'Thoughts'
"Dialogue"
08:00 AM – SAME DAY
Sun. Clouds. The latter engulfed the former's warmth, preventing it from reaching all which existed down on the day's nominated part of the earth: a chilly day was ahead of the inhabitants of the Clover Kingdom. Yet, one such inhabitant standing high above the rest, Mimosa of the House Vermillion, paced restlessly at the entrance to the three great estates collectively known as Clover Castle.
"Where is she? She said she would be here by—Noelle!"
"Mimosa," Noelle called back, a subtle smile on her face as she slowly approached her cousin.
"Don't Mimosa me… Where were you? You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!"
"I… I am sorry," Noelle replied, her smile morphing into furrowed eyebrows and downturned lips. Her complexion losing its color, Mimosa's foot tapping came to a halt; her lips quivered in search of her next words as the sight before her etched into her mind.
"I-It's not that bad... No need to get too upset over it. C-Come on, let's go," she said.
Noelle nodded, and the two began their descent down the loftiest flight of stairs in the kingdom. Mimosa held her cousin's left hand when she felt a sudden pull; Noelle had stopped.
"N-Noelle? Is everything okay?"
"Mimosa. You said we would have a guard with us."
"Oh, about that…"
Creature
Chapter 3: Child
"Hey, come on, follow me," whispered a skinny young boy wearing ragged, dirty clothes to the girl behind him.
"No, we can't! What if we get caught?" The girl responded. She looked identical to the boy, except for her slightly longer black hair, which blended in with the dark spots all over her white dress. The two were in stark contrast to the box of red apples beside them as they crawled on the ground.
The boy's tired eyes flared as he weakly jumped at the girl—his sister—in response. "I already told you! We..." He said but found his lips instinctively shut by his own body, as well as the glimmer in his sister's eyes which quickly developed into a stream of tears down her cheeks.
"H-Hey… Everything will be alright, trust me, okay? Right now, we—"
"Brother… B-Behind you, that's…"
"H-Huh...?"
…
"So anyway, he insisted on coming instead. When I said no, he ordered the guards to stay at the castle, and they listened to him! He's so annoying; I hate him!" Mimosa said, her leather boots clicking in an elegant rhythm as she walked through a busy road in the royal capital. Her Silva cousin beside her, the two failed not to seize the attention of the masses as turned-up whispers began to infect the streets.
"I think he was just looking out for you… Your brother sounds nice."
"Seriously? More like getting in my way. He's embarrassing! Why does it matter to him where I decide to go? Come on, Noelle, help me out here!"
"We… shouldn't be doing this," Noelle replied, her gaze declining as she halted a few steps behind her cousin. After an extended intake of the numerous, different yet unified voices all-around her, Noelle jumped at the fast-approaching shadow on the ground when a sudden warmth around her cheeks pulled her back in. Mimosa sternly peered into her eyes as she gently held her face.
"Everything will be alright, trust me."
"But—"
"I am older than you are, remember? I know it'll be okay!"
"But—"
Mimosa yanked her cousin's left hand and took off; the two quickly found themselves miles ahead of their original spot, so unless Noelle wanted to trip over herself, she had no choice but to keep up with her cousin's maddening pace.
"M-Mimosa! Wait!" Noelle called out, only to hear light chuckles in response as the surrounding chatter spiked in both number and strength; she radically turned her head to witness the crowds gaping at them before firmly fixing her gaze on her cousin's red cloak again. Though not very many seconds later, she looked back up in search of her cousin's face.
"M-Mimo—"
Noelle's lips froze; the words refused to get past her throat. She could have sworn her feet had stopped moving, but her mind's nagging for protest and the sight ahead of her let her know otherwise: tens, no, hundreds of people forcefully shoved each other to either side of the road—some of them bumping into stalls, all to clear the course.
To Noelle, the entire scene was as if a wealthy Magic Knight was passing through in their chariot full of goods and riches, which they acquired from a top-level dungeon they had just conquered. Except here, the Magic Knight was just her and her cousin passing through.
As Noelle soon felt the wind in her face lose its strength, she expectantly looked to and found her cousin looking back at her, smiling.
"Noelle. You're smiling," Mimosa said, and Noelle's hand leaped to her lips. Before long, the familiar red emerged to cover Noelle's otherwise pale face.
"I-I am…"
After a handful of not-so-well-contained chuckles, Mimosa picked up their pace again as she headed toward a pile of distinct red in the distance.
"Follow me, Noelle. I know just the place to start our day!"
