A Walk with Eternity-Chapter 41: A normal day

It was a bright sunny morning. Hotter than the days before. Kian and Cimmerian were sweating heavily from the temperature outside and within their bodies. They were by the Palace training grounds for morning training, like how they used to do together when they were young. They were completely topless, bathing in the sunlight.

The fully-covered Lysander, however, remained dry, because he was still half a cold-blooded vampire. The same goes for the beastman, Ezio, whose skin doesn’t allow him to sweat easily. Dolunay, on the other hand, was enjoying the sun with her long hair tied up to a pony tail, barely even sweating despite how covered her skin is.

Milera, who decided that today was a rest day, was on the sidelines, wearing a sun dress. She was there, not for moral support, but to make sure her friends stay hydrated and not push themselves too far, especially Lysander.

"This hall barely changed at all," Lysander commented, his eyes wandered around the training grounds, feeling a sense of nostalgia. "It’s still the same one we used to train in years ago."

They were now in one corner, putting back the wooden swords they used for training. They were just about done. It’s already eight in the morning, and they’ve been training for three hours now. It wasn’t that exhausting, but tiring themselves out right at the start of the day would have them scolded by Yves. Dolunay and Ezio, however, were still racing around to see who is the fastest today. Nothing ever tires them, really.

"Well, yes. Not much has changed," Kian responded, using the towel to wipe off the sweat on his neck. "I’ve only been able to use this about a month ago too, when I returned from my travels."

"Syvestian recently wreaked havoc here, beating up my berserk self," Cimmerian laughs, placing down the sword. Lysander laughed at that. He had heard stories of what happened for the past few weeks. The girls were a huge help, gossiping and keeping him updated and caught up on the happening.

"That must’ve hurt," Lysander teased.

"I should say the same thing to you," Kian sneered, remembering how badly injured Lysander’s body was after facing Syvestian.

"At least I didn’t suffer firsthand," Lysander responded with a proud grin.

Truth was he never felt the pain from Syvestian’s beating, because the moment he regained consciousness in his own body, he was already fully healed. Yes, both internal and external injuries were healed completely. Not just because of his regeneration, but also with the help of Milera, who happens to know a little bit of medicine from her older brother.

"That was totally unfair, to be honest," Cimmerian added, rolling his eyes. "You should’ve suffered a little more."

"Speaking of which, is the Grand Duke Grimestone here in the palace at the moment...?" Lysander asks in curiosity, causing the confused stares from Kian and Cimmerian.

"From what I heard, he’s currently back at the mansion, handling business. What brought that up?" Kian asks.

Lysander hesitated for a moment, but he decided to say it anyway. "Well, Yves mentioned a name I am familiar with, and I heard that she’s currently the grand duke’s secretary. I was merely wondering if there’s a chance I might be able to cross paths with her..."

"You mean Callista?"

All of them nearly jumped at that voice behind them.

"Yves! Can you not appear out of nowhere like that, all the damn time? Specially after training, fuck," Kian cursed, trying to calm his chest. His heart nearly left his ribcage. His rate was still fast, trying to calm down from the training.

"Right! You know we still can’t detect you so easily..." Cimmerian added, as he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yes, Callista." Lysander paid no mind to the whining of the other two and focused on Syvestian. "Is there any way I can talk to her?" He asks. Syvestian felt the hint of desperation in Lysander’s voice, and somehow, that felt oddly suspicious.

"Are you interested in her? If you are, sorry to burst your bubble, but—"

"No!" Lysander cuts off his sentence and sighs again. "I’ll be damned if I see my own blood sister that way."

Huh?

Silence reigned over the group when they heard that. Because of their reaction, Lysander was beginning to regret ever saying anything, especially to Syvestian who seems to be close to his older sister.

"Yes, Callista is my blood sister."

Such revelation didn’t spare Lysander from getting interrogated by Syvestian himself. He found out some pretty shocking facts about the vampire siblings.

First, Callista and Lysander are half siblings from different mothers and the same father. Callista is a full-blood vampire and the first born of the Redridge Family. She wasn’t the only daughter, as there were three other daughters that followed after her. The previous lord was frustrated that there hadn’t been a son for two decades.

