The next day arrived, and Aina knew she would be bored to death, so she decided to sneak out and explore White City on her own. However, barely two steps outside the castle, Vixi appeared behind her.
"You can't sneak around like this, Princess," Vixi said.
"Eek!" Aina exclaimed, shocked to see Vixi appear behind her as fast as lightning.
"Who are you?" Aina asked, trying to regain her composure.
"Just nobody. File asked me to look for you while he's away," Vixi replied nonchalantly.
"So you're one of File's friends?" Aina asked.
"Well, not quite wrong. You could say something like that," Vixi answered.
"Cool! Can I meet the rest of File's friends? He says he has a lot of cool friends!" Aina exclaimed, her excitement evident.
"File's friends? Oh, you mean the Archive Knights? Well, pardon me, Princess, but I don't think I could do that," Vixi remarked.
"Why not? I thought they were your friends too!" Aina protested.
"Because, Princess, Vixi here is currently slacking on her job and sneaking around to take a break," Nia Regalia suddenly appeared behind Vixi, surprising both her and Aina.
"You brutes!" Vixi grinned, her irritation evident that she had been caught.
"You were slacking again, Vixi," Nia said firmly.
"Give me a break! There's barely anything to do. I'm bored! Why do I have to sit in that tower 24/7 like a prisoner?" Vixi countered.
"Well, because that's what you're paid for," Nia retorted, crossing her muscular arms.
As the tension mounted, Rifqie could be seen walking toward the two arguing ladies.
"Hey, hey, you two, knock it off! Are you really going to fight in front of Princess Aina?" Rifqie said.
"Oh, Mr. Mage, you're one of File's best friends, right?" Aina asked with starry eyes, completely fascinated by Rifqie's mage attire.
"Yes, my name is Rifqie, Lady Aina," he said, bowing respectfully toward her.
"Tch," muttered both Vixi and Nia, annoyed to see Rifqie.
"Pardon me, Princess, do these two blockheads disturb you?" Rifqie asked.
"No, but I want to see more of File's friends! He talks about you all, but I never get to meet any of you," Aina replied eagerly.
"Very well then. If we give you a tour of our place, will you promise not to sneak around the castle again?" asked Rifqie.
"Hm... no promise, but if your place is cool, I won't sneak around the castle again," Aina said with a big smile.
"Well, I guess Fallion did teach you how to haggle. Anyway, alright then, let us go to our little guild," Rifqie said as he took Aina's hand and guided her away. But after just a few steps, he turned around to look at the two women who were still arguing.
"Hey, you two!" he called out.
The two exchanged glances before following Rifqie and Aina. To Aina's surprise, they headed back to the castle.
"Is he going to be taken back to her room?" she wondered, but instead, Rifqie led her to the library. He carefully opened a secret door behind the fireplace, revealing a large underground facility.
Despite this, the place was well decorated and was larger than the entire family quarters.
"This is the place where we usually have our meetings," Rifqie explained to Aina.
The decor was reminiscent of a medieval fantasy era, contrasting sharply with the modern and futuristic decor of White Castle.
"It's so cool! Does File often play here? Are there more of you?" Aina asked excitedly.
"Well, it's usually me, Vixi, Nia, File, Sharp, and Ching Se. But Sharp and Ching Se accompanied File to the Arkhari continent," said Rifqie.
"Well, now they're on a special mission. File actually told us to review a few more people," Nia added.
"Review?" Aina inquired.
"Yes, Lady, let's just say File plans to add more friends to this little guild," Rifqie explained.
"So, more people would play here?" Aina smiled as she asked.
"Yeah, kind of like that," Rifqie replied.
Aina then opened some books and saw a gallery of monsters that File had defeated. She spent hours reading each page, amazed by how strong File was.
Vixi kept an eye on Aina while she read until it was almost lunchtime. Aina knew it was time to return to the castle. However, before leaving, Rifqie asked Aina to promise not to tell anyone about their little guild. With a pinky promise, Aina vowed to keep everything a secret.
Days passed, and Aina occasionally visited the little guild beneath the castle. It wasn't until two months later that File finally returned, worrying everyone with his injuries. He didn't speak about what had happened.
When Astarte came to ask File what was wrong, even he couldn't understand what had transpired. All he could say was that they needed to strengthen Whiteford in every way possible; a storm was approaching—something this world had never seen before.
Thankfully, despite the conflicts brewing on the continents of Arkhari, Merk, and the North, they had not yet reached the continent of Ivovnia.
As Aina reached the age of 15, she enrolled in the Whiteford National Academy. While she may not have been one of the top three students, she shined like a light among the smartest and most creative students in her class. Even so, the Whiteford National Academy was not a place where just any random kid could join.
Despite Aina training in magic personally under Rifqie in nearly all forms of magic, and File training her in physical combat skills, she became one of the best swordsmen and mages in her class. However, she wasn't the true genius of her class. In fact, Aina was in the same grade as Allura, much to everyone's surprise.
Allura shone the brightest in the academy, even though she was in a different class from Aina. Her achievements reached Aina's ears, and it became known that Allura was the best student in her class. Despite being five years younger than Aina, Allura was mature for her age, a quality shaped by how the nobility and the people treated her harshly. Although Hector and Zachary would protect her, they couldn't always be there for her.
During Aina's time at the academy, she befriended Ghani and Xyzer. Ghani was a childhood friend of Rifqie who had been raised among the Black Iron Berserker tribes of warriors, known for their pursuit of the arts of star beasts. Xyzer, also Rifqie's junior apprentice, was a talented and young girl who could be considered Ghani's childhood crush. Lastly, there was Cyan Pile, a unique half-oni, half-tengu.
Cyan was trained by Nia Regalia herself and had a unique magic anomaly that combined earth, thunder, and ice with his wind magic, making him the only recorded magic anomaly with four different elements imbued into a single spell. Unlike Rifqie, who was known to be a genius, Cyan was considered somewhat dumb but funny. Nevertheless, he became part of Aina's friend group due to the synergy they shared.
Aina's childhood was filled with beautiful memories. She often learned a lot from her friends and felt grateful for every moment they shared. She was known as a brave girl who would stand up for the weak. However, one thing she never understood was why, despite her relatively small achievements, many nobles, guards, and others praised her as if she were an angel.
In stark contrast, Allura, despite all her achievements—including becoming a paladin initiate at the age of 10—never received any praise from those in the castle or the nobility. If anything, they often insulted her because of her origins, with some nobles referring to her as a tribal animal and worse.
As Zachary and Hector became increasingly busy, they couldn't keep protecting Allura. Despite all the insults, harassment, and harsh treatment she received, Allura never broke down; she always faced her problems with a smile. She had only one best friend who stood by her side: Aranda.
At some point, Zachary announced his intention to step down from the throne, surprising everyone. He pointed out that he had grown too old for his position. After making the announcement, he called File and Hector to discuss it personally. There, he revealed his plan to explore the Merk continent in search of Lura, believing that his beloved was still out there.