Princess of Vers
Part 8
Lemrina
Kyoto, Japan
1243 Hours
19 degrees Celsius
As the constant clicking of my heels alerted the soldiers, backs straightened, muscles tensed, and breaths were held. Their eyes gleamed with respect, to my advantage. It's the lifestyle of an esteemed princess. Despite all of the attention, I still yearn to be my sister. With a grin now plastered across my face, I stopped at the end of the corridor, at a plain davenport. The monotone secretary greeting me with a frown, which dismayed me greatly. I frowned back. Inaho Kaizuka had finally caught up, staying behind to deal with phone calls and check-ins.
Inaho stepped up to the desk, his crimson eyes scanning the area briefly. "We're here for Slaine Saazbaum Troyard, prisoner number 550," he said, pulling out his military identification. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Inaho Kaizuka along with Lemrina Vers Envers, Princess of Vers." I rolled my eyes. I hate that title. I hate being a princess. I hate people acknowledging me only for stupid ALDNOAH activation purposes, I hate it all. Sighing deeply, I slump my shoulders. I notice a sparkle on my finger. I glace at it and see Slaine's ring. As if the ring itself gave me strength, I beamed, my shoulders rising once again. Perhaps Slaine was the answer to my problems. My attention goes back to Inaho.
"The Princess of Vers?" The secretary gaped. "Oh my, what an honor, Your Highness!" she obnoxiously said.
I plastered a huge fake smile on my face. "Why, the honor is all mine!" I replied, my cheeks starting to burn from all the smiling. I wasn't kidding about what I had said. The honor is all mine. I'm so terrible at speaking. My speech about my visit was so horrible, that I cringed whenever I think about it. Asseylum had said she liked it, but Asseylum would lie about anything to make someone feel good. I knew she was lying, so I felt worse about it. Thanks Seylum.
Despite crooked Asseylum, I tell the truth for what it is. If someone asks me how their outfit looks and it looks like they're wearing a dirty mop, I'll tell them that they look like they're wearing a dirty mop. Who cares if I "hurt their feelings." Complain to Asseylum, not me. I remember the day that I had told my sister the honest truth from the depths of my soul. I was only thirteen, and didn't really think about the consequences too much, but I said it anyways. I told Asseylum that I was the rightful heir to the throne. I'll admit it, she was upset. So upset in fact, she tattled told and repeated what I had said to Grandfather. Since Grandfather hates my guts, he made me sleep in a prison for a night. Luckily Count Saazbaum had bailed me out in the middle of the night. I owe a lot to that Count; I wish he were still living.
"Prisoner 550 is to be released. Make sure that Sir Saazbaum Troyard is well presentable for Lieutenant Kaizuka and Princess Lemrina Envers," the secretary, whose name was Mary, said into a mike. Her red lipstick was absolutely excruciating. I cringed as she applied another layer. I checked my handheld mirror to make sure that my lipstick wasn't as terrible as hers. I puckered my lips. To my dismay, Mary had noticed and gushed. "Oh women just need to make sure their lipstick is correctly applied!" Inaho snorted, but covered it with a cough. I narrowed my eyes in his direction.
I cleared my throat. "Perhaps you need to check on yours a bit often," I truthfully said. Mary became embarrassed as a few stray eyes trailed in her direction. I chuckled and took a tissue from the other side of the desk. I took her cheek and moved her face closer to my reach. I took the tissue and smeared that disgusting lipstick completely off her lips. I extended my hand in Inaho's direction and he handed me a lip gloss out of my handbag. I took off the cap and smeared one thin layer on her lip. Mary seemed pretty embarrassed but was grateful for my very kind assistance. I smiled and handed the lip gloss to her. "Keep it," I said to her. Mary smiled and fiddled with her brown hair nervously.
After a few minutes of waiting for Slaine's arrival, I grew extremely impatient. My small feet were starting to ache from standing in these platform heels. I felt a headache starting to approach. I prayed that Slaine wouldn't take so long and tried to think of some kind of "happy" moment in my terrible childhood to pass the time.
Castle Saazbaum
1800 Hours
23 degrees Celsius
Princess Lemrina Vers Envers, twelve years of age
Lemrina stared down at the plate of food in front of her. She played with the plate of food in front of her. 38 year-old Frederick Saazbaum noticed this.
Saazbaum sighed and continued to cut into his chicken breast. "Your Highne—" Lemrina furrowed her brow.
