Volume 1.1 Deja Vu (1)

March 15th,1029, the Sun Era

Heran, Capital City of The Raven Empire.

***

'How tiresome.' I couldn't help but sigh for the upteenth time.

I continued to glance outside the carriage and let my mind wander. My eyes trailed to the particular boy who was selling flowers to those people walking in the streets.

'To live with just flowers to sell, sigh. Life really is a tough one.''

"Yvette! Are you listening to me?"

I snapped out of my reverie, when Kristie, my twelve-year-old sister, flapped her plump hands in front of me.

"Erhm."

"Geez, sister, you're not listening to me again; you'll be eighteen in two months, and yet you're still acting like this; you should be more mindful of what people are saying to you," Kristie pouted.

'Ah, my little sister is lecturing me on how to be a better person,' but that wasn't where my concentration was right now. When Kristie pouted, the two dimples on her cheeks were prominent. My hands, as usual, couldn't stop themselves from pinching those fluffy-looking cheeks.

"Yvette control yourself." I stiffened when my eldest sister, Veronica, who was two years older than me, hit my hands lightly. "You'll ruin Kristie's make-up. It'll be disastrous for her first ball if her make-up looks haphazard."

'Hapazhard? Veronica's choice of words is really as difficult as her.'

"The maids could just patch it up," I rubbed my hand that was slapped by Veronica's fan.

'You don't need to hit my hands with a fan.' My thoughts that I didn't dare to voice out.

I simply avoided Veronica's scolding gaze and looked at Kristie. "And besides, Kristie, even if you mess up in the ball, they can't do anything about that because of your status. Rather they will just think that it is just some child's mistake."

Kristie pouted at my remarks even more. "Mother will scold me if I mess up. You should be the one to be more careful, Yvette!"

"Don't give Kristie any more weird ideas, Yvette," Veronica added. "We are going to attend the ball commemorating the Foundation of Raven Empire. So please, act more with grace and elegance." Veronica sighed.

The Foundation of the Raven Empire. There it was again. At the mention of the empire's name. This feeling of deja vu that I have heard it somewhere was coming strong again.

However, I wonder why Veronica always scolded me. It's not like I caused trouble for them. And I always acted with proper decorum like always. It was not like this is my first ball either. Also…

"We are an independent and powerful kingdom compared to the Empire as well. Even if we miss one of these events, it will not affect the kingdom. And the empire at least hosts ten events per year. I really wonder how come they have so much free time like this." I said as I looked at the busy streets.

I don't even want to attend balls. It was a pain. I'd rather go hunting in the woods rather than these balls.

"We didn't attend last time, don't you remember?" Veronica rolled her eyes. "And as the princesses of the Valtora Kingdom, it is our duty to represent our kingdom not only in the empire but to the other kingdoms as well. We must also do this to keep the..."

"Peace treaty and such, and find a suitable man to marry." I cut Veronica's words. "I've already heard those words so many times that I can compose a song. And brother should be the one to attend more events like this since he is the crown prince."

Veronica was going to reprimand me even more however, Kristie's excited voice rang.

"So that is the Imperial Palace of the Empire! It's so huge and sparkling! Much larger than our kingdom's castle!"

Built-in the middle of the huge lake of Sol, a towering castle that glistened under the sun, surrounded by formidable fortresses and walls.

Those lines kept returning in my head every time I saw this palace as if I had read them somewhere. However, no matter how hard I tried to think, nothing came to mind.

Sigh. Wherever I went within the empire, a lot of deja vus that I couldn't comprehend started emerging inside me. It had been like this since I was twelve years old, the first time I went to a ball in this empire. I just diverted my attention outside again.

Ahead of us, from the position of our carriage, there were countless more carriages with emblems of other aristocratic houses and royals from other kingdoms. Everyone was queuing up to enter the majestic Imperial Palace Gates.

It will take a while before our carriage enters the palace grounds.

***

After a few hours of a long journey, we finally arrived at the entrance of the ballroom. Two Imperial guards stood firm at the entrance. Wearing their proud silver-plated armor with the insignia of the Raven Empire in their chest plates, a soaring Raven to the sun.

They waited patiently for our signal to enter the door.

"Listen carefully, Kristie, as a princess of..."

"I must maintain my dignity at all times," Kristie finished Veronica's words with a smile on her face.

"Both of you are really the same of cutting people's words." Veronica sighed.

"You're the one most worried here, aren't you?" I shook my head at Veronica. "Listen, Kristie, everything that Veronica said is right. But also don't forget to have fun, alright? This is still a celebration after all."

"I will keep that in mind, Yvette," Kristie said with a huge smile on her face.

"Let's now enter," Veronica nodded to the Imperial Guards. I held Kristie's right hand as the Imperial Guards opened the majestic door to the ballroom.

A servant was waiting at the other side of the door, he gave a brief bow as he received our invitation cards from Veronica.

After checking the contents of the invitation cards, the servant announced our presence to everyone at the ball.

"The First Princess Veronica Gayle Ashtar of Valtora and her two younger sisters, the Second Princess Yvette Celestine Ashtar and the Third Princess Kristina Rose Ashtar, have arrived."