountain.
******
Back at the mountain
Lucia was having dinner with Luke, while Marcia had returned back to the castle for the celebration that was to last three days. In other words, Marcia won't be returning back to the mountain for three days.
"Uncle Luke, what's the festival like?" Lucia asked, clearly trying to dissipate the awkwardness between them
"Haven't you ever attended a festival before?" Luke asked
"I have....Jane sneaked me out" Lucia said
"I see. It's the same thing" Luke said as he dropped his cutlery "So...aren't you going to tell me about the nightmare you had?"
"I...what was my mother like?"
"Lucia. Pamela and I never had a conversation worth more than four sentences" Luke said while raising four fingers up "After I've spoken my four sentences, if Pamela spoke five or more, I wouldn't answer her unless the other questions were 'yes or no' questions. And even if they were 'yes or no' questions, I'd either answer with a nod, or a mere shake of my head" he dropped his hand and picked up his cutlery again
"Huh? Why would you do that?"
"I would have said that I simply didn't want to get involved with her, but that would have been a lie" Luke said "I was simply afraid of losing her and suffering from the aftermath" he looked up at Lucia "Pamela looked a lot like our mother. It was painful for me and my father to look at her...however, because she was family, we couldn't bring ourselves to abandon her. Not everyone can handle it if their loved one is a heart...Marcia is a perfect example of that" he mumbled the last part out
"Oh"
"Anyways, stop trying to change the subject" Luke said "What type of dream was it? These days you keep waking up with swollen eyes as though you cry yourself to sleep every night. I might not look it, but I'm actually quite worried"
'He really doesn't look like someone who'd care' Lucia thought with a smile as she lowered her head
"Lucia?"
"I...keep having dreams about my mother" Lucia said "They are short dreams of when my mother was pregnant with me. In those dreams, my father always spent time with her and didn't leave her side for any reason. It was as though...he was afraid she would suddenly disappear at any moment and leave him all alone" she said
"Ah. I see"
"In the recent dream, my mother left the palace and gave birth to me at the centre of Neinhart. She looked sad as dad frantically went searching for her. And when he finally found her, his fears came true, and she disappeared" Lucia said, "The emotions that flowed into me...made me sad to the point of crying" she said, as she raised up her head "Sorry for worrying you, Uncle Luke"
"It's fine. The fact that you're having dreams about my sister, is a sign that you're recovering the memories of the previous hearts, abate slowly" Luke said "However, for it to be so vivid at this point in time....come to think of it, Pamela put a seal on you. Did you witness or have any idea of the type she used?" he asked, as he was about to put some food in his mouth
"Yes, I do know what type. She used her blood to seal me" Lucia said, as Luke paused before looking up at her "Did I say something wrong?" She asked
"Pamela used a blood seal on you?"
"Yes? Yes. Is there something wrong?" she asked and Luke frowned as he dropped his cutlery and rested against one hand
'A blood seal of all things will require the ceremony of divine intervention' Luke thought as he stared at Lucia 'It's no wonder she was having such a hard time at mana control. During her birth, mana was to be continuously transferred from Pamela and added to her own. However, when Pamela used her blood to seal Lucia, the transfer was slightly disrupted'. Luke sighed "What a troublesome situation"
"Uncle Luke?"
"Get ready three days from now. I'm taking you to Lupin's royal palace" Luke said firmly "We're going to disturb the long forgotten deities, after a thousand years"