Finding Stardust

Aeron hurriedly nodded. "Of course, Therius .. eh, Your Majesty."

"Good."

Aeron turned back to Emma and looked at her attentively. His mind went to work. This girl must be so special that she could make two men like Therius and Xion fall in love with her at the same time.

Aeron recalled the night of the last Three Moon Fire Festival, when Xion drank with him all night long. When the man got drunk, Xion cried on his shoulders because of his love for Emma. Aeron had promised Xion he would not tell anyone.

By the way, where was Xion now? Why wasn't he at his best friend's birthday? thought Aeron in puzzlement. He could only guess that the friendship between Therius and Xion had ended because of Emma. 

Ahh... how unfortunate.

Emma and Therius, who could tell what Aeron was thinking, could only sigh. Emma lowered her head as she thought about how Xion must have felt. The man must be so sad that he got drunk and cried in front of Aeron. She knew Xion was an expert drinker. It would take him A LOT to get drunk.

She remembered that the Three Moon Fire Festival was the night before she and Therius were supposed to get married. Ahh .... why only now did she see all the signs? Xion was very kind to her. He also always fulfilled all of Emma's wishes, even the impossible one: to see her parents again after they died.

And that night ... Xion must have been devastated because the next day he had to accompany his best friend to marry the woman that he also loved.

Therius was thinking of the same thing. He glanced at Emma and could immediately guess that Emma already knew Xion's secret from Aeron. Suddenly, Therius hiccupped. He hurriedly waved his hand and told Aeron to leave.

"That's enough. If you're not busy tomorrow, I would like to invite you to lunch at the royal palace. Can you come?" asked Therius before sending Aeron away.

Aeron's face immediately lit up. With a smiling face, he nodded and replied, "I will never be too busy that I cannot come to have lunch with the king."

"Good. Then, see you tomorrow."

Aeron bowed in turn to Therius and Emma, ​​then stepped back and returned to see his fans who enthusiastically surrounded the handsome man and wanted to talk to him.

Emma just shook her head when she saw that so many noblewomen who were supposed to behave gracefully and orderly could suddenly change like country bumpkins without manners when they were around Aeron.

Really, this casanova did have his charm that no one could resist. The noblewomen all scrambled to touch him, hold his hand, and wanted to kiss him. Fortunately, the palace guards managed to save him and immediately took him to a more quiet table.

"Sorry, you have to see that. From the first day I know Aeron, girls always lose their minds when they are around him," Therius commented. "Good thing you're not like them."

Emma chuckled at Therius' words. Ahh ... she admitted that Aeron was indeed handsome and had an undeniable charm. However, for Emma, ​​a person's physical appearance was not important. It wasn't enough to make her fall in love with someone.

You could say, even with her own husband, who could be considered the perfect man, Emma was still learning to love him. Other women would consider Therius the dream husband because he was the king of Akkadia's largest and most powerful empire. He was also a very powerful multiple-element mage, he was smart, very handsome, had good character, and loved his wife very much.

Emma was sure that sooner or later, she would be able to love Therius completely. Every day with Therius, she had begun to feel a growing connection between them. 

"I like his music, not the person," Emma said casually. She patted Therius' hand gently. "Thank you for inviting him here. You're right. I feel entertained."

Emma remembered that the reason Therius threw a party at the palace to celebrate his birthday was to distract Emma from being bored while in the palace. He also wanted to introduce his wife to officials, noble families, and the upper class in the capital.

"I'm glad you feel happy," Therius said, lifting Emma's hand that was holding his and kissing her hand.

Everyone near them could see how much the king loved his wife. Secretly, many people asked each other how Therius and Emma met.

They didn't even know that General Kaoshin Stardust and Princess Arreya had a daughter until King Licht made the announcement. Now, they could only see the queen from a distance, and no one could come near her. They didn't even know where Queen Emma was born and raised.

Thus, a large event such as a party in this palace became a good opportunity for them to see the queen. Although Emma didn't socialize much with aristocratic women and officials' wives, they all couldn't deny that she was simply gorgeous. She really reminded them of her mother, Princess Arreya.

Performance after performance took place, and guests enjoyed delicious dishes and various interesting entertainment, finally, Therius gave his speech and thanked the audience. The party then ended with another performance from Aeron, to which all the crowd cheered.

***

The next day, Therius sent Avato to Xion's home in the mountain to find out how he was doing. His meeting with Aeron last night made him miss Xion even more. He at least wanted to know whether Xion was okay or not.

In the afternoon, he received Aeron's arrival to have lunch together as he had said at the party. Emma decided not to join them for lunch because she wanted to give Therius and Aeron time to talk about the past without her present.

She knew, as a telemancer, she might make things uncomfortable for Therius because she could find out anything about his past self from Aeron. She decided to have lunch alone with Atila after their study in the morning.

She and her assistant then discussed Emma's upcoming schedule. She would soon enter the academy in the not too distant future.

"I don't want to attract attention," said Emma, ​​tapping her fingers on the table as she looked at some articles about Akkadian Mage Academy. This was a school for special people on the planet Akkadia who had magical powers.

They would learn about how they could control their powers and train them to become formidable mages.

In the past, special people from Akkadia's colonies were not able to enter this prestigious academy because the limited slots were prioritized for Akkadian citizens only. However, now that the five Akkadian colonies had become sovereigns, they had an equal opportunity with the Akkadian citizens, provided they could show their capabilities.

"I suppose, if Your Majesty shows all your powers, there is no way you will not attract attention," said Atila with a sigh. "Five powers at once ... that is a record previously only possessed by the legendary Princess Arreya. Your Majesty is quite similar to her. The people in the academy will connect the dots if you show too many resemblances to her."

Until now, even Atila didn't know that Emma was also a telemancer like her mother, so Emma actually had six powers instead of five. Emma copied Therius's decision to hide his ability as a telemancer to not make people fear or hate him.

"I know," said Emma. "That's why I will only choose to show one power only."

"Hmm ... Your Majesty has several offensive powers, such as pyromancer and electromancer. You can use that to gain people's respect," said Atila giving her considerations. "Or you can just use herbomancy and make people think you're weak. They will lower their guard around you."

"Hmmm ... you get a point there," said Emma.

She knew that herbomancer was the type of mage that people look down on the most, but she knew for sure that her father was not a weak person. Kaoshin was the strongest herbomancer in Akkadia and has fought against mages with other offensive powers such as electromancers and pyromancers and won.

She looked at Atila with a smile. "Then, I will claim to be a herbomancer like my father."