Chapter 5

As the days went by, the Imperial Palace was hectic. Nesrin took her role as the proxy and attended all meetings in Callyx's absence. No one complained at the sight of the Empress since they were aware of her intellect and leadership. Just like the Emperor, all nobles trusted Nesrin and her judgement, so the meetings went smoothly.

On the other hand, Callyx remained beside Astraea, using his mana to help his poor daughter. He ate near her and slept beside her. He did not want to leave her for a second. Whenever he took breaks, he did paperwork in his room and then went back to channelling his mana.

There were still no signs of Astraea waking up, however, she did not make any distorted expressions out of pain, so he knew it was a good sign.

Evander dropped by whenever he could and monitored her condition.

Despite the chaotic situation, everything was going smoothly.

News of the Princess being unconscious spread and Callyx ordered his knights to help ease the nobles. They were worried as she was the only child of Callyx and if anything happened to her, the Empire would be at stake.

Callyx was just glad that news of her having mana was not released.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that Evander informed Callyx that the Princess successfully infused all of her mana inside her body. This was a huge surprise because she was able to do it so fast in a short period with no knowledge of mana. Of course, it was sped up by the help of Callyx, but it was still an amazing feat.

When Evander confirmed the news, the entire Palace felt relieved that their Princess was safe. Although she was still unconscious, they knew she was no longer in danger. This eased the stress and concern of Nesrin and Callyx. Now all they had to do was wait for Astraea to gain consciousness.

As she was safe, Callyx slowly resumed his duties as Nesrin looked after Astraea instead.

~

𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰. 𝐈 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐈?

𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭. 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝.

𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐑𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩. 𝐈 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞.

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞.

"𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐲! 𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲! 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩!" 𝐈 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝.

𝐈 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐈 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞.

𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞.

𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

~

Groggily, my eyes slowly opened. Light entered my vision and I quickly shut my eyes at the sudden visual overload.

After some time, I reopened my eyes and let my sight adjust to my surroundings.

My fuzzy world became clear and I recognised where I was. I was in the Imperial Palace. My eyes darted around the room and I noticed I was in my parent's chambers.

"Mummy?" I whispered so quietly, that it was close to being inaudible.

But despite it being almost inaudible, two heads quickly appeared in my line of vision.

One was my mother, and the other was my father.

"Astraea!"

When I heard my mother's voice, tears came to my eyes. I remembered the fire and darkness and before I knew it, I jumped into my mother's arms and wrapped my little arms around her neck.

Tears poured out.

"Fire…scary," I cried.

A warm hand patted my back, and a sweet voice filled my ears.

"What fire baby?"

"Astraea was awone in the fire. It hurt and burned, and I was awone."

I revealed. When I said that, I felt another pair of arms wrap around me.

"It's okay princess. You're not alone anymore," I heard the deep voice of my father.

With the warmth from my mother and father, I calmed down. I felt safe. The light in my dream felt like the warmth from my parents.

Without realising, I felt my consciousness slip, but I wasn't scared because I knew I was safe with my parents around me.