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66.03% Where the Moon Glows / Chapter 35: The Imperial Knights (2)

Capítulo 35: The Imperial Knights (2)

"Your tail is beautiful, My lady."

"My family owns a pastry shop; do you want cakes or cupcakes? I will bring it next time."

"You should give it when the princes and His Majesty are not around. They will get jealous if they see you."

They laughed as the female knight said it. Jealous? Why will they get jealous? I'm confused. If it is Papa, I get. But them? We are not blood related.

"Are you hungry, My lady?" asked one of the knights with an eye patch.

"I'm alright, Mister."

"You can call me Emil. Eat these cookies, my wife made it so I'm sure it's delicious," he said, smiling.

"Thank you, Emil." I ate the cookies and as he said; they were great! "It's delicious!"

"Like I said, my wife is the best."

I looked at Emil and wondered what happened to his eye that made him wear an eye patch. It was my first time seeing someone who wears an eye patch.

Emil noticed that I had been staring at his eye patch for a while so he explained, "My left eye was not able to see because of a certain accident. I was lucky that only my eye was gone. I'm forever grateful to His Majesty for saving me."

"That's sad. Can't it be restored?"

"Unfortunately, no," Emil said, hiding his sadness behind a smile.

"Brielle, come to Papa." Papa was walking toward me to carry me and get back to our place. Looked like he was done talking to Sir Helden. I glanced at Sir Helden, who was at the same place, and saw that he appeared a little bit pale.

"Is Sir Helden all right?"

"He's a grown up. Don't mind him," Papa replied as he carried me.

"Did you bully him?"

"Do you see your dad as a villain?" asked Papa, looking at my eyes.

"…Sometimes."

"Do you not like your Papa anymore if he is a villain?" He averted his eyes from mine like he was afraid of what I would reply.

"No, I cherish you more than anyone. Even if you're a villain, you're still my only Papa."

"That's nice to hear," Papa mumbled.

I said goodbye to Sir Helden and the knights as we left the training ground. We were on our way to our room when suddenly someone called us. "Atlas! Brielle!" I turned around to see who it was and I saw Brother Kye and Empress Helena coming towards us. They were dressed beautifully today. It's not like they were not dressed beautifully every day, it's just like it's somewhat special.

"Brielle, Atlas, why are you here? Are you going for a walk?" asked Brother Kye.

"We are about to return to our room," I replied.

"Would you like to go for a tea?" Empress Elena invited.

"Yeah, let's have tea!"

Papa and I couldn't say no because Brother Kye started to pull Papa's hand to the greenhouse and Empress Helena already instructed the maids to prepare for the tea time. And now, we were stacked in the greenhouse with the high-quality tea and sweets served on the table.

"Let me pour you tea," said Empress Helena.

"Where is Brother Ethan?" I asked as she pour.

"Ethan is in his literature class. He would be upset if he knew that we would have tea without him."

Brother Kye was munching some sandwich and said, "It would be hilarious. I'll surely inform him about this."

"What about Emperor Ian?" I asked.

"Father is busy in Empire affairs. Also, there is one girl in the Slave auction that has been centered on the meeting between the nobles. They say she has holy power and golden eyes."

Golden eyes? Same eyes like the princes and Emperor Ian? Then that girl is their sibling. Woah, it was like the fairy tale that the grandma read where the lost princess was found by the King and Queen for a long time.

"Then she must be your sibling," said Papa. So, we were thinking the same thing huh.

"It's not possible," replied the Empress.

"Why?" asked Papa.

"Because my daughter is already dead."

There was silence after she answered the question. Brother Kye's face that was full of liveliness a while ago disappeared, and the Empress looked broken-hearted. The princess is dead? That's unfortunate. Surely, they treasure her based on their reaction. And I know that they were a very loving family.

"Don't be sad." I touched the check of the Empress and wiped the tears that were about to flow. "You too, Brother Kye." 

