*TIME SKIP* - The Next Day - ~ Athanasia POV ~
"Miss, your father is going out again. Would you like to see him off?" Lily asked me from the other side of the door.
"He's going to come back anyway. Tell him that I'll be waiting for him at home" I said as I prepare to meet the magician named Lucas.
"Oh! Ok..." Lily leaves me alone in my room. I go into the mirror and check on my face again.
Oh dear, I aged again.... I no longer look like a teenager but as an adult instead. I need to get rid of this cursed mana quickly!
"Athy..." Mother appears in front of me with a pale face. She was stunned by my adult look. "What happened?" She gasped in shock.
"Mother..." Crap! I need to make up an excuse! "T-This is nothing! I was just practicing my magic!" I smiled innocently. "This spell will make me appear older but inside I'm still the same age!" I lied to reassure her that I'm fine when really I'm not.
She sighs in relief and looks at me sadly. "Ok if you say so, my daughter. But why haven't you been talking to your father? The fight was a long time ago..."
I turned around and put my head down. "Well he's still probably mad at me. He didn't even talk to me when he was aware I went outside the mansion without his permission"
"This is childish though. He does care about you but he doesn't know how to handle this situation as a parent. You are his only child" Mother said. "You'll have to make up eventually"
"... I'll do it tonight then. I'll talk to him for you" I said to satisfy her.
"This isn't for me! This is for both of you guys!" She exclaims. "But please, do it and I'll also talk to your father"
"Ok, I'm going outside to play with Raven," I said. "Thank you and bye"
"Ok... Bye Athanasia and don't worry too much about it too" She vanishes in the mirror.
*TIME SKIP* - Hours Later -
"Sigh. Raven you really don't need to come" I wander around the field outside the wizard tower with a blank mind. Then something caught my attention and I stared at it.
'Master, what's wrong??' Raven bounces around and stands next to me. 'Is there a threat??' He bares his fangs and growls at nothing.
"No... It's" I walked over to the thing and picked it up. "It's the flower crown that I made yesterday... while you were fighting him" I move the crown around and inspect it closely while holding it up in the air. It's still intact even after I dropped it?
'Master! I sense him!' Raven lifts his nose and sniffs his presence.
"Oh shoot. I forgot we're supposed to meet by the river" I facepalm. "I'm too lazy to walk there but I also gotta save my mana for the transfer" I cried to myself.
'Master, I can carry you there!' Raven wags his tail at me. I rejected his offer but he insisted and I thought about it. My laziness overpowers independence and so I took off his collar. He grows in size and becomes as big as a lion.
I get on top of him and position myself so that I won't fall off while riding him. I held onto his fur tight and put on my hoodie, just in case I needed to go back by foot because I couldn't bring my ring or bracelet. It might get destroyed in the process.
'Ok! Hold on tight!' Raven hops up into the air which caught me by surprise and was unnecessary. Then he dashes into the forest so fast that the wind causes me to have pink eyes, forcing me to keep my head down for the rest of the ride. When he began to slow down, I lifted my head up to see a familiar figure standing by the river, waiting for someone.
He turns and gazes at me in astonishment by my surprising arrival. "... I see you brought your beast" He comes closer to us but Raven snarls at him which makes him freeze. He glares at Raven and he stops and avoids his eyes by looking to the side. "Are you going to give me your beast?"
I got off of Raven and dust myself off while staring at him with a stone face. "No. That's not part of the deal. He's only here to accompany me" I exclaimed.
"You sure about that? If he stays here any longer, I don't know if I can resist my temptation." He said while smiling specifically at Raven, trying to scare us.
I rolled my eyes and snapped my fingers to get his attention. "Don't even try, we're both here for one thing only" I said and sent Raven away. "I'll call you when I'm finished"
'Yes, Master' Raven bows his head and runs off into the distance.
I turned around to see him up close to me and we looked at each other in the eyes. "Sending him away won't help much because I can still track him" He grins evilly and then continues speaking but I wasn't listening. I was focused on his head that seemed as big as father. I wonder if the flower crown fits him. Well in order to know, I'll have to test it...
"So... yeah an- hey, what are you doing?!" He shouts as I place the flower crown on him. It fits. "What is this shitty thing??" He slapped my hands off of his head.
I smirked with a satisfied face. "It looks cute on you!" I tease him as he throws the thing onto the ground and even stomps on it which makes me mad a bit but I can create another one. "I guess flowers aren't your thing. Huh, pretty boy?" I cracked a smile at him.
