Chapter 36: Chapter 28: A Simple Scheme from a Former Princess…

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 28: A Simple Scheme from a Former Princess…

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"Ah… I'm so full…" A small white-haired fairy was lying down on my table and rubbing her belly which was sticking out a bit.

Her tiny cheeks were covered with crumbs from all the cookies she had eaten just now.

The plate and cup were completely empty. I had only eaten one cookie and taken a sip from the cup, while the little being in front of me had eaten six and quaffed down the entire cup of milk…

She has quite the appetite, that's for sure…

"So? Are you feeling less embarrassed now to tell me what happened to you?" I asked while patting her head with my pinky.

Leaf immediately frowned as soon as she heard those words, her happy-go-lucky demeanor was nowhere in sight.

"I had a little fight with the queen…" She admitted while averting her gaze. That didn't stop her from enjoying the fact that I was still patting her head.

"The Fairy Queen?" My eyes widened as soon as she said that.

The Fairy Queen is, as you probably should have guessed, the ruler of all fairy-kind.

The author of The Forest of the Fairies didn't say much about her in the book. They only said that she was a powerful and dignified individual, who, unlike her subjects, had the average height of a human woman.

The author also said that what she does as a queen is a mystery and that during all of their stay at the home of the fairies, they were only able to see the queen twice. As soon as she noticed the author's gaze, she immediately left the area.

She was described as a woman with light green hair, hazel colored eyes, and a pair of long purple-colored butterfly wings.

The author was never able to speak to her directly. 

Perhaps this is a good opportunity to learn a bit more about the queen.

"Yeah! She's always so serious all the time!" Leaf sat cross-legged and nodded vigorously. "For some reason she always wanted me to take care of everyone, even though I'm the youngest! I really hate it! They were always so unreasonable and never listened to me!" She started pouting in a very adorable manner.

Parentification…? Is that a thing for fairies?

"Why do you think she wanted you to take care of the other fairies?" I asked her.

"Who knows! She was always spouting some nonsense that I had the responsibility to take care of all of my sisters! Why do I, the youngest daughter, have to take care of that group of rowdy children!?" Leaf was indignant.

Wait a minute… Sisters? Not brothers or siblings, but sisters? And youngest daughter…?

Strange… The author never mentioned something about…-

"Leaf, this might sound weird to you, but by any chance are all fairies women? Is the queen your mother?" I asked Leaf. I was really interested in learning more about her and her race.

"Ehh? Those are silly questions! Of course we are all girls! We are all daughters of the queen!" Leaf was extremely amused by my question. Her indignant attitude from before was nowhere to be seen.

That's unexpected… I never imagined that the author would omit such important details in their book… Maybe I missed those parts? 

Hmmm… I'll have to reread the book later.

This does raise some other questions though… Particularly, how does the Fairy Queen leave descendants?

Does she reproduce asexually or does she go out of the forest to look for a partner?

I kinda want to ask Leaf, but it does make me embarrassed to ask such a thing to the small innocent fairy…

I'll ask Lia or Thiasis about it later.

"Sorry that I interrupted you with my silly questions, Leaf. You can keep telling me about what happened to you." I smiled awkwardly.

"Hehehe! Don't worry!" She simply smiled warmly in response. "Where was I…? Ah! Right! I was really angry that our mother was making me take care of them, so we started arguing. I kept getting even more annoyed after she kept spouting the same nonsense over and over again, so I decided I wasn't going to keep listening to that!" Leaf stood up and looked at me with determination.

Hmmm… I don't really get why the queen would want Leaf to be responsible for her other sisters… I guess it really was some sort of parentification.

"So you decided to leave." I said to the tiny fairy.

"That's right!" She was looking really proud of herself.

"That still doesn't explain why you ended up being buried under the snow." I poked her belly with my finger. A teasing grin appeared on my face.

