chapter v. homecoming
We are going to burn.
We are burning. Oh, dear Lord in heavens. We are burning.
We are....not burning. We are....flying?
For one split second, it seems like your mind simply stops functioning. Your mouth has fallen open, yet there is no voice coming out of you even if you feel like screaming. One moment, the entire carriage seems to be burning, engulfed completely by the massive blue flame. And yet, even as you can see yourself being surrounded by the ominous blazing blue lights, there are no burns, no heat, not a single inch of the dancing flame touching the horses and the carriage, let alone your skin. Then, all of a sudden, the carriage seems to emerge from the flame, completely untouched, and on the other side you see nothing but the clear, yet still dark sky full of stars that seems so close that you can almost reach it. There are trees around you still, but the only thing you can see from them are merely their dense tips, as you seem to be floating between the foliage instead of driving through the trees.
"—ness!"
And now you are beginning to fall quickly from the sky, the clustered stars above getting further away right before your eyes while you feel like the dense thickets are swallowing you as you descend between them.
"—Highness!"
Just when you think that this is the end, the carriage lands roughly on the ground below, tossing you against the seats, while the horses—which had somehow landed more gracefully than the rocking carriage—immediately proceed their run as if nothing had happened.
As if they hadn't just pulled you into a burning flame and sent you all floating far above ground towards the night sky.
"Your Highness! You are having a panic attack. Take a deep breath, look at me," Nanny Abigail's voice comes to you just as your senses are starting to work again, all the sounds from the horses' rapid pace and the rocking wheels return to you, quickly snapping you out of it. You had been so taken aback by the situation that you hadn't noticed that she has been awakened. Not only had she been pulled out of her sleep during the entire event, she is now sitting right next to you, with her hands clasping your trembling ones as she tries to calm you down.
Your chest still feels tight, so much so that you feel like you can never breathe again, and your throat is dry with your soundless scream. But seeing her face and knowing that you are still alive help bring you back to reality, no matter how distorted it seems to be right this moment. Before long, despite feeling like your entire world is still slanted with nothing separating between dream and reality, and despite the violent shaking happening around you as the driver struggles to control the horses and balance the carriage over the uneven ground, you are beginning to breathe easier without feeling like your chest is about to explode.
"There you go," Nanny Abigail's voice gently piercing through your muddled brain as she continues coaching you to find your calmness. "Focus on my voice and keep steadying your breathing. Everything is going to be okay, I promise."
In need to keep yourself grounded, you lean closer to Nanny Abigail and grip her hand harder as the carriage sways left and right violently as it drives down the road, seemingly as if it is going downhill even without you looking out the window. Keeping your eyes on her seems to be helping you from getting another panic attack, and from feeling sick from all the rapid motions happening all around you, while she somehow remains to be so calm through all the hectics.
How could she be so calm?
"We....we were—" you try to speak once you find your voice again, but Nanny Abigail gently shakes her head to stop you from forcing yourself, when it is clear that you are still struggling to recover from your shock.
"Yes, Your Highness. I know, but everything is okay now. See? We're okay," she continues reassuring you while rubbing her hand gently on your back so that the tension in your body slowly lessens. And it seems to be working, even if having your mind cleared only means that you can finally pay more attention to your surroundings, to see better at what is happening now.
The carriage continues to sway and rock a while longer until you feel it slowing down. The driver's voice had sounded a bit strained earlier, but as he gently commands his horses to slowly come to halt, you can sense his tension loosening and he is slowly growing more relaxed and relieved for finally gaining back control over his carriage. The ride slows down until it stops moving, and the driver hops down from his seat. Through the windows, you watch the man as he walks over to his horses, taking his time to gently brush their mane while checking on their reins to make sure that they remain secured even after all the commotion. He leans closer to each one, as if whispering something to each one while he is tending to them, and the horses soon find calmness in his care.
As if they can understand his words completely.
You use this moment of quietness to find your own calmness, even as you are left astonished by the sight you are seeing. Settling back in the seat, you let go of Nanny Abigail's hands as you look out the window to your sides, trying to figure out what had just happened. Outside, the forest is still visible. But it doesn't take you long to realise that everything seems—different. The trees are dissimilar to the ones you saw before, as they are no longer looking as eerie nor daunting as what you had been seeing, even when the trees surrounding you now appear much bigger and taller in size. There are types of trees that you had never seen back in the Elcester Forest, with lean, yet sturdy upright trunks that look statuesque even in the dark. The foliage also appears thicker, with leaves that seem to be in darker shades which appear as if they are gleaming in the gloom as they reflect the moonlight above perfectly like mirrors.
