People over the two realms had many different rumors about the Blood-Winged Lucifer. Some believed the reason why Arianna always wore a mask was that she was enchantingly beautiful, and it was hard to stand in her presence and maintain your composure if you couldn’t take your eyes off her. Some believed that she disliked having eyes on her, and some believed that she was too prideful to show her face to the people she believed were not worthy.
Viara had heard all sorts of rumors about the beauty of Arianna Lucifer. Even though there were barely a handful of people that could claim that they had seen her in person, no one in the two realms ever argued over the fact that Arianna wasn’t beautiful. It was as if everyone had the impression that she was the most beautiful lady there was. And the reality was even truer.
There had only been two people in the world that Viara had seen and felt that they surpassed her in beauty. One was her little sister, and the other was the lady sitting in front of her, Arianna Lucifer. She had seen Keira Zion as well as Jalaisha Azmodeus, even though they were enchantingly beautiful, Viara knew that she could compete with them in terms of beauty. She could compete with anyone in the world other than her sister. And it was not her love for Vienna as a sister that she believed it so. Her little sister was beautiful enough to stir waves of envy in her heart at times. But today, she had seen someone that could challenge Vienna in terms of beauty.
Arianna Lucifer, unlike the rest of the Lucifer Bloodline, didn’t have the platinum blonde hair. Her lustrous hair was silver with black roots. A contrast that made it difficult for people to look at and not appreciate it. Her eyes were almost the same shade as the Ka’zaed blood. They were wine-colored. She had a slender nose, and her lips were thin and seemed to be naturally red. Her skin was fair, and the natural blush on her cheekbones even stirred the hearts of women. She was wearing a simple gown-like dress that covered every inch of her body. Only half of her arms were visible through the thin cloth covering them. The dress was simple in design, but it looked magnificent on her. Her figure was the same as Viara, a thin physique with a tight waist, but her curves were slightly more prominent. And then there was the fact that she was a couple of inches taller than Viara, and had a slight advantage in terms of the volume on her chest.
A maid knocked on the door and then entered the room. She served a sweet and cold delicacy to the ladies that Arianna had ordered for them. Liafina’s eyes shined brightly when she saw the delicacy. Arianna had ordered one of a different color of her the last time she had come here with Aizen. And it was one of the best things she had tasted in her long life. She happily accepted it and tasted a spoon full of it.
“It’s tasty!” She smiled at Arianna. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” Arianna graciously smiled at her and started eating her share of this frozen sweet.
Viara sighed when she saw the girls acting so harmoniously. She shook her head lightly and tasted the delicacy. She was curious at how tasty it could be to make Liafina enjoy it so much, and she found herself falling I love with the taste of it. It was delicious!
“Thank you,” She nodded to Arianna and Jalaisha and then continued to eat it.
“I am glad you like it.” Arianna smiled and then took out a memory stone from her ring. “Here.” She said and sent it to Viara.
“What’s this?”
“This this the War that happened on The Sky Mountains. I have already sent one to Aizen. You can keep this one. It will help you learn from the battles that took place there.”
Viara hesitated slightly, but then she accepted the memory stone. To get stronger one needed to experience battles, and watching people battle in a war could help one improve his battle techniques. She wanted to thank Arianna for it, but she saw her casually eating away the dish in her hand and sighed. They were trying their best to make her feel at home and not think of them as strangers. She knew that this was the way things should be between them since they were going to be a family, but her apprehensions toward the Blood-Winged Lucifer didn’t allow her heart to be at ease.
“You were on The Sky Mountains?” She asked Arianna.
“Yes,” Arianna answered. “I was there to witness it. It was the least I could do to show my respect to Renera, and I had to make sure that the people observed the warnings that I had given them.”
Viara frowned at her words.
“You were acquainted with the Alpha of the Azereus?”
She had already heard from Jalaisha that Arianna and Renera had fought once, but she couldn’t grasp the reason why Arianna would show respect to Renera in such a manner.
Arianna placed her bowl on the table as she finished eating. She used a paper towel to wipe her lips and then sank back on the couch.