"Jeez! I'm getting there!" She caught my finger using both her arms and started pouting once again. "I left our home in the middle of the night after visiting a friend and made sure no one would follow me! I ended up being chased by some rude goblins who wanted to make me their dinner…" Leaf's cute pout turned into a frown.

"And what happened next? How did you get out of that pinch?" I asked.

"I turned them into ice statues!" An innocent smile appeared on her face.

Her whole body, which was currently wrapped around my finger, started feeling increasingly colder… She was using Water Magic to do that.

I was bewildered for a few moments, but then my devilish side took over me, and started using magic to increase my body temperature just to counter hers.

"Hehehe! That feels really pleasant!" She seemed genuinely delighted by what I was doing.

"Alright, so the goblins became ice statues. What happened next?" I asked with a smile. I was genuinely amused by her reaction.

It took her a few moments to respond. She was simply enjoying the warmth of my finger.

"I think I flew around for a while until I got sleepy. I remember that I landed on the branch of a tree and went to sleep." She replied with an overjoyed look on her face. "Then the next thing I know is that I was being wrapped in your warm hand!" Her innocent smile almost melted my heart…

Well, it doesn't take a genius to know that the branch probably fell off when she was sleeping. As for why that happened… I think we put the blame of that on Auntie. She used her magic to cause a blizzard earlier today after all, so that could actually explain why the branch fell and Leaf was buried in the snow.

But… To be able to sleep through that…

"You're a very heavy sleeper, aren't you?" I started patting her head once again, this time with my other hand.

"Hehehe…" She giggled while looking a bit embarrassed.

I feel bad for her... Having to leave your home because of having a heavy responsibility being unjustly placed on her by her own mother…

I can really relate to her. After all, I also had some heavy expectations placed on me by my bio parents and grandparents…

While I was lost in thought, feeling sorry for her, she suddenly flew and stopped right in front of my face once again.

"I never thought I would get my own humie right after leaving, but I'm so happy and excited!" Her smile grew wider before she hugged my nose once again…

She's a bit of a hugger too… Not that I particularly mind, though.

"Well, as long as you're fine following someone as boring as me for eternity." I said jokingly.

"I have plenty of time to turn you into a fun person, so get ready! Let's play a lot!" She looked me in the eyes and then giggled.

"Alright, what game do you want to play first?" I smiled warmly at my newest companion.

"Let's play tag! 1, 2, 3 not it!" She shouted before suddenly flying away towards my big training room at an incredible speed…

I couldn't help but chuckle thanks to Leaf's eagerness to play and her cheekiness.

"I guess this will be a very fun afternoon." I said as I got up from my chair and took off my coat. "This will be good training too." I muttered to myself before dashing towards the training room in order to chase my new tiny friend.

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-----Eliana's POV-----

I was walking on my own in the empty halls of the Imperial Castle. I was feeling pretty good with myself.

I couldn't hear anything besides the sounds of my own footsteps as I walked over the elegant red carpet that covers most of the castle.

I quietly admired all the countless works of art that decorated this hall as I walked. Exquisite paintings, gorgeous carvings on the columns, and magnificent sculptures… This kind of decoration was expected of the place that had once been the center of the world.

Even though I had seen it thousands of times already, I couldn't help myself from enjoying the beauty of this hall once again.

But all those paintings, carvings, and sculptures paled in comparison to the work of art in the next hallway.

The hallway was split into two at the end. The right hallway would take me to the stairs to go to the main courtyard and the entrance of the castle while the left hallway would take me to the inner palace, where the living quarters of my family are located.

I naturally went to the left. I was welcomed by the most beautiful work of art I had ever seen in my life.

The entire walls and ceiling of the hall were painted with the history of our family. From the moment the Hero Rokkshar and the Seraph Daliah defeated the Demon King two thousand years ago up to the crowning ceremony of my brother and our father on his deathbed.

The painting represented the long history of heroism, duty, and courage of our family who has given everything for the sake of the peace of Hresviae.

This is my favorite place in the entire castle. I'm always filled with joy, pride, sadness, and hope whenever I pass through this hallway.

