Chapter 12 — An Overdue Matter of Gratitude Owed
Back in her room in Parthanex Tower, Ria stood in front of her prized full-length mirror—full-length for her at least—as Orlisi helped her change out of the dress and let down her hair.
Children. Arranging a marriage between their children was what Aveneph had casually suggested as they were parting—because of the compatibility and strength of their respective affinities.
It made plenty of sense. And it was the ideal sort of future arrangement for Ria to seek in order to gain support for her ambitions toward the Revanti throne, but…
The thought made her mind grind to a halt.
Children. Having children. Being a mother. It was something so far in the future… and different than thinking about boys. Or beautiful Novidus men. Between her revenge and everything else, she honestly wasn’t expecting to survive to even begin to think about her future in that way.
She glanced down at her small body. Definitely, far in the future.
High Priestess Elora’s words floated up in her mind again.
…those loved by magic and destined to live a long life.
Maybe she really did need to think about the future?
She had only considered a future in Crysellia with a Crysellian, with a preference toward a noble powerful enough to enable her goals… but the reality was that she was of royal heritage—a status that came with new considerations even before getting to her ambitions for the Revanti throne. It would be short-sighted to not even entertain forming bonds with other royal Houses, whether that meant using herself or promising her future descendents.
But from what both Hulle and Phaelys had counseled, if she desired to make such promises, that was another consideration weighing on the selection of her future partner. Any of the Greater Houses would want a say in who she could promise their bloodline to, and with the new recognition by House Astacio of her carrying the Astacio bloodline… things were already getting complicated.
“Everything okay in there in Ria-Ria-land?” Orlisi asked with a cheeky grin as Ria stood in her nightwear lost in thought.
Ah? Had they finished already?
Ria blinked and looked at herself in the mirror.
She had never thought of herself as ugly, but if she ignored the weird things, was she actually pretty now? As pretty as the other noble girls? Iori? Or the Vesali cousins? Was that because of the changes? She had certainly become visually striking enough that pretending to be a somewhat plain background character or just a ‘cute village girl’ would be impossible going forward.
Not that it mattered. Ria shook off the unnecessary thoughts. Her bloodline alone would be plenty enough to secure a partner.
“Thanks for arranging the meeting with the princess,” Ria told her friend’s reflection then turned and gave Orlisi a smile, and a hug.
As annoying as the elf got at times, Ria couldn’t deny that each time, the results had been beneficial. The evening’s dinner hadn’t been an exception, even if embarrassing.
Orlisi returned the hug with enough strength to squeeze the breath out of her and make it painful until Ria circulated enough energy to resist.
“You’re welcome, of course, junior martial sister!”
After satisfying herself with the contest of strength, the elf-girl let Ria go and left with an admonition that Ria make sure to get enough rest—reminding that, in addition to the Grand Games training, they were still on a deadline for tower infiltration.
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The next day saw Ria at the Grand Library first thing in the morning. Beyond the need to seek out the book Aldri had recommended on time magic, there were matters she had been putting off that needed to be addressed.
One of those matters was the social need to thank the smoke idiot—no, Tensley Exter, she corrected herself—for his role in saving her and Phaelys during the events of that night. Ria couldn’t believe it when Keira had described what happened, hoping that her friend was making a joke in poor taste. Rather, maybe the true joke was that the annoying boy had saved her and done it in heroic fashion.
Ria couldn’t help a sigh as she queued up to buy the day’s Daily Shadow.
Her plan was simple. She would do as she did the last time she bumped into him as he was heading into the library’s archives. Then she would do her best to properly express her gratitude. And… not get mad no matter how rude or condescending he was.
Just as every other time she had waited in this queue, it wasn’t long before she was continuing on her way with the large folded paper in hand… and sure enough, there was an article about her.
> Rumors of the infamous first-year from Shadewood’s demise have been proven false as she has been spotted on academy grounds in recent days.
>
> We at the Daily Shadow have also learned that the first-year has begun presenting herself as Celestria ad`Drelfgar and revealed her father to be Ralesyn Astacio ad`Drelfgar—a descendant of Greater House Astacio and a little-known House located in Dartha province with royal dwarven lineage and thought to be one of Crysellia’s rumored ‘Hidden Houses’. A preliminary search of historical records shows that Ralesyn Astacio ad`Drelfgar was in the employ of the Ministry of Inquiry and Bindings!
>
> Could her background get any more mysterious? Her dramatically changed appearance and the new presence of Gryphon Knights accompanying her raise even more questions!
