The sun was setting, its rays reflecting the soft white of Arthu's fresh snow. Winter came early this year, Lillia on her room's balcony watching the sunset. Right as she was lost in thought, she notices one of her shadows in the corner of her eye.
"Speak." She said with a calm tone, still admiring the scenery "I take it that you completed your mission, since you are here earlier than expected." She shifted her tone to a serious one.
The shadow that appeared bowed down their head and spoke, "Yes, lady Lillia. Since these rumours are quite peculiar, they spread faster than expected." Then the shadow raised their head "My lady if I were to be so bold, what are we trying to accomplish with this plan."
Lillia hearing this turned her head towards the shadow, glaring intensely. Seeing this the shadow bowed and asked for forgiveness, Lillia acted like she did not hear a thing turned back to the scenery before making a gesture to the soldier to leave her alone. Shadow soldier left after bowing their head to the ground.
She muttered to herself "Tonight will be quite an event. Preparations are in order…" Then turned around, moving towards her chamber doors "Right on time." She says as she opens the door a messenger is standing in front of her.
"Lady Lillia the daughter of William Lionheart, I came to herald a message from the House of Emerald and to formally invite you to their ball at midnight in the castle's ballroom."
"Castle's ballroom? I take it that the king knows about this ball.". The messenger nods in response.
"Well then! Since I am close friends with Duchess Aria, can you tell her that I'll be bringing someone with me to this ball. I'm sure she will not mind."
The messenger taken away by her bright and beautiful smile nods, then bows and gets on his way to hand out other invitations.
After the messenger left Lillia summons one of her shadows, and one appears in the corner of her room. "Yes, my Lady, how may I be of use?" the shadow move in front of her.
"Has Yume been out lately, after moving into the castle I hardly see him around."
"Sadly no, the king forbids him from coming out. The king is afraid of Yume's identity being revealed."
"What a pity. But this will be his last day in that prison of a room. Please inform him that we are leaving tonight as we got an invitation." She turned around to the balcony again. "What kind of a husband leaves his wife to attend a ball alone, right?" She smiles to herself.
"As you wish Lady Lillia." The shadow stands up and disappears.
As she is alone in her room once again, she thinks to herself "Finally the day has come, this night will be the crown's final night." But then a thought runs through her… She, in that moment weirdly felt sadness. She does not know if it's for her father or for her husband that will take on many heavy responsibilities. "No matter" she thought to herself again, she made it this far and she will not stop now.
After a while she heads out to Yume's room to check on him. "Quite the walk" she speaks to herself "Then again, for someone like Yume, father's actions are understandable…". Some more thoughts come and go until she reaches to Yume's chamber.
She gently knocks the door. "Are you okay, love.".
No reply can be heard. Lillia just sighs to herself and comes in. To her surprise Yume is in front of a mirror trying to imitate the nobles that come and go to the castle. Since she was not noticed she sat on his bed and watched him with interest and amusement. It was not long before Yume notices her sitting on his bed watching. His face turning red.
"W-w-what are you doing in here? I did not hear you come in."
"Oh, please do continue, I wish to see more" She replies while snickering to herself.
Too embarrassed to answer he stops and moves in front of her. His face shows Lillia his every emotion… He is worried and afraid.
"I believe one of my shadows informed you about tonight." She says with a cheerful tone as to lighten the mood.
"Ahh yea! I got your message. But I don't think I can handle it." Yume replied. "Even if I came what about the king? If you remember I am bound here." He added.
"About that…" she shifted her tone. "This will be his last night as the king. So, no need to worry."
Yume became confused, "Last night as the king?" he wondered. Then a thought crossed his mind. "Is she going to murder the king?!" right as he was about to speak Lillia cut him off.
"No need to worry love, I will not murder anyone. We'll just make you known tonight that's all."
Yume after hearing her words still was having a hard time believing her. Since in his point of view, he is a peasant man who just happened to be a blessed. How can he of all people overthrow him. Are people going to make him king just because he was a blessed. His mind scrambled, he asks Lillia a question.
"So… How are we going to do that?"
Lillia with a wide grin: "Oh no need to do something drastic. We just need to put on a good show." "As long as we have the nobles' support, we will succeed." She added. She sounded so sure of herself. So, Yume had no reason to not take her word as truth.
Lillia then pulled Yume close whispering her plan to his ear. He then sits next to her so he can talk about his opinions and help with the unlikely "holes" in her plan. This goes on for about an hour then one of Lillia's shadows interrupt them.
