Aravel

Chapter 59

It was nearly two hours later when Lunaria concluded the tour of the palace at the common room. By then, they were all satisfied and contemplated by the tour. They hadn't even managed to touch every part of the palace for secrecy reasons, but it was already enough. Getting to look around the palace of Aravel was a luxury that no ordinary person would have gotten, especially from the eldest princess herself.

"So, how's everyone's impression?" Lunaria asked with a proud smile. "I hope I did enough to express my pride for my home."

"It was amazing, Lunaria," Kaze responded first.

"Splendid, it makes me want to live here forever," Chris agreed.

"Marvellous. Father is going to be so jealous," Yuuji gave a thumbs up.

"I think the highlight of the tour itself was Lunaria clinging to Kaze 90% of the time," Mitsui cheekily stated with a grin. "Come on, don't tell me that wasn't the most adorable thing you all have seen all week."

"M-Mitsui..." Sera sighed, shaking her head. "You didn't have to explicitly point it out. See? Lunaria's hiding behind Kaze..."

"Isn't that ironic? Lunaria's trying to disprove Mitsui's statement by only further reinforcing it," Irene giggled along with her friend. "At this point, we should just consider the duo a couple."

"Kaze, you don't look very surprised by this," Noel pointed out, nudging him lightly. "Don't you usually try to deny it?"

"... At this point, I've just accepted whatever criticism you all are going to throw at me," Kaze sweatdropped, taking all of his friends' playful remarks headfirst. "Just don't make Lunaria upset, you can tease me all you want."

At his rather bold declaration, Lunaria only blushed even more than before, causing Mitsui and Irene to squeal in delight. The boys all shook their heads at this, although Chris continued to snicker at Kaze. Noel, the usually serious one out of the bunch, simply smiled wryly at Kaze. Sera, Rena and Shoko, the trio who were best friends with Lunaria, just went over and comforted their dragonkin friend.

Thankfully, this continuous embarrassment was cut short when Lunatea and Lucentia showed up. This brought the group in attention since they knew that the princesses showing up specifically was either to deliver a message or make an announcement. Unless stated otherwise, it was probably best to assume the former.

"Lunaria-nee, you gave them a tour of the palace?" Lunatea questioned her elder sister. "Some of the maids told us they saw you walking around."

"Please don't go anywhere without informing us. Mother specifically told you that," Lucentia sighed at Lunaria.

"Sorry. I was training with Ash earlier," Lunaria apologised to her sisters. "Until Kaze found me."

For some reason, Lunatea and Lucentia winced a little when Lunaria mentioned the name of someone the others didn't know. It was like they were uncomfortable with the idea of it.

"... Regardless, father came to us with an announcement," Lunatea ignored that fact and turned to the group. "The Emperor has decided to inform you all that we would be eligible to bring you on a tour around town tomorrow. After breakfast, please get ready at the common room with attire suitable for walking around."

"In the meantime, you all may rest," Lucentia continued the second half of the message. "You may opt to return to your room until dinner time or continue lounging around. Of course, the palace is free for you to explore. Your pamphlets have been updated to list down specific locations that some of you showed great interest in earlier, specifically the library and the trophy room."