"Sister Ana, that's so beautiful." The reflection on Lucy's eyes glimmered, while pouring a new green tea for Anasthasia, as she struck in awe
Anasthasia hummed and adjusted herself, where Lucy poured. "Agreed, it is beautiful—Okay, stop!"
Lucy pulled herself back, giving her a curt bow, and then placed the teapot on the table. Anasthasia, on the other hand, raised her hands as she smiled at ease.
Her eyes darted towards Blake, who stood upright as he stared so deep at the new form of 'Seraphine.' "Moving on, how do you feel?"
"I feel so light-headed today, and my mind is beyond clarity. Just what is happening—I've never felt this feeling before."
"That's natural. You did great for the first try, and 'Seraphine' acknowledged you to this extent." She took a sip one last time before she mused back, "Which made me curious, what happened to Wallace back then."
Blake snapped out how he was starstruck and faced her with a furrowed forehead. "What do you mean by that, Miss Ana?"
"The 'Seraphine,' you can say, is one of the hard verifications to attest to your identity. Not only my prismatic powers are imbued to it, but the blood of Wallace flows through it." Anasathasia crossed her legs as she leaned her elbow on it, palm propping on her chin.
"It was a possibility, but it never crossed in my mind that—I never knew Wallace Raguel had descendants, more so a lover he'd elope—"
Blake squinted his eyes as she noticed how she stopped her utterance. A slightly pink shade bloomed across her cheeks; however, she raked her fingers through her hair.
'What am I doing? I almost remembered those intimate moments, that foolishly fallen angel.'
While at it, the silence loomed over them that they could only hear the time ticked. He only mumbled under his breath, "—It's a long story, Miss Ana."
"I'm sure it is, Blake."
"What about you, Miss Ana, how did you know all of this?"
"I don't know how much Michael revealed the information to you, but I thought you'd know the whole thing by now."
Although her tone rang sweetly, this gave shivers on his spine as realization dawned upon him. "You are the Prismatic Empress, Anasthasia—" But a breeze of wind pressed against his mouth, leaving words left unspoken.
"You don't have to make a big fuss about it."
His teeth gritted in futile with his sealed mouth, but none of those stopped him as he slowly went down with one knee, and his left palm landed on the chest, bowing afore her presence.
Brenov reached out to his master, Blake Millard, but his arm never budged as though he was set in stone.
Lucy gaped as she saw what happened, eyes bouncing back to Blake and Anasthasia. The twins sucked in a cold breath and looked at each other with caution; meanwhile, Michael pressed his lips thin.
Despite how the breeze slowly revolved around his head, he blurted out, "Master, this is…" Seeing how he bowed with deep respect, he clenched his fist.
"You don't have to do that. Time marches onward and nothing we can do about the irrevocable change."
Anasthasia gave him the time to do what he wanted. He finally shifted back to his seat, and this time, he gazed at her with such respect. She swiped her hand midair, removing the wind away from him.
"Don't forget where you are now."
"Well, I only thought you were a descendant as well." Blake fiddled his fingertips while his voice trailing off, "It seems so—"
"Call me, Miss Ana, I prefer it that way." Her assurance garnered a sigh of relief from him.
"Sister Anasthasia, oh my, that's a beautiful name indeed." She leaned closer, which startled Anasthasia in her seat.
"I prefer it if you call me Sister Ana, though."
"What about Master Anasthasia—"
"No! Over my dead body!"
Their little banters earned a chuckle from them. Liam tugged Lucy by the ear, making her shriek from pain as she flailed her arm.
Liam warned her in good faith, "Don't pry too much." In return, Lucy stuck out her tongue and went back to sit beside Anasthasia and clung by her arm.
Anasthasia giggled for a while. "Moving on, now that you know me, I'm sure that you should be able to gauge my powers."
Brenov looked lost for a moment, but Michael and the twins took a glimpse at Blake's reaction. Beads of sweat formed his forehead and would trickle anytime soon.
This caused him to stammer, "Yes—Of course, Miss Ana, I know how strong you are… Even if I heard it from the stories of my predecessors—The prismatic power alone—"
"That's not the case; I can't carelessly use my main power." She could feel a hard lump stuck on her throat every time she gulped. Meanwhile, it only left Blake so perplexed.
"My powers, once again, are cursed, Blake."
"That can't be!" He slammed the table as he roared, which flinched Lucy right away. In retrospect, he calmed down and whispered, "I'm sorry."
"I'm not mad about it. Anyway, as you can see, I don't solely depend on my prismatic powers as I always used the other sources." She took a pause and tapped her fingers on her cheek. "You know what I'm talking about, Mr. Sage of the Mana Tower."
"I—"
"If I'm not wrong, you used the tower to generate the barrier, right? That's fine, but why is it excessive to the point it's stringent enough that it clipped my powers as well?"
Brenov and Blake never utter a word; they sat still and never budged their bodies. Her cold stares worked as though it pricked their skin whenever they moved. Things dropped for worse as she interrogated further, this time around, all of them sensed the same way.
"I'm sure it's more than generating mana stones. It isn't enough to seal the deal, huh?"
The temperature plummeted soon as her eyes glinted again. From her sight, they all convulsed and gazed—downward like a meek dog scolded by their owners.
"As soon as I entered here, my powers drastically weakened, and I had to compensate for the lapses. Then you made my situation from worse to the worst-case scenario, Blake. Do you know what that means?"
She never intended to let go of her emotion, but Lucy began to claw deep on her skin.
"Pardon my insolence, Miss Ana! I swear I'll never do it again, or else I'll be cursed forever in the name of my ancestors!" He prattled on and on.
Snapping out of it, Anasthasia sighed and scratched her head. "Do you hold control of it?"
This time, Michael stepped forward and rubbed his chin. "I think that for the mana tower, the one who holds the highest authority would be my father, the King."
"Right, and he's currently bedridden. How's his condition?"
"It's slowly getting worse at this point. I have no clue what to do." He eyed sideways, gnawing his teeth.
"I can only imagine how chaotic the Royal Palace is currently."
Soon as Anasthasia sighed, he concurred, agreeing to his every word, "You bet."
"Of course, I know how the palace works. Who do you think I am?" Anasthasia crossed back her ankles and flipped her hair to the side. "Problems are piling up today, and we all are in this together."
"Tasha, a penny for your thoughts?"
"Don't worry, Michael. I'll try to see what I can do regarding your father's condition, but for now, I have to be a full-fledged citizen of your kingdom. It'll be a lot suspicious for you to bring someone, distinctively different from the societal norms and what-have-you."
Levi cleared his throat, thus gained Anasthasia's attention. "Ana, His Highness considered that aspect. He's patiently waiting, but things got out of control."
"Miss Ana, I have seen for myself the condition of His Majesty. It's…"
"Don't worry, Blake. I'll see it, and I'll accept your proposition. Since this is a formal visit, I know there are many papers needed for me to read."
As a cue, Brenov slipped his hand inside his robe and rummaged until he retrieved a couple of pages and handed it over to Anasthasia. Furthermore, her eyes scanned and flipped through the pages.
"I see, there are lots of benefits laid in here. These seemed as though it's too good to be true, though." She narrowed her eyes, looking back at them. "Not that I have a problem."
"Sister Ana…"
"I'm alright. So it says here I shall go back to Brenov's office tomorrow. I'll do that. Blake, also, I have request..."
The two distinguished men stood up from their seats; the twins escorted them by the exit, and finally, they bid each other's farewell. They walked their way out until their silhouettes vanished amidst the darkness.
Closing the door, Anasthasia stared at Michael for a while.
"I'll pay your father a visit right after I finish everything tomorrow."