After the smoke incident calmed down, things finally became peaceful in the castle. Since the majority of the guests had left, Cassandra was given the opportunity to upgrade to a nicer room, closer to the gardens and dining halls. She accepted, of course, as she would be living there for about a month.
Keane got off with a light punishment, but he was banned from doing any more experiments without supervision. This hardly seemed like a punishment, as Keane quickly became close to Koko, the Chief Royal Medic, due to the medical nature of the majority of his experiments.
As for Autumn, the catkin had been actively avoiding her. This only made Cassandra more determined to get her answers. She wasn’t afraid to use her new connections to hunt him down, either. Maximus was more than willing to help her, and Cassandra decided that if he was going to offer his services so insistently, she should just let him. However, it was Wayde that actually caught Autumn in the end.
“Why were trying to hide from me?” Cassandra asked Autumn once they finally met face to face.
Autumn flinched. “I think you already know,” he replied, “You want to know more about the game and Gaia, but I can’t tell you without putting you in danger. Knowledge is dangerous.”
“You don’t have to tell me about your situation,” Cassandra assured, seeing how tense he was, “I would like more information on that game of yours, though. I don’t like doing things halfway, and there must be more important information besides just your story.”
The catkin bit his lip as he struggled to decide, but caved in the end. “I will tell you the most important thing,” he decided, “I can’t even be sure you believe me so this should be enough. Gaia has a plan to wipe Tethia off the map. By the start of the game they have already secretly gained control of most of the eastern border, slowly inching closer. They also have connections in the major port cities to the south.”
The entire eastern border of Tethia lay right up against the Empire of Gaia so it was no surprise that was where they would start. However, the south borders faced the ocean. Since ports were such an important means of trade, they were far more strictly managed. For Gaia to have gained control of major ports, there had to be corruption deep within Tethia itself.
“The story of this game has already started, hasn’t it?” Cassandra asked, “You mentioned needing to meet Keane before the end of the entrance exam.”
“It has,” Autumn confirmed.
Cassandra searched her mind for something else she could ask without pressuring Autumn too much. More importantly she wanted to assure him she was not a threat so he wouldn’t feel the need to run or hide from her in the future. Perhaps the best thing for that was some sort of promise or deal.
“Now that we have become connected, we should help each other,” Cassandra told him, “I won’t press you for answers, and I will help you when you need it. In return, please let me know if there is anything important coming up.”
As she had hoped, Autumn relaxed a bit at her words. “Thank you,” he said, “I don’t really know what I am doing yet, but I promise I won’t leave you hanging. I can give you one more piece of advice. You should check your mail.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“My mail?” Cassandra repeated and stood from her seat, “Alright. I will do that. Next time we meet, let’s be friends.”
Autumn finally smiled. “Yeah! Good luck!”
Good luck with her mail, huh? Cassandra was eager to see what sort of exciting message was waiting for her. Mail was delivered to each of their rooms, and luckily that remained the same even though her room had changed. Another bonus of having a bigger room was the addition of a box set aside in the entrance to receive letters and documents.
When she checked the box, there were two letters. The first was a letter from home, congratulating her for her success. Magic truly was amazing. Mail was sent faster here than it had been in the world of her dreams with all of its technology. Cassandra stashed the first letter in a safe place so she could hold onto it.
The second letter seemed far more official. It bore a seal with a teardrop that greatly resembled the one on her pin. Cassandra carefully released the seal without breaking it. She wanted to examine the intricate background design further later. For now, she needed to read that letter.
It began by addressing her as a new Tear and congratulating her on officially becoming a part of Nobility.
“We the queen’s maidens would like to invite the new Tears to a special event before the start of term. We expect every Tear to be presentable and punctual using their own means.”
So that was what Autumn had meant when he wished her luck. The invitation continued with the important information including date, time, and location. She still had a week or so to prepare, so maybe it would be a good idea to meet with her fellow Tears. Cassandra’s parents could help her out with any attire problems as professionals in the apparel business so she wasn’t too concerned about that.
Who were the other Tears? Cassandra knew about the two who had been in her final test, but she had no way of knowing if that was all of them or not. Would they have the same idea of planning together as she did, or would they see her as a rival they needed to defeat? There was only one way to find out.
The moment Cassandra left her room to go hunting for the other Tears she came face to face with the porcupine beast girl from earlier. She was holding the very same invitation in her own hands and froze in place upon catching sight of Cassandra. It seemed she hadn’t decided her own plan of action yet.
“This is perfect timing,” Cassandra told her with a smile, “I was hoping to meet all of the other Tears and discuss the invitation. Would you like to help me find them?”
“Why?” she demanded with suspicion.
“Both in Nobility and in the future, us Tears will be working together,” Cassandra pointed out, “I may dream of being queen, but there are ten princesses of Tethia and many other important roles needed to support her.”
The porcupine girl frowned but couldn’t argue with her words. “Alright, I will help you,” she agreed, “My name is Rena.”
“I am Cassandra,” she introduced in return, “Do you know where the others are?”
“No but they shouldn’t be hard to find,” Rena said with confidence. Her spiky hair looked a little bit softer today, but Cassandra didn’t mention it.
Rena’s confidence pulled through perfectly. As if it was destined, they ran into the other Tears one after another, and they were able to find a room to gather in to discuss the mysterious upcoming event.
“Do any of you know what it is?” a blue haired elf they had learned was Iris asked, “I am honestly a bit nervous about making it to the event since I get lost easily in new places.”
“Before that, shouldn’t we worry about being presentable? What kind of clothing should we wear to an event for all the Tears? Should we dress like princesses or shadows?” Rena pointed out.
“I can’t dress like a princess,” the blonde haired boy brought up. He was folding the invitation into a rose absentmindedly. He had introduced himself as Elliot.
Clothing had become an issue after all. “Perhaps I can help with that,” Cassandra suggested, “My parents run an apparel business. I was planning to take their advice.”
“What business is it?” Iris asked with interest.
“I believe it is just named Aron and Bethany after them,” Cassandra answered. Her parents were creative when it came to clothing, but they found it a waste of effort on most everything else.
“Aron and Bethany?!” Rena shouted in shock, “Are they really your parents? Their clothing is famous, especially since they refused an offer from the capital.”
It was famous? Oddly enough, it was the first Cassandra had heard of this. She knew they were busy, but a clothing store didn’t have to be famous to be busy. “They are,” she confirmed, “I am sure they would be willing to help all of us.”