In The Likeness Of A Prince

"If I'm not wrong, I'm a thousand and five hundred experience points away from ranking up." She says this while rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, embarrassed that she doesn't have a better label to give herself other than "peasant".

Adelia purses her lips in thought. "I won't disrespect you because you're a peasant but I must say, you have immense luck."

"What do the sisters seek anyway? Isn't it possible to avoid them?"

"The sisters stay lurking in the secluded parts of each kingdom. It's a good chance that once she's set her eyes on you, it'll be hard to get yourself off her radar," Adelia teaches. "All they seek is conflict and the power that comes out of it. If there was no appeal, why was there such a great divide in our society from the beginning?"

Mizuki sinks onto the table, lying her head against her arm distractedly. "You're right."

"There are rumours that they follow a new leader. Previously, they would follow the orders of their oldest sister, Hecate, who is now the right-hand woman to an unknown force," Adelia reaches for the book, flipping towards the last few pages. They're empty, which Adelia now starts to dexterously jot notes into with a feather quill. "I've spent years seeking the presence of one of them, to receive any gauge of their true power to confirm rumours."

"Is there anything that can be done?" Mizuki frowns.

"My theory is that the Befallen Pieces of Astra are under great threat from the sisters. If they are corrupted with black magic, the land will be destroyed under the clutches of sorrow," Adelia massages her forehead. "Alas, there is no way for you to solve this problem. Only mages can acquire these pieces and I do not have the capacity to embark on such an ambitious hunt."

"Why don't you go for it, even if it might not work? Especially if there's a threat to the land if nothing is done?" Mizuki questions, raising her head to meet Adelia's eyes.

"What happens at the end, child? No mortal has stepped foot into Polaris, the ruined kingdom where one of the pieces does lie," Adelia intertwines her fingers. "You need to be practical. Black magic is an extremely difficult thing to revert and I am confident that any piece there has been long corrupted."

"So there's nothing I can do to help myself?"

[Side Quest: Never Talk to Strangers - Obtain Olives from Castle Garden]

Mizuki narrows her eyes at the new sub-objective. Adelia starts, "I can teach you about protection spells. Although you won't be able to use them on yourself, they're good to know for future reference."

"Can you teach me about potions?" Mizuki raises an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, I'm a mage who specialises in verbal spells rather than potions. Of course, I'll be able to teach you the basics but it's much less worth it hearing it from me. For one that I'll be teaching you right now, we should go out to the garden," Adelia stands, gesturing for Mizuki to follow her. Mizuki obeys, following her tracks obediently. At times as she passes, she feels the stoic, judgemental gaze of guards on duty on her frame. As Mizuki opens her mouth to speak, Adelia hushes her, reminding her that one shouldn't be speaking much when they're roaming the corridors of the palace.

Once they're finally out in the garden, Adelia turns, "What was your concern?"

Mizuki wrings her wrist subconsciously. "Er, I was wondering why they're staring. It's scary how they don't move at all."

"You're new here, aren't you? Of course they'd be wary. Once you start visiting me more the next few weeks, they'll let their guard down around you," Adelia slips in a joke. Mizuki laughs softly, acknowledging it. Adelia leads her forward into the garden. Mizuki stands, once again, awestruck by the palace's beauty.

The palace garden is much like a sanctuary for the furry-faced chipmunks and squirrels, darting amidst the green leaves and delicate petals. Multi-coloured pansies pop vibrantly against the green, maybe even as bright as Mizuki's smile.

In the immediate vicinity, she catches sight of a couple olive trees growing in clusters and several hedges dividing the garden and sculpting a route for walking. Close to the front are a set of garden tables and now the grass sculpture of the royal family's emblem, a pearly gazebo not far from her view. Mizuki takes a couple of steps forward, raising her chin higher. A gust of wind caresses her cheek, sending her side bangs flying, tickling her neck. "It's beautiful here."

"It was the prince's favourite place to be when he was a child."

When Mizuki lowers her gaze once again, she halts. The image she found in Hinata's drawer returns to her mind like a flash. She blinks and in front of her, she can briefly see the picture come to life. The resemblance is uncanny. "The prince's favourite?" she repeats, her heart rate picking up pace.

As she says so, Mizuki catches Hinata entering the garden from another entrance. He has his hair tucked over his shoulder, hands in his pockets. Her lips part in absent-mindedness. Adelia starts, "He used to love pansies. He'd often pick them even when his father would warn him not to."

Hinata bends, slowly nudging a flower out of its bush. He holds it up to his face, catching a whiff of it, chest rising and falling slowly.

"Sometimes, he would come out here and walk while twirling a flower between his fingers, deep in thought. No one could ever tell what he was thinking about, however," Adelia continues. Hinata strolls, admiring his surroundings. His head is turned away from Mizuki and somehow, he hasn't caught notice of her staring yet. He fidgets with the flower.

"He loved studying in the gazebo. He would demand that his teachers visit him there, else he wouldn't continue with his lessons," Adelia chuckles light-heartedly. "What a stubborn young prince I raised."

Hinata stops somewhere in front of the gazebo. He doesn't enter it but neither does he shift his position, staring wistfully out into nowhere. Mizuki can hear her heart drumming in her ears, shifting her gaze away from him. Hinata… But she's not ready to acknowledge her epiphany just yet. "It would have been nice if we still had him with us," Mizuki comments.

"We never know," Adelia remarks softly, not loud enough for Mizuki to hear.