It is definitely the most beautiful place in the world for me.

Despite knowing every single shortcut there is in the castle, I always go through this place. All for the sake of looking at this sublime painting…

I admired the hallway for as long as I could… I only left the hallway until I felt completely satisfied.

After that, I simply made my way towards the inner palace. I didn't stop until I had reached my destination.

The inner palace was just as luxuriously decorated as the previous hallways. With paintings hanging on the walls, carvings on the columns, sculptures on every corner as well as rare plants and flowers that were cultivated in one of our gardens.

I admired the view as I walked towards the place I was heading to.

After a few minutes, I reached a door in the westernmost corner of the third floor in the inner palace.

I knocked on the door a few times before barging in without waiting for an answer.

I was welcomed by the sight of a little girl sitting by herself on her desk, writing with a quill on a simple paper sheet. There was a mountain of papers stacked to her right.

Her entire room is decorated with bookshelves filled with books of all genres, some of which she has written herself.

"Dear Aunt, you should know that coming in without waiting for an answer means a clear lack of manners on your part." She said without looking away from the paper sheet she was writing on.

That little girl is my niece, the Ninth Princess of the Marcelian Empire, Alicia Nianym Marcel. 

She's barely 1.36 meters tall. She has long red hair which is usually arranged in a braid that rests on top of her right shoulder. She has a beautiful pair of green eyes which are usually hidden by her huge round glasses. She's the spitting image of her mother. She is wearing a very modest frilly pink dress with a long skirt. There's a small silver tiara with the crest of our family adorning her beautiful hair.

Alicia is currently 11 years old and she's going to be the youngest person to ever graduate from the Blaise Academy for noble children. 

Marina and Alicia are going to graduate at the same time, so because of her, one of the tournaments of the academy is going to be held early in their honor. 

"Is that so? I didn't remember that we were on an official act… I apologize for my rude behavior, your highness." I spoke with an exaggerated respectful tone as I bowed to her.

"..." I was met with her silent gaze as a response. She was frowning and looked a little annoyed.

"Sheesh! Don't look at your poor old aunt like that! Even though I came to the inner palace just to see you." I immediately walked over and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm currently working on my book… Please come back later…" She replied a bit coldly. That didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tightly.

Hehe! This little princess should be a bit more honest with what she actually wants~.

"Really? Well, that's a shame… And here I thought I could possibly spend some time with my cute niece and perhaps tell her some good news." I spoke with fake disappointment as I let her go from my embrace.

"Good news?" She looked at me with confusion.

"You don't need to worry about it. It isn't really anything important, just something related to the tournament… You go back to writing your books, missy. I'll come to see you later!" I smiled at her before turning around to leave. Or at least pretend I was going to leave.

"Wait…" She immediately got up from her seat and grabbed my hand to stop me from leaving. "Let's spend time together… The book can wait…" She said shyly without even looking me in the eye.

"Alicia, when you want something from a person you need to look at them in the eyes, okay?" I turned around and faced her with a satisfied grin.

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"Understood…" She looked at me straight into my eyes, albeit with some difficulties, and nodded.

"That's my little princess~!" I started patting her head

She didn't resist my affection and quickly hugged me back again.

It is difficult to believe that this little girl is graduating already after only attending the Blaise Academy for a little bit more than a year.

"So? Do you want to hear the good news?" I asked her while feeling pretty good about myself.

"Yes… Please tell me, dear aunt…" She spoke to me with embarrassment. She really knew what I liked to hear. Smart girl~.

I then started humming before answering just to tease her a little.

"Well~... Remember the favor you asked me a few days ago?" I asked her with a playful tone.

"You found someone to represent in the tournament!?" She suddenly took a step back and looked at me with a mix of confusion and excitement.

"You could say that~." I smiled at her.

‘He actually doesn't know and hasn't agreed to it yet.’ I wasn’t going to tell my niece that unimportant detail. After all, she didn’t need to know something that I could resolve easily and very quickly.

