The two Latilians wander around the Vlenna open market. Due to its rather low population for such a massive city, the open market here is not crowded and more prosperous in quantity, contrary to the image of everyday Latila. A good space to hang around and not worry about being crushed by tons of people, even for a small child.
“What did you buy there Belisarius?”
On Belisari’s hand there is a mysterious glass bottle, one covered with wrap to prevent people from seeing what is inside. It looked heavy to say the least. With some curiosity kicking her urge, Lily asked her companion such.
“Just some sugarcane syrup. I guess this would be a fine gift for Aurora, considering how much she asked for some sweet cooking ingredients.”
Few days ago when they had just arrived at Vlenna, Lily did mention buying gifts for Klein and Arlin, her two brothers in homeland, and Aurora. Probably this much syrup might be enough for that child, they should depart and really look for something that would fit the Voyage brothers:.
“And I remember you said that you will treat me as well”-saying Belisari, smiling while looking at his companion on his side-”Would you be so kind as to give me something good?”
**
“Good morning, Sir Payens”
“Your Majesty, did not expect to meet you here.”
“Here” is the Voyage Latilus Palace, also known as the headquarter of the Knight Cathedraller in Latila, a place where is filled with military personnel walking from here and there, a place where only 2-3 rooms for family members are comfortable, the rest were just like an actual training camp, a place where aside from Belisari no one in the Latila monarch want to stay there. King Justinius despite all of that decided to pay a visit to this place while the first householder and her brothers were not present:
“Where’s Zenos”-asked the king about the second householder-”Is he here?”
“You want to call me Your Majesty?”
From behind Gerald a middle aged man walks forward and kneels down to his king. Zenos Servus Voyage, second in-line of inheriting the title of Archduke of Voyage, one of the elite members among the elites of the Knight Order, the most powerful man in the House of Voyage, and…
“...so you are the adoptive father of Lily and father of Klein and Arlin. This is the first time we meet face to face like this.”
After Lily’s parents died in the 1453 Siege of Latila, Zenos stood up and took the responsibility of adopting the girl into his family. That is why despite calling each other brother and sister and considering them so, Lily is not blood related with the two brothers of Voyage, nor the person she refers to as “father”.
And in spite of being a noble, the man had never been in contact with Justinius. At best, the king would send a few letters to him when the Archduchess is busy, but because Zenos almost never shown up at the Latila palace, nor Justinius been here, the two surprisingly never been this close:
“Yes, and please address me as Zenos, Your Highness.”
“Sir Zenos, okay. May I enter?”
“Yes, Your Highness, I will tell the maids to prepare some tea.”
“Good. Sir Payens, may you go with us.”
**
“The tea is nice and has a light apple scent, I like this. Is that true that Aurora made this?”
Justinius places down the tea cup to the table. Just like the king said, the tea, a drink which was introduced by a Vinecian merchant after his journey to the Oriente, aside from its usual taste, added a tender smell of apple. Aurora earlier had cut apples into multiple slices, spread some sugar on their surfaces and dried them, which resulted in cuts that could be added to the progress of making tea to make it have the scent of apples. The girl planned to introduce this product to the Maritimers to make a profit, but she went to Vlenna earlier. The Voyagers with that had the chance to have a sample of this product before anyone else, and for sure they really love it:
“Yes, and we do appreciate that. It makes tea much more pleasant to drink. I wonder if she would make more of this, but with different fruits. Your son, His Highness Belisari had brought us a wonderful person”
Zenos finishes his drink and places his cup aside:
“So, Your Majesty, may you be pleased to tell me why you are visiting this domain? You usually exchange words with my daughter or send letters. The King being here today meant that this is some emergency matter, I believe.”
Justinius answers him:
“You are correct. Yes, Vlenna is on the brink of being invaded, the schedule is put to around a month, now we have a fixed date for us to prepare in advance, I am here to discuss that matters. You might’ve heard of it from Lily, I’ve informed her I recall? I trust that she has informed both of you about that…”
“Not me”-Zenos raises his hand, complaining-”She never informed me anything, it was Sir Payens here who told me about that.”
“Well….I see… my son was right, the relationship between you and her is not exactly warm. You should resolve this conflict as soon as possible.”
“It won’t end anytime soon. It has been like this for eight years when I first asked her to give me the title of Archduke”-he says, smiling, yet his voice contains a bitter tone-”I tried to be casual at first, but when that didn’t work I became more and more aggressive. Before I realized I was wrong she had truly hated me.”
