Everyone's so tense as we all wait for Asher to arrive. My Dad, brothers, Sir Abel, Sir Kiernan, and I, with Avi, are here within the Emperor's office. I don't really know why Asher decided to have a meeting at Dad's office instead of the meeting hall, and I don't know where he is as well but he said he's picking up some people.
Dad's leaning on his table. Brother Aeli and Brother Heli are sitting on the left couch, and I'm in the middle of those two. There's a center table in front of us, and another couch across from us, where brother Dae, Sir Kiernan, and Sir Abel are sitting.
"Hmm… pardon me, Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, my brother just contacted me through telepathy. Informing me that we should begin with the discussion," Sir Abel said, lowering his head. For an Astra, he sure is humble. Unlike someone I know.
"Alright. Where do we begin?" Dad asked.
Sir Kiernan subtly raised his hand.
"I would like to share first, Your Majesty" Dad only gave him a nod as permission. Sir Kiernan materialized a linen cloth and set it down to the center table. There are different kinds of items and jewelries on it.
"Pri—Sir Asher asked us to search for people who bought items from the same place that His Highness and Her Highness encountered. We investigated them and tried asking them some questions, however some of the people started attacking us as we tried to confiscate the items from them. We're able to calm them down, and when we questioned them they don't remember everything that happened. When we talked about the items, we found out that they were familiar with it and believe that it's been with them for a long time. All of them gave us that same answer," Sir Kiernan explained. I stared at the items in front of us, and even though I can't see mana particles… I can feel heaviness as I look at those things.
"M-Master… those things are dangerous. It's infused with dark magic," Avi whispered, she's floating near my ear. It looks like Avi can identify dark magic right away.
"Y-yeah…" I replied.
"It definitely has memory alteration magic," Dad said, which Sir Abel agreed to.
"Brother also tried to peek in their memories but found nothing at all except from them buying these items. The person that the princess encountered the other day also gave us little information, no leads at all," Sir Abel added. That means we're stuck?
"Greetings," we all turned to Asher who suddenly appeared near the door. With Ziel and brother Caelus!?
"Astra… may I ask why you brought Young Laverde and my nephew here?" Dad asked. I am also curious. He didn't tell me anything, or if he had any plans at all.
"They are witnesses of the Princess' encounter with the Viscount, so I want them here. And they can help us as well," Asher snapped his fingers and three chairs appeared across from Dad's location. He sat in the middle chair, while Ziel and Brother Caelus exchanged looks to each other before taking a seat.
"But… you know they are unaware of the events that occurred two years ago, am I right?" Brother Heli asked, and Asher just nodded his head as if he didn't care at all.
"We didn't need to tell them. It's enough for them to know just the fact that someone's targeting the princess,"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Brother Caelus reacted right away after he heard that.
"Who would dare harm the princess?" Ziel asked, and he looked so serious. Well, everyone here does, even Avi who was just born yesterday had to be here. Sir Abel filled her with information earlier, though he left out the part when I was almost possessed by a demon two years ago.
"Who… hmm…" Asher paused, crossing his arms.
"Perhaps a demon king?" Asher replied, which caused the two to stay silent as they looked at Asher with wide eyes. Yep, extremely surprised—and probably they can't believe it at all. Brother Caelus even turned to Dad, but my father staying quiet and just staring back at him confirmed Asher's words.
"The demon king…" Ziel mumbled. Asher smirked and nodded his head again while giving Ziel a side-eye. What? He looks like he's picking a fight with Ziel with that smirk on his face.
"Yeah. That person you encountered the other day, and Carlix Florian during the knight challenge in the forest, they were both possessed by the same person. Which is Virexon," Asher explained. He's really doing his best to keep his explanation short. And he doesn't even give them time to breathe, he just keeps telling them everything. I understand though… we don't have all the time in the world for hesitation.
"And that very same person is targeting the princess," the two guys beside Asher couldn't believe what they just heard—it's obvious on their faces that they are having a hard time sinking everything in their mind.
"But, why?" Brother Caelus asked.
"That's what we're trying to find out," Brother Dae answered. I'm pretty sure Asher and Sir Abel already figured out the reason.
"Anyway, Your Majesty. Did you already tell your sons about Her Highness' situation?" What about my situation? Oh, is it about the curse?
"That… I haven't yet," Dad replied. It looks like Asher already informed Dad about my curse.
"What situation?" My second brother curiously asked. All three of them, and well… I think everyone is waiting for Dad to answer.
"Hmm…" Dad closed his eyes from the pressure. Asher really placed the pressure on him…
I'm sure Dad was only trying to find the right timing to tell them about it. But it looks like he couldn't seize the timing at all. It's also obvious that he's hesitating to tell my brothers about it…
I stared at Dad, and he's staying still. And then I turned to Asher who happened to be looking at me as well… with those meaningful stares.
