'I want your sister to live the way she wants, but make sure she will not stray from the right path. Keep an eye on her, would you, my son? Ashton.'
Ashton Arkwright, the eldest son of the current duke sat in front of his study table, wearing his usually stoic face while reading a book that was resting on his hands. However, his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Remembering the scene he witnessed the night before.
"You shouldn't have argued with your Sister, Ashton," his uncle, Alistair told him as soon as they stepped out of Avy's room.
"You cannot blame the boy, Alistair. Avy, that child has been very obsessed with the prince. I am afraid she will not be herself anymore if the prince continues to give her the cold shoulder," his grandfather commented.
"Avy is still a child, but she is smart, father. She will eventually realize it herself," the duke stated causing the old man to sigh. It would be a miracle if Avy wakes up anytime soon.
They went on their separate ways, his uncle returned to the imperial palace and his grandfather returned to the knights' headquarters that is located at another estate that they own. His father went back to his study to continue his unfinished work. On the other hand, he did not. He stayed in the hallway, waiting for his younger brother to come out.
It only took a minute or two before Ciel came out, his face clearly looked worried but it quickly returned to his original expression after seeing him. Calm and collected.
"Well?" he asked.
"She is acting very... strangely," Ciel told him before leaving.
Troubled by his brother's words, he went to his sister's room to check. However, when he arrived...
"This is not the first time right?"
"Stupid tears... don't make me look weak. I'm not sad at all." sobs that screamed loneliness, something that he has been long since he heard greeted his ear.
He left.
He knew Avy grew up getting everything she wanted, hence having someone reject her all the time wounded her pride. However, she never cried, getting angry and venting it on the people in the estate was the only thing she ever did.
"Tell Avy's personal maid to bring some ice in her room in the morning, she might need it," he told Hayward, the head butler before going inside his room to rest.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door.
"Come in," he said, the door opened and the guy he was expecting entered.
Light blue hair and eyes, the traits that the direct descendants of the most powerful aqua-type family of mages in the empire, the Harrington family have. The man that stood before him was the current successor of that dukedom. Zach Harrington.
"You seem to have so much time in your hands that you were able to come here, Zach." Ashton was usually stern and stiff despite being only eighteen but the unusual cold tone made Zach look at him weirdly.
"It is not as if I came here of my own will. All successor of every pillar in the empire is summoned in the Palace to prepare for the upcoming summit," he spoke as he sat on the couch near Ashton's table, his carefree monotone voice was heard.
"That aside. Your sister is acting strangely."
"Avy? What did she do this time?"
"She greeted me." Ashton's brows furrowed in confusion.
"She always does."
"Like I was a stranger."
Although he did not show it, Ashton was surprised to hear it from Zach. It must be really strange for Avy to act that way, after all, Zach Harrington...
... is someone important to her.
~~~
Avy was awed, mentally taking notes of her surroundings while looking around the path that looked like it leads to some kind of enormous garden where her feet took her. The estate sure was enormous, considering the fact that she does not even know where she was.
It has been an hour since she started walking around, it was indeed like those medieval settings in movies. The only difference is it was much more normal than how she expected the house of a bad character should be.
She thought it would look literally like hell and it would be dark everywhere since their attribute is fire. It seems like she was mistaken. She continued to walk when a sudden loud explosion that slightly shook the ground caused her to lose her balance and fall on her butt.
What the heck was that?
She winced in pain, looking far ahead of where the loud sound came from. She stood up and brushed the dirt on her dress before walking towards the straight path.
As she got close to the source of the loud explosion, she started hearing the voice of the servants that sounded like they were begging someone.
"Young Master, please s-stop this at once or you might hurt yourself."
"Y-your highness, this level of sparring is not something both of you should be doing."
Another explosion was heard followed by the spontaneous screams from the servants. Avy quicken her pace when she saw a wooden door at the end of the path, she kicked it open without hesitation and almost dropped on her knees when a ball of combined fire and blue lightning greeted her. She closed her eyes shut, waiting for it to hit her face but it didn't.
She opened her eyes and saw bits of it left, lingering across a glass-like transparent wall before her.
"Holy..." she was speechless. It was not a surprise that she will encounter magic in that world since it was written in the novel. But she never expected that she would witness it as soon as she stepped out of the mansion.
That was freaking awesome... she poked the barrier with her forefinger and felt a slight tingling sensation when it went through it.
"OH MY GOODNESS, YOUNG MASTER!!"
Her little fascination was interrupted when another scream was heard. She quickly remembered the reason why she came in the first place and cocked her head in the direction of the voice.
That was when she noticed two figures standing in the middle of the vast space inside. They are standing on a flattened surface covered in grass and most of it was already caught on fire while the two figures had their hands on top of their knees in exhaustion.