"Lady Lillia, I apologise for disturbing your talk with Lord Yume, but we received the materials you requested."
"Oh? How lovely!" Her voice changed to a cheerful one. "Bring them here so I can look at it." She added. By her command the shadow disappeared for a second and then reappeared with the package.
"You know, I really wonder what kind of magic they use." Yume said. "It does not look like any magic type I know of."
The shadow stood up and did a simple bow." I and the other shadow soldiers are trained under lady Lillia and learned shadow magic with her guidance. Now we personally serve her as her eyes and blades trough the shadows."
"Shadow magic? I thought that ancient attribute died long time ago?" Yume said with a confused look on his face. Even though he was a peasant his knowledge on magic and its attributes were nearly on par with an academy educated noble.
Lillia thanked the soldier and gestured it to leave. After the soldier left, she spoke "Yes, you are correct. But thankfully with one of my connections I was able to get my hands on an ancient book said to be from a cursed library that held information about it. After a while of decoding, I was able to teach the basics to my most loyal servants."
"Basics? So, you are telling me that what they can do is just the basic ability of its attribute?" Yume fascinated by learning this; his eyes glowed like stars. "Could I learn it as well?" he asked while looking at Lillia's eyes.
"I'm afraid you already possess an attribute love; I would require a great price to learn another one." She replied. As she watched Yume's enthusiasm fade with that answer, she tried to confront him." I think your attribute is better and more noble, don't you think?"
"Yea, thank you love." He replied, still a bit sad but Lillia's compliment really made him happy, nonetheless.
As time was approaching Lillia opened the package and showed what is inside to Yume. There were clothes inside. A beautiful light blue dress with White-Bloom Flower based hairpin and accessories. And a black and red suit with hand embroidered imagery. Both were in awe after seeing these clothes.
"Wow! He really outdid himself this time around, guess saying that "I'm going to my first ball with my husband" really was effective" she said as she admired the craftmanship. "He never made clothes this beautiful when I asked him. I'll admit I'm a bit hurt." She added.
"Are these from one of your friends from Walhß? I always hear they have the best craftsmen in the whole continent." Yume said. "Do we have to wear these? They are so beautiful." He added in a sad tone.
"They will look better when we wear them, I'm especially looking forward for you to wear these." After saying that she gave him a kiss on the cheek and moved towards the door. "We should get ready. After all the time draws near." Before she left, she gave him a wink as well to make him flustered even more.
Yume, whose face is already rose red by now, just nodded and watched Lillia leave the room. After she left, he just sat there thinking to himself… And got more embarrassed as more thought came in his head. Then he dusted himself off and tried on the clothes, they were a perfect fit. "Guess Lillia was preparing for this for a long time." He talked to himself. "Let's hope that I will not become a burden for her tonight.". After he put on the clothes, he resumed his studies of imitating the nobles in front of the mirror. He knew he had to act in a perfect manner to not embarrass Lillia in front of the nobles that they were trying to impress. As the moon showed its face, the time was upon them to attend the event. Lillia made sure no one would go near Yume's chambers, that way no one would know he was gone. And even stationed some of her shadows to survey and turn back any unwanted guest. Both readied themselves and left their rooms to meet up, upon seeing one another Yume and Lillia were quite captivated by each other's looks as they approached the ballrooms doors, they gave each other one last confident look.
The insides were beautifully decorated, since Emerald clan got themselves a new heir it was only natural that they go overboard with the event. The event was packed, all the clan heads, and even some of the sages were there. Aria spotted both at the entrance and quickly moved towards them to greet them.
"Oh my, I am truly sorry that no one was present to greet you your majesty. Please do forgive us as there are a lot of people." She said with quite panic.
"Its fine Aria, I do understand. Please be at ease." Lillia reassured her with a smile.
Then the two woman engaged in a more friendly conversation like they were both in equal standing. It was confusing to Yume since the place where he comes from, he would be beheaded in an event like this. As he was trying to understand the situation, they turn to him.
As their eyes were on Yume he panicked and was unable to introduce himself.
"It was nice chatting with you after a long time Lilly but, are you going to introduce me to your 'friend' here." Aria turned to Lillia again with a mischievous look.
Lillia unable to keep a straight face told Yume "Oh, don't be afraid she won't eat you." "Anyways!" She added "This is Yume, he is my fiancé." Said she with a smug face.
As she said that Aria was quite shocked. "So, the rumours were true!"
