"You look wonderful, Princess. I’m sure that Young Master Woodime won’t be able to take his eyes off of you."

The maid couldn’t stop praising as she worked, wrapping up Abigail’s hair to accentuate her curls. Another maid was working on her fingernails while a third was working on her toenails, putting their all into elevating the Princess’ natural beauty.

"I think today it would be best if we go with gold for the nails, I believe it would look stunning with your dress."

"The toenails, Princess, should we do something special with them? Just in case Young Master Woodime ends up seeing them."

The investiture was mere hours away, it was a prominent and highly public event so the maids were naturally eager to see their princess show off. Nothing had been spared, they had brought out all the jewelry they could find and made sure that her dress was beyond perfect. They were sure, this ceremony was the perfect place for the Young Master to ask for the Princess’ hand in marriage. But their Princess…

"Hmm…"

Abigail stared at the mirror in front of her, her amber eyes murky and unfocused as she sat there rather absentmindedly. There was a wrinkle between her eyes, her make-up shifting slightly because of how her brows kept lowering. After a few minutes of silence, a long breath escaped her.

"Sorry, but I need some time. Can we call a time-out?"

She tapped her fingers against her palm to form a T-shape with her hands, an unconvincing smile hanging on her face. But whatever the maids thought of it, they were but servants so they had to follow her orders.

"Naturally, Princess. We will be awaiting your orders outside, please call upon us if you need even the smallest thing."

With the maids taking their leave, only Abigail was left in the room, her eyes closing as she tried to think. She felt like she could hear her breathing echo around her as her ears rang. Sirens. The scraping of metal. The trickling of oil. The roars of fire and the suffocating scent of smoke.

Her eyes opened again. She was nervous, stressed, so it was becoming increasingly hard to hold herself together while properly wearing her mask.

"Caine…"

The word fell from her lips almost unconsciously, her hands ruffling through her hair and messing up the work of the maids. She hadn’t been able to speak with Caine ever since he left for the northern lands. He was supposed to come by after checking on the seal, but he was called back to the Woodime family due to the incident with the sealed claw.

"I just want some damn peace…"

The words just slipped out as she kept ruffling and tugging at her hair. Kaisel was out checking something so she didn’t have to think about anyone else seeing her for the first time in a while, resulting in one of her old habits slipping out.

Things were going wrong. Sure, she was changing things to alter the flow of events, but all those things were small so as to not upset the balance. But the beast in the north ended up being contained in more seals than just one, and one of those seals was even breached by Alice. The beast was defeated and sealed, by someone other than Azuras thankfully, but just the fact that the beast was released should never have happened.

At this point in time, Alice shouldn’t know about her affinities. It was information that carried too much weight, it was not something the balance should be able to bear if it got shared too early. And yet, Alice knew of at least three of her affinities.

Alice knew too much, she acted too differently, her servant was too strong, she acquired things she wasn’t supposed to… Things were spiralling out of control, and Alice served as the centre of it all.

They had yet to find Azuras so it could only be him. But how? And why? What made his memories return early? And why was he using Alice as a conduit? Was he trying to weaken them before he made his move? Was he prodding their capabilities because he was unsure about how they controlled time?

She didn’t know, and it was wearing away at her mind.

She caught her own reflection in the mirror. A delicate face with smooth and clean features, healthy golden skin without a single blemish. Cherry-red and dainty lips, powerful amber eyes that seemed to reflect the world, and crimson hair that now hung wildly thanks to her ruffling. It all felt so… foreign, a slim hand stretching out to trace the reflection.

"I want to go home…"

———

The hall was abuzz with noise. People chattered and glasses clinked as they met, an orchestra occupying a corner of the grand hall to provide music for the attendants. The banquet hall of Earhart Palace, designed especially for ceremonies and parties like this, was filled with people.