Goodness, now he wants me to tell everyone about it?
I heaved a sigh and prevented myself from shaking my head.
"...that… I am cursed," I said, making everyone in this room turn to me. No one reacted, no one spoke, no one gave me a response, the room became silent, but it's obvious from their expression just how shocked they are from my sudden revelation.
Eyes widened, mouth slightly gaped open, and they were frozen in their seats…
I clasped my hands together as I lowered my head. Well… now everyone knows it.
"The bomb's dropped!" Asher was the one who broke the silence and—
"What curse?" - Brother Aeli.
"Is this the reason you asked us about a curse before?" - Brother Heli.
"We have no idea about this!" - Brother Dae.
"Please explain further, Princess," - Ziel.
"First, the Princess is being targeted by a demon, and now she's cursed?" - Brother Caelus.
"W-w-what curse… Master?" - Avi.
The only ones who did not react were Asher, Sir Abel, Dad, and Sir Kiernan.
Because of my silence, Sir Abel decided to speak.
"Hmm… all we know about the curse is that it will activate at her twentieth birthday. Her overflowing mana will cease, and every excess mana will flow to her eyes… and everyone she looks into will turn into dust. That's what our sister told us," Huh… well, at least I didn't exactly become M*dusa.
"That…"
And the room became silent again.
"You knew about this all along, Ali…? Yet you never mentioned it at all?" Brother Aeli asked, giving me a concerned look as he held my shoulders. Oh, now how do I explain?
At first I was really surprised. But, now that I think back to those times… I didn't really react strongly to it, I didn't even cry. My first thought was how to remove it. And maybe because Asher was with me and kept reassuring me that he'll help me with it.
"I told her not to," Asher said proudly.
"And you told her when she was only five?" My first brother can't begin to fathom what he just heard. Well, I'm sure it isn't normal for a five year old to hide it for two years, right? And did he really remember that time when I asked them if our family has a history of cursed people?
"Yes. Her Highness did react strongly about it, and I was worried about what could happen, but a few talks calmed her down. I told her to keep it a secret until we find a holy crystal that will help her and I'm glad she honored her promise," He's a good story creator. He could write a novel if he wants to.
"Ali…" brother Dae stood up and walked towards me, kneeling in front of me.
"You've been hiding it from us. You're so strong and so mature, dear princess. You probably felt despair when you found out about it, but you still hid it well. We should've noticed it when you asked us about curses before…" brother Dae placed his hand on top of my head, looking at me as if he was in pain.
"I'm fine, brother! Asher and Sir Abel promised me that they will cure me after all!" I replied, forcing a smile. Now that it's out, it feels like everything's going to get serious now… I kinda feel nervous now.
"What's more, it's so dangerous that it could affect Ali's daily life," brother Caelus said, my second and first brothers nodded their heads to agree.
"How are we going to find this holy crystal?" Brother Heli asked.
"As of now, we have no leads on the two possible locations. This realm had holy crystals everywhere before but when the Goddess of Life was… when she disappeared, each and every holy crystal in this realm vanished as well. There are holy cystals in the God of Death's realm, however we have no idea how to find or enter his realm. And third, is the Essence Tree, which bears a holy crystal fruit. The problem is it changes location every twenty years and it's been two-hundred years since we last saw it," Asher explained. I prevented myself from sighing in disbelief. All the possible locations seem really difficult to reach.
The room has gone silent once again. None of us tried to talk, nor did we have any say at all about what Asher had said. I'm sure everyone in this room except Asher and Sir Abel have no idea about those locations, except this realm of course.
"Then… What are we supposed to do? And what does it have to do with the demon king?" Brother Caelus asked. I can feel the tension within this room, the few silent replies after one person spoke is so heavy.
"Unseal Athalia," huh?! That's your plan?!
"What? The black magician?" Brother Dae reacted.
"I told you, she isn't an enemy," Asher sighed and crossed his arms and legs, leaning on the backrest of his chair.
"Hmm, you did say that two years ago. But she's still a black magician—"
"And she ain't a black magician as well," Asher cut brother Aeli's words, but everyone let it off.
"If we want to know everything about the Princess' curse, we should ask the curse caster herself, right?" Yeah…
"Wait—are you saying that this curse within Ali, is the same curse that Felicia Odilia had?" Brother Aeli asked. Both Asher, Sir Abel, and Sir Kiernan nodded their heads. So, even Sir Kiernan already knew about it?
"What…"
"The book mentioned about her curse, but nothing's written about how it works and how it's passed down," Brother Dae said. Well, that's right. Asher was the one who told me about it, and when I read the book there were no details about the curse at all. All that's written there was how Athalia tried to kill the Crown Princess out of jealousy, and she was the one who cursed Felicia.
