The capital city of Caelvara, Hanveraine, was illuminated by candles, gas lamps, and shop lights. The city at night thrived with bustling crowds. People passed each other, returning to their homes or visiting shops.
Éloïse Moreau, dressed in crimson and black, reached for the door of her shop while wearing a black hat adorned with feathers and rose flowers in her blonde hair. She was about to enter the shop when she heard the voice of Henry behind her.
"Éloïse, can you help me meet Princess Louise? Before she goes, I've something to tell her." Henry spoke with a smile on his face while holding a half-eaten croissant.
She turned toward him and replied, while putting her hands to her waist, with an awkward smile, "Of course I will. But it'll cost."
Henry nodded while closing his eyes until he widened them open, then shook a bit, then narrowed his eyes while whispering, "Ok… then what'll be the price?" He took another bite of the half-eaten croissant, but now only a small piece remained.
Éloïse smiled but didn't respond; instead, she gestured for Henry to follow her. Henry, without speaking or asking anything, follows her after taking the last bit of croissant.
As they were walking through the plaza, which was filled with the crowd and musicians singing songs who were standing outside of cafes on the plaza's sides near the fountain, some artists sat making art of people or the plaza.
Éloïse took a street that was 22 meters from the central fountain of the plaza. Henry, while examining the area around him, follows her. The street was normally lit up with gas lamps, which were fixed on long poles. People in the street were still passing by, but it was less than the plaza's crowd.
After a long walk in a long straight street, there came two streets, one turning to the left and one turning to the right. Éloïse, without thinking, turned to the left side. In the straight view of the street, there was a residential hub.
Henry and Éloïse both enter the residential hub of the capital city, and Henry narrows his eyes as he follows her. His gaze immediately lands on the courageous horses. Some carry people to their destinations, while others stand by the roadside.
Next, his eyes are drawn to the two tall clock towers that rise above the one main headquarters of the organization. The towers and headquarters are constructed from bricks and stone, with beautifully crafted woodwork that enhances their aesthetic appeal.
In addition to several small buildings and one large headquarters, the residential hub was filled with houses and a few auberges. Some of the houses and auberges were old, having been built a long time ago, yet they contributed to the charm of the residential area.
Éloïse turned her way toward a small auberge. On the wall at a high level, there was a wooden board with 'L'Ombre du Lys' (The Shadow of the Lily) written on it.
As Henry was following her, he stopped and whispered with a little worried tone, "Oao, Royal Guards of Velgravia. I'm done for." He stares at the side of the auberge, where royal guards of Velgravia are standing on guard.
Éloïse turned her gaze toward Henry and whispered with a deep tone, "What's the matte— Oh yeah, I forgot you were also part of Velgravia's royal guard. They'll recognize you right." She drifted her eyes toward the royal guards and kept staring at them for a moment before she spoke up with an awkward tone, "Now what?"
Henry closed his eyes and sat on the side wall of the flowerbed near the road. He closed his eyes and started thinking; Éloïse didn't bother him and started waiting for him to get out of thinking while standing near the gas lamp, which was near the flowerbed.
After some time of thinking, he stood up and whispered with a serious, deep tone, "Well, I think I'll send her my voice hologram." Éloïse remained silent but a little shocked; she then focused on Henry so she could find out what he would do.
Henry closed his eyes and then whispered something in his mouth that Éloïse wasn't able to hear. After he stopped whispering, some blurry light blue color of particles came out of his body. Then those particles form a hologram of Henry, but its face has no eyes, no mouth, nothing, just a face with no limbs in front, just hair and ears.
Éloïse was shocked a little and whispered with a surprised tone, "How many kinds of power do you have?" Henry looked at her but didn't answer, and after a short time of staring at her, he turned toward the hologram and touched it.
As he touched it, he whispered with a deep tone and commanded the hologram, "Now go, tell her what I want to say to her. And tell her that this is news from your mother's pigeon Ashwing."
Then that hologram, without any reply or action, disappeared in the air while those blue particles faded in the air. Henry turned toward Éloïse and then sat on the side wall of the flowerbed again.
After a short time, he speaks up, breaking the silence whispered with a playful tone, "I just got the core script of sound; that's all. I'm not a chosen one of someone's story, and I don't have many kinds of rare powers. And as I control sound." He crossed his legs while fitting his elbow on his lap and put his chin on his palm.
He then added with a stare at her in straight eyes, "Thus, I manipulate my voice and make them fit in particles in the air. This forms a hologram in the air as I wanted. This will deliver my message and disappear."
Éloïse nodded and sat beside him while crossing her legs, then whispered with an enjoyable face, "Your powers are terrifying and useful both." Then she looked into his grayish eyes and asked with interest, "Anyway, how will your hologram find Princess Louise's room?"
Henry stared at the starry sky through the long tree's leaves in front of him. After staring, he whispered in a calm tone, "Hologram will go to her because of her sound. The hologram will find her voice and end up with her."
In the room of the auberge where Princess Louise was…
The room was dimly lit by the light of the moon and gas lamps falling from outside of window. The room was normal, just a bed and two chairs around a square table near the door of the room. The floor was made of wood. Princess Louise sits on her mirror, staring at the mirror, thinking.
