Almost Late

I... was almost late for my own ceremony.

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't move my body one bit. My legs, arms, even my head. Immediately I knew I had sleep paralysis.

Damn, even though I slept early to get rid of my insomnia, why do they party every night? Can't they just party somewhere else?!

After a while, I could move my body. I looked over at the wooden clock and it was already 11. I need to be at the royal palace at 11:30 and my ceremony starts at 12.

From here to the royal palace, it takes about an hour or two to get there on foot. If I continue to idle around, I'll be late.

I quickly donned my suit and snatched my coat from the table. I went to my drawer and took out the box containing the ring and then I left. I almost stumbled down the stairs trying to get down to the first floor. Getting back on my feet, I ran to the kitchen and made a sandwich, then I exited through the backdoor.

Since it was dark, I could travel through the shadows from here. But the thing is how I'm going to navigate through town. I'll have to sneak from alley to alley using shadow traveling, but I'm gonna have to avoid getting caught by an officer.

After a while, I arrived at the plaza. From here I'm going to have to walk on foot. There are no more shadows for me to quickly travel through.

I quickly ran down the road that led towards the castle. Along the way, I saw a silver flash past me and I quickly stopped.

What the hell was that?!

Suddenly, that silver flash appeared in front of me, and standing in front of me was Marth.

"Heh, so you overslept as well didn't you?" Marth smirked as he fixed his tie. He was wearing a blue and white suit. I stared at his messy hair and I can already tell he just woke up a few minutes ago.

"I'm surprised you overslept. Didn't have Katelin to wake you up?"

"Katelin and I may be fiances, but we don't live with each other. We are neighbors, however. My family tried to wake me up but I hid away from them to sleep longer. Only a few minutes after they left, I forgot I had to be here. By the way, you should've gotten a haircut."

"I was too busy to get it cut. Now let's stop talking, we are gonna be late for the ceremony."

"Right, congratulations by the way."

I'd dash forward and Marth followed. Seconds later, I was the one following him. Seems he's gotten faster as well. Either that's his Lycan powers or he's just fast in general.

Along the way, the castle was in view. At first glance, I wasn't surprised by how tall it was. It composed of three towers and a large base. I

Soon, we arrived in front of the castle. Good thing we did because if it was any further, I would've run out of breath and stumbled.

At the gate, we were first stopped by a guard who asked for identification and an invitation letter. I took out my letter and my identification and handed them to him. He looked at it for a while and took quick glances at me. Then he let me through.

Me and Marth entered the castle and we walked down a long passageway.

"So, where are we supposed to go?" I'd ask Marth as I assume he'd know where to go. I mean, he is a noble after all.

"Down the hall is where his majesty always holds his parties. Since this is a ceremony, there will obviously be a party. By the way, you'll have to go to the second floor to the balcony. That's where the guest-of-honor goes while we stay on the first floor. I hope you're a good partier' cause you aren't leaving until midnight."

Parties... yay...

I sighed and shook my head. I'm not even excited for the party. I'm always listening to one below me when I sleep, anyway. That is, unless this party doesn't involve obnoxious shouting and drunk people, then I'll take my chance. Organized parties are my kind of parties. I remember pretending to be a waiter on one of my jobs and there wasn't much talking. It was almost... quiet... just how I like it.

We'd arrive at a set of stairs leading to the second floor. Guess this is where I have to go.

"Now then, when the ceremony is over, let's have a drink together." Marth placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"Hmm, I don't remember you being this nice."

"How couldn't I? You've earned my respect during the exam. It's normal I respect my rival on such occasions."

"I see. Well then, I'll see you later."

"You too."

We then separated.

I'd walk up the stairs and continue down the hall in the direction of the balcony. Along the way, I passed a wooden clock and when I looked at the time, I almost had a heart attack.

It was 11:40, I was 10 minutes late!

I began panicking until I heard Aurelia call me from the end of the hall.

"Seiya, you're here!"

I turned and my attention was directly on Aurelia's attire. She was in a beautiful white petite dress.

"You look... beautiful."

Those words leaked from my mouth and Aurelia immediately brightened up.

"Th-thanks... you too."

We were admiring each other for a while. Then it got awkward and I looked away. When I looked at the clock, I remembered why I was here.

"Aurelia, am I late?"

"Yes, but don't worry, a few minutes late is nothing major. Now come."

She'd grab my hand and dragged me along with her.

We'd walk towards the entrance of the balcony, but then we stopped in front of a different door. When Aurelia opened the door, I saw the king sitting down on a couch and a few others as well. Strange thing was that there were clones of Aurelia and I was actually confused for a second. Then I realized that they weren't her! They were her relatives!

"U-uhh..."

"Oh Seiya, you got here a bit later than I expected. Oh well, whatever. Come, take a seat." The king said as he offered me a seat across from him.

I'd hesitantly take a seat as I took quick glances at the others around me. To my right were two girls that looked almost exactly identical to Aurelia except that they both had light golden hair and one had silver eyes while the other had icy-blue eyes. You could mistake them for the same person from afar, but up close, the eyes give it away.

Now if I were to guess, they would be twins... around the age of 14... 15?

So if they are twins, then that woman that Aurelia is sitting next to is...

...

No, that can't be. A shortie like her can never be the mother of Aurelia. Since Aurelia was sitting next to her, there was an obvious height difference. She was short, probably around 140 cm. She had the same white hair as Aurelia but her eyes were what really confused me.

They weren't normal. It's almost as if her eyes keep changing color every few seconds. It was like looking at a rainbow.

"Oh? I'm surprised you can look into my eyes, have I enchanted you?"

Despite having a loli-like body, her voice sounded like that of a mature woman. My mind immediately froze and I again questioned whether she was Aurelia's mother or not even though I already assumed she was her mother.

"S-sorry," I apologized as I rubbed my eyes.

"So this is the boy you were talking about, Ryden?"

"Yes, Sophia. This is Seiya Gekiryu. Seiya, meet my wife, Sophia, and my other two daughters, Yin and Lumi."

The queen, Sophia, bowed her head to me and I stood up and bowed back. Then I looked over at Yin and Lumi.

"I don't want to sound offensive, but which one of you is-?"

"I'm Yin." The girl with silver eyes said with a cold manner, then she looked away from me. The way she acted right there gave me a feeling of deja vu...

"And I'm Lumi!" The girl with the icy-blue eyes answered with a joyful tone and a bright smile.

I'd bow to them as well and sat back down. I ran my fingers through my hair. It was getting quiet and I was getting quite uncomfortable. Ok... maybe a little noise would be better.

"I heard you were dating my daughter, is that correct?" The queen asked, inspecting me from top to bottom.

"Yes." I'd answer back, shifting nervously.

"Huh, she wasn't lying when she said you were handsome."

"Pff, he's not that good looking."

Lumi and Yin were suddenly next to me, inspecting my face. I recoiled back instantly and watched as their faces moved closer to mine.

"You guys are making him uncomfortable!"

Aurelia appeared between us and moved her sisters back to their seats.

"Fufu, are you jealous? We were just getting close to your boyfriend so we could get a better look at his face." Lumi teased.

"N-n-n-no! I'm not jealous!"

"Oh, really?" Lumi smirked and a smug look appeared on her face.

"Stop teasing your big sister like that, Lumi," the king said and looked over at the clock near the wall.

"Seiya, come with me, it's time."

"Right."

I'd get up from my seat. Aurelia looked at me and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled and followed the king towards the balcony.

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