"I told you to stop calling me that, Saazbaum," she snapped. "We agreed on it. I call you Saazbaum or even Father and you call me Lemrina!" Saazbaum rolled his eyes. He grinned.
"You're going to give me grey hairs, Lemrina. Stop playing with your food." He took a bite of his chicken. "I'm apologize for calling you by a formal title." Lemrina frowned. She looked up to the food on her plate, her hunger begging her to snatch the pasta and chicken breast and snarl it down her throat, but she refused.
"I'm not hungry. Can I go to my chambers now?" she complained, he fists balling. She banged them on the table like a spoiled child.
"No. At least take a few bites of food," Saazbaum replied.
"But Saazbaum! I ate a big lunch!" Lemrina lied.
"The servants tell me that you haven't eaten a crumb all day." Lemrina grumbled, realizing she had lost. She huffed and quickly snatched her knife and fork. She stabbed the fork into the flesh and moved her knife side-to-side, cutting a chunk of meat off. She buried her fork within the chuck and bit it off. Lemrina violently chewed then swallowed hard. Realizing that the food she just took a bite of was delicious, she widened her eyes.
"Th-this is really good!" she gaped. Saazbaum smirked and rose from his chair. He approached Lemrina and kissed her cheek. Lemrina was shocked, but smiled at the fatherly act.
"You're like my own daughter, Lemrina. You bring me joy." Lemrina smiled and brought her eyes to his.
"Me too. Thank you for taking me away from my bitter family.." Lemrina choked as memories flooded her mind. "They treated me so horribly!" Lemrina sobbed as she clinged to Saazbaum's uniform, the fabric in her hands, comforting her. Saazbaum smiled and embraced Lemrina, caressing her back while she cried silently on his torso. "Thank you.." she whispered. "Thank you so much.."
My eyes trailed off to Inaho in full suit. He adjusted his eyepatch and sighed lightly. I stared at his fingers tapping the wall. I glanced at the clock at the top of the wall. 1:15 it read. I sighed heavily and looked to the patterns of the ceiling.
"Uh..Lemrina? Are you alright?" I heard someone say. I jump and look to the direction of the voice to see Slaine in a white collared shirt with a beige sweater. He has black jeans and some shoes I think they call...Converse? My face lights up.
"Slaine!" I scream, alerting some of the soldiers. I embrace him with all my might, making him stumble a bit. He chuckled. As a wrap my arms around his waist, I notice how small it is compared to two years ago. Taking a mental note of that, I smiled as he caressed my back.
"It's only been two days," he whispers. I don't care. I miss him so much, I don't care if I suffocate him to death. I feel Slaine try to escape my grasp. "A bit too tight, dontcha think?"
Okay, maybe I do care. I release him and gaze into pools of azure eyes. Slaine smiles and touches my cheek. He pulls me closer to him when he gently presses his lips against mine. I get completely lost in the moment; I've never been so happy in my entire life. He pulls away after a few seconds and gives a bold grin. It's quite funny on how much he acts like Saazbaum. I giggle at the thought.
Inaho pats Slaine on the back, friendly greeting him. Slaine smiles and ruffles his hair. Inaho pulls out his Jeep's keys out of his pockets. "And we're good!" he says. "Slaine's out for a week. It'll go by fast, so do whatever you need to do with him." I don't know what that exactly meant, but I just ignored the last part of his comment.
As we walk down the corridor, many soldiers salute to Inaho, with him nodding in response. Some even bow in my direction, which is surprising, considering I'm not a Terran. I smile and bow my head in response. Slaine walks with such a drag to him. With his head low, and his shoulders droopy. He's always been that way; it's very strange. I suppose it's from Count Cruhteo and his cruelty.
That Kaizuka...he's very interesting. He has something interesting about him that I just can't put my finger on. Although I did apologize for being so cruel to him, assuming him to be Slaine's murderer, he was so quick to forgive. I should be happy that he did this, but I just never felt so special..I guess. With an exhale of breath, I continue out the door and into the waiting red jeep.
"Nice ride," Slaine mentions as he sits in the front seat. Inaho gives a weak smile.
"It's mine too," he replies, putting the key into the ignition. I smile at how casual those two act. I remember when Inaho and Slaine were battling from that shuttle. I was so confused on why they wanted to defeat each other so badly. But, Inaho had won that battle, and Slaine had lost. The result is Slaine's imprisonment; I believe that Slaine has accepted that truth. I don't mind Slaine being an inmate. He's the same exact Slaine from two years ago...
