As the night continued, the welcome party inside the imperial palace raged on. At the start they acted in a manner appropriate for their status, though as the drinks continued to flow everyone began to loosen up more. It was to the point that the scene in front of Aurelia's eyes was slightly hard to believe.
"I can't believe they could be like that."
"Hmm? Who are you talking about, Rel?"
"Count Hibiki and the others."
She points to the elderly butler with snow white hair who was singing and dancing across the room.
"I only ever saw him be stoic and serious. He looks completely different now."
"It's been a while since I've seen Shira like that. But that's how he normally is when off work."
"Really?"
"Of course. Everyone's like that to some degree. It all depends on the environment."
Pyron pours Jyllene some wine. Jyllene happily takes the glass and smells the wine before downing it.
"I don't understand that either."
"Hm? What part dear?"
"The alcohol."
Aurelia pointed at the now empty wine glass in her mother's hands.
"It's bitter and it burned when I drank some before."
"Oh? You've stolen a sip from us before?"
Jyllene smiled at her daughter. Her red eyes looked so menacing to Aurelia she audibly gulped.
"Hehehe…"
She nervously chuckled as her mother stared at her.
"It's alright dear. I'm not mad, I just wished you told me."
"Jyll."
It was an endearing nickname that was given to Jyllene by her beloved, Pyron. But the way he used it now made a chill go up her spine.
"Keep it in moderation Jyll. And don't try to get Rel involved. She'll figure it out in due time."
"Haha… I just thought that it would be better for her to drink in the presence of an adult."
"Sure. That's why you want her to tell you when she wants to start drinking."
"Well… that's not entirely why. Besides, I'm not the only one who benefits from me drinking."
Jyll gave Pyron a knowing smile. He cleared his throat with a cough and turned to Aurelia.
"Rel, I'm sure it's been a long day for you, how about you call it an early night tonight?"
"Yeah, I probably should. Goodnight mom. Goodnight dad."
"Goodnight Rel."
"Sweet dreams dear. Sweet dreams."
Aurelia bowed to her parents and left the hall in a scurry. Though it was partially because she seemed to have noticed that things were getting heated, she also wanted to avoid the risk of getting scolded for taking some of their alcohol.
Closing the halls double doors behind her, Aurelia began walking around the palace. Though she was a little tired from her journey, she also wanted to look around the palace.
"Three years… So long yet so short."
She smiled to herself as she toured her childhood home. The palace was just as massive as ever but she still knew her way around. It was almost scary how similar everything was to how she remembered it.
"I can't believe not much has changed."
As she continued to walk she found herself in the main hall again. She once again admired the welcome banner that they made for everyone who was coming back. It was clear that they had just made it as some of the paint was still a little wet to the touch. Then something behind the banner caught her eye.
"Hey this is still here."
Behind the banner was a portrait of the imperial family. Pyron and Jyllene had their arms intertwined with her standing just in front of them. And to her side was a little five year old girl in a pony tail grinning from ear to ear while holding a wolf plush. She was a little occupied with Pyron's appearance that she missed it entirely.
"Wow, she looks so small here."
Seeing a portrait of the past made Aurelia realize that time has indeed passed. It was difficult to say that her parents had changed in five years, but the little girl did.
The height difference was expected but there was something different from her expression now. Earlier as she hugged her parents, her little sister was just off to the side staring at them. It was as if she was waiting for them to notice her. And the smile that she thought was gonna be on her face upon seeing her was nowhere to be seen. It was more of a look of shock than anything.
'Maybe I should go see her.'
With her mind made, Aurelia went towards the little girl's room. Fortunately, their room placements were still the same as they were next to each other.
Reaching her sister's room she knocks on its doors and calls out to her.
"Mira? Are you there?"
No response.
"Mira? Are you there?"
Still nothing.
'Maybe she's in the bathroom?'
Aurelia waited a little bit before calling out to her sister again.
"Mira?"
Yet only the silence responded to her again. She was getting worried now. Though it was rude of her to just enter the little girl's room without permission, but as there was no response from her, Aurelia had no choice.
"Mira, I'm coming in."
Opening the doors, she was greeted by a familiar scene. It seemed that her sister was not one to decorate her room as it was almost exactly the same as before. With just a bed, a dresser and a massive closet inside. The only thing missing to make it exactly the same as before was her sister.
'Where is she?'
Aurelia started to look around for clues as to where her little sister was. She was probably not in any danger as she was still inside the palace.
'Hmm…'
As she continued searching, she heard footsteps coming from behind her.
"Mira?!"
"Apologies Princess Aurelia, it's just me sadly."
In front of the door was her little sister's orange headed maid, Kara Kashina. It had been quite a while since Aurelia had met her but as she was her sister's maid it was natural for Aurelia to remember her name. Her face seemed a little flushed and she was swaying lightly.
"Are you alright Lady Kashina?"
"Hm? Oh… yeah. Karliah was askin' ta drink with me so I had ta indulge her for a bit. This was the result."
"Seems like you had a hard time with her."
Aurelia gave Kara a look of apology and Kara shook her head in response.
"Not at all Princess Aurelia. I've had a harder time with Princess Mira."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well like right now…"
She pointed towards the empty bed.
"She said she was going ta rest earlier and yet she's nowhere to be found. She does this normally too but to do it right now as well…"
"Do you know where she could be?"
