32. Aurelio
Alessia is in a foul mood the entire next week, but I don’t blame her; any reminder of her sister must be painful right now. Besides, she’s busy from sunrise to sunset planning the tournament that the royal advisors tried to pass off on other officials of the city. I simply give her the space she needs, assist her in everything I can, and treat her in whatever small ways I can manage without pissing her off.
When the first day of the tournament arrives, Alessia kills it in the opening round, per usual. She also knocks out her second round in a record thirty seconds flat, followed by her third round wipeout of her opponent, which automatically qualifies her for the finals. While she waits for the final round to occur at the end of the week, she buries herself in books, not even bothering to greet Mina whenever she passes her. My existence is ignored entirely, too.
So, instead of dwelling on it, I decide to go out. There’s nothing better for me to do, anyway.
I head out of the palace and make my way through the city, this time not bothering to don a cloak; with East by my side, there’s already a reason for people to stare and flock to me. East, per usual, is terrified of all the attention and clings to my side for dear life. Lief sits on my shoulder, keeping an eye on the people behind me as I make my way through the city streets.
“Must they flock to you like a celebrity?” Lief huffs. “I’m not a people person.”
“You’re not a person. You’re a fairy. And I am a celebrity, Lief.”
“Why does that have to be my problem, though?”
“Just deal with it.”
I make my way past the Holy Church and to the Meadow Hills training arena, which is remarkably busier than it used to be. Although the tournament has already finished its rounds for the day, tournament participants and fans are flocking to the building and the entrance hall to view their standings and the upcoming matches. Some are even pre-buying their tickets for the finals already.
Of course, as soon as they see me coming—or rather, see East headed their way—they quickly backpedal to make space for me. I glance at Lief, and he simply shrugs.
“I can’t fix this. You’re the one that adopted a griffin chick, not me.”
“I wasn’t asking for you to fix it! And this isn’t my fault!”
I stride right through the front entrance, pass through the entrance hall, and make my way up into the stadium. Sure enough, the person I’m looking for is sweating his butt off in the arena below, sparring with the only person strong enough to force his improvement. The pair of them look up at me and give friendly waves when they notice me.
Then, their jaws drop to the floor.
“Aurelio, what on earth is that?” Kharu exclaims.
“It’s my son, apparently,” I chuckle.
Emilia brandishes her sword. “Shall I kill it?”
“What? No! Why would I bring it here if I wanted you to kill it? I’d have already done that by now if that was my intention!”
“Oh. Right.”
Emilia sheathes her sword as I make my way down to the arena. All other trainees stop what they’re doing to stare. East glances to his left and his right, then practically climbs onto me to avoid being looked at, clinging tightly enough to my leg to cut off circulation.
“East, relax, buddy!” I hiss. “That hurts!”
“East?” Kharu questions.
“That’s his name,” I explain.
“I heard you returned with a pet monster from your quest, but I imagined something more like a fairy or a friendly phoenix, not a whole griffin,” Kharu remarks.
“Well, they say when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”
“That’s some strong lemonade,” Emilia snorts. “I take it the rest of your quests went well, though?”
“Oh, pieces of cake. Alessia took out an entire goblin nest herself in twenty minutes for our first quest. I managed to kill an Oni, although Alessia had to jump in and save my ass with some emergency medical treatment. The griffin incident was the icing on the cake, because after we got this little guy, we had a third fighter in our adventuring party.”
I pat East’s head, and he finally relaxes. He detaches from me long enough to allow me to sit on the ground, and the moment I do, he tackles me in his favorite griffin hug, as I call it, which is just a wings-out, full-body hug that threatens to crush me under his weight. I lay on the ground and laugh as East nuzzles against my neck.
“I didn’t know you were capable of keeping something alive,” Kharu remarks. “Last I checked, you killed every plant your mother gave you.”
“A plant is not the same as a griffin,” I protest. “East can catch his own prey. All I have to do is cook it, and that’s if he gives me the chance to cook it first. He can swallow rabbits whole.”
Emilia grimaces. “I happen to like rabbits.”
“If you mean they taste good, I agree,” Kharu says, patting his stomach.
