Finding Stardust

Emma wondered if her two servants put a special potion in her bathwater that created such an effect. It felt like her sadness had even eased a little, and now she seemed able to think more clearly.

"What did you put in my bath just now?" Emma decided to ask Kira when the girl helped her dress. She was really curious.

"We put in a very popular mind-calming oil. It's very effective for relaxing the mind and giving you a sense of peace," replied Kira with a smile. "Does Your Highness like it?"

Emma nodded. "I do. I think it makes me feel a little better. I've never experienced something like this before."

"We will put a bottle of the oil on Your Highness' bedside table, so you can use it at any time."

"Thank you, Kira."

Emma groomed herself in front of the mirror after Kira and Ola finished helping her get dressed. She admired the dress she was wearing and felt so comfortable in it.

This dress was so beautiful. It went down all the way to her ankle and made of the finest material she had ever touched. Maybe it's even softer than silk. It was purple and looked very calming.

When Emma saw her new appearance in the mirror, she felt like she had entered a book and became the princess in a kingdom from the fairy tale. She did not know who chose the dress for her. Was it Atila? Where was Atila now by the way?

Ah, it would be best if she asked Xion all the details she wanted to know. The man would know everything better than her servants here.

"Sir Xion is waiting for Your Highness in the dining room," said Ola, while she was combing Emma's long hair down to her waist. "I will take you there. Can you walk now, Your Highness?"

Emma nodded. After taking the special bath, she felt that she was getting better emotionally, and it was affecting her overall physical condition too. She also felt that she could think more clearly in facing this unfortunate situation.

Emma walked into the dining room following Kira, while Ola cleaned up her bath and tidied up her bedroom. Along the way to the dining room, Emma was amazed by the various rooms that she passed.

This palace was truly majestic, far more majestic than what she had imagined royal palaces would look like. It was enormous in size. Everything seemed to be deliberately made to draw praises and admiration.

The ceilings were at least six meters high from the floor, and some rooms even had their ceilings up to ten meters tall. They were all adorned with intricate carvings and decorations. In a way, they reminded her of the ceilings of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Somehow, Emma felt like she was Jack from Jack And The Beanstalk tale, who climbed into the giant's home. She felt tiny, being in this palace. Inwardly, she wondered if all palaces in Akkadia were like this, or if this was just Therius' personal taste. It was a bit over the top for her, personally.

When she arrived at the dining room, Emma saw Xion was waiting for her. The man looked like he had a lot on his mind. His face looked tired and disheveled.

Emma had never seen Xion in this state, in the six months of knowing the man and maintaining close contact with him. Before today, Emma had always thought of Xion as a cheerful and carefree person. The man never seemed to take anything seriously.

However, now, for the first time, Emma saw Xion look sad. His face was murky, and his eyes puffy, like he had not slept for several days.

Why was he sad? What was he thinking? Emma wondered.

Unfortunately, even though she was a telemancer who could read other people's minds, she couldn't read Xion's thoughts because that man was stronger than her. Emma felt her many powers were all useless against Xion and Therius.

Who knows when she would be able to become as strong as them, or even stronger so that she could use her powers to the fullest.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," said Emma as she walked over to Xion. The man, who had been pondering by looking out the window, immediately turned to face Emma and smiled a little.

He rose from his seat and opened a chair next to him for the girl. "I didn't wait long. I had a lot to do here. How are you now? Are you feeling better?"

Emma nodded softly and thanked Xion for opening a chair for her and she sat down gracefully. She looked around them and admired the dining room they were in.

This dining room seemed to be designed to entertain. It could fit up to 100 people. Since there was only her and Xion in here, the place now felt too empty and lonely. Did Therius often entertain his guests for dinner here?

Emma didn't expect Therius to be the man who was into parties and entertaining guests. In her opinion, Therius was similar to herself, who did not like socializing or meet with large groups of people and only had few close friends. So, she assumed that the man did not like to have this many guests at his home.

Well... maybe she was wrong about him.

"This dining room is massive, don't you think?" Xion commented as if he could read Emma's mind. "He has to entertain guests at least once a month to please his supporters. I don't think he really likes that sort of thing though, but if he had to do something, he would do it well. I don't know how he does it, actually. Therius is born for politics. Ugh..."

The man seemed to wrinkle his nose when saying the word 'politics'. Emma could clearly sense Xion's dislike for politics. That reminded her... Xion really didn't like the capital and all the government intrigues.

Although he was officially an Akkadian citizen, he lived in the mountain. He didn't want to get involved in Akkadian politics.

"How long will you be in Akkadia?" Emma asked Xion when the servants started serving the appetizer on their massive dining table.

"For as long as needed," Xion replied. "I want to make sure everything is all right before I go."

"What do you think will happen?" asked Emma, ​​staring at the man closely. "Will there be war?"

"There IS war already," corrected Xion. "I'm actually very worried about the people on the border. They are the ones who will suffer the most. Poor people ..."

Emma had learned about the Akkadian history and knew that, in war, no country would use weapons of mass destruction because they didn't want to destroy their planet.

Weapons equivalent to nuclear weapons had been banned for five hundred years across Planet Akkadia and destroyed. So, the people here didn't have to worry about the radiation effects and mass destruction caused by such weapons.

The war between countries would be carried out like conventional war in open combat on the battlefield between troops and their machinery.

However, Akkadia had special humans with magical powers and could infiltrate the enemy to create chaos. For example, a high-level telemancer could step into the enemy force and controlled them all to kill each other.

An electromancer could damage all of the enemy's electrical equipment and render them helpless. A pyromancer could cause intense fires that burned the enemy bases, and there were so many more different examples.

Such people were considered the secret weapons of every country and could determine the outcome in a battle.

Emma could imagine how tough her mother was in this kind of battle. Arreya would be able to use five of her powers at once and destroy the enemy's forces. That was one of the reasons why Arreya became so famous and admired by many people.

Ahh ... Emma wished she could have even just half of her mother's powers so she could do more to save herself and protect the people she cared about.