Amy was assisted by the maids to put on her new dress. She could see that the dress is made not to look overly extravagant. It is a mostly white dress with a lavender cloak vest worn over it with tiny purple lilies embroidered at the edges. The outerwear covers up most of the dress except the front of the skirt and sleeves. It is buttoned up together at the top of the collar with a yellow bow and an amethyst in its center. It also seems that she has two kinds of sleeves with this dress. She has shorter batwing sleeves that slightly goes above her elbows and long cuffed sleeves that reached her wrists. Her skirt is slightly layered but it is not too wide and is quite comfortable when she sits. Her hair is styled back in an elegant half-up, half-down style with a tiny white amaryllis flower pinned on the side.
"You both look absolutely beautiful!" her mother says happily.
Viola has a two-piece dress. Hers has a green shirt frilled with write lace at the bottom, a black sash ribbon around her waist embroidered in gold and a large green flower. At the top, she wore a laurel green cardigan with puffed sleeves and a white collared shirt inside, decorated with a large green bow and an emerald center. Her hair is styled up in a high ponytail with a golden ribbon and a yellow flower.
These clothes may seem simple to wear at the palace especially if they are meeting with the queen but because of their age, the fact that they're not royalty, nor is it social season, it is allowed.
"Let's go, girls."
The three head to the carriage. Viola is visibly excited and their mother's expression is hard to decipher because she can't tell if she's nervous or excited.
"How long does it take to get there?" Viola asked.
"It won't be long." her mother said.
Amy is quite excited to go to the Imperial Palace. Aron has been there for the first time when he found out Leon is the king. In the manga, she saw it from a bird's eye view and from a third person point of view. There was one scene she remembered where Leon shows himself off flamboyantly. He was standing there dressed in his royal garbs, showing off to Aron and the rest of his students.
Amy looked out the window. Like she planned, she spit out the marble in time but she underestimated how much magic that thing absorbed and how much of a change her magic is going through. The strength and sharpness of her power had already surpasses that of a nine year old before she swallowed the marble but it seems that now it surpasses that of an average adult. Amy admittedly panicked so she decided to keep her magic in without being caught. As for Viola, she is not worried. That training of hers strengthen her proficiency on using her ability but not strengthening it.
Viola giggled randomly that got the others attention. "I still can't believe that Rosalina sent us that letter begging to accompany us."
Amy doesn't know the full extent of the gossip and rumors surrounding the selection but it seems that no one is aware of the requirements to be a part of it.
Yesterday, Antonia, who is a gossip monger, sent a letter asking to tag along with them to the selection. Then this morning, Rosalina sent a letter with a desperate tone saying it is unfair that she is stuck in school while the sisters go to the palace and that she should take pity on her. It is heavily implied they don't actually know anything other than that there is a selection for choosing a wife for the prince. Her mother confirmed that the selection was a secret but someone had leaked the information. No one replied to the letters and she could imagine the rage those ladies are feeling right now but now she can't help but want to see them interact just to see how it will play out.
"I wonder if we will see the prince there." Viola said.
"I'm afraid not. His highness is in the middle of lessons. He will not be anywhere near the event."
"Ah, that's a shame." Amy said. She genuinely hope to see what Leon looks like as a child.
"His highness, Prince Leon is actually quite studious like Amy."
Amy looks at her mother in surprise.
"Of course, he is!" Viola blurts out. "He's the future ruler of this nation. He needs to prepare to rule someday."
Leon is a troublemaker in the original story. He was burdened by the crown and his duties but attended the magic academy instead of the royal academy as his first act of rebellion but after he graduated, he unexpectedly changed.
"Oh and he has friends over too. Marquis Valerian's son is also attending the same lessons as the prince's companion."
Amy's eyes widened as she continues to stare outside the carriage window. She felt her heart beating in her ear. Rufus Valerian is in the palace right now?!
"Valerian? That name is familiar." Viola said.
"Ah, that was because a relative of mine had married one of their branch members. I went to their wedding." her mother said and shook her head. "The Valerian house is quite pitiful. It is such a prestigious family but their infertility is a large problem."
Similar to the Anthos House and its signature birthmark, theirs are marked with infertility and it is rare for children to be born in this family however, it does have one benefit. If the child is born a boy then they will be extremely talented and prodigious that it surpasses anyone else in the world. Rufus has that talent and Aron certainly has that talent.
"What is infertility?" Viola asked.
Her mother looked conflicted. "It means that they will have trouble having children."
"Oh," she said. Even at such a young age, she knows the implication.
According to her great-grandfather, the Valerian main branch continues its line mostly by having many official mistresses. They are the only family that doesn't get criticized for it and all of their children are adopted into the main family. Rufus's father is an elderly man and Rufus is the first child in over a hundred years to be born from his lawfully wedded wife and even she is not young. In fact, she was around forty when Rufus was born. When Amy found out about this, she knew she had to search for a solution because she doesn't know the timing of Aron's conception.
"I'm curious now. What is the queen's power?" Amy asked.
"Her highness can speak to animals."
"Animals?" the twins replied in unison.
"Yes, she keeps a zoo full of all kinds of animals. She rarely keeps ladies-in-waiting mostly because she finds entertainment in them and told me that they have many stories to tell but the ones she does keep usually take care of her burden with her royal duties."
Animal communication. Amy thought. No one has that kind of power in the story. But if she can guess what kind of affinity it belong to... it would probably be—
"Girls, we're here." her mother said breaking her train of thought.
They both look out the window to see the palace. It looks exactly like in the manga. The entire structure is made of white marble and reaches high up, the surroundings has many neatly cut shrubs and a fountain centered in the roundabout. After the carriage came to a stop, all three of them got off the carriage where they were greeted by a maid.
Their mother held up the invitation like it is a pass and after giving it to the maid, she escorted them.
"Now remember your manners, girls. Especially you Violet." she said while staring at her daughter who is especially excited.
The twins look around the place. This might be the last time they ever visit the palace so they have to take in the sights as much as possible so that it will be ingrained into their heads.
Then the maid gave the invite to the man standing by the large door.
"Lady Clarissa Anthos and her daughters Amaryllis and Violet!" he announced.
Then the doors opened and the room they walked in is a large room with tables and chairs. It is more like a large scale tea party. Amy cannot believe the number of women in the ballroom. Other than the mothers and guardians, the candidates are all of various ages. Because Amy is too short, she cannot see any other girls around her age with everyone else towering over her. Some of the girls are much older than she'd expect. She could already tell who has abilities just by looking around. Some of them are toddlers, teens and there is even one adult woman who's a candidate. Amy is slightly horrified. What on earth was the queen thinking? Are they really that low on numbers just to find the right woman? She looked around to see her mother is talking to some of the other mothers.
Now I just have to find Melissa and see if that—
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of doors opening.