The Azure Estate was one of the most beautiful and important estates of Minora. It housed the current Lord of Great House Blade, Graves Blade, as well as important members such as direct descendants of the main branch, as well as their Raven-blades. And among them was Natalie Cormac, granddaughter of Emilian Cormac. Natalie was someone who not only awakened her Shadow affinity in her 14th year, but also proved that she was worthy of being more than a mere bodyguard. Similar to Julien Cormac, her brother, she too was judged to be extremely talented and was brought into House Blade not as a shield but as a blade. However, unlike her brother, who for whatever reason pledged loyalty to a No-Name, she embraced this new opportunity and trained harder. And after only a few months of training, she attained the early stage of the first Rank and would soon reach the Middle stage within the next year.
While normal Chosen would normally awaken at 16 or 17, Natalie awakened at 13 years of age, and the benefits were instant. She was brought to The Azure Estate and given a room many would only wish to have. At the time, she was happy and could barely comprehend what was happening, but as time went on, she became less humble. She started feeling pride; A sense of pride and accomplishment as she showed everyone that being born into a Minor or a Vassal family, like the Cormac family, meant nothing.
As she walked back from the training grounds and towards her quarters, she casually wiped beads of sweat running down her face with a towel. Today's training was fruitful; she learnt how to effectively use shadows to analyze her opponent's footwork and counter effectively with her broadsword. Though her form and movements felt sloppy in front of her instructor, she was still happy that her progress curve was still consistent.
After taking a quick shower and changing into light clothes, she threw herself into bed, her black hair spilling on the pillow case, a dark halo framing her face as she hugged her favorite plushie—a small panda her grandfather had given to her. She was about to close her eyes when she caught a humanoid form in the corner of her eye. She turned fully to face this form and saw that it was similar to a body pillow and was under her sheets. Upon seeing this, she sighed and said in an annoyed voice, "Ugh. Emily or Adam... get out of my bed."
Ever since King Toren's passing was announced, which was about a week ago, the young prince and princess, Adam and Emily, had moved into the Azure Estate. Natalie found their company somewhat pleasing and annoying at the same time. Adam and Emily were twins, both 12 years of age, who somehow did not look much alike, except for their dark brown eyes, which neared black and the Blades' signature silver hair.
Natalie groggily pulled back the sheets, and what met her eyes was neither Adam nor Emily but a young man with medium-length black hair and average features. The corners of his lips were painted red with dried blood. Not only that, but his white shirt was also covered with dried blood, which looked like someone else's and not his, as he was not injured.
The man groaned slightly as his eyelids parted, exposing his dark brown eyes, which were red from exhaustion. "Huh?"
"KYAA!"
Natalie jerked back repulsively as she screamed whilst running towards a nearby wall. She turned on the lights, which made Orion close his eyes abruptly and adapt to the sudden change of light intensity. By the time he opened his eyes again, Natalie was upon him, broadsword in hand and already performing a Common-ranked Sword Art movement.
"Quick Slash!"
Orion stared at the attack in shock. He was supposed to be safe... to be at home. Not the home he grew up in, but at the very least, the home of his family. At that moment, he felt not fear, but annoyance. 'When is this going to end. When can I take a break?!'
Orion's heart raced as he felt all the veins in his body bulge. He acted on instinct, throwing the sheets towards the woman's attack to block her vision. Right on the heels of that, Natalie's attack landed mercilessly and cut straight through the sheets. After dodging the slash, he lunged forward and countered effectively by quickly punching her sword by the blade to the left, sending it spinning in the air, and kicking her in the gut. Orion then quickly took hold of the sword and glared forward.
Natalie crashed into a wall and fell to the ground. She gathered her strength and screamed with all her might. "INTRUD—!"
Before Natalie could finish her word, Orion pounced on her and shut her mouth with his palm. "Shut up! It's nighttime! And I want to sleep, so leave my room!" Orion half screamed, half whispered.
"HM!"
"Promise you won't scream, and I will let go." After seeing the girl nod, he pulled back his hand and took a step back.
"What are you doing here?! Who are you?! This is my room!"
Orion was about to shut her up again, but when he heard her say that it was not his room, he froze. "What? Your... room?" Orion paused and thought back to when Graves talked to Emilian and came to a realization. Graves had told Emilian to prepare a room for him; he did not necessarily mean this one. Orion was so exhausted that he had not paid attention and simply slept on the first bed he saw.
'Wait, if this is not my room, then why did Emilian not move me or something?'
