Since the emperor left, Ashwin decided to be noisy again. He wanted to feed me so badly but his mother refused to let him.
“You are not feeding the princess.” His mother stated calmly.
“But why?” Ashwin started to pout.
“Because” the duchess put on a serious expression as she cleared her throat.
“I’m going to feed her!” She announced proudly while smiling from ear to ear.
I stared at her, as she baby-talked me. Ashwin tried to argue with her but she just ignored him and proceeded to feed me. Ashwin even tried to get in between me and his mom, but his mom just won’t budge. She then carried me into her lap.
“Awwwe, let me have you. Why is father so selfish?” She then pouted.
She’s quite young, around 19 years old, maybe? And maybe that’s why she’s acting like a teenager because she’s still one.
“Give it up Ashwin, when mom wants something, she gets it.” Ashnor sighed.
“I’ve always wanted to have a younger sister, and now that I’m married, I want a daughter.”
She then looked at her sons.
“Of course, I’m still blessed by two handsome sons.” She kissed Ashwin and Ashnor on their foreheads.
I found the relationship between the three of them cute. Ashwin smiled brightly as his mom ruffled his curly hair, Ashnor on the other hand looked shy when his mother ruffled his.
She then hugged the three of us. I had these mixed feelings within me as I felt each one of them. Ever since I came here, I’ve been experiencing emotions that I could not fully comprehend, but as I watched their mother-son relationship, even I know this feeling – sadness and envy. I was not given a family in my previous life, and although in this life, I have my cousins, aunts, and grandfather I still don’t have a father nor a mother.
I thought back to the man who protected me – my father. I wondered if he, too, would have loved me like how his sister loved her sons. What was my father like when he was alive? Why did he even leave the capital in the first place? Or am I really his daughter?
“Fifi looks sad.” Ashwin looked worried.
“Maybe it’s because of mom.” Ashnor shrugged.
“Ehh? Is it because of me? I’m sorry baby! Did I hug you too tightly?”
Then something exploded from far away. Bells were heard, and a few moments later footsteps echoed, and someone barge the door open.
“Your highnesses! Please follow us immediately.”
A group of knights came inside the room as they hurriedly escorted us into another room. Another explosion was felt again.
“Why? What’s happening?” Lucil asked one of them.
“The other knights are still investigating the incident.”
“Miss, do you want me to check outside?” Lucil’s dragon came forward.
“No, just stay here with us. The children are here, they’re more important.” Lucil responded, her childish behavior was now replaced by a serious one.
“Children come here, don’t let go of my dress. I can’t hold your hands at the moment since I’m carrying your Flizeria.”
Ashnor and Ashwin followed obediently. I looked back to find where Cecil and Ser Wayne went, but I could no longer see them. They were hidden behind the group of knights protecting us from the rear.
We then entered a room where there are stairs leading downwards. Half of the knights stayed outside by the door, while the other half continued to guide us down.
“Where are we going, mom?” Ashwin asked his mother since he noticed we were going deeper and deeper underground.
“We’re hiding. Just think of this like we are playing hide and seek, okay?” Although the lights were dim, I can still see how Lucil tries to calm her sons down.
The walls and stairs are made up of cobblestones. The only light we have is from the orbs floating near the walls every two meters. We can feel the walls shaking as we went further down.
Was it another explosion? What is really happening outside? Why was there an explosion?
“What could possibly have happened?” I heard Lucil whisper to herself.
The twins are still holding on to her dress with scared looks on their faces. Even Ashnor’s calm composure was replaced with fear.
“Please stay inside Your Grace, His majesty and Duchess Emilia are already inside.”
The inside is totally different from the outside. The room looked like a regular room in the palace, the only difference is that it had no windows. At the end of the room was a huge double door.
The duchess and my other two cousins are already seated on the couch. Nix was crying quietly while his sister is now bawling loudly. The emperor is talking to his dragon and a knight while an orb of light is floating above his palm.
“Father!” Lucil called the emperor with a worried look on her face.
The emperor with a grim look on his face only looked at her then shook his head.
“I still got no word from the magic tower. No one knows what is happening outside.”
