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Chapter 4: Pink Orchids

Sol and Karisha's quarters…

As Sol's consciousness drifted to the world of dreams. Blurry figures started to form. She saw a three-year-old girl throwing tantrums as her maids tried to feed her. Suddenly, a dignified middle-aged man came in with an elegant, beautiful lady. The young girl is familiar with the lady as she has seen her from time to time. This lady would feed and play with her. With them is a 5 year old young boy. He looks 'cheery' at first sight.

"My daughter, I'm here with your Auntie Merida and your new friend," said the dignified man.

The young girl stared menacingly at the young boy.

"Hi! My name is kjhdfL," the boy introduced himself.

Sol couldn't hear the name of the boy properly.

The girl has no reaction at all.

"Why is my dear little one angry?" Lady Merida asked as she went to sit beside the girl. She signaled the man that he could leave. The boy followed the lady and sat beside her.

"I don't want him. I want you Auntie."

"Of course. Of course, my dear. Auntie will play with you but you must eat those first," the lady said, referring to the food at the table.

"Okay."

The boy intuitively stood up and went to get the food. He then went towards the girl and offered the food. The girl suddenly screamed and cried. She also threw the bowl, making it break and spilling its contents.

The scream awoke Sol with a start.

As she got up, her mind was still in daze as she couldn't figure it out yet why she dreamt of those blurry two kids. She couldn't even make their faces out as they are all blurry. Moreover, the stinging headache caught her attention more. Then, memories from last night started to flash before her eyes.

"Ahhhhhhh!" She shouted so loud that she woke Karisha up.

"Are you okay?" Karisha asked.

"Karisha, what should I do?" Sol asked as her face was filled with concern.

"What is it?"

"Uhh- I may have gone quite overboard… I need to apologize."

"So, something really happened last night? What did you do? Why do you need to apologize? Is it because you visited the captain while you're drunk?"

"I wish that was just the case."

"Mmm. I'm listening."

"I disrespected and threatened Captain Karsh," she said lifelessly.

"Ha-Ha-Ha," exclaimed Karisha, faking a laugh, "Tell me that I'm having problems with my ears. I think I just heard something ridiculous!"

"You don't have any problems with your ears."

"Wa-You must have been really tired with your life, Sol. DIDN'T YOU REPEATEDLY HEAR THAT CAPTAIN KARSH IS A RUTHLESS PERSON?! HE DOESN'T LET ANYONE MESS WITH HIM, WHETHER YOU ARE A PEASANT OR IN THE HIGH SOCIETY!" Karisha stated with heavy diction to the capitalized words in this sentence.

"I know."

"THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP MESSING WITH HIM?"

"I'M DRUNK. Well, the deed has already been done. So, what should I do? How should I apologize?" Sol asked, bringing the conversation to normal mode.

"Mmm. Let's see, can you cook? You could cook something for him."

"I had lessons with cooking, but I'm not very talented with it. What else? Should I bring him wine?"

"What? Then, wouldn't he think that you're a drunkard? Also, he might think that you're asking him to drink with you. Moreover, he doesn't drink."

"What? Where on earth can you find a man who doesn't drink?"

"Him."

"How did you know these things?"

"I'm knowledgeable."

"If you're knowledgeable enough, tell me more options."

"Ah. Flowers! Give him flowers."

"Flowers? He's a man. Why would I give him flowers?"

"They say every feeling is best expressed with flowers. So, giving flowers could show your sincerity. And Sol, men also love receiving flowers. More so if they are scented, it could calm their thoughts."

"Then, what kind of flower should I give him?"

"Mmm. I saw some orchids in the garden. Give him white orchids. It symbolizes your sincerity and could show that you regret your actions."

"Then, get me some orchids."

"No. You should make an effort. You should be the one to get it. You could say, 'I picked this up myself in the heat of the scorching sun. I deeply apologize for my actions last night Captain.' Make sense?"

