Moving to the Palace

Caroline's eyes couldn't help but trail after the disappearing figure of the Cardinal Majesty. The blonde haired girl began fiddling with her fingers once more, realizing that for some reason, the Cardinal had asked specifically for her. What did he want with her? He could have had anyone personally attend to him but he chose her. Such a mysterious figure, how was she supposed to react? 'I guess my sole comfort is that Emily will also be present in the palace. Maybe we will be roommates?' Of course, she was simply trying to be hopeful. Caroline realized they should be thankful to live in the palace. Their status was already above that of the other candidates for that simple reason alone, but she had never cared for status.

While everyone else was in a large group, it was just her and Emily that stood awkwardly behind Rowan as Minerva stepped away from the podium and walked towards them. "Sir Rowan," she nodded as he nodded back. They seemed to have some sort of agreement or something. Suddenly she felt Emily's hand grasp her arm making Caroline look to the side to see her wearing some sort of melancholic face. Inwardly she sighed. 'I guess she's jealous. It probably doesn't help when she doesn't know what they're nodding about. But do we even have the right to be jealous in this situation?' Of course, on an emotional level, they were always entitled to their own feelings, but after signing that contract, they couldn't really complain.

Movement pulled her away from her thoughts, as Rowan began moving towards the palace gates, "Minerva and I will be escorting you both. Don't worry about your belongings for now. They will arrive after dinner tonight."

He continued to talk as they strolled through what could only be the palace garden on the other side of the gate, "You are both welcome to come to this garden in your free time. As you can see, there are many different types of plants I'm sure you've never seen before."

The garden was filled with vibrant colors other than just green. Flowers of all different shapes and hues had been carefully cultivated here. Some had petals as big as she was. It felt… otherworldly.

Caroline smiled and spoke without thinking while pointing to the flowers that lined the edges of the garden, "The Lapis Oleander looks even more beautiful up here than it did in the city."

Rowan and Minerva's eyes both widened in surprise as Rowan spoke, "Did Nidrie already tell you both about our nation's flower?" He didn't even think about it before he smiled, "Of course she did, one might have even sprouted on her leopard for all we know. It's a special flower to us as it helps to brighten up the city, even at night."

Rowan continued going on about flowers and even some specific ones that only grew in this garden while walking ahead with Minerva beside him.

Emily shot her a questioning look before Caroline gave her an awkward smile and a shrug. How was she supposed to tell Emily that someone other that Nidrie had told her about them when Emily had been with her the whole time?

They walked over the root bridge she had seen before, taking them out of the garden and towards the structure ahead. Minerva spoke up as they reached the large palace doors, "As you can see, the doors are so large that even an elephant could walk through them, but we don't usually open them. We use the smaller doors that are attached to them. You will both need to use the access cards you were given to get inside." The woman took out her own card and lightly pressed it against the door, unlocking it and leading them through to the other side.

Caroline and Emily's mouths both gaped open as they took in the high ceilings and pristine decorations that lined the corridor. Her mind immediately thought back to her parents and siblings as she looked at all this wealth and once again felt like she had made the right choice for the sake of her family.

Asura's colors shown through the palace with gold being the main color with black being used as an accent. Of course, there were other colors too, such as red and white, but blue, black, and gold were the main ones. It was strange, but across all of this was a large, deep claw mark. Did a dragon make its way in here?

The servants bowed in their direction while the fae flitted around the heads of the newcomers. Indeed, they were quite curious to see the new palace residents. It seems Asura's mystical friends were even abundant it the most high end places.

Minerva waited in front, seemingly knowing this was going to happen and letting the girls adjust to it. If someone close wee to look at her, they may perceive her to be a bit smug, but to others she simply looked stoic.

Meanwhile, Rowan didn't hide his pride at all and smiled, "Welcome! Don't be too shocked now cause we still have to go on the grand tour! Also, excuse the mark on the wall. It'll be cleaned up in the future." He didn't go into any further detail about it either, much to Caroline's disappointment.

Rowan and Minerva took turns patiently showing them around the palace grounds highlighting the places of importance, such as the kitchen, the dining rooms, public library, staff rooms, staff lodging, the restrooms, and even the relaxation rooms. Of course, there were also places they were forbidden to go for now unless told otherwise like the council rooms and the royal library. And this was just the ground floor!

Emily managed to squeak in a question that she had also been wondering. "Where will we be staying? I-I'm only asking because we went by all of staff rooms…"

Rowan smirked and his tone sounded mischievous as he sauntered towards the center of the palace, a giant stairway rising from the middle of the large room, "Well, to be more precise, those were the lower staff rooms. Butlers, maids, and chefs all stay there. Our guards live on the floor above, as to better protect the Cardinal in a case of an emergency. A few other dignified nobles that have no houses of their own also live here. To be more specific, all of them live in the Southern wing. However," He stopped as they reached the top of the stairs, "You both will be staying in neither the staff rooms nor the Southern wing."

As if sensing their confusion, Minerva stepped in, rolling her eyes, "Sir Rowan means to say that you will be living in the area of who in which you directly serve. Emily, you will be staying in the West wing with Sir Rowan. Caroline, you will be staying in the East wing with the Cardinal Majesty. Please note that the Northern wing is off limits." She nodded at Rowan, "Emily, please go with your patron. He will go more into depth about the West wing's rules and other palace rules. Caroline, please follow me. The Cardinal has been anxiously waiting for your arrival."