“I was not acquainted with her,” She said, “Once she had challenged me to a duel. And I had developed some respect for her tenacious personality. The respect was mutual, but we couldn’t be considered friends. And since she was going to fight her last battle on those mountains, I went over to witness her in all her glory. And she fought well. Her fights are in the memory stone. It’s not every day that you witness a fight between the powers of True-Origin Realm. And that fight was special as it was thirteen against one.”
Arianna smiled as she saw Viara still frowning.
“You are still young. You will learn with time. People develop respect for those that deserve it, even if they are not friendly with them. Some even respect their enemies.”
“Why did you help Aizen in destroying someone you respected? From your words, it doesn’t seem like you considered Renera as your enemy.”
Arianna didn’t mind her sudden question. She shook her head and smiled at Viara.
“It’s because he is my Husband. And as his wife, it’s my duty to help him.”
Her words made Viara uncomfortable. She was already addressing him as her husband, it was the same for Jalaisha, she had even kissed him in front of everyone and claimed him as her husband. But before she could hold dissatisfaction in her heart, Arianna took something out of her blood ring, and Viara’s mind went blank.
“For me, marriage is about the vow, and he has already taken his vow for me, as I have taken my vow for him.” She said as she placed the crown of the High-Queen on her head.
Viara finally understood why Liafina was already addressing Arianna as a sister. She had known about it. And even Aizen hadn’t mentioned anything about it. He had only told her that the Star Palace now had its second High-Queen. And everyone had believed that he meant it as if he had already decided on who it was going to be, no one had thought that he had already married her.
“The news will be made official Tomorrow night, during the event of the Blood Moon.” She said and observed the expressions on Viara’s face.
Viara looked hurt, and her eyes were almost misty. And her body was slightly trembling. Arianna knew that there was a question looming in Viara’s mind that she was scared to raise.
“What is it?” She palely smiled and inquired in a gentle tone.
It took a while for Viara to make her resolve, and she severely looked at Arianna.
“What are your intentions?”
Her question made the atmosphere in the room tensed even though the devil was brightly smiling.
“My intentions?”
“Why did you marry him?” Viara didn’t falter under the invisible pressure pressing on her heart.
Arianna took her time observing the attitude of Viara. She was worried that Aizen had made the wrong choice in choosing Viara over Vienna as his Empress. She knew that he had made that selfish decision because he loved Vienna and didn’t want to burden her with so many responsibilities, even if she was capable of handling them. But she could see now that he wasn’t so rash in making that decision. Viara possed the capabilities as well. And then there were his intentions that he never voiced, and only she could see through them. He loved Chaos.
“I like him,” Arianna answered. “I wouldn’t say that I love him, as I had no obligations to him, unlike you two sisters. And I know that I would grow in love with him as the time passes, that is why I accepted his proposal.”
Viara frowned at her words, but Arianna paid no heed to it.
“He was the one who had proposed to me to marry him. He had done so on the day he announced his presence to the world.” Arianna laughed as she recalled the incident. “It was the day he had made the Star Palace recognize him as its Ruler. I had heard his voice, as he said the words he had held in his heart for so long. ‘I want you as my bride’, he told me. His words were arrogant, yet I found them sincere.”
The clueless look on Viara’s face made her laugh.
“Little girl, the man you call your Husband is a mystery. And even I can’t see through his actions at times. And I have known him for a while.”
“What do you mean?”
“Umm… He’s actually my Student.”
“What?!”
Viara blurted out subconsciously, and it sent Arianna in a fit of laughter.
When her laughter finally subsided, she gently smiled at Viara.
“I liked to go down to the lower realm and visit The Castle of Knowledge. I liked the atmosphere of that place. I asked Malcolm to allow me to teach in The Hall of Music. I was just bored. And after a few days, an interesting student came over to take his Piano lessons.”
“It was Aizen?” Liafina inquired curiously.
“Yes, and he was only sixteen years old. And I must say that he was quite handsome. And his bearing was different, the expression in his eyes was aloof, and he never smiled. But he did smile one day after he heard me play Piano. And he asked me to teach him. He learned fast, and after a year, he started developing his own compositions. And to my surprise, he got better and better, and my interest in him grew. For someone to achieve such mastery in just over a year was unbelievable to me. You know curiosity is a bane to a girl’s heart.”
“Then?” Liafina asked.