"Of course not! These fucking things give nothing but allergies, itches, and even death! Why do so many people like these things??" He complains and I watch him go into agony over some flower crown I made. He really has a short-temper...
"You curse a lot..." I comment and get my book out. "Whatever, let's just begin because I want to go home already" I swipe through the pages.
"So you'll just give me your mana and we're done, right?"
"Correction. I'll only give you half if I give you any more than that at once. I could die" I show him the book. "There's a limited for transferring mana so you'll have to be patient"
"... Fine" He states "No funny games though"
"Only if you don't" we both give each other serious faces making the atmosphere gloomy. "I trust that you'll only take half of my mana, will you promise that?"
He curled his lips into a smile. "A promise is a promise but after this, may I ask for your name again? It's unfair if you only know mine but I don't know yours"
"... Sure" I agreed to the terms.
*TIME SKIP* - Minutes Later -
After discussing our terms and how we're going to do it, we finally came to an agreement that we'll leave each other alone after he replenishes his mana. I don't even know if he needs my name at all but since I already exposed my real self to him with my blonde hair and jewel eyes. I should be cautious of him but, he doesn't seem like the type to snitch on people.
"I heard the emperor's name is Claude. That's stupid" He complains. "No offense though because usually emperors are supposed to have names that are linked to immortality"
"None taken," I said. "The emperor killed the previous one who was the heir to the throne" I explained to him.
"... Who's your father?" He asked me. "You don't seem to be in a good relationship with the royals at all even when you have jewel eyes" His red eyes glow up as he stares directly into my soul. "Are you a bastard?"
Why can't I move? Ahhh. I know why.
I looked at him with a stern face. "Don't look down on me" I glared back at him and felt my magic swirling around in my body. "Remove the spell or else you'll get less than what you bargained for, Lucas"
He frowns at me and snaps his finger. I got control of my own body again and he turned his back while swinging his long hair around. My blood boils to my head as I watch him angrily show off his hair. I want to cut that thing off!!
BANG
"Ow! Why did you hit me??" He rubs his head and looks back at me in confusion.
I crack my knuckles at him with a threatening face. "That's a warning for what you just did to me" I exclaimed "No more funny stuff and let's begin already"
"Yeah, yeah" He sits down and I sit in front of him. "So we just touch hands right?"
"Yes, that's what the book said. But if we want to do it fast, we have to hug..." I said while holding up my hands. "I'm fine with the longer progress"
He puts his palms against mine. "Same here" And we just blankly stared at each other. "What do we do next?" He asked.
"You have to start it..." I told him.
"Right..." He begins the ritual and my mana is immediately triggered from the start.
I felt my mana leaving my body and flowing out of my palms and into his body. My body gets more tired as more leave my body. At first, it was slow but the pace soon built up as I felt my magic going crazy and shattering. Then I felt pain internally and I knew something was wrong. I looked at him and he was smiling.
"You scumbag..." I grit my teeth at him and huff my chest.
"Sorry, promises are meant to be broken." He increased the speed and absorbed more of my mana. "I'm not as good as you think" He grins at me with a villain's face as his mana gets stronger making him glow up along with his aura.
"..." I tried to separate from his hands but suddenly he grabbed onto my palms and held onto both of them tight. I flinch in pain as my lungs become heavy.
"Don't worry! I'm enjoying your mana! It's very delicious" He ruthlessly taunts me while watching me die by his hands. "I was starting to like you but it's too bad... that you have to die"
Flash
"Huh?" He felt something strange and so did I. But we had different reactions.
A surge of magic wrapped around our hands. I smirked in pleasure as I watched my hands and whole body get smaller and younger. He becomes puzzled by my sudden change of appearance and tries to release my hands but I grip on his wrists tightly.
"Sorry but" I pin him down and stared at his pale face as he felt his magic going crazy. "You're going to be dying today."
"What did you do??" He glares at me as I watch him get hurt by my mana.
"Well I warned you not to take more than half but you got too greedy" I taunt him. "You did this to yourself, not me"
"Argh! What is happening??" he yells. "I'll kill you!"
"... That is if you can... with my curse" The process finally finishes and I got off of him. My body was tired from the transfer so I couldn't stand properly and collapsed onto the ground. But it didn't matter, I'm just happy that I managed to get rid of the curse. "Hahaha." I giggled to myself and turned my back to see him struggle with handling his mana and my curse at the same time. "Thank you for dying in my place"
"You bitch!" He glares at me and suddenly he attacks me with a blast.
Shit! I can't block that!
I shut my eyes as the blast aimed at me at full speed while covering my face.
