The wind of autumn come at an earlier time this year. Some people are sneezing, and some others are starting to rearrange their flowers. The elders are bringing their grandchildren to the field, seeing if there are any tree that has matured enough to be harvested. The common orange hue of fall season is yet to be seen, but the hearty anticipation of the people is showing brightly.
"Wow. So, this is the famous city of flower. It's my first time being here," a woman speaks to herself while looking around.
"Hey, Boss. Can't we just stay here until winter pass? Everything smells so good in this city!" said a bulky man with a buzz cut as he chows down a big piece of meat in his hand.
"We have discussed about this. Reach Ardlight Pass by the end of autumn, and then we will hole up for winter in Edenshire."
A group of hooded individuals on their horses arrived at the gate of Fleurin. The guard knights are doing the inspection as usual, until one of the horsemen stepped forward. He stands out from the rest, exuding the air of a person of great importance. He starts a casual light conversation with the guard before handing out a bck-gold scroll case.
The guard took out the letter inside and he didn't reply immediately. Instead, he walked away to have discussion with another guard who was seemingly ranked higher than him. Then, it happens for the second time, the guards are taking the scroll to someone even higher in ranks. Until finally an old knight hurriedly approaches the hooded visitors.
"Good afternoon, honorable guests. I am sorry for the dey, had we known that it was The First Secretary of Aramia himself paying a visit, we would have arranged a more suitable tendance."
"As per the imperial edict, I came not as the First Secretary. There is no need to address me with that title."
"I understand. Regardless, a man of my station is prohibited to conduct any meaningful discussion with someone as important as you, Lord Nichos Belsvan. Please have a rest inside our quarter while I rey the situation to the corresponding liable."
Nichos and his party take their rest in the break room inside the gatehouse. Their horses are taken care of by the Rosmesian knights, while they are waiting for the officials to tend to them. Almost half an hour ter, they can hear the sound of a sizable entourage marching closer to the guard house.
"Hmm, there are almost thirty people out there to pick us up," a man in his te 50s who was standing near the window gives a heads up.
"Now! Now! That girl looks kinda cute!" the bulky man pointed at the woman who leads the entourage.
"Sigh. Don't they understand the word 'secretive'?" Nichos facepalmed.
Afterwards the door of the breakroom opened and a woman in grey noble dress solemnly bowed to Nichos and his party. She has a short dark hair unlike most of women of noble standings who tend to keep a long hair. Also, her bck eyes have a soft but deep gaze. They immediately assess the room in a single gnce in a fraction of a second.
"Greetings, distinguished dies and gentlemen. I am Ellis, the Lady-in-waiting of Her Majesty Queen Catalina Rosalia."
Nichos stands up and walks closer to Ellis and returned her gesture of courtesy. Although only two of his four companions followed suit with the mannerism, the dy-in-waiting pays it no mind and proceed with her intention.
"Lord Grand Envoy, Your Excellency Nichos Belsvan, her majesty invites you and your entourage for a private dinner."
"We humbly accept your gracious offer. However, I'm afraid that we will be more comfortable only when traveling in small number. Given the nature of our mission, attention is the st thing we would seek."
". . . I should have been more considerate. Please forgive my shortcoming."
"No need to fret over it. Just disband your men and then we can proceed with the next agenda."
When Nichos toned down the formality, Ellis feels a bit more rexed.
Nichos and his four companions, along with the dy-in-waiting and her attendants set off for the Thousand Mirror Royal Pace. They are accompanied by three royal guards dressing as commoner while Ellis is leading the way. They send their horses away and walked through the street, after Nichos insisted the need for secrecy.
In truth, secrecy was not his primary intention. Nichos chooses to roam the capital city on foot because he wanted to get a better idea of the ndscape with the most intimate point of view. His party is getting their toll of sedentary thanks to the long road on horseback also, hence, no one is against his idea.
"Ron, is it tasty?"
"Mmh! This stuff is damn good!"
Ron, the buzz cut bulky man hands his duck skewer to Nio, the quiet girl of Nichos' party who herself had her hands already full of snacks from the surrounding street vendor. They are letting loose of themselves, and it starting to get on the other party member's nerves.
