Finding Stardust

In a way, she didn"t have any friends with whom she could talk and share her feelings like she used to. Before, she could always talk to Haoran and share whatever was on her mind with him.

There was also Alex who loved sharing some gossips with her during their ride home. Sometimes Emma would also go out to eat or shop with Mary and Nadya. She was no longer used to being the reclusive girl who grew up without having anyone.

Now, she was forced to go back to being alone. She really didn"t have anyone on her side. And what"s worse was, her life was in the hands of the enemy.

Emma only relied on her position as Princess Arreya"s daughter to keep her and Haoran safe, in addition to the fact that Therius was interested in her. If she didn"t have such a bargaining chip, maybe Emma and Haoran"s fate would have changed for the worse.

Atila and Anddara noticed the change in Emma"s att.i.tude over the last few days, but they didn"t dare ask what had happened to her. They just made their own a.s.sumptions that Emma was lonely.

Meanwhile, Therius had started giving Emma some training on telemancy. Their sessions in the first week mainly focused on meditation and breathing techniques which Emma thought to be very boring.

"I intentionally give you a low-level exercise this week, because Xion is draining your energy with his aeromancy training. Later, after you improve your breathing techniques, I will ask him to reduce the intensity of your physical training and start teaching you high-level exercises," Therius explained his reasons.

The girl just nodded and murmured. "I understand."

She sat on the floor cross-legged and started regulating her breath and meditating according to what Therius had taught her. Even though she found the training boring, she forced herself to go with it.

Emma didn"t know the power to control the mind was actually one of the most powerful mancies. At first, she thought she could only use telemancy to read other people"s thoughts and influence their minds.

Before she heard from Xion how strong a telemancer could be, that they could kill people secretly, Emma always thought electromancy or pyromancy was the type of offensive power she most needed to defeat Therius.

Now, Emma realized that she must train her telemancy properly and tried to get to the highest level as she could. Not only to defeat Therius, but also because it would be very useful for her in Akkadia.

She would be able to use it to read others" minds and protect herself from the evil intentions of those who want to harm her. Who knows, she might also be able to use it to influence others to get what she wanted.

Therius stood like a statue and watched Emma meditating. He felt there was something different lately with Emma. The girl was no longer as curt as before. She gave off an indifferent vibe and looked like someone in low spirits.

This development actually made Therius worried. He preferred to see Emma act curt and hostile toward him, as usual. Seeing her angry and keep wanting to defeat Therius was much better than seeing her sad and low spirited like the last few days.

"You seem very quiet lately," Therius commented as they finished the training session. "Is something bothering your mind?"

Emma raised her face and throw Therius a complicated look. Actually, she was missing her friends back home and Haoran. How could she possibly tell it to Therius?

Finally, she just shook her head.

"I"m all right," Emma answered curtly.

She did not want to chat with Therius and acted as if they were friends.

She rose and nodded slightly to Therius and walked away.

"I know you think of me as an enemy," Therius said suddenly. "I understand that. But you don"t have anyone else here. For the next five months, I am just Therius Moria in this s.h.i.+p. I am only a mission leader, not the Crown Prince of Akkadia. Can we be friends for the time I am not the crown prince? You may hate me again after we arrive in Akkadia, and I resume the crown prince t.i.tle."

Emma, ​​who was walking toward the door, was stunned by Therius" words. She turned and looked at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Why did you say that? Did Xion tell you anything?"

Xion, jerk! muttered Emma inwardly. She should have known that Xion the wingman would have told Therius everything. If not, how did Therius know that Emma actually hated him because he was the crown prince of Akkadia, which made him her parents" enemy? Emma no longer hated Therius for being... just Therius.

"Yes, he did. Xion never hides anything from me," said Therius. "Why don"t we consider that time stops in this s.h.i.+p for the next five months. And here we can become ordinary people without animosity or politics involved. Later, after the s.h.i.+p lands in Akkadia, time will resume, and we will be who we are supposed to be."

Emma looked at Therius intently and then looked away. "I"ll think about it."

"If you need a friend to talk about anything, Xion and I will have a drink in the lounge tonight. You are invited," said Therius.

"You can"t drink," Emma said. "Xion said that."

"Xion does love ruining my reputation," Therius grumbled. "I can drink, but not much. Tonight I make an exception because it is my birthday. I will be glad if you come."

"Oh ..." Emma paused at Therius"s explanation. She remembered that her 18th birthday was actually around the corner too. She almost lost track of time because the time in this s.h.i.+p was not exactly the same as the time on earth. She did not know how many days had it been since she left the planet.

"Oh, by the way... there is no cla.s.s tomorrow," Therius added. "I"m not sure I can wake up without a ma.s.sive hangover after tonight"s celebration."

Emma nodded. "Okay."

She was actually interested in going. She was feeling really lonely and thought that drinking with other people might help ease her loneliness. However, she didn"t want to say yes right away. She must think about it first.

Even though she was alone and missing her friends, she did not know whether it would be wise to give Therius and Xion a chance to be friends with her, even if it was temporary.

Therius stared at Emma"s back as she walked away and then disappeared behind the automatic door.

The man took a deep breath and walked out of the training room to his own place. He cleaned up, rested for a while, then went to the lounge to meet Xion.

***

"Hey, you come?" Therius could not hide his excitement when he saw Emma appear in the lounge entrance.

He rose from his seat and invited the girl to sit. On the table were served several delicious dishes and a bottle of wine with three gla.s.ses.

It was clear that Therius was expecting Emma because he had prepared a gla.s.s for her. Xion hurriedly poured wine for the girl and invited her to toast.

"To Princess Emma Stardust who has graced us with her presence in our little party tonight ..." Xion raised his gla.s.s.

Emma quickly corrected him.

"Just Emma. No princess and such, please." She glanced at Therius. "You said we can get rid of all formalities and the animosity between us while we are in the s.h.i.+p and consider time stops?"

Therius" face beamed as he nodded. "That"s right. Let"s consider this s.h.i.+p a neutral zone. There is no politics here."

"I don"t think that"s a bad idea," Emma said.

Xion smiled broadly at her words. "Then, raise your gla.s.ses, and let"s toast to our neutral zone."

With some hesitation, both of them raised their gla.s.ses and clinked them to Xion"s.

Therius was very happy with this development. The next five months would be quite exhausting if filled with hostility, he thought. He was grateful that Emma was reasonable and could accept his proposal.

The three then drank and ate in a warm atmosphere. At first, Xion dominated much of the conversation. However, after Therius finished his first gla.s.s, he began to talk a lot too. Emma could see that he did have a low alcohol tolerance.

"I don"t think I"ve ever met a man with such low alcohol tolerance like you," Emma commented casually when she saw that Therius"s face had turned red and he became quite chattery. She was the opposite. After two gla.s.ses, she actually felt very fresh and alert.

"Oh, is that so?" Therius raised an eyebrow at Emma"s statement. He then shrugged. "I don"t know. I think it"s psychological. There aren"t many men whose mothers killed themselves because they drank too much alcohol."

Emma was stunned by the man"s words. She did not expect Therius" mother had already pa.s.sed away... and in such a devastating way.

"Oh ... I didn"t know that," Emma said. "Please accept my condolences."

"My father died in a battle with the rebels when I was very young," Therius said. "My mother was so heartbroken that she spent a lot of time drinking and mourning. One day, she just decided to take her own life. I can"t blame her for loving my father more than she loved me."

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