"Thank you, Brielle. I wish you were my —"

Papa suddenly hugged me tightly, which shocked us. His eyes were full of rage. "Papa?"

"Don't you ever dream about it," Papa said, angrily. "Let's go, Brielle. Papa needs to rest."

***

Silence.

When we reached our room, Papa didn't say a single word. He must have been upset by what the Empress said. Yeah, I like them but it's not to the point that I would choose them over Papa. What made Papa think that way? What is he afraid of?

I gently caressed Papa's head, calming his tensioned heart. 

Again. Silence.

But now, it is different. Though Papa didn't say anything at all, he just hugged me with his big arms like he was releasing all the worries he had. That was better. Better than keeping it all inside.

"Don't be hurt again, Brielle. I'll do anything within my power to protect you from them," Papa said, with a shaky voice.

Why? Why do you keep saying that Papa? Has something happened in the past? I want to know. Really bad. "Papa, did some—"

The emperor and the first prince were standing at the front door of our room. 

"Why are you here?" Papa asked.

"We were just stopping by to see Brielle," replied the Emperor Ian. "I heard that Helena and Kye did something that upset you. I'm sorry if you found it unpleasant, it's just that they've been emotional."

Papa didn't reply. 

"By the way, my birthday is coming up soon. There will be a banquet, Atlas and Brielle, I'm expecting you to attend," Brother Ethan said, giving us the invitation letters.

The invitation letters had a golden lion seal on the center, and were covered with exquisite decorations. It was my first time receiving a birthday invitation, and he said a banquet? I want to go! But it's impossible if I still have a tail. 

"We'll see if we can attend," answered Papa.

Papa's short answer made Brother Ethan smile. Well, if it was Papa, that answer was positive itself. Usually, he rejected any help or invitations from others but somehow, now, he considers it.

"Then we'll get going. Rest well, Brielle and you too, Atlas," said Emperor Ian.


next chapter

Capítulo 36: The Royal Banquet (1)

The palace was busy preparing for the banquet of the first prince, Brother Ethan, who was about to turn fourteen years old. Every person in the palace has a duty: maids decorating and polishing the palace, gardeners managing the garden, Imperial knights tightening the security as the banquet is coming, chefs making new recipes, and tailors from the boutique shop delivering the suits and dresses to be used on the special day. And we, Papa and I, were just here, glancing at the balcony because there are humans outside the palace coming in and out. As we watched, there was a carriage that stopped at the garden, in front of the golden lion statue. The carriage opened and a girl who was dressed in a floral dress came out. She had white skin, orange short hair, blue eyes. She is pretty cute.

Knock, knock, knock.

"My Lord and My Lady, there is a visitor waiting for you."

"Let him inside," Papa replied.

The door opened; standing there was Max holding a sword and a basket. "Long time no see, Brielle, Mister!"

"Max!" Papa let me sit on the chair while Max put the basket on the table. "I'm glad you came here. I thought you wouldn't visit."

"Sorry for my late visit, Brielle. I have been busy with my sword training," Max said. He raised his sword, and showed me some swordsmanship techniques, "Look! I'm getting better and I used Mister's mana stone."

"That's a lousy posture," Papa chuckled.

"Just wait and see, Mister. I'm going to beat you."

"Go, Max!" I cheered. Oops, I feel the sinister aura behind me. I need to change the topic. "What is that, Max?" 

"That's for you. From Mother and Father."

I opened the basket and saw different snacks inside: roasted deer meat, flower biscuits, chocolate muffins, and some tea. "We should eat these before it gets cold." Papa asked Lydia to bring some plates and tea cups so we could eat what Max brought. 

"Palace is so big! I didn't expect, even in my dreams, to be able to go here," Max exclaimed as he took another bite of muffin. "When I grow up, I'll be an Imperial Knight!"

"Is that why you've been practicing?" asked Papa, sipping his tea.

