I'd never get used to the temporary blindness that comes with going through a portal. I believe this is because I am a winter fairy, and I inherently dislike light. The fact that I don't perceive anything wrong with Rose every time she jumps through a portal is somehow proof of that.
“You guys are late.” An impatient voice waited for us. Though my eyes were still adjusting to my surroundings, I could already guess who it was.
“Sorry, Ace.” My sister apologized. “I just cashed in the jewel that you told me to use in case of emergency. The currency in my world is different compared to this realm.”
I blinked and rubbed my eyes until my vision finally cleared up. We were in the hallway of the Kingdom of Thalia, which is ruled by the vampire King Nathaniel Denver. He’s a really cool guy who likes to spoil me a lot and treats me like his sister. He says that since he and Rose are friends, it is only natural that I become his little sister.
My eyes flickered to my sister and her elf husband. As usual, her husband has always fancied dark suits with golden embroidered details. Ace’s hair was cut a little short in order to expose his sharp-angled ears. My sister says that you can tell how powerful an elf is judging from the shape of their ears. And with Ace having royal blood and powerful magic, his ears were perfect.
Resting on one of Ace’s shoulders is the white spirit fox named Viex - the guardian of every generation of royal tamers. On the other side of Ace is my sister’s spiritual contract partner named Custard- a white wolf with a black highlight at the tip of his ears and tail. He yipped happily and stood up on the back of his legs as my sister came closer to them.
Rose laughed in delight and petted the wolf. “I know, Custard. I miss you too. I brought threats for you, Viex, and the kids.” She says. And that earned a happy howl from the wolf.
I could not help but reminiscence the fact that Custard used to be a smaller pup when I first met him. He was about as small as Viex, but as time passed by, Custard grew up into a an adult-size wolf.
King Ace suddenly cleared his throat as he watched his wife playing with Custard. When my sister raised her head to him, Ace raised a brow at her. “Your husband is here, you know.” He gave her a disapproving look with a cross of his arms over his chest.
My sister smiled sheepishly at him and set Custard down on the floor before moving closer to Ace with a laugh. “Sorry. How’s your day?”
Ace leaned down and planted a quick kiss on her lips that made me wrinkle my nose in disgust. “It’s good. Nathaniel is watching over the kids.” Some parents would be happy that they were getting a little bit of free time away from their children, but not this guy. Ace is very protective of their children and would spend as much time as he can with them. “Apparently, they like him more than their dad.” He grumbled. And just by the tone of his voice, I could almost picture him brutally murdering the King of Thalia in his head.
My sister just laughed at his childish behavior. “He is their uncle. And they rarely see him. Let them bond for a bit.”
“Fine.” The Elf KING agreed before turning his gaze towards me with a raised brow.
“You’re late.” He stated.
“I’m late?” I repeated. It took me a while to realize, but I was brought back to reality at his reminder. “I’m late!” I screamed this time, horrified as I looked at my watch. I began to turn around to run until I heard the couple calling out for me.
“You’re not going to class looking like that, are you?” My sister looked at me with concern as her eyes flitted to my school uniform - or, more specifically, the skirt that was about an inch above the knee. Usually, I would change into a more proper attire suitable for the royal and noble family of this kingdom before I attend classes. But now, there was barely any time for that.
I took off my blazer and wrapped it around my waist. It was long enough to cover my knees and what’s considered an acceptable length here in this society. “There. Fixed.”
“Stella,” Rose looked towards me, her eyes gave me a depth of concern. “He’s going to be here today. You know that you can skip this one if you want to.”
I knew who she was talking about when she mentioned ‘he.’ - crown Prince Chace, an old friend of mine that my sister dislikes.
It’s nothing serious. It’s just that I am at that age among the royal family that’s already suitable for marriage. And among the list of eligible bachelors sending me their marriage proposals - Chase was one of them.
I let out a breath and shrugged my shoulders. “If anyone’s not attending, it should be him. Rose, you scare him more than Ace.”
“King Ace!” Ace corrected me.
“Hey, I’m your sister-in-law, so I get the privilege of skipping your fancy title,” I told him.