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> The clear physical changes do support rumors of bloodline doping through dubious alchemical means, and mutation is a known risk of such unethical methods to improve one’s power, but this is not something sudden or new for the first-year Celestria! On the contrary, even disregarding her more recent changes, a clear difference in the nature of her hair and eye color can be easily seen when comparing holocube captures from the time of her well-publicized duel with Verdin Ravelle to more recent holocube captures, including her surprise victory in Vesali City’s weekly Divinesday tournament. Such rapid progression cannot be the result of natural means!
>
> And yet, not only does she have the eye of the High Council but is often found in the presence of scions of the Greater Houses and is often accompanied by the heir of the elven House of Yurren. Alchemical abuse notwithstanding, she is clearly of a special background!
>
> Even with the frequent number of articles on the mysterious first-year, our readers might not be aware that a previous attempt to abduct or assassinate young 'Ria of Shadewood' was witnessed earlier in the same day as the dastardly attack on City Administrator Asara Vorshan’s Spring Moon Festival.
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> This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
>
> As a result, attendees to the prestigious debutante event report that young Celestria was having difficulty restraining her bloodline aura that evening, and multiple reliable sources contend that Celestria might secretly be of Vor`Xern descent. Opening the possibility that maybe she or her unnamed mother escaped from the clutches of the Shadow Empress and her dreaded pirate empire!
>
> What the real truth is, we here at the Daily Shadow will continue to investigate.
Alchemical bloodline doping… well… they weren’t wrong. And Shadwich’s methods were nothing if not ‘dubious’.
Looking over the example holocube captures in the article, Ria found it hard to reconcile the changes herself. Seeing how she looked before was nostalgic in a way. How far she had come from barely three weeks ago, she could almost be an entirely different person from the naive wide-eyed girl she was upon first arriving at the academy.
Overall, there wasn’t anything too concerning in the report other than the Vor`Xern being related to some kind of pirate empire. Having Revanti assassins after her wasn’t bad enough. She, apparently, needed to invite pirates to the grand celebration that was her current drama of a life. And not just any pirates, dread pirates. And a Shadow Empress. Just for funsies.
Ria let out a longer sigh. Another item to add to the day’s research efforts…
“Oh? We meet again. Blessed morning, Ria.”
“Woof!”
“Blessed morning, Harold,” Ria happily greeted the Library Guild second-year. “How pleasant to meet like this again.”
Harold smiled, gallantly bowing in Ranger and Ria’s direction, before schooling his expression to one of exaggerated sardonic sorrow. “Alas, no overly persistent peer is present for me to rescue you from this time. I would fear I’ve mistimed my entrance, but I see you have already found a knight adequate to the task.”
Ria laughed and waved her hand in denial. “He is for sure. Knight Rigonni here and Knight Arella have been assigned to guard me after the unfortunate events of the prior week.”
“Ah, war, a terrible thing indeed. One that, gods willing, will not reach the interior of the Grand Library. Nice to meet you, Sir Knight,” Harold greeted, bowing while carefully holding onto the books he was transporting.
Rigonni gave Harold a nod. “You as well, Apprentice Mage Harold. The Library Guild is well respected for their work.”
Introductions taken care of, Ria turned back to the matter at hand, “Sadly, it is that same overly persistent peer who I find myself obligated to seek out this time. Have you seen him this morning?”
Harold shook his head. “I am afraid not. He does make use of the archives often enough that I have seen him in passing a few times since, but not with a predictable pattern.”
They amiably chatted about the library, the weather, and the pressures of social obligations for a while before Harold had to regretfully excuse himself to resume his work.
With the area around the stairs to the archives deserted again, Ria took a few minutes to briefly browse over the other Daily Shadow articles, but when Tensley still had yet to show up, she couldn’t help chiding herself for the inefficient use of her limited library time and left Ranger to keep watch while she set off to get started on the day’s research.
The first topic on her list: Princess Aveneph of House Rafeti…er, something.
Fortunately, she was close enough, and there was a whole section on House Rafetiere. One of the books in particular, gleaming with the shine of new leather, caught her attention: Ambitions of the Second Prince of Rafetiere Palace and the Quiet War of Succession.
Inside the book, a regional map including the major trade routes showed House Rafetiere ruled over a small kingdom located along the western coast of a large continent separated from Crysellia by the Northern Everflow Sea with a capital city named for the bay the city occupied: Cerulean Bay. The map’s key linked the colors of the trade routes with a list of ‘Merchant Houses based in Cerulean Bay’, giving Ria a hint Aveneph’s country used trade to project more influence than its small size would suggest.