Ever since the first explosion, a series of explosions followed as if one explosion triggered the others. Not knowing what’s happening outside added to our worries. Even Emilia looked afraid.
Why are the imperial family afraid? I assumed they’re the strongest people in this empire since they have dragons.
“Yo- Your M-majesty!” A voice suddenly came from the orb that was floating on the emperor’s hand.
“Zyde! What’s happening outside?”
“It looks like the explos.. were caused.. an artificial.. stone!” The other side of the orb is choppy. No one can’t fully comprehend what the person is saying.
The emperor’s face went pale when he hears the message.
“Lord Magician Zyde! We can’t understand you.” The knight shouted towards the orb.
“..majesty! The signal.. stable…”
The connection then dropped. The emperor became lost in his own thoughts.
“It can’t be. It’s already here?” The emperor whispered to himself and has a dreadful look on his face.
“Father, what is going on?” Emilia stood up, it’s clear that she was also silently crying.
“Nothing is clear as of the moment.”
Then someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
A knight came in and bowed down.
“Your majesty, the explosions already stopped.”
“The culprit?”
The knight hesitated for a moment.
“What about the culprit?!”
“We found no one near the vicinity.”
“What?! Search every nook and cranny, the culprits mustn’t have gone far! Search the entire capital!”
The knight bowed down and left the room.
“Ludwig! What were the knights doing before this whole incident?!!” The knight that was behind him only bowed his head.
“The knights were at their usual respective assignments, your majesty.”
“Then why were we attacked in the first place?!”
The emperor massaged his temples then he looked at me with an expression that I could not read. Hopelessness? Fear?
Was he blaming me for what is happening?
“I’ll go up and help the other knights investigate your majesty.”
The emperor looked away from me and only nodded.
We stayed inside the room without anyone saying anything. Even Nix was quiet, no snide remarks left his mouth. His eyes are even puffy from crying. His sister is now playing with a toy that was given to her by her mother’s dragon.
Ashwin and Ashnor snuggled closer to their mother.
“Ria, don’t worry. I’m here to protect you.” Ashnor whispered to me. Although his eyes are now wet with tears, he said it with a very determined look on his face.
“I-I d-don’t know if I’m s-strong enough Fifi, but, me too. I’ll protect you.” Ashwin on the other hand still has tears streaming down his face while he said it to me.
“My sons are now all grown up huh? You’re now being brave for baby FLizeria.” Lucil put a smile on her face as she patted their heads.
“And don’t worry, mommy is here to protect you all too. Also, Blue is here.”
Lucil’s dragon bowed her head at the mention of her.
“I will protect you all,” Blue stated.
I looked around the room and saw that the three dragons are all here, why aren’t they outside? Aren’t they supposed to protect the empire, not just the imperial family? Was that not the case?
Then someone knocked on the door again.
“Come in.”
“Your majesty.”
“I believe you have caught the culprit?”
The knight – I believe Ludwig was his name, bowed his head.
“Yes, your majesty. We apprehended a suspicious-looking person outside the palace. We believe he’s one of them.”
“You believe? Are you saying you captured the person without being sure if he’s one of the culprits?”
“… Yes, your majesty.”
The emperor sighed, “Well, it’s better than nothing. Where is he?”
“We’ve locked him up and are now interrogating him.”
“Is it now safe to go out?”
“Yes, your majesty. The coast is clear. Although” He then looked at us. “ Caelum Palace is unrecognizable.”
Unrecognizable? Why?
The emperor raised his eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“The explosion came from inside the palace. The knights are still locating the exact location.”
The emperor once again looked at me then sighed.
“Bring me to him.”
“To who, your majesty?”
“To the prisoner!” It looks like the emperor is now doing the best he can to maintain his patience with the knight.
The knight looked shocked at the request of the emperor.
“What? Am I not allowed to see a prisoner?”
“That’s- that’s not it, your majesty. It’s the first time an emperor would enter the torture room.”
“It doesn’t matter, take me to him.” He then looked at the knights outside.
“Also, escort them to Pulchra palace for the meantime.”