He looked right and left but couldn't see Eleanor anywhere. Surrounded by nobles he saw his brother and asked him,
"Al, did you see Eleanor by any chance.."
The nobles near Alphonse bowed to the emperor while complimenting him and left the two of them alone.
"No, but she was eating at that table, I told her to wait for me but these guys were really persistent...why are you looking for her?"
"I...it is just...something happened and I wanted to explain it to her but I can't find her."
'No...is there even a need to explain it to her? her misunderstanding me is what I hoped for but why?...now that I think about it I don't know why....' He thougth with a troubled expression on his face.
"Sigh....you must have done something that you are regretting. Let's look for her she mustn't have gone far, I will help you."
"Yes....Let's go."
The starry night was beautiful, the wind blows gently and she could smell the sweet fragrance of flowers. She was floating on the surface of the Lac, only wearing her negligee.'I was right, by coming here. I feel a lot better and the Lac is indeed relaxing and really beautiful, it kind of look like a large and spacious fountain. This help me forget about all the unpleasant thoughts and about him...I was planning to tell him that I will be leaving tomorrow but after I saw that, I was taken aback.' She sank deep in the water while those thoughts went through her mind. She clasped her arms around her legs and tried to clear her mind in the deed water of the Lac.At the same time, Francis came to the Lac and removed his shirt before diving in the water. He came back to the surface after a while and swim a little before leaving his body float on the surface. Eleanor had her eyes shut, so she didn't pay attention to the intruder. She swam beneath
They sat beside each other and dried themself with the napkins. While drying his dark blue hair, he looked at her from the corner of his golden eyes and as she was drying her slim body his gaze lingered on her neck, then slowly went down to her breast before scruting her bottom. She wasn't aware of his gaze and was now tending to her hair, she put them together on her right shoulder, letting them down until it reached her hips. He extended his hand toward her to touch her cheek but was stopped on his track by Eleanor's question,"So? Were you really jealous?..."He swiftly withdrew his hand and thought, 'I don't know how to answer to that, I am clearly attracted to her but that's it....I think that it is just physical, nothing more...so why was I so bothered by the fact that another man kissed her or that she was with Al?!'The situation was too complicated for him but she continued while looking at him with her blue eyes,
That morning, Alphonse came to check on Eleanor and took her for a walk in the imperial garden. She was wearing a light blue simple dress that lengthed her ankle and wore a ballerina shoes to feel confortable while walking."So, where did you hide last night?!"".....I am sorry for disappearing like that, I was strolling in the garden.""No need to apologize, I am relieved that you are okay. Tell me, did you enjoy your night or did something happen? because you don't really look well."'Is it showing on my face?...I couldn't stop thinking about it since I woke up. I cried without knowing because every times I think about it, it hurt too much...' She looked at the flowers in a daze and finally answered with her eyes still contemplating the flowers,"I saw your brother at the lac...and...that's all.""Eh?! He didn't say anything?!"She look
Eleanor was trying to figure out what Alphonse told her before leaving while her maid Anne was making a fuss about the kiss between them."Miss, I have observed Prince Alphonse for many years and I can tell you for sure, he isn't the kind of person to kiss any girl randomly. And actually I never saw him kiss a girl." Said Anne, in a high tone."I don't always agree with Anne but she is right about this miss....By the way Anne, why were you observing the duke for years?! Also I think that you did enough by spreading rumors so can you please keep it down." said Miel, while looking suspiciously at Anne."Hahaha! don't mind me I like this kind of romantic situation and about the duke well, I had a crush on him long ago.""Yeah, I will never believe that since you fall in love with every handsome guy. Last time it was his highness the emperor, right?!"At the mention of the emperor, Eleanor who was
Three week passed, Eleanor had a long discussion with Cain on their last meeting and since then she often visited his office and garden. As much as he learned a lot from Eleanor's knowledge, it was the same for her. In the human territory there was a lot of medical herbes that she only saw on book at Elheim. So everything was new to her and she was excited to see more, that made Cain who love medicine happy to share his knowledge. And they spent a lot of time together those three week."Why is this herbe withering like that?" asked Eleanor with a worried look on her face."Ahhh...this one. sigh! it is sad to lose her but she doesn't seem to adapt to her surrounding. That's why she is dying right now." He said while writing on a book and then continued,"I always change her surrounding and see how she adapt but the result is each time worst. So I write a review about it. Maybe someday we might find a way to grow more of them."
