Little did I know that a certain fiery literal demon lord woke up from his secluded meditation, growing stronger than ever. On top of that, he was now making his way toward my current position. At the time, I had no clue this was happening behind the scenes.
Presently, it is now the dawn of S1198. Kloe, Grandmother and I held a huge birthday bash that included several guests both near and far. It went out without a hitch, and just like what you'd see at the end of Trails in the Sky FC, banners were hoisted up everywhere. The only difference was that it wasn't S1202 where it was celebrating Grandmother's sixtieth birthday. While it may be S1198 now, we were doing this celebration to celebrate the prior year of us turning ten, and Grandmother turning fifty-five. This was her fifty-fifth birthday!
Yes, both of us are eleven now. And I'll be turning twelve later this month. How time flies. It's only a couple more years before Sky officially starts. I can't wait to see the story unfold before me. I've prepared myself quite a bit, and with the influences I've developed who knows how things will play out!
It was fun meeting all of the mayors of each city. Even the Dean from Jenis Royal Academy was present. Grandmother had already submitted our enrollment paperwork to him already and he personally approved it. Dean Collins stated he's very much looking forward to both of us starting our studies there. It's still four years out, but it will arrive before I know it. Kloe is still planning to attend all four years of her studies there. I, on the other hand, won't. I went into detail of my study plans already so to keep it short, Jenis Royal Academy will be my first year of studies, Aramis High School will be my second year, and Thors Military Academy will be my third and fourth year of studies. Doing this will let me experience the bulk of the story throughout each series!
I even got to see Maybelle again. She might not be Mayor yet, but in due time, she will. She will assume the position in the next couple of years, making her the youngest Mayor in Liberl to date. She becomes in charge of Bose's entire marketplace.
To our surprise, all of the Mayors and influential figures were in agreement of me ascending into the position of Crown Prince, except for one. You guessed it, Duke Dunan. We held a banquet the night of the Tea Party, and invited all of our guests there. The dining table was filled to the brim with both delicious food and influential people alike. He too was there. Duke Dunan had a little outburst and was openly against my title. He wanted it for himself. We could only shake our heads in shame, only to see him get carried out by none other than Phillip, my swordsmanship Teacher. Seriously, how does he put up with such a guy on a daily basis? I know Duke Dunan does grow as a person during Sky, but man he is seriously annoying. It's like trying to pick something out of your teeth that you can't reach, haha!
Aside from him, however, no one opposed us. That was the big surprise. Granted, Liberl is known to be a matriarchy. Many of its rulers were Queens. Over half of them. Even the very first ruler of Liberl was a Queen. You'd get to see her phantom image during Sky the 3rd, the last chapter in Sky's story. She works alongside Kevin and his party to explore the depths of Phantasma. But that didn't mean there weren't Kings. Grandmother initially planned on Kloe's father, Judis von Auslese, to ascend the throne as Liberl's next King. Unfortunately, both he and his wife were met with a tragedy, and passed away during a maritime accident in Calvardian waters. It wasn't an international crisis. They were literally swept away by the unforgiving sea. Quite sad, really. Sailing does come with its own risks. Kloe wasn't present there on that cruise. She's beside me to this day!
And so, Grandmother decided to pass the role of Crown Prince onto me. I won't get into the whole lineage thing. It's convoluted enough as it is. For now, I can only live in the present. Only Grandmother and Father know the truth behind it all. I haven't even told Kloe that I am Giliath's son. Perhaps one day. But not now. The time isn't ready. Kloe herself has provided me a ton of support this last year next to Emma, and I'm truly thankful for both of them. With the Royal Assembly now coming to a close to see how S1198 will fare, that is when the true celebration began. Banners were hoisted. Tournaments hosted. Pubs open to all.
It wasn't just the citizens who were going to enjoy the festivities. Who says I can't enjoy them~?
Presently, I could be seen standing right outside the large double-gated doors that led into Grancel Castle. It also had its doors open, available for the public to wander into. Only the first floor was open to them. By doing this, this allows the people additional sightseeing tours one normally wouldn't get an opportunity to do so. Adding to that were many members of the Royal Army, so I don't have to worry about something going wrong. Security was through the roof right now. Grancel Castle is in good hands. Even Colonel Richard and his new confidant are patrolling. Captain Amalthea.
In fact, he presently stood before me, and gestured a salute with his hand.
"I take it I can leave things in your care, Colonel?", I asked Colonel Richard.
"It is my duty to do so, Your Highness. But are you sure it's safe for you to wander around the capital like this? Shouldn't you have at least one or two escorts?", Colonel Richard asked, still worried.