"Okay. I hope your 'knowledge' works," Sol stated and walked towards the garden.

"Of course, it will work. Flowers do wonders," Karisha stated with a smile.

XXX

At the Supremo's Manse…

The Supremo is the head of the land of Largus and the reigning head is Augustus Supremo – Augustus Custos.

Augustus Supremo is currently having breakfast with Adviser Moraii. He often have breakfasts with the Adviser that everyone concluded that Adviser Moraii is the favorite.

"Is there something wrong, Supremo?" Adviser Moraii finally asked when he noticed the paleness and silence of the Supremo.

"Nothing. I just had a strange dream last night."

"How strange that would be that our Supremo is so pale and is barely eating?"

"I dreamt of my daughter."

"What is strange about it, Supremo?"

"I dreamt of my daughter playing with the son of Helios Supremo."

The food felt stuck on Adviser Moraii's throat when he heard what the Supremo said. It took him minutes to process what he had heard.

"They are playing cheerfully, Adviser."

Adviser Moraii felt the coldness crept up his spine.

Helios Supremo or Helios Nubis is Augustus Supremo's predecessor and has long been gone… as well as his son who's cheerfully playing with the Supremo's daughter.

"Do you know what it means?" the Supremo asked.

"Um. Maybe because you miss your daughter when she was a child, Supremo. And the best memory you have is when she's at her happiest moment; but in that moment, it also contained Helios Supremo's son," he explained with a forced smile.

Dreaming of the dead could also mean guilt, trouble and danger. But Adviser Moraii wouldn't tell this in order not to alarm the Supremo and it could be a useless thing to worry about if his interpretation is wrong.

"Right. I must have missed my daughter," the Supremo stated as he beamed with a smile.

The Supremo may not look like it but he deeply cares for his daughter and every time he talks about her, he is glowing.

"Right, Supremo," Adviser Moraii said as he smiled at him.

XXX

At the Northern Training Camp-Captain Karsh's quarters…

Tobias started his day with a cup of tea. However, it doesn't ease the nightmare he had last night. It's the first time he dreamt of that fateful day- the day his mother was slain.

"Did I dreamt that day because I finally found the one who made that day difficult to reminisce," he asked himself. A tear quickly fell from his eye. He quickly brushed it off before his eyes would drown his face with tears. He harshly sighed and gulped the remaining contents of his tea.

After cleaning himself and dressing up in his uniform, he went to take a walk. Maybe, just maybe, it could distract his thoughts about that fateful day.

XXX

When Sol arrived at the garden, she didn't see any white orchids, she only saw pink orchids. Thinking it doesn't make a difference, she picked several pink orchids. After which, she went around asking if they saw Captain Karsh. Somebody told her that they saw him walking towards Lake Asur earlier.

She then quickly went towards the lake, just beside the training field. When she arrived, she saw a man dressed in maroon robes with golden shoulder plates shaped into wings- the uniform of the officials in the Bloody Cloaks Division. Engraved on his shoulder plates were rubies that symbolizes his title. On both sides of his head is a single line of braided tresses which was further secured in a ponytail. A simple golden hair accessory shaped into a side profile of a steed meeting a wing at the middle is clasped on his ponytail. The eye of the steed is made of ruby. More engraved rubies on the shoulder plates, more braids, and more elaborate hair accessories would mean higher titles.

Sol just stared at him, thinking of ways on how to approach him. Suddenly, he turned towards her and a gentle breeze came, making his long raven-black tresses and crimson robes dance.

"What an ethereal scenery," Sol murmured.

Stunned, Sol just stared at him for several minutes.

Meanwhile, as Tobias is taking in the beautiful scenery of the lake, he feels a presence behind him. So, he turned around, and found an aspirant in a honeydew-colored robes with pink orchids on her hand. Then, a gentle breeze came, making her loose cosmos-white tresses flow with it. It's such an ethereal scenery. He just stared at her. The feeling of 'familiarity' touched him again. His jaw twitched as his ears started to blush.

