He was standing on the second floor's balcony of the opposite building. The hood was on his head hiding most of his face. The blue eyes under the hood were narrowed, savouring the meaning of the song….
Did he have an admirer who loved him enough to write a song? He respected her dedication as the artists are very rare in the Empires.
He couldn't return the same feeling to her but she won't lack suitors after tonight. No, she won't lack suitors even before…
Her beauty was breath-taking. Under the spotlight, she was glowing…Like the goddess descending to the mortal world…
He moved his fingers, calling the omnipotent steward, Sebastian…
"Your Majesty…"
"Who is the girl singing on the stage?"
Sebastian got down from the second floor to ask the name of the girl.
He climbed up the stairs after 7-8 minutes..
"Your Majesty. She is Princess Gloria.."
"Did she grow up.. looking like this?"
How many months has it been? When he invited her to the Palace,she was just a little girl around six or seven years old. Now, you told me she became a teenager after four months!!!
The guards he sent to her often reported to him. However, he was very busy with matters related to war and assassination to listen to the reports about her.
He even laughed at the boy who said the words are not enough to describe her beauty.
But it's none of his business. He was worried for his younger brother.
"I heard Evan is acting like a beast from the Vice Principal tonight. He asked me to restrain him as a brother.."
"Isn't it nonsense, Your Majesty?"
They both have disbelieving attitudes towards this matter. They knew Evan. He was such a gentle and kind man compared to the whole family.
"If it was related to Gloria, we can't be sure. Maybe the Vice Principal misunderstood him?"
After thinking about this matter for a while, he decided to just ask the related person.
"Call Evan to the Palace. Tomorrow.."
He looked down at the place where the party was held. He saw Gloria's leaving back.
"Any news about the children?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. We found nothing.."
********
Evan returned to the mansion in the morning. He won't be back if he is not called to the Palace.
He arrived at the right time for breakfast.
"You look lifeless, brother."
He seemed to be hollowed out and his complexion was so bad that he could lie down and pretend to be a corpse.
"I think so, too. I was squeezed so hard that not an ounce of magic was left."
"Is the war with demons always that bad?"
"It's not that bad before but the fall of the light god worsened the situation…"
Shouldn't the fall of the god be kept a secret ?
"Why?"
"Because of the 'prophecy'. The light god left a 'prophecy' before he fell. 'An alien will thrive in the world. Leaving all of the descendants scattering all over the world. The culture of this world will be submerged by the Alien's culture.'All the powers in the world decided that the aliens must be the demons climbing up from the abyss…"
Why does this prophecy sound like talking about me instead of the demons?
After drinking the last sip from the soup bowl, he wiped his mouth with a wet towel, preparing to leave.
"Last question, brother. If the light god had fallen, why didn't the Temple keep it secret? Or…why is the Temple still there without the god?
"Good question…"
He stood up from the seat and rubbed my head.
"Because we don't need to keep it a secret. The Light god will return to his throne eventually. He was reborn as a human to pass the trial. So, the Temple doesn't need to disband.."
I got the answer I wanted. I took out a box from space. It was a parting gift I prepared for him.
"A gift. For you…"
"Are we celebrating something?"
"No! Just a small thought from your sister.."
"I will get you a gift too after I return…"
There was a jade bottle filled with a drop of vitality that could bring him back to his peak when he was injured or dying, as long as he was not dead.
It was an easy job for me to condense a drop of vitality now since I was 7th ring Advanced Mage now. If it was before, this drop of vitality will be a heavy burden for me.
And there was a letter sealed for a day….
I waved him goodbye when he climbed on the horse instead of the carriage. The carriage was left for me to take to the Academy.
Today was a good day for me to slip away. The preparations are done. The guards following me can't alarm Evan when he is in the Palace.
I rejected the guards except Liam and Noah. They didn't care much since it was just a trip to the Academy.
"Knocked out the driver when we got to the secluded place.."
I whispered to Liam from the window of the carriage. The horses they rode are cloud horses, which Noah bought with a high price.
