ã€ŠReincarnation: I am the Villainess and Love Target?!ã€‹


 Chapter 1: One More Time

    As a bright light enveloped my sight, memories of another life -a previous life- flashed before my eyes. So much information poured into my little six-year-old brain that it sent me reeling, almost like a bolt of lightning through my head. I''m not sure how long it took me to process all of that, but judging by the slow and loud ticking sound, what felt like hours was most likely only a few seconds.

    Blinking whilst trying to keep my footing, I fought off a wave of nausea.

    I, Velloa Imitheos, child of Ahkua and Hakoda Imitheos, am in the world of Gaea. Therefore, if my so-called ''memories'' are true, this is the setting of the otome game ''Hera: Captured Hearts'' and I am the villainess of the game. However, judging by what I was just told by my Father, it looks like I will also be taking on the role of one of the love interests.

    I was in the middle of my magic elemental test. The bright light earlier was the glow of the crystal ball in which my hand was currently resting upon. Within the crystal ball, I saw a glowing sapphire-coloured liquid mixed with what looked like glittering black sand inside the magical device. I tilted my head up to look into the deep cerulean eyes of the scholarly-like person standing before me.Huh,so this is my Father.I think I inherited those eyes...

    He gave me a placid smile as he looked from the crystal ball to me, then knelt to my height, allowing me to see the crystal better. Fascinated, my eyes widened at the sight of the blue and black ''things'' move about in the crystal ball.

    He pointed to the glowing sapphire liquid. "This blue light means that you have an affinity to the element of water just like the rest of us in our family." Pausing, he then pointed to the glittering black sand. "And this means that you also have an affinity to the darkness attribute."

    From behind, a beautiful figure, who had previously been waiting patiently, stepped forward.And this isMother...Looking at a certain area of her upper body, I internally joked.By all means, please let that chest be hereditary!"Velloa, you have a great amount of mana." Pushing her azure-lilac hair behind an ear, she spoke further. "You also have an affinity with the rare darkness affinity, however, having an affinity to two elements is even rarer." She reached out to hug me. "My child... You have so much potential."Squishy.

    However, it would seem that there was more to come. Currently, my parents and I were standing near the entrance of the room. The door, with its dark steely frame, was just the first of many things in which contributed to the place''s enigmatic atmosphere. The rest of the room was covered by onyx blackout curtains which surrounded the door in a semi-circle. Our only source of light were these mystifying glowing rune-like things on the slate floor.

    Father handed the crystal ball to Mother then took my hand and led me closer to the curtains. "Velloa, do you remember what I told you earlier about the mark you were born with?" I nodded. "Good, then follow me."

    The ''mark'' he was referring to was the one located in the midst of my chest.It''s quite hard to describe, but this shape looks familiar.Did I perhaps see it in my past life?

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    In any case, this mark apparently meant that I inherited the Imitheos family''s ''forbidden art''. The basic explanation for a forbidden art is that it is essentially an incredibly powerful enchantment spell that is passed down the bloodline of the spell''s creator. Any family which has a forbidden art is recognized as a noble in the Kingdom of Ogygia, therefore, my family are that of nobles; although, my parents have done great merits deserving of a noble status other than simply inheriting their ancestor''s enchantment spell.

    At any rate, the Imitheos family''s forbidden art is quite disturbing in a way.Whichever ancestor that decided to come up with this creepy kind of magic must be insane...The forbidden art passed down to only one person, of each new generation, is a magic ability which allows the inheritor to take over a dead person''s body as long as they are ''compatible'' with it.

    As for the ''body'' that I get to use this ability on, my Mother was oh-so-kind to provide one. Trying to keep a straight face, I looked at the body floating inside what looked similar to those futuristic tubes from my previous life''s memories. Except, remembering how my Mother explained this magical creation that she created, that ''tube'' is called ''Gaea''s Embrace''. It''s akin to an artificial womb which isn''t limited to keeping infant bodies alive but also fully grown adult bodies like my Father''s (who had, of course, inherited the Imitheos family''s forbidden art). Essentially, my Mother''s creation is a type of physical forbidden art (as compared to the usual one which was only usable through blood inheritance), which goes to show that she isn''t a Royal Researcher for no reason. Father, on the other hand, is the Kingdom''s Spymaster, and with an ability like this, of course the Imitheos family is constantly able to have a person bestowed the role of Spymaster.

    But... Doesn''t that body look familiar?

    An even deeper feeling of dread filled my body as I took a proper look at the figure within Gaea''s Embrace. I checked not once, but thrice. I hoped I was wrong, but I wasn''t... I knew who that was. The lifeless body right before me was known as Vain, one of the ''love targets'' in ''Hera: Captured Hearts''.

    Mother''s voice interrupted my anxiety-filled thoughts. "Velloa, go ahead and see if you can make a connection. It''s similar to the crystal ball, so simply make contact with Gaea''s Embrace."

    I had let my thoughts wander. Breathe. Don''t think about this too much...

    Walking up to the artificial womb, that was admittedly shaped more like a capsule than a tube, I couldn''t help but see how red the liquid was. However, even with his eyes closed and with his body looking to be around the same age as mine, I could still recognize that this person was undoubtedly Vain.

    Why aren''t you alive?

    Gingerly, I placed my hand onto Gaea''s Embrace - then, almost immediately, Vain''s eyes opened.My body instinctively flinched, but I still made sure to keep contact with the capsule.Then, with slow movements, most likely due to the red liquid, I watched as he moved to align his hand with mine. Hesitantly, I looked into Vain''s electric blue eyes... As expected, I felt no life in them.

    Staring into the lifeless eyes of Vain, I felt a certain warmth on the hand that was aligned with his, then, it quickly spread to the rest of my body. Suddenly, my vision was once again filled with a blinding light.

    The feeling of warmth on my body became even warmer. Trying to calm myself, I decided that I would count down from three and then I would open my eyes.Three... Two... One.My eyelids felt heavy, but I persisted, and once I opened them, albeit slowly, all I could see was red. I glanced down at my hands, my sight was blurry, but from what I could tell, my hands looked different from what I remembered. I tried breathing in, but it was as if there were weights inside my very lungs. Then, without much warning, I felt a pulling sensation and a rush of coldness. Before I knew it, I was caught by familiar hands. My vision was no longer dyed in crimson and I was gasping, it was as if this was the first time I''ve ever breathed in air.

    "The connection was a success. Well done Velloa!" I blearily looked up to see my Father''s smiling face.

    I just... I just switched bodies, didn''t I?Despite my blurry vision, I could make out Mother placing my unmoving body -Velloa''s body- into Gaea''s Embrace.Let''s not think about this too much... Yeah... That''ll be my motto for the day. Do not think, just accept...

    And with those thoughts, I passed out.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 2: Azure

    "Velloa, from now on, whilst in that body, you shall be called Vain." Father proclaimed.

    I nodded.

    Mother knelt in front of me and placed a hand on each shoulder of mine. "In a week from now, you will be taught magic alongside your Brother. However..." Her face turned grave and the atmosphere suddenly felt heavy. "You will only be taught how to use the element water. Unless your Father and I permit it, you cannot -under no circumstance- use darkness magic. Do you understand, my child?"

    I wanted to ask why, but I could feel the high amount of anxiousness from my parents practically choking me, so I simply nodded once again.

    Father then broke the tense atmosphere with a languid smile. "Good child. You may go to bed now. It''s late. We''ll let you get used to your new body for a day."

    Mother and Father led me to my room and even helped me with my clothes. Whilst tucking me in they wished me a Happy Birthday and patiently sat by my side until I fell asleep.

    Oh right, today was my sixth birthday, wasn''t it?

    The world of Gaea is a fantastical world full of wonder and magic. It is the typical kind of setting you would expect from an otome game in a fantasy setting with castles, nobility, a magical school and what not. The magic which exists in this world is similar to that of a certain show about a certain person who was called ''Avatar'', except there are six elements: air, earth, fire, water ¨C with the two incredibly rare elements darkness and light. In ''Hera: Captured Hearts'', the main setting of the game is the prestigious magical school ''Yohso Academy''.

    There are four main capturable love targets, all of which correspond to the main elements, unsurprisingly, their appearances also match the colour of their element. Starting from the easiest route to the hardest we firstly have Dmitri Hammond, and he has the element of earth (green). In the game, he has the largest build out of all the love targets, however, he is the gentle giant kind of guy with forest green hair and eyes, along with glasses. Despite his somewhat roguish attitude, he''s quite a cute one. Since he does come from a family of royal knights, he is obviously created with the knight-in-shining-armour trope in mind.

    Next is Zephyr Reve, the genius shota love target, despite only being a year younger and being taller than the in-game MC (but only by an inch or two); he comes from the richest merchant family. Despite his family starting out as merchants, his parents were conferred a noble title as a reward for their assistance during the time when the country was going through an economic crisis. Zephyr has the element of wind (yellow) with the appearance of caramel hair and yellow topaz eyes. He is the soft, kind-hearted, and healing sort of character who looks frail, but can surprise you with his strong protectiveness.

    Then there is my brother, Virgil Imitheos, the water (blue) Elementalist and is the oldest of the love targets. Similarly, with the in-game MC, he is five years older than me. Virgil is the scholarly type who normally displays a strict attitude, but when you read between the lines of his words it can make one''s heart go "Awww." Just like Mother, he has azure-lilac hair which he has kept long (practically as long as mine, most likely due to him emulating father''s appearance) and azure eyes. He takes after Mother who is a well-respected Royal Researcher, so it comes to no surprise that he was the teacher character in the game.

    Finally, we have Kai Regieren, the one who has the element of fire (red) and the next ruler of the country of Ogygia. With his pale blonde hair and blood red eyes, he has the second largest build compared to the other love targets and truly has the making of a future ruler, for he had shown quite an amount of leadership and strategy skills. However, he becomes quite sweet in terms of the MC, so sweet that the player could practically taste gain diabetes whenever certain fluffy events came up.

    As for the MC, she has the typical cutesy appearance of platinum blonde hair and pinkish eyes. In all honesty, practically every player summarizes the MC as ''typical''. She''s cutesy, air-headed (or na?ve ¨C if you want to be nice), a ''nice'' girl, and one hell of a lucky one too. Because she was a sickly commoner who lived in a far-off village she had missed her magic elemental test, but just before the start of a new school year she was found to have a large amount of mana and an affinity to light magic. She was found by Brother no less, who was tasked to test for any children who had the future to be magic users around rural areas. And so, she enters Yohso Academy as a second year at the age of sixteen, and this is where the otome game begins.

    Then there''s me, Velloa Imitheos, the stalking horse, A.K.A the Villainess, of the game. No matter who the MC chooses to be with, Velloa gets the same kind of bad end, albeit with a few minor differences. For Dmitri, Velloa is a childhood friend who is in love with him, however, her jealousy gets the better of her and she angers Dmitri when she nearly hits the MC in anger, therefore, causing Velloa to get humiliated in front of the student body due to Dmitri''s excessive white-knight act. Her relationship with Zephyr was that of an older sister and younger brother type, well, an overprotective older sister and over-reliant little brother type more like. Through the MC''s actions, Zephyr realizes his ''mistake'' of a relationship with Velloa and so proceeds to humiliate her by denouncing Velloa''s ''unacceptable overprotective'' nature in front of the student body. In terms of Virgil''s route, Velloa''s involvement makes more sense for she was the younger sibling who did not approve of the MC and her brother''s illicit relationship. Of course, she was then condemned in front of many people (there seems to be a pattern), including their parents. Finally, in Kai''s route, Velloa is engaged to him and she continually disapproves of the MC''s relations with the future ruler. However, ''surprisingly'', in the end, Kai openly disapproves of Velloa and annuls their engagement during a ball in front of not only the student body, but his parents as well as Velloa''s.

    What the fuck?! The MC''s heroine halo is stupidly strong! It''s no wonder I wasn''t so fond of ''shoujo'' in my previous life... Although, I may or may not have read and watched quite a lot of said genre.

    I didn''t necessarily play the otome game in my previous life, it was only after a close friend''s strong recommendation that I had watched the ''Hera: Captured Hearts'' anime. Almost immediately, I had liked Kai Regieren, for he had that type of domineering yet surprisingly gentle kind of personality that I had a thing for. Whilst watching the anime I thought:What the hell? Velloa actually has common sense, it was only because of her standoffish personality and blunt words ¨Cas well as the fact that she was put in situations where she essentially had to be against the MC¨C that she was considered a so-called ''Villainess''. In other words, I felt that the humiliation that Velloa had experienced was incredibly undeserved compared to the lack of wrong things that she had done against the MC. Hmmm, wasn''t the MC''s name in the anime Ariana? That''s right, it was simply Ariana because she was a commoner...If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    However, in the anime, Velloa didn''t get a humiliation ending. Under her father''s instruction, she was told to assist him due to an oncoming demon attack, her last appearance was that of her alone with Ariana in a certain part of the Academy and her saying "You''re a fool who only knows how to mess around. I pity those you''ve dragged down... Including myself."Her lines indicated that she had become aware of her Villainess-like actions, which caused me to feel a sort of strangeness that I could not explain well...

    Velloa was surprisingly shown to be a competent water user in the anime. To my friend who had played the game, she thought that the demon attack plot was weird since there was no plot of that kind during her play-through. Towards the end of the anime, the main characters had to fight off a disastrous demon attack, and in the midst of this demon attack ¨C Vain appears, claiming to be the mastermind of it. When the main characters confronted him, they fought valiantly, but they were being overpowered. The ending scene was that of the main characters combining their powers as a last all-out attack, however, the viewers don''t actually see them defeat Vain. The anime cuts to Vain just as the combined attack launches with him smirking and saying, "How na?ve."

    Despite his short screen time, I fell in love with his character. I was a sucker for the dark, strong and mysterious type of characters. As for my friend, she agonized over the appearance of Vain for she had never encountered him in the game, so I had suggested that perhaps he was a hidden route. With a fiery glint in her eyes, she had dragged me (a person who did not play otome games) on a mission to unlock Vain''s route. It didn''t take that long to figure out, since the MC (Ariana) hadn''t chosen anyone in the anime. We thought that perhaps there was a way to play the entirety of the game without specifically choosing a love interest ¨C and there was. It was difficult though, for whatever reason, all four of the main love interests'' affection levels had to be maxed out. During this kind of play-through, Velloa only appeared a few times and also didn''t get a bad end, most likely due to the fact that the player hadn''t chosen a specific love target. Once my friend had achieved the max level affection of each character, the game suddenly changed into a turn-based RPG game. We were stunned. The anime''s demon attack plot arrived. With me being the one more familiar with that kind of game, my friend had handed me the controls. Using the MC and the four love interests, I fought off an assortment of mobs and bosses until finally, after at least two hours of gameplay, we reached Vain.

    "Why the hell does an otome have this kind of gameplay?!"My friend and I exclaimed. The game''s RPG element was actually pretty good too.Hiding this precious gem in a typical otome game?! What the fuck were the game-makers thinking?!

    Once we had finally gotten Vain to appear, the typical otome game format came back and I gave back the controls to my otome game master friend. With the fiery glint in her eyes reappearing she promised for both our sakes that she would conquer him. With those words, I had realized that I was completely swept into her flow. But alas, no matter what the conversation offered, Vain stayed elusive.

    With the words "Why?" coming out of the MC''s dialogue box, Vain gave his signature smirk from the anime and the famous words, "How na?ve." Then the RPG game element kicked in again with Vain being the last boss.

    I remember my friend making an ungodly sound of frustration before I was handed the controls once again, but there was something I had noticed, Vain''s health bar could not be seen; it should have appeared just above his night blue hair like the characters I was controlling. After twenty or so minutes of trying to defeat Vain, the CG for the main characters'' last all-out attack played, but instead of cutting just before the attack hits like the anime, Vain takes the hit and comes out unscathed! Not only were the main characters shocked, but the players too!

    Vain''s dialogue box came up. "Ridiculous. I was told that there would be a powerful light magic user here, but it turns out that this was a waste of time." Then, casually raising a hand, directed towards the main characters, he launched an incredibly powerful darkness attack which rendered the group immobile and kneeling in pain on the ground.

    In utter shock, we watched as Vain lifted the MC up by the neck. Next, we were shown his condescending smile, and (might I add) the way his electric blue eyes shone at that moment made me fangirl internally. "Weak." Said his dialogue box. He gestured to the love interests who were still crouching in pain. "You are stupid to think that the obsession of these men is enough to faze me." Then the screen faded to black and the credits rolled.

    Wha...?I thought to myself initially. But when my friend and I made eye contact, we immediately burst into laughter.HOLY SHIT DID THE GAME MAKERS JUST SHIT ON THEIR OWN GAME?!

    Hence, that is why I had called Vain a ''love target'' instead of simply calling him a love target. The players were made to think that he was a capturable target, but in the end, he was a non-capturable character made for very questionable reasons in terms of the game and anime''s plot-line.

    "...ell. Vell...? Vell!" With a start, I looked up to see who was shouting. It was Virgil, kneeling in front of me with a concerned look. "Are you alright? Is your body not feeling good?"

    Oh, right. ''Vell'' is my nickname.Currently, I was still in Vain''s body and I had insisted on watching Virgil''s magic training. I was told to relax while getting used to this body, and so I had decided to watch Virgil whilst being served apple juice on a seat under a tree on this fine spring day.

    With a smile, I gave a reply, "I''m fine, Brother. I was only thinking. Sorry if I worried you." With these past life memories having mixed with the current ones, I was worried about whether or not I could act as normal. In any case, Virgil didn''t look convinced, so I offered my juice as a distraction.

    Glancing at the cool glass of juice, he gave a simple thank you, drank some, did some stretches and went back to his training. As nicely as I could, I asked the maid next to me, Ana, to pour more juice for me.

    I properly observed Virgil this time. With me being six years old, he is currently eleven. At the moment, he had his azure-violet hair tied up in a ponytail and he had on a plain white loose fitting long sleeve top and form-fitting brown pants that were easy to move in. With his younger features and Tai Chi-like movements as he controlled around a bowling ball''s worth of water around him, he had quite the eye-catching and pretty boy look about him that really assured me that this is the world of an otome game.

    I hid a frown as I took a sip.For whatever reason, despite not knowing how, I just know that I died young in my previous life ¨C most likely around the age of eighteen or nineteen. That''s quite sad. Also, from what I knew previously, Velloa only had the affinity of water, was her dual affinity a result of her inheriting her family''s forbidden art or her compatibility to Vain''s body? Or perhaps she had it from the beginning? But then that brings into question why Vain is dead and how he ended up in the ''possession'' of the Imitheos family? There are still so many things for me to contemplate. At least with me currently being six years old, I have should have a good chance of getting rid of the humiliation flag by knowing what would happen... I hope.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 3: Silent Skies

    Once again lost in my thoughts, I made the following conclusions:

    I am Velloa Imitheos, child of the Ogygia Kingdom''s Spymaster and one of its best Royal Researchers. I also have an older brother of five years, Virgil Imitheos, who is one of the game''s love targets. But so far there are already quite a few deviations from the game''s original plot-line in my previous life''s memories. One was the fact that Velloa (me) is a person of dual elemental affinity, second, that Vain (a ''love target'') was dead and third - that I was in control of Vain''s body.

