North, South, East, and West

When they opened the huge white door, someone who was dressed in a white polo shirt with a black bow, a black vest outside, and white pants welcomed them and saw the huge elegant diner at his back. Luna's eyes gleamed upon seeing a huge dining hall. Akiro who said that it was simply a diner was a huge underestimation on her part.

As usual, a shining chandelier could be found above the ceiling that gave light to the huge hall. People were dressed in formal clothes and were busy eating with their companions while the servants were happily giving out foods with their captivating smiles. Then the man who welcomed them led them to a two-person round table which had a red mantle and a lit fragrant candle at the center.

Luna thought that the dining hall in the Red Castle Hotel looked like they were celebrating a huge party because of the stunning elegance of the room and the people around it. Nonetheless, she knew that it might only be the usual day for the people around her. It was only the surroundings and their lavish appearances that made the difference between a normal restaurant.

After sitting, the man gave out a menu and patiently stood beside the table while waiting for their order. Akiro picked what they will eat, while Luna let him be since she wasn't familiar with the kind of food and its weird names. However, since she had already eaten a meal from Vermillion in Akiro's mansion, she thought that the food would be similar to theirs.

"Your order will be served as early as we can," the man said. Akiro nodded and the man left with his friendly smile.

"Is this hotel was once a real castle?" Luna asked as the castle was too detailed in its elegance that she could not believe that it was purposely built for a hotel.

"You are right. You really have keen eyes. This was the former castle of a royal family," Akiro answered.

Luna nodded and seemed convinced. Not long after, the man that took their order came back with two more persons and served their meal one by one.

"Enjoy your meal!" They said and left.

In Luna's eyes, the food glittered and shone which seemed inviting her to eat it already.

"Let's eat," Akiro said.

The two of them didn't talk and enjoyed eating. Akiro wasn't that surprised with her huge appetite which wasn't relevant from her petite body frame. Once they're finished, the two of them went straight to their rented room.

"You didn't pay for them?" Luna asked.

"It's included in the payment that Miss Zione made before we checked in here," Akiro said.

"Oh, so that's the case," Luna answered and though that some hotels on Earth also offered something like that. A buffet was usually held when she stayed in some luxury hotels.

"Remember to wake up early tomorrow," Akiro reminded.

"Okay, I'll even wake up earlier than you!" Luna said.

Akiro didn't respond and went straight into his bedroom. Luna happily walked towards her room and started changing into a thin shirt and a skirt. Into the bathroom, a sign was hanged saying the word laundry. She placed her dress on it and went outside the bathroom. After that, she opened her luggage and took a small blue hardbound book.

'I'm excited!' Luna thought. She hurriedly closed the luggage and went to the study table near the rectangular window and opened the violet thick curtain. The dark skies filled with a cluster of stars and two glowing crescent moons greeted her.

"Wow," she uttered.

For Luna, the skies above Vermillion were a million times better than Earth. She observed the skies for a while and then decided to read the book already. Even though it was night, the floating candles were enough to lit her room. It provided her a well-lighted area during nighttime.

'It's good that I'll be able to read during nighttime," Luna thought. She sat and placed the book on the study table and when she opened it, the first page contained the table of contents and flipped a few pages, and reached the introduction.

"The North, South, East and West," she uttered.

It was the title of the introduction. Luna continued to read and found out information about the story of the four main villages of the largest country in Vermillion named the Magus nation. It was where most magic users could be found and were known as 'The Haven for Mages'.

Year 3421 of the Lightian month, the four villages were named into directions based on the map. Finally, the war of 4 different monarchies of the four nations had ended. That memorable event was because of an intelligent man's leadership who had great powers enough to fight against all monarchies. He ended the royals' and nobles' greed for power.

Magus Emperor, Archmage, Chief of Nobles, Nobles, Merchants, Commoners, it was the order of the newly established nation through the great man's leadership. No huge civil war had ever happened since the founding of the nation.

Every person possesses the chance of a great future. It was the man's adage that soon became the country's sayings throughout the years. The Magus Emperor wasn't based on lineage but based on a person's magic and overall knowledge. Before the end of the Magus Emperor's leadership, the Archmage would choose the potential candidates for the position from every class of their society.

Archmages possessed deep knowledge and a unique kind of power that determines who were the potential candidates and couldn't be sullied or tampered with. For those who were not selected but obtained great powers, a law was made that he/she could step up to a higher position except the highest one, the position of the Magus Emperor.

When a Magus Emperor was announced, the people would not object to him in the slightest because it's the next man that would bring their nation to prosperity and not into unhealthiness. However, there would be always a case when someone challenges a newly Magus Emperor only to fail because of the Emperor's overwhelming power.

Then Luna luckily found a bookmark on the last page of the book and placed it on the page that she stopped. She decided to continue reading tomorrow night because she felt sleepy. Still, curiosity entered her when she reached her bed.

'Who is the current Magus Emperor?' Luna thought.

Aside from that, she wanted to know what year it was because, on Earth, it's the year 2020 while the history of the North, South, East, and West was dated year 3421. There was such a huge difference between the dates. The names of the months also differed. As of now, Luna only knew one name and it's Lightian month. She continued to think until she fell asleep.

When morning came, Luna immediately changed herself into an appropriate dress for the outdoors and barged outside her room. She didn't saw Akiro so she attempted to check if he's already awake by knocking silently into his room.

Luna waited for a while and didn't fail. The door immediately opened but her cheeks suddenly turned into a dark shade of red.

Akiro's appearance with his messy hair and without his shirt on made her like that.

"What?" he said.

"N-nothing, I'll ask later before you get changed!" Luna said.

She turned her back and immediately went into her bedroom. She continued slapping both her cheeks.

"What just happened?" Luna uttered.

~~To be continued--