Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Missing.

Quies looked at the princess in surprise and confusion, he was wondering why did she come down here that too just after sending them to lock up Valerian inside.

Azula did not know how to say it but on the way from the room to the dungeons, in a matter of few minutes, she realized that it was indeed she, who was in the wrong. Valerian purely acted on the directives she had given him.

She said, “I need to have a word with him.”

Rectus shook his head and said, “You can try, but I do not think given his temperament you will achieve anything.”

Azula sighed, she knew that this time a cake will not solve things. Still, she needed to converse with the child, stealing her heart the princess walked through the narrow corridor bypassing the two people, and came to stand up in front of a narrow grove inside the wall.

This groove was the solitary detention. The person was not allowed to bend their legs, they were forced to stand in the dark all alone.

The punishment seemed to be easy but that was just hearsay. The impact of silent darkness, gradually losing your senses to the solitary, was a cruel method.

.....

Inside the groove, Valerian stood facing the wall. His eyes were closed. His hands were shackled with a special cloth that seal off his magical skills.

The place was so dark that Azula could not see the child from the outside. She said, “Valerian, my elder brother wants to meet you.”

She did not hear any response from the inside. Valerian could not use his signs as his hands were bound, he could not speak, so how was he to look outside at the princess and say anything?

Azula said, “Rectus, bring him out.”

Her eyes were telling him that she could not bear the sight of this child inside the detention. Rectus gulped and said, “Your highness, before going inside, Valerian has told us that he does not wish to come out till the sentence has been completed.”

Azula said, “Are you the elder or is he?”

She realized that this situation was very frustrating. She said, “What do I do? Does he want me to beg him?”

Quies shook his head and said, “You judged him wrong, Your Highness, he only seek respect and warmth. It may seem like his heart is made of stone, however, it is just a layer of callous.”

He mentioned the word callous because it was something that could be scratched away with patience and sincerity. Azula said, “Fine.”

She turned to look into the groove and said, “Valerian, I am extremely sorry, and I apologize sincerely to you about this. When I saw my brother being hurt, I just could not control myself, please forgive me.”

Rectus gazed at the girl and then said, “Solvo.”

The darkness inside the groove faded away. Azula could see a set of silver eyes glaring at her, the cold radiating from the guy shocked her. She did not expect the child to have such a strong reaction.

She took a step back in fright. Valerian sensed the restraints loosen and walked out of the groove. He asked, ‘What does, the prince needs me for?’

Azula noticed that he did not react to her apology. She replied, “He wishes to talk to you about a few things.”

Valerian nodded and then after thinking for a bit he said, ‘What if, I do not want to talk to him?’

Rectus and Quies had understood the temperament of this boy and they were not surprised, Azula was somewhat aware of this as well, so she said, “This could be a good opportunity for you, Valerian.”

The child nodded and said, ‘In this world, nothing is for free, I take shelter with you and I pay with my self-respect. He is elder than you, I do not think I can afford to pay for any favor that he might show me.’

Azula said, “Valerian, this is not how things are, it is just a normal human reaction, he is my family. Why can you not understand?”

‘Because I am an orphan, and I have a twisted set of emotions, and unlike you normal humans, I was born cursed. I do not wish to seek any more fortunes. Now shall I go back to the groove for refusing you?’, said Valerian.

Azula glared at the boy but she realized that it was her, who mentioned a few things that he has no knowledge about. She sighed and said, “You can go back to your room.”

Valerian bowed to her and then he walked ahead without any reaction. Rectus said, “Your Highness, all the progress we made in the last month, has been rendered useless.”

Azula glared at him and said, “Do you think I did not notice his coldness? I really wish to break open the head of my elder brother and let it soak in the sun.”

Quies did not say anything and let the princess vent out to her heart’s content. After a few minutes, several people came back to the room where the first prince was resting.

However, they found the room to be vacant, and they began to search, after all, the prince was weak at the moment, and if any harm befell the guy, things will get even more messier.

The three people started looking around in the palace only to find the man leaning in a corridor, his eyes staring at the void listlessly, and his face covered with cold sweat.

Azula and Rectus were the ones to find him, the princess rushed over and was about to touch the prince on the shoulder when the man jumped away.

He looked at the two people in front of him with strong vigilance. Azula asked, “Brother, what happened?”

She asked with concern, and the prince said, “Azula, you almost lost your brother, and even more, the empire lost Prince Ignis, the first.”

Rectus asked, “Your Highness, what do you mean to say?”

Ignis raised his head and said, “I was restless and decided to walk around when I met that boy here, I asked him basic details and then I asked him to come along with me. He refused to me and said that he likes it here. I tried to insist on my thoughts and said a few things, I did not expect that child to almost kill me with the mind snare. He directly put the spell on me.”

Azula was shocked and said, “I...”

Rectus clenched his fists and Ignis said, “Do not worry, the spell was not dangerous, it was just shocking how he cast it out of nowhere. Also, I was the one who said a few things too insensitively.”

Azula asked, “Did he say anything?”

Ignis said, “No, the only reason I could understand him was that he used a magic slate. He did not say anything and then he walked inside his room.”

Rectus asked, “Shall I do anything?”

Ignis shook his head and said, “Start training him and have him ready to come to the capital in the next six months, then I will ask for his help to run for the throne.”

Azula shook her head and said, “I have no idea if he will agree to it or not. As for training him, that is something I will do regardless of your instruction or not.”

Ignis nodded and said, “I will leave tomorrow, things in the capital have not been silent lately.”

Azula nodded and they all went back to their rooms after discussing a few more things. Valerian went inside his room, but he did not fall asleep, his mind was occupied with thoughts of what happened today.

Suddenly the door was pushed open from the outside and Valerian found Quies coming inside. The butler said, “Do not think too much, get some rest.”

Valerian gazed at the butler and said, ‘I am not thinking too much, I know my status is not enough at the moment.’

The butler did not reply to the child and just sat down on his own bed and laid down. The night passed very quickly, Quies looked around and found that Valerian was not in the room, he did not bother and got on with his own work.

...

Quies came to the training field and did not find anyone there. Something clicked in his mind. He rushed back inside the palace to look for the boy.

On the way, he met Priscilla and asked, “Have you seen Valerian?”

The maid was stunned and she said, “No, why?”

Quies did not waste time and said, “Go tell Her Highness that the child is missing, I am going to check with the guards.”

That said, the man rushed out and the maid made a beeline to the princess’s room, she was about to knock at the door when it opened from inside and Azula came into sight holding a letter.