"I NEVER thought I would see the day you five will all be gathering like this again." Was what Aldrich said as soon as he walked to the table with his usual grin. "So, what's the agenda for today?" Alesteria furrow her eyebrows at his words, seeing that he was teasing them again, while the rest stood up simultaneously and curtsied towards the two princes. Aimilios is standing beside him, without an inch of expression on his face, but his eyes were soft as he looked at Alesteria. Alesteria erased the furrow of her eyebrows and replaced it with a smile aimed at Aimilios only, which Aldrich pouted as he sulked. "Greeting to the future sun of the empire and future Duke of the Lidloch." Aldrich smiled at them momentarily, seeing that he is in a good mood all of a sudden, as he waves his hand and motion for them to stand up straight. They all did so as Aldrich wastes no time and turned to Alesteria with the same sulking expression. "Why did you only smile at Theo? I'm here too!" Ale
ALDRICH'S SUGGESTION was enough for Alesteria to think of a way to go to the Holy Temple, whether Xerxes knows about it or not. After the talk and their teatime, both Aldrich and Aimilios left to continue their duties for that day. Since the two of them are heirs, they mostly do that, but the workload has been quite heavy for the last few days as they are slowly transitioning to their positions. There has been talks that Morgaine is slowly giving Aimilios all of her work, which could only mean that it will only be a matter of time before he will be the Duke of Lidloch. On the other hand, Aldrich is being given responsibilities for both economic and military aspects of the empire. 'I'm grateful that they still have some time for me, even if all we did is talk about favors and such.' Alesteria said to herself with a small smile. Aimilios and Aldrich are not hard to please, but Xerxes is a different story since he is dead set on not letting her near the temple, let alone talk to the
ICH WAS pissed, not because Markus left as soon as he gave him all the duties and authorities under the guild while introducing him as his 'substitute', but because of the chaos the guild has become when Markus left. Markus failed to redirect all the clients he had already approved of to Ich, so many of them demanded to meet him even though Ich is now the acting guild leader. For example... "Where is the guild leader?! Are you saying I am not noble enough to meet him?!" A client shouts at Ich as the latter just sat there looking bored as ever. Ich is at a meeting with a potential client and behind him, helping him through all of this chaos, is Markus' aide, Kae. Kae is also responsible for transferring all qualified clients to Ich, but he forgot to do so because to Markus' rash decision. Additionally, Markus' decision made a lot of members rebel since Ich is just new to the guild and many of them have been there for years. Such jealousy made the guild a little unstable, so Kae h
TIRED AND maybe a little bit sleep deprived, Alesteria dived into the bed while groaning and letting her entire body relax. The momentary relaxation she had was enough to make her consider how busy her entire week had been. She was actually tired from preparing for her journey to the Academy as she also sent a letter to the principal informing her arrival there, his reply was more than welcoming, as if he was waiting for this moment ever since. That aside, she also sent a letter to Kairo, informing him on when she will arrive there so he could meet her. Now, all she has to do is wait for tomorrow. She is alone in her room at the moment as Parie is with Klaus, doing absolutely whatever she wants around the palace before they leave. Alesteria has no idea what it is, but she let her be so she can rest without Parie annoying her about something. Lately, that seems to be her mission. Alesteria laid on her bed, her back on the foam while looking at the ceiling and couldn't help but lo
"YOU GOT all of your stuff there? Nothing left?" Alesteria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at Aldrich. "How many times would you ask me that? I didn't leave anything behind, and I doubled check." It is the day Alesteria is leaving for the academy, and everyone is busy loading up Alesteria's belonging to the carriage specifically made just for her, which was gifted to her by Xerxes on her fourteenth birthday. "I can't believe you are leaving already when we just met up a day ago!" Gabrielle exclaimed; her expression screams sadness as she sighs. Alesteria smiled at Gabrielle while Eve is still clinging to her, sniffing every now and then as small tears travel down her cheeks. "You didn't say that the last time we meet will be your farewell party. I would've brought something for you then." Eve said and she tried to wipe her tears. Hayden chuckled slightly at Eve and patted her head, "Her highness loves to surprise us so neither of us knew." "Well, I did." Aldrich whispered
"WE HAVE been here in this carriage for over three days, and I am officially over it." Parie announced as she turned to the open window and breathe in the fresh air, still dizzy as the carriage moves. Alesteria opened her eyes and looked at her while she is leaning, feeling dizzy herself from the continuous carriage ride with only minimal breaks. "Just hang on there, I think we are almost near the place we are supposed to be." Klaus, who is still perfectly fine even after three days, turned to the window and spoke. "I think we are here." As Parie lifted her head to look out the window, Alesteria turned to face it. The temple was so large that it completely obscured the blue sky from where they were. It was a rustic building with various engravings and a bell on top that resembled a church. The windows had various colors and drawings that represented their doctrine, and the door was twice the size of an adult. Even though they could only view the temple's exterior, they could tel
"THAT IS what you want to ask me?" Kairo asked while raising an eyebrow as his eyes were on Alesteria, along with an emotion asking her if she is sure of what she was asking. "Out if all the things that happened, and still happening, you want to start with that?" Kairo was surprised nonetheless, that out of all the things she could've started, she decided to go along with that. They haven't seen each other in over a millennium, considering he vanished, and she became a princess of the most powerful empire in the world, while Kairo suddenly became a prophet and entered the temple he once despised. So, there will undoubtedly be many inquiries on both sides. Despite his mocking comment, Alesteria frowned at him in return, taking offense as she snapped at him. "Just answer the damn question." Hearing her usual crass speaking, Kairo shrugged and felt a little more comfortable. He found comfort that even though the woman in front of him is not the same as the one in his memories, the
ALESTERIA SIGHED heavily and leaned against her chair, crossing her legs while slightly bowing her head as if she was disappointed at Kairo, but the truth is, she expected his response the moment they met again. Not when she was a baby, but now as adults. Even before, Alesteria has always known that Kairo felt that way, but she was just too blinded by the bond they created that she chose to ignore it. "I did think you'll leave, but I didn't expect you, out of all the people, to keep a promise." Kairo stared at Alesteria with wide eyes as if offended as he huffed, his cheeks flustered as he glared. "What do you mean by that?!" "You know exactly what I mean." Kairo still glared at Alesteria while she just shrugs and ignores the former's piercing gaze. "I will take that as an insult." "Take it as you will." Kairo dropped his glare and sighs at how Alesteria is acting, but he knows that is just who she is, even from before, so he is not even fazed by her acting like this anymore.