Fate or Not

Chapter 2

"By the decree of ma malesti(my majesty), the first princess, Princess Aluriya, of the land of Shavirody is now to be crowned Queen as the ruler of this land."

I opened my eyes only to be staring at the ceiling, while still being half delirious.

The faces in dream were fuzzy, I can't differentiate if it was a dream or fragments of my memory. I hoped that Alford would be able to tell me more about myself, but I knew he wouldn't. He told me there was a reason that I chose to shut my own memories from myself and unvealing that will only be going to cause me irreparable damage once more.

I stared at the ceiling of the fishing huts and blinked really hard, twice. Somehow or the other, I believed that by doing so I could clear my brain of any thoughts. Finally, my long awaited birthday party has arrived.

"cling cling" the bell on the door chimed. Without giving a thought to my pajamas or bed-hair, I made my way to the door.

"Who's that?" I asked as I pulled open the creakily shaky wooden door carefully so as not to break it.

"Ma malesti, this lowly knight of yours, Marcellus has came to deliver your gown for the party this evening," followed by a tiny bow.

My head gave a tiny crack somewhere when he called out "ma malesti". It's not the usual common language, not in Elsaria, and not of any places that I could remember of, not that I remember any, but it's more of a cultural dialect spoken by the neighboring country or so as I was told during one of Marc's adventure.

"This lady will gladly accept your gift, and you may rise" I chuckled as I took the box from his hands. My cheeks were flushed red, but I tried to put on an act to make me believe that I wasn't, so that I would look cool in front of Marc. His eyes were looking straight into mine and I find it hard to turn my head away. Finally, he began to split his lips apart to let words flow out.

"Be ready by 7! I will be here to fetch you!" Marc said as he trotted away as if he were very busily participating in the party preparation.

Another tradition of the 17th birthday party, was that for three consecutive days before the exact date, the birthday girl/guy would be living alone in a hut separated from the town so as to make the birthday party more of a surprise. For that 3 days, special treatments would be given such as food will be delivered to the door and the room has wooden bath tubs and many other amenities, basically for total relaxation. It is the one and only opportunity to chill for the entire lifespan of the Elsaria town folks who could not spare much for luxuries, the privilege of youth and a coming of age ceremony.