Valerian, The Legendary

192 Failed.

Morgana could not explain the feelings in her heart at the moment. She spent the entire noon with the Empress, but she could not find anything out of ordinary about her. She even thought that the lady was putting up a facade in front of her, however, when she realized that Fragrantia did not really care about her scrutinizing gaze, she was surprised and shocked.

Valerian seemed to have vanished after he handed her over to the Empress, and at this moment, she had just finished having dinner with the royal couple, The Emperor and The Empress. Morgana leaned back in a rocking chair in her guest room and mumbled, “What am I missing?”

Just as she mumbled this a figure appeared behind her, he was the person sent by Jamal to look after her from distance, but Snare also had an important role, which was to counsel the lady when she was in doubt.

He asked in a low voice, “Anything on your mind, Your Highness.”

Morgana was not startled and replied, “These people are much more tricky than anyone I have ever dealt with.”

Snare nodded, “They are not the strongest for nothing. The Verus family has their own skills and strength. You ought to be cautious when dealing with them.”

Morgana nodded and then said, “I will take some rest.”

Snare nodded and blended back inside the shadows, while Morgana stood up from the chair and picked up the blanket from the foot of the bed, and spread it on the ground before she lay over it to sleep. Just before her mind drifted into slumberland, she heard a gentle knock on the door, followed by a soft voice, “Your Highness, are you asleep? I beg your pardon but Prince Valerian asked me to tell you that he wants to show you something.”

Morgana set up from her ‘bed’ and asked in a calm and indifferent voice, “Is it important?”

.....

The maid outside said, “His highness mentioned that you can only witness this sight at a particular hour at night, I will refuse to him, forgive me for the disturbance.”

Morgana thought over it and then she decided that if she wanted to make a breakthrough in her investigation, then she must get closer to this boy. She said, “Tell him to wait, I am coming.”

The maid outside the door was obviously surprised, and then replied, “Very well Your highness.”

That said, she went off to inform Valerian while the lady in the room stood up from the floor and put on her dress from noon. She did not want to waste time dressing up at this hour of the night. It was late evening by the logic, and the sky was already dark.

The girl quickly came out of her room and then she found the maid standing with her back bent. She asked, “Where is the Prince?”

The maid gestured with her hand and Morgana spotted the boy with dazzling silver hair running around the place chasing after a silver cat. She furrowed her brows and then walked over in his direction. Soon she was able to hear sounds, Valerian was chasing after the cat saying, “Fortuna, give that bead to me, and I will get you a better treasure.”

The cat was running with a bead stuffed in her mouth. She was swift, and even when Valerian was running at a speed where he was almost a flicker, the cat was able to stay away from his grasp. At this moment, a lady in a blue dress came over. Morgana stopped when she saw this figure, the striking blue hair was the trait of the Verus Princess.

Azula said, “You lost that bead to Fortuna?”

Her tone was filled with exasperation. Valerian came to a stop and said, “Do you not know how she likes shiny stuff? You gave it to me in front of her, how will she let me have it?”

He was whining at Azula like a little child and the princess passed him a helpless smile as she said, “I will get you another magic core, let her have it.”

Valerian wanted to say something when he heard a cough from the side and found Morgana standing at the side. The inside of the palace common area, the pathways, and the corridors were all well-lit due to the Solaris stone.

The prince scratched the back of his head and said, “I apologize to you, Your Highness, for this unsightly display.”

Morgana did not seem to react to his words and looked at Azula with great interest and said, “Greetings, Princess Azula.”

Azula smiled at her and said, “Greetings to you as well, Princess Morgana, I apologize for being a rather lax hostess, I was busy finding a magic core for a certain someone.”

She cast a gaze at Valerian, who turned his head away and said, “What do you mean to say? Is it my fault, you wait, I will tell mother about it, then you will have it. Humph.”

Azula facepalmed and said, “Pardon me, Your Highness Valerian, I take my words back, it is my fault that Fortuna took the core, I will go back to and get you another one tomorrow.”

Valerian raised his chin a bit but before he could act proud, Morgana asked, “May I ask why did you call me out this late? If it is nothing important, I would rather go and sleep.”

The prince put away his childish smile and said, “Please come along with me, you will not regret it. Fortuna, you will stay here.”

The cat turned her head away as if saying, who wants to go with you anyways? Valerian then rushed up to Morgana and gestured for her to go to the balcony. The palace was three floors high, but the ceiling height was fifteen feet and thus the height from the ground was rather high. The two came to the balcony and Valerian let out a sharp whistle.

Morgana was confused when a streak of lightning flew down from the sky and came to halt in front of the balcony. The princess saw a shimmering thunder falcon. Valerian offered her his hand and said, “Our ride awaits.”

The princess was confused, he looked so innocent at this moment, she placed her hand on his as if she was hypnotized. The boy smiled gently as the two jumped at the back of Linea, and Valerian said, “Go no, Linea. Or we will miss it.”

The thunder falcon flapped his wings, and flew away at full speed, in a few moments, they were above the clouds. Morgana wanted to say something when she sensed a feeling of warmth coming from her palm in these cold surroundings, and her gaze fell on the palms interlocked with hers.

Valerian did not look at her but took back his palm and said, “You must be thinking why did I bring you here, right? Well, to show you a real magic spell. Look.”

Then he pointed at a cluster of clouds below and Morgana saw lightning streaks flickering between the clouds. Then Valerian said, “Channel mana in your eyes.”

Morgana subconsciously did what he said and the speed of the lightning reduced significantly. It was as if a snake was slithering between its burrow. She looked closely and found a few beads of water condensing above the clouds and then falling down toward the ground. She could tell that it was raining, but the process behind it was no less than a super magic spell.

Morgana looked at Valerian and the boy said, “When I used to live in the orphanage, Mother Diligentia used to say that the world is full of magic. I never believed in her, now that she has passed away, I found that her claims were true.”

The princess felt emotional for a bit and then regaining her composure she asked, “Why are you telling me all this? Did I ask you anything?”

Valerian shook his head and said, “I don’t know why am I telling you all this, but I could not help it. I apologize for disturbing you.”

Morgana looked away and did not say anything for a bit. Valerian also did not talk and Linea kept drifting over the clouds. After a few minutes, Morgana asked, “Why does it seem like you are in pain? Do you not have a good relation with the Verus family?”

She wanted to exploit any chink she could find, but Valerian shook his head and said, “No matter what you gain, you cannot forget the pain of what you have lost.”

His words shocked the girl, she did not expect him to come up with such a deep proverb. To think this guy was even younger than her, the next thing that Valerian said, totally turned the world upside down for Morgana.

“Ever since I was a child, I have gotten used to the feeling of a hard floor with some make shift soft bedding to sleep on, even though I live in a palace, I sleep on the floor. That is the only thing that makes me feel closer to what I was before entering the royal family.”

Morgana did not know why, but she thought that she had failed in her task at this moment.