"Shush! Not so loud Ari" Lillia closed her mouth. "We will talk about this in a more private place after this event. So please stick around till the end." She whispered to her ear. Aria straightened her demeanour and simply nodded. Then another member of the Emerald clan came to them.
To the surprise of Yume, the two woman changed entirely from little girls in a sleep over to distinguished nobles. As they were still talking the man greeted Lillia and Yume.
"Oh dear, my apologies your majesty as the right hand of the clan head I should have been here to greet you." He bowed anxiously in front of them.
"It is fine, I already reassured Duchess Aria that I understand." Lillia's tone shifted to a weirdly cold tone. "Though, it is quite disappointing that your head inviting me here and not greeting me personally."
The man bowed even lower before her, trembling, and trying to give her an answer. Then Aria broke in.
"Please raise your head up Mr. Martin, Lady Lilla is an understanding person. I am sure that she understands our situation and forgives us." Aria tossed a look at Lillia.
Lillia not wanting to upset her friend replied "Yes, Duchess Aria spoked brilliantly. I do forgive this act, so please be at ease and let us enjoy ourselves."
The man gave a sigh of relieve and escorted them to their table, "Since Duchess Aria told us that you will be bringing a guest of big importance, we prepared a delightful table for you, your majesty." Spoke the man, he was trying to keep himself together.
"Oh? I am really delighted to hear that, my deepest thanks to Master Alfonzo. For this, I will overlook the disrespect he committed, he seems to be really busy if he prepared all the tables personally for the important guests." Said Lillia, still trying to jab at the man every chance she gets.
After showing them their table the man leaves. And Yume asks Lillia why she was so cold and cruel particularly to that man. Lilla lets out a sigh and tells him that he can't know the reason because it will put a target on his head. "The reason why they value me so much is because I know what they do behind the scenes." She tells Yume. She then reassures him that everything regarding this matter was under her control, so he ought not to be worried. And the event begins, great food, cheery music, and quite the crowd of people gathered here. Perfect opportunity to make or strengthen one's connections, and Lillia was planning to do just that. The rumours that her shadows spread was "A man that is blessed by Khash would be accompanying princess Lillia." The ones who heard and spread the rumours were all turning their heads to their table one by one to catch a glimpse of the man, and more of them want that man on their side…
The people attending the event were like ravenous vultures, trying everything in their power to get close and talk to them. And on top of that their table was located near the centre, so they, especially Yume, were the second attractions. Feeling the eyes on him, Yume was feeling quite uneasy. These eyes were thankfully wandered elsewhere thanks to the appearance of the host, Master Alfonzo.
"The people of Arthu, I thank you in advance for your attendance of this great event. We are so delighted to see you all here for our new heir." He spoke on a fabulously decorated stage. "And now please allow me to personally thank Princess Lillia for making this all possible for us." Lillia knew something was up with him, but she just played it off as an effort to get her affection. To her his rambling was suffocating, if her pride was not on the line, she would have just behead him right then and there.
As the night went on, Yume got to know more and more people. Whether be butler or master, thanks to this little outing he gained connections that could be valuable in the future. And then there were some seamstresses that tried to seduce him as well. Though Lillia's presence quickly made them disappear. As the event was nearing its end Yume started to feel a bit more at ease, he thought to himself that how he preferred this instead of his isolation in that room.
This comfort did not last however, the king getting words of his escape bashed down the doors in a nearly feral state. Everyone was in shock as they never saw the king like this before. Lillia noticing this signalled one of her shadows who were stationed in the event to get to the next step. After the shadow's disappearance Lilla spoke.
"Father! How lovely to have you join us!" in a happy tone, smiling brightly.
"How dare you…" The king seemed barely be able to speak "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS!!" He yelled at Lillia.
"Father, you seem unwell… Are you ok?" she spoke again this time in a worried tone.
"How dare you disobey me and take him out here! How can you scheme against your own father like this!?" he seemed like a madman trying to hold on to his last parts of reason. His eyes were twitching, his skin was pale. Almost like he was about to die, or he was already dead.
Lillia responded to him in a confused tone. "Him? What are you talking about?" As she looks around in confusion. "Who is that mystery "HIM" of yours anyways" she was smirking at him as a way of taunting him, though everyone was too busy trying to figure out what was happening, so they did not see her expression.
