Valerian, The Legendary

Fragrantia woke up first and said, “Nothing happened, my child. Come have some food.”

Valerian nodded and walked closer to them, he placed his instrument at the side, sat down beside Fragrantia to eat the food, and shared some with the hungry cat as well. The sun went down and the convoy moved again. They were going to reach the imperial palace by the night. The empress told them about some pressing arrangements in the morning.

When the convoy reached the palace, Valerian almost failed to recognize the place, it was brightly lit with golden flame balls, moving around the building, casting an on and off shadow effect on the monument. The structure of the palace looked similar to a crown.

There were four main buildings, and the main parts, such as Royal Court, Military Office, Ministry, and the residential wings. The key part, the ministry and military offices were on the north and south wings, respectively.

Usually, the officials will work in the office buildings outside the palace, but the critical matters of the departments will be sorted by the Emperor inside the palace, and the venue will be these two wings. The Royal Court was on the east, and the resident was on the west wing. Only the Empress’s bedroom was the place that was situated in the western high tower.

Hightowers all had a distinctive different colored rock on the top of them all. These rocks were all magically fused together from a pile of gems of a kind. They were infused with mana to change the color. The extravagance of the Lumen Imperial Palace was displayed tonight in all its glory.

Valerian sighed and said, “I never expected this place to look so beautiful.”

Fragrantia smiled and patted his head. She said, “Go to your room and rest. I will send your clothes and other things over to you in the morning.”

.....

Valerian nodded and left the place with his instrument and cat. Fragrantia waited till the guests were settled. Tomorrow was the day when Ignis got married to the princess of the neighboring country. It was an important day, as joyous as it was, it also had troubling affairs. There were a lot of things that could go wrong.

After spending a night in his gilded, royal room, the boy woke up and cleaned himself ahead of time. He was about to leave the room when the door was pushed open and Priscilla walked in with a brocade suit. She said, “Greetings your highness, these are the clothes that you need to wear today. Do not worry, they are all magical clothes and can match your size, with ease.”

Valerian saw the suit and was stunned for a bit, it looked really nice, a cerulean blue vest over a white shirt and white pants. The charm came white coat with coattails. Priscilla also dropped a pair of black boots and belts. She said, “You can wear your knife holster, but make sure it is hidden underneath the coat.”

Then she picked up a few accessories from her magic pouch and said, “Please pick anyone to your liking and wear it.”

Valerian looked at the small things spread over the table and found a lapel pin that looked like a dragon’s neck, and picked it. Fortuna was looking at his actions and nodded. Priscilla gazed at the adorable kitten and said softly, “For my lovely Fortuna, I got something special. Here see if you like it?”

She took out a blue gem encased in a platinum wire cage. She said, “You can hook it to your collar and it will look prettier.”

Dragons loved treasures, Fortuna was no different, and she could not help but trot over to the lady, however, just as Priscilla moved to pick up the little one. The kitten jumped away, and gazed at the lady with disdain as if saying, ‘You wish to trick me with this trinket? Humph, waste.’

Priscilla sighed and dejectedly said, “Val, you handle her temper, I have many things to do.”

Valerian nodded and sent her away with a faint smile on his face. Then he went to the dressing room and began to put on the clothes. Once he was satisfied with his attire, he came to find that Fortuna was playing with the blue gem. He shook his head and said, “Fortuna, this is not a toy, come we will make you look more majestic.”

The dragon heard his words and nodded. She climbed up to his shoulder with a sharp jump and then Valerian took her to the dressing room. The dressing room was equipped with a box of jewelry as well. From the jewelry box, Valerian found a platinum bracelet. It was delicately designed and looked elegant. So, he passed one end of the bracelet through the platinum wire encasing.

Then he tied the bracelet around the neck of the kitten. The size of the bracelet was very small and it looked just like a collar, given the size of the little one. Valerian coaxed her and caressed her head gently as he said, “Look into the mirror, you see, how pretty you look?”

However, the next moment, he was shocked to see that the kitten in his hands appeared to be the dragon in the mirror. This was something he did not know, but then when he began thinking, he recalled a piece of information in the book he read about the dragons. If a dragon had an innate skill, it will also have a flaw to balance its existence.

Nothing in this world was invincible, even the world itself was not, let alone the creatures living on it. Fortuna had an innate skill of shapeshifting, and maybe that was why the mirror reflected her original appearance.

Looking at it again, the child said, “Look, your original domineering self looks so noble with this gem. How can your adorable appearance look any lower? You are the most beautiful one.”

Fortuna nodded forcefully hearing him. She liked to be praised but was unaware that her beloved servant was thinking that she was too narcissistic. The two walked out of the room and ran into Azula, who was coming out of the room opposite them. She was wearing her trademark white gown with a cerulean haze at the hem of it.

Valerian bowed to her and said, “Greetings, Your Highness, Azula.”

Azula caught the faint smile of mischief on his lips and replied with the same attitude, “Greetings, Your highness, Valerian.”

The two looked at each other for a bit and then chuckled simultaneously. Azula walked over and patted Valerian on the head gently as she said, “Let me set your hair.”

Valerian nodded, and Azula carefully brushed her hair with her fingers. When she was done, she took a couple of steps back and said, “Now you look more handsome like a prince should.”

The boy smiled and said, “It could be your influence, after all, we cannot lag behind the beautiful princess, right?”

Azula was surprised to see him acting this way. She said, “Oh, someone became glib.”

The two chuckled and moved toward the reception hall where the family was supposed to gather. On the way, Valerian recalled something and asked, “Sister, is there any word about Rectus?”

He was sort of worried about that elusive guy. Azula nodded and said, “The shadows found some traces a few days ago, and they located Rectus in a cavern. He was being held captive. This guy went on a killing spree when dealing with the bandits, however, when he was facing their leader, the two parties were mutually injured. However, the warrior leader took advantage of his physique and took the mage as his captive.

If not for the fact that the mana inside his body was not easy to heal from, we might have received a ransom letter. Thankfully, you reminded me to place importance on this issue and we managed to save Rectus.”

Valerian shook his head and asked, “Where is that weakling?”

His tone did not hide the disgust, but his eyes betrayed him. He was indeed feeling relieved after finding that things were alright, Azula said, “He is staying in the city of Calix and being nursed to the peak of his health before he can come over here.”

Valerian nodded they reached the reception hall. The silver-haired boy found that all of the people were wearing cerulean blue and white dresses. He turned and saw Fragrantia beckoning him to her side. He walked over and the lady adjusted the collar of his shirt and said, “These are the colors of the Lumen Empire. White for honesty, and peace. Blue is for joy and prosperity.”

Then she took a cerulean bow tie from the maid on the side, and personally tied it around Valerian as she said, “I wish Flos could see you in these colors. They were her favorite.”

Valerian smiled and said, “Who knows, she is watching us from the other side?”

Fragrantia smiled and nodded. Then she said, “Ignis, I am warning you to show some dignity as the first prince of the empire. If you dare act like a dog when that girl comes in front of you, I will disown you.”

Ignis rolled his eyes at her and said, “Mother, you must stick to these words first.”

The three others chuckled and the empress issued a decree, “Quiet, let’s head to the altar. Val, would you like to be my escort today?”

Valerian placed a hand on his heart and said, “With pleasure, Your Excellency.”