"Hey, calm down. Sorry, I made a mistake. I was attacked and was exhausted. I just threw myself on the first bed I saw and slept..."
"Attacked?! You are in Minora. What attack can even take place? You expect me to believe you got attacked, went into my room and slept? While not a single soul in the Estate knew? Furthermore, you are in the first rank. If enemies skilled enough to launch a true attack undetected had done so, why are you alive?"
"Ugh... stop talking, my head hurts. Alex. Help me..."
Natalie flinched when she saw a figure emerge from Orion's shadow. The figure was tall and lean, with dark purple hair and eyes that had irises as black as the void itself.
"Sir, I humbly apologize. Lord Emilian told us that it wasn't a problem if you slept in this room."
"Grandpa said what?!"
A vein popped on Orion's forehead when he heard the girl screaming again. Orion was never one to let his anger take over. But right now, he couldn't take it anymore. From his father's death, the inability to attend the funeral, to the ambush and seeing his stepmother dissected in half, he finally snapped.
"Shut up! I almost died, who knows how many times today. I am not in the mood for your dumb voice. When someone tells you to shut the fuck up, you shut the fuck up! The last thing I want to hear is you screaming at every sentence—"
"Haaa. Haa," Orion panted as he stared down at the girl with pure annoyance. A couple of seconds of awkward silence passed before the door of Natalie's chambers opened, revealing a familiar old man— Emilian Cormac. Orion panicked a little but did not let it show on his face. He remained stoic as he watched the old man with white hair walk towards the girl and lift her to her feet.
"It seems my actions have caused a lot of misunderstanding. My apologies, Mr. Orion and Pumpkin..."
Orion turned to Emilian and sighed. "Couldn't you have moved me into my room?"
"Let me guide you to your room, Mr. Orion."
"Grandpa! Where are you running?! You let this guy in my room!"
Orion ignored the girl's tantrum and followed behind the old man. Seeing this, Natalie muttered beneath her breath.
"Flash step"
In an instant, she found herself in front of Orion and slapped him with all her might. Orion, who was caught off guard, saw his head being flung to the right. After hitting him, Natalie immediately ran to her bed and called upon her Raven-blade with a mocking tone.
"Eliz~! Help me~!"
Orion wasn't someone who didn't know how to have fun and get made fun of. He had a couple of friends in the Outer World and knew that from the girl's point of view, it was just her getting even and teasing him. In fact, the moment her grandfather opened the door of her bedroom and did nothing to apprehend Orion, she looked at him in a completely different light, expressing her deep trust towards her grandfather as well as showing that she now knew he was special and not just a random person for her grandfather to refer to him this politely. Though Orion didn't mean to analyze her this thoroughly, with the long day he experienced, his instincts and senses were on edge at the minute.
However... It didn't matter to Orion if it was teasing, getting even or whatever. At that moment, he wanted to sucker punch her to the real sun, not the fake one of the Inner World. But he held back. He took a deep breath, gave Natalie one last hateful glance, which made her grin smugly as an undercurrent of satisfaction could be seen on her expression as Orion left the room.
'This brat. I hate her.'
***
Along the way, whilst following Emilian, Orion couldn't help but think about this girl. To be honest, he was going to think about her now or later because, from what he suspected and believed, he was going to be staying at the Azure Estate for a while now.
'She is annoying... and strong.'
"She is Julien's sister, yes?"
"Yes, young master, she is."
'hm?' "Why are you calling me Young Master now but Mr. in front of her?"
"Well, I believed at that moment that your identity should have remained a secret."
"... You did well. Though I am curious, why leave me in her room?"
"We have arrived, Young Master."
'This old snake, what is wrong with him?' Orion felt a chill running down his spine for a moment before he finally calmed down and looked at the enormous door in front of him.
"Is this really my room?"
As soon as he said that, the door opened and a gust of wind pulled him inside, leaving Emilian outside, before closing the giant door behind him.
"Do you want it? We can sleep in the same bed, you know?"
"No... I'm okay, don't insist."
"Oh come on! I know you missed your Uncle!" Graves instantly arrived in front of Orion and pulled him into a too-tight hug.
"Okay, okay, stop!"
Graves promptly released him, making him nearly lose his balance and fall to the ground.
Orion continued, "From your reaction, Elisa is alive, right?"
Graves looked down for a moment, "Orion... how do I say this... She... is..."
Orion's heart skipped a beat as he heard him. He felt an unknown yet familiar sensation course through his entire body. It was something similar to what he felt when he learnt about his father's murder.
Graves sighed, his voice full of melancholy, "She..."