Looking up at the evening sky, you also find visible differences to let you know that you are no longer in the Elcester Forest.
The sky has grown a little brighter than before, with the stronger moonlight illuminating the sky and the forest around you, and there seems to be a much denser clump of stars spread around the bright moon. And there is something else up there that has caught your attention while you were still struggling to get through your shock—the sight of an aurora dancing in the night sky, a colourful display of light that seems to be a complete contrast to the dark hue, in which you can see shades of light coloured in gold and copper blending in together like a cold flame glimmering between the bright display of stars.
The sight of the majestic display in the sky is still there as you lean closer to the window to see it, and you know that it wasn't just a figment of your imagination. Never once in your life had you ever seen this kind of spectacle back at the capital, nor had you ever seen it during the nights you ventured into the borders of the woodlands. As the glow seems to dance in the night sky, it almost feels like you can hear its movement, as if there is a faint murmur of musical tone echoing through the air together with each twist and swirl.
The carriage shakes a little when the driver hops back onto his seat. He turns to the window to look back at his passengers, giving you and Nanny Abigail a remorseful grin that doesn't seem quite genuine when he speaks to you. If any, it seems clear that what just happened had only amused him dearly. "Forgive me for the bumpy ride, Your Highness, and kind Governess. Seems like our little detour earlier had caused us to stray out of course a bit further than expected. Not to worry though, we'll find our way back in no time, hopefully before the sun is high. We just need to get out of this hill first."
Without waiting for your response, he turns back to the front and cracks his whip in the air, setting off his horses back into their determined and steady pace. The ride runs more smoothly as the journey continues, though what you are able to sense from the drive only surprises you more.
Earlier, while going through the road in the middle of the Elcester Forest, the path you were taking mostly remained on plain ground, with only small hills appearing in between. Now, just after encountering the ominous wall of flame, you find yourself going downhill from what seems to be quite of a high altitude. The woodlands around you don't seem as dense either, as you keep seeing more openings, less of those thick, reaching branches obstructing your view but with more leaves sprouting far above ground in multiple layers of thick foliage.
The ride continues, with your attention being distracted by your new surroundings, until the ground seems to be growing more plain and even. Just as the carriage is slowly reaching to what seems to be the edge of the wooded hill, and right as you are beginning to believe that it wouldn't be possible for more surprises to happen to you, you catch the sight of a pair of men on horses coming your way.
"Halt! Who goes there?" one of the horsemen calls out to the driver, who quickly eases his horses down to a halt. As the men draw closer to the carriage, you are able to see what the men are wearing. Unlike the plain looking armour which you had seen worn by the members of the mercenary army roaming the capital, these men are wearing fancy armours similar to the ones the royal guards of Nythelean Empire Army would wear. You notice a matching insignia marked on both of their chest protectors which looks nothing like any of the symbols of the armies from any kingdom that you have ever known.
The other horseman inquires the driver as he also draws closer from the other side of the carriage. "What is your business here, Sir?"
You feel tense, wondering what the driver would tell them. Once again, Nanny Abigail grabs your hand to keep you calm, as if she can sense your trepidation without you saying it out loud. Meanwhile, the driver at the front sounds as calm as he has been the whole night when he answers, "Just passing through, Colonel. We got lost between the hills back there. Didn't expect that it would still be this dark when we came through here."
"And where are you heading to?"
Hearing this question, the driver smiles and points towards the passenger window behind him, and you start panicking. "The ladies here wanted to see the sunrise. They heard that it would be beautiful to watch the sun coming up from the beaches on the coastal area," the driver cheerfully says, while you can hear your own heartbeat racing fast. You have no idea what the driver is up to now by drawing their attention on you—when you were not supposed to be seen by anyone—but there is really nothing that you can do about it except to stay silent and let him handle everything. "Do you by any chance know where we should go to reach the coastline? We mean no harm, we promise. Just out here on a short vacation before the summer ends, is all."
The first horseman who isn't conversing with the driver goes around the carriage, studying the ride closely and peeking through the windows with pure curiosity. There is something about him that reminds you of the nameless mercenary soldier you met at the pub a few nights ago—his attentive eyes, his cold smile and genuine interest, and his entire demeanour as he carefully guides his horse around the carriage—which makes you feel cautious under his gaze. You instinctively avoid his eyes, keeping your head down while holding tightly around your necklace to remain calm.