CLANK
I heard the weird sound that's similar to two metal plates hitting each other. When I uncovered my face and opened my eyes, there was a barrier surrounding me that held very strong magic that even I can't possess. What is this?
"H-How??" He looked at me in shock but I still kept my villainess face at him.
"Well if you're going to die, I might as well finish my part of the deal" I lift myself up with the last of my strength and properly curtsy in front of him. "I'm Athanasia de Alger Obelia, the 'forgotten' princess of this whole empire"
Then I felt a strange pain in my stomach like there was still some magic left. Why does it feel like it's going up my body? Why do I want to vomit?
COUGH
I spit out blood and quickly cover my mouth. I collapse onto my knees and gape at the blood that was on my hands. "N-No..."
"H-Ha! Hahaha!" He laughed at me even when his magic was hurting and going around his body. "It seems like I'll be seeing you in hell later"
I can't be dying! I literally just avoided death! Now I'm going to die from the side-effects of the transfer??
"Raven!" I called out to my dog but I don't even know if he can hear me... Shit! I can't even track him without my magic! I can't be dying here with him!
"Your dog isn't going to save you nor will anyone else!" He gets down on fours as his mana breaks him apart. "I hope you die, Athanasia"
"And so as I am to you, Lucas"
SWISH
He disappears from my sight and I'm left behind near this DAMN RIVER! I can't believe I'm dying earlier than I'm destined to. There's still so much that I wanted to do... My family... they're waiting for me back home.
'Master!' I heard Raven's voice and I turned to see him running towards me. He stopped and I was hit by a dust storm that he created. 'What happened??' He puts his head under my arm.
"Raven..." I struggled to get on him as I pant in tiredness. "Home.... Bring me home" I weakly said.
COUGH
I spill even more blood out of my mouth and onto Raven's fur. 'Master, don't worry! I'll bring you home!!' Raven tries to reassure me.
My vision becomes blurry as it gets darker. I lay on top of Raven and pull over my hoodie to block the sunlight. I'm so tired.... I feel like sleeping all of a sudden.
'Master!' I heard Raven bark and howl to keep me awake but I ignored it.
My eyes get droopy as I lose my sensation to my body and let my arm down. I shut my eyes to rest for a bit.
I don't want to die. I have a family... Hannah, Ces, Lily.... Mother.... And Father.
I felt tears flowing out of my eyes as my throat became dry. I cry sadly at the thought of my father.
I didn't makeup with him yet... If I had listened to him earlier then I wouldn't be in this condition at all... I'm sorry, father...
I'm sorry. Please live on without me....
*TIME SKIP* - 10 Days Later - ~ Anastacius POV ~
"... Is she awake?" I asked Lily strictly.
She shakes her head with a frown and gives me a sorrowful look. "No... Not yet" Lily sighs. "I'm sorry! I didn't watch her carefully enough! Please punish me!" She cries to me with teary eyes.
I grabbed onto both of her shoulders and shook her. "Calm down!" I glared at her and slowly released her. "Your punishment will be decided after Athanasia wakes up. She's not going to die, her mana is only stabilizing itself" I told her. "But for now, continue working and train because when she finally wakes up. You have to stay in a state of awareness at all times, making sure she's never hurting herself ever again"
"... Yes, my Duke" She excuses herself and leaves my sight.
I go back to my office and continue working on my papers. However, how can I stay like this when Athanasia is in a coma right now? She's been avoiding me ever since that time and so I decided to do nothing but respect her privacy. Then when I saw her again, I didn't know how to react nor was I thinking at that time. All I could remember seeing blood on her lifeless body. Luckily, I managed to save her in time before she died due to her unstable mana. If I knew earlier, I could've prevented all of this chaos and treated her condition.
"... Are you ok?" I heard Diana's voice muffled from the mirror. I sighed and dragged her soul out so she could wander around my room.
"I'm fine," I said. "Is she unable to dream?"
"Well, I cannot go in" She frowns. "The animals told me that she encountered someone strange and he may or may have not attacked her hence putting her in this condition."
"Someone attacked her?" I grip on my pan hard until it gets crumpled apart into ashes.
"It's my fault. If she didn't attempt to do such a dangerous spell and got in a fight with you then..." Tears start to flow out of her eyes. For some reason, seeing her expression like that makes my heart hurt... It's probably because I share the same pain with Diana.
"It's not your fault," I told her once more. She's been blaming herself ever since Athanasia got into a coma and would often come into my office. We were both a mess but it's my job to take care of the situation. "Diana... Don't blame yourself. She'll be fine..." I reassured her.
