Arastella
I leaned back in the white iron chair, I stared down the row of trembling girls. "Why have you all gone mute? Two days ago, you all had a lot to say."
A heavy, silence hung over the garden table. Finally, the freckled girl with the curly hair and striking gray eyes broke the quiet. "Sorry... we are just in shock," Lichi said, her voice small as she anxiously fidgeted with her hands.
"Why is that? Did you guys think I was incapable of defending myself?" A sharp, dry laugh escaped my throat.
So, they really thought I would just lie down and let them beat me, I thought to myself, a smirk tugging at my lips. They truly had no idea what kind of beast they were dealing with.
"Again, I ask—and someone better start talking, because I severely lack patience," I said, tapping my manicured fingers against the saucer. "Tell me about yourselves."
Lichi swallowed hard, keeping her eyes glued to the lace tablecloth, though she managed to pick up her teacup and take a small, hesitant sip. "I... I can create and control storms. I am also a half-spirit. My marking is of a dying rose."
I raised an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued. "Well, that's pretty cool if you ask me. You can exist on both sides of the realm."
"I guess so," Lichi murmured, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks.
The girl next to her cleared her throat, trying to sound confident despite her trembling shoulders. "We already met. I am Aiona. I am twenty-four, and I use energy from the sun to create light and energy blasts."
The third girl immediately chimed in. "We have met also. I am Iona. I can use the moon's energy to create light and blast beams."
I let out a loud, amused chuckle, leaning back comfortably into the velvet cushions. "So, you two are polar opposites when it comes to your powers. I am assuming that when one of you is at your weakest, the other is at your strongest. Amazing."
I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all. As I tilted my head back, my eyes locked with Astelion's. She was standing behind me, her expression a stone wall, but her lips subtly parted as she silently mouthed: Stop laughing.
I ignored my granddaughter and shifted my gaze back to the side of the table, where Eina was still standing, her dress soaked in lukewarm tea and her face twisted.
"Your next, queen-wannabe," I provoked, narrowing my eyes.
"Don't call me that," Eina hissed, as she balled her hands into fists. "I have the ability to absorb knowledge from texts and books. I am twenty-five."
"Wow," I drawled, letting out a heavy, mocking sigh. "So, not only are you the oldest one here acting like a child throwing a tantrum, but you're also completely useless."
The absurdity of her grand title matching such a pathetic power hit me all at once. I laughed so hard that I slammed my open hand down on the marble table, causing the porcelain cups and tiered pastry towers to shake.
"You truly are a beast—uneducated and unrefined!" Eina screamed, completely losing her composure as she frantically tried to brush the tea stains off her ruined clothes.
I stopped laughing. "You think grace and education are defined by your nobility or your bloodright?"
"Of course!" Eina shot back. "You were born and raised in darkness as a beast, with no education and no etiquette!"
"Says the girl who didn't even know she was supposed to stand, bow, and greet her Queen," I countered smoothly, my voice dangerously calm. "The same girl who keeps overstepping her bounds. I am pretty certain the books you have here in this palace are heavily manipulated to fit whatever narrative your lords want you to believe, rather than the whole truth. So, in truth? I am far more educated than you. You have just been reading and swallowing absolute nonsense into that pea-sized brain of yours."
Eina's face flushed a humiliated red. Aiona and Iona snapped their heads up to stare at her in absolute shock before quickly darting their eyes back down to me.
Behind my chair, I felt a heavy hand rest on my shoulder. Astelion gave me a slight, firm squeeze—a silent, physical signal telling me to wrap it up and stop digging the grave deeper.
I let out a long, dramatic sigh, propping my elbow on the table and resting my cheek against my hand. "What is it that you four are actually supposed to do or even help me with as a Queen? Because right now, I don't see the point."
Lichi took a breath, trying to steady the room's chaotic energy. "I am responsible for helping you decide which spirits can cross over into this world. Spirits have contributed to almost everything in this realm—from helping to boost power, to teleportation, seeing the future, and healing. However, there are spirits that are deeply corrupted or died horribly, and they seek nothing but vengeance. So, we have to be incredibly careful about who we allow to come over."
"That's freaky and very unsettling... but okay," I murmured, shivering slightly at the thought.
Aiona spoke up next, pointing to herself and her twin. "My sister and I are responsible for the jewelry imports and exports across three of our neighboring countries, as well as all the major cities here."
I blinked, looking between the two identical faces. "You two? Someone actually trusts the two of you with that?"
"Yes," Iona said, a hint of defensive pride in her voice. "Our father, and the King himself, because of our expensive taste in jewelry."
"Noted," I said dryly. I turned my sharp gaze back to Eina, who was practically vibrating with rage. "And you?"
"I help to make the laws, regulations, and rules that govern the people, as well as managing the entire education system for the kingdom," Eina sneered, crossing her arms tightly.
I sighed again, completely unimpressed. "Show me. I don't believe in things that hold no use carrying any actual value."
"You are truly a bi—". She didn't get to finish the word.
Suddenly, the warm morning air in the garden vanished, replaced by a suffocating, pitch-black pressure that flooded over the pavilion like a tidal wave of pure gravity. The flowers seemed to droop, and the heavy silence that followed was terrifying.
I immediately turned my head to scan the perimeter of the rosebushes.There, standing at the edge of the stone walkway, was the Mad King.
Castel stood perfectly still, his mismatched eyes burning brightly, his mind weaving a crushing aura around the pavilion. Kiono stood just a step behind him like a loyal, silent minion. Castel expression looked like he wanted nothing more than to snap her neck right then and there.