"Congratulations, Mobix Seafrost."
The voice echoed from outside the hall, revealing an approaching feminine figure. Her steps made thudding sounds against the marble floor, delicate and practiced.
Once her whole body came into clear view, I remembered the character I had described in that appearance.
Sandra Quadraxis.
The princess of the Quadraxis Royal Empire, and the supposed heiress to the throne. Her blond hair draped down to her shoulders, blending perfectly with her cold, green eyes, revealing a stunning beauty.
Not only was she attractive in the face, her chest region busted out beyond what her age should naturally carry, and her accentuating figure was also very tempting.
"Sandra," I called, standing before Muna as if protecting her.
"Yes, dearie," Sandra responded, but with a calm, rude voice.
I guess she was yet to change. Power had gotten so much into her head, and the high hopes that she would become the Empress of Quadraxis strengthened her arrogance.
"Why are you here? What have you come here for?" I asked, pretending not to have heard what she called me.
Sandra paused in her steps for a moment. Then, with a soft, mocking voice uttered to me. "Is it not obvious?"
Muna was taken aback, anger already searing into her nerves as she stepped in front of me with this intense gaze at Sandra. If you don't calm her down, within the next moment, she will be on combat par with her opponent.
That might not be something to worry about since Sandra and Muna were age mates, but fighting a royal household was not nobility.
"You know that looking for a noble's trouble is not outright royalty," Muna said with a fierce voice, pointing at Sandra.
However, my jaw dropped. I swallowed enough saliva to be sure I heard Muna right.
'How did she know what was in my thoughts?'
I started getting the nudge to check her power and stats.
But I should leave that until we are through with this princess of a being.
"Who said I was looking for trouble? The Lioness of Seafrost?" Sandra asked rhetorically, continuing her approach forward.
"Trouble or not, it is not present here. Tell us why you are here already. You know, this is a clear intrusion." I said as a matter of fact.
Sandra was now close enough to us, just enough to engage in a dialogue.
"Dearie, of course, you can call my entering your mother's grave hall without permission an intrusion. But, is checking on my fiance's progress intrusion as well?" she asked, turning her gaze away from me.
A cold chill ran through my body, goosebumps forming on my skin, but not visible enough for a distanced eye. The mocking tone in her voice as she mentioned fiancé was hinting at something I couldn't grasp unto yet.
'You were betrothed to Sandra, little Lord. Let's call it "out of agreement" betrothal between your father and the Emperor.' Linda said from my shadow.
Not like I didn't know. I had just gained my memory back.
'But calling it an "out of agreement" betrothal is not right. It can still prove useful tomorrow, you know.' I cautioned Linda politely.
'I'm sorry, little Lord.'
"Well, since I've got no response to my question, I will take it as an approval to stay," Sandra raised an eyebrow at Muna. "You should have at least guessed how I got to this cemetery abode, Muna."
"Then just remain at your sister's grave hall," Muna replied indifferently, then with a whisper enough for Sandra to grasp, she added. "Don't go about poking your nose around, you don't know where a needle might come from."
"It's okay, Muna," I stepped into their becoming clash.
Sandra took some steps backward. "I'm glad you still have some remembering faculty up there," she acknowledged, illustrating with her index finger tapping on her head.
"I was just next door, paying respect to my late sister, when I noticed the power from the Sea Sword."
"If I had come and seen your little sister wielding the sword, I would have been surprised. Yet, I'm even more surprised it was you, Mobix." Sandra gnashed her teeth a bit, then continued pacing around the hall, her steps making low but echoing sounds.
"Let's say, every inherited sword of Montana carries unique power within it—"
"Unique power?" I asked, perplexed.
"You don't know? Well, your sister would have told you. And yes, the Sea Sword must have granted you a power that cannot be easily acquired in your Duchedom lineage. Not naturally knowing this is already a minus on your side, Mobix."
"Oh," I was gratified she made mention of that. Which means, I will have to check out my status soon enough, when I'm free, though.