    ...What the hell?! Why do I have to take on two major characters?! Now I have to be careful of not only avoiding my villainess bad end but also of the incoming harem and typical air-headed MC that this world of an otome game has!

    With a sigh, I moved onto a different, but related, train of thought:

    In the end, when both my friend and I had realized that Vain was not a capturable character, even though we were the players, we got played. Vain wasn''t meant to be a love target... We were deceived by his bishounen looks and by the game-makers. What his motivations were for inciting a disastrous demon attack onto the Ogygia Kingdom''s capital city, we never got much of a clear answer. While he did more or less say that he wanted to fight Ariana (the MC), such a motivation was too small a reason to launch a largescale attack on a Kingdom''s capital with a demon army.

    "How is your body feeling, Vain?" Father suddenly asked.

    Snapping back to reality, I looked up and replied. "It''s... not bad, I think."

    Chuckling, he opened the large doors which lead into the room that held Gaea''s Embrace. I had seen my Father as Mako (his second body) quite a number of times. Whilst Mako was of a larger build, older looking and had short platinum blonde hair (as opposed to his original long, raven black hair), there''s that weird ability which children have that could just ''tell'' or ''recognize'' their parent, and when I had first seen Mako, I just... knew. In any case, he had told me that Mako was only known by the family and the most trustworthy of people, like the current ruler of Ogygia, Korumak Regieren. As a result, I had to keep both our bodies a secret.

    That is quite a big secret that you''re asking a six-year-old to keep...

    Past the glowing runes and curtains, we were greeted by the sight of the capsules which held our bodies. The Gaea''s Embrace capsules looked eerie as they glowed a bright orangey-red. Mother emerged from somewhere behind and greeted us. She had once told me that she kept her youthful look through cryogenic freezing. Apparently, she had gotten that idea when Father used to use that method to preserve his bodies.I know this explains why father looks so young, but for Mother to go to that extent for her beauty...I internally shuddered.

    "Go ahead Vain, you can go back to being Velloa." Mother urged.

    Letting go of Father''s hand, I approached the capsule holding Velloa''s body ¨C only to stop right in front of it. Turning to look Mother in the eye, I took a gamble. "Mother, this body... and the darkness magic. I want to know more."

    Almost immediately, I saw sadness cross her sky-blue eyes.

    An uncomfortable silence ensued for a few seconds. However, just as I was about to dismiss my question, Father spoke. "Ahkua, we should at least explain the ''Encroachment''." Mother''s expression turned even more despondent, but she nodded.

    Bending down to my eye level, she places a hand on my cheek. "I can''t tell you about this body, not yet anyway. But, my child, the darkness magic is quite a strong thing and sadly -out of all the elements- there is a consequence to the magic user''s body. It is called the ''Encroachment'', we don''t know when exactly it will begin, except that not too soon after the first use of darkness magic, the user''s heart will be gripped by death. It is possible to survive, but all darkness attribute users suffer greatly from it and many have not survived." She then brings me into a hug. "So please, unless your Father and I say so, do not use any darkness magic."

    I don''t know what I was expecting, but it was most definitely not that. There was no mention of such a thing in the game or anime...

    "Yes, Mother." Came my quiet reply.

    After having successfully switched back, I was sent to my room for the night. My maid, Ana, had finally left after lighting a single scented candle; it smelt sweet, perhaps it was vanilla. Velloa''s room itself really showed the noble status that her family had. Its size was large enough to be a decent apartment based on my previous life''s memories. The game and anime had a Victorian style setting, but not quite like the era. However, the architecture of the Imitheos family''s palace (yes, palace) was Roman with the signature high columns and ceilings.Maybe because I''ve only ever seen the setting of the game, Yohso Academy, I may have been wrong in assuming that the entire world of Gaea was of the same aesthetic...

    Whilst shifting myself into a comfy position, I couldn''t help but let out a sigh. Sadly, I couldn''t quite remember essential details about my previous life''s identity. Anything specific about my identity such as my name was almost seemingly wiped out. I couldn''t remember the names of people who were around me, but I could recall their faces. Weirdly, the names and faces of fictional people seem to have stayed within those memories.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Neither the ''Hera: Captured Hearts'' game nor anime said much about the goings on in the world outside of the romance plot other than the simple facts like magic and demons existed. Luckily, I remember that precious friend of mine telling me about the noble system of the Kingdom of Ogygia. Unlike the traditional noble system in my past life world''s history, the noble titles aren''t hereditary, instead it is a meritocracy system. Other than the royal family who passes their title, the only thing related to their noble title that can be passed down by a noble is their last name, but only their children can inherit that ¨C their grandchildren cannot unless the children themselves gain a noble title. While it is indeed true that a family which has a forbidden art is recognized as a noble, it is usually due to the fact that the noble -who has inherited the art- would work for the royal family and therefore the Kingdom. Basically, a noble''s child is only known as ''the child of a noble'' unless they do something for the Kingdom that is deserving of a title.

    In the Kingdom of Ogygia there is one sole sovereign known as the ''Imperare'' and currently, that person is Korumak Regieren ¨C Kai Regieren''s (the fire elementalist love target) Father. Children of the Imperare are called the ''Infante'', but the game and anime seem to regard it as a more ''collective'' title for all the children of the Imperare since people usually called Kai Regieren "Prince Kai". The title ''Vis-Imperare'' is given to the Imperare''s partner, however, they can only use that power in case something were to happen to the Imperare and that the Crown-Infante would not yet be capable enough to inherit the title of sole sovereign. That person is currently Dahlia Fermittler, Kai''s mother, an earth user and the general of this country''s army. Outside of the royal titles, the highest title -in which my father has- is ''Grande'' (equivalent to Duke). The next ones are ''Landgrave'' and then ''Graf''; the difference between the two is the amount of land that they govern, in which a Landgrave governs more of a city whilst a Graf governs more of a town. Finally, there is the title of ''Beorn'' (equivalent to Baron) which is an honorary title given to people such as royal knights and researchers (like Mother), although they are mostly referred to by either ''Royal Knight'' or ''Royal Researcher''. While Mother was offered a unique last name, she decided to take Father''s instead.

    As I was contemplating the world that I was ''born'' in, my little six-year-old body insisted that I should give in to sleep... And so, I let my concerns drift away for now and allowed sleep to take over.

    After all, there''s no need to rush these things...

    "AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

    Startled, I opened my eyes to the sound of a woman screaming - only to be greeted with the sight of the said woman lying on a bed. I was confused at first, but once I had a better look at the woman screaming in pain, I recognized her.Isn''t that Mother?!And after another second of realization...She''s giving birth?!

    I willed myself to move forward, but I found that I couldn''t. In fact, after examining myself, I could see through myself!What?! What''s happening?!

    Another one of mother''s screams interrupted my panic.

    A person spoke above Mother''s screams, encouraging her. "Madam, you are nearly there! One last push!" It was my maid Ana, she was assisting Mother.

    Trying to keep calm, I looked around. At Mother''s side, Father was sitting down and holding her hand with a supportive smile. Maids were bustling about, trying to make sure nothing on their end could go wrong. With her beautiful face scrunched up and sweaty, I watched as Mother gave a final push.

    Not even a moment later, I heard a wail.

    Holding the new-born child, she made an announcement. "It''s a girl!" Ana glanced at the child''s body once more. "And she bears the mark of the family!".

    But before anyone of the other maids nor my parents could sigh in relief, Mother let out another scream. Quickly, Ana handed the new-born to one of the maids. After checking Mother, her face paled and she looked at her masters. "There''s another child!" For a moment, everything in the room stilled.

    "...A twin?" Father said in a tone filled with dread. Ana nods.

    In between heavy breaths, Mother managed to speak out. "I don''t care about a curse! Just please help me deliver this child!"

    Hearing Mother''s words, Ana''s face turns resolute. "Everyone, quickly back to work! We must ensure that both the children and the madam are to be in good condition!"

    I continued to observe silently; I had no other choice, really. Rather than saying that I was ''like'' a ghost, I ''was''a ghost in this situation. No matter how hard or much I tried, I was glued to this spot with no ability to speak or move whatsoever. People even went right through me!

    Eventually, the twin was born, but when Ana looked at and held the child, her face turned ashen. It only took one look for Mother to realize what had happened. Before Ana had even said anything, Mother had burst into tears.

    "I am so sorry, but the child is dead."

    Suddenly, the world around me faded away into blackness and I was falling. I flailed about helplessly; my stomach churned at the sensation of me free falling.Urgh... I died young in my previous life so please don''t let me die even younger in this life.As if hearing my thoughts, a few moments later, my fall was abruptly interrupted as I seemingly landed in a body of water.

    After having seemingly shaken off the impact of hitting the water, I opened my eyes slowly. Before me, the liquid gave an unusual glow. I willed my heart to calm down. If I didn''t, I was afraid that it would have burst in my chest due to sheer fright. Strangely, I didn''t feel the need to breathe. As I was counting numbers to calm myself, my sight adjusted, and I recognised the figure of a person floating right in front of me.

    ...Vain?

    It was the grown-up Vain that I had seen in the game and anime. His eyes were closed, but gradually, he opened them to reveal his glowing electric blue eyes. Noticing my presence, he floated towards me. Once we were at eye level, neither of us moved, instead, we simply observed each other. Our hair and clothes that were floating in the water were the only things in motion. As I stared deep into his eyes, I found that despite his emotionless expression, unlike the body that I was in control of, this Vain in front of me seemed... alive.

    I watched as he reached out and placed a hand on my cheek. And then, he said one word which caused me to feel all sense of confusion...

    "Sister."

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 4: Wildcard

    Sister? I repeated the word in my mind.

    As if hearing my thoughts, Vain''s eyes revealed anguish.

    Unexpectedly, on both of our chests, something glowed. Glancing at what exactly was glowing, I recognized the shape. The Imitheos mark? Then, the realization hit me. Gemini! It looks a bit different, but the mark is like the symbol of Gemini! In my previous life, I was very interested in Greek and Roman mythology. If I recalled correctly, the symbol represented the twins Castor and Pollux who were granted and shared immortality after one of them had died. But what did that information have anything to do with the Imitheos family? After a few moments of thought, I finally managed to put the pieces together. The scene that I had witnessed earlier, the mark and Vain saying ''Sister''...

    Vain and I are twins?

    Once that thought crossed my mind, Vain leaned forward and placed his forehead against mine. Gradually, a light enveloped him, causing me to close my eyes from the brightness. Then, the moment I was sure that the light had dimmed, I opened my eyes ¨C only to be greeted with a small electric blue ball of light before me. The ball of light''s brightness was weak but warm, and strangely, I could sense it was ''alive'' ¨C although only barely.

    Gently, I held the ball of light. This light is just like Vain''s eye colour...

    "...elloa. Velloa?!" Why does this feel familiar? "Velloa!"

    My eyelids felt extremely heavy, but gradually, I managed to open my eyes to the sound of someone yelling for me. Blearily, I found that I was in mother''s arms. Her beautiful face laced full of worry.

    Wha...?

    At the corner of my eye, I saw a faint glow of orangey-red. Looking towards the source, I found that It was the capsule which held Vain''s body. For a moment, the image of a grown-up Vain appeared, standing before his young body looking at it forlornly. Then, as if this ''image'' felt my gaze, he looked towards me and gave a bitter smile.

    I unconsciously uttered a single word. "Brother..."

    "Velloa?!" Mother''s panicked voice echoed through the room. "What''s wrong? What happened? Why are you in here and on the floor unconscious?!"

    I felt like I was in a trance-like state. "Brother... isn''t... dead."

    With mother holding onto me so tightly, it was hard not to notice her flinch. However, just as I had awoken, I soon succumbed back into the deep crevices of my consciousness.

    "I apologize Master Hakoda, for I had not properly watched over the child... Somehow or another, I had let her past me." Ana bowed deeply before the Master of the house.

    Hakoda shook his head. "This child even somehow entered the room containing Gaea''s Embrace without Ahkua''s notice." He looked toward his wife, Velloa''s head on her lap as they rested on the child''s bed, her face a mix of worry and sadness. "What is Velloa''s condition?"This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Stroking her sleeping child''s head, she answered. "I am not sure how, but she was unconscious due to a shortage of mana within her. Other than some nausea and fatigue, she seems to be relatively unharmed."

    Frowning, Hakoda questioned further. "So, you''re saying that a large amount of mana suddenly disappeared from within her and you don''t know why?"

    Ahkua narrowed her eyes and focused on the empty space around Velloa. "There were no traces of mana around her nor of her having used her mana." She paused, the sadness in her eyes was evident. "For a few moments, she woke up and... And she said something strange..."

    Putting a comforting hand on Ahkua''s shoulder, Hakoda urged her to continue.

    Letting in a sharp breath she continued, "She looked at Vain''s body and said ''Brother is alive.''" She let out a shaky breath. "How could she have known that Vain was her Brother? Not even Virgil knows about the existence of their... Dead Brother."

    Hakoda looked to Ana, "Do you know anything about that?"

    "I have closely observed the child and I believe that there should have been no opportunity for the child to have known about that information." Came Ana''s reply.

    There was a silence in the room as the adults contemplated the situation.

    "If I may be so bold, with the stigma against twins ¨C what are we to do should the Young Miss be right?" Ana interjected.

    Ahkua frowned and sighed. "''Through the birth of cursed twins, the great darkness will arise...'' To think that the people of the Attribute of Light Sect would let such a proclamation out to the public." Twirling a small lock of Velloa''s sky blue hair around her finger, she spoke further. "The darkness attribute is not cursed, nor are any children for that matter. It''s good to see that Korumak doesn''t support such a prophecy."

    Every noble knew very well of the influence that the Attribute of Light Sect held on the masses, especially Hakoda. While there is an existing Attribute of Darkness Sect, their numbers and influence are relatively lower due to the Encroachment. Many have tried to withdraw the Light Sect''s dangerous prophecy; even Gaea''s Church condemned the prophecy. Sadly, the Light Sect seemed to have disregarded the reprimand from the Church.

    These Sects are supposed to be an extension of Gaea''s Church, yet the Light Sect is incredibly set on antagonizing the demons and the Darkness Sect for the sake of their own gain. For these past few years, the two sects'' relationship has been rapidly disintegrating, as a result, tension is just as quickly rising. I wonder... is this really just as simple as the Light Sect having an incredibly bitter rivalry against the Darkness Sect due to the demons? Hakoda contemplated to himself.

    Narrowing his eyes, he found himself having a certain thought. Over six years ago, the previous head of the Light Sect announced that so-called prophecy, then the current head -the youngest to have ever received such a position at eighteen years old- was conferred the position of the head of the sect. Not too long before the changing of the leader of the Light Sect, Hakoda recalled that he, along with a few other nobles, including those two heads of the Light Sect, were sent out to take care of a highly dangerous dungeon. This dungeon had an incredibly poisonous miasma quickly spreading out and a high spawn rate of demons. Therefore, this was an immediate great danger to nearby villages, so they acted fast. While they did manage to destroy the dungeon and its core, the head at that time had suffered near-death injuries. As for the person who destroyed the dungeon core, it was Apollos, the current head of the Light Sect. Many figured that the Light Sect''s reasoning for heavily antagonizing the demons and the Darkness Sect was due to what happened in that dungeon six years ago, but Hakoda felt that wasn''t quite right. Because ever since that prophecy was announced, there''s been a hunt for any children who were born as twins...

    Breaking away from his deep contemplation, Hakoda glanced at his worried wife and sleeping child. "While it is indeed strange that Velloa had somehow slipped past our security, nothing too major has happened..." He gave a meaningful look to his wife. "All we can do for now is wait and see." Hakoda stated.

    Both Ana and Ahkua turned their sights back to the sleeping little girl. ''Just what exactly had happened in that room?'' Every adult in the room thought to themselves.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 5: Now You Know

    It has been three days since I was found unconscious in the room containing Gaea''s Embrace. The next day, when I had properly woken up, Father and Mother questioned me about it. I told them the truth: I knew nothing. How I ended up in that predicament deludes me, but I knew that it was related to that ''dream'' I saw.

    Ever since then, I could see the ''ghost'' of Vain. Seeing the see-through image of a six-year-old boy whom you thought was dead was a disconcerting sight. I''m not sure why, but that dream gave me the strongest feeling that this ''ghost'' is Vain''s soul clinging to life... But then there''s also that part of me that''s concerned that I may have gone mad.

    In any case, Mother and Father had left it alone, and told me to immediately inform them of anything that went wrong.Not that I would tell them that I''m seeing the ghost of my not-so-dead twin brother... Or would it be more accurate to call it his spirit?Vain''s spirit appears occasionally; it''s hard to explain, but I can somehow understand him. With his appearance now matching his age, I have this weird connection with him in knowing how he feels despite any lack of expression or words from him. He shows himself at least once a day ¨C only whenever he feels like there''s something interesting going on. Whenever I''m in his body, he doesn''t appear. Instead, I can even more strongly feel what he feels and I''m almost a different person whenever I am ''Vain''.Doing the things he wanted to do... It was the least I could do for him who was desperately clinging to life ¨C especially since his current state may be most likely due to my influence to this world.

    For the past week, I had been desperately trying to remember all the details I could about ''Hera: Captured Hearts''. As a result, I''ve come up with some assumptions. My first concern was Vain''s relation to Velloa. If that dream I had was a true vision of the past, then there''s some kind of false belief against twins being ''cursed''. These things are obviously spread for a reason, I''m just not sure what. In any case, I suspect that the Imitheos family had to make the tough decision of separating the twins and sending one off to hide somewhere; after all, Mother''s pregnancy was most likely well known. As a result, Velloa was the only one who was publicly recognized as a child of the Imitheos house, but as for Vain... Perhaps something went wrong during the process of hiding him away. In the game and anime, he may have been taken away by an external party and dare I say brainwashed, however in this case, rather than a fate like that he instead died at birth.I''m not sure which is worse...

