Aurora wished that she hadn't brought her suitcase along with her; now it was just going to be bothersome when she prostrated herself in front of the Princess.
"When entering the Throne Room, we ask that you leave that briefcase with us. It may pose a security risk."
She jumped at the guard's voice as he approached. "Worry not, m'lady. Your belongings will be safe with us." Sure, it was smaller, like a briefcase, but it was a suitcase with practically everything she'd need for a month at least, which was just a change of clothes and her research paper.
Practically throwing the suitcase at him, she hurriedly thanked him and hid behind Julian like a scared little puppy. He only shook his head. Well, screw him; he was the reason she was in this mess in the first place.
"Open them." He commanded the guards as if he were the King himself. Although his ego might be that of a King's, he most certainly was not one.
The doors creaked open, almost sounding far too foreboding for her ears to bear. Beyond the doors was a grand Throne Room adorned in silver and gold, with chandeliers lining the ceiling. Behind the throne, and on the wall, was a statue of Saint Aurora, Patron Saint of Confidence and Humility.
Ironic, wasn't it? These traits were pretty much the exact opposite of hers. Looks like Aurora could look forward to never being a Saint when she kicked the bucket.
Under the statue and atop the Throne were the most important people in the room: The King, and beside him, his daughter, the First Princess, Princess Alara.
Following Julian into the Throne Room, her eyes stayed on the Princess—the same hair and eyes as the picture she saw back at her cabin, but even more beautiful. She was also wearing a white dress that seemed to perfectly project the rest of her noble features.
Julian got down on one knee when he reached the steps leading up to the Throne. Aurora panicked. "Shoot," she needed to bow as well, not gawk at the Princess. Nearly tripping on herself, she got down on one knee, identical to Julian.
"You may stand," the King said with a powerful voice. Clearly, years of leading a country had done wonders for him because she was well and truly terrified now.
They both stood, but the King raised a hand and pointed at Aurora. "Not you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Julian bowed and stepped aside as Aurora fell back to the ground, this time prostrating herself. She had just lost her only shield against these towering, scary figures before her—well, towering to her; the Princess was in fact rather short.
The King observed the prostrated girl before him with no emotion, much akin to how a wolf stalks a sheep. Only time would tell who was truly the wolf, and who was truly the sheep.
"Lord Albright has told me much about you already, Arcana Witch." So, we're just letting anybody off the street know her secret now? Aurora silently cursed Julian out. She had been trying to make sure she could count on her hands the amount of people who knew, but now it seemed as if that was out of the question.
She stayed silent, not by choice but by fear. She felt like she was going to be executed at any moment. The only problem with that was that there were no guards. She had noticed it early: zero guards were stationed inside the Throne Room during this meeting.
"Despite being a member of the Order, we cannot just have one of you following my daughter around everywhere she goes." The King rested his cheek on his knuckle. "Which is why you shall be posing as her maid. Considering that you are similar in age, it will be perfect."
Eh... a maid?
Well, that was unexpected, albeit a very logical choice to make. She'd be able to stay by the side of the Princess while still maintaining anonymity. The only problem was that she'd be forced into a highly visible position, which meant she couldn't slack off anymore.
"Because you willingly took on this task, I am sure you have no objections." Willingly, huh? Yeah, she was most certainly "willing" to do this job, right Julian?
Now, just to keep her voice steady and mana from leaking. "Yes... Yes, Your Majesty, I have no objections."
"Good." His Majesty stood up and kissed his daughter's forehead. "She is all yours now, my honey bun."
Alara's eyebrow twitched at the nickname. Not in front of the guests, please, Father. She thanked him and waited for him to leave the Throne Room before turning back to the visitors.
"Arcana Witch..." She shook her head. "No, Aurora, please stand."
Aurora hesitantly stood up, but kept her head lowered, too afraid to look at her new "master." Stepping down from her spot next to the Throne, Alara was now face-to-face with Aurora, their noses mere inches from each other.