The day after her discovery on the fluitis mias herbe, Eleanor quickly ate her breakfast and went to where her foot lead her automatically for the past three week, doctor Cain's office.She opened the door and looked right and left, she couldn't find him in the office. Even though it is a spacious office, she could usually easily find him because he always made a lot of noise while looking for books and all.After one last look at the empty office, she went straight to the medical imperial garden. You could get lost in this garden, it's so big but fortunately she knew where he often went to work and as she expected he was squatting near the fluitis herbe, looking intensely at it as if he was trying to figure out something."Morning Cain, how are you today?" she said happily.He turned around and after seeing her, he smiled warmely and replied,"Ah, you are here Lea I am fine but we can't say the same for this medical herbe.""What?! No
"Cain, why does Francis hates the witches and wizards?!" Eleanor asked after his disciples left in a hurry, afraid that their master would change his mind."About that, I can not really tell you the reason. You have to get that information from him. The only thing that I can disclose is that it concern a curse.""A curse? that's terrible and what kind of curse is it?""Unfortunately that is as far as I can say." He said with an apologetic smile on his face."Ah, I understand you are right, it is impolite to question you about another person's privacy. I am really sorry for my unawareness Cain." she apologized while looking down ashamed of her request."No, you don't have to apologize, it is just a subject that is like a deep wound for him that's why, I suggest you to directly ask him. Who know, maybe you of all people will be able to heal him." He winked at her as if he knew everything that ha
Eleanor spent most of her time with Cain to do some research and learn more about medicine, like that she was hoping to forget about her complicated feeling for Francis. And during these past three week, another person suffered greater grief than Eleanor, the poor Sebastian. He escorted Francis around the empire and had to take care of all kind of tasks.His biggest trouble was of course none other than his majesty Francis Kein Klaus. Since they left the palace and to Sebastian's surprise earlier than expected, he found Francis to be calm for the first three days after they left the palace. But one day, on a calm and sunny morning he got up and was in a dangerously angry state, the reason for his mood was of course a mistery. Sebastian and Val tried all they could to improve his mood but it was in vain.Every times they asked why he was in this state, he either ignored them or made them leave. And it was like that for the whole trip around the
"Hein?! what did you just say? you recently discovered that you were a witch? how is that possible?" Lise had a surprised expression while saying that and looked at Eleanor with her eyes wide from curiosity."Ah well, I cannot tell you all my story but the main point is that, I was in the cursed forest when I meet the emperor and found a book that belonged to a witch. There was many spells and all kinds of things inside. But I could understand what was written in the book and when I tried to read aloud a spell, it immediately worked. Thanks to that, we were able to escape the forest safely.""The cursed forest.....So, that's were you found out about you been a witch?! is that it?" Lise looked absent minded while saying those words as if her mind was elsewhere."Yes, why do you ask?"When Eleanor asked that question, Lise snapped out of her thoughts and answered,"Well, that is because of my reason for being her...Also, can you tell me the spell you used to get out of the forest? Becau
If someone asked if there was a way to escape the imperial palace's heavily guarded jail, then the answer will obviously be negative. Each cell in the basement of the imperial palace was designed to be unbreakable and without a way out. In addition to that, they made sure that it was guarded by a lot of knights night and day when there was a criminal locked up. It wasn't common to see someone locked inside the prison of the imperal palace, because the empire already had a big jail used to imprison all kind of criminals. Only the most evil one or those who attempted to assassinate the imperial family were locked in the imperial jail until the execution day. And of course, without fail, all the people residing in the imperial palace knew that every person that stepped their foots on the imperial jail would undeniably die by the next few days. That's why the palace was noisy from all the workers gossiping about the fact that the young woman named Eleanor, who was treated like a princess
Escorted by Val and Sebastian, Eleanor didn't feel like a criminal because despite knowing her identity they treated her Kindly, contrary to how they treated the witch locked in the basement. As soon as they left Francis's office, she saw Miel worried sick with a face full of tears.With a faint smile, Eleanor thought that she was truly kind to still worry about her even though she heard the fact that she was a witch.'She must have overheard the conversation but still she is worrying about me and crying for my sake. You are the first human that I thought of as a friend.' She looked at her and took her hand before saying,"Miel, you don't need to worry, I am okay.....everything will be fine. You know, after I came here I always felt out of place and I worried that I wouldn't be able to get used to this place....But thank to you Miel and Elise and Anne, though short I liked my stay here. For that I want to thank you since
