Behold, Hope

Chapter 8: Royalty

I woke up the next day, somewhat irritated as I realized I planned to go to the Palace today. Alysa is currently pestering me about wearing a dress and being on my best behavior. I obviously refused to wear a dress since I would likely be there for a while and don't want to wear a dress for that long. Regarding my attitude, unfortunately, I promised that I would try to be nice to Halian and anyone else I encountered. I choose to wear Lycia's usual outfit, the one she died in. Black boots and pants, with a white flowy blouse. I asked Alysa to tie my hair with the white ribbon, like I did when I was in the Bellum. After looking in the mirror, I could still feel a ping in my chest. My black crystal earring dangled from my ear. I still feel like an imposter. I am not Lycia. I want to leave.

Alysa had made an actual crutch for me so I didn't need to use the peg leg ones that fell apart easily. Plus, Halian will have to walk slowly now. From what Lycia remembers, he walked very fast and never kept pace with anyone, which was one of the many reasons why many people got annoyed with him. If he's really changed, he won't get too annoyed and tolerate the fact that he has to match as slow of a pace as mine. Hehe.

I followed Rovan to the Reprise Building, meeting Halian outside the doors. He had prepared a carriage and full-on knights to escort us. A little over the top, but I'll accept it. The ride over to the palace was quiet and awkward, until Halian broke it first to my surprise.

"Why did you ask to see the internal state of the Kingdom?"

"It was my last wish before I died"

"Why are you insisting that you died?"

"You really think someone could've survived?" I retorted.

"Then how are you here, alive?"

"God" I answered simply.

Halian sighed and gave up on asking me more questions. The trip felt like forever, even though I stared out the window the whole time; I guess I was still unconsciously annoyed from the situation. Halian actually helped me get out of the carriage and I made it very apparent I was still upset after wiping my hand off on my pants while glaring at him.

"Ahem, well. Today, I figured we should visit the mages sector. Many have been begging to meet you after hearing you are alive. I hope that's okay" he said. I nodded and followed him, looking out over the palace grounds. While the Palace does house the royalty, many of the closest retainers work in buildings nearby, within the walls. While we were walking into the Magic Sector, Halian explained how the leadership within the Kingdom had changed and surprisingly tried to keep walking pace with me. At first, he went too fast and realized how far away I was and quickly pretended it was intentional as he made his way back to my side, pointing out flowers next to our feet. Even I wasn't quite used to how painstakingly slow I was with the crutch, but he was actually trying to stay with me. After going inside the Royal Mage Building, we were greeted by a silent, shocked mage who stared at me for a while, before Halian began glaring at him quite viciously, scaring him out of his trance.

"Ah, Lady Lycia, I'm so sorry. I wasn't expecting you to come visit us. I couldn't be more excited that you're here" he beamed, tears running down his face. One of Lycia's memories flashed in my eye sight. Ah, he was one of the mages Lycia saved.

"I'm relieved that you were able to survive that day" I replied, smiling. He continued to cry more and I could hear other people making their way towards us, likely curious as to why this mage was wailing. I didn't recognize any of the mages that came around the corner; they all turned to Halian suspiciously, clearly wondering if he had insulted him and made him cry. I laughed lightly and apologized to the mages, saying I was an old friend of this mage. They seemed to understand and left us. The mage collected himself and told us his name, Agnus. He helps run the administrative side of the Mage Sector now instead of going on expeditions as part of the Knights. I asked him about what had happened when Bellachay joined the Saskia Alliance and he explained quite enthusiastically about how much more coordinated and knowledgeable, not only the Mage Sector, but also the other internal departments, became. I was quite satisfied with his response.