Oredys's Point of View
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After a wonderful night spent dreaming about the previous day, I woke up slowly, still cradled by the memories. As the morning light flooded my room, its walls adorned with ancient frescoes, I rose, letting my feet brush against the silk carpet. With a light heart, I set about my morning routine. As I brushed my hair in front of the mirror, a thought crossed my mind: "I wonder what he thought of me..." Rey's face appeared in my mind, and a faint smile spread across my lips. Suddenly, a knock at the door pulled me back to reality.
"You may come in," I said aloud, setting my brush down.
"Greetings, Your Highness," said Lyria as she entered the room, bringing my breakfast. Lyria was more than just a servant; she was a maternal figure, loyal and kind, who had watched over me since my childhood. Her silvery-gray hair framed a face full of warmth, and her orange eyes shone with a wise glow.
"Good morning, Lyria. How are you feeling this morning?" I asked, watching her closely.
"I am well, thank you for asking, Your Highness. And you, how are you?" she replied with a slight bow of her head.
"I'm… fine," I murmured, allowing a trace of melancholy to slip through.
Lyria, ever attentive, immediately noticed my unease. "Is something troubling you, Your Highness?" she asked gently.
I lowered my gaze, hesitating for a moment before confiding in her. "It's just that… yesterday, I had some incredible encounters. For the first time in a long while, I felt what it's like to live, even if only for a moment, as a normal person. I wonder what it would be like… to live a simpler, freer life, far from the constraints of the palace…"
Lyria frowned, concern evident on her face. "Your Highness… the outside world is dangerous, and I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to you. Your safety is paramount."
I lifted my head, a spark of defiance in my eyes. "But what's the point of my power, Lyria? Why possess such strength if I am to remain locked away, protected like a fragile vase? I don't want to be a porcelain princess kept under glass, shielded from the world." My heart clenched as I spoke, a desperate longing for freedom bursting forth.
"Just do as you're told and stop arguing. That's why I was against you getting a taste of the outside world," came a deep voice. It was my father, Elios Kaltaris.
"…Understood, Father," I replied, frustrated, my teeth clenched.
His gaze fell on a small box on the table, the one Nia had given me the day before. "What is that?" he asked suspiciously.
"It's a gift from the other servants for Her Majesty Oredys. We prepared it for her yesterday, but she must have forgotten it here," Lyria lied, her voice trembling, fully aware that my father would have burned the box without hesitation.
My father narrowed his eyes, immediately detecting the deception. "You know I despise lies, Lyria. The servants were on leave yesterday because we weren't in the kingdom," he said coldly, exposing her falsehood.
Lyria bowed deeply, her body trembling with fear. "I am deeply sorry, Your Majesty. I only wanted to prevent you from destroying a gift made for Her Highness Oredys by her… friends," she murmured, with desperate humility.
My father burst into laughter, his amusement instantly overriding Lyria's lie. "Friends? None of the vermin at that academy have the strength or merit to be my daughter's friend. Oredys is perfect. She has no need to surround herself with weaklings and fools," he said disdainfully, before reaching out toward the box. A magic circle materialized beneath it.
" 'Fire,' " he intoned, and flames erupted, engulfing the box and its contents in a consuming heat.
"Why?! Why do you always seek to enrage me?!" I shouted, my anger erupting like a volcano. "For once, I have friends who value me for who I am, not for my title as a princess!" I added, my voice trembling with fury.
"Silence, Oredys ! " retorted my mother, Merea Kaltaris, entering my room briskly. "You have no right to speak to your father in such a manner."
"Don't worry, dear," said my father with a cruel smile. "She can rage all she wants, but she won't dare to act. She knows exactly what will happen to her and her servant if she does," he added, his gaze locking on me with smug assurance.
I clenched my fists, feeling the storm of rage rise within me, uncontrollable and wild. My gaze hardened, and my voice turned icy. "Hide behind your crown while you can, for the day I tire of being treated like this, no power in this kingdom will protect you from my wrath. If I hold back, it's only out of respect for Grandfather and Lyria. Do not push me to my limit, Father. Or I swear, not even your army will be able to save you."
"Am I dreaming, or did you just threaten the king?!" my mother exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.
"Consider it a warning," I replied, my words as sharp as blades, carrying the weight of the fire burning in my soul.
"What a tense morning here. Calm down, all of you."
"Father, you're here…" my father said, softening his tone.
"Well then, how are you?" asked my grandfather, his voice both deep and gentle.
"We are well. I was just telling Oredys not to trust the people she meets outside because the world isn't as rosy as it seems. But apparently, she got upset over a small reprimand. She doesn't even realize that I only want to protect her." My father spoke with less harshness than a few minutes ago. I wanted to defend myself, but I knew the consequences it could bring for Lyria.
