"To think that his highness kept her in the dark for too long,"
"I want to take care of her in my whole life,"
"The maids at her palace must be lucky since they can see her cuteness almost every day,"
"She is like a doll,"
"She's beautiful, I wonder if she will be more beautiful as she grows up,"
"She must be lonely. I want to hug her,"
"Her cuteness is way too illegal. It's bad for my heart,"
"Why did His Highness kept a cute little child like her, his daughter to be exact, in the dark and didn't even tell anybody about it?"
"Their bloodline is way too unfair. Why must be every person in their family be extremely good-looking?"
As they were whispering and talking with each other while Alexandra was just standing before them, Alexandra had this really good feeling. It was just like she achieved one of her goals without any problems, she was able to give them a good impression. They are probably praising her good looks or her adorable personality. She let out a sigh of relief and she looked at Christian who was standing still beside her, quietly staring at her. Proud and relief were written all over his face, his warm and gentle gaze remained as well as his genuine and pure smile.
He was happy for her, it was like the feeling that he had when he first talked to Alexandra about what he wanted to happen or what his goal was after meeting Alexandra. The palace is slowly changing, the lively and happy atmosphere that was once gone after a significant and beautiful person went to the afterlife was slowly starting to come back and that is all because of one person. He admits, even though he never saw his mother nor did he have any memories of her, Alexandra probably resembled her. He once asked Gilbert before what their mother was like. He closed his eyes and recalled that memory.
"Hey, brother," Christian approached his brother who was just reading a book alone in the garden. The breeze was gentle and the weather was cool, it was the perfect weather for this afternoon. It wasn't that hot nor was it cold. His surroundings were peaceful and quiet, a perfect place to read a book alone without getting distracted by some things. If possible, he would fall asleep under a tree in this kind of weather.
Christian stopped in front of him, a few steps away from him but he was still able to see his face as he read a book. The title reads 'Claymore', he is reading that book again, he thought to himself and let out a sigh. That was probably the third time that he saw him reading that book. He probably read that more than 10 times already since that was his favorite book and we rarely see each other.
Gilbert lifted his gaze and stared at his younger brother's gentle face, his cold eyes meeting his warm and gentle ones filled with hope. The only thing that looked alive and happy in this palace was him, everything else looked dead or dejected as if they lost all hope after what happened years ago. A war didn't break out nor was they attacked by somebody and took everything, it was far way worse than that and he doesn't even want to recall what it was. That memory stabbed his heart and it was painful enough, it was like happiness and warmth was removed or taken away from him when it happened.
Yet here he is, a person whose gaze resembled her and the way he spoke was also similar to her. "What is it?" He responded, his voice monotonous like a robot. He doesn't look annoyed or bothered, he thought to himself. Well, it's not like he always shows his emotions or what he was feeling. I could only tell by his actions or the way he looked at that person, he added to his thoughts before he responded. "I would like to ask you something, is that alright?" Christian asked in a gentle tone of voice filled with warmth. It was melodic and soothing, his voice sounded pleasant to the ears.
Gilbert didn't respond but instead, he just stared at him with that cold gaze of his. Silence surrounded them as he just stared at him but before Christian spoke once again, Gilbert was the first one to do so, interrupting what he was about to say. "If you are going to ask me if I am good at fighting with swords or something and ask me if I can teach you? No, I am not good when it comes to swords and even if I was, I am not going to teach you. The same goes with magic, I am good at it but I am not going to teach you," Gilbert said and proceeded on reading his book once again.
Christian let out a soft and small chuckle after hearing his brother's response. "Of course, I know that. Besides, that is not my question," Gilbert wasn't good when it comes to swords but he knows how to use a bow, which is probably why his weapon was a bow. It was very powerful and could pierce three enemies at once. Although he is glad that Gilbert responded to him since he would usually just ignore him whenever he tries to talk to him, it was like he was talking with the wind or the wall.
Gilbert, however, still didn't take his gaze away from the book he was reading. So Christian just asked him, "What was mother like?" He stopped. His gaze remained fixated at that one sentence after hearing what his younger brother just asked him. Of course, he would be curious since he still hasn't seen mother nor did he have any memories of her. Just like the dead being revived with some sort of magic or spell, all of his memories of her including the small ones came back rushing. At first, it was some small flashbacks of images rapidly changing from one to another.
He could hear her mother's gentle voice inside his head.
"Gilbert,"
"Gilbert, I want you to take care of your siblings. I know that you can do it,"
"Gilbert, my wonderful and handsome son. I will always love you, no matter what happens,"
He can only think of one sentence and he responded, "Mother was a gentle and warm person, that is all that I can say to you. If you wanted more information or something, go ask Calixander or Chandler, they probably can recall or remember more memories about her than me," He said. Of course, that was a lie, he just doesn't want to talk about her. Just by recalling her voice left a painful sting in his heart. She was gentle like the morning breeze, she was warm and bright like the sun, she was beautiful and enchanting like the ocean and the Wistalia trees glowing at night, so when he heard the news of her death, he was devastated. But what about his brothers? What about his father who had so many memories about her and despite his cold and ruthless demeanor, he was gentle and kind towards her?
Coincidentally, he was also staring at that one sentence in the book he was reading which completely described her.
'In many ways, she was beautiful and unique especially that charming smile of hers and her gentle voice,'
"Christian," He heard a voice calling out to him and let him snap out of his thoughts, pulling him back to the reality that he was in. Alexandra was the one who called out to him. Ah, I must be spacing out for that long, he thought to himself before he looked at Alexandra and showed her a smile. "What is it, Alexandra?" He asked in a gentle voice.
"Did I do well?" Alexandra asked him as she fidgeted with her hands. She hoped that she did and Christian only smiled at her and patted her head, "Of course, you did. I told you before, right? That I know that you can go through this and do it," He said in his usual gentle and warm tone of voice. He continued to pat her head as if he was saying 'Good job, you have done well.' A giggle escaped Alexandra's lips and she showed him a smile, a wide and filled with joy one to be exact.
As they were talking with each other, a man approached them, wearing some sort of uniform completely different from the others although they could tell he was either a palace wizard or a healer. He arrived in front of them, a few steps away to be exact. His shadow and height loomed over them and that caught their attention. He cleared his throat before he spoke, "Excuse me. May I grab your attention?" His voice sounded gentle and familiar to Alexandra's ears and she slowly turned her head around as well as Christian.
This man..!
He was that doctor or healer that healed the wound on my knee back then when I first met Christian, Alexandra thought to herself as her eyes widened in surprise.