I think.
Inaho pulls out of the driveway and onto the main road. As his eyes stay on the road, they occasionally look back in my direction. I note this and look out the window. "I have to make a quick stop to my house to change," Inaho monotonly said, tugging at his tie. His eyes look to Slaine to see his reaction. Slaine shrugs and crosses his legs.
"I don't mind. I just want to out of that cell," he replied. "Take a good look at my home planet once again." Slaine looked out the window. Inaho seemed interested in his words. I continued to boredly look out the window.
"Where did you live, Bat?" Inaho asked. This sparked my attention. Slaine gazed out the window as if he was remembering his childhood on Earth. I wonder what it was like, living on Earth for about eight years of your life.
Slaine cleared his throat. "I mainly lived in London. I'm European," he said. "My Father had to move around a lot so I traveled to different countries and regions. I learned languages, saw different cultures, and ate so much food," he continued. "Life was great on Earth. When I had went to Vers, my Father had put me in a aircraft thingy and shipped me off. The routes got mixed up and the aircraft fell into the ocean. It was the worst trip for me...I had water in my space suit and inside my helmet." Slaine sighed. "When I had finally arrived to Vers, your sister managed to save me. I would've been pretty much dead if it wasn't for her."
Inaho raised an eyebrow, his eyes on the road. "Ah, London.." Inaho sighed. "That's why your hair's such a striking blonde." I smiled at the thought of Slaine's childhood on Earth. It must've been better then mine.
"Where were you born, Inaho?" I suddenly asked.
Inaho adjusted his eyepatch. "I was born in Tokyo. I am Japanese." Slaine smirked. I should've known! He speaks Japanese! Slaine probably learned it like I did, too! I'm so stupid!
"Do you speak English?" I asked. Inaho nodded. (Well of course, they are speaking Japanese because they are in Japan. So just...pretend that they are speaking Japanese okay?)
"We would speak English when talking to the United Forces of Earth in Russia during the war. I speak fluent English. What about you, Bat?"
"I'm from London, Inaho. Of course I speak English," Slaine said. In Vers, I was taught to study Chinese, Japanese, English, and Spanish. I am a princess, after all.
"We mainly spoke English on Vers," I mentioned. "But Asseylum and I had to learn many languages." Inaho nodded. I hated learning Chinese the most. Spanish and English were pretty easy to learn. Japanese wasn't that hard either.
Inaho turned into a neighborhood. "We're almost there," he said. It better not take that long to get to his house. Slaine chuckled.
"You're very talkative today, Orange," Slaine mentioned. I didn't notice until he mentioned it. I nodded. Inaho's a weird person...
"I'm kinda excited to be honest, Bat," he replied. "Lemrina's here, you're here and engaged within a few days." Inaho cleared his throat. "It's..'overwhelming'," he calmly said, making an emphasis. Slaine shrugged.
"You never seem excited, Inaho,"Slaine said. Inaho choked with laughter. I smiled.
"I suppose so." We pulled into a driveway, a modern house ahead. Inaho clicked the key out of the ignition and opened the driver door. He came over and opened the door for me and helped me out of the car. Slaine studied Inaho's house.
Slaine turned to Inaho. "Is this yours too?" I too gazed at the house. It was more like a mansion to be honest. It was a normal contemporary estate (It was normal for me and Slaine but a commoner would think that it's huge).
"Yes," Inaho replied. "Yuki help me pay if off recently." Inaho once again adjusted his eyepatch, must be itchy or something. The estate wasn't that large. It had transparent glass. I could see the interior of the home was well decorated. My chambers on Vers was somehow similar. There was some slick dark material on the house with a nice white pine accent. It was nice, really. Perhaps he got the money from the UFE or just saved it up. It's rude to ask, so I won't.
As we walked across the pavement and up the marble stairs, Inaho opened a lid and placed his index finger on a pad which read the print.
"Inaho Kaizuka identity confirmed," a digital voice said. Inaho motioned for me to come to his side.
"Remove your glove and place your index finger here," he said. I did what he directed, removing my white lace gloves and placing my finger on the pad.
"Lemrina Vers Envers identity confirmed and saved. Access to the Kaizuka estate has been granted." I furrowed my brow.
"Why do you want to me to have access?" I asked. I don't see why. I don't even know where the mansion is.
