When the maids were done cleaning Lucia's room, they packet up all of their stuff and left the room. As soon as they shut the door, a light so bright yet so calm, much like moonlight, lit up the whole room from the bracelet on Lucia's wrist.
With Luke being very busy preparing for the ceremony, Marcia attending to official duties and with the servants assigned to Hessia, already finished with their duties for the meantime, nobody had visited Lucia's bedroom. As such, the light shun for hours without anyone noticing it.
Once the sun went down, and darkness ensued, the light faded and gathered to a point on the bed beside Lucia, where it took on the form of a small white winged lion cub. It was at that moment, that Lucia finally opened her eyes and clenched the duvet covering her.
She slowly sat up and held her forehead. She could tell her body was a hundred times better than before she blacked out which made her smile sadly.
'That man actually healed me completely, but he didn't even tell me his name' she thought 'All I remember is his hair, eyes and voice' she tried to get off the bed, but her hand brushed against something fluffy which made her mind go blank as she turned to look at what she had touched. In turn, the winged lion had also turned to look at Lucia, and their eyes met.
'What?' Lucia wondered, as she looked away from the winged lion and took a look at the room she was in.
By the confused look on her face, it was clear she didn't recognise the place she was currently in
'What exactly happened while I was out?' she wondered as the winged lion rubbed its head against her hand
Lucia suddenly felt less tense when it did this and she picked it up in her arms before getting out from bed. As soon as her bare feet touched the ground, several plants began to sprout beneath her feet.
'I somewhat remember what happened before I passed out' she thought as she stared at her feet before walking towards the nearby window with unsteady steps. As she walked, more plants began to sprout. 'Uncle Luke and I were training with these eyes, when I suddenly lost control of my powers' she thought as she looked at the ground again 'Seems like I still don't have full control yet' she sighed and continued walking until she stood in front of the window
"You were probably absorbing all the magic power I was releasing, within the bracelet" Lucia said with a smile as the winged lion let out somewhat of a roar, 'How cute' she thought. "I guess you couldn't keep absorbing seeing as the current condition of the ground is now like that of a small garden" she said with a slight chuckle as she looked out the window and viewed the scenery of the city below.
"So this is what Uncle Luke usually sees with his eyes. I've got to say, this vision is a thousand times better than my original one" Lucia said as she continued staring out the window.
The city of Lupin was lit up by different lights from buildings. The nightlife of Lupin was bustling with tons of people filling the streets. The moon was out and the stars in the night sky also made for quite the view. An additional factor, was what only Lucia and Luke could see with their own pair of eyes; as thousands of aura and mana paths blanketed several areas of the city making for an interesting light show due to their various colours.
The cool night breeze blew in from the window and Lucia's hair was ruffled by it. Strangely, the scent of people approaching the room, had also entered in with the wind and Lucia's eyes glowed while the winged lion growled as she turned towards the doors.
The doors suddenly opened and three chamber maids entered the room with their various lamps, only to stare blankly when they saw Lucia standing next to the window with the winged lion in arms.
"The princess has awoken" Pattery said "I need to report this to the Queen and Sir Luke" she added before running out of the room with her lamp
"Ah" Lucia let out as her eyes stopped glowing and the lion cub stopped growling
"Thank goodness. The Princess finally awoke" Ruby said with tears in her eyes
"Princess, you shouldn't stand too close to the window. You'll catch a cold" Emerald said, as she walked towards an armchair and picked up a shawl, completely ignoring the small garden Lucia had made in the room. She walked towards Lucia and draped the shawl over her shoulders, before shutting the windows. "Ruby, stop crying. Tell the chef to prepare some food for the princess" she yelled and Ruby nodded before bowing her head and leaving the room.
'I can tell what they're thinking and even tell that their worry is genuine' Lucia thought while letting out a small smile, as Emerald shut the curtains to the window before turning on the lights.
"Princess, please put this on" Emerald said as she set some slippers down at Lucia's feet
"You don't have to do that. I can do this myself" Lucia said as the lion cub jumped out of her embrace, frightening Emerald a bit, "Sorry, I still don't know how to control him" she said
"You sound a lot like her majesty the queen" Emerald said, getting over the initial embarrassment caused by the lion cub. "I know the princess is capable of doing these things herself, but our duties as chamber maids is to aid our superiors" she said as she pulled a chair out for Lucia to sit and wait for her meal
"Thank you" Lucia said, as she put on the slippers before sitting on the chair. "By the way, what type of creature is that?" she asked while pointing at the lion cub which had its wings spread and was stretching out its limbs
"I have never seen such a creature in my life, Princess" Emerald said while staring at the lion cub "Maybe books on fairytales and myths may have something on it. I'll bring them to you in the morning"
"Where's my Uncle and Aunt?"
