Chapter 34: Tension between Kingdoms

In the private chamber of Sandsreach, Celestia and Shawn reached the palace after a brief rest and went to meet Malakor in his private chamber. They sat around the round table, with Celestia and Malakor sitting facing each other while Shawn stood beside them, pouring tea.

As Malakor took a sip, his eyes widened in surprise and he turned to Shawn.

“That’s quite delicious. What did you do?”

“Nothing, your majesty. I have been preparing this for quite a long time for Aria-Sama. It’s thanks to her pointing out the things I left behind; as I corrected them, this is the result,” Shawn said.

“Ah… I see now. It must be hard to keep up with a divine being like her,” Malakor chuckled.

Shawn wanted to say something but kept his composure.

“Anyway…,” Celestia put her cup down after a sip. “I would like you to tell me about the tension between Sandsreach and Frosthold. Even though we have a gist of it, we haven't been able to find the cause of the tension between the borders.”

Malakor leaned forward as his expression changed.

“Well… the thing is, people are vanishing from the Frosthold kingdom.”

“Vanishing?” Celestia pressed.

“Yup… It started two years ago. Since the first incident happened, people started vanishing from the Frosthold kingdom and were later found dead in the middle of the desert.”

“Wait! This doesn't make sense. Why are people who vanished in Frosthold found dead in the middle of the desert out of nowhere?” Celestia questioned, as Shawn added, “I understand why they have a suspicion now… but as the Sandsreach king, you must have tried to communicate with them for cooperation.”

“Yes, we had three meetings with Lady Lumira and the Frosthold representatives, but things weren't settled, and the tension kept increasing as their accusations against us increased as well.”

“I had met Lady Lumira once at a royal gathering. As far as I know, she doesn't feel like someone who would accuse others like that,” Celestia commented.

“Yes, but things are complicated with her as well. She considers that we are not entirely to blame, but the evidence they have…”

“Evidence?” Shawn repeated.

“Hmm,” Malakor nodded. “There is one more strange thing that started around that time.” He took a deep breath and continued, “The memories of the dead people are completely erased from their relatives and friends. After investigating, it was found that the person behind this is using some kind of forbidden relic.”

“The Kaelen Crimson Orb…” Celestia muttered under her breath.

“Yeah, just like it… You might have read about it in the first war against gods and mortals. When the gods won the war and threw the mortals from heaven to earth, they collected each relic—mainly created to perform miracles—and buried them in an unknown location in the desert.”

Shawn's mind raced as he connected the pieces. The crimson orbs, the cloaked figure, the missing people—it was all connected. But something was still unclear.

“So, someone must have found the location of it.”

“That’s what we fear,” Malakor’s voice dropped. “But even though we know, we are unable to find the very person. We have no idea who is behind it.”

Silence followed for a moment as Shawn stared at the floor. Things were becoming more complicated. If the person who found the forbidden relic possessed it, why were they using it to create tension between the kingdoms? And also… why were they targeting Aria?

As Celestia opened her mouth to break the silence, the chamber door opened and a small girl around six years old, with dark hair and bright eyes, ran in while stretching out her hands.

“PAPA!!!!!”

“Mayra? What are you doing here? Where is your mother…?” Malakor asked, surprised.

The door opened again as a lady entered, calling the little girl's name.

“Mayra! I said Papa is busy with guests! You need to leave them alone!” Her mother scolded, then turned and smiled at them. “I apologize, Lady Celestia… to interrupt your important talk. I tried to stop Mayra, but she just barged in.”

Celestia and Shawn looked confused as the lady gestured to Malakor with her eyes.

“I think I need to introduce you two to my family…” Malakor walked toward the lady and the little girl in her arms, hugging his wife's side. “This is my wife, Mira… and this little girl is our daughter, Mayra.”

“I see…” Celestia smiled at them as she greeted them with royal etiquette. “It’s my pleasure to meet you, your highness… I am the Aqualila Princess, Celestia Aquallia… and this is the attendant of the Sword Saint, Aria Seraphis, Shawn Falcon.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness,” Shawn dropped to his knees and greeted them.

“Hehe…” The Queen smiled.