Suddenly, light blue particles from the air formed a hologram in front of her. She was shocked and stood up, holding a knife in her hand, which she had picked up from the table.
W—What's this? She thinks in her mind with a confused but worried expression on her face. This feels like the body of Henry… But where are its eyes, nose, face, and other front-face limbs?
After the hologram formed completely, it started speaking with a robotic tone, "Princess Louise, this is a hologram of mine. I have some news for you, which I got from Ashwing, Queen Victoria's beloved pigeon. In Velgravia Palace, please be careful. King Augustus is planning something for you."
After saying these words, that hologram faded in the air and disappeared, leaving Princess Louise shocked. She sat on the bed in shock while putting the knife back on the table. Her head now full of thinking, she lay down on the bed and took over the blanket. She keeps staring at the wooden ceiling.
I hope Edward is alright. She kept thinking until tears came to her eyes. My mother died because of this royal blood; my twin brother was executed because of this royal blood, and now my younger brother…
Her tears fall from her eyes onto the pillow. Her brown hair was open and widespread under her head. Her hand was on her stomach, wringing the other. No, I can't think like this; I'll save my brother's and my lives. And take revenge on my mother and brother.
Just as she was thinking all this, after a short time, her tearful eyes closed, and she fell asleep.
In the morning, near the time of sunrise…
The room was quiet; the sunlight from the window fell on the bed, covering half the left leg of Princess Louise. The chirp of birds covers the surrounding area beautifully. She woke up from sleep, holding both her arms with each hand and rubbing them.
Her eyes were sleepy, but tear stains remained on her cheeks. She frees her hands, takes off the blanket, and stands up. After putting on her shoes, she stands in front of the mirror and finds out there are tear stains on her cheeks.
She, without wasting time, came near the bed and took the glass bottle of water from the bed's side, then turned toward the window where a small wooden pot lay. There she washes her face properly and cleans all stains, then she washes her eyes to wake up properly from sleep.
Then, after changing her dress to her royal dress, she stood in front of the mirror, binding her brown hair, and then she whispered with an awkward tone, "Geez, I didn't take a bath. Now I'm feeling a little too heavy. I wish this auberge had a personal bath."
But after complaining about it, she still can't do anything about it. After getting ready, she came out of the room and looked at the left side, where guards were standing ready to take orders from the princess.
They bowed when Princess Louise came out of the room, then she whispered with a commanding tone, "Get ready; after an hour, we are going back to Velgravia." The air rushed from the window near the outside wall and flowed over her dress a little.
That guard nodded and then whispered again with a respectful and calm tone, "Princess, what would you like to eat?"
She closed her hands and looked at her while he was bowing; his black hair fell with him bowing. She whispered with a smile, "Stand up; please don't bow in front of me at least. I'm also a human, you know. It's just that I was born in a royal family." Then she narrowed her eyes awkwardly and whispered again, "Foie gras and beef Wellington. And a bottle of Brume Pourpre wine."
He nodded and left without any answer, and then Princess Louise turned toward the room near the counter while examining the hall of the auberge. Many people came and went from the auberge, and some people entered the same room Princess Louise was approaching.
A person who looks to be in his late 20s is standing in front of the door of that room. The door was made of oak, while its wall was purely built with stone and covered with wooden planks. The man who was standing in front of that door put his left hand on his back and right hand on his chest, whispering with a welcoming tone, "Welcome…"
He opened the door of that room, and Princess Louise entered, and behind her, some other people entered too. She narrowed her eyes around the room, which was the size of a small palace's hall.
The room had no window, but instead, on every table, a set of 4 candles was lit up, making the room light up. There were a total of 14 tables in that room. The tables were short-legged, usually rectangular, and close to the floor. They often had a cloth over or around them.
Around those tables, flat square sitting cushions were kept, a total of four around every table. She found an empty table and sat on the cushion. The seat she sat on was near the entrance of the door. She properly sat and set her dress.
After a short time of waiting, she read a book, which was lying on the table near the candles. A young woman who appears to be in her early 20s came with a tray of food. She put the tray down on the table and whispered with a smile, "Your order, ma'am, which was placed by your guard. And your bottle of wine will come shortly."
Princess Louise nodded. And then that young woman left the room with a smile. She started eating her food after putting the book down on the other side of the table.
On the nearest table, two tables behind Princess Louise's table, two young men sit covered in black; they wear the hats of cowboys. One who was sitting on the west side whispered to his other companion, "That's her, Princess Louise…"
The other whispered back with a confused tone, "But I still don't understand why we have been given the order to kill her by her mother."
The other put a finger on the table and replied with a hurried whisper, "We are getting our money by killing her. We aren't committing a crime or anything; we are just doing jobs as bounty hunters. So stop complaining and focus on motion. When she is on her way to Velgravia, we will kill her."
The air thickened between them as they both nodded to each other. Princess Louise is eating her meal, which the young woman brought for her.
My mother—oh, of course, they both want to kill me; no wonder… They hire bounty hunters. She keeps eating while thinking about what she found out and pretends that she didn't know they were even in this room.