Levisia sat quietly in her seat, waiting for the Emperor and Count Mentine to find their seats. She remained silent even as the food was brought out, which was unfortunate as bland as everything she had eaten at the camps.  She hadn’t said anything, and yet she was still getting attention from everyone.

The Kraidens all tried to talk to her at once like they were competing with one another. Or they were impatient because Levisia hadn’t given them anything.

Everyone except Cassian couldn’t take their eyes off her. Cassian was content to leave her in peace, not bothering to even look her way. She wished with every fiber of her being that more of the Kraidens would be like Cassian. 

After quickly finishing her meal, Levisia excused herself from the table, stating that she needed to go for a walk and get some fresh air due to the stuffy atmosphere. Anything just to get away from the Kraidens. 

Unfortunately, they all had the same idea and followed her. She suppressed the urge to groan as she walked around the manor, Lidan slinging an arm over her shoulder. 

“You will have to get used to this.” He said, jostling her shoulder. His words sent a chill down her spine. It’s like they were a warning that the stalkerish behavior would continue.

“She won’t get used to this…” Cassian muttered, to which Siaphyl laughed. “Levy, you have to,” he said with a smile that Levisia could tell was false. “Everyone does.” 

Everyone? Did they mean that there were more people in the same situation she was in?

“Who do you think you are?” Elizabeth said, which did little to dampen the thoughts racing around her mind. 

“Some girls act stupid after getting a little treatment,” Merril said as she walked with her fingers wrapped around the back of her head. At her words, Lidan glanced to the side and laughed.

“Levy is different.”

Presumably, it was the other family in the dining room that Kraiden’s words were aimed at. As she was sandwiched between the Kraidens and carried along with wherever they were going, she thought about the prince that had sat next to her at the fairy festival. He had been amongst the people sitting at the table. Levisia wondered who he was, and how he was getting on. Was he free to be himself, unlike her who was stuck with the Kraidens? She felt like she was left dangling over a cliff, with only a thin piece of string in place holding her up. And on the other end of the string were the Kraidens, who could let go at any minute. 

What they didn’t know is that she wanted them to let go. She wanted to be free from them, free to live her own life away from the Kraidens. As they went into a living room and sat down on the couches, she felt a sense of unease about them. Sandwiched between Elizabeth and Siaphyl, listening to them laugh about those who were desperate for their attention, she felt herself being disconnected from everyone. It was like she was surrounded by concrete walls, with no way out.  

*

After the Kraidens left, the family who joined them at the dining hall all excused themselves and went into a separate parlor for their own private tea time. The tea and saucers were all prepared for them, along with a selection of small sandwiches and cakes. They all sat down at the table and stared at the teacups in front of them, all too lost in their own thoughts to pour themselves a cup.

The first one to pour himself a cup of tea was Jedian Holter, the prince from the fairy festival. He took a deep sip of the tea as the thirteenth prince stared at him. 

“What in the world are you going to do about this? Did you know that, Jedian?” He said, tilting his head at Jedian. 

“Yeah, how can you be so nonchalant about it…” mumbled the eleventh princess, sitting to the left of the thirteenth prince. At her words, Jedian set his teacup down and scratched his cheek.

“I was also surprised, but… Well, I thought it was fresh.” He said with a weak laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Fresh?” The ninth prince’s eyes shot open at Jedian’s words. “It’s just ‘fresh’ to you that we don’t even know where this thing, something that is threatening our position, is coming from?”

Envy and anger broiled from the ninth prince’s voice. The fifth princess, who had been quietly sitting beside him and watching him, reached out for her hand. “Calm down, Roman,” she pleaded with him, gently resting her hand on his. 

He snatched his hand away. “Does this make sense, Luna? Does this make any sense?!”