…
In the open marketplace, in the far distance of a few meters ahead was a box of stark-red apples. In the near distance of not even a meter to the left was a demure young girl resigned to wailing on the sun-boiled brick road, her muddied white dress hardly covering her bare feet. Directly behind was an unpolished wooden pole, and just in between it and the box of apples were three things: an overweight middle-aged man, a skinny, young boy whose back was to the wooden pole, and an increasing-in-size puddle of pure-red blood in between them.
"Dumb brat! How dare you taint my stall with your filthy peasant stench?!" The man said as his hand formed into a fist, yet again moving toward the reddened face of the young boy whose half-lidded eyes only saw a red-blurred vision of a belt wrapped around the plump figure of a man whose face he could not see.
"Stop! P-Please… stop it!" The girl said, stopping the man's fist in mid-air as her brother's eyes shot open. As the girl witnessed the man's stopping, she found her lips quivering against her mind's will again.
"I… P-Please, let my brother go! I p-promise we'll n-never set foot in this place again...!"
"I see," the man said. He then began slowly approaching the girl, whose mouth was slightly agape. After a few seconds of silently looking at the child eagerly looking back at him, the man went on to speak.
"I thought I'd spare you the pain for being such a good girl quietly sitting on the ground there, but it seems you peasants are all alike," he said. He then began leaning down while extending his hairy arm to the girl.
"W-Wait… N-No, this is—"
"Hey! What are you doing?!" The man from the adjacent stall called out, seeming to have a panicked expression.
"What? I am just teaching these two—"
"Look! Those two are headed straight for us! Are you trying to get us killed or something?!"
"Huh? What are you—"
The boy lunged forward, bumping into the man's ample figure as his left hand hastily reached for and snatched two apples from the sizable box. Giving the man no time to retaliate, the boy grabbed his sister's hand, and the two ran as fast as they could.
"Damn you, you disgusting peasants! How dare you—"
"Um… Excuse me, sir, could you…" A voice gently called to the man's back, and he wasted no time turning around, gritting his teeth.
"Huh?! Who do you think you—"
…
"Lady Mimosa, Lady Noelle… Please forgive me for that unsightly display," the man said to the high-born ladies engulfed in his shadow. Mimosa merely took two apples and placed a bulky pouch of coins in the man's trembling hands as a response.
"Noelle, have one," Mimosa said, offering her cousin the second apple. Seconds passed, and the apple remained in Mimosa's hand. She looked to her cousin for an explanation.
"I… don't want to," Noelle said.
"Why not?"
"It's… too sweet."
"Huh? I thought you—Noelle, what are you…"
As she examined her face, Mimosa found her cousin absentmindedly peering down at a spot near the giant box. As she trailed her line of sight, she soon found the object of her cousin's gaze: a sizable puddle of crimson-red blood. Mimosa calmly shifted her head sufficiently enough for the man behind the stall to come into view.
For the next few, long seconds, the man saw nothing but all-absorbing darkness; he was confident the surrounding stalls all but disintegrated before his eyes until all that remained was a pair of yellow orbs staring into the core of his being. He shuddered.
"Well?" Mimosa said, breaking the man out of his trance.
"L-Lady Mimosa, I beg your forgiveness! Just some rats dared to sneak in here earlier, and I just—"
"Noelle, let's go," Mimosa said, grabbing her cousin's hand and leaving. As the pair of royals became no more than a dot in the distance, an audible whistle rang through the man's ears, followed by a burst of hysterical laughter. The man recognized the voice as he turned to face the adjacent stall.
"Something funny, pal?!"
"N-No, no… It's just that I am certain she gave you a death glare there before they went. I warned you, didn't I? Peasant, commoner, or noble: royals are a species not to be messed with unless you wish to get trampled to death."
The man struck the wooden pole he previously pinned the peasant boy to with all his strength, cutting his fingers open. As his blood trickled to intermix with the boy's on the ground, the man dwelled on his fate.
"Dammit… All of this… is those runts' fault. Those abhorrent peasants!"
"Noelle," Mimosa said, stopping in an alleyway with her cousin. Noelle showed no signs of recognition as she absently stared at the ground.
"Noelle!" Mimosa called again, gaining her cousin's attention after lightly shaking her shoulders. "Is everything okay? We can go back if you're not feeling well, you know."
Noelle looked at her cousin. She continued observing her glimmering yellow eyes and furrowed eyebrows for several seconds, then stopped; Noelle's eyes expanded open, and her gaze eluded her cousin's, looking to the tip of her sandals instead. Moments later, she raised her head just enough to see her cousin's lips and began talking.
"Mimosa. Today… was supposed to be our date. We were supposed to laugh, play, and have lots of fun... but it seems I've ruined it."