Inaho opened the door. "Emergencies." I walked in along with Slaine to come to a large ceiling and a small waterfall. If he's trying to impress me, I'm not all that impressed. Castle Saazbaum was way nicer than this. But, just to be polite, I compliment the house.
"Nice." Inaho stretches.
"I'm going to show Slaine to his room and go change. Go ahead make yourself comfortable, Lemmy." Inaho paused. "Can I call you Lemmy?" I roll my eyes. I hate that name; Saazbaum used to call me it when I was young.
"Sure, I guess," I say as I start to wander around the house. I look around to see many ornaments and furniture. I think this is the living room, but what do I know? I glance in the corner to see a slick black master piano. The design was very unique, with an arch instead of an ordinary curved base. I sit in the cushioned seat and placed my gloved finger on the white keys. I relax and play my favorite song: my Mother's song. She played it so beautifully on her white piano; it was a joyful song. When she died, I have always played it in a lower pitch and at a slower pace. I made it a song of mourning. That's how it got it's name...Princess's Lament. People become shocked when they find out that my mother made the song because she was such a happy person. The truth was I remade it and named it. I'm the Princess who made that lament...
I'm tired of lamenting.
Inaho and Slaine walk in on my playing. I remember how my mother used to play it, higher pitch and faster. I do the same, my fingers moving halfway across the piano. They go at a faster pace. Slaine smiles and places his lips on my cheek. My face tingles as I feel the temperature on my face rise. I smile and continue to play. I love Slaine's kisses. They're warm and fuzzy (like Saazbaum's of course).
As I finish my song, I hold down the last key. I stand and push in the seat. "A fine instrument," I say. "It's like the one from home." Inaho nods.
"5,200,250 yen," he replies. "A gift from a friend." I nod. The price is ridiculous. Who could give Inaho a piano that expensive? My sister, perhaps? I walk out to the entrance.
"Mind if I can get some air?" Inaho nodded his head. Slaine follows me outside.
"I'll see you two in a few minutes," Inaho says from inside. I take hold of Slaine's hand as we sit on the bench by the side of the mansion. I can hear the sound of rushing water from the waterfall from behind us; it's very alleviating from all the stress. Slaine squeezes my hand.
"How'd you find me?" he whispers. I smile. I remember when Inaho had told me that Slaine was alive. I squeeze his hand back.
"Inaho told me." Slaine smiles and looks up to the skies. He points to a bright star. It had a red hue to it. It's probably Betelgeuse. I squint at it.
"It's Mars," he tells me. I gasp. How? I look upon my home planet. Mars..such a hideous planet, Earth has beautiful blue skies and skies. Mars has red sand everywhere. I remember something from my studies. I turn to Slaine.
I look at him with widened eyes, he looks back at me with his beautiful azure eyes. "Have you heard of rain?" I anxiously ask. He smiles and pulls me into a close embrace.
"You would love rain. It's water falling from the skies with these loud sounds called thunder. Then there's these big flashes of light throughout the skies called lightning. It's very peaceful," Slaine explains. I can detect an aroma of grass from Slaine. It smells so good.. I scoot closer to him, putting my head on his shoulder. The fragrance is strong now..I love it.
I hear a sound from a distance. I spike up from Slaine's shoulder. "What was that?" I ask Slaine. He shrugs pointlessly. My senses are alert. I spot a dark figure run across the bushes. I widen my eyes and blinked them a few times. "Did you see that just now?" Slaine shakes his head.
"It was probably a squirrel," he says nervously. Why's he nervous? Is he scared? No, the Slaine I know is not afraid of anything. But then again, prison could've changed him. I look at Slaine with a dumbfounded look.
"Are you kidding me, Slaine?" I pull a silver gun from the belt on the bottom of my dress. I point it to the bush. "In the name of the forces of Vers, I command you to expose yourself!" I yell out. I don't hear or see a thing. I furrow my brow but don't move towards the being. I'm not stupid, I might turn into half-dead Asseylum if I move any closer. I lower my gun and turn on my heel. I hand my gun to Slaine. "Stay on watch. I'm going to alert Kaizuka. Stay here until you're sure that there's nothing there," I said.
As Princess Lemrina started to run away, Slaine Troyard was left with a gun in his hand. He blinked haven't known what had happened.
"Shouldn't have been so loud," he whispered. "Master may be disappointed in you.." he said before making his way to the front of the mansion.
I really wanted to try a chapter in first person to see if I liked it and I do! Please tell me if you liked it or if it's kinda boring. Thanks for reading!
-Saazybaum