Author: Loki<3
After days of travel, we finally arrived at the gates of the Kingdom of Alvareth. The sun had barely begun to rise, casting a soft glow over the stone towers and high walls of the capital city.
No trumpets.
No fanfare.
Just the quiet creak of carriage wheels and my own magic concealing our presence.
"Delay your arrival by two hours," I instructed Seren, the head of my holy knights, before casting the glamour over us. "No one must know I, the Saintess, has arrived." casting a knowing gaze at Seren.
Under the spell, I looked nothing like the glowing figure whispered about in temples. My golden hair darkened to chestnut brown. My robes faded into a simple traveler's cloak. Seren resembled a merchant, and Auren — well, he looked like any ordinary noble's child. Except, he couldn't quite hide the sparkle in his eyes.
"We're going shopping?" he asked as we entered the bustling city streets, his voice caught between disbelief and excitement.
"Of course," I smiled. "You'll need something fitting for the prince's banquet. You are my… family, after all."
He blinked at me, stunned.
"As your brother?" he asked, hesitantly.
"Maybe," I said, teasingly. "Or maybe my son~ We'll see what makes the nobilities panic more."
It was an open secret that the Holy Empire and the nobility shared a strained relationship, for their interests seldom aligned. For the saintess, to speak so was nothing out of the ordinary.
Auren laughed — genuinely laughed — and the saintess couldn't help but smile too.
We spent the morning weaving through shopfronts and stalls. The capital was alive with scents of roasted chestnuts and sweet spices. Auren's head kept turning at everything. The fabrics. The pastries. The children running past with colorful ribbons.
"Pick whichever you like," I told him as we stepped into one of the most exclusive tailor shops in the city.
"But it's so… shiny and beautiful... I don't know if I deserve this Saintess," he whispered, running his hand along a bolt of silk embroidered with tiny silver stars.
"What are you talking about, Auren? You deserve to shine too and never forget that you are now my family."
He stood still for his measurements, arms out, grinning with his teeth showing — a rare sight for a child who had once flinched at every loud sound.
We tried everything. Deep navy blues that made his eyes glow. Creams and golds that looked almost too regal. Seren grumbled something about prices, but I waved it off.
"My father's treasury can handle it, I'm not here today as the Saintess, Seren." I said lightly, watching Auren's smile bloom with every fitting. "Let him be a child for once."
Later, we stopped at a café overlooking the city square. Auren ate like he hadn't tasted real food in years — which, honestly, he hadn't. He giggled when I wiped cream off his cheek and held up a pastry like it was a treasure.
"You're really letting me have all this?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know. It just… doesn't feel real."
I looked at him for a long moment. The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. The way he kept touching his new coat like he still couldn't believe it was his.
And then I said it. Softly. Almost without meaning to.
"I've always longed for a sibling, you know."
Auren tilted his head, still chewing.
"Really? But you're the Saintess. Don't you have… everything?"
"Everything..." I echoed with a small smile. "Except someone to laugh with over dessert. Someone who looks up to me because they want to, not because the gods said so."
He looked down at his pastry, then nudged it toward me — a silent offer to share.
It was a small gesture. But something warm tugged in my chest.
By the time the sun began to set, the sky streaked with peach and lavender, we were no longer just a saintess and a boy bound by fate.
We were something simpler, softer. We were starting to feel like family.