    I lamented over the fact that my knowledge of this world only comes from the game and anime, but I had to give credit to the fact that I already knew more than I should have. Carrying on with my assumptions, I suspected that Velloa''s darkness attribute was kept hidden through her parents'' influence and wasn''t touched upon due to the dangers of the Encroachment, however, that left the fact that she had inherited the Imitheos family''s mark.Oh, wait... There was that conversation in the game.I remembered that there was something mentioned to the MC in the game by Virgil. The earth and fire attribute love targets were inheritors of their family''s forbidden art, but the air and water attribute love targets weren''t.In Virgil''s route, I think he said something about feeling pity for Velloa who inherited the mark...Virgil hadn''t disclosed the reason for his pity nor what the family''s forbidden art was, but I guess when the forbidden art involves the body of a dead person, then one could see where he''s coming from. Being able to swap bodies is useful ¨C it is one of the biggest reasons why Hakoda is the Kingdom''s Spymaster, but while there are no major repercussions to losing the second body, there are grievous consequences to losing the original body... In other words, death. That includes staying in the second body for too long, which is approximately a month, for that too would spell the certain death of the person''s soul.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    After a while, I left my assumptions, as well as figuring out Vain''s predicament, to the side.My current motto now is: There''s no need to rush.As for my plans to avoid the humiliation ending, I was rather optimistic. All I had to do was simply not get in the way of the romance between the MC and her harem. I figured that meeting at least two of the love interests would be inevitable, so I have to ensure that my behaviour and actions don''t bring on my humiliation end, or any bad end for that matter.I must create good relations with the love targets that I may meet so that there will be little to no reason for them to trigger my bad end flag.

    And so, my first mission is to have a good relationship with Virgil. He is THE love target that is closest to me and therefore the person I would like most at my side should the bad end flag be triggered. Honestly, Velloa''s fate in Virgil''s route was incredibly sad. She had continually warned and told both her brother and the MC that a student/teacher relationship was inappropriate, but the two were too blinded by ''love'' to see her logic. Velloa was left shamed by her own brother in front of many people, as well as in front of their parents, for she was condemned for apparently not knowing her place as a student and as a younger sibling.What the fuck... Why was it only then that Virgil was a teacher and older brother? Even so, he used his authority for the wrong reasons. There''s also the fact that while he was the older sibling, Velloa was the one more likely to carry on the family''s nobility status for having inherited the family''s mark. This game did have its fun parts, but MAN, if you give this otome game a second glance you start to realize how stupid the plot was.

    A figure leaning over me suddenly broke me away from my thoughts. Glancing up, I found that it was Virgil. Probably having seen me reach for a book that was out of my reach for long enough, he reached for the book that I desired and then handed it to me with a friendly smile.

    "I liked this one when I was younger." He commented.

    I looked up to meet Virgil''s azure eyes. His expression was as expected of a reliant looking brother. In the future, he''s going to grow up to have a strict character, but he will still have that signature gentle interior that many of the players loved. However, he''s currently eleven years old...Meaning that there''s plenty of time for me to build up a good and solid relationship with him before the MC arrives.

    I returned his smile with my own. "Thank you, Brother. If you have time, can you please help me read this book?"

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 6: Hold Onto Me

    I may not be the smartest person, but I could at least confirm that my level of awareness was at least average. So, when both Velloa and my previous life''s memories merged together, I could tell that the relationship between my Brother and I was not the best. I found that the siblings did not interact unless they found it necessary. Although, the lack of interaction may have stemmed from Velloa who seemed to have developed a bit of a princess complex due to repeatedly being told that she was the hope of the Imitheos house, and perhaps as a result, Virgil was not fond of her ¨C also leading to Velloa not caring much about him in return. However, the good thing about the relationship as it stands was the fact that it was within my abilities to fix and mend. Virgil was a gentlemanly type, so even if he did not have any feelings towards someone, he wouldn''t mistreat anyone extremely.

    I think that but look what happened to Velloa in the game endings. He did fuck all to help his younger sister in all the endings and even caused one of them himself...

    In any case, I figured that the Velloa and Virgil in the game didn''t bother to nurture a good and healthy sibling relationship together, so I resolved myself to change that while we were still young children. As they say, continuously teaching children from a young age leaves deeper impressions that can stay with them until they''re old. Therefore, I''m going to make sure that Virgil and I have a good relationship, and perhaps make it so that he stays on my side should Ariana (the MC) appear.

    For the past few days, I drastically increased the number of times that I interacted with Virgil, hence why I had opted to observe his magic training, and also asked him numerous times to help teach me read certain books. As well as being a gentlemanly type, Virgil was also the scholarly type, so I made sure to engage with him with similar types of activities, for example accompanying him during some of the times when he did self-study. Even if we didn''t talk, simply being in the same room as him provided ample opportunity for more interaction and for him to at least get more used to me.

    Currently, I was making my way towards Virgil''s magic lesson to once again observe. Lucky for me, I spotted him and the magic instructor walking down the main hall''s stairs. Quickening my pace, I let my expression change into a smile and called out my Brother''s name.

    Noticing me approaching, both males stopped and waited for me. "Careful, you might fall." Virgil lightly chastised.

    Listening to his words, I slowed down and stopped before him. Looking up into his azure eyes, I kept my smile and stretched a hand up to him. I must admit, Virgil''s expressions and reactions to my attempts to get closer to him were amusing. When I had previously sat on his lap to read a book with him, his stiff and troubled expression made me want to laugh. At this moment, he had a similar expression, except this time it was laced with more confusion than usual.

    After a few seconds, seeing how he really was unsure of what to do, I giggled and turned away from Virgil towards his magic instructor. Stopping in front of the young and handsome instructor, I may have shown a mischievous smile whilst repeating the same actions that I did to Virgil.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    With a noticeable sigh, the instructor shot Virgil an exasperated look as he took my hand.

    The instructor immediately changed his expression to a friendly one as he greeted me. "Good afternoon, Young Miss. I see that you''re here to observe Virgil''s magic lesson once again."

    With a more normal smile, I replied. "Yes! I cannot wait until I can finally start my lessons!"

    As I walked, hand in hand, alongside the handsome instructor, I dared not look back to see Virgil''s expression.I may end up laughing if I do look. In any case, I hope you''ve properly learnt from your instructor''s demonstration, Brother...

    Ugh... Can I make it in time for Virgil''s magic lesson?I thought for the umpteenth time as I glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Hearing a sigh, I turned towards the source. It was Ana - with her hand on her forehead and her expression slightly irritated.

    "If your spelling and writing are all correct then I will allow youto go." With those words, I hopped off my seat and quickly handed the sheet that contained the words that I was taught to write. The words were easy enough to spell, the writing was the difficult part, but I''m only six years of age so my writing not being that decent should be expected.

    I glanced at the clock once again, the sound of it ticking making me even antsier. After a while, I heard the shuffling of paper, I looked back towards Ana who seemed to have finished looking at my work. "Alright, you may g-"

    Before she had even finished I was already halfway out the door.She will probably make me practice more etiquette later on, but I''m only six years old! Geez! Let me act out my brocon tendencies before I get too old to get away with it!

    My steps reverberated in the hall as I sped towards the main hall''s staircase. After a few turns, my stamina had decreased too much so I settled with a pace that was slightly faster than my normal walking speed. And so, just like the other day, I managed to catch Virgil and his magic instructor walking down the stairs. I stopped to settle my breathing a little before calling out.

    "B-brother!"Oops. I was too hasty.My breathing was still uneven, so my voice stuttered.

    Both males turned towards me. Virgil had a concerned expression as he glanced at me. "Did you run all the way here, Vell? Be careful, you shouldn''t run down the stairs." He walked up to me as he chastised me once again.

    Having finally normalised my breathing, I smiled innocently. "I wanted to watch Brother''s lesson again."

    Virgil let out an exasperated sigh. "As long as you''re not in the middle of a lesson, I will pick you up before my magic lessons." I beamed. "So don''t run around so carelessly anymore." With him three steps below me, we were at eye level. I found myself blushing at his gentle expression.Whoa there... I can practically see sparkles and flowers surrounding him!

    While I was dazed, I realised that Virgil stretched out a hand towards me. His face slightly showing a blush too. "Promise?"

    Oh? What''s this? Has he learnt his lesson?!I found myself feeling a sense of warmth. Taking his hand, I enthusiastically agreed. "Yes, Brother. It''s a promise!"

    Virgil''s face visibly showed his contentment. As we walked, I excitedly talked about the book that I had been reading. I held his hand firmly along the way.This is good. I hope this kind of feeling between us lasts...

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 7: Where We Begin

    At least none of the bad ends as Velloa end up with me getting killed... Was my random thought as I carefully observed Virgil using water magic.

    I stared in wonder as he skilfully controlled a ball of water around him. His movements were similar to that of Tai Chi forms from my previous life memories. Virgil''s movements started off slow, but then he swiftly switched to quick, whip-like movements, all the while being able to maintain focused and pronounced stances.

    Elemental magic manifests through the martial arts that correspond to the element, apparently, once one has reached a good enough skill then the martial arts movements won''t be necessary. In other words, once you have gotten the grasp of the mana then you could control your element without the need to expend physical energy (to a certain degree).

    But I''m a long way from that kind of level of expertise, of course.

    I turned my attention back to the head of water currently hovering a few centimetres above my palms. Slowly, I moved my hands up and down in order to move said water. The feeling of controlling mana is unlike any other. I can only say that it feels like some kind of force that you control without a seemingly physical appearance (other than the resulting control of the element, of course). Currently, I am doing the basics of learning how to ''hold'' the water. So far, not a drop of water has been lost during my practice.

    "You''re doing a great job, Young Miss."

    I beamed towards the voice. It was me and my brother''s Magic Instructor, Cain Alvar, who''s also currently completing his second year in Yohso Academy, which made him ten years older than me. While he comes from a Beorn-titled noble family (due to his mother and father''s devout service as being part of the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Affairs, respectively), he is currently the best Water Elementalist in his year (and perhaps within the entire Academy, at present). Oh, and did I forget to mention that he has got quite the bishounen looks? With his navy blue hair, deep sapphire eyes, fit body and tall height... He ticks all the boxes in the bishounen looks category. As to why he''s currently me and my brother''s Magic Instructor, it was apparently under our father''s instruction. Cain currently aims to work as one of Father''s men in the future, in other words, as a spy, and with father himself already being impressed by his skill ¨C Cain is currently under probation.

    "Now, why don''t you change the shape of that ball of water." He instructed.

    Tilting my head in thought I ask, "Into what?"

    With a gentle smile he gave a suggestion. "How about ''stretching'' the water, as if you were pulling it apart."

    That doesn''t seem so hard... And so, as if I was trying to stretch a ball of dough, I proceeded to move my hands in a similar fashion. Then, seeing the water do what I had in thought, I beamed once more. A few drops of water were lost in the process, but with Cain''s satisfied nod, it was further solidified that what I did was correct.

    "Good. For the time being I want you to practice changing the water into different shapes." Was Cain''s next instruction.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    However, a childish thought crossed my mind and I acted on it. "Cain... You can call me Vell too, you know. It''s not fair that you call brother by name, but you call me ''Young Miss''." I pouted.

    Cain looked slightly startled by my words at first, but he simply chuckled and patted my head, causing me to lose a few more drops of water as well as make a small cry of protest. "Then I will call you Velloa from now on." He smiled before going back to check on Virgil''s progress on the new techniques.

    Good enough... I immaturely thought to myself as I proceeded to ''stretch'' the water into different lengths and angles. Within a few minutes, however, I was bored. What would anyone suspect? The activity got boring after a while and, at the end of the day, I was a six-year-old child (of course completely disregarding the eighteen years or so from my previous life); I know that this is meant to teach me mana control, but being the six year old that I am, I really couldn''t help it. So, I continued to observe Virgil''s training.

    Currently, Cain seemed to be teaching Virgil how to change the temperature of the water, more specifically turning water into ice. I watched as Cain effortlessly controlled a dozen water orbs with smooth and swift movements. Forming them into a circle in front of him he breathed out, and as he did so, a cold mist emerged from his lips and the water orbs before him turned into ice orbs. I gaped.

    Wow! I want to be able to do that! Maybe I should try it...

    Once again turning my attention back to the head of water in my control, I realized that I haven''t tried changing the water''s form into ''proper'' shapes. Imagining a regular five-pointed star, I moved my hands to the ''feeling'' of the force(mana) accordingly. Satisfied with the shape, I looked back to Virgil and saw him succeed in turning a single water orb into ice. When it comes to changing the state of water to ice, I remember that when water is in its solid form (ice), kinetic energy is significantly lessened, therefore slowing particle motion. Now, if I had paid more attention during my science classes in my previous life, I probably would have known more... I may live in a world of magic now but that shouldn''t make all laws/theories of science incorrect.

    I shook my head as I realized that I was procrastinating. Giving the star-shaped water a determined look, I took a deep breath... Then blew. It should be fine if this doesn''t work. I''ve only just begun my magic training after all. Is what I thought, but then I felt the mist come out between my lips and gawked at the sight of the water turning into ice. Before I knew it, there was a cleanly shaped ice star right in front of me.

    "Brother! Cain! Look! I made an ice star!" I rushed to their sides and proudly showed off the product of my efforts.

    Both males made astonished faces.

    "That... Vell, did you just learn how to do that?" Virgil leaned to take a closer look.

    I nodded enthusiastically.

    Cain ran a hand through his hair as a look of contemplation crossed his face. "Velloa, those techniques... Forming proper shapes with water, as a beginner, can usually take weeks. As for changing water into ice, that''s a technique that you don''t learn until at least three years of training, which can take either weeks or months to fully master."

    Wait. What...?

    Cain continued, "While I''m not too surprised over your fast learning in the case of mana control, it is certainly more surprising that you were able to learn how to turn water into ice by simply observing your Brother and I."

    Uh... Did- did I just do the thing where I show ''potential'', but then me and the people around me will find out years later that I am actually, indeed, average...? Because if I did, I think I might cry. And with those thoughts I couldn''t help but think that with my current age, I can get away with randomly bursting out crying.

    Letting the tears freely flow, I couldn''t help but bitterly reprimand myself. Why did I have to raise the ''genius'' flag?! Stupid! Now people will expect too much from me!

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 8: Through the Motions

    Staring into large, watery cerulean eyes, Cain and Virgil internally panicked. The small six-year-old girl before them had proudly shown off the results of her magic training, only to be shortly frightened by her two older male companions: was the misunderstanding that the two boys had in mind. Both males immediately felt guilty when they saw Velloa¡¯s teary expression.

    With a nervous cough, Cain reached out to pat Velloa¡¯s head. ¡°I am sorry, Velloa. What you did was not wrong, in fact, it was wonderful. For you to do all that on your own is quite a feat.¡±

    Noticing that Velloa¡¯s expression did not change, Virgil also stepped in. ¡°Cain is right! What you did was great! You made quite a beautiful ice star, Vell!¡± He spoke with a reassuring smile.

    However, before anyone knew it, moretears began to flow from the young girl¡¯s eyes as she silently cried and sniffled.

    After much fussing, I had finally stopped crying. Honestly, my mental age is actually older, so the eighteen-year-old past life ¡®me¡¯ is feeling quite ashamed, but at least my outburst stopped Cain and Virgil from having me answer any awkward questions. As for the current situation, I was being carried in Cain¡¯s arms as we said our goodbyes for the day. A teleportation circle is located within my family¡¯s palace, which allows not only Father to conveniently go to the royal palace and back, but also allows Cain to quickly arrive and return after his classes in Yohso Academy.

    ¡°It was a pleasure to finally be able to teach you today, Velloa.¡± Cain said in that signature gentlemanly manner of his. Oh? That¡¯s a nice expression! I¡¯m sure he has quite the playboy-ish tendencies when he¡¯s not around children my age¡­

    ¡°Mm-hm! Thank you for teaching me, Cain!¡± I say in a, well-practiced, childish manner.

    After also bidding Virgil goodbye, Cain finally let go of me and stepped onto the teleportation circle. As usual, I waved my hand at him as he poured his mana into the magic circle and loudly called out, ¡°Yohso Academy!¡± Reacting to Cain¡¯s actions, the circle then glowed brightly ¨C engulfing Cain¡¯s figure. By the time the light dissipated, Cain was gone.

    Placing my hand back to my side, I contemplated what was to come, for I am quite sure that Cain had reported the progress of my magic training to my parents before he left. No doubt the stunt that I pulled earlier was something deemed unusual. In the span of a few split seconds I concluded that the best way to dodge suspicion was to feign ignorance, for in the end, it was much more convenient for the sake of my sanity.There would be no need to keep up explanations and excuses; just simply feign ignorance¡­I nodded to myself.

    ¡°At this rate, Vell, you¡¯ll be able to catch up to me.¡± Virgil¡¯s voice brought me back to reality.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Shaking my head, I then gave him a sheepish smile. ¡°But all I can do is make shapes and turn them into ice. Brother, right now, you¡¯re more amazing! I want to be able to move and control water like you! When I see you use your magic, it¡¯s almost like the water is alive!¡±

    Virgil scratched the back of his head shyly. ¡°If you think that I¡¯m amazing then I wonder what that makes Cain, as well as Mother and Father.¡±

    I simply giggled as the both of us left the room hand in hand.

    From his office window, Hakoda looked out to the training ground to see both his children teaching themselves magic techniques. He chuckled as Virgil was almost unrestrainedly showing off the techniques that he had learned. All the while, his younger child, Velloa, was standing some distance away ¨C admiring her older brother.

    ¡°While it may not look like it, between the two of them, Velloa is actually the one more likely to carry on our family¡¯s noble legacy.¡± Ahkua commented.

    Still observing his children with a faint smile, he hummed in agreement. ¡°Virgil wishes to follow in your footsteps as a Royal Researcher. Whilst Velloa, although heavy the burden, is to be raised bearing the future of the Imitheos name.¡±

    A burst of laughter could be heard coming from the children outside.

    ¡°Are you concerned that there may be a rivalry between them?¡± Hakoda questioned.

    Ahkua shook her head and gave a knowing smile. ¡°Virgil is a good brother, I¡¯m sure that he, at the very least, won¡¯t cause worry for such a reason.¡± However, she let out a troubled sigh. ¡°Velloa on the other hand, while she herself means no harm¡­¡±

    ¡°With the problematic so-called prophecy and the Encroachment looming over her, her mere existence can be considered worrisome.¡± Hakoda finished. Chuckling, he continued, ¡°No child comes without problems.¡±

    Ahkua, of course, knew that. ¡°And as her parent, I too, am very much aware of what is needed for me to do for the sake of her safety.¡± As she said so, she was filled with burning enthusiasm as she silently contemplated any ideas which could help at least alleviate the worry of Velloa¡¯s Encroachment.

    After trying and failing to copy a technique from Virgil, a burst of laughter erupted from both of us. I was thoroughly soaked after trying to control several water orbs at once, however, being the reliant older brother that he was, he swiftly controlled the water in order to remedy the situation. I made a sound of delight as I watched the water float around me and found that I was now no longer soaked.

    ¡°When it comes to fighting techniques, you¡¯re obviously new to them¡­ But you¡¯re quite quick to learn less physical techniques like changing the temperature and form of water.¡± Virgil commented. After a moment¡¯s silence he voiced, ¡°Maybe you will be able to catch up to me in terms of healing techniques.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s so much to learn!¡± I lightly complained, to which Virgil chuckled.

    Virgil bent down to pat my head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be sure to do my best to help you.¡± He smiled gently.

