The golden wax of the seal glimmered faintly under the dusk's light.
Cael turned the letter in his hand once, twice. The emblem of the sun and the sword behind it pressed so deeply into the wax left no room for doubt.
It was genuine.
And it was trouble.
Sighing and opening it, he was met with a clean and elegant handwriting.
"To my dearest brother, Arlen.
It has been too long since I've heard from you and longer still since I've seen you. Both his majesty and his holiness insist you are well, yet their reassurances ring hollow without seeing your injuries for myself. Please come as soon as you can. I would like to speak to you about pressing matters.
Sorry for the late invitation, the palace was quite busy.
— Isolde Thorne."
"Pressing matters…" He muttered. "How should I tackle this one?"
From the way he spoke about her, he could tell that Arlen and Isolde were very close. And it was only natural as she was the one who practically raised him.
Arlen mentioned once that she wanted to meet Cael and get to know him and he reciprocated but the nature of her living in the royal palace and his social status stood between that.
Who could've imagined that he would gain enough standing to enter the palace and privately see the future queen. Although it was more complicated than that…
He was unsure of how to handle their interaction. She would catch him in the lie instantly, so maybe he should just tell her? He was unsure.
"What should I wear?" Shaking all other thoughts from his head he turned to the wardrobe.
***
The next morning, after far too little rest, he found himself by the palace gates.
The six towers—that took each of the palace's corners—rose like a fallen shard of the sun, their gilded spires catching the dawn and reflecting it across the Heartlands. The white brick and marble were spotless denying the existence of dirt and anything the king would deem filthy.
'One such filth has been invited inside.' Letting out a mischievous chuckle, he loosened his tie a little.
Wearing a white suit that seemed to fit him perfectly, Cael approached the palace's entrance. Noticing the guards stationed at the door he got the invitation ready. However, the door opened without a single word from him.
"Welcome, sir Hero." A man with white hair and a frail figure bowed deeply to show his respect.
It was the royal butler. And contrary to his lanky body, the air around him convinced Arlen that he could've been an Emerald adventurer, the second strongest rank after Platinum.
His narrow brown eyes did not leave Cael for a second scanning him from head to toe.
"Good to see you, Sir Roderick." Cael happened to do research on him before.
With a hand behind his back and the other pointed inside, he led the masked man in. His movements were slow, deliberate. The kind of grace that only came from someone who had survived many fights.
The smell of lavender and citrus permeated the air, taking a deep breath with his nose Cael almost expected the stench of rot but this wasn't like the mansions he infiltrated before, it was on a completely different level.
As he walked through the halls every step he took echoed till he lost count, they were almost as big as in the Cradle of Withering. That thought made him shudder.
All the attendants he passed held peaceful expressions, as if they had no worries at all.
'I wonder if they're forced to look like that all the time or maybe they were brainwashed.' No sane person would like to be employed by the nobility let alone royalty, he imagined their lives to be frankly miserable.
The sterile white of the walls was broken up by sudden greenery and the lavender gave way to roses, reaching what seemed to be a garden Cael spotted a gazebo.
Sitting inside was a blond haired beauty. Her skin radiated with the sunlight and her green eyes fell on Cael. They looked so alike that he could have mistook her for Arlen.
'She puts his sketch to shame…'
She stood up from the white bench, letting her red dress flutter with the morning's gust.
"You came." She said as if expecting him all along.
Cael was frozen. It has been a long time since his mind couldn't find a way to escape.
"Roderick, would you leave us?"
"But miss—"
"It has been over a year since me and my brother have seen each other. Couldn't you allow us some privacy?" Interrupting his rebuttal, she requested.
"...Understood." Bowing, the old butler turned around and left the siblings alone.
"..." Still unable to decide on a path forward, Cael stayed silent.
Seeing his hesitation Isolde smiled softly. She extended her hand towards a white orb that sat on the table, injecting some mana through it, it lit up and a small area around them was enveloped in wind. All sounds ceased.
"Sound blocking?" It was a valuable magic device that allowed people to have completely private conversations.
'It's now or never…' He thought, steadying his breath.
"You don't have to pretend."
His body stiffened, but her tone wasn't questioning. It was only calm and certain.
"He told me… That if the worst came to pass, you might return without him." Her voice was steady.
"..."
"The moment I saw you at the square I knew."
Cael's acting wasn't as good as he thought, the reason why he wasn't found out before was because no one truly knew Arlen.