They knocked out the driver and hid the carriage in the deserted alley. Pegasus was hiding inside the guardian space so long that he was excited to be taken out.
I hid my figure with a cloak with a hood and tied the ropes tightly.
"Mother.."
The children came out from hiding, each with a cloud horse. Surrounded by white cloud horses, Pegasus is not as conspicuous as before.
"Let's go…"
I injected some life magic into the cloud horses. Under the effect of life magic, the horses ran like the wind. In just a few minutes, we left the Capital city behind….
******
In the Palace…
Sitting on the couch inside the drawing room, Evan's face was a little bad.
"Can you please repeat what you just said, Your Majesty?"
"I heard you are acting like a…. beast?"
Anyone could see the question mark forming on Evan's face if you take a look at him.
"How? I mean, who told Your Majesty that kind of nonsense?"
"The Vice Principal of Royal Academy. He said you could harm the mature flower but you insist on harming the bud. That's what he said….Not mine.."
Griffin controlled his facial muscles to prevent himself from laughing out loud. If you look closely, you can see the Emperor's face twitching.
"What did you do to be misunderstood by the Vice Principal?"
"Nothing? I met him once when I sent my sister to the Academy. I didn't have beef with him. Tsk… for him to slander me like this.."
"Maybe you are a natural beast in his eyes…"
Putting aside the manners, Evan rolled his eyes. Slander by the Vice Principal was a small matter, it was his brother who filled the gap with imagination…
"Enough with jokes, do you have ideas for Gloria?"
"Ideas ? Like what?"
Griffin glanced at Sebastian. Sebastian poured the tea for the two brothers. He wants to have a long chat with his brother…about life.
Taking a sip of tea from the cup, he cleared his throat.
"Is she just a sister for you?"
"I guess not. She is more than that…"
Griffin took another sip of tea calmly. It's not that he disliked Gloria, it's just that her past is unclear. And he was worried about Evan being deceived or gotten hurt by her.
"Will you think I'm crazy if I tell you that I treat her like my own possession?"
Evan picked up the tea cup and drank in a big gulp.
"I grew up in the Temple without playmates or friends. The priests didn't count. I listened to all your orders and I did what grandpa told me to do. I can rely on you anytime but there was no one who wanted to rely on me, the weak and transparent prince."
Playing with the empty cup, he talked about his feelings slowly.
"I wanted to be relied on. I wanted a person of my own. So… when I met her, I took her home. In fact, she was mine in my mind.."
"Did she know about that or did she accept that?"
Griffin felt a pain in his heart. When he was fighting with Daphne's cronies, Evan was sent to the Temple to lower the threats. He didn't know this decision would lead Evan to have this kind of mentality.
"She didn't need to know. She was my possession but I respected her opinions. She can do whatever she wants. I will just tighten my control over her environment to ensure her safety within my grip.."
"Your words meant you put her on a leash so long that she didn't even notice. She is not a pet, Evan.."
Griffin has nothing to say. He thought the other party was a vixen, instead his own brother was a psycho.
He rubbed his eyebrows to smooth out the frown.
"I guess she won't reject me. She gave me a gift this morning."
He wanted to show off his trophy to his brother. He took out the box from space and opened it in front of Griffin.
He found a bottle and sealed letter in the box. He opened the bottle curiously. The green light and sweet smell flowing out from the bottle. There was a drop of green liquid in the bottle.
"This liquid is the one that grabbed the dying wolf's life back. Why should she give me such a precious thing?"
"You can ask her when you go back."
Griffin holds the sealed letter in his hand.
"Sealed by the 7th ring Advanced Mage. Do you want me to unseal the letter?"
This is not in Gloria's plan. She counted everything but she didn't count Evan's desire to show off.
"No…let me unseal it myself. Hmm.. I can't unseal it.."
"It will unseal itself in a day."
Why did she want to seal the letter for a day? They will meet when he gets home anyway. That's suspicious…
Gloria…What do you want to do?