Lost Fantasy-The Flowers of Stelis (Arc 2) [Hiatus]

Chapter 63

Loganel's heart pounded in his chest as he stood there beside his older brother in shame out in the open flower fields on the cliff, basking under the gazes of their sister as well as the prince of Astra and his servant. Loganel's eyes darted about the three and then over at his older brother before those eyes of his returned to focus on the field of flowers beneath his feet. A gentle wind blew by, moving the fresh flowers and the blades of grass that they were embedded in as well as everyone's hair with the setting sun in the distant sky.

"How did you know I'm here?" Laurina asked with a surprised countenance on her face as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"One of your party members," Redgilus responded. "They told me..."

"Relax yourself, Worches," Adol raised his arm and signaled. "They don't mean harm."

"Understood," Worches, the butler, nodded and took a step back as to reduce his presence in the encounter.

"I assume your Redgilus and your Loganel," Adol said with a confident smile on his face as he surveyed the two boys before him. As the prince of the kingdom, he has a sense of confidence and self esteemed that was drilled into him since birth. In addition, since he's a year older than Laurina, this made him older than both Redgilus and Loganel which only served to reduce his nervousness even further. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well, Your Highness," Redgilus mumbled and bowed his head.         

Adol shook his head and smiled. "There's no need for any of that formality when it's only us." 

On his face there was a genuine friendly countenance, one that represented his greatest desire to communicate to Loganel and Redgilus his peaceful approach. In his sparkling blue eyes, Loganel saw as well the kind gesture, and he was certain that Redgilus was able to see it as well.  

"And since you've seen it already," Adol sighed. "But I am serious about courting your sister. In fact, once your parents arrive in Astalan later this season, I shall ask them for her hand in marriage."

"Marriage..." Redgilus chuckled and shook his head in an almost sarcastic and passive-aggressive manner. In his voice, there were hints of doubt in regards to Adol's sincerity. This required great courage to do so as the target of this was the prince of Astra, the heir to the throne.

"What is it?" Adol frowned. He appeared visibly confused as to Redgilus's attitude and there were signs of annoyance between the creases of his brows. However, he kept his attitude concealed and presented the same calm and composed image of the prince.

"If I recall correctly," Redgilus said as he gazed at the flowers beneath his feet. "You already have a bride."

"What?" Loganel exclaimed in surprise.

"The princess of the neighboring kingdom..." Redgilus finished.

"Is that your concern?" Adol let out a sigh of relief. "That's simply a political marriage. My heart does not lie with her."

"..." Redgilus frowned as he listened to Adol's explanation, thinking about the situation and pondering over whether or not the young man's words were genuine.

"As someone in my position," Adol lowered his head, "political marriages are unavoidable."

"So you're saying there might be even more woman around you in the future?" Redgilus glared at the prince and forgot all about the difference in their status. Instead of the eldest son of a small baron, Redgilus spoke to Adol as the brother of the young woman Adol's courting, and in his words were his most genuine concern for his kin.

"If that's your worry," Adol chuckled and raised his hand into the sky in a vow. "Then I promise I would never marry another without Laurina's consent."

"But—" 

"Redgilus," Laurina interrupted. "I know what it is that I'm getting myself into."

Laurina's simple words was the nail in the coffin for the situation, successfully laying it to rest in the field of flowers beneath our feet and leaving only the sound of the grass and flowers rustling as the wind blew by. The setting sun shined orange in the distant horizon, dyeing the world the color of orange and basking in this orange sunlight was the siblings and the prince with the butler standing far away in order to grant them privacy.

Silenced by his twin sister, Redgilus stood there with his hands balled up into fists. They trembled as he tensed his body, but even that soon stopped as he realized that no matter what he try would end up with the same outcome. He looked up and into his twin sister's eyes, communicating to her in this way that's only possible to the two of them.

As they did so, Loganel held his breath as his eyes darted back and forth between the two. He felt quite tense in this situation, but he also felt left out as he was unable to join in on this silent conversation between the two siblings. However, Loganel trusted that the two will be able to figure the situation out for they're the closest to each other, both physically and spiritually. Their genetic makeup is the closest one can get to each other and since they've spent the entirety of their lives together as the most familiar strangers to each other, they had formed a spiritual bond between them. Although they might disagree on things, but in the end, the feeling of love and care for the other would never cease to exist. Therefore, Loganel knows for sure it will all end up well.

"Alright," Redgilus sighed after a while and let out a defeated smile. "You win."

"Thank you," Laurina bowed her head in gratitude towards her twin brother. "I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you."

Loganel wasn't sure who she was speaking to. It could've been Redgilus, or it could've been him, or it could've been the two of them. However, in her words, Loganel could feel a great amount of guilt and shame, and just by looking at her teary eyes, he was certain that something must be wrong with the situation. However, he wasn't sure what it might've been. There's still a great probability that she's simply tearing up out of guilt for hiding her relationship from them, but it might've been for something else as well.

"It's fine," Redgilus shook his head. "I understand that it's your relationship and you have the right to privacy..." 

"..." Feeling as if he's back being the tiny boy that the two treated as a simple child, Loganel remained silent. Despite his age, he still felt as if he's unable to interject in the conversation to speak his part. Maybe it was due to the fact that this conversation the two were having were mostly between the twins or something about the twins themselves. Therefore, he had no way of interfering as he will never be as close to either of them like they are to each other.

***

The conversation soon slowly came to an end as everybody agreed that it was around time to return home. Adol insisted that his future brother-in-laws to come along on the carriage ride, but Redgilus politely refused. Seeing his older brother do so, Loganel opted to do the same, hoping to be able to accompany Redgilus on his way back.

Looking up, Loganel saw that the sky had entered dusk as the world darkened. At the boundary where the orange sky met the dark nighttime sky, the beautiful light purple of the sky caught Loganel's eye, making his countenance relax partly out of fatigue.

Like the sun, he thought. Our childhood is probably setting and coming to an end.

However, unlike the sun, their childhood will never rise again. It will be gone after that night with no hopes of ever returning. Unlike the sun that will rise as if nothing had occurred to light up the world once again, their childhood will fade away and remain frozen in the distant past. Loganel knows that as long as he can remember those beautiful days at the Ainzloft territory near the frontier, he will be able to revisit that beautiful world once again. This was something that's taught to him by his servant, Juliana, who also lives on in his memories...

Author's Note:

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