"But that shouldn't surprise you," Sandra paused, tapping her right index finger on her lips. "Do you really think your mother was killed by a demon?"
A tinge of concern seeped into my memory. According to the original plot of the beginning chapters of my novel, I had stated that my mother was killed by a demon.
Oh, yes. I was preparing a twist for that occurrence, but I never made this scene available in my novel. The plot had changed right from the time Muna brought me to this cemetery instead of a training ground.
"No response again?" Sandra called my attention and continued her pacing around.
"Let me tell you a short story, Mobix."
My eyes widened at her figure.
"Once upon a time, my mother was killed by my elder sister," Sandra said and stopped to see the change in our expression. She wasn't disappointed anyway.
"Right from the moment my mother died before my eyes till I stepped into becoming a teenager, I denounced my sister, you know. Except for my father, I had no other person to call my family until my sister died." Sandra was sounding sentimental.
I was almost drawn into becoming empathetic, but I called off the feeling immediately.
"I found out that my sister had killed my mother as a way of fulfilling the promise we had made to each other: to protect ourselves from any harm. Right in my front, my mother had gone berserk in the form of a demon, and my sister's decision was the only way of protecting me from the demon's direct attack," Sandra sobbed.
I felt tears drop from her eyes and wanted to step forward, but was held back by my sister.
Immediately, Sandra wiped her tears and moved to the portrait of my mother, which hung on the wall, running her fingers across the smooth surface.
"I don't mean to transfer my emotions to you, Mobix. From what I heard, your mother was the only mage in this kingdom who had a power that was in par with that of your father," she stated, suddenly serious as she made a sharp turn to my direction.
"Sandra!" I didn't know what she was hinting at, or why, but the best reaction my instinct drove me to was to scream her name.
Seeing that as an approval to attack, Muna lunged forward in the air, her sword appearing in her right hand. Then, once she was a few centimeters apart from Sandra, she formed a drop ball of water to hover in front, and with a calculated stance, struck it with her sword.
A bright flash of sea blue energy straightened into an arc from the contact, speeding towards Sandra.
Before I knew what had happened, Sandra had already dodged the attack and was now standing beside Muna, supporting the hand with which she held her sword.
"I will take this as your warning attack, Lioness. But I didn't come here for a fight—"
Before she could be through with her speech, Muna released her grip from her hand and made to launch another attack.
Sandra flew backwards immediately to prepare for the worst.
Linda escaped from my shadow, standing right in front of me, taking her ready stance.
It seemed I was the only one who was comfortable with Sandra being around. Her speech earlier was beginning to make sense to me, plus I didn't want to be involved in the trouble of fighting a royal household.
As it stands, the only perfect decision in the hall to partake in a duel with Sandra was Muna, according to my plot, but since Sandra had yet to draw her sword, she came for peace.
I stepped forward, tapping Linda's shoulder so she should calm her down, and shouted at Muna to stop her actions immediately.
"If you are done, Sandra, you can leave to avoid further trouble," I said to Sandra after everybody was calm.
She looked at me, surprise written on her facial expression.
"Wow, so this is a way for my husband to treat his wife?" she mentioned, making my incompetence clear to me. "My father was right after all."
"Leaving isn't a problem to me after all, and since it came from your very mouth, I would leave," Sandra added, and turned towards the door.
'Oh, no. This isn't good,' I thought.
Muna willed the sword in her hands to vanish, and Linda returned to my shadow.
Everything was calm once again. But before Sandra could make her last step out of the door, a strange energy surged within me.
The sullen feeling that came from it made me uncomfortable, and before I knew it, I had stretched my hand forward, pulling Sandra back with blue, transparent strands of energy.
Everybody, including myself, was perplexed.
Once Sandra was back standing close enough to look up to my 6'3", I asked.
"What was your father right about?" My voice wasn't rude, nor was it fierce. It was polite, but commanding.
Sandra's usual arrogance vanished. She removed her gaze from mine and muttered, "Fine, I will tell you."