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Mid Afternoon - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

- Lucy Kaelallan ~

"Mmm…" I groaned as I rolled onto my back and looked up at my bedroom ceiling. -I wonder how Viviana is doing…-

It had already been hours since I woke up, but I couldn't muster the motivation to get out of bed. -I have nothing to do today besides taking care of Father…-

Looking over towards the door, I saw Martha giving me a worried look.

It wasn't a good sign. "Is Father awake yet?"

"Miss..." She took a moment to think about what she was going to say before continuing. "Haah... He is still resting. I will tell you the moment he wakes up."

"What's the big deal though… I've walked in on him sleeping before so why not now?"

"Because he was hurt, his current rest can not be interrupted."

I paused to think of a rebuttal but just gave up with a pout. "Hmph..."

Looking in the other direction, I looked out through the balcony doors and took a moment to enjoy the nice warm breeze carrying the scent of flowers.

It calmed my mind quite quickly. "Has Vasilias come back yet?"

Martha's look of worry quickly shifted to curiosity. "I haven't heard about him si-"

*Rattling* The doors and windows rattled as the entire palace shook.

"What was that?" My voice became worried instantly as I looked toward Martha.

But she was already across the room, closing and locking the window to the balcony and pulling the blinds.

Her urgency quickly worsened my worries. "What's going o-"

"Lucy, I need you to stay quiet for a moment…" With a serious look on her face, she crept across the room and tossed me the silencing artifact on the bedside table.

It was something only to be used during emergencies, which only worsened my panic.

The next minute or so was wrapped in complete silence, but it didn't last forever. *Rattle-THUD* The entire room shook, but unlike before, the rattling was quickly followed by a distinct shockwave.

-What was that?!- Looking toward the door again, I saw Martha holding her blade, a dagger she only used when she was serious.

"Miss, please stay here for a moment." Her expression was devoid of positive emotion. "Lock the door after I leave and only open it if it's me or your parents."

I gave a nervous nod to her before she disappeared into the hallway.

Being sure to follow her words, I ran up and locked the door with the silencing artifact in hand.

My heart was racing as my mind began to wander and make assumptions.

-Ever since he came.. there has been nothing but disaster...- My worry, anxiety, and stress quickly turned into anger as I thought back over the past few weeks. -Ever since Vasilias came to Kaelallan, nothing but awful things have been happening.-

With several assassination attempts on both Mother and Father, a huge city-wide disaster, Father getting injured, and mother being so overworked she looked sick, I could only feel contempt for the only variable that I knew changed.

-If Vasilias never came, none of this would have happened…

- It was a childish assumption, but sitting on the bed in the dark, motionless room let my emotions fester.

It wasn't until half an hour later that I heard a single noise other than people running up and down the hallway.

*Knock* *Knock* The noise startled me. "Princess, you may open your door now. The situation has been resolved." It was an unknown but moderately familiar maid's voice.

Setting the silencing artifact on the bed next to me, I swung my legs off the bed to get the door but quickly stopped myself.

-Wait, what am I doing…- Looking towards the door again, my uncertainty turned to fear. *tap* Hastily grabbing the silencing artifact, I quietly moved to the other side of the bed, ready to hide beneath the bed if the door was to open.

"Young miss, Martha is quite busy and it will take some time for her to return. She sent me to tell you that everything is alright."

My heart began to race again as I assumed the worst. -I can't open the door… I can't open it unless it's Martha or Mother…- I crouched behind my bed with only my eyes peeking over.

My heart was beating out of my chest, but there was nothing I could do about it.

The person behind the door called out to me several more times after that before leaving.

I thought it was over, but then less than half an hour later, another person came, each time trying to entice me to open the door with different incentives, but I never caved.

Before I knew it, minutes had turned into hours, and I was beginning to question myself, wondering whether they were really telling the truth.

But once I was about to succumb to their enticement, another knock came.

*Knock* *Knock* It made my heart sink, but the voice that followed changed that.

"Miss, sorry I took so long." It was the voice of Martha!

*Puft* Immediately throwing the artifact onto the bed, I darted to the door, undid the locks, and threw the door open. *click-cli-click*

*Click* As the door swung open, I was met with Martha's worried look.

She quickly broke into a panic when she saw me though. "Miss, are you alright?! Did you really lock yourself in this whole time?!"