“That was faster than I expected…” She stopped for a bit to compose herself, but… “Can I meet my champion now!?” It wasn’t possible for her to control her growing excitement.

“That would be a bit difficult… You see, the champion I have chosen for you doesn’t live here in the city.” My smile became a bit awkward.

Or even in this region for that matter.

“Does that champion live in another city? The headmaster and father said that I don’t need to attend classes anymore, so we can just go on a short trip to meet my champion!” She became insistent…

I couldn’t help but sigh internally as Alicia reminded me of a much younger version of her oldest sister.

“That’s not good, missy! You should be going to your classes and spending time with your friends and your acquaintances! Connections and good relationships are a must for a member of the royal family!” I had to scold her to deviate her attention from the previous topic.

“I don’t even have any friends! The other children there bore me out of my mind…” She frowned. “So, let’s not waste any time and depart at once! I’ll order the servants to prepare everything!” A smile appeared again on her adorable face.

Sigh… I sometimes forget how stubborn this little girl can be at times… Even Marina pales in comparison to her…

“Alicia… He will have to travel to the capital in a few weeks anyway, so isn’t better to wait for him to come here? We would have to spend at least fifteen days on the road if we were to go to see him” I asked her with a serious expression. I was trying to convince her to drop the topic about this sudden trip…

Of course, I already knew how to handle her stubbornness since I have known her since the moment she was born.

“That long… My champion really lives far away from here…” She started rubbing her chin. She then frowned as if she had realized something else, completely forgetting about the trip she had just suggested. “Aunt Eliana, you just said ‘He’ and ‘Him’ a few times… Is my champion a man? I don’t think Father would approve of that…” She asked with visible worry on her face.

“You don’t need to concern yourself about that. I’ll deal with your father. Even if he’s the Emperor, he still listens to his big sister.” I winked at her.

“Is that so?” Alicia looked at me straight into my eyes with doubt.

My brother is a bit overprotective in some odd ways… For some reason, he doesn’t want men, young or old, to be around his daughters, so the vast majority of the servants that work here in the castle are women. The only exceptions to this are a few men from his personal guards, the regular soldiers that guard the castle, the head butler Tian Sebas, and the right-hand man of my brother, the prime minister Claudius Elien Caprasania.

He doesn’t seem to have a problem with my nieces interacting with their classmates in the academy, but he doesn’t allow them to have male friends or to be alone with boys their age, which is why I have been keeping the friendship between Marina and Julius a strict secret…

I made each and every single one of our servants swear an oath of absolute secrecy upon the gods. Marina has obviously not mentioned a single detail to her father either. And we are still bound by our deal with Julius by the power of the Goddess of Knowledge, so not a single detail of that meeting has come out from our lips.

I have been obviously trying to make him change his mind to be a little bit more permissive with his children, but he’s very stubborn just like his daughter… Not as much as Alicia, but he has been a little difficult to convince…

Frankly… I don’t know if it is some sort of jealousy on his part or simply him trying to be a good father in his own weird way, but if this continues how does he expect our bloodline to continue? Marina is already fifteen years old… She should be getting engaged soon, just like him when he was her age…

But well, I was able to convince my own father to let me give up my right to the throne, so my brother will eventually crack like an egg given enough time… Preferably, that will probably happen by the time the tournament ends, if everything goes according to my plan~.

I couldn’t resist my urge to smile in front of my little niece.

“You should just trust your aunt! I am pretty reliable, you know?” I kept smiling at my niece while standing proudly.

“If you say so… I still think Father will not be on board with that idea.” She shrugged in response. “Can you at least tell me more about him?” She finally asked the question I was waiting for.

“I thought you would never ask~!” I said with excitement.

“I mean, how could I not? You rejected all the people I had considered to represent me after a single glance…” She said with a very curious expression on her face.

“Those people were wimps, Alicia. You really need to develop your eye for talented people. Your champion is the real deal, I can assure you that.” A spoke with confidence.

