10.

Leona gently removes the soaked nightgown from her body with a grimace; dropping it in the laundry basket. She walks over to the sink, a hand covering her mouth as she yawns. She looks into the mirror, staring at her tired face and disarrayed hair.

With a grunt, she grabs the vial containing a mint green potion, meant for cleaning the mouth. She sips some, washing her mouth with it. She seals the vial back, dropping it back in its position on the sink.

Still sloshing her mouth with the minty liquid, she stares into the mirror, gaze focused on her eyes. She pauses in her activity and leans forward. Her eyes flashes a fiery orange for a second and she reels back in surprise. She blinks, eyebrows shooting up. She leans forward again, expecting to see the flash of orange again, but it never comes.

“Hn.” She gives a grunt before sloshing the liquid in her mouth for a moment and throws the content in her mouth down into the sink when she finishes.

Leona grabs another vial, this one’s liquid clear and transparent. She uncocks it and takes a sip. She throws her head back a little and proceeds in rinsing her mouth. She spits the liquid out once she’s done.

Leona opens the golden tap that flows with warm water, fetching a palm full of water and rinsing her mouth once again; getting rid of the minty taste a little in her mouth. Once done, she pours water around the sink, washing down any residual of the potions. She ties her braided hair up, grabs a thick net and covers her head with it.

With one last glance at the mirror, Leona walks over to the bath tub.

She fills the tub with hot water, grabs the soap vial and her sponge before getting in. She ensures that she scrubs her body free of dirty, being carefully not to scrub too hard and irritate her skin.

Once she feels that she has washed her body adequately enough, she drains the soapy water. She fills the tub again with hot water, grabbing a vial from the corner and pouring the usual amount of jasmine scented potion meant to take care of her skin.

Seeing as her skin has a… disagreement with creams, Leona options to use bath oil potions instead. She submerges her body into the tub, her face tipped back. She heaves a pleased sigh, closing her eyes.

Leona stays in the water for ten minutes, allowing the potion to be adsorbed into her skin. Her mind is running through a thousand questions.

What was that dream she had? Was it real? Did her mother really appear to her? These and many others.

She sighs, opening her eyes slowing. Leona goes wide eyes as she notices that the room is filled with steam. She jerks upright, water sloshing over the tub as a result. She looks down and gives a surprise yelp.

The water she’s currently in is boiling. Literally.

It’s like someone placed a stove under her and set the intensity of the flame to the max.

Leona jumps out of the tub, splashing water on the tiled floor. She slips but hurriedly grabs hold of the edge of the tub before she could fall on her ass – or worse, on her face. She rights herself, carefully moving away from the tub. She stares in bewilderment as the water stops boiling, coming to a stop.

Suddenly, she hears a sizzling sound, as if water is being dropped on a hot surface. She raises her arms and looks down at them, then her body with wide eyes.

She hurries to the huge mirror at one end of the room, making sure to be careful not to slip. Her eyes go wider as she looks at her form, her mouth gaping in shock.

The water on her body is drying up, steam rising up into the air. The net on her hair is releasing smoke, and she plucks it from her head. She throws the net down on the floor and starts stomping on it. Her braided hair falls down, showing its newly crimson glory.

“The hell?!”

Leona take some steps back, hands moving from her face to her head. She then moves forward, looking closely into the mirror.

Her eyes are orange again… the same orange her mother had in her dreams the very last minute. She takes a glance at the floor, freezing when she sees her feet.

They… they are on fire. Literal fire.

What. The Fuck?

“This… this is just a dream.” She whispers. She moves back, her head in her hands. “This is just an illusion. An illusion.” She squeezes her eyes shut, hands gripping her face tightly. “Wake up. Snap out of it. Wake up.”

Leona stays like that for some moments, breathing heavily. Taking a leap of fate, she opens her eyes, peaking down through her fingers. Her eyes settle on her feet and she gasps when she sees that they are back to normal. Her head snaps up, her eyes locked on the mirror.

To her relief, she isn’t in flames anymore. Her hair is back to its dark shade, and her eyes are back to their usual color. Her shoulders slumps in relief and her lungs heaves a relieved sigh.

“What is happening?” She whispers out shakenly.

Leona steps forward again, eyes sizing her body in the mirror.

Everything is back to normal. The only thing that indicated that what just happened wasn’t an illusion are the black footprints tared on the tiles; and the slightly burnt net.

“I have to tell them. I have to inform them.”

Leona hurries over to the towel rack, grabbing a head and body towel. She ties them respectively before hurrying over to the door.

Upon grabbing the door handle, she pauses. Her lips turns downward into a frown, her face taking up a contemplatively expression.

Since she announced her betrothal to them, Raemon and Liliane have been worried about her. Then her usual nightly fever becomes a day and night event, making them even more worried.

Informing them about what just took place is like signing a death warrant.

When it comes to her, those two become mother hens with a snap of a finger and they will keep an eye on her every second of the day if they see something wrong with her.

They are good at that, just like how they are good at killing.

