That night, Rumius lay in bed with a somewhat bated breath. His eyes darted between the ceiling above and the shadowy frame of the door, waiting for that click, that figure to stumble in.
He waited.
And waited.
By the time he gave up, the glow of the moons above had already converged and the white glow had eclipsed the green. It was past midnight.
Tossing the covers over himself, Rumius moved to lie on his side as he closed his eyes.
Some time passed before he opened them again and sat up. Rumius rubbed his eyes.
' I'm too on edge to sleep damn it.'
Looking outside of the window, Rumius guessed that it would at least be another 6 hours to sunrise. 6 hours to a new day.
' Now what?'
Rumius casted his gaze around the room upon finding there was nothing around which he could use to amuse himself, returned his gaze to himself.
' Might as well be productive.' He thought.
' By the time I'm done, I'd probably also feel much more inclined to sleep.'
Rumius crossed his legs and closed his eyes, sitting up straight. Soon, the sensations started flowing. A burning flame. An empty space around it and an intense beam of concentration desperately scouring the darkness. All things he'd become used to.
The night soon passed but it wasn't as productive as Rumius had hoped. He had kept at it for almost the entirety of the night and just as he was about to call it a day, something shattered. Rumius stopped in his tracks.
Rumius looked inwards. His eyes widened, and his heart absolutely soared. The picture that emerged in his mind showed him a golden egg that radiated visible heat. Smoky golden tendrils that snaked from the sphere to the outside. Now, his mana core truly looked like that of a sun.
Rumius could see that the circle of radiating wisps were not big, but more importantly, it wasn't there before. That was what was important.
It wasn't there before.
A smile brightened Rumius's face, constrasting his considerably darker panda eyes that had formed over the course of the night. As he fell from his sitting position to sprawl facedown on the sheets of his crib.
' It wasn't there before.' He thought gleefully.
' It wasn't there before!'
The sound of laughter that filled his ears in that instant was unmistakable.
For the next one week, this was how Rumius's life continued. In the day, he would spend his time as his mother's personal Barbie doll, fighting over clothes and at night, fueled on by his early successes, he would work on making the sun in his chest larger by any means possible. .
He would also spend more time sleeping in the afternoon to make up for the time lost at night. He had learnt the hard way that simple motivation wouldn't be enough to deny his body's basic needs.
And so, time flew by and the eve of the ball arrived.
The first floor and ball room's preparations had fully finished. Its newly cleaned and polished marble floor shimmered with light as the old chandelier above, now freed of its dust coat, hoisted new candles that burned fervently to illuminate the giant hall with the help of torches along the walls.
Long tables lined the ballroom floor below in the shape of a horseshoe. The mouth opened out towards the giant door that was the hall's entrance.
These tables were all covered in red and white cloth, constituting the color of the coat of arms of the clan. By this time tomorrow, these tables would be piled mountain high with delectable treats and savory foods and mouthwatering delights.
Everything was ready, except one.
" No! No! No!" Reverie stomped as she shook her head unhappily, looking at the white outfit that Rumius had on.
Rumius had personally felt that it was the best one by far. He had quite liked it's simple yet elegant design of just the right amount of silver accents around the wrists. The rest of the piece was nothing special, just a simple white tunic with a collar but it paired well with a black pair of pants that they had picked out earlier.
" Maman….." Rumius groaned.
" Weve been at his for the past week already and every one of them haven't met your expectations. Can't we just settle for this?"
She didn't interrupt him this time and that was an improvement. She had a serious look on her face as she gazed at the ground while chewing her lower lip, her chin rested on her hand.
Her gaze skipped up to meet Rumius's as she held up a finger. He groaned.
" Please baby, bear with me. Just one more. One last one." She pleaded, rushing off before he could give his reply, and returned after a considerable time with another white tailcoat.
This one was slightly more extravagant than the last but too much like the first few that had made him look like some kind of ill conceived peacock.
Rumius looked his mother firmly in the eye.
" Last one."
" Last one." She promised, her eyes hopeful. Apparently she saw something special in this one.
Rumius picked the shirt from her hands and got to removing his current top.
Once he'd changed into it, Rumius stepped out of the changing room to his mother's delighted smile.
" Yes! It's perfect!" And this time, even Rumius had to admit that it was.
The white backdrop of the shirt was not overwhelmed or diminished in any way by an excessive amount of embellishment. But rather, it was augmented the well placed and masterly woven patterns on the wrist and sleeves of the shirt. The three black buttons on the coat were ornate wood carvings and Rumius liked how the twin tails fluttered out loosely, not not too much, behind him as he walked.
Being white, it also made good harmony with his light complexion that was untouched by labor or sun.
Reverie rushed forward, cupping Rumius's face in her hands.
" Now, you will look like true nobility. I'm so proud of you."
" You are? I didn't do anything though?"
" Oh don't start nit-picking now." Reverie dismissed his concerns as she called for her two maids.
" Keep this outfit and see that any imperfections are fixed by tomorrow. I will tolerate no excuses as to why my son isn't looking his best!"
" Yes milady!"
. They waited as Rumius changed back to his usual clothes and took the formal wear away.
With one last dreamy sign and something about going to make sure that the final preparations for the feast are ready, Reverie floated out the door, closing it with a gentle thud and leaving.
As the sound reached his ears, Rumius yearned for nothing more than to simply sprawl on the floor and do nothing from the exhaustion that came from being in his mother's presence nowadays. But he wasn't alone, and that alone held him back. He cast a glance sideways to Rennie who had stood silently through the entire dress up session, helping out whenever needed.
" Tell me that you also think that all that was unnecessary."
Rennie shook her head. " Quite the contrary, young master. You looked dashing."
He rolled his eyes. " If mules could be referred to as dashing then I believe that is what you're referring to ."
" As dashing as a prince, was what I meant."
" A prince of frogs more like.." he grumbled under his breath but discretely turned away to keep her from seeing us pleased smile.