After a quick scan of the chapter listing, Ria skipped ahead to a chapter titled, Princess Aveneph seeks refuge abroad. The text was fairly dense with names and names of places that Ria had no clue about, so she skimmed through until she found the main event of the chapter. The second princess’ departure from the kingdom was officially publicized by the king and queen as a diplomatic mission and study abroad at a prestigious academy for nobles and royals but was clearly an exile intended to protect her from internal intrigue.
The book was contending that Aveneph’s brothers and older sister were maneuvering against each other for the support of the noble and merchant families within the kingdom in a behind-the-scenes competition to determine which of them would become the heir. The intrigues ranged from arranging the downfalls of minor Houses to acquire their assets or cause embarrassment, to contract disputes and aggressive usage of obscure law to gain advantage or force related parties into concessions, to mysterious ‘disappearances’ and heists by shadowy groups.
The severity of ‘incidents’ rapidly increased as the second prince grew in prominence. One of the disappearances, a long-time acquaintance of Princess Aveneph’s, was contended as the final push for Aveneph fleeing the country.
It was fascinating reading, and Ria found herself more and more glad that she hadn’t grown up surrounded by royal palace intrigue and siblings who would be so terrible to each other. She would have to borrow the book to read more thoroughly when she wasn’t as pressed for time.
Aided by her locator scroll, information about the ‘Shadow Empress’ wasn’t hard to find either. The ‘Empress’ was a Vor`Xern princess that escaped the overthrow and slaughter of her family along with loyalists from the country’s navy, vowing revenge upon the noble Houses that brought about her family’s demise.
It wasn’t surprising that Aveneph knew about the Vor`Xern, maybe specifically because of the Shadow Empress. The Umbral Sea where the former Vor`Xern princess had made her base of operations was near shipping lanes frequented by the merchant Houses of Cerulean Bay.
Had Ria actually been Vor`Xern, that might have made the meeting with Aveneph a fair bit more awkward. Thank Hemse, she had denied instead of lying and running with it.
Reading about pirates was just as fascinating a topic as Aveneph’s situation. Of course it was! It was pirates! But the brightening sky visible through the dome’s windows reminded her that she had one more thing she wanted to find before class.
When the time came to head back for Elder Genwald’s class, Ria found herself relieved at Tensley not showing up—or at least, that she and Ranger hadn’t spotted him. The whole idea had been stupid. Was there any way that a simple ‘thank you’ would have been a proper show of gratitude for someone saving her life?
At a minimum, a gift was probably needed. As for what would be appropriate, she didn’t have a clue! She didn’t even know what classes he was in or what his family’s financial situation was.
Rigonni turning a page of the book about House Rafetiere, brought her attention back to the knight. And she felt even more stupid. Rather than having him read up on the politics surrounding the princess or hold her books, she could have been asking the knight about her situation with Tensley! Who would know more about social obligations than a Gryphon Knight?
And so… a quick verification with Rigonni confirmed that a personalized gift and letter was the usual. That and, more worryingly, vows of service, betrothals, or even a ball in the person’s honor…
Ria promptly decided she would pretend she hadn’t heard a few of those. It would be fine. She had coin, and if she made use of Jarrel’s connections or Martina, she should be able to acquire something unique enough. She just needed to figure out what sort of gift would be best for the boy.
Having decided how to approach the problem, she felt better about it. Asking Rigonni or Arella before she set out to the library would have saved a lot of stress! Why didn’t she think to do that? She could only chalk it up to her sleep-addled mind still being preoccupied with the events of the prior day.
At least, she had succeeded in finding and borrowing the book Aldri had recommended—and for once, it wasn’t a restricted book! A dark chuckle slipped out at the thought. What kind of start was she off to at the academy that her trips to the library and private visits with her instructors almost always resulted in her borrowing restricted books?
As Ria wound her way back toward the library’s entrance, Ranger barked softly to get her attention, motioning with his head and pushing the view of the courier office through the bond.
Oh-! The letter service! That might be just the solution she needed. “Thanks, buddy!”
“Woof!”
But to whom?
She couldn’t write Tensley directly without including a thank you of some kind, and that was half the problem! Besides, asking the person in question about their preference in gifts was… weird? Definitely weird.
Best would be to arrange a meeting with someone who knew Tensley.
Other than Champions Rone and Presius, who Ria was hesitant to approach with such a personal matter, the only person she knew who had any connections to Tensley was Sophia…
Ria’s face scrunched up at the thought.