"I suppose we all are surprised here, meeting such unexpected turn of events. What can I say? Isn't it better to talk it out between siblings?" Cedric leaned forward on the throne, the crown sliding down to his brows. "Afterall, I believe we clearly remember the time that you gaslighted me into believing you all were dying. Imagine how devastated I was."
His brother gritted his teeth. His sister clenched her gown slightly between her fingers.
"You had to struggle quite a lot trying to kick me out of the palace. I was younger back then, you could have told me to tell mom and dad something and change the situation, but you threw me out into the wilderness. All while is as just six years old. You know? If you didn't do that ten years ago, I would have never thought about revenge. I don't even crave the crown!"
"Then why do you want it now?!"
"I mentioned it before. I wanted a revenge."
"That doesn't count!"
"But it counted when you wanted the throne for yourself after kicking me out. Didn't it?"
The room turned silent. Aefia stood at the corner, watching while yawning a lot of times. Unconsciously, she checked her wrist.
Oh shit... Its sleep o'clock! Just one more episode and I will go to sleep. She joked to herself while continuing her show. The genre was reality TV of course. The title was… 'Throne and Heirs'. It may have a bit of comedy sprinkled here and there, but it was supposed to be intensely emotional at some points. Nevertheless, she still wished for a bag of popcorn.
To think she got the clearance to be the third Aethalgard for this. It was a laughable situation.
Her eyes almost shut as she leaned against the wall, then suddenly...
"If it wasn't for that girl! I would have been the one sitting on the throne!" His brother pointed a finger at her direction, shouting until the crows woke up outside the windows.
Aefia stared blankly for a moment. Her mind still hazy from the lake of sleep.
"Man...! What did I do?" She muttered to herself while standing straight and sloping forward to stretch her limps. "I didn't do anything. I just helped someone get revenge because I couldn't. But honesly my only goal was to try and send away a few wandering spirits. One of them asked me for the 'Orb of Life'... So I was looking around for that.
"I also didn't know I was going to get tangled up into this mess. Just this morning, a certain someone with pastel pink hair decided she wanted to kill me... And almost killed herself. But I was only saving my ownself on the contrary. Those beasts only wanted to devour me for my tacky pink dress. No offense... But who even gifted that?"
She let out a yawn at the end of her messy explanation and rubbed her eyes. Ugh! I don't have the energy for this anymore!
"Oh who are you trying to frame here?!" The princess shouted while stomping towards where she was back to leaning against the wall.
"I don't know... Who has pastel pink hair?"
"You–What are you even trying to say?!"
"I don't know. That someone with pastel pink hair had used the shadow creatures against me?"
"Are you trying to frame me?!"
"What if I try to kill you right now? Surely you would use that skill again to defend yourself." Aefia asked while opening just one of her eyes at the princess. Her face dead serious as Ms. Pinkhead walked up to her place and grabbed her by the collar.
"Who are you to predict someone's demise and someone's death?!" The aggressive woman gritted her teeth while offering a grin. "My brother can kill you whenever he wants. And he would easily get away with it. Same goes to me."
Aefia looked up at the woman's face, which was mere inches away from her own. However, it didn't scare her, she did what she would do back when she was a full psycho. Her arms folded towards where the short sword rested underneath her sleeve.
"Who do you think I am?" She whispered at the woman, her crimson eyes bore onto her golden gaze until the tension in the air was concerning.
"Who are you? You are a pathetic useless, sensitive girl who got fooled by my younger brother and is now going to suffer a lifetime inside the dungoens."
"Do you lock in your answer?" She titled her head to the side.
"Why? Do I need to confirm that too–ow!"
Aefia kicked her in the stomach to force some distance. The haziness from her sleep was gone in an instant as she watched the princess squirm around on the ground like a dying species. She smiled at it, as the elder brother turned horrified.
"You might as well try to rethink. When I came to this palace, I was the Guardian of Death. Not 'Your Imperial Highness Aefia'. Not 'Princess Aefia'." She clarified while pulling out the blade. "I have a throne, that even people like you can't reach at will. Do you still think I am pathetic?
"And just as of recently... I ascended to the Aethalgard at my own will. Do you still think I was fooled?" She asked, grabbing the princess up by her hair. "A Guardian can have a chosen human of their own to support over a long period ot time... What are you going to do about that? Oppose my opinions while it is not your business to intervene?"
"Get away from my sister–!"
"No you get away! For I have become the third Aethalgard Heir, I will choose who to put on the throne and who to not. It is under my judgement that this situation be solved whether it is to your liking or not." Aefia commanded while dropping the princess onto the floor again. "This isn't an open space for mere humans like you to tell me what to do."
The man shot his gaze towards Cedric, glaring in a way that defied all calmness. But his younger brother only leaned deeper into the throne and offended him more. The situation may have escalated slightly after Aefia made her commands as a higher-up, but it was moving the right path for the time being.
He glanced to where the Guardian stood, trapped in a situation where he could neither move back or front. Until he realized he needed to save himself more than save his sister, who was in obvious pain. The princess looked in anticipation at her elder brother, reaching a hand out for help. But the man turned his gaze away and towards Cedric instead.
He fell to his knees almost abruptly. His forehead collided with the tiled ground with a dull thud. Aefia stared in total confusion, scratching the side of her head with her index finger.
The scene unfolded vividly in the princess's eyes, and she immediately got to her knees.
"What do you think you are doing! Have you lost your mind!" She shouted, turning around to hit Aefia if she could. "You ruined everything for this family!"
Before the first could land on her, the king and queen came running in. The king with a long sword at his hands. The queen heaving as she took on the situation between her daughter and someone else's daughter.
