RUSTLE. RUSTLE
A young man with pearl blonde hair and vibrant golden eyes - face covered in bruises - lay beneath a wide tree, its branches stretching wide like a canopy over a small building, some even reaching down to caress his pale, bruised face, by a vast lake.
The wind whispered through the leaves, cool against his bruised skin, soothing like a balm.He watched as the leaves fell around him, one by one, shedding from the tree as the breeze passed by.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as a random thought formed in the depths of his usually distant mind: "These leaves... they fall, and in time, they turn to soil. Just like us humans. Each of them serves a purpose, and yet... the tree makes it look like they're just for show."
He sighed softly, his eyes distant.
"How strange, how a leaf can be so important to the world, and yet no one cares. After all... it's ordinary to love the beautiful, but beautiful to love the ordinary."
A gentle voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"You slept for quite a while. You must've been really tired, huh, Aster?"
The blonde young man — Aster — turned to his left, looking up at the source of the voice. His muscles ached from the movement, making him wince involuntarily. 'Ah, crap. Shouldn't have done that.'
However, his thoughts were broken, and, was suddenly well aware of the royalty that was sitting beside him. He would have been in utter dismay, if not for the fact that his body was hurting all over!
He let out a shaky chuckle. "Yeah... I guess I was."
But his smile slowly faded. His mind drifted, pulling him back — back to earlier that day…
Aster had been in a somber mood for the past few days, not being able to focus on anything he did - or anything around him for that matter. He felt… lost, really. He couldn't quite explain why he was feeling that way or what happened for this mood to replace his usual lively demeanor. It was infuriating. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't quite remember.
Lost in thought, he looked up at the distant sky, the sun obscured by a veil of dark clouds. His mood should have worsened but, strangely, he felt comforted by being embraced in deep shadows. It was… nice.
He lifted a hand, as though to embrace the heavens, while continuing walking forward. ''Must it rain soon? Ah, she will inevitably get mad if I get my clothes wet… perhaps not." Aster chuckled, imagining getting scolded by Miss Rebecca over such a trivial thing.
Shaking his head, he lowered his hand and glanced around, noticing a bakery nearby. Aster's mouth watered. 'By the moon… I am really hungry right now.' Wiping away an imaginary drool off his lips with the back of his hand, he hesitantly turned towards the bakery, swallowing involuntarily as he smelled the freshly baked bread - cakes, or whatever the hell that they had been baking in there. But the smell was really pleasant.
He was withdrawn towards it almost subconsciously, like a moth to a flame… 'It's irresistible, but it's not unhealthy or self destructive, though? Why a moth…'
He frowned. 'Ah… no money.'
That was one thing he and Miss Rebecca lacked, but not so much that they would be considered to be from the slums. Just average. 'Slightly below average, I guess?'
They sometimes barely managed to fill their stomachs, while sometimes enough for them to enjoy a rather pleasant meal. Getting new clothes every now and then was a luxury for them, so currently, he was wearing a simple black shirt that was made of linen with a low collar, occasionally turned down, and a simple black home-sewn sweater. Sewn by Miss Rebecca. And just normal black, trousers. The black attire contrasted against his pearl blonde hair and alabaster skin.
He blinked a couple of times, then looked down at himself. "Huh. Such pettiness, to not give a pair of warm coats and a scarf with the Academy uniform. Good thing that Miss Rebecca knows how to tailor a few clothes every now and then."
Proud at Miss Rebecca's tailorship, Aster glanced at the bakery that seemed like another luxury, for now, tore his gaze away and turned back to his path. The smell of whatever that was being baked inside the small bakery lingering in the air like a mocking splash of water. He was reminded of his precarious financial situation every now and then, and it did nothing to soothe the ache in his heart that he couldn't do anything about it.
He really wanted to help Miss Rebecca, but he was barely sixteen himself, what could he possibly do? His thoughts, however, were suddenly disrupted as he bumped into something, or someone, his forehead hitting something simultaneously soft and solid, making him kneel in pain. 'Ah, crap. I should focus on my surroundings more.'
