Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

I stared at the crowd with a bored look on my face. It had only been ten minutes since Kai and I formally joined the ball, but I was already ready to go home. I was staying on the sides, thankful that nobody was actually curious about my existence in a party hosted by the imperial family.

The Winter Ball was filled with various nobles from different parts of Praiji Empire, as well as influential figures and foreign delegates. I even saw the emperor, Sebastian and Aunt Zaira doing their rounds of greeting people in the ball.

Andrea, Thomas and Bernard came and talked to Kai and me a while ago, followed by Peter who was escorting Freya. We were all surprised at their appearance and couldn’t help but ask what their relationship was.

“She’s my fiancée.” Peter calmly answered, but we were very shocked at it. It took all our effort not to scream out and receive unwanted attention.

“Shut your mouths, flies will feast in it.” Freya grumbled and rolled her eyes.

“On my defense, I only knew about it last night.” Peter said and shook his head. “I still can’t believe I have an engagement when they never even consulted me about it.”

“I only found out about it this morning.” Freya retorted. “Do you really think our parents will consult us about it? That’s how nobility and royalty work.”

We couldn’t help but agree at Freya’s words. I mean, on my experience Grand Prince Leo and Torii were engaged without them knowing as well. I was only hoping I wouldn’t fall on such scheme in the future.

Freya then urged Peter to leave since they had some other nobles to meet. After they left, everyone dispersed too. Kai offered to get me a drink and I nodded. I turned to Bernard who was still on his way to leave.

“Have you talked to my aunt yet?” I asked.

Bernard suddenly sighed and looked at me with disbelief. And then he whispered; “I did. Imagine my surprise when it was Archduchess Celestine who showed up?”

I chuckled at his response. “I think I can imagine it.”

“Luna, you’re one of the archduchess’ adoptive children?” he finally asked, but it was more like he was looking for confirmation rather than asking. I nodded and he groaned. “Why are you keeping your identity a secret?”

The country knew the matriarch of the Celestine Family would adopt children every generation, but the identities of those children had always been shrouded in mysteries. Only a few knew of them and some of those were the local citizens of Celestine Territory. But my aunt’s people knew to never reveal it to outsiders.

I briefly explained it to Bernard and then added; “My siblings and I study in the Imperial Academy incognito so that we won’t be under prejudice or any unfair treatment. You are aware those that came from the Celestine Territory aren’t exactly treated nicely at school right?”

Bernard nodded stiffly.

“If they find out I’m part of the Celestine Family, people will surely do either two things; one is that they would view it as an opportunity to gain connections to the archduchess and suck up to us, and second is that they’d accuse us of unfairness since our abilities are obviously above our peers.”

“Now that you said that, I remember that even though you and Thomas get high grades at school, some students and even teachers would say it’s because of how you grew up. Or at least the environment you grew up in.”

“Exactly. Whether they give us positive or negative views, my aunt will be implicated if people find out our real connection to the archduchess.” I sighed. “So Bernard, please keep this a secret.”

“Are you not going to tell the others?”

“I will, in the future, but not now.”

“Well, if that’s what you decided. Remember though, we’re always here for you.”

“I know. Same here too, you know?”

Bernard just grinned. After that, he excused himself and went to the buffet table.

“Here.” Kai said as he handed me a glass filled with a red drink.

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and look at him skeptically. “This is… not alcoholic, right?”

“Ha? What do you think of me? We’re only fifteen, we can’t drink yet!”

“I was just asking since it looks a lot like wine.” I replied and took the glass. I then took a sip and noticed the delicious sweet taste. “It’s delicious.”

If I were to describe it, it tasted like wine without the alcohol content.

I felt Kai stand next to me, also drinking the red juice on his glass.

“I suppose you’re really not a people-person.” Kai suddenly commented.

I couldn’t help but scoff and then sighed. “Yeah. There’s not much people in the Celestine Territory, and in the Imperial Academy I usually spend my time with my friends, you guys.”

“But you’re adept at adapting on your environment.”

“I suppose so. I’m not a people-person, but I know how to deal with people.”

“That’s nice.” he sighed. “Hey, would you like to get out of here?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“The two of us are obviously not enjoying this party, so how about I give you a tour of the palace?”

“I don’t think that’s… actually okay.”

I didn’t know what was running inside Kai’s mind but offering a tour to an outsider to the center of the country’s imperial government was obviously not a good idea.

“Right… That’s true.” he replied as if only realizing it, but his expression immediately changed to that of an excited one. “Then how about showing you my favorite place?”

I smiled. “I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.”

We exited the room using the balcony. It was not difficult to jump down to the ground since we were both adept at using combat magic which helped us boost our basic skills like jumping and landing from high places.

Kai led me to a maze of gardens and buildings until we reached an entryway. I read the name above it; West Courtyard.

“This is my residence.” Kai said and led me inside.

I’ve heard of it before, the imperial residence has a different structure than most residences. For one, the adult members of the imperial family lived in different courtyards or smaller residences inside the residence. Sebastian told me that when he became crown prince, his residence was moved to the East Palace until he was crowned as Emperor. It was tradition.

Such structure actually ensured privacy among the imperial family members since some of them (especially the wives) did not like each other’s presences.

“It used to be my mother’s, but my Imperial Uncle gave it to me when I turned fifteen.”

Under the moonlight, I saw the two story glass building and the impressive looking front yard filled with flowers and a cherry blossom tree at the center. I noticed it was devoid of activities and immediately asked Kai about it.

“I usually stay at school since we have dormitories.” he answered. “I asked Uncle Ivan to not let anyone in unless for cleaning, which is once a week. At that time, I must be present so cleanings can only be done on weekends.”

“But what about these days? It’s the winter break and I’m pretty sure you stay here. What about your food? Who attends your needs?”

He chuckled. “I usually stay on Peter’s residence. And even though this place is mostly left alone, it’s still maintained quite well.”

“I see…” was the only thing I could say. I couldn’t exactly tell him I felt sorry for him. I was well aware that even the people in the imperial residence avoid him because of the Fox Curse.

“Come on, what I want to show you is in the backyard.”

***

A/N:

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