“Take Custard with you. Just in case anyone tries to bully you regarding your attire.” Rose offered me a small smile and an encouraging nod. I already knew why she wants to send Custard along. And it is not because of my attire. She’s sending Custard with me to be my chaperone.
“I don’t need-” I stopped myself knowing that this would only prolong the situation. “Fine.” I bit my tongue. I guess having her wolf by my side won’t be that bad. “Alright, Custard. Let’s go.” As soon as her wolf spirit started running towards me, I turned around and ran the other way. I could faintly hear Ace yelling at me not to run in the hallway while my sister laughed in the background.
Running in the hallway is considered bad manners in royal etiquette, but so is tardiness. I already broke one, so I might as well be a ruffian just for this day.
I was almost out of breath when I entered the room where the class was supposed to start. The class that I’m attending requires more willpower than brainpower, so even if I am considered an intellectual person, this class is the only one that I am flunking.
“Princess Stella Antoinette Stan,” I cringed when the professor called for my name the moment I began sneaking inside.
Crap, and I was hoping to sneak in without getting noticed by duchess Hera, our tutor, for this afternoon. She probably heard me running outside and decided to wait for me by the door just to ambush me.
“I’m sorry.” I apologized as I went inside and cracked the door open just enough for Custard to slip in. Our classes don’t have a permanent room. It simply depends on the scheduled lessons for the day.
We have a dance class, so we were occupying a larger area. I haven’t seen the rest of my classmates, but I hear some light music coming to my far right, blocked by a wall.
“You barely make it to classes every day, and now you are finally tardy!” She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in disappointment. “For a high-status noble like yourself, you should be setting an appropriate example for everyone.” Then when her eyes flickered to my attire, she let out a horrified gasp. “Goodness! What are you wearing!?”
Her outburst must have surprised Custard because he started growling. I patted his head to assure him that everything was fine before answering the Duchess. “I was late because of some business from the other world. You can ask my sister, Queen Rosalie, if you want. I came here wearing this attire because I was rushing. I sincerely hope that you can forgive my tardiness.” I did a small curtsy that higher Royals like myself would do to a duchess like her.
Her eyes flickered to Custard the moment I mentioned my sister. She must have recognized the wolf beside me and bought my excuse.
“Very well.” She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. “Head inside along with the others and wait for your turn.”
“Thank you, duchess,” I said and headed inside to the other room along with Hera, where the music of the orchestra was blaring. I paused and waited to the side while Hera moved past me in order to govern and make a correction to my other peers.
Royals and nobles from other kingdoms were here and taking lessons in order to prepare them for their social debut. Most of them were at an age below 14, which is a few years away before they are formally introduced to society.
Since I was discovered late as a princess, I haven’t officially debuted yet because I was busy with school and haven’t had proper training for all the formalities that are yet to come. It’s a little embarrassing to make a debut anyway, but it’s an official duty of every royal family member to make themselves known.
“Lady Rebecca, stop slouching!” Hera kept barking orders to the noble kids whenever she saw them doing something unsuitable to her eyes.
“Sir Dune, be attentive and lead your partner well. The male always has to take the lead in a dance!”
All of her remarks amused me enough to make me lean against the wall as I looked at them in amusement. Somehow, I feel better that I was late. At least I wasn’t there on the dancefloor to get yelled at. And thankfully, our classes were at an odd number, so I guess I have to sit this one out since I am without a partner.
All that peaceful thinking went down the drain as soon as I heard the door open, and a certain fairy prince came rushing into the room through the partition in the room.
“I’m here! Sorry, I’m late.” A tall and fair-skinned boy gasped and stopped just beside me. Some streaks of his silver hair were plastered onto the side of his face as he gracefully wiped. Then the room’s temperature began to drop as he tried to cool his body and make an impression in the class. “I was on a hunt.” He finished with a smirk, making me roll my eyes at him.
Upon finally noticing him from the squeals and inattentiveness of the girls in the room, Hera finally looked up and saw the gigantic elephant in the room. She lets out a gasp of delight - utterly different from the one she showed me - and clasped her hands together.
“Prince Chace Cleveland, welcome! It’s wonderful to have you join us again.”