Now embarrassed in front of every guest he lost himself to anger and fired of a spell that caught fire to the curtains. "Don't lie to me my daughter, I know he was here!" As the curtains were set ablaze everyone started to panic. Lillia responded to her father in a way that set him off even more…
"Have you lost your mind father? How can you destroy the decorations Master Alfonzo had personally made? You are not being very reasonable right now." She said, she was playing with the crowd and the king noticed this a bit too late… The shadow she dispatched was already sowing discord among high target guests, and at that moment Yume made himself seen as according to plan, holding a conversation with one of the great sages. The king desperate to get rid of him fired a spell without hesitation to their direction "The sage's death would be a necessary sacrifice." He thought to himself.
But to his and the sage's surprise, Yume blocked the attack with little to no effort. Although he damaged his suit in the process, the sleeve of the hand he blocked with got scorched. This occurrence drew the eyes on him, Lillia's rumours of "The blessed guest" were finally confirmed. Since no one, except that monster of a woman, were able to block a spell from the king. Everyone was in shock the shadow taking advantage of this further by making the clan heads overhear their conversations with the other guests, further making them consider siding with Lillia.
The King's last-ditch effort to get rid of him failed and now he was seen as if he was gone mad. After a brief moment of silence, the clan head composed himself and spoke up.
"Your majesty with all due respect, have you gone mad! You are endangering our precious guests. Not to mention you ruining this event." As he spoke, he tried to keep himself together and not give in to anger.
The crowd started whispering to each other, comments about how "The King has gone mad" and how "he must be under a spell or else he would never lash out like this." were spreading like wildfire. Lillia broke the silence after watching the crowd for a bit.
"Father, I cannot believe you would act like this in public. I thought we talked about keeping your temper tantrums for the dummies in the training hall!" She was fuelling the flames further and further with each line she spoke. "You came and crushed the event that the Emerald clan poured their hearts in to, and for what, some baseless rumour!?" She was scolding the king like a little kid, and due to the commotion, he caused, he could not respond. "And on top of that, you attack one of the sages as well!? This is unacceptable!" The words kept flowing through her mouth as if she was venting her frustration that has accumulated for years on end. She then turned to Yume.
"Yume, my love, I thank you for protecting one of the sages that we hold dear to our hearts." After hearing that everyone was in shock." She called him "love" are they engaged!?" whispers started to rise from the crowd once more. Then the sage broke through the whispers,
"King William Lionheart as one of the Sages of Arthu, your actions are considered an act of blasphemy. Not only were you trying to kill a blessed individual, but you also intended to kill one of the sages, that being myself. As of now, the sage council will form and discuss your actions and form a verdict, and until that, I the Grand Sage Leo hereby revoke your title as the supreme authority!" Everyone was shocked after hearing this, then the sage continued after turning towards Yume, "As the divine law demands, the blessed individual shall take his place in the throne. And since he is the fiancé of Lillia, this surely was arranged by our deity Khash!"
Even though everyone was shocked to the core, the appearance of a blessed individual was still something to celebrate. And so, they did. Mr. Alfonzo, with Lillia's signal, went on to the stage again and spoke out to the crowd once more:
"Dear guests! It appears that this unfortunate occurrence had a lovely finish. As Sage Leo said it is truly "a sign" from our deity! Come let us celebrate his appearance and for our new king!" his energetic demeanour and voice was enough to get the crowd riled up, they were chanting "MAY KHASH'S BLESSING BE UPON ALL" and "LONG LIVE OUR BLESSED RULER"
While The king was being escorted "outside" by Lillia's shadows disguised as guards, everyone inside celebrated without noticing anything. As per the crowning ceremony Yume was asked on the fancy stage while Lillia brought the crown she had taken from her father.
"By the power that has been granted to me as the sole heir to the throne, I, Lillia Lionheart crown you as both the supreme ruler and my husband. May you live long to lead Arthu to prosperity!" she placed the crown in his head as every person in the room, even Lillia, bowed as a sign of respect.
After the ceremony was over, everyone continued as if nothing happened. As the event went on without any more disturbances, Lillia gave Master Alfonzo a satisfied look. Seeing this he took a deep sigh of relief knowing he did his part perfectly. The sun showed its face when the ball ended, a whole night Yume was in the spotlight and to Lillia's satisfaction he made quite the connections both in and outside the country. While Yume was about to go to his room in the far side of the castle, Lillia stopped him.
"My Liege?" she said teasingly. "Are we not heading to OUR room?" she said while grinning ear to ear. Yume, although bit embarrassed, reached out his hand, said "Then would you accompany me to OUR room my queen" Lillia was caught off guard by his retaliation did not say a thing, she just took his hand and escorted him to their room.