“You’re always thinking with your stomach,” Emilia grumbles, rolling her eyes. “This tournament, if anything, has only increased your appetite.”
“I heard you both earned automatic spots in the final round. I wanted to congratulate you myself,” I say, beaming. “How does it feel to be ranked as one of the top five knights in the kingdom? Exhilarating? Nerve-racking?”
Emilia and Kharu exchange a look, then shrug.
“Feels like any other day,” Emilia says.
“I already knew I was one of the best,” Kharu admits.
I deadpan. “Would it kill you two to be a little humble?”
“A bit of humility keeps you practicing; a bit of arrogance goes a long way to keeping you competitive,” Emilia says, smirking. “Your humility certainly hasn’t helped you win any of our duals, now, has it?”
“I’ve gotten better!” I protest. “You told me I should get some experience, and I did!”
“Prove it, then.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I chuckle, patting East’s head. “This little one has a protective streak when it comes to me.”
“Just wait until he gets bigger. You’ll have a formidable bodyguard,” Kharu says, arching a brow.
“I don’t need a bodyguard. I just need to get good enough to kick your butts,” I tease.
“In your dreams. That’s why you have Alessia as a bodyguard,” Emilia says. “By the way, where is she? She’s been disappearing as soon as her matches are over. I was hoping to congratulate her on making it to the final round with us.”
“She’s…not in the greatest of moods,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “I haven’t been able to get a word in without getting snapped at lately. She’s been stressed, between planning, catching up on her duties, training, competing in the tournament, and dealing with the tension between her and her sister.”
Emilia and Kharu exchange a look. “Tension?”
“Oh. That’s right, you don’t know. I trust you not to tell anyone, but just between you guys and me, Alessia and Daelia are having a big fight over this tournament.”
“Really?” Emilia gasps.
“Why would that be?” Kharu questions.
“Daelia was hell-bent on helping the missionaries in Krasta, but Alessia’s tournament roped her into staying here. She was pissed about not getting any say in the decision.”
“That’s no reason to hate her guts,” Emilia scoffs, crossing her arms. “I know I may be biased as a knight, but Daelia should be proud to display her ability to the people of Celestia. This is meant to be a celebration of Celestia’s strength; it wouldn’t be complete without her.”
“I agree. It’s an honor to get to fight the Hero of Celestia—even though I know I shall lose spectacularly,” Kharu admits.
I don’t have the heart to tell them that there’s an ulterior motive behind the tournament that’s the real issue here, but I brush it aside. In all honesty, if Daelia strongly believes her sister is in the wrong, she should confront her about it rather than sulk. Alessia’s too busy to deal with her sister acting like a child, and she isn’t wrong for wanting the best for her nation.
“Well, in any case, I look forward to seeing you two compete,” I say. “Would you like me to take you out for some drinks? It’s been far too long since we spent some real time together.”
“Hells yeah. You better be ready to pay up, rich boy!” Kharu teases, clapping me on the back.
“Um, what about East?” Lief points out, hovering over my head.
“We’ll eat outside. He’ll be fine. Won’t you, East?” I ask, cupping his face in my hands.
East rubs his face on my chest again. I’ll take that as a yes.
***
“Hey! I’m back!” I call.
East squeals and runs into the bedroom, heading straight for my bed, which he’s already claimed as his. He lays right down and curls up for a nap. I watch him with a smile, feeling my heart swell with love for what has to be the thousandth time today.
“Lief, can you watch him?” I ask.
“Sure. I’m kind of tired myself,” Lief yawns.
While he lands on East and curls up for his own nap, I head upstairs in search of Alessia. I don’t find her in her bedroom, and when I check the bathroom, she’s not there, either. I frown; it’s getting late, so she should be back by now. The sun’s already set an hour ago.
Is she still training, I wonder?
I leave the room and close the door quietly behind myself, heading for the staircase. Following the usual route, I make my way to the training courtyard, only to find the spellglass bright, the training dummies set up, and Alessia hacking away at them.
“Hey, Alessia!” I call.
She continues to train like she didn’t hear me. I frown, wondering if she’s so focused on what she’s doing that she genuinely didn’t hear me, or if she’s outright ignoring me again. I descend the staircase and walk out into the courtyard, waiting patiently within her view by the copse of trees. She continues hacking and slashing away at the training dummies like a madwoman until she splits them all in half, panting heavily. Only when she turns away and sheathes her sword does she address me.
