A Walk with Eternity-Chapter 48: Unexplainable longing

"Greetings to the delegation of the Slora Empire."

The moment Kian stepped down on the dock, he was greeted by a siren lady who seemed to be from the Palace. She has dark hair, purplish pale skin, and deep green eyes. She wore a specific uniform, almost similar to the two knights behind her.

"I am Dame Hildegard Knox, aide to the Empress Amadeus. I have come to personally escort you to the Siren Palace, as ordered by the empress."

What a warm welcome indeed, Kian thought to himself and smiled towards the aide. In the corner of his eyes, Slorian knights have begun unloading their things, and the Siren knights guided them accordingly to the carriage they’ve brought with them.

"I am the Crown Prince of Slora, Kian Slora. I came with my friends on such short notice, thank you for the warm welcome," Kian introduced himself with a formal tone. "Since our audience with the empress is by evening, would it be alright for us to look around the city until dusk?"

"Yes, the empress herself ordered me to keep the delegation entertained until dinner. She is quite busy with the preparations this coming week," Hildegard responded with a small smile. "Then the carriage that contains your valuables will head to the palace first and be placed in one room all together."

"Yes, thank you," Kian says, and moments later, her friends finally gets off the ship.

Hildegard observed each and one of them, and she was in awe of the range of races that is within this group.

A dwarf, a beastman, a fairy, an elf, a vampire, and a human... Have they always looked so beautiful? They all look around my age. She thought to herself. After being knighted, she has seen many people from different races. They were all distinct in appearances, but she has never been in awe of their beauty until now. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Come to think of it... She was snapped back to reality, seeing the number of people in this delegation. "We had expected only three or five people would come, but it seems we miscalculated." She felt awkward, feeling a sense of disappointment in herself for making a mistake the moment they arrived. The empress surely told her to expect the crown prince of Slora and about two or four more people, hence that’s what she prepared for.

She prepared only two carriages and ordered the servants in the palace to prepare five rooms.

"Oh?" Kian raised a brow at that. "Did Father not mention in his letter the people arriving as the delegation?" He asks, and Hildegard shook her head in response. Noticing the darkened expression of the aide, Kian smiled and tapped her by the shoulder to assure her.

"It’s nothing to worry about, our delegation this year is just a little special, that’s why. I apologize on behalf of my father’s small mistake," Kian assured her, then later turning to his friends who have approached them. "Let me introduce my friends."

"This beastman is Ezio Bane, son of Count Bane." The beastman smiles widely, greeting Hildegard with a short bow of the head, not wanting to interrupt Kian’s talking. Hildegard responded with the same respect. I can’t believe the son of Count Bane is here...

Count Bane was a known traveler who helped people in need around the continent, that includes the sirens themselves. He was a kind man who was not discriminative, treating all of them equally. And at the same time... he was a strong fighter.

"This is Milera Knightdale, daughter of Marquis Knightdale. Tadeas Knightdale’s younger sister." I heard about that name before... Hildegard thought to herself, and the dwarf girl in front of her did a small curtsy.

Oh... Sister to the emperor’s external aide and friend to the crown prince... and a daughter of a well-known blacksmith and craftsman, Hildegard thought to herself, remembering the very distinctive name.

"This is Cimmerian Cortland, eldest son of Duke Cortland." The elf was smiling warmly at her, and Hildegard simply returned the same gesture with a small bow.

Another son of a famous figure... Hildegard was somewhat getting a little overwhelmed. Duke Cortland was acknowledged as one of the strongest knights of the Slora Kingdom.

"This is Dolunay Roseblood, youngest daughter of Count Roseblood." The faerie smiles simply, moving closer to Kian. Hildegard found that confusing, but then again, this was another daughter of a known army doctor and healer.

"This is Lysander Redridge, Clan Lord of the Redridge Clan." The vampire gave her a small nod, without changing his expression.

Oh my, the clan lord of the vampires... Hildegard was a little taken aback, but couldn’t afford to show the panic in her face. Just when things couldn’t get any more overwhelming, Kian introduced an actual lord to Hildegard.

Surely, it can’t get any worse... Hildegard thought to herself, glancing towards the human male who was looking a little tired. Out of all seven of them, his beauty stood out, even when he looks tired.