"Youngsters, I highly advise you to keep your composure and try not to indulge yourself too much on the-"
"Grandpa, look. That old man in the painting looks like you," Nio cuts in.
"WHAT IN THE WONDER OF THE WORLD IS THAT?! GRACEFUL!"
The old man strokes his white, magnificent moustache. He quickly walks to the painting, basically eyeing and even sniffing every inch of it. He then talks with the painter without any care in the world, and he would a hundred percent be left behind had the most reasonable party member, Minerva, took care of him.
"Mr. Fritz, the queen is waiting for us. Why don't you just give him your name card and make a schedule ter for a more comfortable conversation?"
"Young ss! You must understand that the expression of ART is always impromptu, abrupt and explosive! Thus, it would be a great heresy not to bow to such eruptive surge of spiritual beatitude!"
"I concur to your principe, signore. However, I believe you need to take care not to be too inebriated in momentary amusement. Must I remind you what splendor rests in the famous Rosmayne Mirror Pace?"
"Gasp! I suppose that's a bright suggestion, Signora!"
The dy with long wavy red hair and baby blue eyes smiled and walked away as she successfully persuaded Fritz. She stopped by Nichos's side as the party's Second. She gnces at Nichos, as if waiting for something. At first, Nichos pays her no mind, but gradually, her gnce turns into stare.
"Err . . . Splendid work."
"It's not worth mentioning," said Minerva with rosy cheeks.
Half an hour ter, the entourage arrived at the Western Park. It's going to take another half an hour to arrive at the pace on foot, but it seems unlikely since Fritz is getting noisy about his knees. They finally decided to take a short break as the officials are calling for a carriage big enough for all the guest of Rosmayne.
The sky is getting darker, and the sun's glorious ray is fully smoothened by now. The town bell rings eighteen times, and finally the carriage arrived. They started to get on board one by one. Fritz, Ron, and Minerva is already sitting on the carriage, and the next one to get inside is Nichos. However, when Nichos just put her right leg on the steps, he suddenly felt a jolt from his left side.
". . . !"
". . . !"
It turns out, not only Nichos felt the jolt, but also Nio. They both reflexively turn their heads to the left instantly and simultaneously. Other than the two who felt the direct jolt, no one else noticed their strange behavior but Minerva.
"Is something wrong?"
Nichos and Nio didn't answer. They are too focused to find out what was the feeling that gently but abruptly tingles their napes.
"Lord Nichos? Nio?"
"Mine, we still have three hours until the dinner. Go ahead with the others and get them ready. Make sure we don't embarrass ourselves before the queen, especially Ron."
"But what about you?" Minerva looks concerned.
"I want to stay a little longer."
"N-Nio too!" Nio added.
Nichos walks away from the carriage after insisting the escorting knights to go first with his three companions. Nio also followed right beside him. As the carriage begins to move, Minerva and the others can only look outside the window to see what they are doing.
"Haven't they had enough? Do they still want to pig out for more food?" Ron yawned.
"I have never seen Nio looking like that. I wonder what they are looking for?" Fritz raised his eyebrow.
Meanwhile, Nichos and Nio are roaming the nearby street with two guards. For Nichos, the magical resonance feels familiar, but he couldn't quite discern nor describe what was it since he has no talent in magic. As for Nio, she could sense something powerful but hidden, or rather, repressed.
"Have you got any trace, Nio?"
"Nio . . . can't. Not yet."
"How did it feel like for you?"
"Nio thinks it's something alive. Nio can detect a rhythmic beat in that resonance."
"Is it conjuration?"
"That is unlikely. Conjuration is easy to track since they disperse mana. This one is more complicated."
When they were discussing if there is a method to track the mysterious magical disorder, suddenly a little girl passed by them. She has a short bck wavy hair with weird bandana shaped like a pair of bunny ears. Nichos accidentally gets a glimpse of the little girl's earrings that looks very simir to the diamonds of Randia's rings.
"You!"
