It has been a few months into the new year and Clara as well as her squamates have completed a multitude of requests and missions throughout the Clover Kingdom. Clara was out in the courtyard of the Golden Dawn Headquarters talking to Klaus Lunettes. Klaus has been a part of the Golden Dawn for three years now, but Clara only spoke with him on professional matters as he can be quite... prude.
"I am clarifying you, my squamate of higher status, that I am about to fetch Yuno and Mimosa. We are supposed to head to Knights Headquarters and report our latest mission in the dungeon." Klaus had said while pushing up his glasses.
"Noted! Perhaps I'll see you there. I was invited to -"
"Clara!" A voice yells out from behind. She turns to look down the hall to see her other squad mate Alecdora with Hamon, and Shirem. The three were only a few years younger than herself. The four of them have gone on many missions together and are considered some of the more elite within the Golden Dawn.
"Hm? Is it time already?" She had asked the approaching men. She turned back to Klaus and held a sheepish look on her face.
"I'm sorry to cut the conversation, but I must be off. Today's the assembly..."
"Of course, Lady Clara. Congratulations." Klaus said as he gave a small bow. The woman waved before meeting her other squadmates halfway.
"Are you ready?" Alecdora asked her.
...
As the four arrived to Knights Headquarters, they were immediately escorted by a servant into the assembly hall. Clara noticed they were the second group to arrive after Fuegoleon and Leopold. The younger of the Vermillion brothers lit up at the sight of Clara and jogged over to her as she neared.
"Clara! It's been a while." Leo greeted as he stopped in front of her. She chuckled and ruffled his hair.
"It's good to see you, Leo. Have you grown a few inches since I've last seen you?"
"He-Hey! Cut that out!" Leo whined as he tried to pry her hand from his head. Fuegoleon bursted into a laugh, but walked over as he calmed down. He had always enjoyed watching his brother getting babied by Clara. "Soon I'll be taller than you! Just watch!"
"And I'll still be messing with you, kid."
"Don't torture the poor boy, Clara." A quiet voice spoke to the side. She had turned to see Marx. She smiled warmly at her old companion. Marx could barely say another comment before the doors opened again, and another servant brought in Miss Charlotte Roselei and her squad member, Sol. Following behind the two were Nozel and his younger siblings, Nebra and Solid Silva.
Clara smiled warmly at the group, and took a step forward to greet Charlotte. She had barely opened her mouth to say a word before Charlotte walked right past her without a word, or even a glance. Sol was following right behind her talking about something random. Clara closed her mouth and sighed, looking anywhere but in front at the Silvas who got a clear view of her rejection, or behind her at the two women as she tried not to look too upset.
For once, she just wanted a nice conversation, or even a bond with her family. Everyone here knew that too. Vangeance, the Silvas, the Vermillions... they all knew how different the two Roselei women were.
Their fathers were brothers, Clara's father being the eldest meant that she was under the head of the Roselei family lineage. Yet, it was Charlotte's family who were more infamous with the name Roselei because of a curse that Charlotte had a few years past. As Charlotte's family stretched a line of Briar Magic due from the curse, Clara's family has Life Tree Magic. Because of her age and status, Clara was raised and trained alongside the elder children of the Vermillions and the Silvas.
Fuegoleon always told Clara he thought it was terrible. He was a middle child with a sister and a brother who were quite close. He could never understand how his friend felt, but he did learn to appreciate his family more from it, and has tried to include Clara as much as he could since they were younger. She was his friend, almost sister at that, and he didn't like seeing her upset from Charlotte's stubbornness.
Nozel observed the whole situation and felt guilty. It was almost a mirrored image of what he had done to his youngest sibling, Noelle, and yet he couldn't bear to see it on Clara's face. His reasonings were far different from Miss Roselei's though, and he despised the woman just because of it. Still he kept a straight face, only sending a warning glare at Solid who gave a silent snicker at the scene. Nebra whacked her younger brother's shoulder before walking up to Clara and greeting her. Nozel watched the smile that grew on the woman's face, but he knew it was fake. Never would she let anyone fawn nor worry over her, and that's something he had admired about her.
Within a few minutes of chatting, Marx had proclaimed that the Wizard King would be here any moment now. So the Magic Knights and their Captains had all lined up before the red carpet leading to the altar and waited for his arrival.
When the doors opened, everyone turned to see the Wizard King. Clara was shocked to see some of the newer Magic Knights behind him. She saw Klaus, Yuno, and Mimosa along with Noelle and another one of Yami's Black Bulls standing at the door as Julius walked towards the altar. They must have run into Julius while reporting their mission in the dungeon, and Julius being Julius...
"All right. Let the Distinguished Service Ceremony begin." As all the Magic Knights lined up before Julius, Nozel, Fuegoleon, and Charlotte stood behind their squadrons. Clara knew that Vangeance was busy, but she wished he was here to see her and the others receive their awards.
"With a total of seven stars... from the Crimson Lion Kings squad. Leopold Vermillion, please step forward..."
And so Julius announced all the members before announcing Clara.
"Finally, with a total of eleven stars... from the Golden Dawn, Miss Clara Roselei." Clara walked up to Julius with a warm smile.
"I hereby grant you the rank of Senior Magic Knight: Fourth Class. With your determination and hard work towards saving others, no one is able to hold you down. Yet it is nice to be able to take breaks every now and then. Place your health under priority, and you'll become an even greater help to the Kingdom." Julius stated, handing her the reward.
"Thank you, sir." Clara had thanked him and returned next to her spot next to Hamon.
"Your efforts and help bring the Golden Dawn to 82 stars. A commanding lead. The rest of you will need to work hard not to be left behind." Julius points out. "Well that concludes the formal bit. We have also prepared a simple banquet to celebrate the occasion. So please enjoy yourselves! And you may not have noticed, but I invited some special guests. I hope you'll mix and mingle with them as well."
A few people turn to stare at the group in the back of the room. Some glare while some just looked confused. Noelle and the others looked very uncomfortable. Marx had come up and whispered something into Julius's ear. Julius nodded and turned back to all of us.
"I'm sorry but something's come up. You'll have to excuse me. Have an excellent time, now." He laughed off before walking down towards the door, Marx following behind. Julius raised a hand to wave behind to us before walking past the doors that closed on his leave. Everyone was then escorted into a room connected to the hall that had tables spread out with food with servant's awaiting commands.
JE LEEST
Soaring Spirits
Fanfictie"It was something we used to say when we were kids... That one day we were going to be the ones to marry you." "I don't know what I'll do with myself if I were to lose you too." "Everyone's staring. I'm sure we'd be the talk of the evening." "Let t...