"Oh you can leave that to me, Colonel. Safeguarding the people is our duty as Bracers. Normally yes, this would fall under your jurisdiction. But His Highness here is wanting to act as one of us for this venture. I'm sure you can look the other way.", A female voice answered, only to see a figure of a woman arrive beside me. She appeared to be eighteen years old and had sunkissed skin. She carried a whip at her waist and was wearing rather revealing clothing. But it was designed in such a way that offered both comfort and freedom.
"It's Schera!", A cheerful voice also called out. Another girl quickly arrived next to the woman with an excited look in her eyes. Ignoring this girl, Colonel Richard spent a moment observing the first woman who had just arrived.
"So you're the Silver Streak that's been the rising star of the Bracer Guild recently. I hear you're on your way to becoming a Senior Bracer.", Colonel Richard said. It's only been a year or two since this woman joined the Bracer Guild, but she's been tackling one request after another, quickly increasing her rank inside the Bracer Guild.
This woman was called Scherazard Harvey. While Cassius Bright is absent or away, this woman often looks after Estelle and Joshua. She smiled back at Colonel Richard after hearing him say that.
"That's right. We won't go beyond the city's walls, so you can rest assured, Colonel.", Scherazard said, keeping her tone polite.
Hearing that, Colonel Richard had one more look at me, then looked back at Scherazard, before nodding his head.
"Very well. Then I shall leave the care of His Highness to the Bracer Guild. You can expect the payment to hit your books once His Highness is back at the castle.", Colonel Richard said before he looked at the few armed soldiers of the Royal Army beside him. "Let us depart at once."
""Right away, Colonel!"", The soldiers of the Royal Army exclaimed in unison. So did Captain Amalthea. She had this weird look in her eyes whenever she looked at me. Her heart is in the right place, even if she does get misguided during Sky. I'll just leave her to her own devices for the time being. With that said, I saw the Royal Army start its patrol. A few remained behind to guard the entrance of Grancel Castle. Curious onlookers watched, but I paid them no mind. I was used to it by now.
Instead, my gaze was drawn to the group of people before me. My eyes immediately landed on Scherazard Harvey. This was our first time meeting each other.
"Thank you for that. You're THE 'Schera', I take it? Estelle doesn't shut up talking about you.", I asked the woman. She smiled after I asked that.
"Hehe, I sure am. It is a pleasure to meet the Crown Prince. I'm Scherazard Harvey of the Bracer Guild. But those close to me call me 'Schera'. You're already well acquainted with Estelle and Joshua here, so please, just call me Schera.", Scherazard said, introducing herself to me.
"Uh-huh. Schera is always Schera!", The girl beside Scherazard happily said, bobbing her head up and down without a care in the world. Seriously, how does she have this much energy? Who else could this be but Estelle Bright?
"Come on, Estelle. Don't be a bother to His Highness. You need to keep your own position in check.", A boy beside the two said. He had black hair. A rarity in today's crowd. He also had amber eyes. Back a year ago when Cassius brought Estelle to the Garden Terrace to witness my return, I too saw this boy not far away from them. Sadly, we didn't have a chance to interact then. We did during the birthday bash, and now things led to this. This boy is Joshua Bright, adopted son of the Bright House. In reality, he is Enforcer No. XIII, the Black Fang. I know both sides, but these people don't. I won't bring it up, and it's very possible that Joshua himself forgot about his other role. The Faceless designed it that way.
Still, this is the first time I finally get to meet Estelle and Joshua in person to go out and have some fun in the capital like this. How can I not be excited?
It's a joyous occasion, after all!
"We're here to have some fun, right? Why bother with the formalities?", Estelle asked, puffing her cheeks out at Joshua. Hearing this, I laughed.
"Haha, Estelle is in the right. We don't need any of that today. We're going to have fun in the capital.", I said, ensuring the three to keep it casual today. I was even wearing a casual set of clothes to play the part.
"Now you're speaking my language!", Estelle happily replied. "You really are the boy from back then, huh? Now that I see you up close like this, you look just like Kloe!", Estelle continued, and observed me. I wasn't alone. The same violet-haired girl was also beside me.
"I mean you aren't wrong there, Estelle. It is scary how close you two look.", Joshua also said, looking between Kloe and I.
"Is it really that noticeable?", Kloe asked, also shifting her eyes between the two of us. "There is the hair, yes. But honestly speaking, Naoto and I aren't actually siblings.", Kloe suddenly said.
"Waaa...?", Estelle responded. Her eyes turned wide in shock. "But you two look so much alike!"