"Then, that means she really was the one who cursed Felicia. It also tells us that she's dangerous, no?" Dad finally spoke his mind. He's been quiet since earlier.
"She is dangerous… 'if' she really cursed Fel out of animosity," Asher's words gave us the idea that the Odilia book was lying about the part when Athalia cursed Felicia because of jealousy.
"You mean…" even brother Caelus immediately realized what he's trying to imply.
"Yes. That's why we want to unseal her. We need explanations. Ley also knew something about this, but she's out of the world. That's why we can only rely on Athalia," Hmm…
"When do you plan to unseal her?" Dad asked.
"As soon as possible… how about tomorrow?" Right away?!
"Huh? Tomorrow?" Even Ziel was astonished.
"Yes. We can't waste time. The Princess is already seven years old, we only have thirteen years left. And just to remind you, thirteen years is not even one-eighth of Virexon's life," he's right…
"And, I'm not exactly asking for permission from the Imperial Family. I'm just informing you all," Ahh…
Really, he's using his authority well that it feels so annoying. Even the way he talks feels a little bit irritating. I mean, he can do that, of course… but please, tone down the attitude. Goodness gracious, even my brothers are giving him sharp stares.
Dad took a deep sigh after staring at Asher for a long time. I'm sure that sigh means he can't retaliate against Asher.
"Anyway. We shall proceed now with the main reason why we're gathered here…" Dad spoke. He walked to his chair and leaned on it.
"Right… I heard Abel had already told you that the Viscount didn't give us any leads at all. However, he told us about meeting a helpless girl and helping her, and after a few conversations with the little girl it looked like he was successfully possessed by Virexon. His body was weak to be his vessel, that's why he became a cripple after we detached Virexon from him. I tried to visit his memory, but we couldn't see the face of this little girl at all. She was wearing an oversized hood, and…" Asher paused.
He stayed silent for a few seconds, and we waited for him to talk again.
"It seemed like this kid knew I was going to visit the Viscount's memory, and left a message," a message? What? This little girl, I'm sure it was the same person that saved Virexon from Asher before when he managed to corner him. I remember he informed me about that during the last banquet of my birthday celebration.
"A message? Is it for the Astra or the Imperial Family?" My father asked.
"For us, all of us here… she threatened us. That if we keep hanging around the Princess, they will not hesitate to use the citizens instead," suddenly, my heart starts racing fast and my stomach starts to ache. I'm nervous…
"That's why they purposely placed black magic infused items in the Central Plaza, knowing both commoners and nobles visit it…" I mumbled. Sir Abel and Asher nodded at the same time.
"Yes, Your Highness. Brother, this is just a guess. What if the reason why they started striking us again was because… of the holy flower?" Huh? Because of Avi? I looked at my little fairy and she seemed surprised.
"The holy flower has now bloomed, and a mana guardian was born. Avi bears a divine core, and it might not be similar to us… however, Virexon will do anything to be able to have his own divine core," just… what is that demon's problem? Why does he want to have a divine core so bad? He abandoned his Godhood, yet not he's trying to seize a divine core from anyone?
You shouldn't have abandoned divinity if you want it anyway?!
How infuriating!
"Possible, but…" Asher replied, and then turned to look at me, and then sighed.
"We really need to talk to Athalia," he added.
"Sir Asher, do you plan to do it tomorrow? I will prepare all the necessary procedures," Sir Kiernan said, and wow… he doesn't hesitate to help Asher and Sir Abel at all…
"Yes, and thank you, Kier," Asher stood up.
"We can hold another meeting once Athalia's awake. I'm sure we'll be able to gain a lot of information from her… and maybe even know the truths of why she cast that curse," he said, crossing his arms.
"Oh, another thing. I want to give everyone something," give us something?
"The Princess and Prince Aelius already have it. The rest can have their own as well. This will protect y'all from dark magic," Asher said. And all of a sudden, everyone here except Asher and Sir Abel are wearing the same necklace that brother Aeli and I have.
"Don't remove it," Asher added as he vanished into thin air. All of us exchanged looks as we all sigh in disbelief.
"Wow… Sir Abel, your brother really enjoys his authority," brother Caelus said, running his fingers through his hair.
"His personality is even more annoying than brother Cae,"
"Excuse me?"
"Don't want to,"
Oh goodness gracious…
I don't really know what I should be thinking right now.
My class yesterday was suspended because of what happened at the library, and because I enjoyed showing Avi to everyone in the four palaces, I couldn't read the book that Asher lent me.
If I continue reading it, would I be able to find out why Virexon abandoned Godhood?
I wonder if I can help him once I know of his past?
No, no. What help, Ali?! You need to let the Astras deal with him!
For some reason, I feel tired and sleepy.
Maybe because of all the information that overloaded my brain, it became exhausted.
I wanna sleep all day!
***