Lifting a hand to rub his forehead, he sighed in frustration and lifted his head to look where he bumped. He saw someone standing in front of him - three people - as his gaze drifted from their feet, to their shins, to their… Before Aster could look up and see who it was, he suddenly let out a startled yelp, as he was pulled up by someone grabbing the collar of his shirt and sweater. His eyes widened.
"How very unamusing of these commoners. Must they always have a way to annoy me every time I step foot outside?"
Aster's heart pounded, a hint of panic and dread flickering across his face. But he didn't. He was too tired to do so, really. So he offered no resistance whatsoever and let himself be lifted by whoever it was, holding him in a firm, unyielding grip.
Hesitantly, he lifted his head and looked at who it was… and felt his panic and dread evaporate into thin air, replaced by a deadpan expression. 'Great. Another pompous and arrogant scion of a noble family.'
Of course, he didn't just say that just by hearing the scion's words, but he actually knew that he was one, and from a great noble family, at that. There was one simple way to find that out — he just had to look at the six epaulettes of Crossed Swords on each shoulder, on his shoulder board. Three on each, six in total. Each noble family had a heraldic symbol of their own, differentiating one noble family from another. The more the symbols on the shoulders, the higher the rank and class of the family.
Not like there were more than six, anyway.
Basically, currently, there were six noble families on the continent – four of them being major and two being minor. And this scion was from one of the major noble families, known to be related to war and having a great number of their people in the military forces of the continent — Proelium Family.
If there was a scion, who had only two epaulettes etched into their shoulder board, Aster would know that they were from a minor noble family.
For instance, Aster did not even have a shoulder board, let alone a heraldic symbol, just a badge that depicted a falling angel, hinting at the fact that he was just a mundane scholar at the Sapientia Academy. He had been lucky to get into this academy just by pure chance, and he was pretty happy with that. But not by the fact that he had to brush his nose with these types of people everyday.
People from across the continent dreamt of getting the high quality education that Sapientia Academy provided, since even royalty came to attend classes here. Be it magical or mundane, it was one of the best academies on Moriens Angelus — the continent where Aster lived — even in the world, perhaps. He didn't really know much, though, since he never even went outside his own country — Céleste.
But he did know one thing, however… that he was in trouble.
So, what was he supposed to do? He was definitely not going to provoke them and engage in a fight and risk getting hurt, though. He was already tired and all he wanted to do was to go home, enjoy the dinner Miss Rebecca had prepared, and then sleep in his cozy bed like a cold kitten seeking comfort. 'Huh, why a kitten?'
Shaking those unnecessary thoughts away, he looked up at the legacy with a bemused expression and sighed. Compared to the legacy and his other two followers, well, they seemed to be his followers, or servants, since they didn't seem to be from any noble family. 'What am I even thinking? Focus on the damned noble!'
…Anyway, compared to them, Aster looked meager, small, and weak. Of course, he did, he never really had proper nutrition for that matter. He was less tall than them, and was a bit frail. Of course, no one would suspect a thing since he was wearing proper clothes.
The young scion of the Proelium Family stared him down, his sharp dark eyes full of disgust, annoyance, and arrogance. Unlike Aster, he was wearing a proper coat over his academy uniform and looked regal and elegant. 'Trouble.'
"I, uh… is there something on my face?" Aster asked hesitantly, managing a shaky smile.
The young scion remained silent for a moment, looking at him with a cold expression, his grip on Aster's collar tightening slightly. After several seconds, he answered calmly, yet mockingly: "Yes."
'Ah, this bastard. Why's he holding me so tightly?'
Aster's smile lingered as he asked: "Yes? May I ask… what it is, then?"
The young legacy smiled slightly at his question. His smile, however, was haughty and conceited, making Aster's irritation grow. The scion with dark eyes and raven hair replied: "Poverty."
Aster's eye twitched in exasperation. How dare he mock him about something he was so insecure about? And so, he said the first thing that came to his mind without a second thought: "Thy face is not so much a visage as it is a cautionary tale."
