Things They Didn't Say Out Loud

Chapter 7: The Pretty Warlock Boy

Hmm, the ankle bracelet is quite pretty, even though it's just a magical instrument in disguise...

Athy was sitting in a curled-up position on her bed, observing the piece of jewelry Lucas gave her earlier that morning. The rose-gold metal twinkled every time she moved her feet, instantly drawing people's attention.

"Is that the bracelet that Master Lucas put on to you this morning, Princess?" Lily approached her; she was ready to brush the Princess's hair before going to bed.

"Yes," Athanasia nodded.

"It's pretty," Lily smiled.

If Lilian had to point out the similarity between the Princess and Master Lucas, it was that both of them were enigmatic. At their young age, the Princess and Master Lucas had shown very different mannerisms compared to other children at their ages. They were very calm and composed, never threw any tantrums, and were very eloquent but relatively quiet most of the time. But strangely, when they were together, they started to act like their ages: tease each other, pull some pranks, have a childish quarrel over trivial matters, and constantly call each other names. They never had any severe conflict, though, as far as Lily knew. They would clash one day and then befriends the other day.

As the two of them turned into adolescents, the way they treated each other slowly changed. Lily noticed how Lucas' gaze softened when he looked at the Princess, and he grew a bit protective of her. Lucas had always been responsible for the Princess' mana maintenance, but lately, Lily could sense that he started to do it beyond the name of duty.

Meanwhile, Princess Athanasia... It was evident that the Princess always tried to look indifferent towards the young Master, but she failed at it miserably. It was clear in her eyes that the Princess cared so much about her childhood friend, carefully showing it in her own ways.

However, the Princess and Master Lucas were still very young (at least in Lily's eyes). She couldn't predict how their relationship would develop in the future, but at least Lily was quite sure the two of them would always watch each other's back and continue being friends... if not more.

"By the way, Lily, have dad sent out the invitation of next week's tea party?" Long story short, emperor Claude didn't give any permission to her going out of the palace and accepting other's party invitations. Instead, he would hold one in the castle and invite people over. That was, of course, because he was also worried about Athanasia's unstable mana. Moreover, the Emperor himself was sorting out whom to be invited, so Athanasia didn't really know who would attend until then.

"Yes, that was what I heard, Princess. We will inform you the list of the attendance once we accept their replies,"

"Uhmm... is Lady Margarita of Alpheus House also invited?"

Athy couldn't help but feel some uneasiness around Jeannette. She didn't look like a threat, but because of her knowledge about Lovely Princess' plot, sometimes she just felt like everything would crumble any moment... But she couldn't bring herself to dislike or even hate the girl. Even though she knew the brunette's genealogy and background story, she couldn't help but empathize a little.

"Yes, I suppose she was also invited. Do you have any concerns?"

"Ah, no... Not really," Athy gave Lily a reassuring smile.

Let's just see how the story goes... After all, this world was created for Jeannette...

After saying goodnight to Lily, Athy fell into a deep slumber, dreamt of a smiling, pink-eyed fairy lady.

--

"Goodbye, Lucas,"

He was holding a wrinkly, cold, feminine hand. He couldn't see her face clearly, but he could always recognize the platinum blonde hair that had turned grey halfway. She was breathing very slowly as if she could stop anytime.