GENUINE FRIENDSHIP

Ara still kept her calm face, but one couldn't help but notice the twitching eyebrow.

"Hey, when are you doing it?" Lia asked Ara suddenly out of nowhere with a tone filled with deep interest but Ara said nothing to that and Lia looked on at her smilingly while waiting for a response. The silence remained on that table, the only sounds being the continuing bids and the auctioneer's voice as he continued to shout in the background.

"So…when are you doing it?" She asked again, breaking the silence right after she'd asked her question. Ara thought of the situation and realized if she were to keep her mouth shut Lia wouldn't stop, so after a while, she spoke in a neutral low voice to end how Lia was just staring at her expectantly. It was just…weird and unnerved her for some reason.

"What are you referring to, Lia? There's so much that I need to get done, so I cannot entirely tell what you mean." Ara asked Lia She had a fair idea what Lia was referring to, but she doubted Lia could have noticed that maybe Mozrael, but for Lia, that'd be a surprise if she'd noticed that.

It took a few seconds for Lia to register that she was the one being referred to. She blinked as she'd just snapped out of a trance, it was obvious she was in her world at that moment. "Eh? Oh, I was referring to your card, the one you left for them to take. When are you going to take it, you let them take it so you can use it to cause trouble, right? Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Ara stared at her surprised. So she saw? She didn't expect Lia to have noticed that.

"What," Lia asked and felt her face with her fingers as if something were wrong. ", there isn't a bug on my face, is there?"

I'm looking right at that bug. Ara stared at her some more before shaking her head. "You always pick the weirdest ways of interpreting situations, Lia." She said to get Lia's mind off that. She'd want to tag along when things are being dealt with, and that might come off as a nuisance.

"What situation? Is it the trouble you want to cause? What are you doing? I want to see it myself, how you're going to show that you're smart. Father would be proud of you t-"

"You talk too much, Lia. You're making noise," Mozrael cut in coldly.

"Oh that was a relief, thanks Mozrael," Ara commented Mozrael, thankful for the distraction.

From the expression Lia had at that moment, one should see she was deeply offended by that treatment. She looked at Ara with watery eyes and threw her hands around her neck.

"Am I being a bad sister? Please forgive me if I've offended you," she pleaded earnestly. She sounded sad, pitiful even-that a fragile child. Ara didn't expect such behavior and her startled look made Mozrael almost laugh.

"Will you forgive me, I won't do it again I don't want you angry at me," she pleaded again, not wanting to let go of Ara.

"I'm not angry at you, I was just being honest-"

"That means I was being a bad sister?"

"It, I-You- No that's not…I was just…I'm not angry at you, no one is, and you're not a bad sister so you don't need to worry about that."

"Mm…but…big sister Mozrael is still mad at me."

Ara looked at Mozrael's smile and sighed. "She's not mad at you, look we're sorry okay? We'll buy you something to make up for offending you okay?" That pleased her and she let go almost immediately, beaming at Ara.

"You're the best anyone could ask for. I love you so much, big sis!" She squealed and hugged her again, kissing her on the cheek.

On the other side, Iris glared at the three despitefully.

"Such children, I hate them," She frowned more

"Reserve your hostility for later, there's no need to rush things," Her brother advised maturely.

"Those idiots, how dare they disgrace me? Don't they even know anything at all? If and only if they knew the might of the Elwick family, they'd come to beg me to forgive them," She said through gritted teeth.

Her brother's brows were knitted as he looked over at the three that greatly displeased his sister, but he wasn't entirely annoyed at them since part of the blame was his sister's; she was just too impulsive.

"You're letting your anger take control. Doing anything rash would only yield bad results."

"I know that." she snapped and glared at the trio before tearing her eyes off them and focusing on what was being displayed still wishing she could significantly hurt them. As someone from the Elwick family, she had the power of flames, and after assessing those three, she saw that they were all one level below her. The brat called Lia had not even the slightest fluctuation of power, how weak. At the age of fourteen, she and her brother were already known to be amongst the brightest in the family, but those brats just had to come to offend her. They were dead, she'll make sure she burnt them to a crisp.

"Lucky creatures", a young aristocrat said coldly to himself as he looked up at the brother and sister from the Elwicks, clenching his fists tightly and resisting the urge to attack them. He was a handsome young man, but couldn't tear his eyes off the two groups up above. If he wasn't looking at the trio, he was glaring at Iris and her brother. He watched coldly and if not for the order given to him not to act, he would be spitting on the bloody corpses of Iris and Isir. To him, they were lucky enough to even look at the three princesses much less speak to them. Those foul words from their disgusting lowly mouths made him itch to cut off their tongues. What nonsense! And what was it with those three? If it came to a fight, one of them could take out those two with just a wave of the hand, but they did nothing even though they were royals, and were spoken to badly. Their reputation didn't have to suffer any misfortune. He had observed the people all around and realized they didn't like nor hate Iris deep enough, but that wasn't a good impression for an aristocrat. He could tell they wouldn't mind if she were attacked; some would even have cheered. Now, the three were talking as if a lowly one had not just spoken ill of them. They seemed to have ignored the twins, but it was clear Iris was still in a foul mood, and would do something, but not in here, not yet. The princesses should just dispose of those that bitch and her useless brother. The air in the world was being wasted on those two while animals could breathe that.

The auction was over, and the products for the day were sold, all at exorbitant prices to pleased customers. The three went on and paid for all the 'fancy' things Lia bought and then left the auction house.

They were on their way when Lia remembered something and was displeased.

"I can't believe you didn't see that elixir, it was an exotic one, and you let it slip through our hands so easily". She didn't have to use any gesture before Ara knew she was the one being addressed and she rolled her eyes, "of course Mozrael and me didn't see the Heaven's Nectar being displayed. We were too busy talking to you so it's not our fault, I get it."

"What? You're blaming me? I didn't plan to do that."

"Of course, you never wanted to do it, but you ended up doing it so I can't blame you. I'm even equally guilty for not observing my surrounding", Ara said thoughtfully and sighed, but those words made Lia panic. Ara had not a second to spare before Lia grabbed her hand and appeared in front of her, clasping her hand with hers.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm not blaming you for anything, just don't be mad at me. I'll do anything you want, just don't get angry", she hurriedly said in a voice that was both pleading, and loud enough for all around to hear. Ara was startled as she looked at her gloved arm held by Lia's, and couldn't help but furrow her brows in concentration. What was Lia trying to do?

"You're angry at me?" Lia said sadly as she noticed Ara's furrowed brows, but her words made Ara more confused. Of course, she'd misinterpreted her furrowed brows for something anger

"Lia, what exactly are you trying to -" "tut tut tut, poor girl. All she wants is her sister's friendship. Children always have a genuine friendship that is hard to come by. I wouldn't ruin it if I were them", and old woman to the side said to another old woman that walked beside her.

And where the hell did all of you come from? Ara thought, finally noticing that Lia's 'little act' had drawn them to an audience. Their appearances alone drew attention to themselves, and now this? Because if you did, I might have to kill you.

"They've been standing watching us ever since we stopped moving", Mozrael chipped in, noticing Ara's expression. "And your expression is misunderstood as you being angry at Lia", she added, drawing Ara's attention to more.

After confirming what Mozrael said, Ara looked around and brought her attention back to the little imp that started this. She still had that hurt look, and seemed afraid to meet her eyes. I don't think this is genuine friendship, it's genuine torture, Ara thought.