To be exact, their father, being an extremely sexist man, didn’t want a woman to succeed him.

The previous lord then accidentally knocked off a human lady, betraying his own wife, which was a taboo in their culture. He wanted to keep such a shameful affair and bury it with him to the grave. But the human lady birthed a son, like he always wanted. Hence, he ate all his shame and welcomed his only son, Lysander to the Redridge Clan as the heir.

Callista was strongly opposed to having a half vampire take the position of heir, but ended up being exiled from their land and removed from the family tree. The previous lord ended up passing after a few years, leaving Lysander to take the title at a young age.

"I didn’t know she was your oldest sister..." Kian says, feeling the awkwardness. They heard of the story why he became heir from their childhood times, but they didn’t think that such a person was close to them this whole time.

"Why do you want to talk to her, though?" Cimmerian asks. Syvestian glances over to Lysander, anticipating his answer as well.

"I simply want to apologize..."

Silence reigns over them once again.

He must be carrying some sort of guilt, the three thought.

"We can talk about that later."

They all flinched at the voice behind them. Turning around in surprise, they saw the very topic in their gossip session.

Callista, with Samael right behind her, smiling widely like a proud man. There must be a reason why he looks so happy so early in the morning, Syvestian thought and then turned to Callista who was looking back at him.

"His Majesty asked for your presence at the Green House," she informs. Syvestian raised a brow.

"Any particular reason why?" Syvestian asks and she shakes her head.

"He must be wanting to hear from you," Samael interjected. "It has been a month and a half since you began this mission assigned by him after all. He might want to learn of your future moves while you’re still here."

Well, we have been moving in and out of the palace... Syvestian thought to himself and simply nodded.

"Alright. I’ll go there now..." He says as he exits quietly, glancing over to Lysander who seems to be unable to meet the eyes of his own sister. He can only smile.

I thought he was supposed to be a womanizer, but he couldn’t even meet his own sister’s eyes, he thought to himself as he chuckled. How adorable.

It didn’t take long for Syvestian to arrive at the Green House. This is a private garden only those with permission are allowed to enter. It is also a special place for both Kian and the emperor as this was the late empress’ favorite place to be. The palace guards were expecting him, so they let him in wordlessly.

As Syvestian steps in, his eyes couldn’t help but wander around.

Ethereal... That was one word to describe this garden.

With the stained glass as roofs and walls, flowers and plants from around the continent were kept safely and tended gently, creating a haven of nature. The sunlight reigned down gently, giving the plants their shine. It was colorful and beautiful, and truly a sight for sore eyes.

After a minute of walking, Syvestian was able to spot the emperor sitting by the table, alone and sipping tea quietly. He walked over and bowed in respect.

"Your Majesty, you called for me?"

The emperor smiles as he gestures over to the sit in front of him. "Yes, please take a seat, and help yourself with some tea."

Syvestian sat down and with a polite smile, he said, "I am quite alright, Your Majesty..."

The emperor didn’t mind his rejection and simply placed his teacup down. While he would usually beat around the bush and converse as much as possible, he knew that this man’s time shouldn’t be wasted like that.

"I heard you were planning to meet with Nilsine in Oceana?" the emperor asked straightforwardly.

Syvestian paused for a moment. Huh... I’m assuming he still thinks that Nilsine is out wandering and travelling, he thought as he beamed a smile. "Yes, Your Majesty. However, it’s simply a travel in disguise."

"Oh?" That caught the emperor’s attention. "It’s the best season to go there, I thought it would be for a little vacation. But I was wrong, it seems."

Syvestian shook his head. "Meeting with Nilsine and taking a breather is a part of it, yes. But there’s something else I would like to do in that empire."

Something he wanted to do... I wonder... the emperor was thinking to himself, but he couldn’t think any more than what he knew. He always knew Syvestian as a curious man, always thriving in research and experiments, but he didn’t think he’d take interest in something else other than that.

There was comfortable silence for a moment, until the emperor himself decided to break it.

"Alright, the least I can do is make sure your stay there will be comfortable."

Huh? Syvestian became confused as the emperor smiled like a jolly kid.

This left him clueless... and somewhat nervous.

What is he thinking of doing now...?