"Is that the truth, Oredys?" my grandfather asked. I paused, looking at Lyria, then at my father, before answering:
"It's the truth… I behaved poorly. I beg your forgiveness, Father," I said reluctantly.
"Consider yourself lucky that we have an outing planned today to Baringer. We've been invited to the Liberation of the Three Continents Festival," my father announced.
"Get ready, as we'll be meeting the royal family. It's an opportunity for you to grow closer to Prince Eli Schneider, a noble and powerful young man," my mother added.
"Indeed, you need to build relationships with important people, not with trivial individuals," said my father, probably referring to Nia. I kept silent, feeling my blood boil.
"Leave her be, Elios. Merea, make sure my son is presentable. I'll have a word with Oredys. Lyria, you may leave us," my grandfather said gently.
They left the room to prepare for the festival, leaving me alone with my grandfather. I could hardly bring myself to look him in the eye.
"You shouldn't threaten the king like that, Oredys," my grandfather said, resting a hand on my head.
"I know, but he's so cruel to me. When I was little, I thought I'd understand when I got older. I told myself the toys they took away when I was having fun or the punishments I got when I laughed or enjoyed nature were because I was doing something wrong without realizing it. But now that I've grown, it feels more like cruelty than love," I replied, furious.
"I'll talk to him. Don't worry," my grandfather said.
"No, please… I don't want him to take it out on Lyria. He could dismiss her, and she has nowhere else to go. She's the only one I can confide in when you're not here," I responded.
"I understand," he said. Then his eyes wandered to the box my father had burned, still emitting a faint smoke. "What was in that box? It smells quite good despite being burned," he asked.
"Pastries… A friend gave them to me," I said, thoughtful and sad.
"You seem to have made a wonderful friend."
"And not just one… Tell me, Grandpa, how do I know if a boy has a crush on me?" I asked, blushing.
"Ah, my dear, that's for you to figure out. But don't focus too much on boys for now; remember, you have a personal quest to undertake."
"Yes, I know," I said, disappointed.
"Did you meet a boy at the academy?"
"Yes, his name is Rey. He's… incredible."
"What makes him so incredible?"
"He's a master martial artist. He can completely erase his presence without me even noticing. He taught me so much during just a short walk. And the most impressive thing is that he understood so much about my life just from the little information he uncovered about me. He even spotted all the hidden bodyguards around us without them realizing they were discovered."
"Are you serious? He must be a true genius then."
"You said it. He even figured out I was a noble, but despite that, he kept treating me as if I wasn't one. He must've realized that nobility sometimes stifles me… He and his friends seemed to truly enjoy the simple pleasures of life," I said, lost in thought.
"One day, you'll be free to make your own choices without depending on your parents or me. Finish your training with me, and you'll be able to leave the kingdom whenever you want, as long as you stay out of trouble and visit me from time to time," my grandfather said with a tender smile.
"Really? But Father will never allow it."
"He won't be able to oppose me. Even though he's the king, he must remember that the crown on his head once adorned mine."
"Thank you, Grandpa… You're the best," I said, moved by his kindness.
"Now, go and get ready," he said, heading to the door of my room. "But tell me, when you're free, who will you seek out? Areyos? Or Rey?" he asked suddenly before leaving.
"I don't know," I said, hiding my face in my hands. "Probably Areyos, unless I end up falling for Rey," I added, collapsing onto my bed.
"Ah, youth…" my grandfather sighed as he left my room.
Areyos's Point of View
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The sun was already up when I woke, feeling great despite yesterday's fight. I heard voices coming from the dining room. After taking a quick bath and brushing my teeth, I got dressed, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt without pockets and a blue cargo perfectly fitted to my size. I slipped on the silver bracelet Nia had given me and my silver signet ring.
Using my seismic sense, I detected that Kaiser and Yoko were having breakfast downstairs. I headed down and spotted the pancakes on the table.
"Morning, you two," I said with a smile.
"Look who's here, you finally decided to wake up. Twelve hours of sleep, that's four more hours than the recommended duration," said Kaiser with an amused smile.
"Shut up, Kaiser," I said, dragging my words, giving a slight smile because he was right.
"Hey Areyos, we were just talking about you," Yoko added.
"Oh really? Did you dream of me?" I asked, grabbing a pancake with a smirk on my lips.
"Haha, very funny," she replied with irony. "We're waiting for some explanations about what happened with Erina yesterday."
"Oh, that's nothing," I said while eating a pancake. "Is Barrios back?" I asked next, trying to pour myself some juice.
"Don't change the subject, Areyos," Kaiser said, taking the juice from me, as if he was waiting for me to respond before handing it over.