Unlike you, Nanny Abigail simply greets the man with a smile and a courteous nod when she meets his gaze, before the man finally returns to the front of the carriage to join his comrade. You see both men talking in low voices with each other for a quick moment, until the other nods, his face looking more at ease after listening to the report he is given, yet he still remains vigilant when he speaks to the driver again.
"Keep heading to the East, make sure to keep following the road and you will get there in no time. The sunrise is coming soon so you might want to hurry if you want to catch it. Be careful not to go straying into others' property and stay clear from the wastelands. There would be no one to keep you secure if you should get lost out there in that area," the soldier instructs the driver politely, to which the latter responds kindly as if he hadn't been unfairly questioned just now or heard the underlying threat that you can easily sense from the guard's words.
"Will do, Colonel. Thank you for the help, and forgive us for all the trouble."
"You drive safely now, Sir," the other soldier says, his eyes finding the window to meet your gaze once more when he says, "Take care, Miss."
You nod at the soldier with a smile. At the front, the driver cracks his whip, commanding his horses to continue the journey, keeping a slow and steady pace as the carriage drives past the soldiers who remain in their spots, watching as the ride starts heading towards the edge of the woods.
You can only breathe a sigh of relief once the ride continues smoothly ahead, until you realise that His Majesty's royal guards who you saw following you closely back in the Elcester Forest are now nowhere to be seen. Before you get to question any of this, you start seeing the driver cautiously looking over his shoulder, subtly taking heed of the soldiers' movements, and then Nanny Abigail shows you yet another questionable behaviour as she speaks out to the driver through the front window, "They've gone deeper into the woods."
At the front, the driver nods approvingly. "It appears so. Wonder what they were doing out here in the bluffs. They don't belong in this territory more than we do."
His response got you feeling curious, so you sneak a glance through the back window, watching as the soldiers disappear through the thickets. You have no idea why you were drawn to them despite feeling uneasy when they intercepted your ride earlier. The uneasiness remains even as you watch their backs fade into the gloom, as you silently wonder why they had let you go so freely if this truly had been a forbidden territory for you to past through, or if there had indeed any threats from your father's enemies to do you harm.
Meanwhile, as the carriage continues getting further away from the bluffs, the soldiers continue to ride their horses deeper into the woods to make their way up towards the top of the hill, oblivious to the attention they have been getting. Keeping their horses running at a steady pace and staying close to each other, they continue to discuss what they had just encountered.
The one who was looking at you before you departed speaks first, asking his comrade, "Did you see any emblem shown on the carriage?"
The other soldier shakes his head. "No, I didn't. There was only a symbol on the wheels that didn't seem like a symbol of any reigning kingdom that I know of. Despite its size, the carriage was made to look like a common people's ride."
"I was thinking the same thing," the first soldier says. "But it makes me wonder—" he discreetly looks over his shoulder, watching the tail of the departing carriage through the corners of his eyes before it disappears completely from sight. "Why would an unmarked common people's carriage carrying two maidens who are out traveling on an uncharted territory be covered by such a powerful flow of magic?"
His comrade responds with a grim voice as he has been wondering the same thing, "My question exactly. We need to find a way to send this news to His Highness, Prince Yoongi, in the human realm. I'm sure he would love to hear about this incident before the news ever gets back to the palace."
The rest of the journey is filled with silence.
To say that you are still shocked sounds like an understatement. And yet, for some reason, it seems like your senses are on high alert with curiosity, as if you are readying yourself to experience more surprises.
Perhaps this is why you can easily notice it once the terrain seems to be changing again. The ride has been going on plain ground for a while, as the driver followed the road as instructed by the local soldiers towards the East.
For a while, you see nothing but meadows and green sloping hills surrounding you, until the road slowly begins ascending again, and the green meadows begin to decline, showing you a spread of arid ground mixed with white sand and flat rocks rising here and there. The higher the ground rises, the more you see a layer of white mist rising around you. It surprises you just how fast the mist soon grows into a thick layer of fog once you realised its presence, and it is beginning to make it hard for you to see what is happening around you. In the meantime, it doesn't seem like the driver is having the same problem as he remains focused on leading his horses to drive through the thick mist, as he somehow manages to keep the ride to remain on the road.
But the surprise doesn't end there, as you begin to see His Majesty's guards that have been absent earlier emerging through the fog one by one, joining the carriage as it continues heading up towards the peak of the ascending terrain. From the guards who stayed with you until the end to those who had separated themselves from the entourage much earlier back in the Elcester Forest when they went to investigate your pursuers.