    A warm feeling enveloped me when I heard those words. ¡°Promise? Not just with magic, but help with everything?¡±

    He smiled gently. ¡°As long as it¡¯s within my power.¡±

    I smiled back. Satisfied with the course of our brother and sister relationship. For the time being, it would seem that I have secured Virgil¡¯s trust. However, there¡¯s no telling whether or not all this will go out the window once Ariana (the MC) comes into the picture¡­ But, seeing how there¡¯s a lot of time between her appearance and now, I allowed myself the pleasure of enjoying this innocent moment with my Brother.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 9: Shimmer

    Virgil¡¯s eyebrows scrunched in concentration as he discerned the history lesson textbook before him. It was his final lesson on learning the meritocracy system and he felt a burning enthusiasm to finally get past this part of his lessons; he had wanted to finally move onto more advanced healing techniques and researches. After a few long minutes, he had finally finished reading the last of the current sovereign¡¯s transcript of his coronation speech. Virgil almost felt the urge to throw the textbook into any ungodly place, but instead opted to close the book, breathe out, and stretch.

    As he stretched, he caught a glimpse of Velloa who was currently in her second body. For whatever reason, she had opted to sit under the shade of a certain bunch of flora on the floor of the greenhouse to read her book. Ever since a year ago, after she had come to use the family¡¯s forbidden art, Virgil had noticed that her behaviour had somewhat changed. What was previously a younger sister who was on the fast track to being considered a ¡®spoiled brat¡¯, was now a younger sibling whom he had come to be much more comfortable with. He would have thought that Velloa had turned more adult-like, but he realized that that description wasn¡¯t quite correct. Instead, her behaviour was rather more controlled. She would still act as childish as one would expect from a child her age, but he couldn¡¯t help noticing certain times where her reactions and behaviour were almost too ¡®good¡¯ for a young child. For example, the way in which she had smoothly humbled herself after having learnt to read so quickly, insisting that it was all due to the teacher¡¯s great methodology. Virgil thought to himself¡­Firstly, any child her age would have been filled with pride after the number of compliments that was given, and secondly, I highly doubt that the teacher had taught her large words such as ¡°methodology¡±.After the results of her magic test and the fact that she revealed herself to be quite a fast learner, it was not that hard to pick up that Velloa was a genius.

    Virgil contemplated that perhaps the realization of the weight in having inherited the Imitheos family¡¯s forbidden art had moved something within her. Regardless, Velloa¡¯s change in behaviour was appreciated. Just as Virgil was about to call for some iced tea, he watched as an azure-coloured tropical bird landed on Velloa¡¯s folded knees, the young ¡®boy¡¯ let out a small surprised yelp ¨C only to smile softly and caress the feathers under the bird¡¯s beak with a finger. He chuckled silently, the bird was a gift from their Father after returning from one of the Great Kingdoms located in this world¡¯s largest archipelago.

    After calling for some iced tea from the butler on standby Virgil sat by his younger sibling. ¡°What are you reading, Vain?¡± Virgil had finally gotten used to calling Velloa as such whenever she was in this body.

    Velloa opened the book wide to show an illustration of a female water magic user fighting off a horde of demons, however, rather than the liquid being coloured a normal blue, it was a haunting colour of deep red. ¡°The Legend of the Crimson Empress. I like it. Even though everyone is scared of her, she still stays a good person and keeps on doing things for the sake of her kingdom.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Virgil placed a hand on the young boy¡¯s head. He knew this story, it was also one of his favourites. ¡°It¡¯s quite sad though¡­¡± He commented.

    Velloa flipped a page as she spoke. ¡°I know, but that doesn¡¯t make it a bad story. Even though she means well, her people are scared of the power of her technique, so she abdicates the throne to someone well trusted and seals away her technique so that no one else could use it¡­ She must really love her kingdom.¡±

    Virgil hummed. ¡°I do believe that that story originates from the same place this bird comes from¡­ Ae-aea is the country¡¯s name; it¡¯s one of the four Great Kingdoms. Apparently, that¡¯s where Gaea¡¯s greatest water elementalists are born.¡±

    Glancing at her brother, she makes a somewhat random remark. ¡°I want to go there one day.¡±

    Ruffling the head of hair his hand had rested on, Virgil smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure that if you follow Father¡¯s footsteps then you would have a lot of opportunities to do so.¡±

    Velloa blinked at his statement. ¡°I guess I wouldn¡¯t mind that.¡±

    As we sat at the table for dinner, Father had announced that there was an invitation sent by the Imperare (sovereign). Apparently, in a month¡¯s time, a celebration in the royal palace will be held to commemorate the current ruler¡¯s tenthyear on the throne. As a result, many of the royal family¡¯s closest associates are invited¡­ Including their families. Both Mother and Father were formally invited, and so, by extension, Virgil and I are included.

    ¡°Me too?¡± I said dumbfoundedly.

    Doesn¡¯t that mean that I am at least incredibly likely to meet Prince Kai?!I took a deep breath, carefully trying not to show my concern.

    ¡°Of course, my child.¡± Mother reassured. Suddenly, she clapped her hands together. ¡°That¡¯s right! This should be Velloa¡¯s first time in front of his majesty! Because many of the families are offering a performance as part of their gifts to the Imperare, shall we have Velloa present a dance along with Virgil and Cain?¡±

    I was stunned.

    ¡°I am sure that can be arranged.¡± Ana said as she served Mother a cup of tea.

    Mother glanced at Father who simply nodded. ¡°Wonderful! I look forward to your performances, my children.¡± She said with an innocent smile.

    Motheeeeer! How could you?!

    It was weak, but I managed to let out a word of agreement to Mother¡¯s words.I really am not feeling assured right now. I didn¡¯t think that I would be likely to meet any of the other love targets so soon.I tried to distract myself by continuing to eat the braised pork that we were served for dinner.No! Let¡¯s not be so negative. It¡¯s a large event, there are going to be a lot of people, the Imperare and his family will most likely be too busy talking to other people anyway!With those thoughts, I was able to calm down and enjoy the rest of my dinner.

    But why is it that I feel like I am missing something?In the end, I let the thought go just as dessert was served.Oh! Lemon cheesecake!

    Later, I would realize too late that I had failed to remember both Mother and Father were close to the royal family. Which was especially due to the fact that their roles were that of the Kingdom¡¯s Spymaster and Royal Researcher.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Character Page: Imitheos Family

    Ahkua Imitheos: Our MC''s mother. Title of Beorn after achieving great success as a Royal Researcher. Currently 37 years old.

    Hakoda Imitheos: Our MC''s father. Title of Grande, has the role of Ogygia Kingdom''s Spymaster. Currently 36 years old.

    Mako: Hakoda''s second body.

    Ana: Our MC''s maid. Currently 35 years old.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Virgil Imitheos: One of "Hera: Captured Hearts" game''s love targets and our MC''s older brother. Currently 12 years old.

    Velloa Imitheos: Our MC. Currently 7 years old.

    Vain (Imitheos): Our MC''s twin brother and second body.

    Vain (older)

    Cain Alvar: Our MC''s and Virgil''s magic teacher. Currently 18 years old and training under Hakoda.

 Chapter 10: Butterfly Waltz

    I felt my eye twitch as Ana held up three drawings of what was presumably designs for the dance outfit that will be prepared for me in time for the Imperare¡¯s celebration of his tenthyear on the throne. Each dress had varying colours of blue and varying degrees of¡­ Puffiness? As someone who has mentally grown past such childish designs, the experience really disturbed me for a moment. Just a moment.Maybe I¡¯ll come to like them again¡­I tried convincing myself. In any case, I hinted to Ana that perhaps a less extravagant outfit would look better

    ¡°Now that we have that sorted, it is time for your dance lessons, Young Miss.¡± Ana stated.

    I perked up to those words. ¡°Could I please practice with Brother?!¡± I implored.

    With a helpless sigh, Ana knelt in front of me as she changed my shoes to black heeled ones. ¡°We shall see if the Young Master is available¡­ However, we must still proceed with the lesson should he not be as such.¡±

    I beamed. ¡°Yaaay!¡±

    Before I could even have a chance to enjoy the sound of my heels on the stone open-air hallways, Ana reminded me of the proper mannerisms when walking with heeled shoes. I frowned slightly but nonetheless complied.¡®Proper¡¯? More like sad¡­ Who doesn¡¯t enjoy the tapping of heels on smooth stone floors!

    As we made our way to the library, where Brother was presumably at, the sound of a violin being played could be heard. It didn¡¯t take long for me to figure out who the person could be, for in the first place no person who lives in the Imitheos Palace knows how to expertly play the violin. Opening the doors to the music room that we almost walked past, I caught the sight of Virgil standing by the piano, and Cain, who was playing a traditional waltz song on his violin.

    Catching the sight of me, Cain stopped playing to greet me with his arms wide open. ¡°Good afternoon, Velloa.¡±

    Without any hesitation, I, of course, ran into his embrace, giggling as he lifted me up to his eye level. ¡°Cain! You¡¯re early! I was just about to do my dance lessons. Do you want to join us?¡±

    Cain gave me a natural smile and replied, ¡°Your Father and I were able to finish the training mission much earlier than expected, and of course I would like to join you, Velloa.¡±

    ¡°Great! You and Ana can play the music, while Brother and I practice our dancing!¡± I smiled back.

    Cain turned his gaze to Virgil and mine unconsciously followed suit. ¡°Why what a wonderful idea, Velloa.¡±

    Looking at Virgil¡¯s expression, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit concerned. Why does Virgil look a bit uncomfortable?If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    _

    Butterfly Waltz</a>

    _

    Sensing Cain¡¯s teasing gaze, Virgil narrowed his eyes at him.

    ¡°Do you not want to dance with me, Brother?¡± Velloa voiced.

    Startled, Virgil looked towards Velloa¡¯s limpid eyes. ¡°No! Of course I want to dance with you, Vell!¡±It¡¯s just that I thought you would have preferred Cain as your partner instead¡­Virgil kept that thought to himself. Resisting the urge to further reveal his irritation, Virgil continued as he tried to cover up his feelings of annoyance. ¡°I had just finished my music lessons right before you and Cain appeared, so it would be my pleasure to help you learn.¡±

    Velloa let out a small shout of delight, also giggling as she did so.

    Readying themselves to practice, the two siblings stood in front of each other. Looking up at her Brother with glistening sapphire eyes, Velloa chirpily commented on the nearly two feet difference in height. Virgil could only smile helplessly as he tried to maintain a comfortable stance for the sake of Velloa. Meanwhile, a knowing grin passed between Cain and Ana just before they began to play the waltz music that Cain had been performing earlier.

    With Virgil¡¯s guidance, the siblings were able to properly match the music¡¯s tempo. Thoroughly enjoying the dance, Velloa couldn¡¯t help but giggle for almost the entirety of the dance. Both Cain and Ana¡¯s gazes softened at the sight of the two siblings dancing.

    ¡°You¡¯re doing quite well, Vell.¡± Virgil complimented.

    Letting out another burst of laughter after being spun, Velloa returned the compliment. ¡°Only because Brother is a great partner!¡± With her sky-blue hair almost encircling her and eyes sparkling with childish amusement, Velloa¡¯s gleeful expression at that moment was a sight to behold.

    Virgil, unbeknownst to his own partner, blushed.

    When Virgil was born having not inherited the Imitheos family¡¯s mark, there was an unspeakable sense of disappointment in the family. His parents did not hold it against him, nor did he to them. However, once Velloa was born, that disappointment disappeared, and Virgil was glad about that. But why was he glad? Was it because of the birth of Velloa? Or the fact that he didn¡¯t have to live with that unspoken disappointment anymore? Either way, he was not interested in continuing the Imitheos family¡¯s noble prestige. But now, he couldn¡¯t help but realize that, previously, he didn¡¯t think much about Velloa before. That wasn¡¯t to say that he didn¡¯t care about her, but that didn¡¯t mean he went out of his way for her either; neither loving nor hating her, he was instead rather indifferent towards her. As compared to the present, he would be able to firmly say with quiet fondness that Velloa was indeed his dear family. Safe to say, Virgil had treated his younger sibling as a responsibility, and not much else.

    Velloa had been born into the role of carrying on the family¡¯s prestige, and he couldn¡¯t believe that, all this time, he had left her alone with that burden. This moment was both a moment of disconcertion and happiness. Disconcertion, because he finally realized that he had never properly appreciated his younger sibling until now and happiness because now he had recognised his mistake as an older brother. Virgil promised to Velloa in his heart, that from now on, he would do his best to ease whatever burden she had and would have for as long as it was within his power to do so. Velloa was a person, just like him, but not just any person ¨C she was his family, and he would be damned if he would disappoint her like this again.

    And so, as the music was nearing its end, both siblings couldn¡¯t help but share the same thought:

    This is quite fun¡­

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 11: Feeling

    Vell and I usually communicated only when necessary, but ever since her magic test, she has been more talkative and expressive... Towards me at least. She¡¯s usually incredibly stone-faced whenever she¡¯s with me. Even now, as she observes me during my magic training, she never failed to give me a smile whenever our gazes met.

    After a while, I saw her lost in contemplation, but then her face contorts into what looked like weariness. Thinking that perhaps she felt some kind of discomfort due to being in her second body - I, without much thought, asked her if she¡¯s well. However, once asked, her smile returned and she brushed my question aside by offering the drink that she was currently sipping on. I was stunned for a moment, but nonetheless obliged.

    It would be a long while for me to realize that her previous behaviour towards me was due to my own incompetence as an older brother¡­

    Resting my eyes from the blurring lines of a classical book, courtesy of my language teacher, I silently observed Velloa (in her second body) in the corner of my eye. Mother and Father had told me the results of her magical test, and while her high mana and water attribute was of no surprise, her dual affinity to the darkness element was. I¡¯ve heard of what the Attribute of Light Sect has been saying about people of darkness affinity and it is admittedly quite concerning. Needless to say, I, of course, agreed to my parents to not say a word of Velloa¡¯s dual affinity to darkness.

    After some time, having seen her attempt to reach for a book out of her reach for long enough, I placed a bookmark on the appropriate page and stood up to assist her. Standing just behind her, I reached out for the book she had been attempting to obtain. Glancing at the book¡¯s cover, I had just realized that it was a fictional children¡¯s story about a girl and a legendary water dragon.

    Putting on a friendly smile, I handed her the book. ¡°I liked this one when I was younger.¡± I commented.

    As she reached out for the book, she returned my smile. ¡°Thank you, Brother. If you have time, can you please help me read this book?¡±

    I hope it didn¡¯t show on my face, but her reaction took me by surprise.When was the last time she ever smiled and talked to me like that?

    If it was the old Vell, she would be tearing up, ready to throw a fit ¨C but that wasn¡¯t the case when I had declined to teach her magic before her instructor could even have a chance to meet her. In the first place, she had gone to me for such a request, when she would usually ask for such things from either Mother or one of the servants by her side. There¡¯s usually an outburst whenever things don¡¯t go her way, but now she simply pouts and comprises her request to a more reasonable one.

    ¡°Then could you please help me read instead, Brother?¡± She queries.

    I couldn¡¯t help but sigh as her upturned, doe-like eyes met with mine. This seems to be a pattern of hers as of late. I was still wondering why she would be asking for my help, but it would seem that I have been obliged to grant her requests recently. They weren¡¯t ridiculous, usually, she would ask for me to help her do something somewhat outlandish, like teaching her how to ride a horse (by herself), but after declining, she would then ask for something more reasonable like asking if she could ride on a horse with me.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Aren¡¯t all these requests something her maid Ana could do for her?

    Still, despite my thoughts, I agreed to her request.

    With a small squeal of glee, she brought out a book that I didn¡¯t realize she had been holding and, with no hesitation, sat on my lap. Her recent behaviour would often leave me stunned and this moment was no exception. I was not getting used to Vell¡¯s behaviour at all, and so, perhaps noticing that I was taken aback, Vell turned her gaze to meet mine and gave me one of her innocent smiles.

    Honestly, what else am I to do but to simply oblige to her whims¡­

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    Recognizing the sound of Velloa calling me, Cain and I stopped walking and turned towards the direction of her voice. Seeing a flash of sky blue hair and the fast tapping of small feet, I spot her at the top of our palace¡¯s stairs. She was also seemingly unaccompanied, so I made sure to meet her halfway.

    ¡°Careful, you might fall.¡± I lightly chastised.

    She heeded my words, but once we met halfway, she stopped before me and stretched out her hand, as if she was waiting for me to give her something. I stared blankly, confused by her action. Seeing my lack of response, she tilted her head, her clear gaze meeting mine, but after a few seconds, she then giggled before rushing to Cain¡¯s side.She had completely forgotten my earlier reprimand. Also, what in the world did she want?As I thought to myself, I watched as Vell repeated the same action of extending her hand toward Cain, only for Cain to look towards me with an exasperated expression and then take hold of Vell¡¯s outstretched hand. I instantly found myself frowning at the sight.

    Immediately changing his expression, Cain greeted Velloa. ¡°Good afternoon, Young Miss. I see that you¡¯re here to observe Virgil¡¯s magic lesson once again.¡±

    Beaming, Vell replied. ¡°Yes! I can¡¯t wait to start my magic training!¡±

    With that, I was left behind ¨C despite the fact that it was I who was meant to be taught my next lesson in magic.What in the world were they trying to pull? And why do I feel so bothered by it?

    I was stunned. That younger sister of mine was a genius. To be able to do an intermediate level technique at her age is amazing, especially when it was just from observation. For a slight second, I was envious of her, but once I remembered her teary-eyed expression, such thoughts immediately dissipated. She thought she had done something wrong¡­

    I immediately reprimanded myself.Why was there a need to be so negative in the first place? She did nothing wrong.

    As I remembered Vell¡¯s smiling face when I showed her some of the more complicated techniques I¡¯ve learnt, I couldn¡¯t help but think that I was underserving of such a smile...But why? I have done nothing wrong against her¡­

    Right?

    But at that moment there was total blankness in my mind. Alone, in the library, I felt the geography book fall from my grasp as I involuntarily shuddered. Placing a palm on my forehead, I tried to steady myself.The real question is¡­What have I ever done for her? Before she approached me, have I ever done anything to make her happy?

    In silence, I searched through my mind, moments pass, but rather than seeing Vell¡¯s smiling face, all I saw was an expressionless young Velloa in my old memories. I sigh, then, with a bitter expression, I picked up the fallen book from the floor.

    ¡°What is wrong with me lately¡­¡± I mumbled to myself.

    As we danced, I couldn''t help feeling bittersweet. Velloa was constantly happy with all the small things I¡¯ve done with her, even now as we practised waltzing, she was laughing in excitement.They¡¯re such small things¡­ But seeing how I haven¡¯t done much for her, I shouldn¡¯t be surprised.

    All this time, I¡¯ve put up a wall between the both of us. Vell is unexpectedly sharp despite her age, which explained her cold attitude towards me. Doing neither good nor bad against her, any feelings towards me were obviously bordering non-existent, but one day she decided to take down that wall brick by brick. Even though I was the older one, she was the one who took the initiative to change things.