"I do but I reeeaallly hope I'm wrong…"
Aurelia wanted to ask where Kara was talking about but she was already walking away. Assuming she was heading to where her sister was, Aurelia followed her.
"Does Mira always do this?"
"Hmm…? Yeah… She likes disappearin' whenever we're not lookin'…"
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's a little troublesome sometimes but we manage."
"Uhm… so where are we going exactly?"
"Ta where we usually find Princess Mira."
The path they were taking seemed weird to Aurelia. They were moving towards the northern end of the palace. As far as she knew, there was only the garden and the stables there and with the current weather both would probably be difficult. Surely her sister would not go there under such conditions.
Aurelia wanted to bring it up to Kara but she seemed very confident that she would be there so she decided to follow her.
"Oh right Princess?"
Reaching the doors leading to the garden, Kara turned around to face Aurelia.
"You're able to cast beginner class magics right? Do you know the faint ember spell?"
"Oh yes. I'm able to cast that."
"Please do so. I'd do it myself but… mixing a few bottles of alcohol and fire magic ain't a good idea."
"Of course Lady Kashina."
Aurelia closed her eyes and envisioned the spell. She held her hands close to her chest and brought out the mana inside of her. After a bit of time, Aurelia opened her eyes and spoke.
"Faint embers."
Upon outstretching her hands, small embers left it and floated around her and Kara.
"You've worked hard Princess Aurelia."
It was still rather weak compared to her own, but it would serve their purpose of keeping them warm outside in the snow.
"Thank you Lady Kashina."
"I hope Princess Mira can do that someday. I know she'd like that as well."
Kara opened the doors leading to the garden. Stepping outside, the two were greeted by the chill of winter. Even though it was snowing quite a bit the two still went around the garden.
"It doesn't look like Mira's here."
"No… She was."
"Huh? How can you tell?"
"Look here."
Kara pointed at a small section of the garden. As Aurelia looked closer at the area, she noticed that there was something strange.
"There's… a lot less snow here."
"It's probably Princess Mira's doin'."
"But why?"
"Don't know…"
"?"
That remark caught Aurelia off guard. She thought that Kara would know the reason why Mira was doing this.
"She tends ta do a lot of thins' we don't know a lot about. Look over here too."
She gestured to a flower bed containing the sun lotus. There was a lot less snow here as well but it was reasonable given what was around. But there was also something strange beside it.
"A puddle?"
"Another thin' that Princess Mira probably did."
Aurelia raised her eyebrows at Kara wondering how she would know that.
"She likes the sun lotus quite a lot... Whenever she disappears, we often find her here. Though it looks like she's not here anymore."
"Where is she now then?"
"I think… we just missed her. She's probably back inside now…"
"Really?"
"Yeah… We should hurry up and–"
Before Kara could finish her thought, she suddenly covered her mouth and turned away from Aurelia. There was no need to ask if she was alright as she was already hurling over a flower bed. She mentioned that Karliah had encouraged her to drink earlier and it seems that she was catching up to her now.
Aurelia patted Kara on the back as she was emptying her stomach. After a bit of time, Kara had recovered enough to regain her composure.
"I apologize for showing you such a thin' Princess."
"It's alright Lady Kashina."
There was a small bit of guilt mixed in with Aurelia's consideration, as it was Karliah that got her to drink.
"We should hurry and find where Princess Mira is."
"Woah."
As she tried to walk forward, she tripped on her own feet with Aurelia barely catching her.
"I'm sorry Princess."
"It's ok. You should probably rest Lady Kashina."
"I should, but we need ta find Princess Mira…"
"Don't worry about that for now. I'll handle it, just get some proper rest."
Kara wanted to search longer but she knew that Aurelia was right. Though she only drank what Karliah said was a small amount, that was only the case for her. It was a miracle that she was still awake and cohesive.
"Are your rooms still by the west side of the palace?"
"Yeah… I should be able to make it on my own."
"Haha, you're shaking legs say otherwise Lady Kashina. I'll take you there then look for Mira."
Though she wanted to look for the little girl immediately, Kara needed her help now. She was in a state that she could only shoot Aurelia with a look of apology. Walking back inside the palace Aurelia dispelled her magic as she supported Kara.
****
It was a little hard for Aurelia with their height difference but they made it to the maids' quarters without incident. Seeing as it was still empty, everyone seemed to still be enjoying the party.
Laying down in one of the beds, Kara's body began to relax and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Princess Aurelia… Please find Princess Mira."
Even in her awful state, Kara was thinking about the little girl. Aurelia gave her a reassuring smile.
"I will. Just get some rest. Mira probably wouldn't like it if you got sick."
"Really?"
Kara found it hard to believe that the girl would worry about her considering she tended to care very little about the schedules they made for her. But seeing the trust that Aurelia had in the little girl, she found herself wanting to believe that the girl would.
"I hope so…"
With those last words, Kara fell asleep inside the maids' quarters. Her clothes would wrinkle but Aurelia had no way of helping her with that. Offering a prayer to the clothes, she covered her in a blanket and stepped outside to look for her sister.
However, she would not have to look for long to see where her sister was. As Aurelia passed by the girl's room, she found the girl sleeping peacefully on her bed with a book between her arms.
"Where have you been…"