Through the window, you see one of the guards closing in, his voice is drowned by the sounds of the galloping horses that you can only catch on a few words he is sharing with the driver, "....tried to catch up...stalled during the leap...came out at a different place than intended."
"Figured as much," you hear the driver responding to him calmly without taking his eyes off of the road. "We came out on the bluffs just beyond the borders. We met some company intercepting our arrival which His Majesty would have loved to hear about."
You see them exchanging a few more words before the guard separates himself and begins leading his horse at the front of the entourage to act as a guide. As he advances through the thick mist, it magically melts around him, as if giving him passage to march forward, showing you what the mist had been trying to conceal.
Beyond you arises what appears to be a smaller replica of Mount Orrum, a mountain with grey slabs of rocky walls waiting for you where the meadows end. Shadows of massive rocks in various forms and sizes are visible through the fog when you look towards the right side of the road, which you are unable to identify, though you immediately remember about the 'wastelands' that the soldiers have mentioned before and wonder if the driver had ignored their warnings to enter the forbidden area.
The carriage continues ascending in height, and you suddenly feel the warmth of sunlight flooding into the carriage. Ignoring the dark figures being concealed by the fog to your right, you turn to search for the sunlight on the opposite side of the road. This time, the fog seems to know what you are wishing to see, and it disperses just enough for you to find what you are looking for.
What you had thought to be a rising ground covered with rocks on your left turns out to be the edge of an elevated cliff. Beyond the line of rocks covering the side of the road, you see nothing but a far drop down below, where you can roughly see a spread of white-sanded coastline and a widespread of clear ocean which seems endless, with the horizon located far away where the morning sun is seen rising from.
Laying your gaze at the beach and the chasing waves below, then up to the cliff walls that appear to be rising at the ends of the beach line, you are overcome with a sense of familiarity. I know this place, you wonder as you lean closer to the window, hoping to get a better look at the view and try to recall why this place feels so familiar to you.
An image appears from the back of your mind right at that moment, of a clear wide ocean and the white-sanded beach, of the slanted cliffs with green patches of grass and wildflowers growing on the very top where you found yourself wandering blissfully with your bare feet sinking into them, and the man who seemed to have come out of the rocky walls just to greet you,
"We will see each other soon..."
All of a sudden, you feel something blooming inside your chest.
To this day, you still have yet to figure out who he was, and you have no idea how to find out anything about this mysterious being without questioning your sanity for searching for a figure that you had only seen in your dreams. But you have never felt such a yearning for someone or something that seems so otherworldly before, to feel such desire so deep, and that feeling has persisted ever since you had the dream visiting you in your sleep. The images you saw has been haunting you, along with the man who you had only met in that short, yet euphoric moment that you can remember every part of it even now that you are awake.
Seeing this place appearing before you now gives you some sort of hope. It feels like you finally have something to look forward to, seeing that this place is real, and to find it when you are to reach the place which might become your new home.
As if the universe is answering your silent musings, the driver turns and alerts you of what is coming right ahead.
"Keep your eyes looking ahead, Your Highness. As promised, I'm bringing you home just as the sky is turning brighter, and I know that you would love to see this," the driver shouts excitedly through the front window. "We have arrived."
You look to the front only to see nothing but a thick layer of fog forming right ahead of the carriage, as it continues to crawl and rise from the ground together with the entire entourage taking you home. One by one, the royal guards seem to be swallowed by the white fog as they march right ahead, and soon it would be your turn. But the carriage continues driving forward, as if the driver knows where to go without having a clear visual of the road beyond. You can hear the changes happening around you when the horses begin to slow down and the wheels start running over what seems to be cobblestone-covered road.
As if there is magic present in the air, the fog disperses itself completely right before your eyes, and emerging from the darkness is a massive castle, standing magnificently right atop of the peak of the rocky mountain.
You watch in awe as the carriage draws closer and closer towards the castle, speeding up slowly as it drives over the rise on the road leading towards the main gate. As the gate opens, allowing the carriage to enter through the front courtyard, your eyes remain at the castle, taking in all the details that you are seeing upon first glance before immediately finding the front door of the majestic palace which holds another surprise waiting for you.
Right there, standing at the threshold of the new palace which would soon become your new home, surrounded by his royal guards as he awaits for your arrival, is your father. His Royal Majesty King Aneas who had been there to bid you farewell as he sent you off to your departure from The Citadel is now here, waiting for you to arrive at your destination in the dawn.
