"I haven't told you yet how I became the Sovereign Princess, am I right?" Opening the conversation with this question, Elise snapped her fingers before and a bird-shaped golden flame was conjured in on the tip of her forefinger.
"Well, we always tried to skirt away from the topic of your marriage after all."
"That's right. It's uncomfortable to talk about it with you when Julian is still breathing in his cell. What do you think? No matter what, that man treated me quite well."
True. He treated her excellently well. He never even touched her. She became like a decoration for him. While he's making his descendants with his concubines, he kept Elise's purity. The closest he got to her was when they're seated next to each other in their thrones.
"Looking at you now, I can't deny that. If not for him, I probably won't be able to meet you."
Elise smiled and reached for my hand. As our fingers overlapped and fitted the gaps in each other's hands, Elise began telling me her story.
"Julian is part of the Flamma Kingdom's Royal Lineage. He lost the throne to his eldest brother but as consolation, their father granted him Eldur, a prosperous city in the outskirts of the Kingdom. He's actually two generations ahead of me. My late grandfather is his younger brother, his supporter for the throne who chose to follow him to Eldur after losing."
So Elise is his granddaughter, huh? Well, it's quite normal considering they're from a royal lineage.
"I'm bound to be a normal Pilot for Eldur. However, my talent bloomed unexpectedly and Julian noticed it in person."
The golden flame bird in her other hand grew in size. It then opened its wings as the bird seemingly enclosed the two of us within its protection. Looking at it now, it looked like a Phoenix. That golden flame of hers was probably Phoenix Flames.
I guess that's why he took notice of her. Her awakened ability was this dazzlingly beautiful.
"Being noticed by the Enthroned Prince, one of the most powerful individuals of the world, my family handed me to him in a silver platter. Not giving me any choice whether I want to be his Sovereign Princess or not."
"With strength being the absolute law in the world, there's no way you can reject it. I can guess what they would have done if you refused. Either he will force you into it or your whole family will be buried." I commented.
As if agreeing with me, Elise smiled bitterly.
"That's how it is. I only have the talent at that time. Besides, I'm also in awe of his strength. Being the lauded Mythic-rank of the Principality, it's every girl's dream to be noticed by him. Unfortunately, not only did he notice my talent, but he also noticed my… outstanding beauty or so he said. Combining the two together led for the years to becoming just an ornamental figure beside him."
Looking at her from the side, with her eyes still looking at the horizon, I could feel the repressed emotions she's bottled up inside her. Despite spending time with my Incarnation, we could only gleam about bits and pieces of her life as the Sovereign Princess or before she became one.
Tonight, with me next to her and connected through our hands, she's now letting it all dissipate into nothingness.
She has long decided. Tonight, she will become my Companion and her life will begin anew with her past cast off behind her. She's now throwing away her identity as the Sovereign Princess. She's only the Light Maiden as of tonight.
Following that, Elise softly giggled as she remembered something. "The first time I saw you, the way you openly gave a warning towards the three factions… That was truly an amusing sight. I thought I was looking at an idiot who only knows to babble his mouth."
"I see. So that's how you see me back then. Is that why you clapped?"
At that time, I'm already confident to beat all of the delegates the Three Factions sent. Moreover, Nysia had my back so I'm quite fearless.
"Yes. You took my interest at that moment. Obviously, it was only that at first. I'm a married woman and you're against my husband's interest. However, for everything you showed us that day, I can only praise how much you astound me… For Leianne, that terrifying princess, to grasp onto your legs, that event also gave me the courage to make that decision. The decision to change the path of my life."
As if responding to her emotions, the Golden Flamebird behind us chirped enthusiastically as its fire burned brightly. If someone will look up to this window from the ground, they will only see the dazzling brilliance of the bird. Good thing it's not burning anything in here.
"Actually, before that day, I had learned the truth from him. I will eventually not stay as only an ornament for him. He's preserving me like a wine that will taste better if aged well. Julian was actually waiting for me to reach the same height as him. Mythic-rank or how it was called by you, a Rank 1 Transcendent."
"As soon as I become one, he will pluck me from the tree or to continue the previous analogy, he will take me out of his wine cellar for a taste. Not just a simple taste really, he planned to sire the true heir for his throne. He believed that an offspring from two Mythic Ranks who have the Transcendent Body will result in an unprecedented genius. He believed that even the New Haven Emperor will pale in significance by our offspring."
His belief was somehow true. A child of two Transcendents will surely be superior compared to a child of two Mortals. However, it was also unnecessarily true that it would exceed that Lucas' monstrosity. Perhaps, it will be easier for the child to tread on his Pathway but after reaching Transcendence, everything will then depend on himself.
"I see. So that's the case… No wonder he's too incensed when I angered him by saying I'm going to steal you from him. Ah. Well, stealing his wife was already enough grounds for him to rage like that."
"When I heard that from you, I thought, 'What a bold man' but then looking at how the known strongest Mythic-rank turn into a hopeless maiden-in-love when it comes to you, I thought, you deserved to be like that." Elise giggled once more and this time, she inched closer to me, resulting in the Golden Flamebird chirping sweetly.
Answering her movement, I let go of her hand and instead, stretched my arm from back before firmly grasping her waist. When she felt that, Elise leaned her head on my shoulder before her voice once again reached my ears. "I'm ready, Daisuke. I'm ready to tread on this new path in my life alongside you."
"And I promise I will not treat you like an ornament or an incubator for an unprecedented genius. I'm going to treat you as one of the most important people in my life."
With our mutual understanding of each other, the convergence of our destiny and her entry as my new Companion already happened earlier. This was just us confirming it once more.
It actually happened when that Golden Flamebird grew in size and covered both of us. But being engrossed in our conversation, we set that aside.
As we both stared at the horizon, we spent the next ten minutes continuously confirming our new connection.
Soon after that, another illusory Door of Transcendence appeared above the tower, illuminating and disturbing the night sky.
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