Monarchs Celestia

Part 2: Chapter 3(Old)

Chapter 3

Changes

I continued my way up the hill. The sun was at its highest. I continued to wear the cloak that Maha gave me but I didn't wear its hood as it was uncomfortable. Maha also gave me a knife which I have no idea what to use for. It was very windy but it blended well with the heat of the sun. I gazed over a couple of kids playing outside their homes at the top of the hill. The town is always lively during the day and I would sometimes visit for a change of pace. Having learned of what had happened over the past 4 years has been...interesting.

A week has passed since we came to Leon's house and Maha told me of what had happened for the past 4 years. Over the week I have come to accept the fact that I was 10 years old. That meant that my advantage of being slightly mature for my age had come to a bitter end. That also meant that I was now behind in terms of schooling. I was originally planning on getting a one-year head start when I was six years old but of course that didn't happen.

Sistine still went to the Academy as planned 4 years ago. According to Maha, Ren had to trick her that I was so excited that I couldn't wait and that I already went to the Academy much earlier that day. She didn't buy it at first so the maids went ahead and hid my body somewhere when Sistine went to my room. Hearing all of that made me laugh and I wished I was there to see her reaction.

Tina, on the other hand, didn't go to the Academy with Sistine. She stayed in the manor to take care of me for 2 years before deciding that it was time for her to study in an Academy. Tina didn't go to Azonia Academy of Magic, instead, she went to Alrael Holy Academy which was a school for priests. I never once thought of Tina as a religious person so I assumed that she came there to further enhance her healing magic as I've heard that Alrael has very advanced healing spells. The only downside to going there is that it could get very political.

Maha told me that she and Tina exchanged letters for the first few months until Tina stopped sending letters every month. Maha never questioned it as she assumed that Tina was busy as Academy work can be unforgiving. Most of Tina's letters were just checking up on how I was doing which made me feel happy when I heard. The last letter that Maha received from her was two months ago. It was another check and Maha's assumption of Tina being busy was right.

I was glad to hear that Tina and Sistine weren't in the manor when the burning happened. But that couldn't be said to Ren. Ren had apparently gone missing about six months ago and no one knows why. According to Maha, all noble lords in the Eclain kingdom started to disappear around the same time as Ren. Knights from the Aria Empire have also slowly integrated inside the Eclain kingdom. Citizens in the capital city of Eclain had started to act weird according to Maha. It wasn't safe for us to stay in the Eclain kingdom. Almost everyone with a brain could figure out that the Aria Empire is taking over the Eclain Kingdom.

The Walts manor only managed to stay because Maha threatened the new landlord assigned by the supposedly King of Eclain. Maha already knew beforehand that the real king of Eclain was dead and that the current one is a puppet controlled by the King of Aria. I asked how she knew all of this and all she said was that she would prefer not to talk about it. I respected her decision so I didn't ask further.

I then proceeded to ask a different question which involved the army of both kingdoms. I asked her why didn't the Aria Empire simply go to war with the Eclain kingdom. Maha said that the Aria kingdom probably didn't want to lose personnel or something. I just assumed that she didn't care about my question so I just rolled with it. But Leon actually came in and answered my question properly. He said that it probably had something to do with the Treaty of Ochosha 11 years ago. I was already pretty happy that he answered my question so I didn't ask for the details. He was also already forced to sleep outside so that was another thing.