The Trio Odyssey

Part I: Soul to Soul

Chapter 6: The Princess of Mixed Blood II

Raeké laughs hysterically.

“Hahahaha—”

‘‘The Princess of Mixed Blood’?… What a stupid name that people gave me.’

She takes her position to walk down the aisle, descending on the staircase, step by step.

Slowly, she reaches the row she’s assigned to sit during the event: the line of the Dotemian Princes and Princesses. 

In this row, her sitting position is beside Randar, Lisole and Meria, in order.

She sits at her place and rests her hands on her laps while forgetting about their loathes. 

She indeliberately stares at the front, lower row, which is the line of the Dotemian Crown Princes and Princesses, looking at the back of Kostana’s head and expressing hollow thoughts. 

She immediately averts her gaze around the hall, looking at the other States’ princes and princesses, who are getting along well with each other as they come in with their chatters, laughters, smiles, and handshakes. 

And her eyes are lost in her envious stare at all of the Royals from the other States because she does almost none of them. 

A few minutes later, her mother arrives and greets her since her seat is right beside the aisle. 

“Honey, you’re okay? You've been staring quite a lot.”

Her daughter is jolted from her mother’s sudden arrival, mildly screaming.

“Ahh—Mom. I’m—I’m just alright.”

“I’m just envious of how the other Royal peers get along well with each other.”

Her mother glances at the arrival of the other States’ Queens and quickly looks back into her daughter.

“Oh—alright, the event is about to start. Let's settle this later on, okay?”

Her mother gives her a warm bye, then steps downstairs, joining the other Queens to their seat. 

“Bye~my baby.”

She watches her mother’s movements as her mother sits at the row of the position that befits: the line of the Dotemian Queen Consorts, which is across the aisle from her table. 

A few minutes have passed, and in a single hall, the attendance of all of the available Royals’ in the event went smoothly.

Though, she's still staring randomly the whole time. 

From the Dumajan aisle, the leader of the event organization, Lord Steward, Valei, steps down to the center of the hall, moving throughout the back of the six sides of the Reigning Kings’ tall seats.  

Lord Steward addresses all of the attending Reigning Kings, subtly bowing his neck from their back, one by one. 

After that, Lord Steward goes to the center of the hall, in a circle that is surrounded by the tall seats of the Reigning Kings.

Lord Steward also summons six, similar, huge Chimerics, veiling the entire hall in each end of the hexagon shape. 

His Chimerics possess both sea and sky creatures traits: large stingrays with six, huge birdwings.

Lord Steward’s Chimerics are a type of Chimeric that links his voice to each one of his Chimerics.

Thus, this Occult Ability enhances his voice aloud while speaking through them as an amplification media. 

The colorless lights from chandeliers are shut off, and the rest of the lights in the hall dims rapidly at a certain degree of brightness: neither too dark nor too bright. 

At the center of the hall, Lord Steward starts to make a grand announcement. 

“Heed the call of the Reigning Kings.”

“By the decree of the Reigning Kings,”

“I welcome the Proxy of the Sovereign, the Reigning Kings, and the Assembled Courts,”

“to the Royalty Gatherings of the Ivada Federations.”

All of the chandeliers hanging for each State turn on brightly to represent themselves, only once each one of the names is announced.

“To our esteemed Proxy to the Sovereign, Ileyn Nan Mahjun,”

“on behalf of the absence of the Sovereign, and the Reigning King of Dotem the East, Souht Nan Mahjun,”

The Dotemian chandelier illuminates the yellow aloft Raeké’s head.

She’s a bit overreacting with a silent startle. 

“Hie—kk—!”

Raeké’s nearest half brother, Randar, glances at her with a distant, disturbing look, and she sees that glance immediately, flinching in shyness. 

During the unnoticed fuss, Lord Steward continues. 

“to the Reigning King of Monaziad the North, Yuos Nan Taghar,”

The Monaziadi chandelier lights up red. 

“to the Reigning King of Tolem the South, Calval Nan Iamna,”

Then, comes the blue from the Tolemian chandelier. 

“to the Reigning King of Dumaja the West, Hotavar Nan Lief,”

Next, the Dumajan chandelier appears green. 

“to the Reigning King of Galaa’ the Isthmus, Jaw Nan Hitra,”

And the Galaa’an chandelier lights violet. 

“to the Representative of Harda the City Reserve, the Crown Prince of Dotem the East, Zihro Nan Souht,”

The Hardan chandelier flicks on as tangerine, to wrap it all. 

Raeké stares at Zihro’s short black hair and red eyes, which reminds her of her father a lot, covering her mouth in murmurs. 

‘Big Bro Zihro… he’s my eldest half-brother!’

Unexpectedly, Zihro looks back in a serious, but relaxed gaze.

As soon as she realizes it, she glimpses to the right and left quite a few times.

She panics knowing that Zihro’s actually looking straight into her eyes.

He doesn’t look away just yet, which immediately shuns her away, making her stare down at the table to escape his gaze while pressing her lips into a thin line. 