    A part of me questions why she decided to so patiently break down that wall, but in the end, whatever reason it may be, I am glad that she did so. If not for her doing so, our relationship would have most definitely become more strained and that¡¯s something that we, as siblings, shouldn¡¯t have if we can help it.

    As the song continued to play, I found myself smiling and feeling light in the chest. While letting Vell do a simple spin, I thought to myself:I¡¯m sorry¡­ and thank you.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 12: Flutter

    The first time I had met the Imitheos family¡¯s Young Miss was when she was five years old. I was being formally introduced to Master Hakoda¡¯s family after we had finalized that I was to be one of his few apprentices. As a precursor to my training, I was to teach Young Master Virgil offensive water magic, for he had noticeably been neglecting it in favour of only learning about healing techniques. While convincing (and getting along with) Virgil to learn offensive water magic was easy enough, since all I had to tell him was that broadening his magic experience would be helpful in magic research, it would seem that trying to get along with his younger sister was something that I could not easily do.

    ¡°Go on and introduce yourself.¡± Master Hakoda urged with a gentle expression.

    With a practised smile, I followed his instruction. ¡°Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to be able to meet and introduce myself to you all. My name is Cain Alvar.¡±

    As I introduced myself, the Young Miss stayed half hidden behind her Mother. Her eyes clearly showed distrust and apprehension towards me. As someone who almost always got along with people, especially females, that kind of reaction was surprisingly refreshing. While I did try to strike up a conversation with her, she was incredibly unwilling¡­ And so, our first meeting ended with her having not said a single word to me.

    I taught Virgil for a year before I could gain another proper opportunity to meet the Young Miss. Master Hakoda told me on a certain day that he had decided to have me teach the younger girl water magic.

    ¡°It would be an honour, but is that truly alright, Master? She is, after all, the heir of the Imitheos family. I do not believe that I am well qualified to teach her.¡± I questioned my Master¡¯s decision.

    With a knowing smile, he brushed aside my apprehension. ¡°It should be fine. You have taught Virgil well, therefore, having you teach Velloa should be no problem. You should not doubt your own capabilities¡­ In any case, it will only be until your graduation from Yohso Academy, for you will be officially accepted as one of my emissaries once you have finished your academic studies.¡±

    With a small bow, I spoke. ¡°I understand, Master. I thank you once again for this honour.¡±

    With that, it was established that I would be the Young Miss¡¯ magic temporary teacher.

    This is unexpected¡­

    I was on my way to the Imitheos Palace¡¯s training hall when I had happened upon the Young Miss alone and unaccompanied. Her large cerulean eyes were filled with curiosity as she met my gaze. It had been around a year since I last saw her, and, as expected, she had grown up quite a bit. It had surely been nearly a year when we last met, but for the shy and unsociable young girl to changethismuch seems rather¡­ odd. As I looked into her clear and curious gaze, there was no sense of apprehension, but rather this sense of maturity thinly veiled by childish innocence. It was nothing like those na?ve and quiet eyes that I first gazed at when we first met.

    How strange¡­

    With a friendly expression, I greeted her. ¡°Good afternoon, Young Miss. It has been a year since we properly met like this. I wonder if you remember me?¡±

    I saw her tilt her head in thought, moments passed, and she simply shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t remember.¡± She said with an apologetic expression.

    Chuckling, I placed a hand atop her head without much thought. When I had realized what I had done, I braced myself for a negative reaction, but I never got one. Her expression was normal as she stopped my hand from seemingly ruining her hair, but she didn¡¯t push me away.

    Bending down to her eye level, I reintroduced myself. ¡°Well then, it is my pleasure to once again meet you, Young Miss. I am Virgil¡¯s second magic instructor, Cain Alvar.¡±

    Her eyes twinkled with excitement. ¡°You¡¯re Virgil¡¯s magic teacher?! The person that Father talked about?! The one who will also teach me magic?!¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    With an amused smile, I replied. ¡°Yes, indeed. I will be in your care.¡±

    Taking hold of my hand with both of hers, she beamed. ¡°Then it¡¯s nice to meet you, Cain! Are you on your way to Virgil¡¯s magic lesson? Let¡¯s go! I¡¯m on my way there too because I want to watch!¡±

    With our hands as such, we accompanied each other to the training grounds. ¡°You still go to Yohso Academy, right? I thought I could meet you earlier but were you busy because of school?¡± The younger girl questioned.

    Keeping my smile, I answered. ¡°Yes, I am currently in my second year. Unfortunately, I was preoccupied by quite a few things in the Academy, which was why I could not be the one to teach Virgil¡¯s magic lessons for the past few days.¡±I cannot exactly tell her that I was participating in a dangerous training mission, at least not until she¡¯s old enough¡­

    The Young Miss¡¯s clear, cerulean gaze met with mine. For a moment, I suddenly felt as if she was able to see my thoughts, but her innocent and childish smile re-appeared, and she nodded at my response.

    Interesting¡­

    It has nearly been a year since I have begun teaching Velloa, and I must say that she was quite an amusing one. Watching this younger girl reveal her genius was, rather admittedly, clumsy. While she seemed to be able to handle theory lessons calmly, practical lessons revealed a more reckless part of her. It was as if, when it came to theory, she was aware of the process, but when it came to things like magic, she seemingly skips quite a few steps, and yet she was capable of achieving a good result far exceeding what was to be expected. Not only that, it would seem that I was correct in realizing that she had matured quite a lot ever since that day I first met her.

    Previously, I was very much aware of the strain between the Imitheos siblings. No one had told me, but I could see it clearly simply due to the lack of interaction between the two of them, sadly, it would seem that the adults around them had paid no heed to that. However, throughout this past year, I watched as the Young Miss strived to change that.

    Velloa¡¯s efforts were bold and entertaining; safe to say, even the girl herself would also agree. That maturity of hers was only cleverly veiled from her Brother. While Virgil has noticed her changes, it can be seen that he was only perceptive to a few of them. Although, I will admit that while I can see many ways in which she has changed, I am sure that I do not know of all of them, but at least I am more aware as compared to a certain sibling of hers. As such, I get to see quite amusing reactions from both of them.

    ¡°Velloa, have you realized that you make a mischievous grin whenever you are about to tease Virgil?¡± I smirked.

    The younger girl visibly stiffened at my words. She stopped walking and turned to me with a slight frown. ¡°Is there any particular reason why you¡¯re saying this now? Especially when we¡¯re about to go to meet Brother for our magic lesson?¡±

    Ah, she went right to the point and threw away her childish fa?ade¡­

    My grin widened. ¡°Do not worry I won¡¯t tell a single soul. I am simply curious as to why you have decided to change and act like this.¡±

    She did not show apprehension, but instead, her gaze felt like she was passing down judgement onto me.This is a similar feeling to when Master was deciding whether or not I was going to be one of his apprentices¡­

    ¡°Is there something wrong with how I am now?¡± She uttered with an inexplicable expression that wasn¡¯t fitting for a young girl her age.

    My expression softened. ¡°No.¡± Thinking back to her scheming expression, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with how you are. I just have to admit that it¡¯s rather amusing.¡±

    She hasn¡¯t answered my question, but I guess there¡¯s no need to push this kind of thing¡­ For now.

    With a firm gaze, she spoke. ¡°Then you promise not to say a word about how I truly am?¡±

    I knelt down onto one knee and placed a fist over my heart. ¡°I swear that I will keep this secret unless you tell me otherwise.¡±

    Her eyes widened at my actions. ¡°It¡¯s not good to make promises like that so easily, you know. I wonder how many hearts you¡¯ve broken so far.¡±Ah, so she was aware of my ¡®playful¡¯ ways¡­She suddenly placed her hands on either side of my face and titled my face up to directly look into her cerulean eyes. ¡°But I guess I¡¯ll thank you for all the help you¡¯ve done in teaching Brother and in helping me get closer to him.¡±

    Amused, in fluid motions, I lifted Velloa up and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too trusting?¡± Looking down at her flushed expression, I couldn¡¯t help but find it pleasant.

    ¡°Your character is slipping, actually, it¡¯s more accurate to say that your deviant nature is showing. Please put me down. You¡¯re acting improper.¡± Velloa said as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

    She¡¯s right, however¡­

    ¡°There¡¯s no sense in hiding how I truly am in front of you at this point.¡± I decided to not keep much of my true thoughts from her.

    Looking rather aggrieved, she complained out loud. ¡°What happened to the gentlemanly magic teacher that I knew?!¡±

    Chuckling as I made our way to the training hall, I quipped. ¡°What happened to the shy and immature Young Miss that I knew?¡±

    With those words, Velloa opted to quietly glare at me throughout the entirety of our walk as I carried her in my arms.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 13: Fond

    When it came to my ¡®do not trigger the bad end flag¡¯ planning, I was of course keeping in mind some of the worst case scenarios. For example, what if Ariana was also a reincarnated person who was going to be some sly bitch who will take advantage of her heroine halo. This could then result in me having an even worse ending than the humiliation one from the game. I really hope it doesn¡¯t come to that though, because I¡¯ve read this kind of plot in quite a few of those web-novels in my past life and (oh, boy) those kinds of characters are hard to take down.Especially since they areusually the kind of characters that keep coming back like cockroaches.

    In any case, while Virgil is an intelligent person, he tends to get a bit lost when it comes to emotional things. So, whenever I could, I couldn¡¯t help but wish to tease him a bit and see how far I could go with my ¡®innocent little sister¡¯ act. Unfortunately, with my earlier encounter with Cain, he had seemingly caught on with my actions, thankfully, he had decided to not say anything about it to Virgil. While my concerns for the future are ever present, it looks like my relationship with Virgil at the moment is at a satisfactory level. Unlike previously, he now seems more comfortable around me and approaches me of his own accord.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Uh¡­

    I stared blankly at my drenched clothes. Whilst in the middle of our magic dance practice I had lost my concentration and now I¡¯m soaked.

    Cain chuckled at my mistake. ¡°Let that be a lesson on concentration, Velloa.¡± And then proceeded to collect and magic away the water from my body with a flick of his wrist.

    With a pout, I brought my attention back to my dance movements and positioned my hands one above the other and vertically parallel to each other, proceeding to make a push and pull motion towards Cain then back to me. With that, I regained control of the water that I had spilt.

    Seeing that, Cain positioned himself back to my left. ¡°Let¡¯s do this from the beginning.¡± He instructed whilst doing the same motions I had, except with a slightly larger volume of water from a nearby fountain.

    I glanced towards my right and Virgil managed to smile wryly while seemingly giving me a reassuring look. ¡°Three, two, one!¡± Cain¡¯s voice cuts off our little moment and we whip our gazes forward as we take up our assigned stances.

    To think that we¡¯ve been practising a magic dance these past few weeks so that we would perform it at the Imperare¡¯s celebratory ball¡­

    Our sole music accompaniment as we practised was a harp being played by our music tutor. The sound of three pairs of feet reverberated rhythmically in the training hall to the music¡¯s tempo; the dance was to be done barefoot. We would constantly maintain a ¡®v¡¯ formation after the first few moves with me approximately three steps behind Cain and Virgil. The dance was similar to a veil dance, but rather than a veil we were using magic and water instead. We had to maintain a sort of ¡®fluid¡¯ elegance along with the water bending movements, apparently, this kind of dance was chosen in respect to me who had just begun their magic training, for the other option would have been a weapon-ed dance.I understand their sentiment, but they do realize that I am still a seven-year-old child, right? Performing in front of not just the sovereign, but all the important personages of the kingdom isn¡¯t good for my heart, you know¡­The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Despite that, I had memorised all the moves around two weeks ago, all that was left was my timing and minute ¡®artistic¡¯ details such as my ¡®look¡¯ and ¡®feel¡¯ (words right out of our music tutor¡¯s mouth). I was lucky enough that the music was relatively slow but other than the fact that I memorised or learnt things faster, my past life experiences didn¡¯t really help much in this situation. I recall doing some dancing, but they were simple school-related activities. In other words, the skills gained from those experiences aren¡¯t at a level that is ¡®worthy¡¯ of showing to such a crowd of important people.

    My full attention snapped back, around the last minute of the dance, Cain circled the water around him and passed it to me, a beat later Virgil did the same actions. Having taken control of a much larger body of water, I raised both arms and then moved them apart, the liquid then proceeded to bend into a large arch above me. From my peripheral view, I could see Cain and Virgil kneel onto a knee as they placed a fist above their hearts.To think that they gave me a solo. Well, there¡¯s no helping it now, apparently, this is going to be my debut as the Imitheos family¡¯s heir, as well as a sort of performative gift for the Imperare. It¡¯s two days before the performance, this is the last practice, let¡¯s make this solo good¡­

    With that, my feet moved to the rhythm, and my arms to the flow of the music. Rather than a veil, I saw the water as if it was living creature.A serpent? No, maybe like the Leviathan? Hm¡­ Perhaps that¡¯s too scary¡­As I danced, so did the water. Its movements feeling very much alive, it was almost like we were harmoniously synced together rather than me controlling the water. Perhaps because of all the practice done, I felt that my dancing was more fluid and refined, for my movement no longer felt awkward. It seemed as if the dance moves I strived so hard to memorise were now able to flow gracefully from one to the other¡­

    So, after completing a spin, could you imagine my shocked reaction after suddenly coming face to face with a dragon-like creature made of water?

    It was a good thing the dance was complete because the music tutor¡¯s harp playing abruptly stopped and everyone in the room gaped in shocked silence. What I thought was simply a large body of water that I was controlling, was now a legitimately live ¡®dragon¡¯. How I knew this was due to the simple fact that I had stopped all movement, and therefore magic, the moment I locked gazes with the watery eyes of this creature.Wha¡­? How and why?

    After a few more moments of shocked and silent staring with this water ¡®dragon¡¯ that was easily five times larger than me, a thought struck me, and I felt myself relax.So, you¡¯re my Magic Manifestation¡­?

    The creature¡¯s mouth opened, and a deep, rumbling voice echoed in my head.¡°Yess¡­¡±

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 14: Tempestas

    So, you¡¯re my Magic Manifestation¡­?

    The creature¡¯s mouth opened, and a deep, rumbling voice echoed in my head.¡°Yess¡­¡±

    My body unwittingly flinched at the sound of a foreign voice in my head. Even so, after letting out a shaky breath, I stretched out a slightly wary arm out towards the ¡®dragon¡¯. Seeing my action, the creature leant into my hand, and as expected, since it was made of water, it was wet. Admittedly solid, but wet - cool to the touch too.My Magic Manifestation, huh. You appeared¡­ And a lot earlier than expected¡­

    ¡°Becausse Master¡¯ss magic is sstronger than expected¡­¡±The creature responded.

    A ¡®Magic Manifestation¡¯ is essentially a phenomenon, exclusive to this world, when one¡¯s magic manifests into a sentient creature. Only the most powerful of magic users can cause such a phenomenon to happen, and it usually only occurs after some years of the magic user existing. However, this is the time when the characters of ¡®Hera: Captured Hearts¡¯ exist, the youngest person to have ever brought out their Magic Manifestation was supposed to be Prince Kai at the age of thirteen¡­ But now, I, ¡®Velloa¡¯, am now the youngest person to have caused the phenomenon to happen.

    Scholars have tried to study the reasons and circumstances to why Magic Manifestation occurs, but their research results did not come up with much, one of their results being the fact that the magic users who successfully cause the phenomenon to occur are inherently powerful, although, not all magic users who were considered powerful could cause it to happen. Another result was that no ¡®evil¡¯ person that is known to have existed has ever had a magic creature manifest, but that¡¯s questionable in my opinion. It is also known that people have lost their Magic Manifestation before, as for their reasons, I was not informed.

    Holding the water creature¡¯s gaze, I continued our unusual conversation.What exactly are you?

    ¡°I am whatever Masster wishess to think. All that I ask for iss a name¡­¡±

    Blinking, I pause to give a few moments of thought. When a name came to mind, I gave a smile.I was just thinking about the Leviathan before you appeared, so how about ¡®Levi¡¯?

    The water dragon seemed to bob up and down in satisfaction.¡°A fitting and wonderful name. I thank you Masster¡­¡±

    Levi then proceeded to coil around me, not to touch, but as if to surround me. I watched as this creature¡¯s watery body slithered and hovered around me. The sound of slithering and splashing was a weird but amusing combination. After thoroughly encircling around me, Levi faced me once again, and gently placed its forehead upon mine, the cool sensation slightly tickling my skin. I was still curious as to what Levi was doing, however, I had no choice but to close my eyes once I realized that Levi was starting to glow. Short moments passed by as we maintained the position, then suddenly, I felt a mixed number of sensations, from bubbly, light, to a sort of ¡®rush¡¯.

    ¡°Vell?!¡±

    ¡°Velloa!¡±

    Both Virgil and Cain called out to me, and once they finally moved in order to react to the situation, Levi¡¯s glowing was already dying down.

    ¡°With thiss, Masster and I are joined. As Masster grows, sso will I. I look forward to sseeing how you progresss in the future¡­¡±

    Taking my time, I opened my eyes. At the same moment, Levi uncoiled and slid itself one step behind me. All the while, Cain and Virgil were standing before me, their expressions laced with worry (including our magic tutor who was off to the side). I gave them a reassuring smile.

    With a sigh of relief, Cain was the first to talk. ¡°That¡­ is your Magic Manifestation, right?¡±

    I gently caressed the top of Levi¡¯s head. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry for scaring everyone.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Virgil stepped forward, suddenly holding me up and carrying me in his arms. His gaze locked with mine. Confused and concerned were our respective emotions, but assuming after seeing how I was unharmed, Virgil let out a shaky breath and simply patted the top of my head. My smile turned into a wry one due to his actions.

    Once those turn of events ended, we had wrapped up our practice, and Cain left ¨C presumably to report to Father. Not too soon after saying our goodbyes to Cain, I felt Levi gently nudge my cheek as I heard his goodbye, then, his body reverted back into a regular body of water. Safe to say, my feet were soaked, but as a water user I should be used to that by now.

    Presently, I am with my family at the dining table, innocently eating away at my chiffon cake dessert whilst Mother and Father sported unreadable brooding expressions. Virgil had noticed the mood as well but opted not to say a word as he too ate away at the cake. Our parents¡¯ reactions are unsurprising though. As it currently stands, Korumak Regieren, the country¡¯s sovereign, was the youngest to have caused a Magic Manifestation at the age of eighteen. In the original timeline, his son, Prince Kai, was supposed to change that when he had caused the phenomenon to happen at the age of thirteen. Of course, Mother and Father don¡¯t know that that was supposed to happen, but they themselves were both nineteen when they were able to bring out their Magic Manifestation. So, it would seem that I have caused something that would undoubtedly bring quite a lot of attention to me, for I, at the age of seven, was able to bring out my magic creature.