"Alright, if you insist," I replied, using my waterbending to extract juice directly from the carton and pour it into my glass. Kaiser squinted at me as he saw me do it.
"Well, where to begin?" I said, dragging out the suspense.
"Are you deciding or what?! We're not going to spend the whole day on this," Kaiser shouted.
"Alright, yesterday I had a conversation with Erina in the hallway of the university to set up a meeting to discuss the assassin who killed Megane."
"What!? Why her?" Yoko exclaimed.
"Because if someone can dig up top-secret info while covering their tracks, it's definitely a Shelter. Kaiser can only dig into info on people who aren't high-ranked due to the minimal security on their information," I explained while eating.
"That makes sense," Kaiser nodded. "So you picked Erina because she's the only Shelter you know," he continued.
"Exactly. We set up a meeting in the park. Once we were there, I was able to analyze her way of thinking and acting, and…"
"And what?" Yoko asked, leaning forward.
"...She's an exceptional killer. Her way of killing, moving, understanding the terrain, and her deduction ability make her a formidable predator. When she targets someone, there's a good chance she'll find them."
"She's more dangerous than I thought," Kaiser said. "Do you think she's trustworthy?" he added.
"She keeps her word. In the assassination business, the most respected ones are those who keep their word. So if it's true she grew up in a similar environment, which is highly likely, she definitely has that principle in mind. So for this, I trust her," I explained.
"Alright, and I assume that after the demonstration of her strength, you want to keep her with us," said Kaiser.
"Exactly. I wouldn't say no to some extra arms and brains," I said.
"I see. And so when exactly did you two end up fighting a so-called monster in the depths of the academy to enjoy the underground hot springs?" Yoko asked with irony.
"It's a completely made-up story," I replied after taking a sip of juice.
"What? Stop lying, we could tell Erina was embarrassed, she was even blushing. You're not going to tell me she was faking that too, and that you didn't look like you were playing a role either," Yoko exclaimed, confused.
"He's telling the truth, Yoko. Areyos is so observant and intelligent that he can play any role as if it were his usual behavior. And I imagine Erina must have the same ability. Am I wrong, Areyos?" Kaiser asked me.
"You got it," I replied.
"But then, you two had prepared your story so well, you could've easily done theater this afternoon," Yoko said, surprised.
"Haha, thanks Yoko, but to be honest, we didn't prepare anything. We synchronized on the spot," I said, eating another pancake.
"Are you serious?! But you two just met!! How did you...?" Yoko said, astonished.
"I told you, this girl is incredible. Erina is the type of person who can manipulate anyone to get what she wants. She's a master in psychology and dark psychology," I said, waving my pancake, my cheek resting on my hand.
"So in the end, you weren't doing anything weird?" Yoko asked, looking embarrassed.
"Haha, maybe," I said, leaving the doubt hanging.
"What? So now you're either lying or messing with me?" she said, frustrated, which was pretty amusing to watch. I just stood up to clean my glass.
"Haha, he's messing with you, Yoko," said Kaiser, laughing.
"Why do you always make fun of me?" Yoko asked, completely embarrassed for being tricked.
"And about the mage you found, do you have more info?" Kaiser asked.
"Yes, we know they were looking for the energy stones, just like in Megane's journal."
"The energy stones? It'll be difficult for them to get them with the security in place. Baringer has three energy stones: the Earth one, kept in the castle, the Fire one at the army, and the last one at a pretty random location so that no one would think of going there. Apparently, it was the academy. This distribution means that even if the enemy manages to get one of the energy stones, they won't be able to get the others right away," Kaiser explained.
"But if they knew where the Shadow stone was, even though it was at a fairly normal place for an artifact of that level, it means someone must've tipped them off," Yoko deduced.
"Exactly. And given Reiner Fox's questions and actions, it's very likely that he's the infiltrator," I said.
"He was very cautious. His questions were meant to find out if we had discovered something about this operation or if we had already been tracking them for a while," I explained.
"How so?" Yoko asked.
"If we had told him we were first in a park and then went to the academy to intercept the thieves, he might have thought we were tracking them and had been waiting in a nearby park before acting. He would have been on guard," I explained.
"Ah, I see, he wanted to make sure your meeting with the thieves was just a coincidence," Yoko replied.
"Exactly. That's why Erina made up a story suggesting we were going to do adult things. These kinds of stories are so awkward to tell an adult when you're a teenager that they would discourage anyone, even a lieutenant, from asking for more details. And thanks to Erina's acting, blushing, the lie was perfect."
"So you managed in an instant to create a story that fit with the evidence on the ground," said Kaiser.
"That's right. For example, when he asked us what happened to the guards, we said we killed them while trying to escape, even though we silently eliminated them as we entered. But how could he know they were really killed during the escape?"
