A Note

The books he saw were bounded with brown leather, pages cracked and tinted with yellow with age.

The pages were brittle, barely holding it together. Ailen gently touched the edge of the page, admiring how antique the books were. He's not originally from this world, but he understood the words with ease.

"We're sorry, Your Highness. When we visited the royal library, some of the newer, more well-kept books were transferred within private library near His Majesty The Emperor's chambers, and we're not allowed to go inside," Irma apologized with a deep sigh. "But the contents in these books are the same as other magic-related books,"

"It's fine, Irma," Ailen stopped her rambling, eyes still wandered on the books on the table.

Ailen sat on his late mother's study chair. Once he arrived at the sapphire palace, he quickly went to the study room to learn more about magic. The Empress didn't keep books about magic in her study, but she did write a journal about the origins of the Niveus bond, a power only royal blood can have.

Ailen learned that his ancestors made a bond with a guardian deity. For centuries ever since the kingdom established, the guardian deity deemed the royal family worthy and gifted them with their destructive power that could annihilate whole mortal armies on their own. It's a gift so the royals could protect the land and people they ruled.

But as time passed, the bond weakened when the royals become haughty and misused the power they've given. And so, the power disappeared, and Niveus descendants stopped having the power.

"Niveus Bond," Ailen breathed out, frowning. "My only hope,"

Ailen didn't know if he inherited his ancestors' destructive power. He didn't know how to find out either. Obviously, Irma and Meredith wouldn't know as well.

And so, Ailen skimmed through every journal his late mother wrote. Reading every single detail on the paper that smelled like dust. But there's nothing. There are no details about the power, only names of his ancestors who received the power.

Ailen was close to giving up so he could proceed on reading other books about magical energy and how to use them.

But then, a small piece of a note slipped off when Ailen lifted The Empress' journal.

Ailen set the journal aside and pick up the note, scanning it thoroughly before unwrapping the crumpled note.

"'When an emotion overwhelmed royal blood, they could trigger the bond. They would feel it in their bones. Anger, fear, anxiety, and love—they would become fuel to a royal's burning heart, shaking and electrifying their entire body as magic wrapped them into a comforting embrace, calming down their master.',"

Ailen read out loud, frowning. It sounded so puzzling at first, but then Ailen realized that this is a clue on how to trigger a bond. An overwhelming emotion.

"Your Highness, a letter from His Majesty The Emperor," Meredith called frantically, running inside the study room with a letter in her hand.

Ailen widened his eyes.

"O-Oh," Ailen mumbled, shoving the note inside his pockets and closed all the books on the desk. Meredith handed Ailen the letter, and the boy took it. He audibly gulped before opening them.

His heart plummeted into his stomach, and his body froze in place as he reread the contents twice.

The Emperor invited him to have dinner together tonight.

"T-Tonight? I thought he wanted me to rest for a couple of days before we meet again! I'm not— Meredith, I'm not ready to meet him so soon, we just met today and— I just can't," Ailen's voice turned shaky. Meredith's eyes moistened, feeling the fear Ailen felt.

"Oh, Y-Your Highness I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what I can do. I'm afraid as well— I didn't expect the royal guards would come and gave me that letter. What should we do?"

Ailen heaved a heavy sigh, massaging his temple with his pink-tipped fingers.

"I don't have a choice. I must see him. I only have three hours until dinner time to study about magic, hoping to the Gods I could at least use some sort of spell or something to protect myself,"

"Your Highness, it is impossible for anyone who never trained their magic suddenly trying to control their magic in a span of three hours," Meredith furrowed her eyebrows. "I didn't want to discourage you. I supported you with my life until the day I die. But perhaps we should think realistically during urgent moments like this,"

"I'm twelve, Meredith. I have the right not to think realistically," Ailen mumbled, but Meredith only frowned more.

"Your Highness…"

"What should I do then, Meredith? You see how The Emperor saw me. Instead of being happy that I'm alive, he seemed to be thinking of many ways to kill me. I don't know why he wanted me dead!"

"Oh, Your Highness," Meredith quickly walked around the desk, offering her hands. Meredith must've thought that Ailen couldn't handle it since he's only a twelve-year-old boy. But he's in fact, not twelve. He didn't want to cry because his father wanted him dead, he's upset because he felt so powerless on defending himself.

He's upset and terrified. He didn't get the chance to pent up his worries since he woke up.

Ailen accepted Meredith's embrace, he pushed his face onto her chest, letting Meredith comfortingly massaged his scalp. They've been together for only a couple of days, but they became more comfortable around Ailen since he kept forcing Meredith and Irma to act casual with him.

A hug was precisely what Ailen needed for now.