Love Talk

The green rays of the morning sun signified both anxiety and profound wonder for Kristel.

Wonder because the idea of her becoming the next Monarch was starting to sink in. Anxiety because there were only two more days before the end of the week promised by the Letterman.

The courtyard behind the High Palace, where she finished her morning exercises, was unusually empty. Scuti should’ve been here, grunting all over the place while swinging her Eternera. But instead, she found a half asleep faunel hiding in a corner of the hedge maze before the empty practice ring.

Elizzel noticed her and beckoned her over for some morning tea.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you away from Frein,” Kristel noted as she took a seat. “You two had a fight?”

“No. He’s busy. Mornings aren’t my thing.”

“What were you guys doing last night?” the Princess—as she still considered herself as, for the title of Monarch still belonged to her father until the end of the year—asked. “I didn’t see either three of you for about an hour after my anointing. Then you vanished after mingling for a while.”

Elizzel stiffened. “I asked you for tea so I can personally congratulate you, future Monarch. Not get interrogated.”

“It’s just a simple question.”

“You’re the next monarch of this nation, Kristel. And you’re tied with Brymeia and Evanclad’s Destinies. As a faunel, it is in my nature to support and follow you when I can. But private matters—”

“Really?” Kristel pieced the subtle clues and the constant dodging together as easily as a baby would fit shapes in their correct pockets. “You guys were having sex during my birthday?”

The faunel spilled tea from her mouth with a hacking fit. She ignored it and went low to the ground. The figure of the Second Monarch’s twin sister, hair flowing to the cobblestone, and head bowing in complete submission, was both unnerving and awkward for Kristel.

“My sincerest apologies, Princess,” Elizzel said. “Excitement played with our emotions and we could only revel in the way we knew how.”

What’s so good about it? Kristel ripped her thoughts away from the tempting pleasures of it before the indecency played with her head. Sure, there were nights where her thoughts got the better of her, but they were nowhere near this level of manic craze.

Kristel waved away the apology and urged the faunel to her feet. “You shouldn’t bow while in her form, Eli.”

She refilled their teacups and returned to her seat. “It’s fine. Katherine’s become more and more out of control since she came back from Frein’s world. I think the idea of him dying makes her more desperate to make use of any excuse to show their love for each other.”

Kristel shook her head. “What am I even saying?”

“Seems to me like you’ve dabbled a bit about love, Princess,” Elizzel said with a smile while she cleaned the spilled tea. “Ever had a crush? A boyfriend?”

“A crush,” Kristel replied, surprised at how easy it was for her to admit. She felt the sudden rise of heat behind her neck and was quick to douse it with her words. “Venry.”

Elizzel’s wide expression telegraphed the desire to know more, but Kristel was far too quick to change the subject.

“Forget about that,” she said. “You said you wanted to congratulate me?”

“I couldn’t yesterday,” the faunel said, understanding the Princess’s desire to move away from the mushy topic. Her eyes, however, said clearly that she wouldn’t forget it. Kristel could only hope that Frein wouldn’t find out about it, but that reality was next to impossible.

“With what you three were doing yesterday, no wonder.”

“It wasn’t because of that, Princess. I couldn’t exactly manifest with so many people around.”

“Oh…” Kristel tapped her forehead. “Right, right. You’re excused, then.”

Elizzel got up from her seat and went down on one knee, placing a hand in front of her chest where Kristel’s meiyal core was located.

“As the Faunel of Freedom and Consequences, I have two important duties. First is to support the Visitor in any way I can. Second is to provide you assistance whenever possible.”

“Frein’s a priority over me?” Kristel asked.

“While he’s here, correct.” Elizzel rose to her feet and returned to her seat. “It’s an agreement I’ve made with Evanclad when he initiated the Visitor Project. I used to occasionally come here as a Floating Dream, inquiring reports from Georgery and his kin. I don’t often reveal myself to the Monarchs, however.”

“Then you go to the Visitor when they arrive?”

Elizzel shook her head. “I don’t remember. Despite how much I suffered for it, meeting Frein during the Battle of the Vanguard was purely coincidental. Well… that’s what I thought at first.”

“What do you mean?” At this point, Kristel realized she hadn’t had a sincere interaction with Elizzel before this point. It was just the two of them, sharing stories—mostly the faunel—while drinking tea.

