Minami, Ryudō-ShanGriLa, hTraé; 12 April 11, hTc

It’s been two years since I’ve accepted the Epitaph system and my signature evolved. I found it tricky to get the hang of at first, however I had someone my own age, Ayo there to help me grow accustom to it. As it would seem, the Hunger Signature is somewhat of a watered down version of my Charybdis Signature, and Uncle Aether told me that my signature is still in its infancy stage.

He called it an Aspect, and I remember him mentioning it before. He said that a mage has three types of signatures, the main signature, sub-signatures, and the Aspect; the source in which the mage’s signature is derived from. Aspects are almost like an arcane magic that are only held by leaders of nations. The most powerful Aspects are the “Aspects of Reality”; there are seven in total, these include, in order of magnitude: The Aspect of Love, complete domination over emotions and abstract concepts. The Aspect of Sleep, dominion of the dream realm and sleep. The Aspect of Death, complete control of the dead and ruler of the Gates of the hTraéan Underworld. The Aspect of Life, controls the lives of all that breaths and their souls.

The final three Aspects are the most powerful and their wielders have the greatest responsibility; there is no way to know what order to put them in, however Uncle Aether did try. He’d said, from weakest to strongest, there is The Aspects of Chaos, The Aspect of Space, and finally The Aspect of Time.

“Wait, there’s only six Demon Lords, shouldn’t there be a Demon Lord of Choas,” I asked. The thought almost never occurred to me, stories I’d heard growing up had always spoke of seven Lords that aided Lady Tiamat, so why were there only six Demon Lords governing the world of hTraé?

“It’s a complicated matter,” my uncle advised. “The one that holds the Aspect of Chaos will sub come to the madness of the signature”. The Aspects of Reality were no joke, and the users of the aspects have power that surpasses the imagination. I could see that I would have pretty large shoes to fill if I wanted to be the version of me that Astaroth saw.

As the days gone by, I devoted myself to learning the names and faces of all of my denizens. I would say the country’s agricultural most interesting; though the weather is harsh, they’ve managed to keep it up over the eons.

I found myself working really hard in the rice fields, which grows very well in the spring and summer. By the time I turned eleven, I’d memorized not only the tasks that I needed to accomplish as a Crown Princess, such as foreign and domestic affairs, understanding our matriarchal society and the names of all of Minami’s people. Since the nation is on the smaller side, it had been a lot easier to get.

“Grand Rising, Young Mistress!” Chinamiku and the other palace maids would greet me every morning upon my arrival downstairs. As I mentioned prior, Chinamiku was invaluable and had been serving the palace for almost an entire rotation. “The Young Mistress must have a staff that is always at the ready”, the words would further drive the other maids to be their absolute best.

I would’ve loved having her in my cabinet, however she is scheduled to retire soon. She’ll be leaving Bolajiyo in charge of the palace in her stead; she’s quite the character, so much energy all wrapped up in petite dragonman woman. “My Lady, the staff upstairs is drawing a bath for you once you’ve finished your work,” her, like Chinamiku, took her job very seriously., every morning she’d wake up before the rest of the palace staff and immediately starts making life easier.

“My Lady, you’ve received a letter from your father,” Bolajiyo reported. “He asks you to read it as soon as possible,” he’d sent the letter via a delegation, there was at least three imperial carriages outside the palace gates.

“What is this?!” Ayo wasn’t the biggest fan of surprises, it did take her at least two months of training before she warmed up to me. “Don’t tell me,” her words slowed to a halt as all three carriage doors opened.

I’d walked outside just as our guests were making the entrance, and my heart nearly skipped a beat. I was used to the Imperial Guard just existing in my day to day life, but the Royal Guard of Garudora on the other hand, was an entirely different breed. I never actually met anyone in Garudora’s army, at least I didn’t think I knew anyone.

One by one the knights and their apprentices each exited their respective carriages, until I saw a familiar face, Ogunosuke. It was so long ago since I last saw him, he was still very awkward, but the years have been kind to him. He was about my same age, eleven or twelve, and he was already being considered to be a member of Garudora’s Royal Guard. The honor is nothing to take lightly, Father would tell me stories of the might of Garudora’s Royal Guardsmen and how they’re one of the most revered soldiers in hTraé.