“What do you want, Aurelio?”
Ignoring her tone, I respond, “I’m here to see what you’re up to, that’s all. You weren’t in the room when I returned.”
“I’m busy. Leave me alone.”
She tries to leave the courtyard without so much as a backward glance. Twitching with irritation, I run to catch up with her, snatching her arm before she can pull away from me.
“Alessia, I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t.”
“You can’t tell me to do that.”
“Yes, I can. You can’t control me, so stop worrying. It’s just stressing you out unnecessarily.”
“What’s going on with you lately?” I question. “You’re avoiding me like the plague, and you’re brushing Mina aside like she doesn’t matter to you. I get it, you’re busy, and you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but even when you were busy before, you gave us the time of day.”
“I don’t have any time at all right now. Leave me alone.”
She tries to yank her hand out of my reach, but for once, I decide to stand my ground. I grip her wrist as hard as I can, and she gets tugged back my way. She shoots me a glare over her shoulder.
“What’s wrong with you? I gave you an order, Aurelio.”
“Is that all I am to you? Some servant?”
“No. But you’re really pissing me off, and my word is above yours. Let me do what I need to do, Aurelio.”
“What you need to do is take a moment to relax,” I point out. “If you push yourself too hard, you won’t have anything left to give when the time comes around to perform.”
“I don’t care. I’ll push harder and do it anyway. Now, get off me!”
This time, she grabs my arm, wrenches it painfully, and throws me to the ground. The impact is hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. I cough on the ground, my gut fizzling with frustration.
“Alessia, stop!” I command.
She whips around to look down at me, her eyes burning with a bright blue fire. “Why? What are you going to do, Aurelio? Force me to come to bed? You can’t stop me!”
“I know I can’t, but I’m going to try anyway! It’s my job to take care of you, remember?”
“I don’t need to be taken care of! You should worry about yourself!”
“There’s nothing to worry about! I’m fine! You are my primary concern right now! You’re working yourself to the bone, isolating yourself, and leaving yourself to fester in foul moods all day long. When are you going to wake up and realize that you’re sabotaging yourself?”
“I’m fine! I can take care of myself!”
“Clearly, you can’t!”
“Are you calling me weak?” Alessia snarls.
My mouth drops open. “Alessia, what is wrong with you? I’ve never once called you weak!”
“Your actions speak louder than your words. You’ve been babying me for too long. I don’t need this mushy-gushy crap to feel good, Aurelio! I need discipline and productivity!”
“Yes, and part of that is self-care, dumbass!” I snap.
Alessia’s hands tighten into fists at her sides. “You dare insult me, weakling?”
“Look who’s insulting people now!” I growl, feeling my hands twitch once again. “This isn’t like you! Just stop!”
“I CAN’T!”
Her words are like a slap to the face. Alessia breathes heavily, her lip curling into a snarl as she looks down at me. I have a feeling she’s looking down on me in more ways than one right now, and it’s breaking my heart.
“I have not only a tournament to win, but battle preparations to make,” Alessia thunders. “I have to prepare to head up the front lines of our invasion of a strong allied nation. If I don’t look and perform my best, my nation will never see me as the queen I strive to be. One slip-up, and my strength will be called into question. The loyalty of my soldiers will waver, and we’ll collapse like a house of cards. Do you not understand how much is riding on this play?”
“I do! That’s why I’m begging you, just come to bed!” I plead.
“You just want to convince me for a bit of romance! I know better!” Alessia snaps. “I have better things to do! Go screw with one of the housemaids, if you’re that desperate!”
“Alessia! Do you even hear what you’re saying?” I shout. “I’ve never once taken advantage of you! You’re trying to drive me away! On purpose!”
Alessia turns her back to me. “I don’t care. Get out of my sight. I don’t need you, Aurelio. I’ve succeeded on my own my whole life; I can succeed without you just fine. Go read your books and skive off like you always wanted to.”
With that, she storms away, leaving me to punch the ground and scream in frustration.
I didn’t even realize I was crying until my teardrops hit the ground near my fists.