Leona shivers at the thought of their reaction.

Nope.

She shakes her head, steeping away from the door.

‘I’ll visit the royal library today and do a research. Better to find evidence that I am not cursed or dying before telling them. At least, that will put them at ease and save me a load of trouble.’ Leona sweat drops.

Seriously, those two…

Leona snorts, rolling her eyes in fond exasperation. She turns back, looking at the mess the bathroom was in.

The water on the floor can be easily explained along with the broken vials, but the charred footprints: those are the problem.

Leona stares intently at the spot, lips pursed. An idea came into her head and she makes a quick work of executing it.

She grabs a few vials of clear potion, making note of them, and she pours them onto the prints. Using the damaged cotton net, she scrubs the floor with all her strength – going to the still filled tub to rinse it and going back again to scrub at them.

After a few minutes of hard scrubbing, Leona stops and looks at her work.

The burn has been cleaned to an acceptable level and she sighs in relief. She grabs the empty vials and disposes them – along with the damaged net – into the waste basket. She walks over to the tub and opens the golden tap and rinses her hands before draining it.

Her eyes catches the sight of the broken vials and she purses her lips in dissatisfaction.

Looks like she is going shopping. Again.

With a groan, she walks away, heading for the door. “Alfaenia will deal with the rest.” She bats her hand dismissively.

Leona doesn’t waste much time in getting dressed. She chooses a simple, V necked purple dress that’s off-shoulders. It has net sleeves that ends at her elbows and having a beautiful net design on the chest. The dress also has well-hidden pockets.

She plasters the Illusion Seal – made specially for her by Liliane - on her back, watching in amazement as her tattoo and the seal disappears, leaving only clear honey skin.

She loses her braid, brushing her recently cut hair – which was formally hip length and now reaches her mid-back length – gently. Once done with taking care of her smooth and silky hair, she rubs a little powder before applying a clear lips moisturizer.

She reaches into her jewelry drawer and grabs her black ruby earrings and her sliver necklace. She wears them in record time, as well as her two rings on each of her ring fingers. She walks over to the full length mirror and takes in her appearance.

“Well, this should do.” She nods, giving a small twirl. A knock on her door makes her divert her attention from the mirror.

“Young Mistress?”

“Just a moment.” She says. She looks at herself once again before walking away.

“Good morning, Young mistress,” is the first thing she hears as she opens the door.

“Good morning, Alfaenia.” She greets, a small smile on her lips.

“How was your night?”

“…eventful.”

Alfaenia arches an eyebrow. “And your morning?”

“Disastrous.” The teen deadpans.

This gets Alfaenia’s eyebrows shooting up before coming down into a frown.

“Is anything the matter?”

Leona pinches the bridge of her nose, batting her hand dismissively. “Just had a slight accident in the bathroom, that’s all. I slipped, knocking down some vials.”

“Are you hurt?” Alfaenia moves forward, eyes staring at Leona intently.

“I’m perfectly fine.” Leona bats the air. “Although, I couldn’t clean up the broken glass and water on the floor. It’s… pretty messy.” She grimaces.

“Do not worry. It will be taken care of.”

Leona gives a thankful nod. “Thank you.”

The two of them make their way over to the grand stairs in silence. The reach there in no time, and waiting for them down was Raemon and Liliane.

“You missed breakfast,” is Liliane’s first words. “Marbethta and Caelum have already left. You do remember that the meeting starts at nine and it’s already 7:25am, right?” She cocks an eyebrow.

“I apologize. Something came up.” Leona says, slowly and carefully walking down to meet them.

Something? Raemon signs, a brow arching a little. Currently, he can neither hear nor talk, having not taken his potions. He focuses on their lips, making sure that Liliane is in an open spot.

“The young mistress had a small accident, Master Raemon.” Alfaenia replies, dutifully following behind Leona. Although she might not know what Raemon is signing, she has a good guess of what he’s asking.

“Accident?” Liliane takes a step forward in alarm.

“I slipped. In the bathroom.”

Are you hurt? Raemon squints lightly at her while Liliane takes another step forward.

“I’m fine, you two.” Leona rolls her eyes in exasperation, making her way to stand before them.

The two adults squint heavily, sizing her up from head to toe, looking for any signs of pain or injuries.

Upon reaching them, Leona blinks, eyebrows shooting up.

“What in Helma’s name are you both wearing?” She asks with a scandalized voice, staring indignantly at her siblings.

Clothes. Raemon signs. The blank look on his face makes Leona sigh in exasperation.

Raemon has on his Assassin battle suit and gear. The black body suit clings to his toned body like a second skin, leaving no room for the imagination. He has everything on, even his mask and scarf! It’s like he’s going on an official mission or something!

Oh, let’s not get started with Liliane.

The woman wore her combat clothes; a black short – that starts from the pelvis and ends under her butt cheeks, has a little navy blue cloth hanging in front that reaches her thighs – that is being held by a belt; a black tight, sleeveless short top that end a few inches under her breasts, showing off her toned stomach; dark blue thigh high socks, heeled combat boots and leather bracers on.

