Had anyone ever told me that I’d be so immersed in watching a seamstress sew clothes, I wouldn’t have believed them, but Lady Nadia, Alice’s grandmother, was just a delight. After she finished making the clothes, she wrapped them in a piece of cloth so they wouldn’t get dirty on the way to the palace. Lady Nadia left quite the impression on me with her charming yet quirky personality. It was easy to see why King Elwyn turned out the way he did.
She was a widowed woman who lost her husband in the war against humans years before Alice’s mother came to power. I was surprised to find her not holding a grudge, but she was a mature woman who understood that the sins of others shouldn’t be pushed on to the next generations, and thanks to the peace formed between our kingdoms, she hoped for a better future.
When Alice’s mother took the throne and married her son, she retired from serving as one of the elders of the Council and passed the duty to them, moving back to her old house. She picked up sewing as a hobby, never expecting to be a talented designer. Soon her clothes became widely desired, making even other elven nobles from afar kingdoms commission her work. When she told me that the uniforms at the Academy were her design, I was intrigued to see them.
She sewed everything using arcane threads, which were linen threads infused with mana. It made the clothes more durable, harder to stain, and prevented the loss of quality after being washed. She could use other fabrics as well, but linen was her favorite. The best part about watching her work was the magic she used to help herself sew. Manipulating the mana within the threads, she was able to precisely do whatever she wanted, making something that would take hours to do last only a few minutes. Had she not talked to us the entire time, Nadia would’ve finished in no time.
Alice told her everything that happened to us, and Nadia thanked me for rescuing her granddaughter. Somehow I found myself constantly explaining how she saved me too, but when I thought about it more, my mother would’ve said the same to Alice.
“Are you happy with how they turned out?” Alice asked, seeing me holding the clothes tightly.
“They’re so light and stylish. It’s going to be hard taking them off.”
“Maybe we should get you some more. I don’t want you wearing the same outfit every day.”
“I’m going to get spoiled.” I joked. “Still can’t believe that she made the Academy uniforms. Maybe it’s worth going there just for that.”
“Will you be attending?”
“Me?” I chuckled, looking down to the ground. “No way.”
“Why not? We could go together.”
I liked the idea, but getting in was harder than she made it sound.
“I’d love to, but I’d need to get a letter of invitation which only a select few get, and that only allows us to attempt the entrance exam. Let’s not even talk about the cost of attending, and since my brother and sister are both attending, I’m sure adding more on top would be difficult.”
“Why don’t you just invite someone from the academy to come to the Kallis Estate to have you evaluated? I’m certain you’d get an invitation, and with your talent, I’m confident both of us will pass the entrance exam with flying colors.”
“Would they even find the time?”
“Considering two of your siblings were invited, I’m confident they’d show interest. Besides, you’d get to go with your sister as well.”
“But the money-”
“Don’t be silly. Having one, let alone three children attend the Grand Academy of Nuia, the most renowned school of magic on the continent, is such prestige that no noble would say no. Besides, as my father’s student, you must aim to achieve greatness.” She chuckled, nudging me gently. “Just try. You won’t lose anything for it.”
“You’re right. . .”
“Of course I am.” She spun around and started walking backward, cheerfully looking around. “It’d be great if you attended as well.”
“I’ll try, but no promises.” I sighed as a coy smile appeared on my face. “By the way, where did Noir run off to?”
“He probably went outside of the city.”
“Doesn’t he live at your grandmother’s place?”
“He’s not a domestic animal.” She chuckled. “He has all the freedom in the world, but he chose to stay with us. You’ll see him again, my hero.”
“Great, you’re not going to forget that, will you?” I rolled my eyes.
“Never.” She giggled.
Just as I thought the day was going perfect, I looked behind Alice and saw a peculiar elf I wished we could avoid forever. It was Aymon, but at least he was alone for a change.
“Don’t look,” I whispered, but Alice’s curiosity got piqued, so she turned around and regretted it immediately. “I said don’t look.”
“Hello, Princess,” Aymon said, inspiring a simultaneous sigh from Alice and me. “I see you’ve been to your grandmother’s place. Is she doing well?”
“Why must the gods test me?” she mumbled before clearing her throat. “Why bother asking?”
“Still such hostility,” he sounded genuinely disappointed. “Allie, I’ve known you my whole life. Shouldn’t you care at least about how you talk to me?”
“The audacity!” Alice crossed her arms, glaring at him. “After what you pulled, I shouldn’t even have to see you again, let alone talk to you.”
