Cordelia awoke to the knocking of the door. âCome in.â She murmured sleepily as she sat up, golden locks forming a messy halo around her head. Though Cordelia wasnât averse to waking up early, her sleeping habits were much like a childâs, going to sleep early and waking up after exactly eight hours. It was only healthy, as her mother would say.
The door was opened to reveal a page, standing at attention as he spoke. âLady, the king has called an important meeting. He has summoned all nobility to attend.â A meeting? It sounds like something interesting was going to happen, considering that the King would not simply call upon all nobles for any trivial meeting. Perhaps it had something to do with the humans⊠A murderous look flashed in her eyes for a second. She would never forgive those vile humans for what they did to her father. For every bit of pain they inflicted on him, she was going to repay it ten times over. Still, she smiled at the page politely, nodding to dismiss him before pushing herself off the bed and going toward the dressing room. It wasnât particularly early, but she didnât feel as if she was in too much of a hurry. A lady shouldnât be too early or too late, she should arrive right on time.
Brushing her hair, she pulled her corkscrew curls into two neat twintails, using her ribbon as a hair band. This time, she chose a flowing blue gown to go to the meeting. It was one of the rare few her mother had designed for her, considering the fact that Cordelia had a hobby in making her own clothes. It might be just her intuition, but this meeting was definitely quite serious, and she needed to make a good impression.
Even though it took some time before she decided that she looked satisfactory, Cordelia was still among the first to arrive at the meeting. The seats were rather high, it was obvious that they were meant for those looking like adults. It was another problem with vampires perhaps, but Cordelia could never look her age. She wasnât a child by vampire standards any longer, though her body was still developing slowly. Swinging her legs under the table, she waited a little impatiently for the others to arrive. âSaxon!â She beamed at her adopted brother in delight, before her attention diverted to a figure clad in red. âItâs nice to see you here as well, Milly!â She called out, giving the Baroness a small wave. Millicent was someone her brothers knew, and though Cordelia had never spoken to her before her brothers seemed to have a good impression of her.
Prince Kyogo arrived next, and he was greeted with a bright smile as well when he took his seat. Gavril was unusually not present yet, however. Cordelia arched her neck, looking for her brother as the other nobles filed in. It was quite odd, considering how much his brother valued his pride. He was always punctual or early in all the years she knew him. He appeared soon however, and Cordelia returned his greeting, though the nod toward Saxon made her frown slightly. The atmosphere between them had been unusually cold lately, and Cordelia never understood why. If she was absolutely honest, she had her doubts toward the prince for causing the sudden distance, but she would never admit that fact. She knew that it wasnât polite to make baseless accusations.
The King started addressing them then, causing her to snap to attention. Sitting upright in the position that had been drilled into her head, Cordelia crossed her legs underneath the table and rested her hands on her lap expectantly.
Atsuko woke up at seven in the morning as usual. It was when training usually started, and her body that was conditioned to expect it had not forgotten, causing her eyelids to flutter open exactly the same time as the clock next to her started beeping. Her hand reached out to tap the clock silent, and ruby red eyes stared up at the ceiling as her sleepy mind tried to pull itself together. Ah yes, training. It didnât take her long to get dressed, Atsukoâs mind was in autopilot as she changed, drowsily brushed her teeth and got ready to do her exercises. It was a routine set, and she had never missed a day of it. Despite how it might appear, her body was tuned to the military style training.
Her morning exercises were long over when the call came for them to assemble, and Atsuko was reading a book about first aid when the announcement for assembly came. Giving the messenger a quick nod, she changed into her uniform impeccably, striding out to join the soldiers in a neat file. Her brother would be disappointed if she arrived late or just on time, a soldier always needed to prepared and punctual.
She held her red scarf closer as she stood on the tips of her toes, trying to seek out the others from a sea of unfamiliar heads. Todayâs gathering must be something quite important since there was so many here, but Atsuko didnât want to lose sight of their group. It might be a sense of security when she was around with them, even though she was positive that most of them didnât have a good impression of her. Perhaps she just wasnât good enough to prove her worth.