After several minutes, Sol was able to compose herself and walked closer towards Tobias.

"Good morning, Captain Karsh," Sol politely greeted him, without making eye contact with him.

Tobias was quite stunned. How she talks that moment is a complete contrast to how she behaved that night. The rude bravery was gone. She completely turned into a polite Aspirant.

"Good morning," he replied with his deep voice and a serious face. Her politeness made him greet her back.

"Mmm. Captain, last night, I may have been rude and may have said a few things, and may have inconvenienced you-" she stated, still not making an eye contact with him and that made Tobias interrupt her.

"Look at me."

"Huh? Captain?" she could only say.

"You are talking to me right?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Then, look at me."

"Yes, Captain," she said and looked into his hypnotic silver eyes with sprinkles of purple.

"Continue."

"With that said Captain, I came to sincerely apologize to you," she said and handed out the pink orchids to him.

The scent completely filled his sense of smell.

Pink Orchids? Does she know the meaning of this flower?

"I hope that you could forgive me, Captain," she continued, still handing the pink orchids to him.

He took the pink orchids. Sol let out a smile that made her radiate like the rising sun and also made a huge contrast to her nonchalant resting face.

Tobias was stunned.

"Thank you, Captain."

"Huh?"

"You received the flowers Captain, that means that you received my apology."

"Unbelievable."

Sol let out a victory smile.

"I forgive you for visiting me late at night drunk. If you want me to forgive you for assaulting me at the tavern and for threatening me last night; then, you need to pledge your loyalty to me."

Sol's jaw dropped. The Captain really didn't miss a thing.

"I would have crippled you for smashing my head and I would have seized your breath for threatening me, but I've been merciful. Pledge your loyalty to me or else I will hunt you. I will need your answer the soonest."

Sol gulped. It seemed that her threat didn't really work with him.

"But Captain, I thought I stated last night that I need to get to know you before pledging my loyalty."

"Then, get to know me quickly."

There is really no bargain with this captain, she thought.

"Yes, Captain."

"Then, off you go."

"Thank you for your graciousness, Captain. I will no longer disturb you. Please do excuse me," she stated with a light bow and started to walk away.

"Sol..." Tobias suddenly called out to her in his deep and warm voice.

"Y-yes, C-captain?" she asked, turning back. She's startled that the captain called out her name.

What else does he need?

"Nothing, just go."

I just want to call out the name I've been missing for a long time.

Sol sighed a breath of relief, made a bow and went on her way.

When she's already gone, Tobias let out a curse. He's been acting strange because of that aspirant.

Moments later, he held the pink orchids near his face and inhaled the scent. It kind of helped in calming his thoughts. As he was doing so, Ka-el and Dorn found him.

"Wow, you only got here yesterday and someone's already confessing their love to you," Ka-el commented when he saw the pink orchids.

"No one confessed," Tobias replied.

"In the language of flowers, pink orchids means that…uhm. Dorn, remind him."

"Pink orchids are used to convey affection, love and courtship. It's what you give to someone you're developing an affection for. It also means 'young love'. It also means that you not only love that person but you do appreciate them for who they are and what they mean to you," Dorn stated.

"Tobias, in our land, giving flowers is special, we mind the meaning behind the flowers before giving it. So, did Dorn explain it well?"

"I doubt that she knew the language of flowers. Because if she does, she should have given me white orchids."

"White orchids?"

"White orchids symbolize sincerity. Thus, it is also a good choice when you want to make amends with someone," Dorn stated.

"I didn't ask you to state its meaning," Ka-el replied and then turned to Tobias, "Who?"

"You know," Tobias said and started to walk towards the camp.

"Who?" Ka-el asked again. This time, he asked Dorn.

"You know," Dorn replied and followed Tobias. Ka-el just watched them with a frustrated look.

"Sometimes, I hate intellectuals. They easily understand mysterious things," he said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest; and continued, "By the way, what happened to Tobias' ears? They're bloody red."

