Aravel

Chapter 22

With the five heading to the palace on foot, they struck up a conversation with the rarely-seen Noel.

"How have you been lately, Noel?" Yuuji, always the conversation starter, began as soon as they left their house.

"Fine," Noel simply responded. "More importantly, I want to hear about the centipede battle."

"Wait, were you not there at the examination?" Kaze asked, considering he was knocked out or kept preoccupied half the time. "You are a first-year too, aren't you?"

"Yes, but then it was decided I need not participate in that part of the exam," Noel nodded with a frustrated groan. "If only I was a bit more stubborn to Dad, I would have been able to force him to make me participate."

"Haha, you seem like you really wanted to face off against the centipede, Noel," Lunaria giggled at this. "Why were you rejected from participating in the first place?"

"Because my Dad deemed I was too strong to fight the others in this event," Noel pouted. "I was trained by the knight commander, being my Dad, since young, so it is understandable why I was forbidden from it. However.... What a wasted chance!"

"You have to get used to this," Yuuji sweatdropped. "As much as I don't want to admit it, Noel can be a bit of a battle junkie at times. In the first place, not many girls would be so enthusiastic with fighting in the first place. Noel even left her hair at shoulder-length so it wouldn't get in the way of her fighting."

"You seem to know a lot about each other," Kaze smiled at their obvious friendship. "Were you two childhood friends too?"

"Even more so than with Chris and Irene," Yuuji nodded. "I said before that I knew the two since middle school, but I knew Noel since we were 5."

"Around 4 to be exact, but 5 because it was your birthday when I was introduced to you," Noel recounted the event with a sigh. "I remember that you were so polite to me at the time that I mistook you for an adult in a child's body."

"Being polite is one of the essences of being royalty, after all. I received such training from the start so it is normal for these sorts of interactions to happen too," Yuuji laughed at Noel's reaction. "Kaze, you probably aren't familiar to the technicalities, but you don't have to worry. Since we are having a close discussion, you can be a little more informal. Just act like you usually do and you will be fine."

"Oh... is His Majesty fine with it?" Kaze asked, feeling slightly concerned. "But if you said it's fine, then I suppose it's fine."

"By right, we are supposed to be formal and all," Yuuji explained. "But I specifically requested it to be a private meeting due to some of us being unfamiliar or being unable to hold a comfortable discussion together."

"I see, that is fine too," Lunaria nodded. "I hope His Majesty does not treat us any different from how he treats you, Yuuji."

"Father and Mother are both very kind people, but they have to put up a tough front in front of the Chancellors and Advisors," Yuuji continued. "With us, they should be open and happy to talk too. We will be able to discuss this matter with absolute secrecy."

More time passed and they soon arrived at the front gates of the palace.

With both Yuuji and Noel with them, the guards at the gates easily allowed them to pass. Even though Kaze, Lunaria and Mitsui were subjected to a simple body check, it was still enough to show that they didn't have any problems that prohibited them from entering.

"A palace is a palace, alright. This place looks like its own world," Kaze gulped, looking around at the front yard they were currently walking past to reach the front of the palace.