“So he asked you to be his partner, and you did not give him an answer?” Kellar asks, nestling on a tree branch while eating an apple.
When Chace and I returned to the realm of Thalia, I decided to pay Kellar a visit and just vent everything that happened earlier.
“I told him that I would need some time to think about it. Also, I need to ask my sister for permission.” Unlike Kellar, I just stare at the apple that he tossed at me to eat a while ago. Talking to him about Chace just doesn’t give me much of an appetite.
Kellar snorts. “Yeah, I am pretty sure what your sister is going to say. You know, Stella, I have a feeling that you just want to consult your sister so you have an excuse not to go. You’re already eighteen; you are more than legal to make your choice.”
“It’s kind of complicated.” I sigh, petting Javi, who is resting her head on my knee. “Chace is a friend, but he also sends me proposal letters. His mom is really intent on making me her successor.”
“Proposal letters are normal. No offence, but you two are way past the age of getting engaged.” He says it so nonchalantly that I kind of envy him for being this free.
“Kellar, that’s not the point.” I look up to where he is lying down on the branch. He’s not even looking at me; he is just lazing around and eating his apple. “Chace is a friend. It would be a marriage without love.”
There’s a pause before he decides to say, “I’m sure that you are not dense to not know that Chace has feelings for you.”
“I know.” I answer. “Sadly, I don’t feel the same towards him, and I am always clear to him about it. Besides, I have some more important stuff to focus on.”
I hear Kellar letting out a groan. “Please, Stella, don’t.”
“I still need to search for your other half.” I puff out my chest, sounding proud. Javi is so supportive of my gesture that he starts to purr.
“And that’s my cue to gather more apples.” Kellar starts to get up and climb farther up the tree before jumping to another.
“And there he goes.” I breathe out, looking down at Javi. “Is he always like this?” Javi looks up at me, only offering me a slight purr. “Say, you wouldn’t know where his other half is, right? From what a friendly ghost told me, he says that you would happen to know.” I try to take my chances, but all I got from Javi was a tilt of her head. Then, she grabs my hand and nuzzles her head against my palm. I smile. “Javi, I don’t mean that I was cuddles. I want to know if you have any idea where Kellar’s other half is.” Javi does not answer but continues to snuggle with me.
I need to talk with Arcie once more. Maybe she gave me the wrong clue. The only problem is, how am I going to talk to her privately without Ace knowing?
“What are you doing?” I jump in surprise when Kellar suddenly lands beside me.
I gaped, looking up at the tree, trying to figure out how far he had jumped from. “Where were you-”
“Stella, it is about time for you to go back.” He makes a face as if he's teasing me about being evicted. “And no, you are not allowed another fifteen minutes here. Any later and your brother-in-law might suspect something.”
Now it is my turn to make a face when I hear about Ace. “The guy is such a simp for my sister that one word from her and he is going to try and look for me.”
Kellar chuckles. “Yeah. I remember how he threatened me when I was a kid when he was out following your sister’s orders to rescue you. He just loves your sister.”
“And that kind of love is going to put me in trouble.” I grumbled, getting back on my feet and stretching my back after leaning against the back of the tree trunk for a long time. I felt so stiff in the back that I simply wanted to lie back down and just rest.
I notice Kellar staring at me before looking at Javi. “Ride slowly, Javi. Make sure that she gets home safe.” He says before turning his back to me. “See you next week, Stella. If you’re not busy.”
He does not even try to look back before he starts to walk away, not even bidding me a proper farewell. Hell, he does not even give me the opportunity to say goodbye either. It left me in a foul mood as I crossed my arms.
Javi lets out a soft meow beside me, making me turn to her. “Just what happened to that guy that he suddenly tried to act cool?”
Javi’s response? Another cuddle.
***
When I got back to Thalia, the first place that I headed for was my sister’s study room. I give it a short knock before entering inside. “Hey, sis, do you have time to spare….?”
Guess what I saw as I opened the door?
My sister is sitting by the fireplace, burning letters after letters in the open flame. When she sees me, she hiccups and has a look of pure guilt in her eyes.
“Eep!” She squeaks, making me further narrow my eyes at her in suspicion.
“Sister,” I call her like I am chastising a naughty child as I close the door behind me. “What are you doing?”
Rose gives me a distracting smile while she moves the rest of the letters under her dress. “Nothing.”
“Are those letters for me?”
“Nope. Certainly not invitation letters.”
“Is it? Well, if my sister says it is nothing, then it is nothing.”
“Right?” Rose starts to laugh, and so do I. But that was just a ruse to distract her. It seems like she has the same idea as me after all. I thrust out a hand, sending a wave of ice in her direction. Unfortunately, Custard, her wolf familiar, throws himself in my line of attack and deflected it.
“Good boy, Custard. Keep her busy!” My sister frantically tries to throw all of the letters to the fire, but I managed to distract Custard by raining ice around him—he loves snow—giving me enough time to put out the fire with my ice. My sister pouts at Custard. “Custard, what did we say about distraction?”
“I’ll be taking those. Thank you.” I snatched the letters from the fireplace before Rose could get to them. I started checking the wax stamp, and I could immediately recognize the families who had sent them to me. I read through the contents one by one and discovered that they are all invitations to the Chace's crowning prince ceremony.
I turn to my sister with dead eyes and handed them back to her. “I’m so sorry for doubting you. You’re right, you should burn them all.” I say, handing everything back to her.
“Don’t worry. You can hand it over to Custard. He will either play with it or tear it to shreds.” She gets up and dusts her dress while I hand the letters to Custard, who appears overjoyed and scatters the letters to the ground before rolling on them. “So, I assume that you have some business with me?” I guess being the queen made her more perceptive, because she already knows why I came to see her.
“Did you send Chace to the human realm to spy on me?”
“Spying on you? No.” It’s a rare occurrence to see my sister wearing a serious expression. “I sent him there so he could help protect you.”
“Protect me? I taught him everything he needs to know about magic.”
“You may win against him when it comes to magic, but Chace is also an expert in fighting. Stella, there will be times when you cannot rely on your magic alone.”
“Rose, Chace doesn’t know anything about the human realm. He might accidentally use his magic and expose us.”
“It’s only for a week, Stella. Just bear with it.” She then lowers her gaze and her expression turns into worry. “The rogues have been silent these past few days. We have no clue what they are planning.” She mumbles. Seeing the worried lines on my sister’s forehead pushes me to drop my argument. I guess, a week with Chace in Waynard High isn’t going to be hard. Maybe I should drop my complaints for now.
“By the way, Chace ask me to be his partner for his crowning ceremony.” I changed the subject.
“Oh?” She looks up at me with interest. “Well, what did you say?”
“Nothing yet, but I am going to send him a formal letting to decline his offer.”
“You’re not going?” She sounds surprised.
“I am, but I am not going as his partner. There are a lot of rumours circulating that I would be Chace’s bethroted. If I attend as this partner, it is going to fuel that rumour. Even though I feel bad about it, I want to make sure everyone understands our relationship.”
My sister stayed quiet for a moment before she begins to give me a proud smile. “I guess you don’t need me to handle things for you after all. Stella, if you ever need anything, never hesitate to ask me, alright?”
“I know.” I return her smile. “I should probably head to my room and start writing that letter. I promised Chace that I would give him a response tonight.” That being said, I bid my sister goodbye and start to head into my room to write the letter.