“Then I realized that the manner he looked at me held his desires. You know, I never showed my face in the class, and I always wore a half-mask, and I even used to cover my hair. There were some boys in the class that still held some lustful thoughts toward me. But Students there don’t dare to go after teachers. And so no one ever voiced their desires. He did. One day when we were alone in the class, he had made me listen to a composition that he had made for me. It was the most beautiful thing I ever listened to. It was full of affection, love, intensity, but at the end of it all, there was helplessness. And I remember the words he had said to me that day. He said that he wanted to make me belong to him, but he realized that he had no power over me. He didn’t know who I was, but his senses were keen. He knew that I wasn’t just another teacher in the academy.”
Arianna sighed as the memory of that day surfaced in her mind.
“And he then stopped attending the classes. My interest in teaching faded. I didn’t want to teach other students for some reason. I just wanted to play the music together with him. I once considered taking him away with me, but then I stopped myself. And I stopped going to The Castle of Knowledge, but for some reason, before I left, I met him one last time and gave him my token. And the look on his face was too funny. He had learned of various enterprises in the world, and on my token, he recognized the symbol of The Misty Chambers. There was a surprise on his face, there was a shock too, and there was curiosity, but there was no fear in his night blue eyes.” A beautiful smile crept on her lips. “ And then he called out my name, and I ran away.”
“Why did you run away?” Liafina looked dissatisfied at her actions.
Arianna reddened in blush.
“I.. don’t know.” She honestly replied.
“Why did you not take him away with you?” Viara hardened her gaze on Arianna. There was something that Arianna wasn’t telling them. “You knew he was a Morningstar, right?”
Her question made Arianna sigh. The blush on her face paled, and her lips curved in a pale smile.
“Yes. He had the right features to fit a Morningstar. The black hair, and his night blue eyes. And the people in the True-Origin realm can sense the bloodlines of people who have not had their awakening yet. Others may have not paid attention to him, but I had spent a considerable amount with him. I could sense that the origin of his bloodline was not any weaker than mine.” Arianna looked at Viara and said solemnly. “There is only one bloodline in these two realms that is not weaker than mine, and that is the Blood of Chaos.” She took her eyes off Viara and looked at the ceiling. “I kept my eyes on him all these years. To my dissatisfaction, he had ended up getting involved with Elysa Lycan, but I didn’t interfere with his life. She left him after a year. And time passed. One day I finally sensed his Bloodline awaken. And later that day I felt the presence of my token in the direction where the Star palace was. He had arrived at the home he belonged to.”
Arianna looked at Viara and smiled gently.
“He sensed me spying on him through my Token after I felt some fluctuations rise from the Star Palace, and so he sent those words to me that day when he located where I was. His words were faint as if he was losing his consciousness. But I recognized his voice. I was happy. He hadn’t forgotten about me.”
Viara heard her words and her heart felt uneasy. She could feel that Arianna wasn’t lying to her, and she had no ill intentions toward Aizen. She was jealous of Arianna now, and it wasn’t just her beauty that she felt herself envy, it was her bond with Aizen that she envied as well.
“Would you have such interest in him if you hadn’t realized that he was a Morningstar?” Viara asked out of her dissatisfaction
Arianna stayed quiet for a while. It wasn’t that she didn’t know the answer to that question. She just wanted to take her time.
“No. My interest in him developed because he was a mystery to me. I considered him as someone who could be my equal one day. I liked his bearing. And then there was the fact that our taste is Music is the same.”
Her honest answer lessened the uneasiness in Viara’s heart, but she was still unhappy for some reason.
Arianna got up from her seat and lightly smiled at Viara.
“There’s a guest that has come to my Hall. I will see you later.” She said and vanished from the room.
Viara frowned at Arianna’s sudden disappearance. And when her eyes saw Jalaisha frowning as well, she felt that something was not right.
“What is it?” Liafina asked Jalaisha before Viara could.
“It’s Keira Zion. She is the guest Arianna has gone over to greet.”
The words didn’t bother Liafina, but Viara had bells of crisis ringing in her head. She had a bad premonition about this princess of Zion.
♛ Author’s Note:
🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶.
To stay connected to me and my stories, do join my Discord. The link is on the ToC page. See you there!