Sixteen years had passed since 'Lewyn' ascended Silesse's throne, the people of Silesse had mixed opinions on his reign, but there was one thing most people could agree on, it wasn't as bad as the situation on the rest of the continent. It had remained a peaceful country for the most part, probably almost too much so, given the circumstances in the rest of the continent.
During this time the Silessian Royal family had grown in number, shortly after 'Lewyn's' ascension to the throne, he married the pegasus knight Erinys and had twins, Ced and Fee. Forseti was taken aback by the fact they were twins in this world, but in the end it was Ced's future abilities in magic the only thing he really cared about.
Despite Silesse mostly neutral stance in the war, the Grannvalian Empire had still made some attempts to take over Silesse, but thanks to the powerful Silessian army and 'Lewyn's leadership all those attempts ended in severe damage to Grannvale's forces. Despite all those failed attempts, Grannvale kept pushing toward Silesse, forcing them to at least defend their borders.
On request of her father, sixteen year old Fee had gone on patrol near the border with Grannvale in case of any surprise attacks. After a good while she decided to rest for a little bit, her turn was almost over so she decided to stop at a nearby hill. That was when she found a young girl lying on the snow-covered ground. She had assumed the girl was dead at first, but when she approached her with her pegasus, she noticed that she was still breathing. Wanting to escort her to safety, the pegasus knight carefully picked her up and carried her on her pegasus towards the Capital's castle.
"Hm, she's cold...poor thing must've been out there for hours." Fee said to herself as she felt the girl's pale hands. Before she sighed and turned to her pegasus, "C'mon Mahnya, let's head back to the Palace!" She said as she held the silver haired girl tightly in her arms so she wouldn't fall.
After some time had passed the girl had finally woken up, as soon as she tried to get up she realized she was in the middle of the sky, not knowing what to do, she started to panic.
"Woah! Careful there!" Fee exclaimed as she grabbed the girl and held her tightly, "you could've fallen there!" Seeing the girl was still in a panicked state, she ordered her pegasus to stop and shortly after they landed somewhere nearby. She set up a camp there and waited until the girl came back to her senses.
"Huh? Wh-Where are we? Who are you?" The girl asked once she had calmed down enough to be able to speak.
"Oh, I'm Fee! I found you on the ground in the middle of nowhere, it gets real cold out there so I decided to bring you home! No need to thank me. We are currently on our way there but I'm glad you woke up!" The girl seemed a bit confused trying to process everything Fee just said and simply nodded.
Despite her silence, Fee continued to speak with her, asking many questions. "Oh! By the way, do you have a name? Where do you come from? We might be able to return you to your family, just leave it to me!"
"Oh...I...my family…" She muttered, her voice hoarse from both just waking up and the sting of tears in her eyes.
Just by hearing her voice alone, Fee immediately took back what she asked. "O-oh, sorry about that, I never get to talk to girls my age so I got a little too ahead of myself there. But, can I at least ask for your name?"
"It's…" A long pause, as the girl looked deep in thought, before looking up, making eye contact with Fee. "Julia."
"That's a cute name! Anyways, you must be very tired. We should get going now! We can continue our little chat once we get home! So for now please rest, we'll be there in no time." Fee said as she helped Julia get on her pegasus, "Okay! Hold tightly, Julia! Mahnya let's go!"
Soon enough, Fee and Julia made it to the Palace, the sun was now behind the cold mountains of Silesse. It would get dark soon enough, so, landing her pegasus she held Julia's hand and went inside the Castle. "Ced! I'm home!" She called.
Julia looked very amazed at the immense palace as they made their way through the many halls, a few moments of walking passed when Julia's deep thoughts about the beautiful castle got interrupted by Fee suddenly shouting; "Cedsy! Over here!" as she waved her hand at a young man, he seemed to be Fee's brother, Ced.
"Welcome back Fee! I'm glad to see you made it safely!" Ced greeted her, as he got closer to his sister he noticed an unfamiliar girl clinging to her arm, "Who is this girl, Fee? I have never seen her before, does father know of this?"
"O-oh! This is Julia, the poor thing was alone in the cold snow in the middle of nowhere so I just had to bring her home! Her name is Julia and we are the best of friends now right, Julia?" Fee looked over at Julia who seemed scared and clung tighter to her arm, "See? Anyways about father...he has no idea of this, heh. I don't know if it'd be a good idea to tell him, you know?" She laughed nervously before suddenly saying, "Hey let's go to my room!"
"Fee, explain to-" Ced's face grew stern before she dragged him and Julia inside her room maybe a little too quickly, as she slammed the door shut with a sense of urgency, before taking a few breaths.