"That's not—"
"I don't know what was wrong with me back there. When I saw that, I just… froze. It's silly, I know, but I guess… I couldn't help but ruin something again. Mimosa, I am sorr—"
"Don't say it! Don't apologize!"
"Mimosa…?"
"Noelle, this is the second time you're apologizing today. What are you apologizing for? This is unlike you!"
"But I… I—"
"You didn't ruin anything. And besides, it's all that merchant's fault anyway, isn't it?"
"Mimosa…"
Smiling, Mimosa extended her hand out to her cousin.
"Thank you, Mimosa; I feel much better now," Noelle said as she took her cousin's hand. "Okay then, let's try this… huh?"
"Noelle?"
"N-No, it's just… I thought I felt someone watching us there."
"That's weird."
"Yeah, it must've been my imagination."
…
Having left the alleyway smiling, the pair of cousins took their time walking around their kingdom's royal capital: a place that lacked not in size, inhabitants, things to do, and the ensuing chaos and commotion. Going through the countless roads to behold the endless stalls and vendors, they saw new and familiar faces that served as their only guide as to where they were going.
While the day was not officially a holiday, it was of tradition for the people of the Clover Kingdom—or at least those living in the Noble Realm—to celebrate for up to three days after the occurrence of significant events in their kingdom. These events range from their military's triumphing in a great battle to the rising or falling of noble houses and even dates important to specific individuals or families deemed to be of great status.
These unofficial holidays not only serve as an effective source of income for merchandisers but also as a way for those of lower social status to gain respect and recognition by the masses so that they may affirm a more comfortable, convenient position in their society. And so, it was only natural for anyone to get lost in the sea of people that was the royal capital after a royal house's potential future heir's birthday celebration.
"Mimosa, are you sure we didn't just walk through here a minute ago?" Noelle asked her cousin as they walked through one of the royal capital's many roads.
"No, we didn't! Or… we shouldn't have, at least. Okay… we might have," Mimosa responded, gaining a drawn-out sigh from her cousin.
"I think… we're lost."
"C-Come on, Noelle, it's not that bad… Worst case, we head in the direction of Clover Castle, and we'll be fine. Since we can see it from out here, there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"I guess… What did you say you wanted to buy today, again?"
"Oh, I was looking for a book about advanced mana manipulation to help with my training, but…"
"Couldn't you have just ordered one of your servants to get it for you?"
"I could have, but then I wouldn't have been able to spend time with you today."
"O-Oh… I see."
Silence ensued for several seconds before Noelle shook her head and looked at her cousin again.
"B-By the way, Mimosa… What was that earlier about you being older than I am?"
"Hmm? But I am older than you are."
"What?! We're the same age!"
"No, we're not. I am three months older than you are, remember?" Mimosa said, holding up three fingers on her right hand.
"That doesn't count!"
"Noelle! Look over there!" Mimosa said, pointing to a nearby stall. The stall took up the space of two normal-sized ones as it held a magic-shooting game. "Wanna play?!"
"N-No, it's fin—"
"Let's go!"
"Wait!" Noelle said as Mimosa dragged her by hand on a whim for the umpteenth time today. Not very many steps later, they reached the game stall, and the vendor kindly welcomed them and handed them wands.
"These wands are special magic items designed to help concentrate your mana. The goal of the game is to hit the target circles ahead of you as accurately as you can; the closer to the middle you hit, the higher your prize will be," the vendor said, pointing to a table full of coin bags. Mimosa looked at the table briefly before placing a handful of her yul onto the counter.
"You get three shots each. The more shots you expend, the less accurate your wand becomes, and the lower your prize will be if you hit. O-Of course, with Your Royal Highness's exceptional ability, I doubt my humble game will prove to be much of a challenge for your entertainment," the shopkeeper said with scattered, shaky laughter.
"Noelle, wanna go first?" Mimosa asked.
"N-No, you go ahead," Noelle responded.
Mimosa nodded and shifted her gaze to the target ahead, extending her wand. She took a moment, adjusted her wrist, and took a long, deep breath as her eyelids closed in unison before flashing open a second later. She released her breath, and with a slight lunge forward…
"Bam! One Shot!" Mimosa said, her condensed mana having burned a hole through the center of her target. "Did you see that, Noelle?!"
"C-Congratulations, Lady Mimosa. As expected, my ignoble game has proved to be no match for your…"
'Amazing… Mimosa, you're so amazing,' Noelle thought, watching her cousin jumping up and down as the vendor continued praising her. 'The way you just did that so naturally… I couldn't even see what you did. You're truly—'
"It's your turn now, Noelle."
"Huh...?"
"Hmm? I said it's your turn now, Noelle," Mimosa said again.