At that moment Eleanor felt a great loss, something inside her broke. It wasn't like she felt all that because of the witch's sad fate but because of the fact that she saw herself in her place. She imagined how they would look at her,....how he would look at her if he knew her identity.The simple thought of seeing him reject her or condemn her, hurt her more than she could fantom. But despite her fear, she believed that something must be done in order to save an innocent life. She looked at him for what seemed like an eternity and thougth,'Do you have to go this far?....must it end up like this? I don't want to make thing hard for you, I get what you must have went through. That's why I wouldn't mind it if you cursed at me for the things I am gonna do. It is okay, I am willing to be the bad guy here...maybe one day you will understand what I meant while doing this.'Thinking that the meeting ended Sebastian and Val were
Eleanor couldn't read in Francis's mind, he was indecipherable and his expression didn't show his inner thought. So, she was worried that behind those cold eyes, an inreversible decision may be pronounced and change the course of fate. She prayed deep inside that he would resolve the matter without killing anyone.'Please Francis! don't take that path, it will only end up hurting others and you too...' she tried to forward him those thoughts while looking at him with a sad expression. She couldn't understand his hatred toward witches and wondered why he felt that way toward them.Then suddenly, she saw an image of a young boy who looked like Francis standing at the same place she stood, looking at a man sitting on Francis's office. As she looked at the young boy that was nearly 12 year old, she reconized the familiar golden eyes and dark blue hair. He was looking firmly at the man behind the office desk, standing straigh like a soldier.
He looked at her sharply as he asked her that question. She didn't react to it because she knew that Francis and his closest friends were all smart enough to figure out the tiniest change in her expression. Hence, with a calm tone she answered,"Back then, my grand mother told me all kinds of stories..." Before she could finish, Valeria burst in laughter and said mockingly,"Pfff!Haha! Are you saying that you were telling us child's stories, right now?!This is ridicilous, you are wasting our times""Well, I don't really care about your time miss, but if you could refrain from interrupting me, that would be helpful." At her reply, Alphonse and Sebastian were having a hard time hidding their laughter, it infuriated Valeria who felt mocked."Whaa?!.." Before she could retort Eleanor continued,"She once got a gift by a wandering traveler, it was a book about the witches. I love reading a lot so my gran
Francis turned his gaze toward Eleanor with an indifferent expression and asked her with a cold tone,"And why do you think that my decision is too much?!"She didn't seem fazed on the outside but on the inside, her heart was bitting faster with every breath she took. She was scared of being discovered but she couldn't bear to stay still while a poor innocent girl was going to be executed. So, she decided to talk back even though her heart expressed anxiousness and fear."Because I believe that she doesn't deserve to die just for entering the palace....it is too much of a punishment."He didn't move his golden eyes away from her and replied after looking at her for a moment,"I am not killing her for trespassing, that is just an excuse..." Before he could finish, her face became pale and stunned she said with a voice full of anger,"Then why?! why are you deciding to kil
Alphonse took Eleanor to the imperial library since he knew that she loved to read, he guessed that it would help her forget all the bad event that happened. And to his delight she had glithering wide eyes at the sight of the enormous library. She looked around excited like a little girl and occasionally looked back at him like a kid making sure with his parents, that he was allowed to play with a toy.He thought that she was cute and showed her all kind of history books about the three kingdom and those beyong the ocean. They enjoyed their time but once in a while Alphonse was absentminded, felling bitter about the situation that happened at town and also most of all about his brother's attitude toward her.He understood that Francis was getting attached to her and he feared that it would hurt Eleanor at some point, he wanted to avoid that by all mean. The butler interrupted them and fowarded the emperor's order to come for a meet
After taking a bath, Eleanor felt a lot better and less nervious. She wore the dress that Miel choose for her, a beautiful light blue lace dress. She looked stunning on that dress that aristocratic women often deem as too simple for their taste. They loved the extravagant and gorgeous kind of dresses to look more astonishing and imposing. But Eleanor looked pretty and elegant on it, the light blue color of the dress went well with her sky blue eyes. At lunch, in the dining hall, those who came to see her along with Francis earlier were all present aside from Cain who had a lot of work.There was an open sit beside Francis on his right side, she thought that it was too close to him and would rather sit beside sir Val, further from the emperor. But unfortunately, Francis's intense gaze didn't let her have the choice, so she obediently sat on her place. While eating her meal she didn't look toward Francis even once, and he on the other hand occasionaly glanced at her.