XXX

As they are heading towards the administration building, Ka-el sees Haelas who's coming out from the Aspirants' quarters. He immediately left his friends and went over to him.

"What's up my dear younger brother?!" Ka-el greeted Haelas.

"Uh. Good morning Sir Braegen!" he shyly greeted him.

"What do you mean sir? You don't need to be so formal when it's only the two of us. Call me, my older brother."

"But-"

"Come on. My feelings will be hurt if you will not."

"My older brother."

"That's more like it," Ka-el said and patted his head, "Hey, Why don't we walk around? It's been ages since I've been here."

"My pleasure, my older brother," he agreed as he smiled shyly.

"Good," Ka-el grinned.

They then walked around the beautiful Lake Asur.

"Oh. It's Mt. Conus!" Ka-el exclaimed as he saw the peak of a nearby mountain.

"Oh. That mountain is where the 14 aspirants and my friend Sol climbed as a punishment," Haelas remembered.

"Why? What did they do?"

"They got drunk. As for my friend, she was the unit leader of the instigator that's why she was punished as well."

Earlier in their training days, Sol was made unit leader before they finally found out that she is a weak Wishbone.

"Really? They got caught drinking? They're no match to us when we were aspirants. We almost never got caught."

"Well, when Sol caught them, she still reported them even though she will be punished as well. That's how strict she was and that's why she wasn't really liked much by some of our brothers. By the way my older brother, have you ever been caught?"

"Yes. Because there was Tobias. Members of his unit came to drink with us. Tobias looked for them and he found them in my quarters. Well, as you know, aspirants of the same unit will stay in the same quarters. I was on a different unit back then. He didn't feel pity for me even though I'm his friend. He let me get spanked with wooden planks. "

"Whoah. That sure must have hurt."

"It does really hurt. My back was of colors blue and red. I think I got bruises as well. But no worries, your older brother is strong. I can handle those kinds of punishments."

"Right. By the way, my older brother, there are no more places to see. That's all there is in our camp. Why don't we go to the dining hall? I bet the kitchen cooked delicious snacks today."

"Then, lead the way my dear younger brother."

XXX

Meanwhile, Sol arrived at the entrance of their quarters, and there she saw Karisha who was waiting for her.

Karisha noticed Sol's nonchalant face became meaner as well as her sluggish steps.

"You look a bit glum. What's wrong?" Karisha asked.

"Nothing."

"Okay. So, did you already give those flowers to Captain Karsh?" she asked in full curiosity.

"Yes. But I didn't see any white orchids in the garden, that's why I gave him pink orchids instead."

"PINK ORCHIDS?!" Karisha exclaimed.

Sol looked at her with a confused face.

"Wha-why? What's wrong? Why are you yelling?"

"I just hope that he doesn't know the language of flowers."

"Why? Can you just tell me? With how you react, I feel like I've done something wrong again."

"In the language of flowers, pink orchids convey pure affection, love and courtship. In other words, pink orchids are one of the flowers that you could give to someone you're developing an affection to," she rattled without stopping, thus she was out of breath in the end.

"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well, I didn't know that there are no more white orchids there. The last time I walked by, there were several stems there."

"To think that I've already settled the incident, another one comes…"

"But…if he doesn't know the language of flowers, you can breathe in peace."

"Right."

"By the way, how did he react when you gave him the flowers? Was he startled? Angry?"

"Mmm. He didn't really show any emotion. By the way, is Haelas inside?"

"Nah. I couldn't find him. But I think he's hungry now. Should we try to visit the dining hall?"

"Okay. But I need to change first."

"You still haven't changed. So you've been wearing the robes you sweated and soiled yesterday?"

As soon as she realized it, Sol paled, "Heavens! Oh heavens!"

"Oh!" Karisha exclaimed and pointed at the pin on Sol' robes, "I just noticed that. Why do you have that? We're not even Defenders yet. Don't tell me that you stole that when you're drunk last night?!"