Elizzel shrugged. “The intervention of the Letterman convinced me and Frein that everything so far had been orchestrated by him.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” the Princess, soon Monarch, asked. “It’s like, no matter what you do, he’s seen through your possible actions and has accounted for them. Especially that letter with Father.”

“True, it’s a little infuriating. But if you think about it, it’s a display of absolute trust.” The faunel pointed her teacup towards the Princess. “None of his letters told any of us that we made the wrong decision, that we should do this instead of that. They were all proclamations and preparations for what’s to come.”

“What’re you trying to say?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Elizzel slowly returned her cup on the table, placing it on the saucer with as much care as her desire to emphasize this profound revelation.

“This is something Frein and I have been sorting through in his Mind Palace,” she began. “I think, the Letterman is one of us. Or someone particularly close, or related for one reason or another.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think it’s better if Frein provides you his arguments. He can deliver them better.”

An awkward silence filled the air after that. They refilled their tea, but somehow, neither of them could come up with a conversational topic. Something came into Kristel’s mind eventually, but she felt it was a little controversial or too personal.

“What is it?” Elizzel asked, reading the struggling expression on the Princess’s face.

With the question presented, Kristel took the opportunity. “I’ve been meaning to ask, do you have any other appearances aside from Evangeline?”

“The Forest Jaws,” Elizzel replied. “And the Floating Dream, like I said. But changing appearances isn’t in my forte. It would require a lot of meiyal.”

“What I meant to ask is other people, specifically.”

“Just Evangeline.”

“I see.”

Another silence passed, but the faunel broke it this time. “Why do you ask?”

Kristel felt like she was getting interrogated. But with these probing questions providing her with openings to indulge in her curiosity, she felt compelled to address them truthfully.

“Did she ask you to eat her core so you can remember her?”

Elizzel took a moment to answer. “Yes.”

After that, Kristel didn’t bother holding herself back. “What about the previous Visitors? Did they ask you to eat their cores?”

“No. I don’t have their appearances.”

“How are you sure?”

“It’s…” Elizzel frowned. She took a sip of her tea before she continued. “No, you might be right. I’ll have to explore what remains of my memories to make sure.”

“What about the Seekers?”

“Like Katherine? This is getting awfully too personal, but no as well.”

“Sorry. I was just curious.”

“Why?”

Another probing question. And again, she responded to it truthfully. “I’ve discussed your Tether with Evanclad and Norazzel. And while we can’t figure out much, we have a theory that you might possess their appearances.”

“Why is that?” Elizzel caught herself asking the same question over and over. “Sorry, I got used to being Frein’s soundboard.”

Kristel wasn’t bothered by it. “It’s just a hunch, but if Evangeline loved you enough that she’d give you her core willingly, why wouldn’t the other Visitors that you’d Tethered with do that as well? Since, as per our initial understanding, Tethering makes you fall in love.”

“Last time we talked about this, you were skeptical about Evangeline’s decision.”

“Last time, I didn’t have Evanclad’s entire Destiny and his personality with me. It’s a lot of information, but I’ve been trudging my way through it.” Kristel sighed and bowed sincerely. “He told me about you and Evangeline. I apologize for how I acted last time. I disrespected your relationship with her.”

“Please don’t bow, Princess Kristel,” Elizzel said. “I accept your apology.”

“Thank you.”

The faunel continued their conversation. “With this in mind, are you trying to say I didn’t Tether with the previous Visitors? It’s possible that I could’ve missed some of them, but I surely would’ve Tethered with those that I met.”

“No. What I’m trying to say is that the Tether doesn’t actually make you fall in love with them. It just makes you one and the same, and Frein is just coincidentally in love with Katherine.”

Kristel observed the faunel fall into deep thought. She was frowning while sipping tea. Finally, she came to a conclusion.

“It means, the Tether makes me fall in love with Katherine which bounces back to Frein…”

“That’s the theory, yeah.”

Suddenly, a certain doubt disappeared from Elizzel. The enlightenment made her realize that she might not have been enslaved by love, doomed to fall for every Visitor she Tethered with.

Kristel could feel waves of that realization. She detected massive hints of relief, doubt replaced with reassurance. It was a strong reaction that even she couldn’t avoid.

Elizzel wasn’t in love with Frein because of the Tether. She was in love with him because he was in love with Katherine. And the cycle of true, genuine affection wrapped around her.

The faunel sighed with a smile. “Thank you, Kristel. I didn’t know I needed this information.”

