8

Please forgive me if there are any mistakes and typos. All are unedited.

Arius stared at her ,wide-eyed. Has she gone crazy?"Me? Emperor? Forget about me accepting or not. How are you going to make that possible anyway?"Arius was clearly baffled. He thought about the procedures he has to go through in order to be officially proclaimed as heir and the outcomes of doing so. Quite literally anyhing can happen.

"What, you think I could just go up there and say 'hey I got jeweled eyes and I'm older than Oriella. I'm the real heir so give me the crown!'. You think it's easy??"

Silence.

"Should i continue? I'd say 'my mom is the first princess who claude tried to kill. You guys owe me political power to compensate!' What do you think?"

Oriella finally decided to speak."Calm down! Look, I know this sounds ridiculous and you're frustrated—""I'm beyond frustrated,""Yes. Please let me finish. You're absolutely beyond frustrated at my stupid idea but I assure you I got this planned out. I think I can pull this off,"

"You think. Whatever you're planning, it's not gonna work okay. Why are you even doing this? You got everything you need. Money,power, a big ass palace to live in. You could keep it if you become empress."

"That's the thing! I don't want to be heir to the throne! You wanna know why? Because of my grandfather that's why!"

"Claude? I thought he adores you," Arius raised a brow.

"Not him. Roger Alpheus. My paternal grandfather. He sucks," Oriella huffed and crossed her arms. She frowned at the mere mention of the elder's name.

"By the way he schemed to get rid of my mom, I can tell he's a jerk." He leaned back. "So why do you hate him ao much?"

"He always tells me about how I should study and be the perfect heir. He never lets me play when I was a kid. Luckily I have  grandpa Claude on my side but I still get pissed off. Roger Alpheus is a power craving old man. Father is already married to mother, who is in fact the next in line for the throne." She grimaced at thought of her childhood. "He's a greedy bitch. What more could he ask for? He got all the great rewards from gramps."  

"That still does not explain why you strongly detest being the heir," Arius commented calmly.

Oriella drank from her teacup a bit. She sighed and took a long breath. She didn't even bother to face Arius when she said,"I am not Claude's granddaughter. My mother is not his daughter."

"I overheard a long time ago. Sneaked around the duke's house even in prohibited places. Grandfather Roger was talking about the plan was flawless. How nobody suspected until now. How the current emperor's health is  deteriorating as expected."Arius quietly listened.'Now this is news.'

"Long story short I found out that my real grandfather is actually the late emperor Anastacius. The royal family's bloodline is definitely screwed up. It's crazy to believe that we're part of it." Oriella finished with a little laugh.

"At least you are part of it. As far as anyone's concern, I am a normal citizen." Arius smirked. Nope, he is not part of that crazy family.

"I should go. Lucy might already be awake. Oh, and Lucy's eyes are naturally red. Farewell princess. Thank you for inviting me." Arius waved. With a snap of his fingers, his eyes turned back to a normal blue tone. He turned and was about to walk away when a voice stopped him.

"Wait! I should go with you. We still need to talk." Oriella stood up. She lead him through the corridors towards Lucy's room.They went past a familiar painting and stopped in their tracks. Two women were smiling in the painting. It was something that Princess Jennete specially requested. She wanted a lasting memory with her only sister. Sadly, it truly became that only memo she left.

"My mother deeply regrets not being able to save her. She still misses her sister now and then,"They proceeded their journey after that brief explanation.

Lucy rushed to her brother's arms when he entered the room. She smiled widely and screamed her brother's name. Lucy was glad to see a familiar face. It was relief that he looked for her hard enough.

"Thank you big sis Ori! I get to see Ari again and now we can go home together!" Lucy exclaimed. Arius looked at the little girl he was carrying."Lucy, that's the princess. You can't just call Her Highness so casually like that,"

"It's fine. I allowed her. I always wanted to have a sibling," Oriella said. "You should go wash up for a bit, Lucy. You just woke up right?"Lucy nodded and followed a maid to the bathroom. Once they're gone, Oriella turned to Arius again."There are details I'd like to discuss. Contact me with this." She handed him a scroll."I did not accept replacing you as heir. What more do we have to discuss?" Arius said."Please, just hear me out. It'll take just a short while. Even if you dont agree, I just want to get this off my chest. Please,please, please listen to me for a bit." She begged again.

Arius sighed deeply,"Alright, I'll listen. But that doesn't mean I accept even if you persuade or begged like crazy,"

Oriella nodded and smiled. She said ," Yes, I understand. I'll reach you in two weeks," Arius clenched the scroll and kept it in his bag.

Before leaving, Lucy and Arius met with the emperor and said their goodbyes after thanking him. Coincidentally, Crown Princess Jennette was there too. She was stunned at first but just smiled, commenting on how cute Lucy is. All the servants felt a bit down since their cute little guest would leave. They also liked looking at Arius' handsome face. Arius could finally breath easily now that they left the palace. He was stepping on needles when he was inside.

Unbeknownst to the two, there was someone eyeing them from afar. Lilian York could never forget the despair of losing her precious princess. She had a weird feeling when she saw the children. They looked too familiar. She was not the only one who felt that way. The recent guests were suspicious people because of that.

"Ari?" Lucy called for her brother."Yes, Lucy?"I'm sorry. I didn't stay put,""It's okay. You're safe now. But don't do this ever again, alright?" Arius scolded her."Okay, I promise to be good!" Arius ruffled her hair and they continued their way home, holding hands tightly.

.......................................................

Attheia did her best to comfort her mother. They arrived at home earlier with the use of magic. Athy could not travel any longer as she was still in shock. So she used a teleportation spell to hurry room. Attheia felt that everything was her fault. It she didn't chase that theif, Lucy wouldn't get lost. Athy soothed her child, saying that it was not her fault but to no avail. Both of them were in deep sorrow. Athy was reluctant to leave Arius behind. Even though he was old enough to take care of himself, she could not help but worry.

Nearly two days later, they started to calm down. They need not be saddened anymore. They were surprised by a knock on the door. Arius who was carrying Lucy revealed themselves from behind the door. Both of them were smiling brightly. With the help of magic of course , both golden haired children returned safely and a lot earlier."Mommy! Theia! We're back!" Lucy exclaimed spreading her arms.All four of them had a giant group hug that lasted a few minutes. Athy kept kissing her children and crying of relief. They were back together again as a family.

'Wait till Lucas hears this rollercoaster ride of a story' Athy thought.

................................................

Lucas come home quick. Thanks for reading.Vote and comment ;)