"And this is Syvestian Grimestone, only son of Grand Duke Grimestone and heir of the Grimestone Duchy."

This time Hildegard couldn’t control her shocked expression, letting her jaw drop at that introduction.

Son of the greatest and strongest Grand General of the Slora Empire’s Knight Royale... but I thought he didn’t have a betrothed, let alone a wife to bear his child... Hildegard thought, and along with that train of thoughts, she recalled one significant piece of information about it. Then... this man is also... the owner of VOID.

What in the world is this line-up of people... Hildegard can feel the nerves slowly getting in her system, she was getting overwhelmed by the amount of presence that these people carry. She made such a mistake in front of these people.

"It seems there’s only one carriage for us to use for the day..." Kian says, informing his friends.

"Let’s just walk," Syvestian decided and yawned. He was obviously feeling sleepy.

"You know you can just leave the sightseeing to us and you can head to the palace first to get some sleep?" Dolunay brought up, crossing her arms.

"She’s right, you’ve been yawning since morning," Lysander says, he was getting impatient with Syvestian’s stubbornness to stay awake.

"I told you, I’ll manage. I just need to be distracted. Let’s go walk," he insisted and was about to walk away, but Cimmerian held him by the cloak to stop him from leaving them first.

"Don’t be impatient, we have a guide with us over here," Cimmerian reminded.

"This is Dame Hildegard Knox, the empress’ aide. She was ordered to escort us for the day until we head to the Palace. You can say she’s our tour guide," Kian blatantly decided on that with a wide smile, but Hildegard simply smiled, accepting her fate. It was inevitable. Kian then turns to her and asks, "You wouldn’t mind walking, would you?"

She shakes her head and beams them a big smile.

"Shall we head out for lunch first? I’m sure you’re hungry."

The rest of the day was, once again, simple. The moment they entered the city, they were met with such a unique architecture. Each building was carefully constructed with beautiful ocean stones and blocks. It was crowded with sirens, left and right. There were barely even any outsiders or foreigners around, hence they could feel the open staring in their direction.

But they couldn’t care less.

They quite enjoyed the six hour tour around the city. They discovered a lot, but at the same time, it was also very tiring. Imagine walking around for six hours straight, only making a few stops in a few tourist destinations. They haven’t even completely explored the whole city yet, there’s still the underground tunnels.

Sirens were quite the artsy bunch of people. This entire empire was filled with beautiful art. Everything has its very unique styles, but one can proudly name it as the siren’s signature art styles. No wonder they are desired by many nations. They were truly rich in nature, and it shows even in their art pieces around them, even the buildings were showing their culture so openly.

It wasn’t just the empress that was preparing for the festival, but her very own siren people as well.

The last stop they made was right in front of the palace gates.

A monumental stone statue of what seemed to be a teenage girl, wearing a crown bigger than her own head, and holding up their flag proudly was in the middle of two bridges that goes over a river.

"That statue..." Syvestian trailed off, feeling drawn to the statue of a familiar child. Kian and the others recognized her immediately.

"Ah..." Hildegard heard him, he’s been awfully quiet the entire time. "That’s the current empress, Her Majesty Rue Amadeus. It was sculpted three years ago, during the first Solstice. This was created to commemorate the young fifteen year-old empress for coming back, having courage to rebuild the already fallen empire, and leading her people with dignity."

Hildegard turned to him, only to see him walking away to take a closer look at the statue. From this side, they can see the softness in his gaze, as he stared at the statue quietly.

Huh...? Does he know Her Majesty?

She finds it confusing. Why would a man who has never even met their empress look at her statue, as if he’s longing for her presence?

"Spare him the questions... he’s just like that," Kian says, noticing Hildegard’s confused expression. This made her more confused than ever.

"He should see himself right now," Dolunay sighs.

"He looks sick..." Lysander commented.

"Lovesick, that is," Cimmerian added, chuckling.

"When will he realize..." Milera trailed off.

"Can’t we just teach him about this?" Ezio shows impatience.

Hildegard was a little taken aback by the collective reactions from all of them. They all seem to know why he seems like that, while she remains unable to think of why. He loves her? How?

And why?