Melissa opened the door to go to class and she saw a unexpected gift on her doorstep. It is a rabbit fur cloak. She raised her brown in confusion as she examines the cloak. In Solin, when someone is courting you, the first gift starts with a fur coat since the social season usually begins before spring. The fur is made out of a spoil of the man's hunt. The woman wears the one she likes the best to the first social event of the season upon her entry to express interest. People usually like fox or sable but she got rabbit.
This is good quality fur, and it is rare to get it in this color. Last year, they weren't able to get a cloak because none of them are actually courting. But the idea that someone would gift her this made her confused. She is the future Crown Princess. Even if she's not, she is quite dull and uninteresting compared to the others. She took the cloak and looked around. It seems that person doesn't want to show himself to her. Oh well, at least it's a gift. There's no note indicating the identity of the sender.
She puts away the cloak. It is already Spring. It is too warm to wear one. She heads to the cafeteria where she will eat breakfast and also call Amy as this is a scheduled time for them to chat.
When she arrived, Amy had explained everything to everyone through the scrying ball. She is stuck at sea with everyone on the ship. She explained about a girl name Lisa, a teenaged mercenary who is dealing with a terrible seasickness and due to her pride, she initially refused to take any medicine until the fourth day.
Fifth year Kate is officially the ship cook as her cooking is the best out of everyone. Amy and fifth year Manny share the same duties and take turns watching over the ship's barrier and power. The scientists usually do their own thing: navigating, researching or discussing.
The Grand Continent encompasses the entire world. The islands that are not part of Continent territory are dangerous waters, so their ship was especially made for a journey. It won't be far but to visit all 47 islands is still a lot.
"I assure you that once we get passed the stormy pass then it will be easy sailing from here."
"Alright, but you better bring a lot of stuff and pictures." Theseus shouted happily.
Leon was at the breakfast table listening as he took a huge gulp of his morning juice then spat it out on Rufus's face.
Immediately, Rufus grabbed onto Leon's color with an extremely annoyed look on his face. "You wanna die, Leon?!"
"Don't be such a baby, Rufus." Viola used her power and cleaned the juice off of him.
But before anyone asks, he said, "Poison,"
Everyone who heard it turn their head towards him and Melissa, seated closer to him, grabbed a silver pin and placed it into the cup, it didn't change color.
"I'm gonna get a teacher." Sabina said and ran off.
Amy was seeing it all and with the 360-degree vision that the scrying orb provided her. She looked around the cafeteria. It has been a while, but it seems like the assassination attempts have finally started again. Whoever put the assassin up to this probably decided to wait until the right time. It is quite obvious that poison wouldn't work so the approach might be direct.
Viola stared into the ball. Amy isn't surprised that she isn't there to see it or that it even happened. In fact, she isn't worried all. Leon is more resilient and smarter than she gave him credit for.
Leon is escorted away to the headmaster's room where the poison will also be taken so that they could analyze it. Melissa stayed behind as well as she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the stick. She is going to analyze this poison herself.
*
Amy was at the deck. The storm will pass in probably two days, and she has enough energy to keep this bad boy running in her sleep. It is hard to tell if it is night or day here. Apparently, this ship is a product in its testing phase to safely traverse these waters so everyone needs to be careful. She's not worried. If anything goes wrong, she can teleport everyone to safely back to the mainland.
Looking back, she could see Leon's golden eyes shimmer with ideas. He said he is going to disband the club but now he has a reason to keep it up again though he will have to keep out most of the members and keep his own inner circle and trusted people inside it.
Amy got up to stretch and step by step, her movement slowly turned into a solo dance. It is breathtaking when she saw it the first time. It mesmerized her. Other countries truly have an excellent taste for something unusual or exotic.
"I didn't know you could dance."
Amy looked at Lisa who yawned for a bit. She is holding a cigar and initially handed one to her before giving it back.
"I don't smoke."
Amy then lit a flame on her fingertip. With a cigar in her mouth, Lisa bend towards her hand and exhaled the smoke at the open sea.
"You know what that dance is? It is called the Dance of Oranges. There is a legend in Damat that a woman known for her love for oranges created this dance out of love and gratitude for a King who gave her the country's supply of oranges. However, it left the country deprived of oranges, only for the woman to have them all to herself all because of the King's love for her. Because of that, the kingdom's prosperity is affected just for the woman's sake and is unpopular with the citizens and the King's harem. She was killed and everyone hailed her death except the king who order the death of many concubines, citizens and even his own children just out of suspicion. Despite being a moral story in which not to wake a sleeping tiger, the dance is very popular in declaring a person's love. It is quite a popular love story in Damat. Knowing you, you didn't know that. Someone must have taught you."
Amy remains dead calm. She didn't know that, but she couldn't care less. Hopefully, they figured it out or if this drags along then that person would give up and stop trying before anyone could link it to them.
"Are there any famous love stories in Solin?"
Amy leaned toward the deck and stare at Lisa in surprise, "You don't seem like a romantic to me?"
"I am a hopeless romantic. I love stories. I travel a lot and hear all sorts of stories. This is what I love about my job." She spoke.
Lisa has a tall, voluptuous body and an outfit slightly unfit for their mode of travel. Her hair is wild and tied back and her skin is tanned but her smile and face seem innocent. It is clear that she is a hopeless romantic.
Amy gave in. "You really are interesting, Alright." she paused for a moment, "There are a couple love stories, but the most famous one is King Solin and his first wife." she said.
"Solin was still in his adventuring days. He didn't come from the mainland and came from one of these islands. He had two wives, both well known but his first wife was more famous among storytellers because she was his true love. Lady Lana was known for her cheery personality and was with Solin the longest. Legend has it that she won his heart while growing a flower as she is blessed by the Nature God. She has been a support for Solin through his many battles and accompanied him. But Lady Lana grew ill and died without notifying her husband of her death. She died around the time the Angel-Demon war ended and when he started his own dynasty. Her death created a garden that regrew the lost vegetation in Solin which is where he made his kingdom. Blue Roses were grown on the exact spot where she died so he made it one of the symbols of the Royal family. However, she was not even posthumously titled queen because of Wife Number 2."
Lisa listens attentively,
"His second wife is the only one with a widely acknowledged story because she was a real person. To legitimize his rule and to have an heir, he married the then Princess Grace of the previous dynasty. She gave him children, prestige and support and the Olive Branch symbolizing the queen was her idea. She also has a power like Solin so their two bloodlines are a perfect match and yet the first wife cannot be named queen as she died before then and because of Queen Grace. She prioritized peace over her husband's love and while their relationship isn't romantic, they are cooperative, professional and supportive of one another. She was faithful and was the epitome and lesson to what a future queen is like to all women."
"That's boring. I thought there would be story of fighting for love. All's fair in love and war."
Amy chuckled. "In a sense, yes. But love isn't a war to fight. That is a lesson. Solin is devoted and his grave is buried in the same spot where his only love laid in. Nobles cannot expect love in a marriage especially a queen."