The floor was covered by a gargantuan red carpet, the burning raven that symbolised the Earhart family sown into it with golden and black thread. The hall was basically completely open to accommodate all the participants, the tables holding refreshments occupying a portion of the room’s right side. The left side of the hall led to the various terraces and the gardens, large windows that also served as double doors adorning the wall, each one currently covered slightly by golden curtains.

People entered the hall at a very steady pace, arriving through the main entrance that stood at one end of the room, a few guards announcing each arrival. On the very other end of the room stood the balcony from which the Imperial Family would arrive from, a golden railing demarcating its edge while two marble staircases spiralled down on either side of it.

"Now announcing the arrival of Lady Alice De Vritara!"

The loud voice of the announced cut through the chatter of the crowd as the doors were pushed open to welcome the new arrival. Naturally, Alice was the one who entered the room, everyone’s gazes focusing on one of the main characters of this investiture.

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She barely wore any make-up, not hiding the small tan she had gotten from being outside so much. She accentuated her red irises with a bit of purple eyeshadow, only adding to the slight oppressive sensation brought about by her slightly cold gaze. Her violet hair had been straightened and tied up into a ponytail that was decorated by two black pins carved to resemble serpentine dragons, only their heads visible as they poked out of her hair.

She came clad in a deep red ball gown, its skirt adorned by several frills that had black lace roses run along their entire length. It was cut off by the shoulder, revealing her collarbones and nape while also exposing her arms. But while the dress exposed her arms, she wore black lace gloves that went up past her elbows. Rather than the usual frill that adorned the bosom, she had three lace roses adorn the centre of her chest, one black, one violet, and one a white-silver.

Dark and striking colours, she stood out as she walked. Sure, many of the men arrived in black suits, but the ladies themselves came in light dresses, yellows and blues especially popular. As such, she naturally drew attention. But Alice barely even looked at them as she calmly strode over to the table with refreshments, picking up a glass of champagne that she slowly sipped as she waited.

And with her making her arrival, it didn’t take long for the next big name to be announced.

"Now announcing the arrival of Crown Princess Abigail De Earhart!"

The banquet hall naturally fell silent when the arrival of the crown princess was announced, Abigail arriving at the edge of the balcony reserved for the Imperial Family. Her hair had been curled neatly, a light bit of blush added to her cheeks, focusing on enhancing her natural beauty rather than adding new things to it.

She wore an emerald green ball gown with a flowing skirt, small emeralds and sapphires embedded into the fabric to form flower-like patterns that went from her bosom and all the way down the skirt. She wore long satin gloves and covered her collarbone with a light pink shawl, a brooch with a large obsidian as the centrepiece adorning her bosom. Her ears were adorned with earrings featuring small crimson feathers, a golden tiara fastened in her hair.

"I thank you all for coming to this ceremony, and may you enjoy the refreshments we have prepared. I am certain that our new nobles will be honoured by your presence as they are ordained into their new status."

She flashed them all an elegant smile as she greeted them. She gave a light wave of her hand once she finished speaking, signalling that she was done speaking so they may return to their own conversations. Afterwards, she made her way down the stairs, naturally heading over to Alice.

"Ally! I’d say that I’m glad you could make it, but you’re one of the people receiving a reward so that hardly fits, huh?"

Abigail wore a bubbly smile as she bounced over, grasping Alice’s hand while nabbing herself a glass of champagne. She spun slightly so that she could stand next to Alice, allowing her gaze to sweep across the gathered nobles.

"Just look at them all, trying to be so sneaky with their glances. Heh, one moment they pretend like you don’t exist, but the second you show that you’re useful they start planning how to approach you."

She almost looked as if she wanted to pull up her lips, but she also looked like someone proud that they had found something before anyone else. She raised the glass of champagne to her lips, but what looked like it would just be a sip ended with her emptying the entire glass, quickly picking up another as if nothing had happened.

"Let me guess, the Duke has already contacted you, yeah? Probably talked about publicly recognising you as someone who can compete for the seat of heir? I told you all those years ago, didn’t I? You can win over Marion and the Duke by growing up well. I wasn’t wrong, was I?"