'My… turn? Am I supposed to match what Mimosa just did? I… can't…'
"Noelle? Hello?"
"R-Right, it's my turn… now," Noelle responded, extending her wand. After taking a breath, she adjusted her grip and lowered her wand.
'Can I… do this?'
"What are you doing, Noelle?! Go!" Mimosa said, and Noelle fired hastily. As she looked below her, Noelle witnessed the result of her attempt: her favorite pair of sandals, drenched in water.
The game vendor jumped at the sight as he hurried to cast his wind magic to create a visibility shield around them and nullify the result before any passersby could notice.
"Forgive me, Lady Noelle! All of this is a result of my foolishness! How could I possibly be so—"
"Move," Mimosa said as she pushed the vendor with all her strength. The vendor swiftly surrendered to her will and stepped away, dismissing the wind around them after drying Noelle's sandals off.
"What was that, Noelle?!"
"I… I—"
"You're better than that! I know you are!"
'You're wrong, Mimosa. I am not… like you,' Noelle thought.
"Come on, give it another try."
"R-Right," Noelle said, extending her wand once more. She took a breath and adjusted her grip. And though her wand lowered again momentarily, she raised it just as fast before guiding the mana through her shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, and hand and into the wand discharging it forward: she splashed the stall's counter.
'I knew it,' Noelle thought, her head sinking. 'Even in training… I've never excelled at magic. Why would today be any different? Mimosa, you're probably disappointed in me, aren't you? I am truly—'
"Come on, eyes forward," Mimosa said, adjusting her cousin's head from behind as she pressed herself against her back.
"Mimosa?! What are you…!"
Mimosa responded by reaching her right hand out and holding her cousin's, adjusting the wand. "It's not over. You can still do it, Noelle," Mimosa said.
"Mimosa…"
"I believe in you."
Hearing her cousin's words, Noelle felt her spine shudder. Blood rushed through her veins, strengthening her hold on the wand below her cousin's. Her lips remained firm, and her gaze flared as she stared at the target. She built up her mana in the same rhythm she felt through her cousin's arm with powerful friction at the tip and fired: she burned through the third outermost circle of her target.
"I did it… I did it!" Noelle said, a smile proudly displayed on her face as she looked to her cousin, who gently nodded—smiling.
"I knew you could do it," Mimosa said, taking her and Noelle's prize money and passing it over. "Now, how about we go spend this money on—"
"Ice cream. Let's buy ice cream first," Noelle said.
"Ice cream?! But I wanted to go clothes shopping!"
"No, ice cream first!"
"Fine. How about magic item shopping, then?"
"Ice cream."
"Noelle! You can be so stubborn sometimes! As I said, we'll—"
Noelle's right hair ribbon fell to the ground, releasing her hair to droop over her ear; Mimosa shortly proceeded to pick it up.
"I am sorry, I didn't tie it too well this morning," Noelle said as her cousin put the hair ribbon back on for her.
"You're such a klutz, you know that? A stubborn one, too," Mimosa said as she finished tying the ribbon around her cousin's hair. "Anyway, we should get going before it gets too late."
"R-Right."
And thus, the pair got on their way to buy ice cream, shop for clothes and get some magic items. Perhaps finding some fun along the way, as well. And sure enough, they had enjoyed themselves. But what was of most pleasure to Mimosa was the unusually high amount of arguments that sparked between them—often over the most insignificant things—which she found oddly amusing coming from her cousin of all people.
Although the illusion of time had taken hold of their world for a while, the two cousins soon found themselves at the end of their happy wanderings as they reclaimed their breaths on a bench near the center of the royal capital not far away from Clover Castle. And also not far away from them, seemingly reclaiming their breath against a wall was a tall and lanky figure hiding in the shadows.
"I am tired!" Noelle said, sitting next to her cousin on the bench. Mimosa giggled between her breaths in response. "You really can't handle much moving around, can you?"
"Yeah? Look who's talking. You're in the same boat as—"
Noelle choked on her words as she glimpsed up to find her cousin up and moving. "What?! How!"
"I guess I am just that more athletic than you are, Noelle," Mimosa said with a toothy smile, earning her a set of puffed cheeks and an exaggerated eye roll from Noelle.
"Oh, what? Did I hurt your… feelings…"
"Mimosa?"
"Noelle, isn't that…?"
A scream rang through the ears of the hundreds who saw that scene: a young boy who had chased a beautiful-looking woman and got ignored continued following her before he tripped and knocked her over, accidentally touching her chest in the process.
"Pervert! Womanizer! Have you no shame?!" The woman said, shoving the boy off her and recollecting herself before striding away from the scene furiously. Some onlookers had noted her crying, as well.