“Again with the conspiracies.” He chuckled, mimicking her posture. “You don’t actually think I wasted my time talking behind your back.”
“You know you did and can’t prove otherwise,” she insisted.
“Why? Because you rejected me? Let’s face it Allie, had you hurt me that badly, I would’ve stopped pursuing you. There’s no evidence that suggests I smeared your name. You’d do well to stop with the tantrum and just accept that people didn’t like you.”
“But I do have proof. Lylie told me everything.”
“And you believe the words of someone afraid that you’d hurt them after you attacked me? She just said that to get away.”
“You’re lying.”
“Believe what you will, but I hope you consider what I’ve said. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a festival to prepare for. We’ll talk more after I win tomorrow’s competition by catching you.”
“Competition?” I asked, stopping him from leaving.
“She hasn’t told you?” We both glanced at Alice, who looked visibly upset that he spoiled what I assumed was the tradition she kept secret. “Surprise, surprise. She must’ve not wanted to get your hopes up because you’d never win.”
“Shut up, Aymon. . .” She sighed, looking back at me. “That’s not why I didn’t tell you. I just wanted to make it a surprise.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“The secret’s out now, so might as well tell him.” Aymon chuckled.
“You asshole. . .” She glared at him but then turned to me again. “Each year, we hold a competition where three chosen girls from Thysa wear masks and attempt to run away from the select few hunters. You have two hours to catch one of us, and as a reward, we give you a blessing of good fortune at midnight and honor you by staying by your side until the end of the night.”
“You must spend time with us?”
“No,” Aymon interrupted. “But as the Princess of Thysa, it would be dishonorable for her to refuse.”
“Don’t worry about that since nobody will be able to catch me tomorrow.” She reverted to glaring at him.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He chuckled.
“What happens if you don’t get caught?”
“Then we receive the blessing instead,” she explained.
“So what you’re saying is all I have to do is catch you first?” I said, glancing back at Aymon to provoke a reaction.
“You humans are so arrogant. . .” He clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning his back to us. “Dream all you’d like. There’s no way someone like you could beat me.”
We watched as he walked away, both glad that the eyesore was gone.
“Alex. . .”
“Hmm?”
“About what he said, the slander and everything. I wasn’t lying, I swear. Sure, Lylia might’ve been afraid of me because of what happened, but-”
“I know.” I interrupted her, getting closer and putting my hand on her head as I did with Ellie back home whenever she tried to convince me of something I knew to be true. “I don’t know how I feel about you doubting that I’d trust you over him.”
“Sorry, but I just get so angry when he’s around, and it makes it seem like I’m ignoring his side of the story. I don’t want you to think I’m lying.”
“Even if you lied to me, I’d still believe you over him. Besides, you’re letting your emotions control you, which is why he’s getting away with it. If he’s truly innocent, he would’ve spoken up in your defense when we first met instead of using their words as a tool to get what he wanted. Trust me. If humans were ever good at one thing, it would be what he’s doing.”
“Right. . .”
Alice knew all about the ridicule I’d endured throughout my life as the useless child of the Kallis family, so if anyone understood her, it would’ve been me. Despite all that, her situation was significantly worse. Alice was forced to deal with the pressure of being the crown princess, all while being abandoned by those she considered friends. Compared to her, I had no responsibilities that I had to uphold. That’s without mentioning there being far fewer kids her age. There were also those who were intimidated by the idea of being friends with royalty, and Alice developed trust issues that prevented her from openly approaching others. Her going to the Academy next year was a blessing as it gave her a chance to meet new people her age.
“Anyway, you shouldn’t worry about stuff like that when you know I’ll be catching you tomorrow?”
I removed my hand and just smiled at her smugly.
“Huh?” She got caught off guard but then smiled back. “I told you already that nobody will be catching me.”
“Nah. I promise I’ll catch you, and if you remember-”
“You always keep your promises,” she interrupted me. “We’ll see about that.” Alice winked as her mood significantly improved. “Now, let’s get going. I still have things I want to do.”
“Sure, but just a question. . . How do I sign up?” I asked, making her burst into laughter.
----------------------------------------
“Dammit,” I mumbled after spending the last two hours twisting and turning in bed. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I got up and let out a frustrated sigh. The moonlight illuminating the room kept reminding me of tomorrow’s festival, and while I didn’t want to admit it, I felt anxious about the competition. “Maybe a walk will help. . .”