The other one was her younger brother, Ciel, while the other was someone familiar but she does not know. A boy in Ciel's age with snow-white hair.
"M-my lady!" she heard someone say and saw a maid approaching her in a hurry.
"What?" she asked, side eyeing her with a brow raised.
"Please stop the young master. H-he does not listen to us," the maid stammered, unable to look at her straight in the eye.
"Why should I?" Avy turned, talking to the servant in a cocky manner.
"I-I beg of you, my lady. The young master might injure himself." the maid lowered her head more.
"Why don't you let him? It will teach him a lesson," she told her.
"B-but the second prince might also get hurt in the process."
"Prince?" she turned her attention to the white-haired boy and squinted her eyes.
She remembers now. That one's in her memories too, the brother of the Crown Prince. In the novel, he was a very rude brat.
"Fine. Go prepare food. I'll eat after this," she said without sparing the maid a glance while shooing her away with her hand. The maid sighed in relief and quickly complied.
She began to walk to the other servants standing on the side, all of them were on edge, watching the two young boys fight each other.
"What's with the commotion?" she asked the maids, butlers, and knights present.
They were shocked to see her standing there, but greeted her nonetheless.
"Good afternoon my lady."
"Greetings, Lady Avana."
"Whatever. Go back to work," she stated.
"But my lady–"
"I know. I'll take it from here. Go rest your heads," she told them and entered the transparent barrier that kept the magical attacks from the inside from damaging more things on the outside.
She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. Good thing she knows his name.
"CIEL ARKWRIGHT." he was in the middle of creating arrows made of flames when the young Arkwright flinched by the sound of his name being called by his elder sister. The arrows disappeared in a blink of an eye together with the sinister glint visible in his red eyes.
He turned around. "S-sister..." he said in a low voice, preparing himself to see his sister angry. Why was she there? he thought, looking at the ground.
"Let's eat. Go wash up." Ciel raised his head slowly, did he hear that right? He was so confused that he was not able to respond.
"Did you not hear me? I said let's eat." no, he heard her clearly.
"Y-yes Sister–"
"We are not done yet–" the Prince pounced on him and tried to punch him with his fist covered in lightning but he blocked it with his palm before staring down at him with a grim expression. His face darkened, his red eyes became lifeless and his sinister gaze became sharper than earlier.
"My sister is calling me, are you deaf?" he asked him through greeted teeth before yanking his fist away. His innocent face returned as he look back to his sister, leaving the annoyed prince alone.
"Let us go back to the palace," the prince told the Knights before walking to the exit of the training grounds. He glanced at the lady of the house for the last time and saw her looking in his direction too. Her eyes are filled with nothingness as if he was staring into the endless darkness, but what freaked him out was the shady grin plastered on her face.
Was it just his imagination?
He brushed it off and continued on his way.
"Why did you come here unattended, sister? Is there something you need?" Ciel asked Avy when he saw her looking at the leaving prince.
"Have you always played with the prince like this?" she asked, still looking at the entrance where the young Prince exited.
The light in Ciel's eyes disappeared by her question, but he remained composed and answered her with a straight face.
"His Highness often visits to spar..."
"I see. That's good," She said and turned her back to go inside the mansion.
"D-do you want me to arrange a meeting with him, sister?" he asked her hesitantly causing her to stop on her tracks and look back at her shoulder with a raised eyebrow brow.
"Why? Will I gain something from that?" she returned the question, making the boy lower his head more.
"I just thought..."
"I'm not interested. I asked you because you looked too attached to the point that you're playing till both of you collapse." Ciel's face glowed red in embarrassment after hearing her statement.
"W-we're not playing sister. We were training our–"
"Well at your age, you should be playing harmless games. The servants almost lost their minds trying to stop you. If either of you got severely hurt, do you think they would be spared?" she cut him off, facing him with a stern gaze.
Ciel was surprised since Avy naturally never cared about things that does not concern her. Even the servants who have not left yet were stunned to hear those things from her.
"I'm sorry," Ciel said, sadness can be felt in his voice.
'Yes. Say sorry to me. I even bothered to scold you like a good elder sister.'
"I am not the only one to receive your apology. Competing for useless things? You're smarter than that. Your sister is enough for a fool in the family so don't be one," she said and started to walk away. "I'll be in the dining hall, wash up quick, I won't wait for long," she added
"By the way..." she looked back for the last time.
"Your fire arrows..." she cleared her throat "They're amazing," she said before continuing to walk away, leaving Ciel and the servants stunned again by her words.
The shine in his eyes came back, much brighter than before. Ciel smiled unknowingly before answering. "I-I'll do my best."
Strange but... it's better.
He watched her back slowly disappear from his sight. He no longer cares about the changes, if this is what change is like, it is not that bad at all.