“Mayra… you should say hi to our guests.”

“Hello…” Mayra said.

“Hello, little one… How are you doing today?” Celestia walked up to her and shook the girl's hand.

“I am fine, hehe,” the girl giggled.

“Now that you've met me, Mayra, go with your mother. My guests and I are talking about something important, okay?”

“Why… I wanted to play with you…” Mayra's face dropped as she felt upset.

“Mayra…” He called out, but Celestia interrupted.

“Don’t worry, your majesty. We can talk later; that can wait. I don’t want a child to feel left alone for some outsiders,” Celestia said, and Shawn noticed Celestia’s expression when she talked about it.

With that, Celestia and Shawn left the family behind, walking through the corridors in silence as the evening sunlight painted the place a warm orange.

"Princess Celestia," Shawn said.

"Hmm?" She nodded. "What is it?"

"If you don’t mind, can we start your sword training from now on?" He stopped walking, turning to face her. "You asked me to train you, and since we have some time, I think we might start with at least the basics."

She stared at him. "Training, huh? Well, alright, better than nothing. But first—” She turned and leaned in close to him. “I noticed this before, but I forgot to point out: stop addressing me as princess."

"Huh? Then what do you want me to call you?"

"Just call me Celestia. It’s way better and sounds nicer."

"If you say so…"

From there, they walked toward the palace training yard, which was quiet at this time of day. Shawn took a wooden sword and handed one to her.

"Now, firstly, we will learn how to hold a sword properly."

"Like this?" Celestia held the sword as she asked him.

"No… put your feet apart. Left foot forward. No—your left. The other one."

"This is my left."

"Then why is your right foot in front?"

Celestia looked down, scowled, and corrected herself.

"Better. Now, keep your elbows in. Don't telegraph your movements. And for the love of all that's holy, stop gripping the sword so tightly."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, that’s better."

They practiced the correct stances, basic attacks, and block patterns for an hour, stopping when Shawn noticed Celestia starting to sweat and pant hard with tiredness.

"Not bad. Maybe we should wrap it up," Shawn admitted.

"What do you mean 'not bad'? I did an impressive job."

"If throwing the sword in the air and tripping more than six times counts as impressive, then right, it’s an impressive job."

"Hey!"

Shawn laughed after teasing her a little, his expression then returning to normal.

"By the way, Princ— No, I mean Celestia, I noticed you were staring at Mayra earlier."

Celestia's hand paused mid-motion. "Was I?"

"Your expression changed," he paused. "You looked at her like… like she had something you lost."

She was quiet for a long moment. Then she sat down on the bench, staring at the ground.

"Nothing, just remembering my old days," she said slowly. "My parents were like that with me. Warm. Attentive. They used to look at me the way Malakor looks at Mayra." She let out a small, humorless laugh. "And after Aria came…"

She sighed. "You know the story afterwards."

Shawn sat down beside her, saying nothing.

"Say, what do you think… will I, in the future of course, be able to become a great ruler like King Malakor, Lady Lumira, Prince Cernan, my father, or even Aria?"

"Well, you are already doing your best, so I think you shouldn't need to worry about that, but…"

Why did she bring up Aria? Didn't she know Aria has no qualities of becoming a good ruler?

"But?" She tilted her head.

"Nothing."

She stood up and dusted herself off. "Anyway, what do you think Aria and Rikka might be doing right now?"

"Well, as far as I know her… I know what might actually be happening there."

In the Frosthold kingdom...

“Aria-Sama…” Rikka glanced at Aria, who was walking beside her as if someone had drained her entire energy.

She remained silent.

“What happened to you after we got back from the tavern? Sorry to say, but you look like a dead person.”

“Nothing… It’s just, I missed a once-in-a-million-time opportunity.”

“I see…”

I don’t know what she is talking about, but it seems she is worried about something. The sun is already down, and I think she is tired and needs rest.

“Aria-Sama, don’t worry. We might not have been able to gather intel from the tavern, but there are many places where we can investigate. For now, I think we should find an inn to rest.”

“That sounds better…”

With that, they started searching for an inn to rest well and continue their investigation later.