"... Thank you... for being there for her when I couldn't" She said and I lifted my head up to see her near my face. I was stunned by her boldness to even face me so close. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest as I stared at her in bewilderment.
"Of... Course" I turned my head and went back to work. She peeks over and watches me write. "If you have nothing to do... why won't you go explore the mirror world?" I can't even focus on her around. It's frustrating for some reason!
"Well, that would be invading others' privacy! I'm not the type to snoop on people..." She said. "Besides I want to be with you" She smiles at me softly.
I slowly back away from her, skeptical by her sentence. Is she flirting with me? Or threatening me? "... Why?" I asked her.
"Well, it feels nice to be around you and you comfort me through hard times," She said so weirdly that I felt something strange in my heart. What's up with her?
"What do you mean?" I was confused. "I only said calm down and don't worry" I stated.
She smiled aggressively at me and I flinched from her sudden reaction. She turns around and walks away from me. "You know what? Nevermind"
"Nevermind what?" I asked as she transported herself in the mirror. When she completely vanished from my sight, I glared at the mirror. "Tsk. Rude"
*TIME SKIP* - Hours Later -
I stayed in my office all day, just worried about Athanasia. She has a peculiar condition... it's a miracle that she has me or else something could've happened to her. Ugh, I should keep a better eye on her from now on but luckily I cast a stronger protection spell that will probably last forever and I even used the world tree. Sigh. Still, I don't know if it's enough or not...
KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in," I said and Lily rushed in with a panicked face.
"My Duke!" She seemed pale yet happy at the same time. I asked her what it was that she wished to speak about and she grinned. That smile on her face lifted up my mood and gave me hope...
"She has finally awakened!"
*TIME SKIP* - A Week Later -
She sighs out of boredom while laying around in my office. I put down my pen and look at her with a stern face.
"Athanasia, you can still go outside and play in the garden. You're only restricted from leaving the mansion." I inform her about the new rules again.
After she woke up, the first person she wanted to see was me and even cried apologizing to me. Though I was relieved to see her alive, I was still mad at her so I had no choice but to ground her for now...
"Well, I wanna play with you, father" She looks at the ground. "Or at least have tea again... It's been a long time since we've been together"
I freeze and stare at her blankly. She's right. Is that the reason for her mischievous behavior? I haven't bonded with my daughter enough?
"... Sigh. Set up a table and I'll come out" I lay back into my chair. "I do miss our teatime"
"Really, father?" She hops with joy and smiles jolly at me. "Can we also practice too? I want to train my magic!" She asks and I nod in approval at her.
SLAM
She jumps onto my body which caught me by surprise and I wrap my arms around her automatically as the chair stumbles back a bit. "Yay!~"
I rolled my eyes and pulled away from her. "That's dangerous. Don't do that to me again" I scolded her. She changes her mood so quickly...
"Sorry!~ It's been so long since we were like this!~" She giggles and kisses my cheek. She gets up and goes to the door. "I'll ask the maids to set up the table!~"
She goes outside and runs into Lily. The moment I saw the maid, I quickly called her in before Athanasia could take her away. Lily properly greets herself as usual and I noticed a bit of sweat on her hands.
"Why are you nervous?" I asked coldly. "I haven't done anything, Lillian"
"I'm sorry, my Duke" She bows fast and looks at me with shaking pupils.
"Lillian, you have to stop that behavior. If you continue to be a state of anxiety, then how can you protect Athanasia?" I click my tongue in disappointment. "Fix it quickly. I'll only let it go today because I'm in a good mood"
"Yes, my Duke" She changes her tone and suddenly becomes serious.
"Better" I comment. "I call you in here... for your punishment" I go through my files and take out a folder. I glanced at her and she stayed calm, not scared about how severe the punishment will be. I threw the documents down on the table and slid to her so she could read it.
"You're getting engaged to a Count" I announced to her and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I already got your family approval. Any questions?"
"... why such a weird punishment, my Duke?" She picks up the document and reads it. She gasps in shock. "Him? Don't you despise him? Am I getting kicked out of the household?" She gapes at me. "I understand if you want me gone, but it'll just be hard for me to accept this marriage. However, eventually, I'll get used to it" She sighs and nods.
"Geez. You're so obedient, Lily" I scratch my forehead. "You're not going to marry him," I said and she tilted her head. "... You're be going onto your first mission"
"Mission? My Duke, am I actually ready to do that kind of stuff now?"