"He warned me that he might be gone but it's still hard to come to terms with… And he said that you might return in his stead but I couldn't imagine that you would wear his armor and his name." The same gentle smile she had never disappeared.
"I'm sorry if I gave you false hope. It was the only way I could come up with to fulfill my promise to him." Finally breaking his silence, Cael could only apologise.
"Promise?" She raised a brow.
"Arlen was concerned for Valis Thorne's people and their future. He made me promise him to delay the war, but what can I do? None of the nobility would listen to a word I say let alone me being the king's advisor. I thought maybe if I was the Hero it would be different and that's how I got the Idea." He explained himself.
"So you plan on acting as my brother for the rest of your life?"
"For as long as I can." A determined look appeared in his eyes.
"..." Her eyes were squarely focused and the masked man in front of her.
"You are as my brother described…"
"Hm?"
"He said you were a cunning and meticulous man that thrived in schemes and battles of the mind."
"That would make you one of the few people that won against me in such battles." His lips curled upwards.
"You were one of the only people he would speak to me about. A true friend. And now I get to meet him." Flashing a brighter smile, Cael didn't know how to respond.
"Having me, a slum rat as a friend isn't something to be proud of…"
Isolde's face dimmed.
"Did Arlen ever tell you our family's history?"
"No, neither of us shared details." He shook his head.
"You probably heard of the fool pope, but do you know his family name?" Her smile turned bitter.
"...No, I actually can't even remember his name." He racked his brain for a second but couldn't come up with an answer.
"His name was Albrecht Solmere."
"!" His eyes opened wide.
"Our family has always believed that all people should have equal opportunities no matter their origins." She sat back down on the bench and patted the seat next to hers twice, gesturing for him to sit down.
"He was raised by some of the greatest merchants of all time, making a killing in all of his endeavors. He went to the Cathedral everyday and donated most of his money for the sake of his faith." Accepting her gesture, Cael approached the gazebo and shared in the bathing sunlight.
"When his devotion was finally recognised, he was recommended as a candidate then became the pope vowing to make our family's belief into reality." Lowering her head and turning it towards the masked man next to her, she continued.
"Despite all opposition, he built the new Cathedral as close to the slums as possible—to offer food, water, clothes, medicine…" She spoke as if recalling a distant memory.
"He did everything he could to offer them opportunities. However, the previously genius merchant seemed to lose his touch, all those opportunities failed in some way or another, bandits would coincidentally steal all the materials allocated to those projects, freak accidents would happen without rhyme or reason." Her eyes turned cold.
"Until the factory…" Cael put the pieces together.
"Mhm, it had big enough consequences for it to be the reason of his removal. And not long after that, my and Arlen's great grandfather died–called a fool by history." A tinge of sadness found its way to her voice.
'He did everything for what he thought was right. Going against everyone for his beliefs, only to end up called a fool, even by the people he went so far to help.' His chest tightened as he imagined how his own future would end.
"...Is that how you two ended up orphans with no backing?" The rest of the story wasn't hard to figure out.
"Both my father and grandfather did all they could to sustain our house but being the son and grandson of the fool did not help them. The number of merchants that would buy our crops and wares dwindled and soon enough they couldn't comfortably pay for the mansion's renovations or the people's salaries. My grandfather was demoted to a viscount and my father barely got the title of a baron."
"I'm sorry to make you dig up bad memories." Cael felt guilty as he saw her expression darkening.
She shook her head and said, "By the time I was born most of this was ancient history and I was too young to remember the full fall of the Solmere family. I was only six and Arlen was 3 when father died—we got thrown into an orphanage and had our nobility stripped from us."
"..."
"Hey, don't get sad for my sake, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Imagining the nobles' faces when the pope had a vision that the kid they just turned into a commoner was the Hero is very funny." Letting out a giggle, her face returned to a gentle expression.
Smiling under the mask, Cael's heart warmed up a little.
"You're pretty empathetic, Cael. From what Arlen told me, I expected you to curse at me for the boring story but here you are acting like a gentleman." Nudging his shoulder, Isolde teased.
"I only curse at him because he deserves to be sweared at sometimes." Laughing at his reply, Isolde's face seemed to glow brighter by the second.
"Hey Isolde—wait, I can call you that right?"
"Yeah I don't mind, being a "proper lady" at all times gets tiring."
"I want to ask you something."
"I'll answer only if you do something for me in return." Her lips curved into a knowing smile.
"Deal."
"Well then what do you want to know?" Her brows raised in anticipation.
Cael's eyes turned serious as he asked, "Can Arlen see the future?"