The High Palace

”I can’t not make a joke about it. It’s just impossible. It’s just so goddamned big! I said it, okay? She said it, too! That’s what she definitely said.” ~Frein Nivan, the Visitor

Of course Frein kept his mouth shut. Or at least, he tried his best. It was inevitable for him to utter the words ‘huge’, ‘big’, and ‘humongous’ when talking about the High Palace’s scale and size. It wasn’t even just a palace. It was an entire city! The High Palace City!

But he always let his words end at the size descriptors. He was having too much fun watching Katherine’s struggling face, who was the only other person who could see the joke coming from the next planet away.

“Is she okay?” Frill asked in a whisper, pointing towards the Lady of the Void, who was clutching both her stomach and her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” Frein replied. “I think she’s just not used to how big this city is. She’s been gone a while.”

“Stop it!” Katherine finally said, no longer able to hold her laughter. “I get it, alright? No one else here gets the joke.”

“There’s a joke about the High Palace being so big?” Kristel asked curiously.

“Yep,” Frein said, not bothering to explain. “It’s too big. It won’t fit anywhere except the sky.”

“I guess, it is?” Xiv admitted. “I don’t see the joke, though. Why would you want to fit it somewhere?”

“That doesn’t matter!” Katherine pushed Frein towards the checkpoint. “We’re skipping the lines. They already gave you special privileges, so stop making them wait!”

The snout part of Zerax’thum’s skull easily accommodated the A.I.R. ship. And despite Frein’s impression of an isolated area to secure the royal family, it seemed that people came and went from this place, just like any other city. The checkpoint, however, was atrociously packed. While the flow was consistent, there just seemed to be no end to the people arriving at and leaving the High Palace.

Frein observed envious gazes towards him as he skipped the entire queue. He felt somewhat guilty and relieved at the same time. Boredom had gripped him these last few hours, and lining up on a queue might lead him to consider some unspeakable things.

“Welcome back, Princess Kristel,” said Maffelyne, who personally met them at the checkpoint. The half-elf did the procedures as normal.

“Checkpoint duty?” Frein asked, trying to get a rise from the half-elf. “Did you do something bad on Atlas Sid?”

“No, Visitor,” she replied, eyeing him curiously. “Since we’re on downtime, we took up some extra workload to help out. Sharron’s helping out at the academy while the brothers are down at Central doing guard work. Need to find ways to not get as bored as you, you know?”

“Keen eyes,” Frein commented. “Up for some sparring?”

“Maybe after I clock off duty.” She nodded. “You’re all set. Would you like us to take care of you yumas?”

“If it’s not too much of a bother,” Frill said, handling both Stiry and Fittey’s reins. Their litter followed obediently.

“It’s no problem.”

“Please show Enza where to stay as well,” Frein said, handling the half-elf Enza’s reins.

Maffelyne stared at his empty hand. “Sorry?”

“Hi.” Enza melded into view, causing the half-elf to yelp for her dear life. The yuma giggled. “Sorry.”

“What! I can understand her!” Maffelyne’s eyes were a treat to look at. “How?”

“She’s my yuma,” Frein explained, as if that was enough. But when the half-elf didn’t press any further, it seemed that it was actually satisfactory explanation. The entire scene caused a commotion, however. “Behave, Enza.”

“All I said was ‘hi’.”

“That you did, but they aren’t used to a talking yuma. Plus, you showed up out of nowhere.”

“I’ll be careful,” Enza said in a tone that was in no way apologetic, so much as it was mischievous.

Frein handed her reins again. “She’s a little playful, I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all!” Maffelyne took the reins with a dumb smile. “Welcome to the High Palace. Please make sure to observe proper decorum as bad mannerisms are grounds for rapid eviction. Enjoy your stay,” she said as if reading from a script. She was already too engaged with the yumas, especially Enza.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Just like that, their checkpoint was complete.

“I’m never going to underestimate royalty’s privilege again,” Frein sighed, looking back at the length of the queue behind him. He swore he could see a bunch of people raising their fists at him in anger.

“It’s quite unfair,” Kristel admitted, “but we’re not without proper cause anyway.”

She pointed at a group of Sky Knights that entered far from the High Palace territory without entering through the checkpoint. They brought Ashtine with them, heading straight to the Sky Knight barracks, presumably straight to their infirmary.

“We can check on her, right?” Frein asked, recalling the places he wasn’t allowed to explore without permission.

“If I’m with you, it should be allowed,” the Princess replied.

They walked and talked. Frein spent most of his time observing his surroundings while asking a few questions here and there.

The entirety of the High Palace revolved around Zerax’thum’s skull. They paid respect to the fossil by keeping its skeletal structure unblemished, adding only cobblestone paths on the designated roads, which went around bumps and spikes. Overall, it made for a uniquely shaped city, one where efficiency was secondary.

“Since it’s your first day, I think we ought to take it slow,” Kristel said, adamant that she be involved in his tour, for the day at least. Frein understood where she was coming from. The Princess had literally grown up here.

