The news surprised the parents when Amy announced it at dinner.
"Is that so?" Her father said.
"I can't believe that you're going to the palace." her mother then giggled. "Her Majesty did say she is impressed. But I'm still worried."
"Don't worry! I promise that I will be chaperoned. You trust Amy, right?" Viola stares at Amy with anticipation.
Amy stared at her parents with a serious expression. "I don't intend to make it a regular visit. I will visit once out of curiosity and come back here with no other stops on the way." Amy said. "I promise I'll keep an eye on her."
She just wants to train and learn privately at home where no one can bother her to be honest.
"Alright but just this once." her mother said. "I trust you would keep an eye on your sister and keep her out of trouble."
"Don't worry about us mother! We'll be fine." Viola had to keep herself from shrieking with joy.
The energy this girl is exhuming is way too contagious.
*
Viola wore a light pink dress with short puffed sleeves, a dark pink bow decorated with a round ruby. With this color scheme, she resembles a flower. Amy wore a blue sailor dress with a high neck, white laced blouse underneath. She has a sapphire brooch added to the outfit. The bottom of her skirt is embroidered to include dolphins and waves. Both have matching white mary jane shoes and stocking.
Viola wore quite a luxurious outfit for the occasion while Amy wore a simpler one. In their carriage, Amy brought her own training garbs, weapons and other items. She even packed for Viola's things too. Amy has a vacant expression, showing neither excitement nor displeasure. It's just blank. She looked up at the sky. It is a cloudy day. It looks like it might rain soon.
"You don't seem excited to go meet the prince." Viola noted while they are in the carriage.
"I could spend my day training or reading instead of going there." she said while reading her book.
"Cheer up! We're going to the palace to meet the prince. This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity." Viola then sat next to Amy. "Mother told you to come with me. I promise not to make things difficult for you."
Amy looked up from her book and sighed. The truth is that she doesn't want to meet them both as children especially Rufus. To her, he is right now a child. To her, he is also the father to Violet's child. To her, meeting him like this is wrong. She believes if she meets Rufus then she will falter in her mission.
"You're really quiet." Viola said and touched her cheek. "You're warm." then she had a slight panic. "Wait! No wonder you don't want to go! You're sick."
"I purified my body of the illness. Don't worry."
"But you have a fever!"
"It's mild." Amy assured her. "The purification ability removes the cause but not the effect. It will go away on its own."
"Alright, how about you sleep a bit? I'll tell the coachman to slow down a bit."
Amy nodded before lying down watching as Viola yells for the coachman to drive gently. She closed her eyes as she peacefully rests and everything around her shuts down.
The purification ability has its limits. It cannot remove or destroy something that doesn't exist. In the Story of Aron, the main character himself rarely gets sick but in the rare instance he does, he tells his friends that he cannot purify what isn't there. So for example, if he gets hay fever, he can get rid of the pollen and the plants that create the pollen but he cannot get rid of his body's reaction to it. She is facing the same thing.
A gentle touch to her shoulder woke her up. "Wake up~" Amy opened her eyes to see Viola whose green gaze met hers. "We're here." Amy woke up to see that they just arrived. She looked around seeing that they are not at the palace but at a separate building.
Annex, my ass! This is a separate mansion! she irritably thought, I don't think I even want to know what he's like as a kid.
Viola grabbed Amy's hand and led her down. Amy no longer feels as tired but she is not in the mood to do anything. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine."
"We'll ask Melissa to cure you when we see her."
Amy nodded silently in response as the pair met a stern looking woman who is dressed differently than the surrounding servants. She is definitely the governess.
"My name is Vivian Rainer. You may call me Mrs. Rainer."
"Rainer?" Amy murmured and looked up. "Are you perhaps related to First Lieutenant Kenneth Rainer?"
The woman raised her brow but her strict expression relaxed. "Yes, he's my son. Might I ask how you know him?"
Amy can see the resemblance now. "I heard from my uncle that someone name Rainer has played a huge role in the investigation of the Slave trade and black market crackdown."
The woman shows slight surprise but maintain her cool attitude and expression. "I am surprised that you are caught up with current events. A child your age is normally not interested in events such as these."
"I try to study as much as I could." she says in a politely sweet tone.
"Please come in." she said and the pair are led inside.
"How do you know all of this? Did one of our uncles really tell you?" Viola whispered.