Too astonished at the sight of your father, you can barely focus on anything else, not even when the royal guard welcoming your arrival comes to assist you as you step down from the carriage. You barely notice the touch of the guard's gentle hand as he brings you to your father, who is waiting patiently for you with a smile on his face, and for a moment, you almost believe that the sight of him standing right in front of you is nothing more but yet another figment of your imagination.
That is, until you hear a heavy chuckle coming out of the back of his throat, his low and deep voice letting you know that he is real, that His Royal Majesty King Aneas is actually here, looking deeply into your curious eyes when he calmly greets you,
"Welcome home, Princess. Welcome to Stargrave Castle."
"How was it possible for Your Majesty to get here before I do?"
Seeing your father welcoming you at the door was already quite an unexpected affair, but it feels more astonishing to see him laughing so freely at your question. Surprisingly, none of the guards or staff around you seem fazed at how lax he is being with you, unlike how he would usually act while at The Citadel where he would still address and treat you formally in front of others.
"Out of all the questions that you could possibly be giving me, that was your first choice?" King Aneas asks you curiously.
"Honestly, I have too many questions right now but I just don't even know where to start. Although I must say that it's what I'm most curious about right now," you simply tell him with an exhale of sigh, and you are not completely lying either. You do have a myriad of questions running through your head, yet this has been the one plaguing your thoughts for quite some time. Even before seeing him today.
After the day you tried to find your father at the palace only to hear that he was away, you kept remembering all the times you found out that His Majesty was gone from the palace without you ever seeing him leaving, or when he would suddenly show up to see you right after arriving back from his trips without you ever noticing his return. And now here he is, appearing right before your eyes, when you still remember clearly how you saw the King retreating back into the palace as the royal carriage took you away from The Citadel.
Instead of giving you the answer that you needed, your father simply turns away, leaving you with no choice but to follow him. Walking into the entrance foyer, you are met by the presence of the palace staff, the lady maids and servants who are standing in line against the wall to welcome your arrival. Each one of them formally greets you, curtsying and bowing at their waist as the King announces your arrival.
"These are the palace staff who will assist you on your daily duties and tend to your needs while you are staying here," King Aneas calmly introduces them to you, before summoning someone from the line.
A man who seems like an older gentleman with a thick hair that appears almost like silver comes forward to greet you with a bow. Wearing a formal royal suit, the man also carries with him a short sword, something that you had rarely seen back at The Citadel where it would have been forbidden for anyone working closely with the King to carry a weapon or armoury with them.
"This is Lord Gordan. He is the head of staff and my right hand man who is responsible in taking care of all the important matters within the palace," your father explains, introducing the man to you.
"Your Highness," Lord Gordan greets you with a bow.
"He will help you with everything you need and be your personal guide as you take your time adjusting yourself with this palace. Since you didn't bring with you any of your lady-in-waiting or personal maid from the capital, Lady Abigail will temporarily take over all of their duties until you choose yourself your personal attendant and lady maids to assist you with your daily needs and royal duties."
King Aneas then proceeds to take you through the palace, accompanied by Lord Gordan and a royal guard following close behind. You had parted ways with Nanny Abigail and the friendly driver at the front door, as a senior servant had taken over your governess' care by showing her towards her personal chamber so she could have some rest while the driver bid to you his goodbye to tend to his exhausted horses.
You continue to follow your father until you reach a glorious-looking room that looks to be his personal office or study room. The room feels more expansive compared to the one he normally uses back at The Citadel, with a small library connected to it on one side and various artefacts being laid out on the opposite side. Even the desk at the center seems larger and stronger, with a chair that has a high backrest which seems more like a throne than a regular working chair.
On the corner of the room, you see a mirror standing in front of a massive bookcase. The dark surface that barely reflects anything you see in the room draws your attention to it, and you are almost sure that you see a sight of blue threads of light sparkling on the mirror which dissolve just as quickly as they appear before your eyes. But with a ton of things running through your mind at the moment, you choose to pay no heed to it further and stay away from it instead.
While the King is busy conversing with Lord Gordan, you walk towards the nearby window overlooking the courtyard, giving them some space to discuss their matters as you look around. You take a moment to revel in the sight of the morning sky which you can see beyond the palace's walls, enjoying the moment of peace, until you hear the King relieving Lord Gordan temporarily to tend to his other duties.
