A Fate That's Changes

Chapter 12: Turning point (Part 2)

As the days passed by, it was already getting nearer to December. This indicates that Athanasia's birthday was coming soon, meaning she's going to officially turn seven in this world.

You might think she would've been excited, but unfortunately not. You see, on the first birthday that she had officially after being placed under Anastasius' wings, she enjoyed it. She was given a private library by him and followed by a rose garden that she didn't even ask for. After that, she was able to spend time with him around the palace. Even if it's during his work or when he's having tea.

Her past self would have been ecstatic to spend time with Anastasius, but now she's not sure if she is anymore.

The Anastasius that she knew from the past was parental, humorous, and just enjoyable to be around. But Anastasius now was just downright cruel, a narcissist, hard to understand, and sometimes you can't even tell what he's planning next.

So if you're telling her to spend a whole day with version number two of Anastasius, then you must've hit your head on a wall or something. There's just no way she is going to spend her birthday with someone like him. Not when he didn't even give her a rock yet.

As she sat on her bed and was deep in thought, a maid came knocking on the door. "Princess Athanasia, I came to deliver your milk and honey."

She didn't pay any mind to her, before replying, "You may come in."

The door was open and in came two maids. One was pushing a cart filled with pastry and tea, while the other was carrying a tray with a pot of tea and a cup of honey.

As they arrange the pastries and milk on the table, one of the maids comes up to her with a cup of honey milk ready for her to drink. When she was handed the cup, she didn't hesitate to take the first sip of the milk.

"Princess, after you finish your milk you are asked by his highness the Emperor to meet him in his office." the maid said with a calm voice as she finished arranging the final plate of cookies.

"Uh-huh," Athanasia replies, not giving herself time to process.

It took a few more minutes for her to process what she had just heard before her eyes widened as she shot up to look at the maid in disbelief.

"What did you just say!"

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The weather today was bright and sunny with only a hint of cloud, a far cry from the stormy weather this past few days.

As Anastasius leaned on his seat with a bored expression on his face, a knock came on the door. "Your Majesty, my apologies if I'm bothering you, but I'd like to inform you that Crown Princess Athanasia, your daughter, has arrived as you requested." the voice of Felix said from outside the oak door.

"Come in," Anastasius replied casually, still keeping the bored look on his face.

It wasn't because he was bored or anything, he was just using it to mask his true emotion. As emperor, he needs to keep his emotion to himself. Whether that's to the council, the brat, or the other brat that his host loves to call 'daughter'.

As the door opened, in came the said brat and her loyal dog by her side. "I'm grateful that you could come and see me at such short notice, Athanasia." He said with a fake smile as he got up from his seat and moved to the front of his desk. He leaned against it with a relaxed pose, before beckoning her to come and take a seat on one of the sofas.

She did just what he asked, taking a seat on the cushion, but she sat on the farthest edge of the chair, away from (Fake) Anastasius.

He wasn't bothered by her choice of seating as he still gave out a pleased hum. He turns and looks straight into her fearful gaze with a crook of his head and raised brows. "Do you know why I'm calling you here, Athanasia?" He asks out of curiosity.

She stares at him with a doubtful gaze before answering, "No, I do not, Father." She said, the word 'Father' stretching in her voice.

He just gave a nod at her answer before beckoning a maid standing from the side. She came over to him and was given a small note. She nodded, knowing fully what to do before walking out of the room and down the hall, away from the line of sight.

"Where is she going?" Athanasia said in curiosity.

"Athanasia, it's not proper for a lady to speak with missing words in her vocabulary. Your grandmother would've been so disappointed in you." He said with a hand on his heart, acting as if he was hurt.

"My apology, Father. I meant to ask where she was heading off out of curiosity." She replied, this time using more words in her sentence.

He was pleased with her and gave her an approving nod. He then looked up at the doorway once he sensed that the maid was back with the required item in hand.

The maid came through the door with a royal blue color box in her hand. The box already looked like it could cost a lot on its own, aside from what was inside of it.

He beckoned the maid to Athanasia who was sitting on the cushion waiting expectantly for what to come next. "Put it on her."

From his words, the maid made her way to Athanasia and placed the box aside on a nearby table. She carefully opened the box and gently took out the necklace that was inside. She then places the necklace around Athanasia's neck before connecting the chain. Once was fully finished, she stepped aside to let Athanasia admire the jewel.

When Athanasia looms down at the necklace around her neck, she was flabbergasted by what she saw.

The jewel was so beautiful that she couldn't stop staring at it. There was just this comforting feeling that came with it, it feels just like when she was spending time with the old Anastasius. It brings back to her comforting memory that she was grateful for in this uncertain time.

The gem was in the shape of a heart with gold surrounding its edge, with different patterns decorated onto the gold, making it more eye-catching, and the most impressive part was that the gem was glowing on its own, the light that gave off was a light blue color that was comforting to look at. When she looked straight into the gem, she couldn't help but get that feeling like she was staring back at someone, someone that she could probably know of. But she slides it off as if she's just imagining things.

"So what do you think of the gift? I got it custom made just for this occasion." Anastasius said with an expectant look in his eyes.

"I'm very grateful for the gift of your Highness. This jewel must be one of a kind." Athanasia replied, not taking her eyes off the gem.

"You're right, it is. The gem that I have gifted you is an enchanted jewel. It has the power to understand its host feeling and to also calm the person's emotions. It's like a little friend for you, say anything to it and it'll respond by glowing its light differently to let you know." Anastasius said to her.

"Really?" She said in surprise looking at Anastasius in disbelief, before looking down at the gem with a warm-hearted smile on her face and a grateful expression.

She caresses the jewel in her hand before leaning in and whispering, "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just want to let you know that I'm grateful to have someone I could talk to and be on my side."

'I promise, I won't ever leave your side, Athanasia.'

She jotted up from her seat in surprise, her mind confused by what she just heard. 'I must be imagining things again. There is just no way the gem just responded to me.'

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"Is it a good idea to give him to her, Aeternitas? You'll never know what she could do if she discovered the real Anastasius was in her hand." The voice belonging to a woman said as she sat in front of Aeternitas with a cup of tea in her hand.

"Don't be too worried about it, I already thought ahead. The thing you're supposed to be worrying about is fulfilling your part of the deal." Aeternitas said, leaning back in his seat with a devilish smirk forming on his face.

"I am fully aware, it's the reason I'm still alive after all." The woman said with a sneer in her voice.

"It's good that we could have a mutual understanding, Lady Judith."