“Why did you ask for the title anyway? You are an aristocrat already, and unlike Lily you take no responsibility.”
Justinius asked honestly. The aristocracy system in this kingdom gives a heavy burden to the patriarchs of every House. The Archduke of Voyage and former Count of Flemton were somewhat Ministers of Defense of Latila, with family members being advisors and can help consult decisions of their patriarchs via vote. Now with House of Flemton exterminated in the Elestovakian War, the responsibilities solely lie on the patriarch of Voyage. And unknown to the king, it was those responsibilities Zenos was aiming for.
The House of Voyage had existed for 1448 years up to this point. In its entire history, rarely has there been any patriarch younger than 30, if excluded those “temporary patriarchs”, a title which could be appointed by another patriarch before his or her death, or before heading to battle, to give the House one that could lead them before appointing someone better. Those can be in various ages, official patriarchs however weren’t young, since elder members tend to have more commanding experience than young ones. Yet, when the title of patriarch of Voyage was descended from Lily’s father, to her mother, then to her, or course just temporarily, the girl took over the House and claimed herself to be the official patriarch of Voyage when she was 16, which at that time the Voyage family was in a crisis so nothing could be done to prevent it from happening. Nonetheless, after the House is stabilized, the question of whether Lily could be the Archduchess is now a topic discussed not just between the members of Voyage, but the Knights Cathedraller and other military factions in the country as well. After all, with the current seat, Lily is the head of the Latilian Royal Army, and Zenos doesn’t want that happen:
“My daughter’s fighting capability is undeniable, her charisma is even greater, though her decision making ability and self-control is problematic. Not me being overconfident, but I should be the one who claims the title instead of her.”
Zenos said confidently. It might be true that he is weaker than Lily, no one in this kingdom nor anyone he knew can fistfight, sword fight or gunfight her and win, and with that people are willing to follow her into a fight knowing that they are fighting on the side of an omnipotent warrior.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
However, Lily herself is easily triggered and hardly controls her temper, and that attitude can barely command an army:
“In order to protect this nation, I should be the Archduke.”
“I understand”
The king pours for himself some more tea, then continues:
“That makes more sense when you hear it. I thought you were just greedy, hungry for power, like how Lily described you to me. It truly takes a visit to truly understand people, by looking at them and listening to their stories and thesis. Of course, if that is your true intention, Sir Zenos.”
Zenos raises his hand to make a cross:
“I swear in the name of God, Joshua Krist and Saint Morgan, all I’ve just said is my true thought.”
“I trust you. Nevertheless, I cannot help you, my son Belisari will not be pleased with that. Your daughter is within his inner circle, perhaps the person he is closest to, more than his own father….”
“I can see that. They have been joined at the hip since that day ever.. .”
**
“So some fine wine for Klein, a sharp sword for Aurelian and necklace for Arlin, do we need anything else?”
Finding gifts for the two Voyage brothers and Aurelian is a rather simple task. Aurelian likes something practical in combat, a light sword would fit that description. Klein meanwhile enjoys something nice to show off his aristocratic status when meeting with other people, wine is the finest choice for that. As for Arlin, because the guy can consume any type of alcohol, jewelry is arguably the better option:
“Nothing I guess”-Lily checks her pockets-”I still have plenty of money. As I said I will have you something. What would you like?”
“Something you think that would fit me well.”
“That answer makes it harder to pick. Is a crimson scarf okay? I find you look great with that color.”
**
“As for Belisari”-Justinius switches the topic to his son-”Unlike Aurelian, he was born earlier and received a better education, and wiser I dare say. And although you may find my son not being serious about anything, it is just because that thing does not affect anyone within his circle…”
The king speaks, to which Payens agrees with him. Like Justinius here, the knight has witnessed Belisari grow up, how he interacts with everything, everyone surrounding him. Gerald is a person who knows exactly what characteristics the crown prince of Latila had, and he can easily tell:
“...the closer a man is to him, the more care His Highness puts to that person…I’d say it has both merits and demerits. For one he can focus his time and emotions entirely on just many people, but on the other hand his carelessness to the other makes his charisma rather low in a large group ....”
“That is something he would learn later on. Besides, at this age he should care more about people on his side…”
“Especially Lily, these two people can fill the weaknesses of the others, I believe…”
**
It’s time to give this archduchess something. Belisari wants this thing to be a bit more special than gifts for the others, something meaningful…and also fits her look. Having an idea in his mind from the beginning, he leads his companion to a flower shop nearby, and:
“Here”
Taking a bouquet of flowers from the florist, the prince immediately hands it to Lily.