Silence followed.
All three of them just stared at Aster, dumbfounded. Aster would have laughed at the comical situation, if not for the fact that he had just done something he did not want to.
He had provoked his adversary subconsciously. 'Adversary?! He's not my damned opponent!'
He opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, something connected with his face, throwing him back on the ground and blinding him for a moment.
…Pain… there was pain. It hurt, it really did, but he couldn't do anything. His strength seemed to have abandoned him for a moment, vision blurry, making him see stars.
Instead of panicking or being reckless, he took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. There was no point in escalating things by saying anymore stupid things or provoking them further.
Slowly, his vision returned, hazy at first but then clearing slowly. Leaning back on his hands, he looked up at the three towering figures in front of him – the proud and haughty scion and his two servants. Looking at their disdained expressions, he couldn't help but feel a hint of dread.
He was all but helpless, and he hated that feeling. But what exactly could he do in this situation?
…Beg? 'Do not even think about that.'
"Hey, that…" Before he could even start, though, the young legacy cut him off by grabbing a fistful of his hair firmly, making Aster wince in pain and prompting him to look up at him.
"A cautionary tale, was it?" His grip in Aster's hair tightened further as he brought his face closer to his, and snarled. "Since when did feeble commoners like you have such audacity to even speak in the presence of royalty, let alone affront them like this?"
'Royalty?! You're not even from the royal family!"
The haughty scion sighed in exasperation and disappointment. "How very deplorable."
What the hell was this bastard even talking about? How much of a pompous brat was he?! Not that Aster could do anything about it. Even struggling in his grip was painful with how firmly he held him by his hair. 'I should… try talking things out.'
Aster opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say something, he was suddenly released from the bastard's tight grip. His eyes widened slightly. He fell to the ground on his butt gracelessly with a loud yelp, relieved.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked up at the three towering figures in front him and opened his mouth to thank them for letting him go.
…But that thank you never left his lips.
Instead, he was met with a sudden onslaught of kicks from each side. Sometimes connecting with his face, sometimes to his stomach… even his crotch. All three of them were pouncing on him with wide grins, as though enjoying tormenting him.
Aster's world was suddenly drowned in pain. He felt humiliated, helpless, hopeless, alone… and feeble, as the young scion mentioned it earlier. There were people watching him suffer, but no one intervened to stop them. They were mundane humans, after all, they wouldn't want to get in trouble just to save a nobody like him. 'It's… so unfair.'
He cursed loudly as another kick connected to his crotch, making him clutch onto himself protectively and curl into a ball on the ground.
"Now this is a visage, don't you think, guys?!"
"Yes, young master!"
"Definitely! Haha!"
Aster was exhausted, both mentally and physically. A stress that he could not describe was weighing down on him like an invisible, morbid blanket for quite a while now. He could lift it, but the blankets seemed so vast that he could grab its edge to push it away, no matter how much he explored.
And honestly, this was okay. For some unknown reasons, he felt as though he deserved this.
'It… hurts…'
Aster hugged himself tightly, trying to shield himself as much as he could. His clothes were dirty now, he was too. Miss Rebecca would have to wash his clothes again in this cold… he could even see drops of blood on the ground – his blood. But his vision was starting to get hazy, and he had no will left to protect himself anymore.
'Maybe it would be better if I just… di…' Aster was suddenly pulled from his forlorn thoughts, however. A low, gentle voice washed over him like a soothing embrace to his hurting body. The onslaught of kicks came to a precipitate halt.
"Stop them, Amor."
At that moment, Aster saw the three towering figures making him suffer, pale from fear. Ah, but he couldn't care less about that anymore. He… he was… was….
What was he? He had no will to stand up anymore, so he lay curled like a ball on the ground, his eyes fluttering shut as a wave of weakness crashed onto him.
He was pathetic, he knew. He was poor, he knew. He was weak and had no talent for magic, he knew that too. But did he… did he really deserve all this, after all? Should he have tried to put up a fight? Maybe he should have… maybe that way, he wouldn't be feeling as humiliated as he was feeling right now. Drowning in it, even. It was…
"No, he doesn't really look alright, my lady."