By the time the boy stood up and began dusting himself off, murmurings of the event had escalated into pointed fingers and shouted insults.
"Disgusting wretch!"
"Good-for-nothing! Go get a life!"
"Is that why your parents threw you out to the streets?!"
The boy tried to defend himself, but as he looked around, he realized he had zero chance of getting a word out. So he sat, covered his ears, and buried his head in his knees as he waited for the crowd to settle down.
The people kept lashing out at the boy; his covering his senses made them livid when eventually, one of them held up a rock and aimed it at the boy. But just before he could throw it, another man held his wrist. "D-Don't, I recognize him. That boy… is Finral of House Vaude."
"V-Vaude? What are they doing, letting their firstborn and heir indulge in such lascivious activities?!" The man said, dropping the rock to the ground.
"Vaude? Wait, isn't he underage?"
"Let me get out of here while I can!"
Before long, the word had spread, and the flock of people encircling the boy hurriedly dispersed except for two who had observed the whole event from a nearby bench.
"Noelle, isn't that… one of the nobles who attended your birthday party last night?" Mimosa said.
"Yeah," Noelle responded.
"That's odd. He didn't look like this type of person."
Silence arose as the two cousins watched the noble boy stand up again, a seemingly weary look on his face. As they traced his steps, Mimosa's eyes happened upon something. "Noelle! Loo—"
"Mimosa," Noelle said, standing up and looking at Finral with narrow eyes. "Why… are some people like that? His parents are probably really worried about him right now, yet he's out here doing bad things. I don't understand!"
"Noelle…?"
"Huh? I-I am sorry! I think I am just tired. W-What were you saying, again?"
"Look!" Mimosa said, pointing to a nearby building with a wooden banner that said Clover Library. "Now I can get that mana manipulation book I've been telling you about! Wanna come?"
"N-No, I am feeling kind of worn out; you go ahead," Noelle said, sitting down again.
"Okay, then... if you say so," Mimosa said before promptly skipping toward the building, leaving Noelle to her thoughts.
'W-Why did I say that?! I looked so stupid, didn't I?!' Noelle thought, her face concealed underneath her hands. She remained that way for some minutes before it hit her: Mimosa had yet to come back. 'I should probably check on her,' Noelle thought, standing up. Though as she began moving, she immediately stopped; her attention diverted to the far distance.
"It's the Magic Knights! Clear the way!" People shouted as what appeared to be a squad of people wearing the same outfit arrived at the district.
'Magic Knights? Could they be here for…' Noelle thought, her eyes scanning the area until they landed on him: the noble boy in green from earlier. He was sitting on the chair of a nearby stall eating when he heard the people yelling.
'I should probably find Mimosa before this turns into a big mess,' Noelle thought as she began trotting her way to the library on the other side of the road.
Meanwhile, in the second stall beside the library was Finral, rushing a modest-looking dish of chicken noodles down his stomach. As soon as he finished his plate, he got up from his chair and reached his arm forward as if to activate some magic spell.
"I'll pay you later, I promise!" Finral said to the man running the stall. The man looked at him with an alarmed face when he saw him activate a kind of spatial magic. "Young man, wait!" The man said as Finral then began sprinting forward.
"Don't worry! I'll come back to—"
Finral tumbled after bumping into the chair ahead of him. Standing back up, he looked around in confusion until he realized what had happened: in his haste, he had accidentally cast his spatial portal two stalls forward. He hurried to close it to activate another, but he was unfortunately too late to prevent what was about to occur.
"Y-You there! Look out!" Finral shouted, and the portal closed. 'Oh no, this is bad. If I am not mistaken, that was…'
Before Finral could close the portal, a young girl not paying attention had passed through it. The girl had directed a brief look his way after hearing his shout, and his eyes failed not to recognize her easily recognizable silver hair. He had messed up.
'Noelle… Silva…'
To be continued …
Thank you for reading this chapter. Consider leaving a review of your thoughts and favorite if you liked it; doing so keeps me going and may help improve my writing.
Author Notes: Wow, eight and a half months since the last chapter was released. I suppose I should be glad that I have managed to finish this chapter before the one-year mark, but I apologize to any readers who care enough to have still been waiting for this chapter. Life and personal issues got in my way, but I am excited to be able to share the third chapter of this story with everyone. Personally, it is the chapter that I have had the most fun writing thus far, especially knowing all that it contributes to the overall plot. Chapter four is already well in the works considering it was initially part of chapter three before I decided that it was too long and split them up. I am looking forward to hopefully getting on a more regular release schedule this year and advancing further in the story.