Kristel returned that relieved smile. “You’re welcome. I wasn’t exactly sure how you’d respond to it.”

“I just have one question, Princess.”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you, Nora, and Evan, talking about me?”

“We all agreed that we should help you get your memories back.”

Before she could continue on to explain, however, Frein, Katherine, and Scuti arrived. The Second Princess was smoking beyond Art fatigue, drenched with sweat, panting from exhaustion, and barely able to stand.

Kristel quickly dispelled whatever inappropriate thoughts about what the couple could have possibly done to this innocent minor. She decided to even avoid joking about it.

“How many laps did you run this time?” she asked.

“Four—” Scuti gasped.

“Wasn’t it four yesterday?” It was understandable. Improvement couldn’t be found everyday. It was impressive enough that the Second Princess had managed to maintain her current record.

“Fourteen,” Scuti said.

Kristel did a double take instinctively, as though she couldn’t recognize her sister. “What?”

“Fourteen,” Katherine repeated for her. She administered Samesia while urging the poor princess to keep standing. “Don’t sit or lie down. The vertigo will kill you… metaphorically. I told you not to push it. Unlike Frein, no one around here can provide you with meiyal resuscitation.”

Kristel remembered the process. According to Doctor Jo’war, such a resuscitation was an act of love, an unconditional sacrifice on the part of the provider to relieve the recipient. She had always wondered if it actually required the kind of affection Katherine and Frein shared.

“No,” Evanclad whispered from within her Mind Palace. “It’s a process that’s inexplicably shared between family members. However, such an act would be embarrassing. Imagine either your father or mother giving you such an affectionate kiss.”

Kristel shuddered at the imagery and replaced it with something less disturbing instead. She finished her tea, keeping some inside her mouth. Without preamble, she grabbed Scuti’s face with both hands and pressed her lips against hers.

The Second Princess’s muffled protests and squirms slowly diminished as Kristel’s meiyal, along with the tea, washed away her Art fatigue. It was an odd sensation. A melancholy feeling, as if part of her was going away. At the same time, there was catharsis, knowing that what she was giving away was helping someone she cared about.

The action derived a form of response from her sister. Scuti reached out with her tongue, grasping for more meiyal. Kristel provided only for a few more seconds.

Both of them desperately took in air as soon as they parted. Only then, did they realize they were among the sexually deranged trio. They ogled at them with keen interest.

“Did it work?” Frein asked. It was the first time she heard him today, she almost forgot he was around.

Scuti wiped her mouth. She tried her best to hide her embarrassment. “My fatigue’s gone. I think it worked.”

“Did Evan ask you to do it?” Frein asked next.

“He just told me about it,” Kristel admitted. “I thought it was worth a try.”

“So the affection required isn’t lustful love, but familial love?” the Visitor pondered to himself.

“Is he okay?” Kristel asked Katherine. “He didn’t react how I thought he would…”

“Would you rather we tease you about it?” the Lady asked, smiling. “That was sexual harassment, what you just did, you know? What if we told everyone the future Monarch’s a minor molester?”

“I had it recorded in my M.O.B.I.L.E. and everything,” Frein added in a heartbeat.

Somehow, Kristel felt relief. She turned to her sister. “Sorry about that. I couldn’t stand to see you suffering.”

Scuti blushed. “No… It’s okay, sis. Thank you.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I recorded it,” Frein said, interrupting. He showed the screen of his device as evidence.

“Send me…” Kristel stopped herself.

“Hmm?”

“I said, send me a copy…”

Frein’s eyes widened. “Oh…”

“Umm…” Scuti started, her face beet red. “Me too, please…”

The Visitor smiled awkwardly. “Sure, but I want to ask something first.”

Kristel gulped and prepared herself. This action and reaction between her and her sister would surely cause a lot of misunderstanding. She was racing within her mind to prepare arguments and reasoning that could help alleviate the most damning ones, at least.

Only, Frein had a different agenda in mind.

“I really need to access Alphazzel’s personal records now,” he said, scratching his head. He knew exactly what he was doing, fully aware of how tensed Kristel was. “Sorry. I just wanted to make sure nobody forgot the entire reason why I’m here.”

Kristel released all the tension on her shoulders. She felt weak and irritated. “I’m going to strangle you in your sleep.”

Katherine laughed out loud before Frein could even say anything.

He looked at the Princess with a sly smile. “Sorry, Kristel. I’m not into that sort of thing.”

“Shut up!”