Without waiting, I ran up and hugged her waist with teary eyes. "I thought something bad happened again!"

Martha's worry slowly turned to quilt. "I'm sorry... I should have been quicker or at least come to tell you myself. I'm sorry." She reached down and embraced me as I struggled to hold back any tears.

It took several minutes for me to calm down, but eventually, I found myself sitting back on my bed.

Finally able to think straight after letting my pent-up emotions out, I went ahead and asked what was constantly on my mind. "So.. what was that shaking from?"

Martha was sitting on the bed next to me, gently rubbing my back. "According to the Missus, it was the Grandmaster mistaking Vasilias as an enemy and attacking him."

-Hmph… he deserved it...- In my heart, I cursed him and still believed him to be the source of all the disasters that struck Kaelallan recently.

To Martha, I likely seemed upset. "Sorry again for taking so long… I had to take the Grandmaster to the medical ward, and-"

I jolted up from my relaxed pose. "W..what?"

"Yeah, the first thing we heard was Vasilias landing in the courtyard, but the explosion after that was the Grandmaster. The impact that followed was the Grandmaster being thrown into the wall…"

-Is she alive?!- I had never seen Nation ranks fight, so the only thing I had to compare it to was seeing some of Lawton's training sessions and feeling the ground shake when Vasilias beat the dragon in the plaza.

"In case you're worried about her, she should be fine. She seems to have had a barrier artifact on her that kept her body in decent shape compared to the wall. At most, she will only have a couple broken bones."

But instead of letting out a sigh of relief like she probably expected, I just sat there, staring at her. It took several seconds for me to think of what to say. "S..so where is Vasilias now?"

"Hoh?" Her expression turned slightly smug. "Not long after talking with your Mother, a maid saw him go into the Lord's room."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Id assume he's still in there if you-"

I sprung up from the bed and dashed to the door, but froze when I reached for the handle.

"Where do you think you're going?" Martha's voice sounded a little threatening, but what held me in place was her hand on my shoulder.

It felt like I was stuck in quicksand. "I just need to make sure he isn't hurting father!" No matter how hard I tried to get out of her grasp, I couldn't make her hand budge.

"Miss, please listen to yourself. If Vasilias can deal with the second strongest nation rank in Kaelallan without even trying, why would he wait until his highness was hurt to do it."

I paused as couldn't refute it. "I.. I guess..."

"Haah…" She let out a disappointed sigh. "What am I going to do with you..." She slowly dragged me back into the room and set me on the bed without any effort. "Would you like anything to drink or snack on?"

"I'll have.. one of Mother's pops please..." (Basically a cake pop)

"Alright, I'll go grab one. Please stay here." As she was about to close the door behind herself, she gave me a serious look. "If you are to succeed (the throne), you need to think carefully before every decision."

It sounded like a warning. "O..of course..." Trying to act normal, I laid back on the bed and spread out to relax.

It wasn't until a few minutes after she left that I got up and checked the hall. -The coast is clear...-

Father's room wasn't far down the hall, so I was able to get there quickly and sneakily. -I just need to check before I go back to my room…-

Reaching up for the door knob to the royal bedroom, I cracked open the door with a slightly hostile expression. -He better not...-

But before I could even finish my thought, a wave of mana so thick it made my mind go blank flowed through the crack and made me stop in my tracks.

It could only be described as a wall of mana.

My piled-up emotions, including the anger and frustration towards Vasilias, vanished in an instant. -I.. really.. let myself get mad at that kind of being…- I couldn't believe myself.

As the aura finally wrapped around me, it felt like a cold blanket wrapped around my body, but it felt oddly soothing. My heart stopped beating out of my chest, and my breathing steadied.

The dreadful knot of fear forming in my stomach vanished as if it was never there.

But that was before a calm and majestic voice filled the air. "I'm doing something important, so I need you to stay out of the room for a bit. Oliver is fine."

It sounded a little unfamiliar, but I still instinctively complied with it like I was under hypnosis.

*Click* Closing the door, I walked across the hallway and sat down with a blank expression.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that my mind finally cleared up.

-What.. was that…- I still couldn't really think straight, but my emotions were finally leveling out.

After another minute, instead of being worried about Martha's inevitable return, I found myself looking back towards the door to Father's room. -You know… That actually.. didn't feel too bad...-