The two of us remained quiet as he continued speaking."It is given that our other classmates, scions they are, to profess their absolute faith in the religion, or at least give a lip service to it. What I wanted to know is what the Crysalian Elemental Religion is for you Cady and Arcelon? Are you devout? A believer or non-believer?"I blinked when I heard his last word, "Non-believer? Is that word even legal?""It isn't technically speaking. But it is a reality all the same. As much as the religious lay ministers around us want to hope, not all Crysalians are faithful to the church. That is what His Holiness has confided to me confidentially. The times, the people, the world are changing and we are slowly but surely losing sway over the people."Cady took a small breath as she tried to tread carefully on the topic, "Are you sure you should be saying that to us? We just met, and we are commoners as well.""The more reason I can trust you to understand where I, no, where we are coming
I stood up and put the used clothes that I removed into the wicker basket next to my bed and opened the cabinet to see the things I haphazardly packed neatly organized inside before I pulled out a boxer, short and white sleeveless undershirt for me to wear.There is a sound of running water inside the closed door on the southern part of the room, which I guess is the bathroom, so I quickly dressed before His Highness saw me butt naked.True enough, after I sat down on the edge of my bed, the door opened, and out came Loki, who was only wearing his boxer briefs, dripping wet and drying himself with the red towel he was scrubbing his hair with.And here I thought I wouldn't get amazed at how "perfect" he is.His body is not as bulky as Aquilo's, but certainly an athletic one.He had bulging biceps and pecs, six-packed abs, and he clearly didn't skip any leg day. He was surprised a little to see me sitting right in front of him and stared at me for a while.I guess he feels good about h
She then looked at me and Cady, who was sitting next to each other at the back of the class, expectantly, "Before I begin my lesson, I would like to advise you all that in case some of you are not aware yet, Ms. Cady and Mr. Arcelon scored the highest on theoretical and practical applications of political studies during the scholar examinations respectively. I and Sir Trajan checked the paper ourselves and we are thoroughly impressed.""Coming from a commoner background, that is impressive," Ester remarked in approval as my companion smiled shyly."You are giving me too much credit, really. I am instructed by my benefactor months before I was sent here for the scholar examinations," she then deflected the praise to me, "If there is someone who is impressive here, it's Arcelon. I actually have been meaning to ask this yesterday but never really got the chance to do so. Where did you learn about politics?"I brushed off her and gave the answer papa instructed me to deliver if they asked
I nodded and took a deep breath before speaking, "As you all might already know, Alcrima and Fang seceded from the empire together when it fractured a long time ago. The two different clans of metal and earth, due to their symbiotic relationship with each other decided to unite as one nation under the palatinate. But a few hundred years ago, the Monarchy of Fang heard the calls for a more democratic government by the Alcrimans, thus granting them independence. However, they also demanded to keep the special relationship between the nations. I guess Cady can carry on from here.""I will, Arcelon," she agreed and continued from where I left, "As he said, my people wanted more democracy but not to the point of existing on our own because we are so used to be with our Fangian brothers and sisters. So our forefathers and mothers adopted a viceroyal type of government to still be technically under the palatinate's sphere of influence while getting the democracy we wanted all along without c
"...the country is stagnant, our military is behind even the viceroyalty, and the madame palatine is still stockpiling government funds as if there's a coming catastrophe that we all cannot foresee but her...""More rice, Arcelon?"I looked up and saw a smiling woman looking down at me before raising the pot of white rice under her arm.I nodded and smiled, "Yes, mama, thank you.""Here you go. Eat as much as you want. Your sister really filled the food stores to the brim when she heard that you would come for a visit," she said earnestly before sitting next to me in front of the dining table, fully laden with my favorite foods and sipping from the glass of wine comfortably.I nodded and continued eating ravenously as the news reporter commented on the television ceaselessly while we listened silently."...tensions along the border with the castle, the empire demanding more industrial output from the palatinate, the archduke announcing a raise of tariffs from Fang's goods, and all the
"Why not just go to a finishing school here in the capital, Arcelon?"I stopped throwing things at my luggage and looked up to see a distraught woman walking toward me, followed by at least half a dozen cats of all colors and sizes that began playing with my things scattered on the floor and bed.She always said I looked like my father, but our messy and curly hair was a dead giveaway from what I got from her. Not to mention our noses, eyes, and, sadly, personalities.We are always at the other side of the spectrum all my life. If I stand up for something, you can expect that she firmly disagrees with me."I want to go out of Fang, mother," I said simply as I carefully removed her fat ginger cat, making himself comfortable on top of the clothes that I was about to put on my bag, "I'm already sixteen and legally mature enough to make an educated decision in my life.""Rules and law don't apply to us, my son..."I shook my head and held my ground, "I will go as an Alcriman then. Papa al
"So, where are you going?"I smiled as I hailed a coming bus on our side of the street, "Crysalia Military Academy. I will try my luck with the scholarship. How about you?""Funny you should ask," she simply replied as she proceeded to get on the bus before me, dragging her rugged backpack and duffel bag with her, "We are on the same boat.""Or bus," I said pointedly, making her chuckle as we settled down on our seats and the bus began speeding its way towards the central part of the city."My mentor warned me not to take the examinations lightly," she said in a whisper as we enjoyed the scenes of the holy city, "I am actually lucky that he used to work there and didn't have a family of his own, so he passed his privilege to elect a scholar enrollee to me.""My father also used to work there, so here I am," I answered before glancing at my new acquaintance worriedly, "Is it that difficult? The examinations, that is, Cady?"She nodded and massaged her temple, "That was what the old man
The moment we sat down, a bell rang, and as if on cue, a woman suddenly appeared in a blast of ice crystals on the stage in front of the room.She reminds me a lot of my mother.Definitely not the kind of woman you willingly want to cross and expect to get away unscathed.Wearing a silver and gold blazer and black pump shoes, she looks very imposing and probably younger than what her curt expression and tight bun of brown hair suggest.The woman looked around imperiously among the hundreds of boys and girls before her and raised her head proudly, "Vice Principal Metis of the Crysalian Military Academy. I will cut to the chase since this will be a very busy day for all of us. You are all here as either the very best your respective schools can produce or someone who has the privilege to be related to one of our current or previous colleagues in this school. Commoners who don't have the financial means to enroll using the normal means and have to rely on the scholarships or are hoping t