    ¡°This should be fine, no?¡± Mother was the first to break the brooding atmosphere. ¡°We should show Velloa¡¯s new magic creature during her performance. It would be a great way to surprise his majesty.¡± With that last sentence, I could see a sly smirk in her expression.

    Father sighed at Mother¡¯s words. ¡°Surprise, you say¡­ Even so, Velloa¡¯s new achievement isn¡¯t a bad thing.¡±

    Despite Father¡¯s somewhat troubled expression, Mother smiled and seemingly took that as Father agreeing to her suggestion.

    I¡¯m right here, you know¡­

    After tossing and turning under the large periwinkle quilt blanket, I finally found a satisfactory position to relax in, then, not too long later, my mind wondered as I laid in bed. Levi¡¯s appearance was like that of Smaug¡¯s face, with a more webbed crown atop its head and a long whisker (almost as long as its entire length) on each side of its nose, as well as a serpent¡¯s body with a spiny dorsal fin rising up and down along its spine.My Magic Manifestation¡­ Nothing about Velloa¡¯s magic creature was ever mentioned in the anime or game. Let alone anyone ever confirming if she ever had one, but as for the rest of the people¡­

    Mother¡¯s magic creature was that of a water phoenix with its size easily three times her height; its name is Jing. Father¡¯s magic creature looks similar to Haku from ¡®Spirited Away¡¯ (except in liquid form), with its name being Lapis; whenever I saw it, it looked to be about ten metres long, but apparently that isn¡¯t its true size. Cain had managed to cause the phenomenon a few months ago, it was an impressive three-metre-tall Maine coon-looking water cat with a tail that was split into two; its name is Marina. Basically, the magic creature¡¯s form is created out of one¡¯s magic element.

    With me being surrounded with all these people who have magic creatures, you would think that these rare sounding things are common, but only less than one percent of the population ever manage to cause the phenomenon to occur. Obviously, there¡¯s a relationship between a noble and a person who has a magic creature because they are either already a noble or about to become one as a result of achieving such a phenomenon. Essentially, a magic creature is a sort of symbol and indication of one¡¯s magic and power, making it so that it¡¯s expected for a noble house to have at least one person who has a magic creature.

    Virgil¡¯s Magic Manifestation is to occur at the age of eighteen, a few months before Prince Kai¡¯s occurs. Its name, Jin, and appearance are similar to Mother¡¯s; the difference being that Jin¡¯s feathers look to be sharper and rough compared to the soft and smooth feathers of Jing. Dmitri Hammond, the earth user love target, achieves the phenomenon at the age of fourteen, with his creature being a golem made out of some sort of metal; its name was Galmi and seemed to literally grow in height as he did. Zephyr Reve, achieves the phenomenon at the age of fifteen; its name was Vayu and it was a winged large feline-type of chimaera. As for Prince Kai, just like every sovereign of the Kingdom, his magic creature was that of a magnificent fire phoenix, its name was Azar and was easily five to seven metres tall.

    Yep, these love targets are high spec characters through and through¡­

    But as I laid there, my thoughts continued in a certain direction. I found myself frowning.Aren¡¯t I someone who has an affinity to two magical elements? Why did the magical creature for my water affinity only appear? Is it because I haven¡¯t used darkness magic? Or is my magical power between each element different, meaning that I am a strong water user and that as a darkness user I¡¯m not?I changed from one comfortable position to another.Maybe, I can clear this up with Levi once I get another chance to talk¡­

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 15: Vibrant

    It¡¯s the Imperare¡¯s (sovereign) celebratory ball today, and here I am trying not to nervously jitter as we made our way to the royal palace by carriage. Mother and Father are in the leading carriage, whilst I¡¯m accompanied by Cain and Virgil in another one. I glanced at the amount of security our family was bringing before boarding and it was at least two dozen worth of knights that were apparently our very own.It¡¯s weird¡­ I¡¯ve seen lots of maids and butlers in our palace, but the most knights I¡¯ve seen at one time was three ¨C and those three knights are usually the ones who closely accompany Father from time to time, so seeing this many is actually a first for me¡­

    We began preparations early in the morning and left early afternoon. The Imitheos palace is situated an hour outside of the royal city¡¯s walls, it would also take practically another hour to navigate through the city itself and enter the royal palace. The ball was to start late afternoon at five PM and end late into the night. In any case, our entourage is quite impressive with the twenty or so knights, two carriages drawn by four horses each and another slightly fancy carriage also drawn by four horses where the six accompanying servants are riding in (one of them being Ana). Glancing outside the carriage window, I found myself admiring the looming walls of the royal city.They¡¯re not as tall, but it reminds me of a certain series about creatures called Titans¡­

    Most likely noticing my constant state of anxiousness, Virgil spoke. ¡°This is your first time in the royal city isn¡¯t it, Vell?¡± He said with a gentle expression.

    With a nod, I replied. ¡°I¡¯m both nervous and excited.¡±

    Cain, who took an entire seat across from us, shifted from his light nap and yawned. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s the little princess¡¯ first time outside her castle.¡±

    I pouted. ¡°I am not a little princess, and you should sit properly. You¡¯re ruining your clothes.¡±

    With a lazy grin, he waved me off. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The fabric isn¡¯t the type to easily ruin just from lying down.¡±

    I tossed a light glare in his direction before turning my attention back to the scenery outside; we were now by the city walls waiting for passage through the gates. We were currently wearing our dance outfits underneath our hooded cloaks, hence my light reprimand. Also, if it wasn¡¯t for Ana fixing my hair up to a fancy half bun, decorated with extravagant hair accessories, I would¡¯ve taken advantage of my brother¡¯s kindness and leaned on his shoulder in order to relieve some of my anxiousness.I could recognize that one of the precious gemstones on my accessories was a blue diamond. I wanted to ask what kind of gems they¡¯ve used, but I don¡¯t think I could handle the truth of just how much my hair could be at the moment¡­

    Just as I was about go silently convince myself that these gems on my head were not indeed worth thousands, if not, millions, I felt a gentle hand pull me. It was Virgil, and he had carefully rested the side of my face on his chest; most likely being mindful of mymillion-dollarhair. For a few seconds, I was stunned, but then I heard Virgil¡¯s heartbeat ¨C and let¡¯s just say that he was feeling just as nervous as I was¡­

    My expression was most likely that of a silly smile, but I gladly accepted Virgil¡¯s kind actions and silently wrapped my arms around him as I tried to take a nap in the rocking carriage.

    My earlier assumption that the world of ¡®Hera: Captured Hearts¡¯ was like that of Victorian-era England truly wasn¡¯t quite right. The city¡¯s architecture and fashion were mainly Victorian era, but as I stared at the nearing royal palace, its magnificence reminded me of the Italian Royal Palace of Caserta.If anything, I think the nobles like Renaissance architecture. However, this is another world, so I guess this ¡®mix¡¯ of styles isn¡¯t really a ¡®mix¡¯, but something that¡¯s just ¡®normal¡¯? Even our dance outfits resemble that of Arabian style dance clothes. I guess it¡¯s both a similarity and difference to ¡®Earth¡¯, especially since I don¡¯t think something like the ¡®Renaissance¡¯ period ever happened in this world. Wait, does the word ¡®Renaissance¡¯ even exist here¡­?Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    The carriage¡¯s pace significantly slowed, having noticed that, Cain reached into one of his cloak¡¯s pockets and handed me a piece of jewellery. ¡°Would you mind helping me put this on?¡± He asked with his usual honeyed smile.

    Not minding the request, since it looked to be a simple clip-on frontal headpiece jewellery, I obliged and slipped away from Virgil¡¯s embrace. Sitting by Cain¡¯s side, I admired the blue teardrop shaped moonstones and sapphires as I carefully positioned the piece of jewellery on his midnight blue hair. I found myself admiringCainthe exquisite workmanship of the jewellery.Honestly, the jewellery looked like stars as they rested on his hair¡­

    ¡°Still not as beautiful as you, Velloa.¡± Cain teased; his expression amused.

    Feeling my face heat up, I rushed back to Virgil¡¯s side and (carefully, without ruining my hair) hid my face as he embraced me once more.Wait, what was I thinking jumping back to Virgil? I don¡¯t think him hugging me is helping me with my embarrassment...

    It was a good thing that I kept a relatively ¡®normal?¡¯ seven-year-old level of mental innocence for the most part of this carriage ride, because I don¡¯t think the that the eighteen-year-old past me could be able to handle these situations unscathed.For my parents to have left me in a carriage with these two¡­ It¡¯s a bit much don¡¯t you think?

    Having finally descended from our carriages, I casually took Virgil¡¯s hand as we followed the crowd up the stairs and into the palace¡¯s entrance.Wait, the external design is Renaissance, but the interior is Baroque? The person who designed the royal palace must have preferred making more of an impact on the interior rather than on the exterior. I guess making the royal palace look dramatic inside and out would cause the common people to feel some sort of displeasure¡­

    The ceilings were high and painted with what is presumably highly dramatized depictions of the royal family¡¯s greatest feats, at least all the ones that they could fit at the time of building this place. For whatever reason, our family was led away from the crowd¡¯s movement and into another hall. With fewer people, our steps noticeably reverberated in the marble-graphite floored hall. I continued to admire the palace, noticing the constant colour of red everywhere I looked.As expected of the royal family who were known for their great power and talent in fire magic, they not only want to be with the fire but live with it too¡­

    The old butler, whose vest and handkerchief were also noticeably crimson, that was leading us finally stopped before a pair of large ornate wooden doors. He then proceeded to knock, after which I heard Ana¡¯s voice give a response. Hearing her affirmation, he opened the doors and allowed us to enter with a slight bow.

    Upon entering, the room looked modest compared to the entrance of the palace, although, it was still luxurious by normal standards. Seeing that the butler had closed the door and left us, Mother carefully gathered her powder blue silk evening dress and took a seat on one of the maroon chesterfield sofas.

    ¡°We will relax here until the main part of the ball nears.¡± Father explained as he sat down on a single sofa.

    I nearly let out a cheer.Yes! I don¡¯t have to face the possibility of meeting Prince Kai just yet!

    ¡°Young Miss, please remove your cloak and sit here. I simply need to make sure that your hair and clothes are in good order. We will put on some makeup later.¡± Ana said as she stood before a stool next to a tiered trey table filled with products and items used for hair and makeup.

    I complied with Ana¡¯s instructions. Sitting on the cushioned stool, I took the opportunity to try and relax before the performance¡­ As well as to mentally prepare for the chance of meeting another love target.

    Wait, now that I think about it, all the love targets are from incredibly affluent noble families, so wouldn¡¯t there be a high chance of not just meeting the Prince but all of them as well?!Glancing at Mother and Father, I felt myself pale as I also remembered something.I¡¯m from the family of a Grande and highly respected Royal Researcher, something like personally interacting with the royal family on this occasion¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it be a given?!

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 16: Sirens Call

    ¡°You can open your eyes now, Young Miss.¡±

    Hearing Ana¡¯s words, I raised my eyelids and found myself looking directly at my reflection. Light blush, soft pink coloured lips like a freshly blooming flower and minimal blue eyeshadow to line the bottom edge of my eyes. Safe to say, since I¡¯m only seven years old, my makeup isn¡¯t heavy, but¡­ ¡®Velloa¡¯ really is pretty. My past self can at least rest easy when it comes to something like looks, huh¡­

    Trying hard not to make a wry expression, I gave Ana my thanks and hopped off my seat. I admired myself on the luxurious full-body vanity mirrors. With no shame, I angled myself here and there as I appreciated the workmanship on my outfit. The dance outfit consisted of an azure halter top, which revealed my lower abdomen, with loose chiffon sleeves and similarly coloured harem pants (although the crotch area is higher than the traditional ones from my past life); the bottom of my halter top (as well as the top of my pants) were lined with silver embroidery. This reminds me of a certain Arabian princess¡­

    From behind, a figure suddenly lifted me up and I was abruptly face to face with a certain midnight blue-haired individual. ¡°You are indeed like that of a princess.¡±

    Trying my best to swallow down the retort that immediately came to mind, I simply smiled at his teasing. Opting to readjust his head jewellery with a meaningful gaze. Cain has increased the amount of time he¡¯s teasing me, recently¡­

    Chuckling, Cain turned towards my family. ¡°Shall we?¡±

    With those words, Father nodded, and everyone assembled in order to make their way to the hall that the celebrations were taking place. Father lead the way, with two knights by his side, his robe (or mantle?) flowed regally behind him; its colour the kind of blue that were associated with royals in my past life, the Imitheos family¡¯s symbol was proudly embroidered on it with silver thread.

    Cain and Virgil had removed their cloaks as well, their dance outfits similar to mine. The differences were the simple fact that their crop tops hung loosely on their forms, and that their colours were midnight blue and light indigo respectively. Virgil¡¯s long hair was also styled into a side fishtail braid with a silver chain of aquamarine gems and diamonds wonderfully weaved into the braid. Both males had minimal makeup, the bottom edge of their eyes lined with their respective colours in a style similar to mine.

    What a good-looking bunch we have here¡­

    Before I knew it, we arrived before a pair of incredibly grand and extravagant mahogany doors. Upon sight of our group, the two knights by each door handle pulled open the doors, and with a slight bow, they indicated for us to enter. Wide-eyed, I took in the sight of the high ceiling, bright lights and colours as we entered the celebratory hall.

    As we stepped foot, a butler announced our arrival. ¡°Grande Imitheos, Hakoda and his wife Beorn Imitheos, Ahkua!¡±

    My grip on Cain¡¯s shoulders tightened as the sights of many nobles turned to us. Father and Mother both donned neutral expressions as we walked towards a circular stage in the middle of the hall. As we made our way, the crowd parted for us. I realized that the chattering had died down to murmuring, but decided not to pay too much heed to that fact. When we ascended onto the circular stage, I caught sight of the Imperare sitting on his mighty throne.

    The sovereign of Ogygia looked quite young with his short blonde hair, crimson eyes and slender figure. He too was wearing a scarlet mantle akin to Father¡¯s; his throne and mantle were dyed the kind of red you would expect to see for royalty. On his right was his wife, the Vis-Imperare and this army¡¯s lead general, Dahlia Fermittler. With her long and luscious jade coloured hair, and her mature beauty, I can see why she and Mother can get along and be close friends. As for the person seated on the Imperare¡¯s left, a rather antsy looking white-haired and crimson-eyed seven year old was being calmed by a maid, and this person is none other than the Crown-Infante, Kai Regieren.

    There he is, the second love target from ¡®Hera: Captured Hearts¡¯, Prince Kai¡­

    Mother and Father went forward, knelt down and saluted with firm fists above their hearts. Us three children were to simply stand a few steps behind and give a slight bow until we¡¯re told otherwise; of course, at this point, I was no longer in Cain¡¯s arms.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°My family and I congratulate your majesty on your tenth year as the Imperare! We hope and pray for your success to continue in your reign. Please accept this performance from my children and one of my apprentices.¡± Father said with poise and vigour.

    With a regal smile, the Imperare spoke. ¡°Thank you, Hakoda and Ahkua. Please lifts your heads. This is a time of celebration and I wish to see what these children have prepared for me, especially when it has been so long since I last saw each of them.¡±

    After the Imperare spoke, we all stood up properly. Before descending from the stage, Father and Mother looked back to give us encouraging smiles. Mother, in particular, mouthed me a good luck. Wait, we¡¯re going straight into the performance?! Just like that?! Feeling a hand on my head, I looked up to see Virgil giving me a comforting smile.

    Cain knelt down and quickly spoke in a lowered voice. ¡°You will do great, princess.¡± With one last teasing smirk, he and Virgil and went to their positions.

    With a sigh, I went to my position and kept my gaze lowered. As I placed myself a few steps behind, and in between, Cain and Virgil, I noticed that two of our family¡¯s knights are stationed on each of the four stairs that allowed entrance to the stage. Since when did they get there?

    Just before my thoughts began to wander, the hall¡¯s lights dimmed, and blue flames surrounded the edge of the stage, then, quite a number of small flames could be seen floating around the hall ¨C seemingly not harming anyone. I spotted Cain beginning to use the advanced technique of gathering water from the air, and therefore focused on the performance at hand. Once the water reached a sizeable amount, with its weight approximately that of two to three adult-sized men, he began to split the body of water between the three of us. The moment I let my magic activate, there was no longer a crowd, nor a hall ¨C I focused all of my attention on the dance and the music. With the three of us prepared, the music began to play.

    As we began our dance, aside from the music, I could clearly hear Cain and Virgil¡¯s movements. There was no need for me to try and match them, for I felt our movements were nicely harmonized. In a move where we passed the water to the other person, I caught sight of Cain¡¯s gaze. Its intensity caused me momentary pause, but the music went on and so did the performance. Once our gazes disconnected, my feet didn¡¯t miss a beat and my arms did not fail to control the water rhythmically. With every movement I felt something inside me surge.

    Levi, are you ready to show yourself?

    A deep, booming voice replied in my mind. ¡°Yess, Master¡­¡±

    When my solo neared, I spotted Virgil¡¯s calming smile when the dance allowed a turn. However, once Cain and Virgil completed their part and passed all the water to me, Levi once again spoke. ¡°Thiss much is not enough, Master.¡±

    At this point, it was only a minute before the music would end and I strongly wished for this to end, so without much thought, I remembered the movements that Cain did to gather water from the air and copied them quickly before I missed the next part.

    ¡°Thiss iss good enough¡­¡±

    Hearing Levi¡¯s words, I stopped the technique and stretched the water above my head in an arch. Almost as soon as I did that, Levi appeared. Some noise slightly obscured the music at that moment, but I simply focused harder on the instruments¡¯ sounds and continued on with my performance. Remembering that Levi¡¯s length was not the same as the volume of water that I had practiced all this time, I had to exaggerate my movements a bit more to ensure that Levi could move in such a way that did not hit anything. Hearing the very last parts of the song, I made sure I stood at the very centre of the stage as I spun and made Levi coil himself around me. By the last beat, I knelt down on one knee and placed a fist above my heart as I faced the Imperare¡¯s direction.

    Yes! I¡¯m done! After this I can just complain to Cain and Virgil that I feel tired and hungry then we can hide in one corner of the hall for the rest of this celebration!

    However, above my loudly beating heart, I could hear a loud commotion. Looking up I immediately saw Cain and Virgil¡¯s bemused expressions.

    ¡°For you to have caused me to change thiss much in a ssmall amount of time iss impresssive, Master.¡±

    Wondering what Levi was referring to, I looked up behind me and found that I was face to face with the incredibly large head of a water dragon. Huh?! Wasn¡¯t Levi¡¯s head only around two meters tall?! Why does it look like it¡¯s three times that now?! I let my gaze follow along the length of Levi¡¯s body and found that it easily surrounded the stage, that was approximately seven metres in diameter, twice.

    Wha¡­? Levi, did you make me gather this much water just so you can manifest?!