A beautiful, albeit frail, girl. She did a once-over of Aurora; her simple brown dress was a stark contrast to the elegant white one that Alara was wearing, and her long black hair was slightly dirty.
However, what really stood out to the Princess, which no one else could likely pick up, was that she was suppressing her mana.
Unlike most, especially nobles, who preferred to have their mana spill out like an open book to display their power, Aurora was different. She preferred to keep it suppressed so that her enemies underestimated her. A trick her father taught her.
"Aurora, form a Resonant Pact with me."
Aurora took a step back and shielded herself with her arms as if the Princess was going to bite her face off. Resonant Pacts were dangerous and only rarely used, even among the cults of this world.
"P-Princess—" But Alara cut her off with a small smile. "Please, call me Alara when we're not in a social setting."
Aurora gulped. Getting this cozy with the Princess on the first day was certainly not on her bucket list. But, alas, she had to conform to her current situation or threaten to be swept under the wave that was the Princess.
"O-Ok... Alara." She said her name as if it were poison on her tongue, a foreign substance she wanted to spit out. Luckily, Alara didn't seem to care too much that her name was being treated like the plague.
On top of being on a first-name basis now, Aurora didn't feel her mana leaking whenever she talked to this girl. It was a strange feeling, not having to worry about potentially spilling too much of her mana into the air and having everyone choke on its density, and ultimately die.
She decided to change the subject. "About the... pact. You do know how dangerous it is, right? Linking two Resonant Heartbeats?"
Alara looked up in thought. "It'll work. If one of us had a weak Heartbeat, then perhaps it may not, but we both have overwhelming mana."
Using her condition as a way to make this pact successful, the Princess certainly knew how to leverage bad situations for good. Aurora thought about what her father would do, and she came to one irrefutable fact: If it served to further his research on magic, he would do it, which meant so would she.
"Fine. I'll do it."
The Princess clapped her hands together and gave a bright smile before turning to Julian. "Mr. Julian, would you happen to have a knife on you?"
Julian nodded and pulled a small knife from his pocket. Why did he have that in the first place? To stab and kill Aurora if she messed up this meeting? Oh, how she hated pointy things.
Alara held out her hand, and so did Aurora, albeit reluctantly, very reluctantly.
Julian drew blood from both of their hands and stepped back. Ouch, that hurt. Why did pacts always have to involve blood? It was stupid that people couldn't just transfer mana to each other or something.
They shook hands, allowing their blood to mix between their palms. It was an uncomfortable feeling for Aurora, to feel her own blood against her palm, as if she was rubbing in soap to wash her hands. At least Alara seemed totally alright with this, which made her question if the Princess had done this type of thing before.
"Now, repeat after me: By our blood..." Both of the girls repeated his words. "We form this pact... bound by fate for as long as we both live." Aurora could feel her mana growing restless, as if it were a pet sensing a natural disaster about to happen.
"Through our mana, we channel it as one so that our Heartbeats may beat as one. I hereby accept this pact as valid." Aurora almost choked up blood. She could feel the raw mana from the Princess; Julian wasn't lying when he said it was much akin to a Mana Shard.
And if Alara's mana was entering her body, that meant her own mana was also being transferred over. Shouldn't this count as tampering, something Julian said not to do?
Her mana was not raw; it was a controlled song, just like every other normal person's Heartbeat produced. This meant that her mana may actually calm Alara's Heartbeat and therefore dampen her frequency, making her safer from external attacks.
Opening their eyes, Aurora could feel a stronger connection to the girl in front of her, as if she'd known her forever—perhaps a side effect, or the main effect, of the pact. She didn't actually know much about what this pact was supposed to do. She figured she'd just have to find out for herself.
Alara smiled and detached her hand from her new counterpart. No blood could be seen on either of their hands, and nothing changed about their external features; it was as if this pact had never occurred.
"Congratulations are in order. We now share a bond stronger than any conventional relationship could ever display." She put her hands to her heart and closed her eyes.
"Our Resonant Heartbeats, our Souls, they now beat as one."