"The Queen has been tending to official duties all day and Sir Luke...I have no idea what he's up to" Emerald said with a sigh
"As expected of my Uncle" Lucia said with a wry smile while looking at Emerald when the door suddenly opened and Luke walked in
"Lucia...how are you?" Luke asked worriedly, but Lucia was too shocked at his current appearance that she found it difficult to answer
"Who are you?" Lucia asked as the lion cub yawned before making its way to her laps. There was total silence in the room as Emerald lowered her head while slightly glancing from Lucia to Luke and then back.
However, Lucia's question was quite expected due to how different Luke looked. He had long white hair that went all the way to his waist, his eyes had a somewhat permanent glow to them, his fingernails were slightly longer and sharper, while his cat like eyes which were usually sticking out from his head, were now longer and on the sides of his head; replacing where his human ears were meant to be.
"I was worried for no reason" Luke said while pinching between his brows "Seeing as you're still so rude, I'd say you're perfectly fine" he then noticed the lion cub on Lucia's laps
"Do you know what it is?" Lucia asked
"It's a mystical beast with the same level of magic power as a quasi spirit" Luke said
"Huh?" Lucia asked confusedly
"I forgot you still don't have the previous hearts' memories" Luke said as he took a seated at the table, directly opposite Lucia. "It's a phenomenon that's common among spirits, but never appears in hearts"
"Okay?" Lucia said a bit intrigued
"When spirits have kids with beings weaker than themselves, the spirit genes passed on gets weaker. Beings brought about from this are called quasi spirits" Luke explained "They have powerful magic power and are slightly stronger when compared to other beings, but are weaker than heart born spirits and hearts. This is because their generation doesn't inherit the ability to pass down memories or similar number of spells to their next generation"
"What if the quasi spirits have children with beings stronger than themselves?" Lucia asked
"If a quasi spirit has kids with a heart born spirit, those kids would be spirits. Just without certain factors the heart born spirit possess" Luke said "And it depends on the gender if the child is born with a heart"
"Oh. I see" Lucia said
"Anyways, it's been thousands of years since a mystical beast has appeared on any of the boarders of the three kingdoms" Luke said while glaring at the lion cub "It's to the point that I don't even know the name of that creature. The Unnamed kingdom is definitely behind the appearance of that thing" he pointed at it
"I'm thinking of naming him, Leo" Lucia said and Luke smirked while holding back his laughter
"Yeah, you do that" Luke said with a wave
"Sir Luke, you really shouldn't indulge her on that" Emerald had to speak up "What if Sir Leo found out? He'd be quite offended"
"I gave that kid his name, because he reminded me of a lion" Luke said "He has no reason to complain if my niece's naming sense is just like mine"
"Leo is already the name of someone?" Lucia asked as the winged lion rubbed its head against her
"It's not just any random person, but it's the name of her majesty the queen's personal bodyguard. The fifth star, Leo Sunshield" Emerald said"In terms of strength, he's the third strongest among the queen's bodyguard"
"Judging by his name....does this have something to do with you?" Lucia asked, while staring at Luke a bit unimpressed
"Funny you ask.....I actually trained those children" Luke said
"Children?" Lucia repeated with a raised brow
"When you take into consideration Sir Luke's age, the queen's personal bodyguards are actually mere children" Emerald explained "Even the queen herself is a child to Sir Luke"
"How old are you?" Lucia asked
"I lost count hundreds of years ago" Luke said "And before you ask, no. I don't remember my birthday. Are you done with your questions?"
"Done? I've only just begun" Lucia said and the room went silent again as Emerald lowered her head and Luke let out a sigh
'This is going to take a while' Luke thought
"How old was my mother before she had me?" Lucia asked, but before Luke could say anything, "Sorry, I asked the wrong person. I should have asked my father since you know nothing about my mother" she said and Luke frowned
"You're such a rude child" Luke said
"I have a rude uncle, it's generational" Lucia said
"Pamela was born in the winter of December, the eighteenth" Luke said "It's hard to forget that day because my mother also died on that day"
"I was born in the spring of March, the eighth" Lucia said and Luke looked away from her
"I never asked" Luke said and Lucia let out a sad smile
"Princess, I'm going to check on your meal" Emerald said
"Okay, then please bring something for Kian too" Lucia said, while lifting up the winged lion "How does that sound, Kian?" she asked and it let out a roar that sounded more like a meow
Emerald smiled, "Of course, Princess" she said as she took a bow before leaving the room.
The room went silent again, as soon as Emerald left.
"Uncle Luke..." Lucia called out as she lowered Kian on the table
"What?" Luke asked
"How long have I been asleep?"
"How long do you think?"
"A couple hours"
"You really scared me this time" Luke said while staring at her "You've been asleep for three days" he said and Lucia's eyes widened