Chapter 64 - Special

"I now hereby declare Crystal Gemma Lorestifa as an official part of this family as a protector and future hero of this country for the upcoming Dekadalaw tournament in the year 4020, along with the Princess of Yvandir and her team members in Leviathan, with the hopes of neverending wisdom and guidance from the Heavens above. May they always be with you through your journey into the wastelands. To victory!"

"To victory!" The people shouted in unison after hearing Halma's very long speech before lunch.

Then they all returned to their stations afterward to do their remaining task in this very small yet eloquent banquet for only Venedette's family and the other kids that she was taking care of. Which was safer to refer to as her first students in this soon-to-be-transformed school in a castle.

But Venedette did not attend the ceremony, nor did Sir Grand, Von, and Lei.

The ceremony was already done when a maid showed up, sweating bullets while telling them about what happened to Von and his sudden panic attack. Why his whole family could not attend the ceremony.

"Oh no, Von," Fily said, seemingly sympathizing with Venedette's little brat for having such an ugly response to his trauma.

When they arrived at the clinic once again, Gem had a better grasp of what was going on.

At first, she was mad at Venedette for missing out on her first official ceremony, but after seeing Von, she immediately understood why Venedette had to be beside him instead.

"Von had a panic attack." Fily simply said to Gem and Petunia who had no idea of what was going on in this castle long before they arrived.

"That's too bad. I guess that's another reason why Von wouldn't join Leviathan." Petunia pitched in the conversation, finally getting out of the Queen's hands for the first time today and being able to walk freely since only relatives were allowed to visit Von in that room for today.

Coincidentally, Lei was also outside and overheard the girl's conversation regarding his invitation to Leviathan along with Von.

"If I were you, I would refrain myself from mentioning anything about the tournament and Leviathan to Von especially if he ends up becoming a tad more sensitive about the topic after this panic attack," he said, joining in the conversation.

"Then we should just avoid talking about those things whenever he's near, and he's not here right now so we can talk freely about anything, thank you very much," Fily said cheerfully which really annoyed Lei but since he was the benevolent type of guy, he just let it go altogether while still trying to make these girls back off.

"Still, watch your mouths."

"Let's talk about the ceremony instead." Fily changed the topic and went closer to Gem while giggling. "Does this mean you're now on the same level as me and Lei? Since you know, Lei was also blessed as Von's protector from birth? And my ancestors were blessed way before that to be in service to this family for generations including mine!" 

"But Gem was given a new name with Lorestifa as her surname. Does that mean she's actually part of the royal family now?" Petunia also asked out of curiosity.

"Is that weird?" Gem asked, having the same questions in mind too.

"It's not weird but it's not common either. Usually, Royals cannot adopt strangers into their family due to the unique properties in their blood that could only be shared with their relatives. But in Gem's case, I'm guessing it was because of the fact that she had unknown blood relatives and even unknown blood status that was why she was able to be adopted into the Royal family despite not having royal superpowers… which if we put her Salamandite powers into account, she doesn't need royal attributes to be a royal anymore. In short, you have a special case, Gem." Fily explained to them in the briefest way she possibly could but still ended up saying something really long.

'And also, if I think about it, the person who gained more privilege and power through this ceremony was Halma, the Queen. By giving her surname to Gem, it was inevitable that Gem would have to serve her for the rest of her life with her Salamandite powers under her control!' Fily pondered about it silently. 'Talk about owning the owner of a Salamandite by subtle means!' she exclaimed even more.

The Queen was really someone whom she could never underestimate. Her every step always had a hidden genius purpose behind it! Just like a real Queen in the game of chess, her moves were always planned perfectly beforehand. And her tactics were very subtle, showing up with pure intentions but also with hidden agendas all along? Who wouldn't fall for that?

"The more I get to know you the more I realize how special you actually are, kid. Just where exactly did you come from in this world?" Petunia sighed, throwing wonders in the air.

"I told you, I just came from an orphanage in the wastelands." Gem answered with a playful tone.

"You're really special Crystal Gem, and I hope you do realize that," Fily said with a hidden meaning behind it. 

But Gem couldn't realize it just yet. Fily just couldn't get the courage to burst Gem's happy little bubble this early on adventures together, especially right after being accepted into a real family whom she believed would take care of her for good.

There's just no reason for Gem to revoke this seemingly perfect arrangement for her right now. But soon, maybe. When she finally found her own value. Maybe Gem would be willing to break out from Halma's shackles in the mistaken impression of repaying Venedette's kindness to her.

And when she does that, who knows what kind of purpose Gem might have with the powers she will soon acquire from the Salamandite.

"If you'll be awake more than twice a week now Fily, then how about unlocking the locked chapters in the manual book?"

"It will be postponed, Halma is a really important person. She said she didn't come here just to watch me sleep. She even wanted me to fill her in on our progress for the tournament. Even though she's actually not helping either."

"Well, I guess that is because she's the Queen. She rules this country." Gem said innocently which made both Petunia and Fily cringe so violently.