Estoria got up to find that everyone had indeed left the terrace, which was now in a sorry state. She quickly decided to flee before someone came upstairs to capture the culprit.
Isabella had mentioned earlier that the guest rooms in the hallway were all empty, so Estoria headed straight there. As she walked into the back hallway, it was dark and spooky; the only light came from the night outside. While she walked toward a room, she started hearing familiar voices again.
"Tyrion, put me down. Let's go to the bed; I can't hold on anymore, I'll fall," Eston said, sounding labored.
"You won't fall; I am the one holding you. Why would I let you go?" Tyrion replied, as Eston exclaimed in a loud but hushed voice.
Estoria froze in her spot, goosebumps rising all over her body and sending shivers down her spine. "What the fuck?" Estoria whispered.
She stood there in a daze when something hit the floor hard enough to shake her out of it.
"Stop, Tyrion... Let me catch my breath before we continue... Please, let's move to the bed," Eston pleaded, his voice weak.
"What in the actual fuck? Why can I hear them from inside the room? Why isn't Tyrion moving to the bed? Why is this bothering me?" Estoria's head started spinning.
"Wait, don't cry. I'll move, I'll move! See, I'm going to the bed right now!" Tyrion's heavy steps echoed.
"I'm not... crying," Eston said between sobs, his voice weaker than before.
"God, why did you have to bless me with heightened senses? You never gave me what I wanted, but at least give me the option to turn this off or something. I want to leave, just let me go somewhere quiet!" Estoria shouted in her mind, eyes closed and hands covering her ears tightly until her fingers turned bloodlessly paler, yet she could still hear everything clearly; the bracelet on her wrist glowed unusually bright.
Suddenly, everything went quiet. A cold breeze brushed over her face; her eyelashes trembled. She opened her eyes to find herself on an unknown dark road, with no signs of life nearby.
"Did I just teleport myself?" Estoria widened her eyes in shock.
"What is happening today? Everything is going wrong. I just wanted to hide from everyone. I even had to stand there, smiling like I understood what was happening in the front lines!" Estoria broke down, suddenly frustrated, missing Aluxio for some strange reason.
"Curse my eyes, curse my ears, curse my curiosity, curse everything!" Estoria shouted, feeling unheard as there wasn't a single person in sight, only a vast graveyard next to the road.
"I'm not even scared of ghosts, but this is getting out of hand. Being the only one here..." Estoria muttered, side-eyeing the graveyard.
"I wish Asher was here; he would teleport me right back. He's the only normal person here. No one else is normal here. Maybe I'm not normal either... wait, I actually am not normal. I am a rare blood dragon with uncontrollable powers. Definitely not normal," Estoria laughed uneasily.
Maybe she was coping this way, or maybe she had actually gone insane. No one knew.
Estoria suddenly regained some sanity and started walking to see where she had landed.
"There aren't any signs here, not even one for the graveyard. How is anyone supposed to know it's a graveyard without a single marker or sign? I mean, the gravestones are pretty obvious... but someone might not!" Estoria muttered to herself as she walked along the road.
The air was cold; even if it wasn't snowing, the weather was freezing, and the windy weather of the quiet road made her shiver even more. Her hands and feet were numb from the cold, as she was only wearing delicate clothing.
"If only it wasn't for this dress and these heels, running wouldn't be a problem," Estoria murmured to herself when something stopped her in her tracks.
Something or someone was holding her dress from behind, stopping Estoria from walking.
She prayed it was just caught on something, but there was nothing on that road but her...
"What are you doing here?" a voice said from behind her.
She sighed in relief upon hearing that voice.
Estoria turned around, delighted to see Asher. "Asher!" she exclaimed happily.
"How did you get here? I don't see a carriage nearby," Asher said, holding her dress tightly like a child.
"Of course, there's nothing here. I accidentally teleported and found myself in this chilling, quiet place. If you hadn't come, I probably would've frozen to death before finding my way back," Estoria explained hurriedly.
"You teleported? When did you learn to teleport? Actually, do you know how to do it again?" Asher asked, his eyes fixed on her wrist.
"No, I don't. If I did, I would have teleported back a while ago instead of wandering alone in the night. Why are you here all alone, by the way?" Estoria asked curiously.
"Come with me; I'll show you," Asher said, still holding her dress tightly. She found it quite endearing.
Estoria followed him back into the graveyard. They stopped before a gravestone with nothing written on it but a heart with some shaky lines.
"There's a town nearby. It's where I used to live before," Asher began.
Estoria immediately understood whose grave it was – Asher's older sister's.
"Why isn't there a name on it?"
"She had no name. Our parents didn't bother to name her or me," Asher replied bitterly.
Estoria listened attentively, her blood beginning to warm up.
"Forget about them. They don't even deserve to be called parents." She picked up a sharp rock from the ground.
"What are you doing?" Asher asked, surprised, as Estoria scribbled something on the gravestone.
"Your my son, so she's automatically my daughter too!" Estoria declared stubbornly.
After a while, she stood back up, and Asher quickly moved in to see what Estoria had written under the heart on the gravestone.