    When Levi opened its mouth to talk, I found that I could easily fit two of me vertically in that gaping mouth. ¡°When sshowing one¡¯s power, they sshould proudly sshow it all. Why elsse would Master ssettle for lesss?¡±

    I was shocked frozen at Levi as a whole. ¡°Why?¡± You say? Maybe because I don¡¯t want to bring too much unnecessary attention to myself!

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 17: Breathe

    While I was still in a state of shock, a pair of arms lifted me up and carried me. ¡°I must say, princess¡­ You have really outdone yourself.¡± Cain said with a wry smile as he glanced at the situation around us. ¡°No, more accurately, you have outdone everyone, this time.¡±

    My gaze switched from Cain to Virgil, his expression similar to Cain¡¯s. Noticing my worried gaze, he simply shook his head and briefly squeezed my hand as a form of comfort. I now know the reason why Father had prepared and stationed our family¡¯s knights at each entrance to the stage. As I looked around, the nobles were making a fuss and quite a number of royal knights were being stopped by our own knights. Glancing towards the Imperare¡¯s throne, I found that his Majesty was standing up, including his wife and child, as he was surrounded by at least a dozen soldiers.

    Levi, this isn¡¯t good. You¡¯ll have to go¡­

    I watched as Levi¡¯s expression turned fierce. ¡°Why? If these people are not pleassed with Master, then I can get rid of them.¡±

    Hearing the gasps of the surrounding people, I shook my head vigorously. No! This can be settled without violence!

    I turned to Cain. ¡°Please put me down.¡±

    He frowned. ¡°I do not think that that is a wise decision at the moment.¡±

    With a resolute expression, I asked him once again. ¡°Mother and Father should have known that something like this would have happened anyway, so please let me make this easier for them.¡±

    Cain¡¯s face gave away his reluctance, but after a few seconds of him gazing at me in a scrutinizing manner, he nonetheless obliged. Once Cain let go of me, I stood before Levi and placed both hands on either side of its large snout. Levi¡¯s expression immediately softened at my actions.

    Thank you. You¡¯ve done enough, so please return¡­

    With a soft nudge and docile expression, at least as docile as a large dragon could look, Levi obeyed. ¡°If that iss what Master wishess, then¡­¡±

    Wanting to make one last spectacle of Levi, I focused my magic on the water which created Levi¡¯s form. Just before Levi¡¯s form lost its shape, I quickly lowered the temperature of the water, then once the water had frozen into ice, I controlled the mana in such a way that the ice almost immediately burst into tiny snowflakes; as a result, a sound similar to breaking glass to reverberated around the hall. As the small snowflakes fell, they glittered and shimmered like crystals as they scattered around the spacious hall, the snowflakes disappearing before even touching the floor. And so, as a result of Levi¡¯s exit, the commotion paused, and the noise immediately quieted down.

    It wouldn¡¯t have been good if all that water suddenly splashed down onto all the nobles once Levi left¡­

    Noticing an opportunity to shift the mood, I found that standing on the stage like this wasn¡¯t appropriate, so I pulled at Cain and Virgil¡¯s arms, signalling for us to once again kneel before the sovereign. Understanding my actions, both boys nodded and we all knelt in an orderly line before the Imperare with our heads bowed.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    After seeing our actions, the Imperare immediately spoke. ¡°What are you knights dawdling for? I was informed of this performance beforehand, so withdraw yourselves!¡± The Imperare¡¯s commanding voice resounded throughout the hall.

    The three of us on stage visibly breathed out a collective sigh of relief after hearing the sovereign¡¯s words. As we continued to kneel, I could hear the sounds of swords being sheathed and the echo of multiple retreating footsteps. Because we were not yet told otherwise, the three of us kept our positions. However, I spotted a pair of black leather boots approach and stop before me. Curious, I glanced up, only to find myself gazing into the crimson eyes of Prince Kai. I immediately retracted my gaze in surprise.

    Oh great, I hope he doesn¡¯t think badly of me. Actually, it would have been a lot better if he didn¡¯t think anything of me! This situation¡­ I can¡¯t believe I have to deal with another love target so soon¡­

    Interrupting my distressed thoughts, an outstretched hand appeared in my view. ¡°Father thanks you for your performance and says that you can stand.¡±

    More surprises¡­

    Trying my best to hide my apprehension, I placed my hand upon his and tried to keep a neutral smile as he helped me up. ¡°Then I will give my thanks to his majesty and his highness.¡±

    With our current ages, the both of us stood at the same height. Prince Kai¡¯s hair was curly, like a cherub, and snowy white with an unusual red tinge, furthermore his large doe-like eyes were the kind of crimson that one would typically call ¡®ruby red¡¯. I must say, with his swallowtail royal red suit jacket, grey knee length shorts and black leather lace up boots. He¡¯s really channelling the ¡®princely shota¡¯ look and vibe. Too bad this pretty boy is someone who could easily ruin my life¡­

    Noticing his curious gaze, and the fact that he still hasn¡¯t let go of my hand, I continued to speak to him. ¡°Is there anything else, your highness?¡±

    ¡°That large water dragon¡­ Was it your Magic Manifestation?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yes, your highness. Levi appeared a few days ago while I was practising for this performance. Mother and Father were so proud that they wished for me to reveal my Magic Manifestation during his majesty¡¯s celebration.¡±

    His scarlet gaze had a noticeable sparkle in them. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Then, with an iridescent smile, he lightly tugged at my hand as he began to move. ¡°Come. Father told me to introduce you to the other children.¡±

    I felt my heart rate rise after hearing those words. ¡®Other children¡¯? Don¡¯t tell me¡­

    Looking around, I caught my mother¡¯s reassuring nod as we made our way through the crowd of nobles. Glancing towards the Imperare, I found that he too was gazing towards our direction with a pensive expression. With no way to refuse Prince Kai, I was led out of the main hall with Cain and Virgil in tow. By now, I was sure that my apprehension had shown in my face and, perhaps having noticed that, Prince Kai spoke once again.

    ¡°Do not worry. I will introduce you to some good friends of mine.¡± He said with a signature princely vibe.

    With an unconvincing smile, I replied. ¡°If your highness says so¡­¡± I¡¯m sure they¡¯re good friends of yours, but that doesn¡¯t remove the dread and anxiety that I am feeling!

    After a short and silent walk through the palace hallways, we arrived at a smaller hall, about a third of the size of the main hall. As we passed through another large pair of ornate doors, a group of children around our age greeted the young Prince upon seeing him. However, despite the crowd, my sights narrowed on two certain pretty boys approaching.

    ¡°You took too long, Prince Kai.¡± A certain green haired bespectacled boy said as he stepped forward.

    ¡°We were beginning to think that you would not join us.¡± Teased a smaller caramel haired boy.

    Prince Kai nodded at the pair. ¡°Dmitri, Zephyr... I would like to introduce you to someone.¡±

    With Prince Kai beside me, the two boys in front and Virgil (with Cain) behind. My face paled and my heart rate dropped. Four boys, four elements, four capture targets¡­

    THEY¡¯RE HEEERE! THEY¡¯RE ALL HERE! THE CAPTURE TARGETS ARE ALL GATHERED IN ONE PLACE!!!

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 18: Painting the Future

    ¡°Miss Velloa, these two are my closest friends. The one wearing glasses is Dmitri Hammond and the younger one is Zephyr Reve.¡± Prince Kai introduced smilingly.

    I appreciate the introduction, but I know who they are already. If anything, I know about these capture targets more than anyone¡­

    Trying my best to keep a kind and calm expression, I give a friendly nod. ¡°It is my pleasure to meet the both of you. My name is Velloa Imitheos.¡±

    Following my introduction, Virgil and Cain stepped forward to introduce themselves too. In the midst of that, I instinctively looked up in Zephyr Reve¡¯s direction, a few steps behind him I caught the gaze of a caramel-haired girl around the same age as me. Her eyes stared at me, probing. With her hair tied in a single ringlet side ponytail and topaz-like orbs, something about her seemed familiar.

    Having noticed my gaze, Zephyr followed my line of sight, spotting the girl behind him, he beamed and called out to her. ¡°Sister! Come join us!¡±

    My brows knit together upon hearing those words. Zephyr had an older sister?

    The girl approached our group with a gentle smile. ¡°Greetings. My name is Haizea Reve. It is my pleasure to meet the children and apprentice of Imitheos.¡± She said with a curtsy.

    Haizea¡­? My eyes slightly widened. That¡¯s right! She took the top spot as an air elementalist in our year in the academy! Not to mention¡­ She¡¯s the game¡¯s dedicated tutorial character and the MC¡¯s best friend.

    With a signature sparkly and shiny smile, Prince Kai spoke. ¡°Why don¡¯t we find ourselves a place to talk and sit?¡±

    I shot Cain a meaningful look. ¡°Your highness, please forgive us, but could you allow us to withdraw? We were told to change our clothes after the performance.¡± He smoothly articulated.

    With slightly widened eyes, he finally let go of my hand that he had been holding the entire time. ¡°Oh, no need to apologize, if anything, I should be the one to do so. Please forgive my rudeness, I should have asked beforehand if you needed to be somewhere else.¡±

    Virgil spoke. ¡°Please do not apologize, your highness. We¡¯re all still children, so please be rest assured.¡±

    Nodding at Virgil¡¯s words, Prince Kai beamed. ¡°Then do please re-join with us later on.¡±

    Before I could even think about voicing a no, Cain lifted me up onto his arms. ¡°Of course, your highness. Now then, we will withdraw ourselves for the moment.¡±

    As Cain turned to leave with me in his arms, I once again caught Haizea¡¯s inquisitive gaze. Great, now I have to watch out for her too¡­

    The moment the three of us stepped out of the hall and far enough away from earshot, I let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m tired¡­¡±

    Whilst patting my head, Cain spoke reassuringly. ¡°You¡¯ll have to bear with it for now, princess.¡±

    Puffing out my cheeks, I huffed. ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡±

    ¡°Entertain Prince Kai for now, Vell. It¡¯s only for today.¡± Virgil spoke gently.

    With pursed lips, I gave in after I caught Virgil¡¯s tender gaze. ¡°Fine¡­¡±

    I¡¯m the child of a noble house; interacting with other children who are also from noble parents shouldn¡¯t be surprising¡­ Wanting to rest my head for a moment, I wrapped my arms around Cain¡¯s neck and laid my head on the crook of his neck. Cain better not say anything. I¡¯m seriously feeling exhausted from all the anxiety¡­

    Thankfully, he didn¡¯t. There was only the sound of movement as we made our way to the same room we had been in before the performance. Upon entering the room, the servants who had been waiting for us immediately got to work. I sank back into my thoughts as the maids did their thing.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Alright, deep breaths Velloa. You can do this. It¡¯s only a gathering of children¡­ Children that are perfectly capable of ruining my future- Wait no! Stop that! Be more positive! I controlled my breathing as the maids tightened the bodice of my dress. At the end of the day, this is reality. I am the heir of the Imitheos family¡¯s Grande title, at the very least they shouldn¡¯t be able to easily mess with me. Even if they want to, they have to pay attention to their parents¡¯ relationships with my parents. Besides, the game didn¡¯t specifically show whether or not Velloa had suffered greatly after any of the endings. While Prince Kai¡¯s good end with the MC may cause the greatest damage to my reputation, as long as I still have my life and my family then I¡¯m good.

    ¡°You look wonderful, Vell.¡± Virgil¡¯s voice brought an end to my contemplating.

    Trying my best to hold back a bitter expression, I thank him. ¡°Thank you, brother. You also look absolutely striking in your outfit.¡±

    Virgil was currently twelve years old, so he still retained that feminine look that a lot of children have. His outfit consisted of an icy blue long-sleeve button-up shirt, a cobalt vest with silver embroidery, knee-length black shorts and matching cobalt boots that went up to his calves. Along with his hair back in its signature loose braid, he was a pretty boy through and through.

    Brother¡­ I hope I don¡¯t ever get to see the day you betray me for some¡­ ¡®Girl¡¯.

    Before my expression could break, I turned away to distract myself with my reflection on the full body mirrors. My dress was actually one of the designs shown to me earlier as a potential dance outfit, at least before it was found out that dresses didn¡¯t suit the dance style. The dress was made from azure charmeuse fabric, its bodice showed off my collar bones and it flared out freely from my waist into a bell shape. My shoes were only an inch tall and made of a matching azure brocade with silver flowered patterns. As for my hair, it seemed to stay at its million-dollar worth, for even though it was done in a simpler half-up style, the jewellery was switched to a clip-on front headpiece that had various blue gemstones like aquamarine, tanzanite and turquoise, there were also a few strings of gemstones hanging down the length of hair.

    Ignoring the jewellery, my outfit looks a lot more mature than I realized, but I guess that suits me better¡­

    ¡°Well then, are you ready, princess?¡± Cain said with his usual teasing smirk.

    Without much thought, I took the hand that Cain offered. Ah, wait. I should have decided to walk with Virgil instead¡­ Looking up at Cain¡¯s deep sapphire eyes, I caught a mischievous glint within them. Too late¡­

    ¡°Don¡¯t I look good too?¡±

    I let out a sigh. With him currently seventeen years old and practically fully grown, he looked tall and fetching. The indigo high collared velvet jacket he wore had silver trimming and buttons and the black dress pants he wore also had a silver line on each side running along the length of it. Along with the matching close laced indigo ankle-high boots, his military-like outfit exuded a mature and mysterious air that only served to highlight his already good looks. He already knows how good he looks. Seriously, why is he like this?

    In exaggerated exasperation, I agreed. ¡°Yes, Cain. You look absolutely fetching.¡±

    After thanking the servants, we left the room and made our way back to the hall where all the children were sent to. Speaking of children, I glanced up at Cain.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you joined Father?¡± I questioned.

    With a chuckle, Cain essentially brushed off my question. ¡°Does the princess want to get rid of me? I¡¯m hurt.¡±

    I rolled my eyes at his words. He probably just finds it too bothersome to deal with any of the nobles¡­

    Just as we were nearing our destination, I spotted a certain caramel-haired girl standing out in the garden alone and admiring the coral roses. It was Zephyr¡¯s older sister, Haizea. At the sight of her all alone, a thought crossed my mind: The greatest advantage I have against the bad end is that I have the time and numerous chances to make the first move¡­

    And so, with that thought in mind, I steeled myself. I turned to Cain and Virgil and told them to go on ahead because I wanted to take this opportunity to finally befriend a girl my age. Virgil agreed with a tender smile, but Cain eyed me with a raised brow. Hey, I¡¯m technically not lying¡­ However, after taking some time to convince Cain that he can come back after escorting Virgil, the two of them finally let me be.

    Most likely having noticed the argument between Cain and I, the moment I turned to approach Haizea, I momentarily froze for I had instantly made eye contact with her.

    Noticing that we made eye contact, Haizea gave a friendly smile and ended up approaching me instead. ¡°Nice to meet you once again, Velloa Imitheos.¡±

    ¡°Likewise¡­¡± I said as I struggled to control my nervous heart.

    After some silence, Haizea once again took reign of the conversation. ¡°Please forgive me for being so blunt, but have you perchance fallen in love with Prince Kai?¡±

    Eh, What?

    Did¡­ Did she just¡­?

    Fall in love? Me? With Prince Kai? Wha¡­?

    ¡°¡­Pardon?¡± I stared at the girl in front of me, dumbfounded.

    Nani the hell did she just say?!

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 19: Different Angle

    After some silence, Haizea once again took reign of the conversation. ¡°Please forgive me for being so blunt, but have you perchance fallen in love with Prince Kai?¡±

    Eh, What?

    Did¡­ Did she just¡­?

    Fall in love? Me? With Prince Kai? Wha¡­?

    ¡°¡­Pardon?¡± I stared at the girl in front of me, dumbfounded.

    Nani the hell did she just say?!

    Trying my best to at least control my expression, I managed to show a stiff but passable smile. ¡°I have only met his highness Kai Reigieren today. If we were to talk about someone I would be in love with, wouldn¡¯t my dear elder brother be a more accurate topic?¡±

    I would rather be known as a brocon at this rate¡­

    Haizea¡¯s topaz orbs slightly widened. ¡°If your elder brother fell in love with someone else, how would you react?¡±

    What¡­? Him falling in love is his business not mine though? Why is she asking these kinds of questions?

    Confused, I answered Haizea¡¯s question honestly. ¡°Whoever he falls in love with is his business. As long as his relationship with that person does not have a huge negative impact on him, myself or my family then I would accept that person as family.¡±

    Hearing my answer, Haizea¡¯s expression changed to a pensive one and she began to mumble to herself. ¡°Huh¡­? Based on the story¡¯s official timeline, isn¡¯t Velloa supposed to be in love with Prince Kai right now?¡±

    ¡°Eh? ¡®Official timeline¡¯?¡± I repeated in surprise and bewilderment.

    Haizea¡¯s body noticeably jumped after hearing my reaction. ¡°Oh my, please don¡¯t mind my words and forgive me for being rude.¡± She quickly said in a terse tone.

    ¡®Official timeline¡¯ is what she said, right? There¡¯s no mistaking it. Is she a reincarnator too? If so, as a self-aware side but major character, whose side is she on?

    ¡°The first question you asked, why would you assume such a thing? Would it be wrong of me to fall in love with his highness? After all, at least regarding the political side of things, wouldn¡¯t I be a suitable marriage candidate for his highness?¡± I decided to push and test her.

    I could see Haizea nervously sweating at my words. ¡°No! I was merely curious! The both of you seemed to be quite friendly despite his initial cold attitude towards others, so I was wondering if the two of you shared a special relationship¡­¡± Her ringlet-styled side ponytail bounced as she anxiously spoke.

    Good excuse, but I¡¯m not going to give up on our little interrogation just yet¡­

    ¡°But why were you so curious about me being in love? Especially when it came to my reaction to my dear brother one day finding a partner? Also, you mentioned this ¡®official timeline¡¯, what is that? And why would such a thing mention anything about me and his highness?¡± I shot out question after question and I could see Haizea further break into cold sweat at each query.

    ¡°I- I¡­¡± Her gaze swam about as her internal panic leaked out.

    Trying to keep a firm and stern stance, I straightened up as I folded my arms. ¡°Please go ahead and explain.¡±

    After a visible gap of silence, Haizea broke down with a downtrodden sigh. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe me though¡­¡±

    Oh? It looks like she¡¯ll spill the beans¡­

    ¡°This is the world of Gaea, there are a plethora of things that exist which would seem unbelievable.¡± I urged her.

    With upturned eyes filled with apprehension, she spoke in a low voice. ¡°I have memories of a past life¡­¡±

    WELL, LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE!

    ¡°In this past life, there existed this¡­ ¡®story¡¯ as a work of fiction, and in this story, it described a world much like Gaea.¡± Haizea paused to look at me, most likely trying to gauge my thoughts and reaction, but through sheer willpower I was able to keep a straight face. Seeing that I was still interested, she gulped and continued speaking.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    I also didn¡¯t miss the way she said the word ¡®story¡¯.