"Lily, you've advanced the most compared to the others, but that's because you were so devoted. Ambitious. Committed to simply protecting Athanasia" I lay a pen onto the documents. "Sign this and get information on the Count. After that, give me all of his secrets and crimes, then your engagement will be canceled! It's that simple... well for me"
She picks up the pen and places the tip on the signature part. "I will not disappoint you, my Duke" She signed her name and officially accepted the mission.
When she finished, I excused her from the room. As she heads to the door, I look out the window to see Athanasia waiting for me.
"Oh! One more thing, Lillian!" She stops right at the door and turns her head back to me. I grin in pleasure. "Do whatever you can to expose him and go far into the relationship if you have to. Don't forget, you're no longer just a maid."
"... Yes"
End of Chapter 17.
Bonus Story: ~ 3rd POV ~
"Mother. Will father really accept me?" Jennette fidgets with her fingers as her mother, Penelope drinks her tea.
"Of course he will" Penelope tries to reassure her daughter so she doesn't panic. "Why won't he love his own long-lost daughter? Besides, you are the 1st true princess of this empire and not to mention, heir to the throne"
Jennette gets embarrassed by the title "princess" and "heir" while imagining a family that she'll gain in the future once she's exposed to the public. However, one person came into her mind when she thought of her family.
"Isn't there one more princess??" Jennette asked and Penelope bit her lips in frustration.
'I hope not.' Penelope grits her teeth in anger just thinking about the rumors about the "forgotten princess". She tells her daughter there is no one and the 1st princess was just a false information spread to the public.
Was it true? That there was no princess in the first place that was born from a concubine? Many nobles at the gatherings would mention the first princess in front of the emperor, Claude. But the response they got was a death threat.
"Anyone who slanders or spread such false information will be punished by death"
He announced to the whole empire while also stating the fact that he does not have a child at all living within the royal palaces. Everyone who heard of Athanasia since the day she was born, soon forgets about the princess. Hence, the rumors died down along with the princess's existence. She was just a made-up person that rumors created.
Jennette understands her mother and admits that she kinda hopes to have a sister. Penelope hugs her own daughter in comfort.
"It's fine... Once we show ourselves to your father. Maybe someday I will give you a sister as you wish!~" Penelope teases, making Jennette flusters in embarrassment at her mother's weird jokes.
*TIME SKIP* - Months Later -
"Do you know Lillian York?" One knight gossips while training.
"You mean that head maid left the Ruby Palace?" His friend asked as he sat down to take a break.
"Yeah! She got engaged... again!" He said. "She's getting popular through these crazy engagements!"
The knights continued talking about the rising lady of the rumors, Lillian York. Ever since the scandal of her first engagement where the Count was exposed for embezzlement. He lost all his lands to the Karalis Household, then she becomes engaged again to a Marquis. The engagement broke after he got arrested for the murder of a family member and lost his properties to the Karalis. The pattern continues on and on as Lily becomes a spy to reveal all the secrets of the nobles so the Karalis can gain more power. Although her reputation plummets as she goes on with this mission as nobles, especially ladies spread false and promiscuous rumors that would ruin her image. Lily didn't care and kept her pride as the head maid of the Karalis Household because everything she did was for the Karalis and the sake of herself too.
"Why won't the nobles reject her then if she's bad luck?"
"Well, she's the head maid of the Karalis Household! If they get married, that's basically an alliance with the family so of course, they'll accept it!" They laugh. "Plus, she is known to be a pretty lady with both grace and etiquette, making her a perfect wife material and people said she's very beautiful too" They chuckled and talked about the rumors.
"Talking about wives instead of training, aren't we gentlemen?" Felix said behind their backs and they were startled by his voice. They quickly get up and greet the powerful knight. "You should be training right now instead of gossiping" He threatens them and they flinch at his cold eyes.
"Yes, sir!" They bow their heads and run off to the training course.
Felix shakes his head at the recent behavior of the new knights. 'I left my post just to see this?' He questioned himself and walked around while observing the men. After a short amount of time, he gets bored of watching them and decides to go back to His Majesty in his office. As he goes back with a blank mind, he thinks of the conversation that he eavesdrops on earlier.
"Lillian.." He mumbles. "... I wonder how she's doing" He begins to think about her and then quickly gets rid of her in his head. "No. No, I shouldn't be distracted by some rumor" he said to himself and then rethinks about it. "But she did come from the Ruby Palace... How come she doesn't know Athanasia?" He asked himself. "What happened?"
'Something is off' He thought to himself.
End.
AN: I'm reconsidering the Novel Lucas thing because the story is getting too complicated. So... there might be no novel Lucas appearance. Sorry.
|Word Count: 4990|