"What is going on?!"
To the king's vision, because of Aefia's powers, it seemed as if Cedric was the one bowing and his elder brother on the throne.
"What level of greed is this?! You tried to kill me by sending assassins this evening!" He shouted, then looking at his second child. The entire atmosphere froze. "You too?! Guards!"
A group of silver clad humans came rushing inside with spears at their hands. They stepped towards where the princess stood completely motionless. They tried to grab her away, but Aefia flashed a grin with her crimson eyes glowing.
Anger flared inside her veins one last time. This time, the attact sealed her faith completely.
Aefia non-chalantly walked away while the princess was dragged backwards. The hit never landed and she was immediately exiled for her irrational behaviours as a royalty.
On the other hand, Aefia was contemplating between fleeing the kingdom or just dissappearing into the Guardian Realm. However, she wasn't allowed to pas the door just yet.
"And where are you going?" The queen asked, blocking her path.
"I am just... Going to exile myself and walk away." She pressed her lips into a straight line and clasped her hands behind her back. "I won't like a conflict between the kingdom and me since many of you may have already gotten a wrong idea of me."
"What wrong idea of you did we get? I don't understand clearly, darling." She asked while smiling.
"Maybe that after I appeared, the situation at the palace had worsened?"
"But we are not stupid to believe some made up lies and go along with the plans, just to hurt an innocent child. Are we?"
"Yeeeh... I don't know..." Aefia shrugged while turning on her heel to maybe walk away. However, the queen dragged her backwards and towards the throne room again.
Ugh, this is hectic!
"As for you... Get down of the throne first." The king commanded at his eldest child. "I am still not certain if you or your sister sent the assassins. Since I am a sincere father and like giving chances to my children, I will let you go for, under strict observations only."
"Father! She had forced me!" His brother shouted while leaping down that stairs to bow at the king's feet. Cedric stood shocked and smirking lightly, enjoying the situation for himself.
"But she is exiled and you won't speak about her. Understand?"
"Yes father."
The king turned with his guards to face Aefia next, who immediately broke out into a cold sweat.
"As for you..." He started speaking. "If you dare step foot out of the palace before Cedric's coronation... I will have you personally found and trapped in your guest room until the event ends. And in case you need anything and you don't ask us, I will have you wear those tacky pink dresses wherever you go. Have I made myself clear?" He smiled at her.
"Yes your majesty." She let out a strangled sigh while turning to face the queen. So... Are you going to say something too? Her facial expressions read. However, the woman didn't say anything. This caused her real relief for the time being.
On her way back to her room, Cedric decided to follow behind. He kept thanking her, which was becoming more and more annoying. Until...
"You do know the coronation ceremony is going to be seven days long, right?"
"Seven days?!" She felt her soul leave her body completely, then immediately return. "Man! ... I will just appear one day and dissapear the next six."
"But father said all day."
"Yeah yeah... If a royal coronation is seven days, an Imperial a month long... Imagine how long the Aethalgard is?" She whispered to herself while entering her room, where he followed on.
"I was going to ask you about that. When exactly did you ascend to the Aethalgard? If I am not wrong than you must be one of the three leaders of the Guardian Realm now, huh?" He smiled while stretching his arms into the air.
"Well yes. As for your first question, exactly before the chaos started." She answered back while sitting on the armchair near her window. It was four in the morning, in the next hour will be sunrise.
***
The throne room was now bustling with the sounds of many nobles. They laughed and spread rumors among themselves, a lot of woman were dancing. And the atmosphere was...
Too cramped! I need air!
Aefia dashed towards the balcony, grabbing her collar and holding her wine glass, although she didn't really have wine in her glass. It was a very concentrated pomegranate syrup. And it was suggested by Cedric too.
As an introvert, she was having the worse time of her life. However, given it was her friend's coronation, at one point it may be understandable and adaptable. As the evening sky dimmed to reveal stars, she leaned against the railing and hung her head low.
"I am anticipating my coronation... But I am also afraid of this scene." She muttered to herself while balancing the wine glass on the white marble. "Huff... I wonder what back-to-back coronation was described as in ancient history back on Earth.
"To think that the coronations are happening in my situation... Dang!"
She wasn't drunk of course, but she felt like that after being completely drained and consuming so much sugary stuff. It felt like she might jump off the balcony and still survive. She turned around to head back in, since Cedric had set a strict time for her to stay outside for air.
It was... Just two minutes. The capacity of human lungs. All that time, she would need to hold her breathe, fulfilling his demand of her presence at least at the corners during the coronations.
She went inside to look for Cedric. When she did find him, her entire world blurred out.
A silver-haired figure was standing right in front of him, his expression the way Aefia remembered when she first met him.
"Congratulations... Prince Cedric." Lewis muttered with a dead-pan expression.
"Thanks... Prince Lewis."
Aefia didn't know who else came along with him, but it was frightening her. Not in a fearful way... She felt her fingers shake as the memories of the Imperial palace came flooding back to her. Her eyes shrunk to tiny dots.
Then, she bit her tongue and walked away. Downing her stoic mask, although it hurt to do so in this case. Her expression was a bitter smile to whoever looked at her direction. But the exit to the throne room suddenly felt longer and more stretched than she last remembered.
Her legs trembled, her knees almost buckling until she barely managed to get out and head directly to her room.
If Lewis were here, he would have to stay longer. And if she constantly met him, she worn be able to recover from her trauma that she was desperately trying to.
As she buried her face into her hands while sitting at the edge of her bed, she realized something.
The experience wasn't the trauma she received... It was the mistakes she had made.