Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

I woke up because Vyfal suddenly decided to catapult herself on my stomach. I was still a little groggy but I shook myself awake to get ready for a brand new day. It was already two days after the Winter Ball. I had to say that night was quite memorable, at least on mine and Kai’s part, but what we talked about still lingered on my mind.

“Kai.” I called. “Those times when you almost got killed and kidnapped, did your father have something to do with it?”

“Maybe.” Kai chuckled, as if remembering a joke. “He has been submitting petitions to Uncle Ivan about my return to Syna Kingdom since I’m their crown prince, but Uncle Ivan always turns that down. But there’s always a letter of such content every six months.”

“Must be a headache then.”

“Very. But Uncle Ivan is insistent on letting me remain here. He even granted me the title of Prince Royal just so my father can’t easily get me even by legal means.” he sighed. “But I know my father. He’s very hardheaded and won’t easily give up. I’m not sure if he has a hand on my previous kidnappings, but I wouldn’t get that past him.”

“I see.” I pursed my lips. I wanted to ask him one last thing, but I was hesitating whether I should ask him or not.

I sighed.

-Let’s just get this over with.

“Kai, thank you for trusting me that you even shared a very horrible experience to me. Really, I’m thankful, but-“

“I know. You’re not ready to share your own experiences yet. I understand. It’s probably difficult for you to do so.”

“Yeah. Thanks for understanding. Uhm… Can I ask you one last question?” he nodded. “Why were you willing to share it to me? I mean no offense about it, and as I said I’m thankful, but you don’t really have a reason to share what you just said to me.”

He sighed in disbelief. “You’re as direct as always. I’m wondering whether you’re not fond of sugarcoating your words or you don’t actually know how. Uh… I… I just want you to know more about me. I can be a little withdrawn and people can easily misunderstand me. I’m not like you who is very direct and frank. I especially don’t want you to misunderstand me.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, that came out wrong. Uh… I mean I want you to know more about me or something like that. Not like there’s any special reason behind that.”

I could only chuckle at his response. I could tell he was nervous halfway to his explanation since he avoided me gaze.

I was still a little baffled as to why Kai shared to me his past, but I was glad nonetheless. It convinced me even more that those I call friends were very trustworthy and I had no more reason not to share my own past.

***

What do members of the Celestine Family do on their day offs?

Many people back in the Celestine Territory used to wonder about it when I was still living there. To be honest, I don’t think we even had such a thing like day offs. Aunt Zaira was a famous person who instilled to us to never be lazy and to never stop moving forward. And so, me and my adoptive siblings had never experienced day offs.

Back in the Celestine Territory, on regular days we were either training, studying or hunting. On my part, it became even more hectic when Eliza and the others started going to school. They were doing so well that I dedicated myself into keeping up with them.

A few days before the end of the winter break, Aunt Zaira suddenly announced during breakfast that she asked for a day’s worth of vacation from her duties.

Well, that wasn’t really the exact wording; “I asked for a day off. And I want to spend it with you!”

We ended up voting on what to do on that day after breakfast. Just so it happened, Eliza and Edmund had the rest of the winter break free, and Torii did not have to return to her student council duties until a day before the break was over. I also made sure to be free on that day so I can spend it with them.

I missed spending time with my family.

Sebastian and Zach also sent a Magic Message and told us that they were free in the next few days and would be hanging out with us.

“It’s decided then!” Aunt Zaira exclaimed excitedly. “We will be spending a quiet tea time in Spring Pavilion!”

Spring Pavilion was a small area within the Celestine Residence in Azte City where it was landscaped to look identical to one of the Celestine Family’s pavilions back in Celestine Territory.

The Celestine Residence was actually quite a big property even though it was located within Azte City. It had a total of five sectors, all scattered within the property; the main manor, the guardhouse, the Dorms; the storehouse and Spring Pavilion. Each building had it uses and one could already guess what those uses were.

The first building was the main manor where Aunt Zaira, me and the rest of my siblings, and the female staff lived. Any businesses concerning the family would be held in the main manor.

The second building was The Dorm where students from the Celestine Territory who were studying in the Imperial Academy were staying.

The third building was the guardhouse. Although it was called the guardhouse, all security personnel and male staff lived there. It also served as the training grounds and barracks of those in-charge of the property’s security. Of course, Sebastian, Zach, Torii and Edmund were regulars there since they could spar with Aunt Zaira’s guards.

The fourth building was a storehouse. I call it a storehouse but I actually did not know what the usage of the building was. It was a simple building but heavily guarded both by human means and magical means. It’s probably the most secured building inside the property. Nobody was allowed to enter it other than Aunt Zaira, Uncle Steve and Mildred.

Lastly, there was the Spring Pavilion. It served as a recreational area for everyone that lived in the property. It was a beautiful place and staying in its confines could even make one forget they were inside a major city of Praiji Empire.

We spent our day off in Spring Pavilion. We didn’t do anything special. We just hung out in the pavilion with Aunt Zaira’s favorite tea and Eliza’s specialties.

Eliza and Edmund were reading a book in one corner of the pavilion, not caring about their surroundings. I couldn’t blame them though, the two were assigned in the borders for their internship and they were always on high alert.

Torii was practicing her sword skills in the spacious area in front of the pavilion. Although it was our day off, she decided to practice. We didn’t mind it though, since she seemed like she was dancing since she moved accordingly, following the tune of Aunt Zaira’s playing.

Aunt Zaira was playing a stringed instrument at the center of the pavilion. It was an instrument I had never seen in the mortal realm before, but she called it a zither. I had seen one of the foreign gods play with it when I was still a deity, so I was wondering how she knew how to play one.

Sebastian was sleeping at the corner, next to Zach who was drawing something.

As for me, I was playing with Vyfal and my family’s familiars. Apart from Sebastian and Zach, all of us had familiars. Aunt Zaira had two, the owl Bai and a two-tailed cat named Kuro. Eliza had a snow leopard and Edmund had an eagle, which were both newly acquired. Torii of course had her sylph; Ilra.

I couldn’t help but smile at the scene before me. It was very beautiful and serene, something I wished to always remain. But let’s face facts; nothing ever remains the same in the long run of life.