“Where should we go first?” he asked.

“What about some place to eat?” Katherine suggested. “We can go to either the Sky Knight Tower or the Royal Knight Academy. The cafeterias over there are top-notch. Or we can try one of the restaurants over at the residential area.”

“I can go wherever,” Frein said. “As long as there’s good food. It’s a plus if it’s quiet. But I’m not sure if I want to sit down or stand up.”

“Well, the big cafeterias are pretty far away, but I know a spot right in the next residential area.”

Kristel led the way, but before they could even take a few steps, something alerted all of them. Footsteps came rushing towards their direction, but there was no one around. The nearest person to their group was one of the Guard Knights manning the checkpoint and a merchant minding her own business.

Besides, the footsteps were coming from the opposite direction, coming from the city proper itself.

Frein heard the Princess click her tongue before Drawing a Kaimera-enhanced blade Meiyal Art. She raised the sword while stepping to the side. At the same time, Katherine gestured towards Frill and Xiv to step aside while offering a different proposal to him.

“I think you want to meet this head-on,” she said, placing him a few paces behind Kristel’s meiyal blade.

“What?” he asked before the clanging of metal reverberated through the air. Only then did Frein realize the entire ordeal had lasted for only a quick second. It clicked for him that all five of them were now fast enough to work together at multiplied speed. Even Xiv managed to keep up.

The clash prompted him to go even faster. It was the sword he saw first, manifesting as it made sparks against Kristel’s Kaimera. The next he saw was the slender hand of a woman that wielded it, before the rest of her body.

She looked similar to Kristel, only much taller with a darker shade of royal blue hair. She had the same azure eyes, sparking with a fiery rage. Her dress was a beautiful gold and white gown that was customized for freedom of movement.

It could only be Scuti Irista. Frein was too busy processing this that, despite his hastened mental processes, it still took him a second or two to realize the reason behind Kristel’s sidestep.

From the clashing blades, a meiyal wave erupted from Scuti’s sword. It headed straight for him, and he only had an instant to defend himself.

But there was no need for him to react. His six-meiyal Siffera was sturdy enough for him to simply deflect the wave without issue. It was so utterly weak that it took him a moment to consider if the attack would’ve risked the safety of the people lining up in the queue behind him.

He decided not to bother. The conundrum of strength was the adjustments for the weak. And while Frein felt guilty about it, it was still a huge waste of his time to give everyone consideration. He could just ask Scuti if she had calculated her attack in the first place anyway.

But before that, proper introductions were needed. And even more before that, maybe some explanation.

Time resumed to normal as he dusted himself off, showing enough flare that the Second Princess knew that her attack was ineffective.

Scuti was ignoring her sister; her eyes locked on him.

“You trying to pick a fight?” he asked, pulling from his boredom. “Too many people with Nature’s Favor… but the way you folks utilize it is such a shame.”

“Shut up!” Scuti yelled, finally realizing that she was staring too much. She turned to her sister and swung. “I told you not to come back here!”

While Kristel deflected her sister’s attacks, Frein turned to Katherine. He ignored the fact that he had gotten thrown to the side. Usually people cared a lot that he was the Visitor. Maybe the High Palace did have higher standards, after all.

“I used to miss sibling quarrels,” he said.

“Not anymore?” she asked. The two of them were alone. Frill and Xiv were too busy trying their best to stop the fight, but Kristel ordered them to stand down.

“I don’t think my sister would’ve swung a sword at me.”

“You’re not usually open with that kind of stuff.”

“You’re right. I just told Eli about it, and now I’m being sentimental.” Frein shook his head. “Let’s enjoy the fight instead.”

“You think there’ll even be a fight?”

Frein observed Scuti with Mesiffera. She was utterly unprepared, suffering from the traditional upbringing of Meiyal Arts practitioners. She had no chance against Kristel.

“Well,” Frein began, giving the Second Princess the benefit of the doubt. “She’s still an Irista. If Kristel puts her mind to it, she can probably stop the fight, but I think there’s something more to this fight than just a quarrel bred from years of being apart.”

“You’re being overdramatic,” Katherine said.

“I just told you I was being sentimental, right?”

“Yeah, you did.”

Together, they observed the fight develop, and it seemed nobody in the High Palace—be it Guard Knights, Royal Knights, or Sky Knights—bothered to make an attempt to stop them.

The entire time, Kristel was deflecting her sister’s attacks, throwing them to the side where the meiyal waves wouldn’t hurt anyone. On the other hand, Scuti was yelling her heart out, saying all her grievances about how she was left all alone for years.

Frein felt his heart sink. He could relate to Kristel. He didn’t know how to apologize then. Even now, he couldn’t figure it out. All he knew was that Kristel had to say sorry and not let her temper get in the way.

There was no way he could tell her that now, though.

“I don’t think we should stop it,” Frein said to Katherine, deciding to stay put.

“I think so too.”