"Now that is definitely a surprise, but it isn't out of the ordinary, I suppose. Royal families work in weird ways we common folk don't understand. You shouldn't pry into this further, Estelle.", Joshua said, earning a smile from Kloe.
"Hehe. Regardless, you two seem really close. You must be Estelle's new brother I've heard so much about.", Kloe said, giggling.
"That's right. It's a pleasure to meet you like this, Your Highness.", Joshua politely said. Yet, Kloe immediately wagged her finger at him.
"A-Ah-Ah, right now, I'm just Kloe. Naoto is also Naoto. Be sure to address us as such, okay?", Kloe responded.
"What Kloe said. Pretend our titles don't exist for the time being. Makes it less of a hassle to deal with.", I also said in agreement.
"Then just call me Estelle!", Estelle happily replied.
"Likewise, continue calling me "Schera". It's what I'm most used to.", Scherazard said, nodding her head.
"Very well. Then you can call me Joshua.", Joshua also said.
"Haha. It looks like you have been well. Did you enjoy the dinner?", I decided to ask.
"Uh-huh! There were lots of people I didn't know and the food was really good.", Estelle said, nodding her head.
"That's about my same opinion of the banquet from earlier. Though now that we're here like this, I've been wanting to ask you something, Naoto.", Joshua suddenly said.
"Oh? And what would that be?", I asked with an interested look in my eyes.
"Why does it feel like we've seen each other before this?", Joshua questioned, still feeling doubtful. I guess that really is The Faceless's magic at work here. Estelle looked at Joshua in confusion.
"Are you saying you've met Naoto before, Joshua?", Estelle asked.
"This is the first time I'm hearing such too.", Schera said, also interested.
"I'm not sure. It's a weird feeling. Maybe I'm looking into it too much.", Joshua said, shaking his doubt away.
"Haha. I've come across a lot of people. Perhaps we crossed paths once, but we didn't know each other back then.", I said, also feigning ignorance on the matter. Hopefully this doesn't lead into a future development where Joshua remembers that he is the Black Fang earlier than scheduled. Only time will tell for that. Sadly for Joshua, that thought quickly ended. We heard a familiar voice reach out to us. They sounded rather hurried.
"Oh thank Aidios I managed to make it on time.", A girl's voice said. Joshua raised his eyes seeing a plum-haired girl quickly reaching our way. She was wearing her glasses and all. Seeing Emma arrive, I smiled.
"Perfect timing again, Emma. We were just about to depart. You've met Estelle and Joshua prior to this. I reached out to the Bracer Guild for a hired escort. This is the Silver Streak, Scherazard Harvey.", I said, introducing Scherazard to Emma. Like with the rest of us, Emma encountering Scherazard this early shouldn't happen. But it's still cool, right? I like this development! Normally, it wouldn't be until the latter half of Cold Steel III-IV before these two meet each other!
"Scherazard Harvey. The Silver Streak. A pleasure.", Scherazard said, greeting Emma with a smile.
"I'm Emma. I'm a friend of Naoto and Kloe here. It is nice to meet you all.", Emma said, introducing herself to everyone with a smile too.
"So you call them by first name too huh?", Estelle said with a playful grin. Hearing that, Joshua sighed.
"Read the room will you, Estelle?", Joshua retorted.
"H-Hey! What's wrong with making new friends? Do you want me to beat you up with my staff?", Estelle immediately shot back.
"I'd rather not...", Joshua uttered. I'm sure that's happened plenty of times before. This is Estelle we're talking about here, haha!
But with them saying that, it earned a round of laughter. At the same time, I heard music to my ears. A couple Gamer Notifications showed up.
[Ding! Scherazard Harvey, an up-and-coming newcomer in the Bracer Guild who has recently earned her moniker as the Silver Streak has grown interested in Gamer Naoto. Favorability has been unlocked.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Favorability with Estelle Bright has risen to 50%.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Favorability with Joshua Bright has risen to 50%.]
'Music to my ears.', I thought inwardly. This was an interesting group, wasn't it? Me, Kloe, Estelle, Joshua, Emma, and Scherazard. Where will this lead to? Thinking that, I looked at everyone.
"I don't think we're waiting for anyone else so shall we explore to our heart's content?", I asked.
"Yeah! Let's go!", Estelle quickly answered. Without even waiting a moment longer, for some reason, she grabbed a hold of my hand instead of Joshua's and tugged me along, only to enter a sprint.
This made me look back at Joshua. All he did was shrug his shoulders, and sighed. Kloe blinked her eyes seeing the two of us suddenly attempt to leave while Emma just stood there dazed. Scherazard laughed, and urged everyone along.
Let's have some fun, shall we?