"You know this is dangerous, bringing in an outsider to the Palace!" Ced immediately said the moment they were shut inside the room.
"W-Well, I couldn't just leave her to die! I'd be heartless in doing so…" Fee replied, looking at Julia sitting on her bed, her head down.
"But...what about father? What if he does horrible things to us...or her."
"I-I'll keep her here in my room! She's not in condition to go out there on her own, look at her she's too scared to even say anything! Once she's ready I'll take her back to her home!" She told him, she was way too stubborn for her own good.
Ced only sighed. "Do you even know where she came from? For all we know she probably could've magically appeared here. Also it's useless to keep her hidden in your room, she'd be found out inevitably, they could even kill her if they think she's trying to sneak into the palace."
"I...well...I don't actually know anything other than her name...I tried asking her but she started crying, so I just let her rest."
Ced sighed, despite Julia being an outsider he still felt compassion for her situation and he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in how she ended up there. But at the same time, it'd be dangerous to keep her in the castle without permission, he didn't know what would happen once his father found out. Regardless it wouldn't be good to leave her on her own like that.
Ced wanted to at least get to know Julia's situation a bit more, he wasn't sure if he'd get a response but regardless he sat next to her on Fee's bed, "Hey, Julia." he said softly in order to keep her at ease, "Are you doing alright?" he simply asked.
Julia was a bit tense, she only raised her head a little to be able to barely see him, before quickly turning her head down again, catching a glimpse of Fee's worried expression, "I-I uh...no...not really."
"What is the matter? If you're willing to talk about it, that is."
"I-I would rather not too...a-at least not now…"
"I understand, please just rest, you look like you've been through a lot."
"And you just noticed!? She hasn't gotten to rest properly ever since I found her, we should leave her to rest for now." Fee yelled at her brother, before switching to Julia with a much softer tone, "Here, lay on my bed and rest, okay? We can keep talking once you feel rested enough! So take all the time you need."
They both decided to leave the room and let Julia rest, as they made their way out of the room, the door suddenly opened. They weren't expecting anyone to come around that time, the castle maids had already cleaned up Fee's room, could it be a guard? They only hoped it wasn't their father. Once the door was open enough to reveal who was the one opening it, and upon seeing said person, everything fell into this uncomfortable silence.
"You are so noisy, what's going on?"
Ced's heart jumped, of course he would come in, he dreaded the next few minutes that were about to happen. "Oh, father, I didn't-"
Almost in a frenzy, Fee immediately went in front of Ced and said. "Fatherrrr! I didn't know you were here! How are you?"
"That's none of your business, I just wanted to know what was making you two so noisy."
"O-Oh! Was I being loud? Sorry, I was uhhhhh, trying to get Cedsy out of my room, yeah that was it." Fee said, trying to sound convincing enough, though it was obvious that she was trying to hide something. She gave Ced a quick look that read 'play along.'
Sighing in disbelief, Lewyn simply looked away from Fee and noticed a third person sleeping in her bed, someone he didn't know. At least from this world. "Who is that behind you?" He asked bluntly.
Not knowing what to do, Fee tried to desperately think of an explanation, her mind going in circles before she simply said. "O-Oh! Her? T-That's Julia! I found her passed out outside near the Grannvalian border!"
"Julia, huh? Hmmm." He said, as if that name rang a bell, he stayed silent for a few moments until he finally remembered, that was Julia, he remembered seeing her in other worlds...she was the key to putting an end to Loptyr. And so, a thought clicked in his mind, she would be very useful to accomplish his goal, getting rid of Loptyr was what he was worried about but the solution came to him that easily. With a smirk he returned his focus to his children, "tell me about her, what is her situation?" He asked.
"I-I don't really know much about her, she hasn't had the chance to rest ever since I found her. We will ask her once she wakes up...if that's what you want." Fee replied, sounding a bit scared.
"Well she can stay, it won't be good to let her go just like that." Lewyn simply replied, before leaving the room just as suddenly as he came in.
Ced and Fee were surprised at how that exchange went, their father was still not the nicest, but at least the outcome was optimal, still they were confused at how easy it was for him to just let her stay without making sure it was safe, it sure felt suspicious. Regardless they were relieved, Julia was safe with them, at least until they found where she came from.
"That...was...odd," Ced remarked, breaking the silence between them.
"I agree, I don't think I've ever seen him be so generous...I don't even know how to say it."
"Perhaps...it's so…strange. I just hope he isn't plotting something..." He mumbled, thinking deeply about the event that just happened.
"Well, whatever Father meant, we'll keep her safe here for now." Fee said, looking at the sleeping Julia, she wondered what made her father catch an interest in her.
What was so special about her?