“Do you think it’s okay that we made such a fuss in the palace?” Eugene asked, changing the subject.
“It’s okay,” Kasser told her. He knew that she was trying to get his mind off of the Fire King and, although it wasn’t subtle, he appreciated it.
“Sang-je wouldn’t care?”
“If he did, he would’ve sent a knight. Besides, it’s not like we destroyed anything or hurt anyone.”
Eugene watched his behavior closely as he remained calm. She couldn’t help her mind from wandering to the relationship between Sang-je and the kings. I used to think that Sang-je didn’t take part in the kingdom’s affairs because he was supposed to be a divine being that stayed away from politics. But maybe he just doesn’t want to come into conflict with the kings.
According to Alber, the kings used to stay in or near the Holy City. Now, however, they were all scattered across the land ruling their own kingdoms, far away from the Holy City.
Kings were the only beings that could destroy larks. Larks that dreamed of death rather than destruction must have been incredibly scared of the kings.
As Eugene put the pieces together, Sang-je was in the palace learning about the fight that had broken out between the two kings.
Are you saying that the two kings fought with Praz in the middle of the palace?
The priest nodded. “Yes, Your Holiness.”
Why didn’t anyone do anything about it?
“The fight didn’t last that long, so by the time the knights made it, it was already over.” The priest looked hopeful. He wished that Sang-je, as the agent of God, could summon the kings and reprimand them for their actions. If he didn’t, all the other kings would believe it was fine for them to do the same.
Send a message to all the kings for me: Starting today, I forbid them from entering the palace unless they have specific business to handle. And if they do, they must ask for permission first.
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
You’re dismissed.
The priest bowed. “Yes, Your Holiness.”
As left the room, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed by Sang-je’s lackluster response. He believed that he was too generous to the kings.
When he was alone, Sang-je frowned. They could’ve gotten in big trouble if the kings activated a strong Praz. They could’ve awakened the main body. Larks, like all animals, were sensitive to their predators. In this case, that would be the king’s Praz.
The main body remained asleep with the help of magic, but, as time went on, the magic couldn’t help but grow weaker. Now, an outside source of energy could wake it up, which is why Sang-je had to contribute magic periodically to maintain some semblance of rest.
He would close the palace when he did this. He couldn’t manage maintaining a human form while powering the main body. So, he had to have a reason as to why people wouldn’t be able to see his physical form.
It can’t wake up yet, he thought. There are two Annikas watching the lake.
Two Annikas born on the same year and day, one without Ramita that she later gained, both Annikas with their lucid dreams changing—this was all happening for the first time.
Jin and Flora’s Ramita were disappointing to him. He expected them to have so much more. But there could always be another change. So, he decided it was going to use the Celestial Festival as an excuse to bring both Annikas to the basement altar and check their Ramita himself.
I need to announce the Festival date soon.
***
It has been almost two months since Eugene first came to the Holy City. The date for the party to be hosted in the Arse mansion was determined to be in 15 days. They had started sending out invitations yesterday.
Eugene made sure to invite the Annikas as promised. She was even considering bringing them the invitations herself.
Dana was very busy making the necessary preparations for the party. And she was excited. The merchants and workers were coming and going to and from the mansion all day.
Eugene came by as much as she could to help prepare for the party. She had been busy changing the interior according to her preferences. She grew confident in her decisions as she received compliments from Marian and other noble ladies in the kingdom, but she was never sure if her mother would agree. Thankfully, she eventually said that she did.
Eugene sat at the table and prepared the invitations that were meant to be sent out that day. They were divided into blank ones and named one. Normally, you would send named invitations and a bunch of blank ones. The named invitations needed to be written by hand which was what Eugene was tasked with doing.
There was a mid-sized cat-like black panther playing with a little fur ball by her feet. She had felt bad about only taking Kkoma to the palace, so she tried her best to play with Abu when she could. Truthfully, she just had to leave him by her side and he would be content with that.
A maid knocked and stepped inside with a bow. “Your Highness, Sir Sven is requesting a meeting.”
Eugene looked up from the invitations and nodded. “Let him in.”
Sven walked in after the maid called him. He bowed as he approached her, then flinched when he looked up. Eugene turned her attention to where he was looking and flinched as well.
Abu had grown into a huge beast at one point and was lying on the ground. He didn’t like shrinking himself to seem like other animals. There had been incidents of attendants crying and fainting when they saw him, so Eugene tried her best to remind him to stay small.
She smiled as she looked at him. What a weird guy.
Not all larks had the same pride as Abu. Even compared to Kkoma, he was quite emotional.
More settled now, Sven cleared his throat. “My Queen, I have done what you asked of me.” He held out a leather case in his hand. In it, there would be a bottle full of oil.
Eugene had given Sven the new oil that Kasser had acquired and asked him to put the seed in it.
“Well done,” she said. “Please put it on the table.”
“Yes, My Queen,” Sven said, placing the case down.
“No one saw it, right?”
“Yes, I ensured no one was watching.”
“And no other knight came after Sir Pides?”
“None.”
When Eugene had heard the report that Sir Pides had checked the object but didn’t take it, she knew that Sang-je was prepared to pounce. Now that the seed was in the bottle of oil, however, he wouldn’t be able to trace it and would grow flustered. It made her happy to think about that.