Raemon and Liliane both have edametalim metals incorporated in their outfits; be it on their clothes or shoes.

These two were simply ready for war.

Leona pinches the bridge of her nose, her other arm folded. “You guys…” She sighs. “We are going to a meeting, not a battle.”

“Hn.” Liliane shrugs. “You might never know who’s simply begging to join their ancestors.” She gives a sharp grin, making Leona groan.

“Can you both, just please, change into formal clothes? Please.”

Leona stares up at them with an unimpressed and blank look, eyes narrowed and promising retribution if they don’t obey her. The two adults inwardly sweat drops.

Although she has no magik or mana core, Leona is emitting a deadly aura; an aura they couldn’t ignore. Every day, Leona is beginning to look like Adriane. Right now, the resemblance is uncanny.

Deciding that they have had enough of her stare, the two adults acquiesce with an amused expression.

“Fine.” Liliane huffs, the corner of her lips tilting into a smile. “No need to get your panties in twist, little sis.”

Liliane raises her hand and spins a finger in the air. Above her, a green circle with sigils forms and then it descends on her. As it goes down, her hair and clothes changes. Once it reaches the ground, it shimmers out of existence.

“Is this formal enough?” Liliane asks, hip cocked and a hand on it.

No longer is she wearing her combat clothes. She now wore a green, knee length Hong-Longian dress, which is split on both sides from her hips down. The dress is sleeveless, showing her toned biceps which bore two gold bands. It is high necked and has a boob window, which shows part of her ample busts.

Although the dress clings to her body like a second skin, it is still flexible. It acts more like a body suit, suiting her acrobatic and rapid assault fighting style. She also has on red high thigh sockings with straps, which end inches away from her ankles, leaving bare her feet; and sliver heeled sandals.

To top it all up, Liliane has on fingerless gloves that end few inches from her elbows. Her box braided dark brown hair is now up in a high ponytail – some of the box braided locks down on her face.

Leona nods curtly in reply before turning over to Raemon, looking at him pointedly.

The olive skin Assassin gives a silent sigh before he too changes his attire.

Raemon’s clothes seems to dissolve like smoke. The smoke twists and surrounds his body from his head to toe. When the smoke disperses, Raemon is dressed differently.

No longer is he wearing his work clothes, instead, he wore a black turtle shirt, it sleeves reaching his biceps and clinging to his body like a second skin; black trousers; and equally black boots.

The amount of black on him makes both of his sisters to sweat drop.

His shoulder length, curly ash-grey hair is still in its usual bun, exposing his shaved back head. The bun is held in place by two black metal hair sticks, which have precious stones dangling from gold wires. The sight of them and the earring on his ear makes both women to go soft eyed.

“Jacket.” Leona says, her soft gaze boring into him.

The adult gives a small roll of his eyes before magiking a short grey leather jacket – baring the symbol of the Sanguine clan on his back.

“Better.” Leona nods, a pleased smile on her face. Her siblings huffs silently.

“Here, your supreme overlordness.” Liliane says as she materializes a tied lunch box. “I packed some food for you. You can eat on the way.”

The three make their way outside, a carriage already waiting for them.

Leona walks over to the Gaionleus, a soft smile on her face.

“Hey, Pae.” She greets, getting a huff back. “So, you’re the one taking me to the palace, huh?”

She raises a hand, waiting for him to sniff. Once he did, and deciding that she’s of no danger to him and also recognizing her familiar scent, he bumps his nose in her hand – getting a grin from her.

Leona softly caresses the creature’s face, getting a pleased noise from him. “Please take of me.” The Gaionleus huffs, making her grin to stretch.

With a last pat on his beak, she walks away and heads back to the carriage.

“Lady Leona?”

The timid voice of Reyuu, the bird keeping girl, calls out. All heads turn to her, making the poor girl to shrink under their gaze.

“Yes?” Leona turns fully to face her, her leg still on the first steps of the carriage.

“Um, you- you have a letter.” She raises up three, small, folded parchments, eyes avoiding the trio.

“Three?” Liliane asks, cocking a surprised eyebrow.

“Um, a-actually, they are meant for the three of you.” Reyuu stutters out. The teen proceeds in passing the missives to each respectful recipient.

Leona looks down at hers, blinking owlishly when she sees the Blackwater insignia.

This is strange. Neither Aeron nor her make use of their official family insignia. So for this to come in instead of their usual friendly missives, it makes her to frown in confusion.

“Thank you.” Leona says, making the girls eyes to widen in surprise. The young girl gives a deep bow before hurrying away.

Leona continues her journey up the carriage, putting the letter in a pocket. She pauses once more to say goodbye to Alfaenia.

“Have a safe ride, Young Mistress, Lady Liliane, Master Raemon.” The woman, along with four others at her back, bows to the retreating forms of the trio.

The three take a seat in the carriage, the doors closing automatically.

With a crack of the reigns, the Gaionleus takes off into a run, wings spreading out, before taking into the air.