Of course, the person that will represent the little genius in front of me is no one other than Julius, the adoptive child of the Skull Crusher.

He’s going to represent Marina anyway, so representing Alicia as well shouldn’t pose a problem to him, especially if I don’t tell him that he will be doing so~.

The academy doesn’t have any rule about one person representing two members of the royal family. It is not something that happens very often, but it has happened in the past, so we should be good on that end!

True… I have never seen that child in combat, but I learned about an interesting story during my time in Norvek~. A story that involved that child and a trio of adventurers from Valciar~

With that story in consideration and taking into account the people he has as adoptive parents, it wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea that he should be pretty strong right now. There’s also the fact that it was him that decided to participate as Marina’s champion as a sign of goodwill. 

I still remember it vividly… The way he cornered me and humiliated me three years ago. His sharp glance and that unusually calm and confident demeanor in front of us royals… I can’t deny the fact that he gained my respect that day.

He never said it, but it was clear to me that he was confident enough to believe that he could win the tournament back then, even though I felt that Marina could beat him effortlessly…

I have high expectations of him. If he’s as skilled in combat as he was talking that day when he foiled my plans, then the other kids won’t even have the slightest chance at winning. 

And I think I have the feeling that he won’t disappoint me~.

“Are you going to tell me about him or are you going to simply stay there looking at the empty air?” Alicia looked at me with annoyance.

I winked at her just to tease her some more before telling her what she wanted to know.

“Let’s see… I haven’t seen him for quite a while now, but I would say that he’s very clever and that he also has a sharp gaze.” I told her my impressions of him. “But I was told that he’s also very kindhearted and a great friend.” I told her what Marina had told me on our way back from Norvek all those years ago.

“I see…” Alicia nodded. “But how does that help us in the tournament?” Alicia asked a very logical question.

“He can be your friend.” I said with a teasing smile while nudging her.

“I should’ve just continued writing my book…” She mumbled with disappointment while shaking her head.

“Don’t be like that, Alicia! It was just a little joke! Your aunt knows what she’s doing! ” I patted her shoulder to reassure her.

“It doesn’t seem that way, dear aunt…” She looked at me with a blank expression.

“Sigh… I really know what I’m doing, young lady. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten the son of the Skull Crusher to represent you in the tournament.” I let out a heavy sigh before making a fake pitiful expression in front of my niece.

“...!?” She looked at me again, this time she was completely flabbergasted and at a loss for words.

“Hmmm~! It seems like I caught your interest again~.” I said playfully before walking towards her bed and taking a seat, all the while enjoying the look of bewilderment of my niece.

Spending time with my nieces is definitely the best way to relax after a stressful day of work~!

She suddenly started shaking her head vigorously, as if trying to compose herself.

“Wait a minute… This is a prank, right? I mean the Skull Crusher only had a pair of twin daughters when he left the capital… I know this because I still remember that time when he visited the castle before his departure!” Her eyes narrowed. She truly believed that I was trying to play a prank on her.

“And three years ago, I would have said that you were absolutely right. However~...” I made a dramatic pause. “When your older sister and I went on that trip to check the special project he was tasked with, we found out that he had adopted a child.” I showed her a playful smile.

“Wait… Really!?” She seemed very surprised.

“Did you seriously think I was lying to you? How could I lie to my cute niece when she was in a pinch and earnestly asked me for a favor?” I childishly pouted to tease her even more.

“Still… That’s…” Alicia, who was a genius writer, was at a loss for words again. She seemed to be struggling to believe that I was telling her the truth… 

It took me a full year to figure out the limits of the deal unjustly imposed on me and my niece... For a while, I thought I couldn’t even mention his existence without some kind of repercussion, however that is not actually the case. I can openly talk about most of our short interactions, how he looks, how old he is, what I think of him, and other small details I noticed about him just fine.