"I don't understand," you finally ask the King once you are left alone with him in the room, though you remain by the window to bask in the warm sunlight to keep your mind clear for this conversation. "Where are we, Father? What is this place?"
King Aneas comes to join you and looks out the window, staring far into the distance. "This is Stargrave Castle. This place is special, and safe," he says, keeping his eyes at the brightening morning sky for a while longer before turning to you. There is a hint of softness in his gaze when your gazes meet each other. "You don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
A gentle smile appears on his face when King Aneas answers you, "This is home. Your home. You were born in this place and were raised here as a child by your mother."
"What? But I thought—"
Out of all the things you had expected to hear, all the answers you wanted to gain from him, this was not one of them. A part of you is quick to deny this, but then all the distorted memories you have had over the years start coming back to you, leading you to start wondering—
"That you were born at the capital? That your true home was the summer palace?" your father questions you, and you find yourself nodding, too speechless and confused to answer him with words. "No, Princess. This is our home castle."
The King looks away again, and you can sense hurt and bitterness coming from his words when he gently adds, "This used to be, at least."
You remain silent. Your head is spinning, unable to comprehend this new reality that he is forcing you to see after years of believing everything that your memories have been telling you about your past life. When the King, your own father, continues to tell a completely different story than what you had remembered, it almost feels like you are listening to the life of an entirely different person.
"Right after you were born, our empire was forced to face a situation much similar to this one. It was at the end of the Great War, and in order to keep you and herself safe, your mother took you away from home. The summer palace, Seacrest Manor, was a sanctuary that your mother built together with the people who joined her in her escape, and she remained there until I was able to build us a new home, only once I conquered the land of Smotia and claimed it as ours. That was when I finally came to find you and your mother and brought you both back to join me at The Citadel. The manor remains to this day, only as a memorial to your mother's journey and home for the people who fought alongside her to find and built their safe haven, and so does this castle, as it holds many memories of our peaceful life before the war."
Everything sounds absurd, even as you listen to this whole new story. The story that had not been written in the history books which you studied almost your entire life. And yet, you find yourself his words as you listen to them carefully and find no deceit in them. "That was how you got to Smotia. Because Mother made it her—no, our sanctuary."
"You are correct, Princess," the King says with pride gleaming in his eyes. The same pride that blooms in your chest as you picture your mother as the one behind the rise of your father's empire.
There are still so many questions in your head, so many things that your father has yet to explain, yet the whole night has been such a journey that you feel too drained to take anymore of this in. So you keep most of your questions and doubts to yourself.
For now.
"Is this not a part of Smotia?" is the only thing you ask of him as you look out the window, witnessing the rare sight of sunrise that you have never seen before back at the capital—the crystal glow of the sunlight being reflected on the surface of the calm ocean as it continues emerging fully from the horizon.
King Aneas smiles. "This part of the region is known to be Flagon. Smotia's own domain ends at the center of the Elcester Forest and where the bluffs bordering between our empire's territory and our neighbouring empires reside." You suddenly remember the odd place where you had emerged onto after encountering the blue wall of flame, about the soldiers who came to warn you about crossing over territories where you don't belong to, and finally understand more about the tension that had been shared in the carriage then. "This territory is still under Nythelean Empire's rein, with the center of the government now placed at The Citadel, but you might soon find that the people here are...different."
You raise your eyebrows. "Different from the people in Smotia?"
The King nods. "Most of them are, although there are a lot of the people residing in this palace who used to live in Smotia. Just like how there are people back in the capital and the surrounding districts who had once lived in this part of the region before joining me in Smotia to help me build the capital and its towns."
"Everything here does seem different," you admit to your father, while refraining yourself from telling him that you can also feel some differences from him.
Ever since the moment you met him at the main entrance of the castle, you had already felt it. When at The Citadel, His Majesty seems more restrained and closed off when it comes to interacting with his people or when dealing with any matters related to the Empire, he seems brighter here and more open to talk to, and you can even feel a comforting vibe emerging from him by staying this close to him.
"This place, this side of the Empire's territory, is nothing like the other part of the region that you have been so accustomed with growing up at the capital," the King answers you, drawing yet another curiosity from you that you turn to look at him closely for answers.
"Really? What is so different about this place?" you curiously inquires him. "What exists in this place that we wouldn't be able to find before back at the capital, aside from its people?"
King Aneas, who is usually so quiet and has been known to hold a myriad of secrets, turns to you with a smile on his face, as he reveals to you the one secret that you would have never expected to hear directly from him.
"Magic."