Abigail twirled the glass of champagne as she spoke. She wanted to drink it. She wanted to down it in a single gulp and then get to the next one. But she couldn’t. Too many eyes. One would have to do for now.

"You weren’t wrong, Abby. He called me in for a meeting the moment I came back from the north. I was useful now so he would stop ignoring me."

Alice flashed her a smile, clanking her own glass of champagne against Abigail’s before placing it against her lips. Abigail had an excuse now so she raised her glass and took a sip, keeping it to a normal one this time. She seemed to be tasting the alcohol for a moment, chewing on her words before she started to talk.

"So what happened up there, Ally, in the no…"

Her words were cut off before she could finish them, the announcer cutting through all the buzz again.

"Now announcing the arrival of Ser Gabriel!"

The hall fell silent again, Abigail swallowing her question. The second main character of the investiture had arrived, someone with two affinities on the Divine Star. He was the one everyone in the empire was most curious about so all gazes focused on the doors as they were pushed open.

The first thing everyone noticed as the doors opened was a heavy sensation. It hit them before his appearance, a weight on their shoulders that almost made it hard to breathe, a chill that lined the inside of their stomach.

Gabriel stood beyond the doors, now wide open. Violet eyes that swept through the room with a cold and calm gaze and silver-white hair that had been swept back neatly with only a few errant strands arching forward. A sword was strapped to his waist and one of his hands was resting on the handle, only adding to the heavy sensation that pressed down on the room.

He was clad in the suit that Trisha had helped him pick out for the occasion. Tight-fitting white pants and black boots that almost went all the way up to his knees and a crimson jacket with three golden buckles on abdomen. A black leather belt ran around his waist at a slight angle, encroaching on his abdomen. Most of the jacket was red, but the parts on the side, from his waist to his armpits, were black.

He had a long red cape on his back, but the inside of the cape was a dark violet colour that would occasionally be visible as he moved. Other than that, he also had a black half-cape on his right shoulder, a dense line of white fur running along the section closest to his neck. The half-cape had several thin braids of violet silk stretching out from it, connecting it to a black lace rose that served as the only decoration on the left side of his chest.

The hall was silent. Gabriel followed Trisha’s advice as he stood there and let a bit of his magic leak out. He had to stand out. For today, he had to be the centre of everyones attention. He didn’t retract any of his aura and started to walk. Slowly. Quietly. Calmly.

He felt their gazes. They lingered on him, unable to leave him. He drew their attention with his aura, his demeanour, he stole their breath with his heavy mana. At this moment, even the most foolish people present would understand the same thing. This was a warrior, forged in blood and death.

He kept walking, a hundred gazes following his every step. The hall was silent, as if people didn’t even dare to breath lest the heavy sensation fill their chests. His footsteps didn’t make a sound thanks to the carpet, yet it felt as if each one hammered against the ears of those present.

He saw her in front of him. Alice. It felt like ages since he had last seen her, lifetimes almost. She was stunning, a dark rose that rose all on her own. She broke through all the other colours in the hall with ease, everything he saw was simply dyed by her very presence.

Red and black, her dress was actually very familiar. When they were kids, before they had their magic affinity officially tested, he had once picked out a similar dress for her. But this time… This time she had gone above and beyond with it. She was stunning. He made it hard for those present to breathe, but he felt unable to take a single breath as he looked at her.

The Crown Princess was also there, but he barely even registered her agape expression and slightly pale skin. No, all he saw was red, black, and violet.

His legs stopped in front of Alice. He had to tilt his head down slightly to look at her. She looked up at him, and in her eyes he saw only himself, dyed completely in her crimson. Currently, he was a commoner while she was a noble, etiquette dictated that he knelt to greet her.

But he just bent his waist somewhat, a hand reaching out to hold hers. He raised her hand while lowering his head, planting a light kiss just below her knuckles, just as he had when they first met all those years ago.

"My Lady. Alice. I’ve come for you."