“Lady Minerva!” Ogunosuke yelled out, technically an outburst like that would result in a corrective action from his instructor, however, one look in my direction and my face was enough to make the other soldiers turn a blind eye.

“Hikariryushi, right? I almost didn’t recognize you!” I was genuinely taken away by him being there, I didn’t know how else to explain it, but whenever I’m with him, I feel like a cloud.

“P-please, Lady Minerva, you mustn’t be so formal, you may address me as Ogunosuke,” his face was cherry red and beading with sweat.

I couldn’t help but burst in laughter, I really liked Ogunosuke, he was kind, gentle and considerate. “Okay, Ogunosuke, but how about this, let’s make a deal,” he looked up confused.

“Y-yes, My Lady,” he responded with a shaky and nervous tone.

“I’ll call you Ogunosuke, or Ogun, or how about Ogy, consider it a nickname only I can call you!” I reached my hand out and gave him a massively toothy smile. I had to admit, I was blushing pretty hard myself, it was almost as if I was a child with a little crush. “And in return, you may call me Mini, I won’t accept ‘no’ for an answer either!”

Whispers and gossip amongst the other knights ensued as he reached for my hand, “A-are you sure, My Lady-“ the glare Is given him swiftly made him correct himself. “Mini! Okay! If My Lady wishes, I’ll only refer to you a Lady Mini,” Ogunosuke rapidly bowed as a pool of sweat drenched his feet.

Once again, his awkwardness had caused me to erupt in laughter, “fine I’ll accept ‘Lady Mini’ we’ll work on dropping the ‘Lady’ part”.

The rest of the knights’ gossiping continued as he took my hand and bowed. “A mere knight’s apprentice on friendly terms with the princess?”

“Who is he? Is he a commoner,” the gossip grew more intense. “That’s enough! Ogunosuke here is from the Hikariryushi Clan, a highly respected house in Garudora,” a woman’s voice echoed in the palace courtyard. There were still people in the carriages, and I assumed it was their knight instructors. From the middle carriage stepped a dark skinned Fae woman with jet black hair and pink eyes, wearing diplomatic clothing clad with medals of honor. This was one of Chronos’ Twelve Hour Knights in service to the Emperor of Garudora, her name was Meera Dracoventis.

She approached me and gave me a pleasant smile, “Young Mistress, a pleasure as always to see you”. She bowed before me, “I do hope my apprentice isn’t disrupting you, is he,” her eyes darted to Ogy.

“No, no, Ogy and I were just catching up! He and I are from Caliburn,” I said with a bashful smile. She smiled and patted her apprentice on the back, “of course, Ogy, was it? My, Sir Ogunosuke, you’ve managed to seduce a princess,” Meera teased.

I looked over to Ogunosuke who was redder than I’ve ever seen him. “And what’s worse, is not only did he seduce a princess, but the First Crown Princess of Minami! I knew you’d have a way with the ladies, but I’m blown away,” she laughed as the other knight instructors exited their respective carriages.

“Stop teasing the kid,” a man porcelain skin and red eyes, “excuse Lady Meera’s rudeness. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Sir Daisuke Zombi, The Hour of Fire. It is an honor to meet you, Young Mistress”. He flashed a gleaming smile towards the palace maids, who each fell right into his hands.

What a dork.

“You’re such a dork, Daisuke,” a Dartaani elf man said as he approached us. “Sir Laith Balasit, the Hour of Wind, and you’re already familiar with Lady Meera Dracoventis, the Hour of Timber”, he motioned toward Lady Meera. The three were sent here by my father to help groom the future knights for their service in the military.

To keep things interesting, the Hours are split in groups of three along with their respective apprentices and they’re sent off to neighboring countries to improve their skills and gain new ones as well. Every nation in ShanGriLa participates in this exchange program, it also helps them learn about new cultures and customs.

The group was set to live in Minami for the next five years, just before I have to enroll at Avalon Academy.