'What? Who…' Aster felt someone grabbing him by his shoulders and pulling him up from the ground. The hold was… strangely firm and gentle… almost grounding to his hurting body and mind and soul.
The mysterious person draped one of Aster's arms over their shoulders and helped him stand up properly, letting him lean on them as much as he wanted. 'Wh… what's happening?'
"Can you stand up now?"
Aster hesitated for a moment and then slowly turned to look who was holding him. He held his somewhat ragged breath. His eyes widened.
Holding him was a young man, probably in his early twenties. He had sharp features with a tall figure. Taller than Aster was currently, at least. Jet black hair, sharp and striking blue eyes… The young man wore a surcoat of deep crimson, its fur brushing against Aster's cheek. The white fur was dotted with the distinctive black tails of the stoat. Underneath the delicate fur, the quilted gambeson provided a rugged, padded foundation, proving he was as much a warrior as he was a lord. 'Huh… lord?'
At that moment, Aster noticed a longsword on his belt. He paled. Not because of the sword, but because of the pure golden symbol of a falling angel etched into the hilt of his sword. Only knights from the royal army were supposed to have them carved into their weapons…
This person… was a royal guard?
Aster shivered. That shiver, however, had nothing to do with the cold. He even forgot about his hurting body for a moment. He radiated a hint of coldness, too…
The young man smiled as he noticed Aster's gaze at him, revealing perfect and pearly white teeth. His low, husky voice sounded pleasant to Aster's ears… "Ah, you finally looked. They did quite a number on you though, huh?"
For some reason… Aster relaxed, somewhat. Taking a deep breath, he gave the royal knight a curt nod. He didn't really feel like talking right now. He was hurting from everywhere and even moving a muscle felt like a chore.
"Aster, correct?"
'What?'
He looked up at the knight holding him steady in confusion. How did he know his name? The knight gave him another smile. Was he… was he some kind of—
"I am the one talking to you, Aster."
Aster turned his head and looked in front of him… and froze. All thoughts suddenly vanished from his mind, eyes wide and mouth suddenly feeling dry.
Right in front of him, a girl, no older than he was, stood with a poised manner. Her golden-brown hair fell down to her waist like a rippling tide of amber-flecked mahogany. Mismatched eyes, one seemingly of pure frozen honey, while the other was an orb of vibrant blue — left him mesmerized and captivated. There was a mole at the corner of her left eye, beside the golden one, on her alabaster skin, which did nothing but add more to her grandeur.
She wore a high-necked white blouse adorned with layered ruffles cascading down the chest and cuffs, fastened at the collar with a delicate brooch. The deep burgundy skirt cinched tightly at the waist with a structured, high-rise design accentuated by two cream-colored buttons. Its full, flowing silhouette ended with soft ruffled hems, adding a sense of graceful volume and timeless charm to her striking beauty.
'How… can someone be so beautiful? l…'
She looked down right otherworldly and Aster had no words to describe what he felt at that moment. He couldn't look away from her… it was as though she had put some kind of mind hex on him.
She was like a blooming rose, an ocean at dawn, a spring meadow… A poem written in flesh…
'Huh, wait. Rose?'
Wasn't he.. wasn't he looking at the princess of Moriens Angelus, Rose Mye?!
'What… what is she doing here?'
He swallowed hard and lingered for a few moments before saying, his voice shaking: "Y—Yes?"
Rose grinned and crossed her arms as she answered: "You look quite roughed up there." Then, she gestured to her knight and added: "Help him, Amor, we'll go somewhere peaceful. I have something I want to discuss with him."
…Sitting under the willow tree by the lake, Aster couldn't help but shake his head in bewilderment. 'What a strange turn of events.'
Then, he glanced to his side and looked at Rose, who was sitting there with a pleasant smile on her beautiful face.
The corner of his lips curled up slightly.
"So what did you want to discuss…?"