"It's creepy how many psychological calculations can happen in a few seconds in your head, Areyos," Yoko said.
"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment."
"But there's one thing I don't understand," Yoko said, pouting.
"What's that?"
"Why did you let Erina walk all over me? Right after Reiner Fox introduced himself, just when I turned around, she pushed me aside, and you acted like I was wrong for not letting it happen," Yoko said, still pouting.
"It's true, I didn't understand your reaction, Areyos," Kaiser said.
"I understand that it frustrated you, Yoko. But you would have condemned us if you had looked at me at that moment," I said, looking serious.
"What are you talking about?" Yoko asked, intrigued.
"Put yourself in Reiner's shoes. He already has suspicions about what happened with the beast and the other thieves. And just when he introduces himself, you look shocked, but he might just think you remember him and that it brings back memories. But if you had turned toward us with the same shocked expression, he would have figured out that we knew him by name for a reason he doesn't understand and that the information we might have about him was the cause of the shock on your face. He would've gotten suspicious and maybe even eliminated us in the following days."
"...I'm sorry…" Yoko said softly, her voice trembling, realizing she could have put our lives in danger with a simple look.
"Be careful next time. Keep your cool. The signals you send with your body often give away more information than you think," I said.
"Got it…" she replied.
"So, did you find any interesting evidence that could lead us in the right direction? Because so far, everything is still speculative."
"Hmm. Valtor told us he had an energy stone in his possession. But it wasn't on him; it was in his dimensional ring. But when Reiner brought it back after capturing him, he didn't have it anymore. Either Reiner took it, or Valtor got rid of it."
"I see. So, what's the next move?" Kaiser asked.
"Erina has contacts. We'll wait for them to send us more information about Reiner before we act. We need to know how far Reiner's influence goes," I replied.
"Hmm, okay," Kaiser nodded.
"In the meantime, let's have some fun at the festival to digest all this. Kings and queens from different races will be there," Yoko said.
"So, if there are kings and queens... there will definitely be princesses!" Kaiser shouted as he realized the quality of girls he could hit on.
"You should be in a play or something," I said.
"Oh shit, I forgot!!! Well, see you at the festival," Kaiser said, rushing out.
"Ahh, Kaiser," Yoko sighed after he left in a hurry.
"So, what are you going to do?" I asked.
"I'm going to help Nia with her booth. I promised her I'd help," Yoko replied.
"Ah, okay. I'm going to train a bit and-" I was saying when Barrios walked into the room.
"Barrios!!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Rey, Yoko, how's it going?" he said with his usual big smile.
"We're fine, how about you? How was your mission?" I asked.
"A little boring planet rescue, nothing interesting compared to what happened here. I heard about what happened, that was brave of you and Erina. You two got pretty close, huh."
"Thanks a lot. I know what you're thinking, but I can assure you, there will never be anything between her and me. And I know she thinks the same."
"Ah, just playing around, huh?" Barrios asked, his gaze teasing.
"Playing around, what do you mean?" Yoko asked, confused.
"Let's just say we sometimes have fun acting like we're a couple, even though no romantic feelings are involved," I said, looking uninterested.
"Huh!? Are you serious or joking??"
"Forget it, Yoko, it's a psychopath thing. The last girl he played this game with was diagnosed as a psychopath and locked up in a psychiatric hospital. It's a miracle I could keep Rey with me," Barrios said with a teasing tone.
"Where did you get that story from!? That's nonsense!!" I shouted.
"Hahaha, well, I'll leave you to it. I have to get ready for the ceremony before the festival. After that, I'll finally get to relax," Barrios said.
"You wish, you need to teach us how to use Chakra."
"Yeah, I know, we'll do that tomorrow," he said, ruffling my hair.
"Hmm. Guess I'll have to postpone my training for today until tomorrow then. Well, I'll accompany you to the festival opening ceremony," I said.
"Great, we're going to meet royal families, so be presentable," Barrios said.
"Alright, boss!" I replied, heading up to my room to change.
"See you at the festival, Rey," Yoko shouted, and I answered, "Okay."
"Goodbye, Mr. Barrios. I have things to prepare for the festival."
"Goodbye, Yoko. Have fun," he replied.
But just as Yoko was about to leave, Barrios called out to her. "Yes, what is it, Mr. Barrios?" she asked, looking curious.
"Kaiser sent me the images from the journal... I promise we'll find out who did this if they're still alive. I just ask that you don't be reckless, you and the others. If the person who killed Megane is still free, then it's a threat you can't fight. Megane was a prodigy among the elite forces. Her assassin must be too," Barrios said calmly and seriously.
"I understand, Mr. Barrios. We'll be careful."
"Good. Have a nice day, Yoko."
"Thank you, you too," she replied as she left.
To be continued...