A Gift From King Aether

The recent days went by with little change. Cassandra didn't push herself to memorize many spells because she was at ease. At the time, the only improvement in his life was that he could turn each raw ingredient into a tasty meal.

It also occurred because he was unable to allow both Gomiko and his stomach to go without food. Though it had become more gripping over the past few days, he had grown accustomed to the pain in her hand.

All the way to the east tower, one could hear the roar of the trumpets and gongs heralding the celebration of tomorrow. Cassandra could only make out the distant, pitch-black sky lit only by red and deep blue light.

"It must be true that Madam Sahara owns the red light and Her Majesty the Queen Lilya owns the dark blue one," Gomiko enquired while her large eyes widened in delight at the glimmer of light.

Cassandra nodded but didn't say anything in return. There was a tinge of longing in his heart this morning. For the first time, Cassandra thought that hearing Lilya's hurtful words would be preferable to being confined to this tower.

She would typically watch her mother's light magic matches while seated next to her father. Every year, the black sky is adorned with blue and red sparkles to kick off the celebrations for September. They will engage in strength training and a small race.

She could only hold her chin at this point, along with a round, furry hybrid, Gomiko. The day before the celebration is something very special, much like on Christmas Eve. Even though Gomiko is adorable, Cassandra still wants to be with her family.

Gomiko appeared to comprehend Cassandra's melancholy. He circled like a top in front of Cassandra.

"Gomiko, stop it! Why do you keep coming around in front of me?" Cassandra yelled.

"I purposely did this to make you happy. I don't want to see you moping around in despair! Get moving, Cassandra! At least you've learned a lot of spells in the last thirteen days, so it's all happened!" Gomiko said as he halted his turn and fixed his large eyes on Cassandra.

"Lot spells? All of those spells were simply copied from the book. I barely retained it in my memory. Besides, it's just to switch the food, so I'm sure my mother wouldn't be counting the spells anyway. Gomiko, I mean, some wizards used to use books or notes to say that," Cassandra said in anger. The fact that Gomiko's words had no bearing on her irritated her greatly.

Then Cassandra stood up from the window and went back to bed. She threw herself so forcefully that the bed shook slightly.

Gomiko took to the air and came down on Cassandra's face. The gloomy Cassandra swiftly brushed Gomiko away after he began to rub her face with his round, hairy body.

"Gomiko, I want to sleep." Cassandra closed her eyes, she said, "By the way, I'm not going to eat today. I'm too lazy to hurt my hands and force my energy to change all the ingredients in the crate."

For thirty minutes, a chest had lain beneath the window. She hadn't opened it since the coffin was delivered by the black fireflies as usual, as Cassandra mentioned.

Gomiko shed a few tears, but not because he was disappointed about his inability to eat, but rather because he felt bad for making Cassandra sad.

Cassandra knows that her behavior must put Gomiko down. She looked at Gomiko with one eye open.

"You can eat the fruit there," Cassandra said after controlling her rage. "No need to be depressed and consider me. Gomiko, I'm just being lazy, I'm not mad at you."

"However, Cassandra--."

Cassandra warned, "I'll be really pissed at you if you keep giving me that regretful look!"

Once more, the young girl shut her eyes.

Eventually, Gomiko followed Cassandra's instructions. He approached the still-closed chest by moving his wings slowly in that direction.

As his hand yanked the crate lid with all his might, it appeared as though his wings were flapping quickly. Gomiko was only the size of an adult's fist, but she had the strength to lift large objects.

"UGH!"

BRAK!

The sound of the coffin's lid slamming backwards could be heard. Gomiko turned to face Cassandra, who was still standing still and had turned to face the wall.

"Hmm, perhaps she is truly exhausted. Forgive me, Cassandra," Gomiko grumbled.

When the cute animal turned to face the crate, his eyes grew wide and his tiny mouth twitched as if he were going to say something.

"Cassandra! Cassandra! Cassandra! Get up!" cried out Gomiko. He fixed his gaze on Cassandra, who had ignored him.

In order to wake up the stunning girl right away, Gomiko immediately flew to his best friend and rubbed his body against Cassandra's face.

"Cassandra, wake up! Get up!"

Cassandra chuckled, forgetting how annoyed she was that Gomiko was bothering her so much while she was trying to sleep.

"ARGH! What the hell, Gomiko? Please stay calm and enjoy the fruit in that chest. I WON'T change the ingredients, so don't ask me to do it!" Cassandra snarled and gave Gomiko a stern look.

Gomiko shook his head quickly. He was even cuter because his entire body was trembling.

"No, No! You weren't asked to do that by me." Gomiko said, in a cute voice, "I just wanted to let you know that the chest contains a lot of delicious food and that there is a dark green envelope on top of that pile of food."

Cassandra scowled and jumped out of bed, sprinting for the crate.

Gomiko was accurate in what she said. Delicious food is plentiful and easily visible in the chest.On the right side of the chest, even the grapes were sparkling. Cassandra and Gomiko exchanged glances. Then Gomiko commanded, "Open the envelope right away!"

Cassandra grabbed a green envelope without hesitation. The moment she opened it, the envelope floated open. Then a bright light covered the length of an adult.

King Aether, Cassandra's father, was slowly discernible in the black shadow that had appeared.

"Daddy?!" With her eyes wide at what was happening, Cassandra yelled.

"My daughter, Cassandra. I'm sorry I can't help you, and your mother forbade me from coming to see you, in case I could help you escape from the east tower. I miss you so much and I hope that you're doing well. Please keep working on memorizing the spell. I provided you with a lot of food and altered all the ingredients. Of course, your mother was unaware of anything that happened. I hope you enjoy it. My daughter, you have my undying love. Cassandra, happy September."

The light returned to the envelope as well as the father's words, and it instantly turned into gold dust.

Cassandra stood still while crying. She sat down and covered her face with both hands as tears slowly started to fall down her cheeks.

The only sounds were cries, and Cassandra screamed obnoxiously. Cassandra's longing for her parents is getting stronger with what her father did. One more thing: As the daughter of a king and queen of the Black Kingdom, Cassandra also felt a strong sense of helplessness.