Of all of our interactions, the only one which I couldn't mention is the meeting where we made that deal. I tested it before with Marie, but whenever I try to talk to anyone who is not Marina about that meeting, my words get stuck in my throat, my body starts to become heavy and my heart feels like it is about to be ripped out of my chest.

In other words, not a very pleasant experience… But that is to be expected from the power of a goddess…

Anyway, I can say whatever I want about him other than the details of that meeting and our deal, which means that I could have told my brother about him at any given point, but I haven’t.

“Alicia, this is a really important secret you must keep until it is time for the tournament, okay? You must never mention this to neither your father, Marina nor any of your sisters must know that he is going to participate. That was his father’s condition.” I got close to her and showed her my pinky. “Pinky promise?” I smiled warmly at my cute niece.

As for the reason why I haven’t told my brother and the reason why I don’t want Alicia to tell Marina that Julius is also going to represent her are fairly simple actually.

The reason for not telling my brother is that I want him to stop being so close-minded and allow my nieces to finally have some freedom so they can experience love and then get some engagements going for them. Our bloodline isn’t going to continue by itself, after all.

I know there are plenty of heirs considering how many nieces I have, but I still don’t want to take any chances after what happened to my sisters… My nieces will be the next generation of the Ten Songs of Rokkshar, because of that fact, and the fact that my brother has acted erratically several times over the years have gotten me extremely concerned for the future of my nieces, our family, and our country.

I would be less concerned about our bloodline if my brother had fathered at least one son, but we can’t change what the gods have already given us…

Anyway, Julius is a crucial part of my plan. If my brother meets that child, I’m sure that he will change his mind, at least a little. He needs to win the tournament for that to happen, though…

But like I said before, I have the feeling that he definitely will not disappoint me.

I can already picture it… A child of humble origins, adopted by the strongest man in the continent unexpectedly winning a tournament meant for noble children while representing two princesses… Hehehe~ I have to admit that this is an incredible political move as well since I can humiliate several noble families at once while making my brother change his mind!

And who knows? Maybe my brother will allow Marina to marry Julius. She’s still a little bit infatuated with Julius after all, so it would be like killing three birds with one stone!

“Why can’t I tell my older sisters?” Alicia looked at me confused.

“Well, that’s very simple. Do you want your sister to steal a very competent champion from you? You know that she’s also graduating this year and that she must be looking for a good champion. You wanted to win against her, right?” I asked her with an innocent smile on my face.

Alicia was silent for a few moments, but then a look of determination appeared on her face. 

“I understand.” She nodded before wrapping her pinky around my own “Pinky promise.” She said with a very serious expression.

“Jeez! You don’t need to be so serious! Hahaha!” I couldn’t help but laugh. “But that is a good resolve you have there.” I patted her head.

As for the real reason why I don’t want her to tell Marina or her other sisters… I just want to tease Marina a little. She has been acting very serious and very diligently these last few months, so what a better reward than a surprise visit from the one she loves?

Ah! Did I forget to mention that I haven’t told Marina that the tournament will be held early? Silly me~!

“So can you tell me more about my champion? I want to know everything.” She still looked at me with determination.

“Why don’t we have this discussion over some tea?” I quickly grabbed her hand and started walking her towards the door. “Where should we start… Right. He’s a bit younger than you, he should be ten years old by now. The last time I saw him he was a little shorter than you, I really hope he has grown at least a bit taller. Oh! There’s also the fact that he has pitch-black hair! Isn’t that very interesting~?” I immediately started bombarding my young niece with details about her champion, just like she wanted.

“Hold on! He’s only ten years old!?” My niece shouted with shock all over her face.

“Well, it seems like the kid is a genius just like you~!” I smiled and winked at my niece before dragging her to the courtyard to continue our talk.

I was genuinely looking forward to the tournament and hopeful that my plan to make my idiot brother listen to reason would work.

In the meantime, I enjoyed myself teasing the adorable genius I had for a niece.

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Chapter 28: A Simple Scheme from a Former Princess…

END

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