My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 35- Friendship with my nemesis

We walked in silence until I couldn't take it any longer.

"Your highness, thank you for help," I told him as he led me gently through the main path, which ended at the entrance of this dreadful place.

"Don't worry Lulu! Though I would say you should avoid hurting yourself to prove a point." Cedric gave me a knowing look, while he continued his slow walk.

"How?!"I asked in astonishment.

He gave me a light smile.

"You lie poorly, miss Lulu." He replied, now with a goofy grin on his face.

I stopped in my tracks, making a strong noise on the gravel... Thankfully the Duke's aide stopped as well some distance away, to provide us some privacy.

To think a child would say such things! Was I that predictable? (Don't you dare answer that?!)

But those words didn't explain everything.

"How did you know I was in the middle of something problematic?" I asked as I pushed myself in front of him to make him stop trying to lead me and to look into his dazzling eyes.

He glanced back, unnerving me until he reached for a pocket in my dress. From there he took a small purple rock, showing it to me for a while before he put it on my palm.

As I looked at the rock, mesmerized, he explained.

"I saw the way the ladies were looking at you and I got worried, so I put this rock in your pocket while you were distracted."

I gave him a look back, expecting more explanations. He laughed at my expression before continuing.

"I have been practicing alchemy and this was a result of it. It was supposed to warn me when someone close by cried, though I hadn't expected it to have been your sister to activate it."

I continued to look at him, assessing his words. They seemed a little off.

"I thought alchemy should be learned at the Tower after one had the First Sacrifice." I wondered as I grasped the stone in my hands.

The First Sacrifice was a mysterious thing. Contrary to the Three Blessings, the Three Sacrifices were mentioned in the book, though never described. I had thought it would be the counterpart of the blessings like the Moon Empire was the counterpart of the Sun Empire... but things didn't add up... who would marry in a ceremony called "Sacrifice"? Besides, I learned in hushed tones, from some maids who had come from the border, that the First Sacrifice was done when the boys and girls reached adulthood. Something briefed in the book as well.

I imagined it involved a bigger risk than soaking a diamond in a pool. What exactly, I didn't know, because the book had never described it and the maids were too afraid to prolong on the topic. The only thing I knew for sure was that magic could only be done after the ceremony when you were officially an adult in the Moon Empire. Never before.

But important things first...

Who creates magical objects that warn if a person near is crying or not? What bullshit is this?

His eyes were full of curiosity and his lips continued to be curved in a smile. He came closer than before, our feet almost touching.

"Someday have to tell me, miss Lulu, how you, a lady of the Sun Empire know so much of our traditions." He whispered so no one could hear it, even the aides behind us.

Oops...

"It is no secret so I see no reason for such surprise," I told him shrugging it off. It's not like I could tell him about the book.