Thanks to our shorter training session, I had more energy than I’m used to so late at night. To cool my head, I wandered the empty palace halls before finally stopping in the garden by the fountain. If there was one thing I loved most about Thysa, it was how peaceful it was as I listened to the sound of splashing water. A light breeze passed through me, reminding me that the summer had ended. It seemed we would have our first winter in the last three years, and I’m sure there are those looking forward to it.
“Having a hard time falling asleep?” With the sound of high-heels walking down the stone steps to my right, I turned to see none other than Queen Sylphena.
“Your Grace!” She took me by surprise.
“Relax, Alex.” She gently smiled, gesturing for me not to get up. “You’ve been here for almost a month and still struggle to drop the formality. What am I going to do with you?”
It seemed like she was in a good mood, dressed in a more casual yet elegant robe.
“I. . .” I struggled to come up with a response.
“May I sit?” she asked politely, glancing to my side.
“Of course.” I returned the smile.
Alice’s parents insisted that it was okay for me to drop formalities, and while I’d been able to do it with her father thanks to our training sessions, I still struggled when her mother was in question.
“Thank you,” she said, sitting down next to me. “Alice told me about your encounter today. She was disappointed that you found out early about the competition.”
“I could tell.” I chuckled.
“Is that why you’re having a hard time falling asleep?” She had me all figured out before she even asked.
“Maybe,” I mumbled, caught thinking how perceptive she was.
“I heard from my husband that your training’s going well. Happy with your progress?”
“I am, and it’s been enjoyable too.”
Noticing how gloomy I sounded, I shook my head and tried to get rid of the meek smile on my face. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I lifted my energy and finally seemed cheerful again.
“Welcome back.” She chuckled, noticing the sudden change in me.
“Sorry about that,” I smirked, stretching my arms. “I got lost in my thoughts for a second there.”
“We all have those moments,” she reassured me, pushing her hair behind her ear as she glanced at the water. “It’s not a bad thing either. It helps us reflect.”
“I agree, but if I may, what’s keeping you up so late at night?” I asked as midnight had long passed.
“I was finishing up the preparations for tomorrow and just happened to see you from the balcony, so I decided to drop by. Sorry if I spoiled your alone time.”
“Well. . . what’s done is done,” I joked, making us both laugh.
“I heard you promised to catch her tomorrow,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “She’s not going to make it easy, you know?”
“Well, I promised, so I must.” I exhaled again, thinking about how I was actually going to keep that promise. “I’ll figure it out, but all I know is I ain’t letting Aymon win.”
“Quite the opponent for you to face.”
“Trust me, I know. . . I could feel the difference in strength between us.”
“He is a few years older and a student at the Academy, so it’s no surprise he’s ahead right now. However, strength doesn’t matter during the festival since you’re not allowed to fight each other.”
“But if I remember correctly, magic is allowed, and he has abundantly more mana than me and likely better spells.”
“Memorizing spells is harder than you think, despite how easy the two of you pick them up. Sometimes learning spells takes months, and the higher the circle, the harder it becomes.”
“That doesn’t really make a difference in our case.”
“But it does,” she said, tracing her finger along the water. “You’re acting as if Aymon’s been preparing only for the competition.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Tell me, if you knew a spell that increased your running speed and had a chance to learn another, would you still learn a similar spell despite it only offering slightly better results?”
“No, I’d learn something else.”
“Exactly,” she said, looking at me proudly. “If you were fighting, it’d be a different story. However, it’s a race, and you’re closer than you think.”
“I see, but Stride only increases my speed by ten or fifteen percent at best, and I can’t maintain it forever.”
“Remember, combat speed and running are two different things. When you’re fighting, different factors affect how you act and make it harder for you to move, so someone with faster decision-making, reflexes, and experience will make you feel slower than you are. Your lower dantian core already makes you faster than most. You’ll learn one day that raw power won’t get you far if you don’t know how to use it. So while you might not be as strong as Aymon, if you’re smart about it, you’ll win.”
“You really believe so?”
“The number of times my husband beat me in a duel despite having a weaker core is absurd. Don’t let this discourage you.”
“Thanks,” I said, getting up slowly. “I think I’ll head to bed now. Don’t want to be tired for tomorrow.”
“Good luck, but remember not to underestimate my daughter. As I said, she has no intention of losing.”
“Thanks for the warning, but I’ll catch her for sure.”
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.