THALIA WHITLOCK
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Placing her last belonging in the suitcase, Olga put the lock on it as soon as she shut it close. Rosie stood on its toes, peering at the suitcase. "Ready to leave?", Olga asked Rosie. The rabbit twitched its nose as it turned to look at Olga. "Of course." It beamed, hopping away from the bed. "We need to meet your prince charming as soon as possible."
A red hue decorated the cheeks of the ogress. "There's no need to rush". She huffed, dragging the heavy luggage off the bed, which hit the floor with a thud. "You should keep it here in the room. You know that there are people to take it to the carriage for you." Setting the suitcase upright, and picking it up by the handle, Olga smiled at Rosie. "This is the last one. It feels too embarrassing to go out empty-handed."
"Now, where's your bag?" Olga asked the rabbit as she looked around. "Can't I just walk beside you?" Rosie hopped towards Olga and sat at her feet, doe eyes looking up at her princess. Butterflies swarmed in Olga's stomach as she admired the loveliness of her friend. "I wish, but I cannot do that. You know how the Grandmaster is?"
Rosie snorted. "Come 'on Rosie. She let us stay together, so we must atleast abide by her rules." Sighing hopelessly, Rosie hopped to her cage and opened the door by itself. "I wasn't the one who bit her." Despite the nagging, Rosie complied to Olga's words and sat inside the cage.
Soon they were out of their bedroom, making their way to the gates. Olga was struggling with the suitcase due to its heavy weight, but she masked it over with a smile on her face so that Rosie won't be able to notice and start nagging at her.
As she walked down the hallway, she noticed how quite it was. Normally, the whole building would be filled with soft murmurs as thousands of juniors and new seniors would be resuming their class at this hour. Not a single soul was in sight.
"Say, Rosie. Doesn't it seem too quiet?" Rosie looked around curiously, her nose twitching nonstop. "It is quiet." Rosie agreed, emphasizing in is. "Olga!" Rosie gasped dramatically. "what if someone threw a gas bomb and now they're all unconscious" Looking at Rosie with surprised eyes, Olga shook her head. "Heavens! Stop thinking so far. Be positive, darling."
Ignoring Olga, Rosie busied herself in cleaning her fur. With a doting smile, Olga glanced at her friend and went ahead. As she reached the doors, it was strangely closed. Olga looked around, trying to spot anyone but to no avail. She tried to remember if today was a special occasion. She busied herself so much in preparing to leave to her kingdom these past few days that she might have mistakenly skipped the date.
Shrugging off her thoughts, she grabbed the bronze handles on the door and pulled it with all of her strength. As the doors opened, a soft blow of wind touched her face, making her close her eyes. A loud pop sound followed another startled, causing her to quickly open her eyes. The scene infront of unfolded, making her heart flutter and eyes well up with tears. "Grandmaster..." She softly addressed the elderly man standing infront of her, in the middle of the crowds divided in half.
"Princess Olga Valdivia." He started with a kind smile. "You are one of our dearests. We welcomed you lavishly with all the other enrollees and we shall send you home the same way." Two students from both sides came from the crowds and one took her suitcase from her hands and the other with Rosie's cage. With gratitude, Olga smiled at the students as her eyes met theirs for a brief moment. The students blushed and looked away before they walked to her carriage.
"shall we go?" The Grandmaster stretched his hand towards her and without any hesitation, Olga took it. As she walked to her carriage, hand in hand with her Grandmaster, she looked around, meeting eyes with each and every student present.
Olga recognized the coachman who opened the door for her. "Mister Edmond! How are you?" The coachman bowed. "I'm doing well. You look as bright as ever, Princess."
"Thank you." Olga seated herself inside the carriage and turned her head to the Grandmaster. "Thank you for allowing me acquire knowledge from this academy and thank you for your kindness." The smile on the elder man's face never faltered. "Congratulations for your engagement, Princess Olga. You will be a great queen, forever known in history." The Grandmaster bowed and closed the door for her.
Everyone cheered, some shedding tears as the carriage started leaving. Olga was truly a friend to everyone. Her kindness and warm smiles managed to capture their hearts and win their trusts in her.
She looked out of the window, watching as her people disappeared from her line of sight. Her constricted with pain. The thought of never seeing them again broke her heart. "They were nice." Rosie stole her attention from her thoughts. Olga nodded. "They truly are."
"so..." Olga stared at Rosie, waiting for it to finish its sentence. But it kept playing with its ears for a while. "Can I get out?" Olga hummed and opened the cage door, allowing Rosie to hop out and onto Olga's lap. "Get some rest before we reach the palace. Mary and the others will go crazy once they see you. So you should have a lot of energy for that." Rosie hummed and closed her eyes and soft caresses from Olga on its head lulled it to sleep. Olga looked out of the window and watched clouds follow her.
By the time they reached the palace, Rosie had started to wake up. "we're here", Olga softly whispered to the sleepy rabbit. Taking Rosie in her arms, Olga stepped out of the carriage once the door was opened by her. As she did, she was greeted by a tight hug and twirled around. "Julius!" She giggled. Emotions bubbled up inside of her and slowly, tears welled up in her eyes.
She missed her brother so much. It had been almost 8 years since she left the academy. She had never been able to meet him except for twice when he visited. After that, he got busy with the palace works as he was being trained to be the next head of Roachester Mansion, after his maternal grandfather Carlix Roachester. Despite being half-siblings, they loved and respected each other so much as if they were from the same womb.
"Welcome back, E-Olga." Olga leaned her head on his, one arm securely carrying Rosie while the other was tightly holding onto her brother. "Oh brother, I missed you. I missed everyone so much." She sniffled. Putting her down, Julius patted her head, "Me too, dear sister." He smiled.
"OLGA!" Olga's ears perked up, her eyes looking over her brother's shoulder, and a beamed decorated her face immediately. "Darius!" She gently put Rosie on the ground and opened her arms to Darius as he ran up to her. He picked her up in his embrace and twirled her around in excitement. "It's been so long!", he squeaked. Olga laughed lightly.
"Now, now, Darius Valdivia. That is not how the future King of Sephora should behave." Behind them, a middle-aged man came up to them, his hands behind his back as he had a proud smile on his face. Once again, Olga teared up upon seeing the familiar face. "Papa..." Her voice faltered as she let go of Darius and slowly walked over to the King. "Your Majesty." She curtsied, but the man stopped her midway and embraced her. "Welcome home, my child." He gave a caress on her head, making Olga chuckle.
Ever since the war took away her parents, her uncle, King Pius Valdivia, took over the role of her father. This was Olga's fathers' last wish. For his brother to take care of his daughter.
"Where's aunt Gaia?"
She received a tight-lipped smile from the elder, making her understand the situation just from the lack of response. "She still hates me." She breathed out. With furrowed eyebrows, the King looked at Olga. "She doesn't. Just like how you are a daughter to me, she takes you as her own as well. The past still has been holding her back. But don't worry, she'll come around. I mean, who can resist such a kind heart like you?" He reassured.
Olga nodded and smiled at her. Just then, she felt a chill run down her spine. Her heart felt somewhat heavy and uneasy as she could feel stares boring holes into her soul. She looked up at the Palace, eyes turning towards where she felt the stares coming from. And her eyes caught a woman, half of themselves covered by the satin curtain. As their eyes met, Olga could feel that she was not welcomed by that person.
The eye contact was brief as the woman glared at her before shutting the curtains, hiding from Olga's view.
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