"Asher's beloved sister and Estoria's beloved daughter."
Asher remained silent, just staring at it.
Feeling anxious at his silence, Estoria asked nervously, "Do you not like it? Should I remove it? I'm sorry I did it without your permission. I should've asked you first." She bent down again to try to erase the carvings.
"No, leave it. Let's go back before it gets colder," Asher said, taking off his long coat and placing it on Estoria's shoulders.
Estoria blinked a few times, stood up, and hugged the coat, still shivering but smiling.
Asher took Estoria's hand and teleported them both back to the entrance of the banquet.
"Have you teleported another person with you before? You did it so effortlessly," Estoria praised him.
"I just knew I could do it. It was you and Faye who didn't believe in me," Asher replied, starting to walk toward the gate.
"Young master, weren't you inside just a while ago?" the guard asked, a little shocked.
"Do you see me inside now?" Asher grumbled.
The guard fell silent and opened the gates.
"I'm sorry," Estoria apologized to the guard as they walked inside.
"You should be more polite to other people, Asher," Estoria scolded him as they walked to the palace, a long walk on foot.
"This is me being polite," Asher retorted.
Estoria dropped the topic, wondering how much longer it would take to reach the palace.
"Asher, do you know any spells that can provide some heat? I'm turning into ice," Estoria said, her voice trembling.
"I can set fire to our surroundings; that should be enough to warm you," Asher said seriously, but Estoria quickly dismissed the idea, shaking his hand to put out the fire.
Asher immediately abandoned the idea after Estoria's reaction.
"Who the fuck decided you should wear this thin dress in this weather?" Asher asked, a slight frown on his face.
"Asher! Where did you learn that curse word?" Estoria was astonished at Asher's use of profanity.
"Well, I wonder too. Maybe my mother knows," Asher replied sarcastically.
Realizing she was the one who cursed, Estoria felt both embarrassed and amused.
"Did you just call me mother?" Estoria asked.
Asher stopped. "So what? You are my mother. Can't I call you mother?" he said shyly.
It was strange for Estoria to hear Asher call her mother, not because she disliked it, but because it made her feel like she had aged a lot in that one word.
"Asher, I'm getting old. I can feel it. I'm turning twenty soon; that's basically half of my life probably. I've lived half my life already, and I haven't even accomplished anything," Estoria lamented, feeling herself unravel, with Asher watching.
"Sometimes I wonder if I should ask Grandmother to heal your head properly, but then I give up on the thought, just like now, because I think it's incurable," Asher replied.
"Asher, I'm serious right now. You don't know how it feels to be twenty. You're too young right now. Imagine yourself at twenty in my shoes," Estoria said.
"Well, that sure frightens the fuck out of me. I hope I'm not wearing heels and freezing like you when I'm twenty," Asher said, continuing to walk.
"Stop swearing. It's not funny. What if someone overhears you? They'll judge me for teaching you such things!" Estoria scolded, walking hand in hand with Asher.
"Well, it's true. You did teach me the word. Actually, there are more, like 'shit, mothe—'" Asher began, but Estoria quickly covered his mouth.
"Stop! I said stop! Listen to me! I only said that once, just once. How did you pick it up so quickly? Do you even know what that means?" Estoria was genuinely furious at herself and Asher now.
Feeling her seriousness, Asher closed his lips before Estoria unleashed her wrath upon the palace with him as the target.
Estoria removed her hand from his mouth, and they walked in silence for a while until they reached the palace gates. The palace was dark, with only a few lights on.
"Is the banquet over?" Estoria broke the silence.
"Probably. It's almost midnight," Asher replied cautiously.
"Wait, is that someone running towards us?" Estoria squinted to get a better look at the approaching figure.
"How can you see that far?" Asher tried to see, but all he could make out was a silhouette until they came closer.
"I think it's a person in a white suit. It's Aluxio," Estoria said.
Asher wasn't pleased to hear the name, and he certainly wasn't happy that she recognized his white suit from such a distance, but he didn't say anything.
"Aluxio!" Estoria waved to him.
"Why are you waving to him? Let him go. Maybe he's running to someone else. Imagine how embarrassing that would be!" Asher said, pulling Estoria to the side of the road so Aluxio could pass.
"That would be really embarrassing. He didn't even call me back. I think he's going somewhere else," Estoria said, but just as she spoke, Aluxio approached and stopped in front of her.
"Where were you? I searched everywhere for you," Aluxio said, eyeing Asher.
"Just went for a walk," Estoria replied, swiftly adjusting the coat hanging on her shoulders.
"It looks good on you. This look is so much better than wearing that thin dress alone," Asher complimented.
"I think so too. It fits the look perfectly. I should ask my tailor to make me a coat like this one," Estoria replied.
Aluxio watched them, confused as they ignored him.
Seeing Estoria's red hands and trembling, he reached for his coat, but then remembered he had taken it off because of the stain.
"Asher, run!" Estoria suddenly said, and Asher obediently followed her command.
Seeing Aluxio lost in thought, Estoria took it as her chance to make her escape before he could inquire further. She didn't want to face questions about the red wine incident.