“Flowers?”
The flowers, ones large, fragrant, with flora white color tepals spreading out like a bunch of trumpets, contained within it a light smell of sweetness of citrus and gentle touch of spice. If there is a word to describe this flower, it would be “fancy”. What is even fancier is the name of it:
“A bouquet of lilies for you, one that is as pretty as these flowers.”
Belisari speaks with a confident voice, with every word in his sentence being honest words from his heart. He knows that he had chosen the right thing to buy, seeing how his archduchess be so delightful and blushed taking it from his hands, saying:
“You know how to flatten a woman.”
The girl takes it with pleasure, smiling brightly-“My name really makes it easier for you to choose a gift, am I correct?”
“You are right, but truly, you fit those lilies very well”
“If you said so…then I should put more effort into taking care of these flowers…”
(Not sure if they can survive the trip back to Latila, better carry some extra water on the ship)
“Hey”
“Huh?”
Belisari was looking at his companion, but a voice snapped him back to reality, and it came from behind the two. A voice that could be described as voice of a teenager, yet has some childish it it, which both the prince and the archduchess recognize immediately:
“What are you two doing?”
It is Aurora, she might’ve done all the work and is walking around to see the city. He didn’t expect them to meet her here though:
“Hello Aurora”
The prince and the archduchess turn back to greet the girl who is coming at them.
“Good afternoon, and that scarf looks great on you Belisarius.”
“Huh…o…okay”
“And that bouquet is beautiful too. Lilies, eh? Belisarius really knows how to treat you, Liliya”
Aurora shows them a necklace with a silver cross, the same one Lily had on her neck:
“I got this from the Knights Cathedraller, they thanked me for my help, we have a pair decoration now, right Liliya? Anyhow, I suppose you have a present for me too, Belisarius.”
She said so because on their hands there are gifts for other people as well:
“Ah, yes. This is for you, Aurora”-Belisari hands her the syrup bottle.
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...huh?”
“You call this a gift?”
“What?”
As the girl takes the bottle from the prince, she displays a clear oblivious expression on her face. Having expected a grateful attitude from Aurora given how many times she has been asking him to have her syrup, Belisari and his companion were caught in total surprise and confusion when Aurora’s face manifests dissatisfaction:
“This is a gift?”
“You told me to-”
“I cook!”-the girl starts screaming-”I cook for you and Liliya, hence why I asked for sugar syrup to make better food for you and her. This cannot be considered a gift for me, because it is actually for you.”
(Like a child screaming at their parents for receiving an unwanted gift, except this time the child is right)
“I thought-”
“What do you think I need cooking ingredients for?! Give me something else. a real gift for me, otherwise… eh…eh….”
Aurora’s voice turns sobbing as if she was about to cry, or probably she was actually about to cry over having this as a gift. This girl must be spoiled too much at home, Belisari thought, that is such an inconvenience.
“Is having a child also like this? If it is really like this then I ain’t have one soon”-Belisari thought for himself, although when he looks at Lily, he feels like that she also think the same as he does
“Hey-”
“Fine!”-the prince decided not to escalate this further. He walks toward a store nearby, picks up a random item, gives the shopkeeper fifty denarii (That’s costly) and throws it to Aurora, all under a minute-”Is this okay?”
What Belisari gave Aurora is a silver face mask, which could cover the entire face of its user aside from their eyes. He honestly asks himself why didn’t he choose a leather one, a way cheaper alternative, nor if Aurora is even interested in this thing considering that she is a girl after all. What he knows is that he has seen children wearing masks back in Latila before.
“Hmm?”
Aurora tries the facemask on. Her normal face is kinda pretty, which is a fact agreed by Belisari, Lily, Klein, Gerald and many person who has seen her before, but with the mask on, that beauty completely disappear, leaving a gruesome gray blank, creepy expression fixed by the mask:
“Okay sorry Aurora I didn’t-”
“I accept this.”
“What?”
Belisari as well as Lily thought they heard it wrong. Aurora seems to really like his “gift”, although her emotion frankly is unknown behind the cover of that mask:
“I like this one, I will keep it.”
The tone of her voice changed, seemingly expressing excitement. The girl finds herself a good place on the shore wall to sit down, one leg crossed fully over the other. Her right hand lifts up the mask a bit, revealing half of her face unmasked, the other side still hidden, saying:
“Ehehe, do I look like a background villain?"