"Yes," Amy whispered back, "He has mentioned details of the slave market. I was interested in knowing for Alina."
Viola nodded in understanding.
That information she mentioned is true but that wasn't enough to get her attention. Kenneth Rainer is the older brother of William Rainer, who is one of the supporting cast in the story. He is one of Leon's close subordinates who got promoted to General and controls the national military. He is upright and has an infamous facade as a drinker and womanizer to throw off his enemies. After Aron left the academy, he went into hiding thanks to Rainer for two years before making a reappearance.
The governess heads outside at a path with a canopy, slightly confusing the sister until they stopped at a smaller building and she knocked on a door before opening it. "Your Highness, the Anthos sisters have arrived."
The girls walked in and Amy felt her hand being gripped tightly by Viola and admittedly she feels the same way. Instead of being in a greeting room, they are at an indoor training hall where everyone is training. She looked around to see seven people.
"Oh, you are the last to arrive." A boy with auburn hair said and looked at the two. He dried himself first then tried to look presentable. "My name is Theseus Corinth of the House Corinth." he says with a bright, peppy smile.
Amy admits she has no idea who he is. She recognizes everyone else though.
"My name is Violet Anthos of the House Anthos." Violet curtsied.
"And I am her older sister Amaryllis Anthos." Amy curtsied.
"Hi!" Sabina popped in while she is learning how to use a sword. "It's me!" she shouts while still in formation.
"I'm here, too!" Melissa said while also practicing alongside Sabina.
A blond-haired boy approached them with a polite but rigid demeanor. "My name is Nathaniel Yistle. I am also the son of the Count of the Yistle County."
"Yeah, Yeah!" Leon said while lying down, back turned and waving them off. "Just train with the other girls."
"Huh?" Viola says in confusion.
"He stated that he doesn't deal with weaklings despite all of us having powers so he made us train." a chestnut-haired boy said. He then smiled at them. "My name is Harry Rockwell of Baronet Rockwell."
"Weaklings?" Amy says unimpressed. His attitude is terrible.
"Please don't worry about him. It's in his nature to be arrogant. He's actually quite kind when you think about it." Rufus says politely.
Amy was shaken when she saw him. Black hair that is tied up in a bun, slit-like eyes that are currently closed and a smooth jaw due to his youth. He may be young but he looks way too much like his older self. She tried not to show her reaction but she could tell his aura is starting to look suspicious.
"Not true, Rufus!" Leon yells back. It brought her back to reality.
"He's kind only to his friends."
"That's the one!~"
"I'll guide you where you can change." the governess said.
Amy looked around, noticing the girls are getting the easier training while the guys are training a bit differently. "Do you see me as weak because I'm a girl or because you're strong?"
Leon looked back. He has the striking gold eyes she remembered when watching the show. "Does it matter?"
"Depending on your answer, it matters." she glared.
"Prove it then."
With a deadpan look, she looked around and saw a weapons display. She grabbed a spear, felt it in her hand a bit which startles Rufus.
"Wait, you aren't asking for a duel, right?" Rufus said but she didn't listen.
"Shhh! Stop! I want to see what she does next." Leon curiosity says.
Amy looked across the room at a nearby shooting target and threw the spear, piercing through the bullseye, impressing and scaring everyone except Viola.
"It went all the way." Theseus slightly gasped upon checking out the target. "It even pierced the wall."
This astonished the young prince. "Wow, I didn't expect that." He looked at the twins with a perplexed look.
The twins left the room following the governess in silence while everyone watched. It looks like she doesn't have anything to say, not even a lecture. Amy can't tell if it is because she humbled him or impressed.
"Did you really have to do that?"
"He looked down on us." Amy said, "If you want to earn his respect then prove it. The training is far too harsh on them. Clearly he doesn't know how to properly train his body much less others." She said.
*
"I can't get it out!" Theseus said and everyone took turns trying to rip the spear out of the wall until they decide to pull it together and propped it out.
"Wow, just how strong is she?" Harry said.
"I want to throw something like that!" Sabina said.
"She didn't use her power though. She used magic." Nathaniel noted.
"I know she had training but this was not what I pictured." Melissa said.
Leon then approached her. "What is her name again?"
"Amaryllis Anthos" Melissa replied. "She's the older sister."
He smirked. "Heh, this is gonna be interesting."