    ¡°This story was one about romance, and it focused on certain individuals in the country of Ogygia.¡±

    I raised a question in order to further urge Haizea to explain. ¡°So, you¡¯re entailing that this tale from your past life¡¯s memories involves his highness and I?¡±

    Haizea nodded. ¡°Yes, and it was called ¡®Hera: Captured Hearts¡¯. It was a popular story that had Prince Kai, your brother, Dmitri Hammond and my younger brother Zephyr as its protagonists.¡±

    My eyes widened. There¡¯s no mistaking it, this person is a reincarnator too and one who knows about either the ¡®Hera: Captured Hearts¡¯ game or anime¡­ Or maybe even both.

    ¡°And so, what is my role in this tale? I can assume that I¡¯ve had some significance to this story¡¯s plot, otherwise you would not have mumbled about the ¡®original timeline¡¯ before.¡± I already knew the answer, but I needed to know if she was someone I could trust.

    I watched as Haizea¡¯s topaz gaze swam about. ¡°W-well, a-about that¡­¡± She stuttered.

    I hardened my gaze, this was her no so literal do or die moment. Whilst Velloa does have the villainess role, it¡¯s clear to see that she wasn¡¯t an ultimately bad character, especially in the anime where the harem route was basically taken.

    Gulping down her nervousness, she finally continued. ¡°You are the main female protagonist¡¯s adversary¡­¡±

    Oh~ what a nice way to word ¡®stalking horse¡¯, ¡®cucker¡¯, ¡®privileged rival¡¯ - the list can go on.

    Not quite liking my silence, Haizea spoke up once again. ¡°You haven¡¯t met her yet since the story is set at Yohso Academy, but even though my character was set to be the female protagonist¡¯s friend, I hope you understand that I am on your side!¡±

    I really want to give in, but not just yet¡­

    ¡°And what makes you think that I can fully trust your words? Who¡¯s to say and guarantee that this is not some large plot of yours to betray me once this so-called protagonist appears?¡± I uttered my final questions to her.

    Haizea¡¯s side ringlet bounced as she suddenly dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together in this world¡¯s version of a kowtow. ¡°In my previous life, I had a best friend who believed your future self suffered an injustice. In honour of that person who, despite all my strange qualities, stayed as my precious friend - I swear on this life and the previous one that I mean you no harm and only wish the best for you!¡±

    Wait, I know that there were 8 billion people in Earth, but¡­ Wow¡­ Fate must be working hard in this world¡­

    ¡°Two lives and you still haven¡¯t stopped that bad mumbling habit of yours.¡± Haizea¡¯s eyes widened at my words. ¡°You really need to learn to keep your thoughts inside that weird brain of yours.¡± I took her clasped hands and pulled her up.

    The caramel haired girl¡¯s mouth flapped open and shut like one of those saloon doors in an old west movie. ¡°¡­No way.¡± With a gasp, she grasped both of my palms. ¡°Two lives and you still troll people with that angry glare and voice!¡±

    After a brief pause, we suddenly burst into laughter and hugged each other with beaming smiles.

    ¡°Omigawd! I can¡¯t believe you! I thought I was about to be sent into some mental asylum!¡± Haizea wiped away the small tears that gathered at the corner of her eyes.

    ¡°You know how Velloa ends up! What makes you think I could trust anyone who was supposed to be on Ariana¡¯s side!¡± I lightly chastised.

    With a light-hearted sigh, Haizea made a sarcastic expression. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t have bothered showing up to this place.¡± After a moment of calmness, her tone changed to a serious one. ¡°Hey, how much of your previous life do you remember?¡±

    With a bitter smile, I told her the truth. ¡°I have memories up to the last night we ended our playthrough of the game. I have memories, but¡­ No specific details of who or even where I specifically was on Earth. Not even a name, let alone a face.¡±

    ¡°The same goes for me¡­¡± Haizea¡¯s topaz gaze was downcast. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why here? Why us? Why even have those memories? My character is literally a tutorial guide, what¡¯s the significance of this? Or is there even any significance at all?¡±

    I frowned. This old friend of mine was an unusual one, but she definitely had better questions and priorities than I did. I may have thought these things, but I only tossed them aside since I was scared and decided to distract myself with the harem route that the MC might take¡­

    ¡°I have no idea, sorry¡­¡±

    Haizea nodded with a helpless expression. ¡°No, don¡¯t be. These bodies are only seven years old. We can¡¯t even leave our homes without an escort or two.¡±

    ¡°I doubt that we can leave our homes at all without an escort. We¡¯re a part of noble households, Haizea. No matter what age, we¡¯ll always have to be watched over.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right¡­¡±

    Hooking an arm through Haizea¡¯s left arm, I turned us back to the palace building. ¡°Speaking of us being noble children. I think we should be heading back soon.¡±

    At my words, Haizea gave me a cheesy smile that gave me a strong sense of nostalgia. ¡°You¡¯re right, we have lots of time to discuss this and more.¡±

    Turning my gaze to where we were going, I spotted Cain down the hall. Good thing we ended our conversation right there. I may have been joking earlier, but I might not be wrong about fate working its wonders in this world¡­

    Spotting Cain¡¯s approaching figure, Haizea began to speak teasingly. ¡°Velloa may have gotten the unfortunate villain role, but you sure got lucky. Seriously, before the MC even appears you get a first taste of her har-¡± I cut her off with an incredibly tight squeeze to her arm.

    ¡°Cain! I made a new friend!¡±

    He¡¯s literally a spy in training, I really hope he didn¡¯t catch any of Haizea¡¯s weird ramblings.

    Giving the both of us a gentle expression, he spoke. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, Velloa.¡± He turned his sparkly gaze to Haizea. ¡°My name is Cain Alvar, Velloa¡¯s current elemental instructor. I hope that you take good care of my precious student.¡±

    Visibly flustered, she could only stutter out a reply. ¡°A-ah, yesh! Of c-course!¡±

    Ah, she bit her tongue.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------

 Chapter 20: Play It Cool

    ¡°Well, shall we make our way back?¡± Judging from Cain¡¯s usual sparkly expression, I had to warily assume that he did not hear Haizea¡¯s weird babbling.

    Putting on a neutral smile, I replied. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve kept them waiting for long enough.¡±

    As we made our way through the palace¡¯s long halls, Haizea and I filled the silence with idle chatter about our childish interests. Well, ¡®childish¡¯ in consideration to our mental age at least¡­ I could tell that Haizea was itching to talk/tease about the otome game¡¯s male protagonists, but I unhesitatingly gave her arm a warning ¡®squeeze¡¯ whenever she turned the conversation in that direction. Cain was with us and I was also willing to bet that she wanted to gush about how gorgeous he was too.

    How she managed to keep her previous life¡¯s memories to herself thus far is beyond me¡­

    ¡°His highness and the rest decided to keep themselves on a more private table just outside the hall where everyone had gathered.¡± Cain informed as he escorted us.

    Knowing the amount of attention those group of boys could gather, Haizea and I shrugged at those words with unsurprising expressions. ¡°Must be hard for those pre- I mean, it must be hard for them to always have to handle that kind of attention when they¡¯re that popular.¡± Haizea flinched from one of my ¡®warnings¡¯, hence why her sentence was interrupted.

    Cain could only agree to Haizea¡¯s words with a wry smile.

    Once we made it back to the hall where all the noble children were gathered, we slowly progressed through the crowd towards a certain pair of ornate glass doors. With a nod to the two knights standing by each door, the entrance was opened, and Cain urged us forward with a gentlemanly gesture. As we passed through, the previously cool air changed to a warmer and humid feeling.

    Haizea and I found ourselves in a greenhouse. But this place is too grand to be called a greenhouse, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was called a ¡®green palace¡¯ instead¡­

    Before us was a straightforward path towards a gilded gazebo. From this distance, we could make out the figures of the boys sitting around a round table whilst enjoying some tea. It was a perfect scene for an otome game CG scene. Judging from Haizea¡¯s spellbound gaze and slightly dropped jaw, I could tell that she could also see the typical anime special effect flowers blooming in the background and the atmospheric music that would often come with this kind of sight.

    Omigawd, do we really have to make our way to that?

    The moment I heard the doors behind us shut I steeled myself before Cain could begin to question us and proceeded to drag Haizea along with me. I could sense my friend¡¯s cold sweat and sent her a questioning gaze.

    ¡°My brother is assigned as his highness¡¯ companion alongside Dmitri. I was not introduced to his highness and Dmitri until just before you came in the hall the first time you arrived.¡± She whispered anxiously.

    Not caring whether or not Cain heard me, I whispered back. ¡°And how exactly did you manage to conduct yourself properly? Look at yourself, you look like you¡¯re about to see your executioner.¡±

    ¡°With great difficulty¡­¡± Haizea muttered.

    ¡°Ah, Miss Velloa and Miss Haizea. Nice of you to finally join us.¡± Prince Kai stood up at the sight of us and greeted us.

    Shooting one last exasperated look at Haizea, I finally let go of her arm so that we could curtsy towards Prince Kai.

    ¡°We thank you for allowing us to join you, your highness.¡± I greeted back.

    Grasping one palm on each hand, Prince Kai pulled the both of us up from our curtsy. ¡°Just Kai will do fine.¡±

    With a wry smile, I lightly teased. ¡°That won¡¯t do, your highness. I shall settle with calling you Prince Kai instead.¡±

    Prince Kai let out an embarrassed laugh. ¡°Again, with that title¡­ Well, I suppose I¡¯ll have to settle with that nickname too.¡± He then stepped aside and gestured towards the empty seats reserved for us on the table full of high-class tea and snacks. ¡°The both of you, please have a seat.¡±

    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you a natural, Vell¡­¡± I heard Haizea mumble under her breath.

    My neck snapped towards her. With a smile that didn¡¯t quite hide the intended iciness in my eyes. I once again wrapped an arm on around hers and gave her a ¡®little¡¯ squeeze. ¡°Haizea, come. These macarons look amazing!¡±

    Since the person next to me was my brother, Virgil, he politely gave me a small plate already prepared with a slice of lemon chiffon cake and macarons. I thanked him with a smile and asked one of the maids on standby to prepare some tea to go with the cake.

    ¡°Miss Velloa! I heard that you summoned your magic manifestation!¡± Haizea¡¯s younger brother, Zephyr suddenly piped up.

    It was Haizea¡¯s turn to ¡®squeeze¡¯ me, causing me to almost spill my tea. ¡°Ah, yes. It was a part of my performance to his majesty.¡± I managed to reply whilst attempting to covertly detach Haizea¡¯s clawing grip.

    ¡°You are a first in history if you are able to summon your magic manifestation at this age, Miss Velloa¡­¡± Dmitri admired.

    ¡°Her magic manifestation was several metres long and well above the height of our soldiers. It was quite a magnificent water dragon¡­¡± Prince Kai expressed as he sipped his tea.

    I could only say humble words to their admiring expressions. ¡°My mother and father¡¯s magic manifestations are more impressive, but I thank the both of you for complimenting my Levi.¡±

    Maybe they¡¯ll get bored of me once the excitement of my magic manifestation wears off. Children tend to move onto other things fast anyway¡­Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    I felt a tug at my sleeve and turned to suddenly see Zephyr standing close on my right with gleaming eyes. With a cute sheepish smile, he spoke. ¡°So, your manifestation¡¯s name is Levi? I-is it too much to ask if I could see it?¡±

    Shocked, Haizea chastised him. ¡°Zephyr! Something like tha-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Haizea. He¡¯s merely curious.¡± I reassured. Turning a considerate smile to the cute Zephyr, I declined his rather adorable request. ¡°Doing something like that now will cause a stir, so please understand that I will have to decline for today, Zephyr Reve.¡±

    With an endearing pout, Zephyr nodded in understanding. As I stared at this loveable boy, I suddenly found one of my palms consolingly patting his soft caramel hair. Ugh, what is with this instinctual urge to head pat lolis and shotas. Speaking of shotas, how did Haizea manage to get this adorable brother of hers to not fear her¡­? I eyed Haizea as she gave me a not so well-hidden smirk and reluctantly retracted my hand from the shota¡¯s head. This weirdo was a shotacon in her previous life and still is. I hate to admit it but, back then, she managed to indoctrinate me into a closet level shotacon¡­

    ¡°I tend to spoil my younger brother, so I hope that you¡¯ll forgive his behaviour this one time.¡± Haizea¡¯s words were only for show. The both of us were noble children after all, there was a certain level of courtesy that had to be upheld when we were out in public like this.

    I hope the word ¡®spoil¡¯ was not your way of rewording the term ¡®shotacon training¡¯, Haizea¡­

    Since it was my turn to uphold that ¡®courtesy¡¯, I spoke a few empty words. ¡°There is no need to apologize, Haizea. We¡¯re all children after all.¡±

    Whilst Haizea distracted Zephyr with a plate of sweets, Prince Kai spoke. ¡°Your father¡¯s magic creature also takes the form of a water dragon, no?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yes, Prince Kai. Its name is Lapis. Mother¡¯s magic creature is a water phoenix named Jing, and my magic instructor, Cain, has one too! Its name is Marina and has the appearance of a large feline with twin tails.¡±

    ¡°If being surrounded by amazing people who have magic creatures helps one to achieve the phenomenon then I must not be too far from gaining my own magic creature.¡± Prince Kai jested.

    Ah, his parents are the Imperare and Vis-Imperare after all, so of course he too would be surrounded by people who have magical creatures¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that the phenomenon will occur regardless of whether or not you do so, Prince Kai.¡± Although my words sounded like lip-service, it was no lie since the game and anime dictated that he would gain a magic creature.

    Although he was supposed to be the one to make history by being the youngest person ever to achieve the phenomenon¡­

    As the Imperare¡¯s tenth year celebration went on, us young ones tried to pass the time with idle chatter, but since children tended to be more active, Haizea and I suggested we played a game. It was a game similar to ¡®Hide and Seek¡¯ but instead of there being one seeker, there was one hider, wherein the last one to find and join the hider was the next hider.

    I volunteered as the first hider, hence why I was currently crouched by some white lilac shrubs that wasn¡¯t too far from the greenhouse¡¯s main entrance. We, of course, kept the area in which we played within the greenhouse for simplicity and security reasons. Letting out a silent sigh, I gave up on trying not to let my skirts touch the grass and sat myself as comfortably as I could within the cover of the lilac shrubs and under the shade of a single gardenia tree. I could hear the murmur of children¡¯s voices from the hall and the tunes of a piano playing some relaxing entertainment music. Having woken up early to arrive here in the royal palace, and coupled by the anxiety and nervousness of the events that happened today¡­ It was no wonder that, despite my nap in the carriage, I still became exhausted.

    I know I was anxious and all but¡­ Those children weren¡¯t so bad... I stifled a yawn as I brought my knees up to rest my head on them.

    ¡°So this is where you were, Miss Velloa.¡± Emerging from the white lilacs, Prince Kai made a sparkling appearance.

    Wow, I didn¡¯t even hear him approach.

    I could only smile wryly at how fast this smart royal child found me. ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been five minutes, Prince Kai.¡±

    The charming young prince naturally sat himself right next to me as if there wasn¡¯t any other place to do so. ¡°If I couldn¡¯t find someone within my own favourite place, then it would be shameful.¡± Prince Kai looked at me with a glimmering smile. ¡°This small space is where I like to hide away sometimes¡­¡±

    To fear a child like this¡­ What was I thinking.

    ¡°It¡¯s a nice place, your highness.¡± I said as I rested my head on my knees once again.

    ¡°Just Kai will do fine.¡± The light-haired cherub said with an innocent expression.

    This boy is a natural, huh¡­ I guess I¡¯ll tease him a bit for that.

    My lips curled into a small cheeky smile. ¡°Well then¡­ Kai. Why do you like to hide away in a place like this?¡±

    I could tell by the way that his ruby eyes widened that he was slightly taken aback by how easily I gave in. Unfortunately, it was only for a short moment, and then he quickly recovered with a chuckle. ¡°Well, Miss Velloa, it¡¯s because the palace can sometimes feel a bit suffocating¡­ I guess.¡± He replied with a shy and sheepish expression.

    I hummed in understanding. ¡°If it¡¯s just the both of us, then I don¡¯t mind foregoing formalities and having you simply call me Velloa.¡± As I ended my sentence, I covered up my mouth as I yawned.

    I couldn¡¯t quite see Prince Kai¡¯s first-hand reaction because of that yawn, but I could tell that he was delighted. ¡°¡­Truly?¡± His eyes shone at my words.

    Honestly¡­ What a cute kid.

    I wiped the corners of my watery eyes. ¡°Yes, of course.¡±

    Okay, this small body must be feeling really tired¡­ My eyelids feel heavy.

    Prince Kai looked at me with a gentle expression. ¡°You¡¯re tired right, Velloa? Don¡¯t worry, you can rest. I¡¯ll wake you up once someone approaches.¡±

    This good-looking shota really is a sight for sore eyes¡­

    I noticed how unhesitating he was at foregoing the formalities and slightly lamented at how eager Prince Kai was to be treated, well, ¡®normally¡¯. ¡°Thank you, Kai. I¡¯ll take your kind offer.¡± I also just realized how heavy my body felt too as I spoke those words.

    And so, as I finally relaxed and allowed my eyes to flutter close, I could feel a gentle hand pat my head soothingly.

    I¡¯ll admit¡­ This side of the character Prince Kai that was never shown¡­ I quite like it¡­

    After twenty or so minutes, the rest of the seekers found that they could not find where Velloa had hidden and had also suspected that Prince Kai, who was not with them, had somehow found and joined her.

    ¡°It¡¯s because this place is so large!¡± Momentarily forgetting her etiquette, Haizea complained out loud.

    ¡°Prince Kai knows this place like the back of his hand. Despite being assigned as his companions for some months now, Zephyr and I have never found him whenever he has hidden himself away in here.¡± Dmitri explained.

    ¡°Right! The knights and maids have a hard time too!¡± Zephyr added.

    Seeing how frustrated the younger ones were getting, Virgil could only sigh and shoot Cain a meaningful look. Cain made a wry expression and nodded.

    ¡°Now, now¡­ How about we end this game for now and look for them together?¡± Virgil began to mediate the situation.

    The three younger ones looked between each other and, seeing how they didn¡¯t have anything better to suggest, they silently agreed with Virgil¡¯s suggestion.

    Needless to say, Cain knew where Velloa was at the very least. Her father, Hakoda, assigned him as the siblings¡¯ escort and security after all. As such, the group ended up following his lead.

    That being said, behind some white lilac shrubs and under a gardenia tree, in a small space not too far from the royal palace¡¯s greenhouse main entrance, a young girl and boy¡¯s figures could be seen resting without a single care in the world. Their backs leaned against the trunk of the gardenia tree with the girl¡¯s head resting on the boy¡¯s shoulder and an arm wrapped behind her as if to protect her. Other than the newly arrived observers, the only movement that could be seen around them was the slight rustling of leaves and their small breaths as they slept soundly.

    ----------CHAPTER END----------