Aeins.h.i.+a was walking down the halls, lazily. The halls were eerily silent, no trace of anyone around. Well, expect the servants and maids who were doing their daily ch.o.r.es. Even, s.h.i.+rley was busy today. Moreover, Aeins.h.i.+a didnt want to bother her now. She thought about hanging out with her brother, Felix. But, Felix seemed to disappeared from the Palace. She thought maybe he was out of the Palace but, that was highly impossible. Felix absolutely hated going out of the Palace. He would much rather prefer to lay in his room all day. He was lazy like that. Aeins.h.i.+a certainly can"t blame it because she herself was like that. Guess thats one of many things, the siblings had in common. She wondered I this was a trait from her mother or father. She was sure, it was from her mother seeing that her father was actively partic.i.p.ating in kingdom matters. Then again, she didnt know much about her father.
Now, that she thinks about it, she doesn"t know many things about her father. They never had their "bonding". Her childhood was only filled with her uncle Alexander, aunt Amelia, Evan and her brother. Its not like that they never talked but, they would keep it short and professional. She remembered once, her uncle convinced her to talk to her father and to get their bond stronger. Andrew found her coming out of the Emperor"s chambers and took her to stroll in the then Empress" garden.
Well, let"s just say it didnt go as they expected. It wasn"t bad but, at the same time it wasnt any good. They just talked randomly about some things. But, that day, Aeins.h.i.+a found out how much her father loved her mother. She never saw her mother, only heard about her from her uncle. They talked about things but, after that the situation returned to its normal one. They continued to talk to each other as they were just far away relatives rather than father and daughter.
Alexander eventually gave up on trying to get them together but, Felix would often try but, it just didnt work out. How would it when there was no effort from the actual people.The love of Andrew towards Aeins.h.i.+a was understood when she was accused of the things she didnt do. The only people who believed were her brother and her father. He died protecting her. She regretted not getting close with her father. Aeins.h.i.+a still remembered clearly the emotion in Andrew"s eyes when he was killed. Love. Nothing but, love. For her.
Aeins.h.i.+a gently wiped off her tears that were welling up in her eyes from the memory of her past life. Yeah, that was her past life. This is her present and she would make a beautiful future. She looked towards her right and realized that she was in the practice grounds of the soldiers. A smile came onto her lips, unknowingly. The memories of her and Evan practicing replayed in her head.
The way he taught lessons with precision and made her learn on her own. His movements, his strength and how he told her to stay alert all the time. She chuckled to herself when and image of Evan widening his eyes for emphasis, came up into her mind. She didnt know Evan could be that jovial. He was more free and carefree with her that day.
Her heart gradually started to warm up, when she thought to their little walk in the new garden. That was for her. A gift from Evan, her only love, her future husband. A blush decorated her white, little chubby cheeks. The word "husband" gave energy to all the sleeping b.u.t.terflies in her stomach. She wrapped her arms gently around her stomach and giggled at the thoughts circling her head.
"What is so funny?" a voice boomed behind her, making her almost jump out of her skin. She clutched her hand on her heart and backed away to the wall behind her. She glanced at the person with wide eyes and instantly relaxed after seeing her.
"Father!" she exclaimed. Andrew laughed out loud at her daughter"s outburst. He was just exiting the practice grounds and saw someone was entering it. He decided to see who it was and was really surprised to see his daughter there. He was sure, he never saw her there till now. "what is she doing here? Is she searching for someone?" he thought and slowly approached her. As he was nearing her, he saw her blus.h.i.+ng and raised an eyebrow at her bizzare action. When he was going to call her, Aeins.h.i.+a suddenly clutched her stomach and started giggling. Andrew was truly weirded out and decided to speak up now.
"What are you doing here?" Andrew asked with a hint of laugh on his face, to which Aeins.h.i.+a replied with a slight glare. She reminded silent and continued to glare at her father. After some moments of silence, she too broke out into fit of laughter which prompted Andrew to also begin his own fit of laughter.
After their heart full of laughter and wiping off their happy tears from their eyes, Andrew looked at Aeins.h.i.+a with a fond smile. "You didnt answer me. Are you looking for Felix?" Aeins.h.i.+a looked back at her father with a wide smile and hlittering eyes and hesitated a bit "Uh.... I kinda was but, now I"m just wandering here." Aeins.h.i.+a finished and looked towards the shed with all the swords. She wondered if the swrod she first took, that attracted her attention was still there or not.
"You wanna learn?" Andrew asked and Aeins.h.i.+a jolted out of her thoughts and looked up confusingly at her father. Andrew smiled a bit and twisted his hand in front of him in slicing motion with an invisible sword. He looked up at his daughter"s face with raised eyebrows, to see whether she got the hint or not. Aeins.h.i.+a chuckled loudly at her father"s antics. This reminded her of Evan.
"Sure, father" Aeins.h.i.+a replied solemnly. Andrew smiled and gestured for her to follow her. Aeins.h.i.+a happily skipped behind him like a little duckling. They went into the sword shed and Aeins.h.i.+a"s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of sword that she first ever lifted. She skipped up to it and grabbed its handle. She was nervous and confused when she held the handle first time but, this time she was happy and smiling. Though, she was unsure but, still happy.
Andrew looked at his daughter, questioningly. He wondered why she was smiling so brightly and what"s so happy about seeing the sword collection. Aeins.h.i.+a turned towards him with a smile and c.o.c.ked her head to the side. Andrew almost busted out with cuteness bit, covered it with a smile. He too picked up a sword and they both stepped out.
Andrew turned to face Aeins.h.i.+a when they were almost in the middle.
"Let"s get this."