Unwittingly, Nichos had already grabbed the little girl's hand. When the girl turned to look his way, Nichos is dazzled by what he sees. Deep blue eyes that could drown all who stares, exactly like Randia's. He stood frozen for a moment, unable to say anything, and so does the little girl. They stared at each other until suddenly someone is shouting from behind him.
"Viena!"
"Hey! Hands off! What are you trying to pull?!"
It's An and Gwen who come to meddle between them. Gwen pulled Viena away from Nichos' hands. The escorting guards of Nichos immediately sprang into action also. They unbuttoned their scabbards and standing side-way to show their swords. Reacting to this, An stepped forward. He is confused as to why his fellow knights are acting that way, but even so, he has his priority.
"Wait, gentlemen! Stop!" Nichos immediately defuses the situation.
"I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I recently lost someone dear to me, and the little girl looks very simir, so I just couldn't hold myself."
An slowly dropped his guard, and so did the other knights. They finally talked things through and make peace. An also told Nichos that they were on their way to meet Viena's father at the cathedral. Thus, Nichos called for Viena who was hiding behind Gwen all the time. He gives her a small cubic object at the size of a thumb.
"It's a small ntern, one of the newest inventions from Aramia famous for its simplicity. Shake it and it will glow. But remember, you can only use it two times."
"Whoa! That sounds amazing!"
"So, you will forgive me for today, right?"
"Yeah! No biggies! Thank you, uncle!"
After that, they are parting ways with each other. Nichos and his entourage are getting back on track, moving towards the Mirror Pace. A couple of minutes after they started walking again, Nio closes up to Nichos.
"Nico, are you sure? Nio thinks she is unusual."
"In what way?"
"There are magics around her."
"You mean the weird sensation came from her?"
"Nio is not sure . . . But there are residues on her."
Nichos stopped in his track, and everyone followed suit.
"Eborate."
Nio nodded.
"First of all, Nio can sense Yarna coursing all over her body. Untrained eyes might only catch a glimpse of swirls, but Nio can sense that she might have contracted a serious degree of bck burn."
Nichos keeps standing still silently. He knows what a bck burn is. It is an arcane mady caused by wrongful application of own Yarna. However, another possibility exists, that is when someone is attacked by other's manipution of Yarna. Sensing that he is still unable to construct his hypothesis, now, he is waiting for Nio to expin more.
"Second, her eye colors are fake. Someone used Velcrum on her."
"The spell to cloak the color of one's eyes . . . ," Nichos rubbed his cheek.
"Third, Nio feels terribly uneasy when you grabbed that kid out of nowhere."
Upon hearing that, Nichos lets out a ugh and tapped Nio's back.
"Please don't think too low of me. My preferences are completely normal and not disturbing any norms and common sense. If that's all, let's go. We worried over nothing."
Listening to Nichos' reaction, Nio is confused. She meant that she sensed imminent danger when Nichos touches Viena out of nowhere, but it seems he didn't get it. She also feels like she lost the moment to expin more, so she decided to drop it. Yet, what makes her questioned him the most is how Nichos arrived at the conclusion.
"Why do you think so?" ask Nio.
"The girl has two guards, and his father is affiliated with the Cathedral. That means, she is obviously high-born. Crossing the noble and the church is a suicide for us since it will greatly undermine our effort to complete this mission."
"Why would a person from an important family stroll the street on foot?"
"Now, have you noticed? I am doing just the same," Nichos smiles.
"Hm. But what about the magic and others?"
"It's possible to think that she is a victim of a feud between nobles that involve Yarna as a media of coercion, hence expined the close retion between her family and the church following that issue."
"Shouldn't she be sheltered then?"
"Exactly. Sheltered people long for freedom every once in a while, that's why they went through all the trouble to mask her identity with magic and stuff to simply enjoy the city."
Nio smiles and chuckles to herself. She is so impressed by Nichos' answer and deduction.
"Nico is very smart. Nio wants to be like Nico."
"No need to feel that way. You are very talented also. Otherwise, I wouldn't ask you to help me finding the hero," Nichos rubs Nio's hair.