Chapter 361: Shadow Inside Nobility
Aether lifted his eyes, the gate towards the Blue Rose... it was weird, he had only seen people come from it ever, and the same people going back, but never someone from the Withered getting in. It was unheard of.
Though it was also the only place in the Withered where Blue Rose rested all the time, the gate was owned by the Blue Rose; that small place was their territory, everyone knew that. You could call it an unwritten rule.
Aether approached one of the guards, keeping the hood of the mantle on. He didn’t have a reason to wear the mantle, but he considered it safer. It was better to have armor on no matter what, and for him, this was his armor.
Even if his body was stronger now, he didn’t know what surprises could happen.
Seeing Aether approach, the guard groaned, putting himself in front of him. He had probably had many others like him trying to get inside; he didn’t doubt that, since as much as the people of the Withered hated the Blue Rose, all knew that it was a paradise, getting inside was definitely not a bad thing for them. Many desired it more than the Freedom of the Withered.
"Dude, I don’t know who you are, but just get out of here. You are not getting in. Don’t make me force you away, I’m too tired."
Aether smiled, of course the guard couldn’t see it because of the ability of the mantle, but he was. After all, the guard really had no idea...
Putting his hand in his pocket, he took out the badge given to him by Avius, a leather badge with a blue rose made out of a blue crystal, one he hadn’t seen before. But it wasn’t like he had seen many crystals in his life before.
Seeing the guard’s eyes rise, oh, how much he enjoyed it; seeing the pride and confidence of Blue Rose guards was very nice to him.
"Oh." The guard said quietly. "I-I’ll call someone to meet you on the other side, just wait until he arrives...sir."
Aether nodded as the guards went inside his small room in the wall.
It was nice that they called a guide; he had never been to the Blue Rose before, so he would have had a really hard time getting around, probably not a hard time finding the Academy, since it was probably really big, but all the other things would have been hard to find... Though now thinking of it, how was he going to make money? Did they give him money to buy food or something? Or was he going to have to go and get things from inside books to sell?
He will have to figure things out... after all, he was sixteen already, he wasn’t a child, he needed to find a way to do things by himself, he wasn’t a small child anymore. Heck, he was close to... adulthood. It felt unreal, but it was true. If he thought about it, if he was still in his home Kingdom, it had been a few years; he didn’t know if at eighteen necessarily, but he would have been crowned King. Irnoic... he had never thought that he would be on this path. But here he was. So different... from a soon King, to a Stray. Would anyone have thought? Probably not.
Aether waited for some time, enough to say that he had gotten quite bored, but in the end, it was finally time. The guard approached him with a nervous smile. "You may enter the Blue Rose; there will be someone to meet you on the other side.
Hearing this, Aether just passed the guards, watching as the gates started opening. He felt his heart start beating quite fast. After all, there wasn’t really going back... well, he could, but why would he do that? He had chosen this path, and he was going to see the end of it. What fate has in store for it?
Aether took a deep breath, passing into the Blue Rose.
...
...
...
Taking off his hood, Aether put his arm up to stop the light from getting into his eyes. The sun, he could actually see it, and the sky, it was so blue... it was completely different from the Withered, and more importantly, it wasn’t raining anymore. For the first time in so long, it had stopped raining.
Then suddenly, as he was about to be caught by the sky, he heard someone clear his throat; he had completely forgotten someone had come to meet him.
His eyes came down, but... it really didn’t feel like it, as he was met by a galaxy, or rather a pair of beautiful purple eyes, with the darkness of space around them. What a strange boy, he had beautiful features, he had to say... were all Blue Rose people like this?
’Wait... he looks familiar...’ Then his eyes lit up, remembering him, he was the knight who was with Iris, and a member of the group that was looking for him. Aether staggered a bit before putting on a smile and letting his mantle disappear.
Orion raised one of his eyebrows at his reaction. "What a strange guy you are, it’s good to meet you... Aether." He definitely didn’t seem happy to see him; if he looked at him like he was a criminal, he didn’t even know he was the Abyss’s Vessel... well, that is if Lilith didn’t go and tell everyone, which... he actually doubted, not because he wouldn’t, but because Avius didn’t know. Or rather, he looked like he didn’t know, which, with how weird the King of the Blue Rose was, he didn’t doubt.
"Orion, right? It’s nice that they chose a familiar face for my guide," Aether smirked, not letting himself be intimidated by the boy... after all, he was a Seeker now, and definitely not a week one. He wasn’t weak, not the same person who didn’t know how to wield a blade; that version of him was long gone.
The knight put on a small frown, not one that was obvious to see, but one big enough to see.
"This is the Merchant’s Ward. It’s where most lower nobles live, though it’s not a bad place at all. I would go as far as to say the people living inside here had it the best, they have a lot of fun places, and no responsibility really. This is the first bailly; the walls that guard it are the ones you just entered. But it’s not the place you will be staying in... unfortunately."
’I heard that bastard!’
Aether calmed himself down as Orion started to walk. It was quite beautiful, this ward... it was a lot different from anything inside the Withered, far more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. Not even in his home kingdom... he knew that Blue Rose was far richer than they, but he had no idea it was to this degree. "Will I be able to come back here later?" Orion frowned, turning back. "Yes, just be sure you keep that badge on you."
They walked until they reached another wall. The archers inside the small towers of the wall raised their bows at him, but when Orion raised his hand, they stopped. It was clear that he was important, far more importantly than he thought.
When he crossed the wall, he saw many expensive houses, but also a heck of a lot of cathedrals. It was far more than he had ever seen in his life.
"This is the Nobles’ Ward. I doubt you will be staying here a lot, though. It’s where most nobles live, but only those on the medium level, you could say. There isn’t that much interesting stuff here, well, unless you consider their parties fun, I don’t, maybe because I’m a knight and not a rich and proud noble like them. Funny, since my family is way more important than all of theirs."
Orion continued to explain to him more on how the Nobles’ Ward worked, and why to just stay out of it as a guest from the Witherd, since the people would definitely not like him here.
And in the end, they reached the last ward, The Royal Ward. The place where the Academy rested.
But, before Orion could even tell him anything, someone called out. "Orion, my friend, I see you got our guest... mind if I borrow him for a bit, the King wants to speak to him." The knight’s eyes instantly widened as he nervously responded. "Of course, he’s yours." Even he couldn’t talk back, not only because it was a request from the King. But also because of the person who was delivering the message.
...
"Lilith..."
The boy smiled. "How’s it been? Is death fun?"
Aether frowned in disgust... was he going to have to attend the same school as him?
This was really not going as well as he thought it was going to go.