Back to the Lord Steward. 

“and to the Royals, the Court, gathering inside the Heto Palace.”

Raeké lifts both of her hands to cover her eyes, looking at Zihro again through the narrow space between her fingers; this time, he’s no longer looking at her.

She sighs quietly.

Afterward, Lord Steward steps backward until he gets out of the circle of the center in the hall, staying before the Dumajan aisle. 

The intersection of lights from six different colors of the chandeliers irradiate the center, forming a desaturated white light. 

From the intersecting lights, Lord Steward spreads up his arms widely. 

Later, from the center of the intersecting lights from the chandeliers, Lord Steward forms a transparent, colorless, head-size orb. 

The orb floats as high as the degree of the Proxy of the Sovereign’s chest. 

Raeké has observed the Lord Steward’s actions and tries to justify it in a soliloquy. 

‘He must’ve controlled his flow of Occult Energy, and caps it by his Occult Value, both singlehandedly and carefully.’

‘And, in order to craft that orb…,’

‘he evaluates them into his Occult Synthesis through the conductivity of his Chimerics, till it matches the Occult Synthesis coming from the lights of the chandeliers.’

Raeké’s impressed..

‘Amazing, he’s a professional!’

Lord Chamberlains from all States, including Juvon, step down from each aisle while professionally delivering a set of golden chains with a special gem placed on each one. 

All of the Lord Chamberlains approach the back of the Reigning Kings, addressing them, bowing their head subtly, and submitting the gem-placed, golden chains. 

Lord Steward heralds a ceremonial rite. 

“May the Reigning Kings let the opening ritual go smoothly under this dawn.”

All of the Reigning Kings, including the Proxy of the Sovereign and the Representative of Harda the City Reserve, stand up and elevate their right arm to the front, pointing their palms toward the floating orb.

At each of their hands, hangs the gem-placed, golden chains.

They look like necklaces, with gems matching the color of the chandeliers, specifically designed for hanging at the hand of the Reigning Kings, with a lot of golden chains.

Their Chimerics appear at their backs, showing the diversity of the combination of animals they tamed. 

And each gem illuminates from their hands, releasing a blitz of magical projectiles, and clashing at the floating orb altogether at the same time. 

Their Chimerics return to none afterward. 

The colors from their projectiles do not mix once they hit the floating orb, but stay in their own variety. 

Lord Steward declares the final touch of the event.

“With the opening ritual be witnessed,”

“hereby, I declare the official commencement of the Royalty Gatherings of the Ivada Federation.”

“I invite the Proxy of the Sovereign, the Reigning Kings, and the Assembled Courts, to stand up, cheering for the motto of the Ivada Federation. 

“Oneness Is Absolute Power!”

Everyone inside the hall stood up, preparing for the motto, including Raeké, responding instinctively. 

“Oneness Is Absolute Power!”

After the motto cheering, all of the attendees of the event sit down.

Lord Steward announces the feast in the event. 

“Let the feast be served.”

The six presenting Lord Chamberlains from each State get into their position, standing inside the central circle of the hall and facing against the aisles.

They summon their own unique Chimerics, and each one of them draws a magical door for each State. 

From those doors, the retinues from the Royal Household come out, bringing the feasts under the metal domes to be served for every attendees in the event.

Believably, those doors are portals for the retinues to pass through and serve the feasts in their freshest state from the Great Kitchen in the Heto Palace.

All of their chain of organizations occur back to back: by ascending order from the bottom center, they serve the highest ranking to the lowest ranking.

Until some time has passed, the entire feast has been served across all of the tables by the retinues.

And Raeké witnesses her feasts getting served in front of her. 

“You have my gratitude.”

“It’s my honor, Your Highness.”

The retinues withdraw themselves to the doors of each State.

The smell and look of the feasts make her appetite soar high, with a loud growl in her stomach, although it’s unheard of from the background noises.

Without further ado, she digs in the feasts, immersing herself in her paradise of foods.

A few minutes later, she finishes every dish served on her table.

In the traditions of the Ivada Federation, there will always be a promenade with desserts served between the Royals and the Assembled Courts after the feast.

In order to clear all of the tables for the promenade, Lord Steward orders all of the Lord Steward to resummon their Chimerics, redraw their doors of teleportation, and call for the retinues to clear out all of the tables’ dishes.

Then, the retinues exit the hall through the doors of each State, and other retinues come out from the doors of teleportation to serve desserts for each attendee in the event.

While the dessert is served in front of Raeké, with her thanks to the retinues, she has exactly zero peers to talk to, when Lord Steward announces it.

“Let the grand promenade between the Proxy of the Sovereign, the Reigning Kings, and the Assembled Courts proceed smoothly.”

Because all Raeké overhears, no matter the nearest or the farthest of the people, are the mouths from almost everyone in the hall, talking about the Princess of Mixed Blood, which is simply the similar, predictable topic ever since her early youth.