Sol looked at the pin in her robes and held it with her thumb and forefinger.

"Oh. This is Captain Karsh's pin. I asked this to seal his word on not going after our brothers."

"He- he gave it to you? How can you even ask for his pin? Wow, I love your audacity. Then that means, you're finally cleared from him."

"How I wish."

"So, you are still hanging by a thread? The orchids didn't work?"

"The orchids only worked for my rudeness that night. Nothing else."

"Then, will you get punished?"

"Fortunately, no. But he asked me to do something that I don't know how to begin with. Okay, I really need to get changed. "

"Okay."

XXX

As Sol and Karisha entered the dining hall, a familiar cherry voice was heard. In the direction of the voice, they saw Haelas…and Ka-el, eating snacks heartily. Sol and Karisha walked towards them.

"Good morning Sir," Sol greeted Ka-el with politeness and Haelas with a sarcastic tone, "Good morning Haelas."

Haelas choked on his food. Ka-el immediately gave him water while Karisha tapped his back.

Sol and Karisha then sat with them.

"By the way, you have two months of rest before proceeding to the second year of your training. Are you all going home?" Ka-el asked the aspirants.

"I promised my mom that I will go home, Sir. Thus, I need to go home," Haelas replied, adding the salutation 'Sir' to give due courtesy to Ka-el in public conversations.

"That's too bad. I thought we're going to catch up a little longer. It's been five years since I last saw you."

"I also want to spend more time with you Sir but I really need to go home."

"I know. Don't worry, I'll be seeing you a lot in the future since you've joined the force."

"Yes, Sir. Just wait for me at the Bloody Cloaks Division."

"I will," Ka-el said with a warm gaze and then looked at Sol and Karisha, "How about you two? Are you going home as well?"

"Yes, sir. I will visit Haelas' home first before going home," Karisha answered.

"What? You're visiting Haelas' home. Why don't I know this?" Sol asked in confusion.

"Well, you said that you're just going to stay here at the camp for 2 whole months. Are you going to come with us if we told you earlier?" Karisha asked.

"No. But now that it seemed idle for me to stay here at the camp, I might as well visit your homes."

"Oh. I like it,"Haelas exclaimed while clapping his hand in joy.

"Well, I hope you three will enjoy your vacation," Ka-el stated as he watched these aspirants with a wide smile, excited for them.

"Thank you Sir," the trio said with a hearty smile.

"Sir Braegen, I have a question," Sol asked with a serious tone.

"Go on."

"Do you happen to know the language of flowers?"

Karisha and Haelas looked at Sol.

"Oh. I'm not really well-versed with it. Sir Allegros is. He knows everything. He has been lecturing me and Captain Karsh about it after he read a book on the language of flowers."

"Then, do you happen to know what pink orchids mean?"

"Pink Orchids? Wait…Let me think, Sir Allegros stated the meaning of pink orchids earlier. I think it means a growing admiration for someone. I'm not quite sure but it's along that line."

"Then Sir, do you happen to know if Captain Karsh knew the meaning of it as well?"

"Yes. He has quite a strong memory and Sir Allegros just told us the meaning earlier…so he knows. By the way, why are you asking me about these pink orchids? Did you happen to receive it?"

Sol gave a nervous laugh. She looked at Karisha and tapped her friend's back.

"Yes, Sir. Someone gave it to her," Karisha answered instead.

"Someone really dared to give her flowers? Her?" Haelas asked in shock, pointing at Sol.

Haelas is shocked since it's nearly impossible to like Sol as she looks intimidating, unapproachable, strict, and with the highest standards for possible partners in the future.

"Why? Do you have a problem?" asked Sol.

"Yes. Why don't I know about this?"

"Um. On these kind of things, someone like you doesn't need to know," Karisha chimed in.

"You…I'm going to find out who that man is."

"Good luck."

Ka-el just shook his head while watching the trio in amusement.