"Yeah," replied Max, inaudible due to his mouth full of food.

"We should leave as soon as possible before he becomes a knight here," teased Papa.

I missed this; Papa and Max arguing with each other. I just ate a muffin and watched them argue with each other.

After thirty minutes

"I'm full," groaned Max.

p"How can you not be full if you almost ate all that you brought?"

"It's…uhm…because it's delicious," Max mumbled.

"Max, there's a training ground for the knights outside. We can go there and play."

"That's awesome! Let's go, let's go," he exclaimed in excitement.

"Wait. Brielle needs to manipulate her mana. You can just wait there."

Max stands beside the door while me and Papa do the mana manipulation. Like what I did for the past times:

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Concentrate the mana in the core.

Allow it to circulate through your veins.

Feel it and repeat the cycle.

Ugh. This time was different. My mana felt really cold and minute by minute it traveled throughout my body.

"Open your eyes. You did it, Brielle."

My tail was gone! It was really gone. "Papa, I returned back to normal!"

"I-it was l-like MAGIC. MAGIC!" shouted Max.

"Yeah, yeah, it was like magic. Go out for a second. Brielle needs to dress up."

"Oh! Okay," Max blurted, flustered.

***

Creak…

"You're done, Bri-Brielle."

"Yeah. Let's go— Huh? Are you alright Max?"

"You're too cute."

Papa held my hand and said, "My daughter is cute, kind, and talented. You don't have the chance with my daughter."

"My mother said I'm handsome!"

"Only your mother," mocked Papa.

"Max is handsome"

"Heh, Mister, it appears that you're wrong," 

"Stop fighting. Let's go to the training ground."

As we went to the training ground, the maids were surprised as they saw me standing with two feet, and dressed in a yellow dress. They greeted me enthusiastically and that made my day. When we arrived at the training ground, Max's jaw dropped as he saw the Imperial knights. Unlike the other day, they were all dressed in black uniforms and I noticed that Sir Helden was not there. 

"Is that Brielle?"

"Good morning!" I greeted.

"You have a fee—" They all looked seriously at Max, thinking what a child was doing here.

"This is Max, my friend. He knew that I'm a mermaid so it's okay."

"Oh, is that so?"

"I thought I'm going to dead."

All the faces that had been tense a while ago were relieved. They were instructed to be silent about it, no wonder they were scared for a moment.

"Could I train with you? I really want to be a knight like you!" Max requested.

"Of course. Let me get the wooden swords."

"No, I have my sword. I want to use it."

"Alright. Let's start, Max."

Max and the knights started to practice sword fighting and we just sat there and watched them. They were really cool swinging their swords; I wonder how the emperor and the first prince looked when they wielded their swords. They must be really cool. Also, I wanted to see Brother Kye use magic; Max said he is an excellent magician. While I was mesmerized by observing them, I saw something shiny behind the bushes. It was moving, and I could see something orange.

"Papa, I'll just look something there."

"Be careful while walking."

I silently walked toward the bushes where I saw something strange. 

Rustle, Rustle, Rustle. 

Carefully, I moved the bushes to see what's behind it. 

"Aaaargh!"

A girl with a white skin, sunset orange hair, and blue eyes. The girl from before. 

"Shhh, act like you don't see me," she whispered.

Seeing her up close, I noticed that she has freckles on her face. Judging from her appearance she was about the same age as Max. And the weird thing was she was holding a binocular, and a paper with a sketch of the Imperial knights.

"Do you like old men?"

"Wha-what? Tha-that's ridi- ridiculous!" she stuttered.

She was lying. It was all over her face that she was fascinated by the Imperial knights. She was just too shy to admit it. "All right," I replied. "Do you want to meet them?"

"REALLY?" she blurted. "Ahem, forgive me for my late introduction. I'm Halley Fulhert Lemaitre, the daughter of Marquess Lemaitre. It's a pleasure to meet you."


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