Around the same time at a much, much further place from the capital...
Liberl. Southwest of Rolent.
The Bright House.
It was presently evening. The sunset had finished, and the moon was on the rise. Scattered, dark gray clouds rolled around at a steady pace. A thin layer of snow could be seen on the surrounding trees and grass, covering the open yard in a white sheet. It wasn't a lot, perhaps an inch or two at most. The single tree stump that Cassius often uses to chop firewood was lightly covered as well.
At present, a few orbal lights could be seen turned on inside the house, signaling that it was currently in use. If one had a close look, a constant sound of a knife hitting a cutting board was echoing inside the first floor. A meal was being prepared for dinner tonight inside the Bright House.
Estelle happily chopped away at some vegetables while humming a soft tune. She currently wore an apron over her frontside. How the Bright Family did cooking was on a rotation. One day it would be Estelle's turn, next it would be Joshua, then Cassius. It was Estelle's turn for cooking dinner tonight. Next to her on the orbal stove was a large pot that was about to begin boiling water. As for Cassius, he was seated at the table and Joshua was seated across from him, currently engrossed in a game board.
Even though the Bright House was on the outskirts of Rolent and the highway that connected to it had Monsters roaming about, Cassius enjoyed this quiet and open space. It was similar to living out in the wilderness free from the city life. That was how he liked to live, and it rubbed off on Estelle and Joshua. But in another person's eyes, they're equivalent to that of country bumpkins, just not with the heavy accents. Regardless, they were all enjoying wintertime, home and cozy.
Before all of this took place, Estelle and Joshua were still in Grancel City, studying alongside Angelica Rogner while under Scherazard's guidance. From there, Scherazard would drop by Rolent and pay them a visit, but those have become less frequent lately. Estelle and Joshua were pretty much on their own now until they head to Rolent in a little over two years' time to take the Bracer Exam. By then, Scherazard would have relocated to the Rolent Branch.
Estelle knew she couldn't butt in right now. And that is because of Angelica Rogner's presence. She took over learning under Scherazard, and she accepted that fact. Because of that, Scherazard wasn't present here at the Bright House tonight.
Even though Estelle couldn't meet Scherazard for the time being, that didn't deter Estelle from having fun with what she usually does. Heading out to go fish, collect bugs, or train with her pole. But during wintertime like this, she was more restricted, and often spent more time with Joshua.
Before long, as Estelle continued cooking dinner for tonight, the three heard a knock at their doorstep, following a cheerful voice.
"Special delivery from Liberl's News Service!", A man's voice said, who proceeded to ring their doorbell after knocking the door. Just that alone attracted their attention toward the door.
"It isn't often we get a special delivery from the LNS. Be a dear and go get the door okay, Estelle?", Cassius asked his daughter, becoming interested.
"Already on it, Dad.", Estelle said, finding a good moment to pause her cooking. She placed her cutting knife down on her cutting board, but left her apron on. She quickly ran toward the door, and opened it. Seeing a familiar man from the LNS before her, he greeted her.
"Well if it ain't, Estelle. Guess you returned to Rolent after all, eh?", The man happily asked.
"Uh-huh. Is there some news? Don't be a stranger, come on in if you're feeling cold. It's cold out there tonight!", Estelle said, happily greeting the delivery person. She even saw a cold breath of air escape from his lips.
"Haha.", The man replied. "I appreciate the offer, but I got other houses to hit tonight. You ain't the only one.", The man continued, only to rummage through his large bag. "Got a special print, right off the hot press. It's a real doozy this one is."
After the man said that, he tossed it at Estelle, and she quickly caught it.
"Thank you. Then I won't keep you any longer if you're still on your route. Good luck out there!", Estelle happily replied, waving at him.
"Haha. Can do. Send my regards to Cassius will ya?", The man asked, only to quickly depart from the Bright House, and headed into his orbal delivery truck. He still had other houses to visit, so he excused himself. The orbal truck turned its engines on, and sped off into the snowy night. Seeing Estelle by herself, she closed the door, and headed back inside.
"Brr, it sure is cold out there. I wouldn't even take ten thousand Mira to be out there for long. Not in that cold.", Estelle said, rubbing her two hands together while holding the special news print underneath her arm. Even though Estelle was only outside for a couple of moments, her nose was already a little red. She immediately darted for the crackling fireplace to warm up.
"Heh. Well, our little home is surrounded by forests and marshlands. It can get real cold during the winter here. Having access to orbal tech really does wonders, doesn't it? But I will agree with you. Even though we can enjoy what we have on the inside, you definitely shouldn't go outside for long when it's below freezing.", Cassius said, nodding his head.
"You say that, but didn't you waste most of your energy trying to throw those snowballs at me in our snowball fight during the day?", Joshua responded.
"This is this, and that is that!", Estelle shot back, frowning at him. And yet, hearing that bickering, Cassius smiled.
"I don't see any faults as to what Joshua just said, Estelle.", Cassius said, and shrugged his shoulders. "Anyways, once you're done warming up, come back to the table alright? I want to see what the news has to say."
"Oh, right.", Estelle said. After getting cozy again, she heeded her father's words, went toward the dining table. Joshua paused his ongoing game as Estelle released the paper that was tightly wrapped by a rubber band. Giving it a shake after unraveling it, her eyes wandered toward the front section of the special print.
It took Estelle a moment before she realized a familiar person printed on the photograph now in her view. A very familiar person. It then clicked who it was, causing Estelle to raise her eyes.
Seeing the visible change in Estelle's expression, Cassius and Joshua looked at her.
"So, what's so important that it had to be a special delivery? Out with it, Estelle. They usually don't come all the way out here outside of the print's usual time frames.", Cassius asked, interested.
"Uh-huh. It sure is something alright.", Estelle said, quickly nodding her head. "That prince guy is on the news again. I think his name was Naoto?", Estelle said, tilting her head as she tried to remember. "And you remember that super pretty blonde-haired girl who he was showing around the capital back then right? She's with him too!"
Joshua paused his tracks the moment he heard that name.
"Naoto...", Joshua murmured. "You aren't referring to His Royal Highness, are you?", Joshua asked, revealing a frown on his face.
"You must be joking. Please don't tell me it's about the Crown Prince again. It was already enough to announce him as heir to the throne as of late. What is he up to now?", Cassius asked, also frowning.
"See for yourself Dad.", Estelle answered, and tossed the paper toward Cassius.
Catching it, Cassius opened the paper out. Estelle proceeded back toward the kitchen, and resumed her cooking. It didn't take long for Cassius's eyes to wander toward the front page where Estelle's eyes were once on. Sure enough, Cassius saw Liberl's Crown Prince as the main highlight, but the moment he started reading the news, his body tensed. Even Joshua's eyes turned so wide they were about to pop out of their eye sockets.
"To look forward for a brighter horizon, we hereby declare an engagement of Erebonia's very own Erebonia's Treasure, our Crown Princess, Alfin Reise Arnor, and Liberl's Crown Prince, Naoto Von Auslese, bound together in future matrimony...", Cassius said as he read the headline. It was as if time had come to a stop. His disbelief grew with each passing moment to what he had just said. Even Joshua couldn't believe it. As for Estelle, she just behaved how she usually did, not bothered with what was just said.
But that alone was enough to shock Cassius to his core.
"W-WHAT!?", Cassius exclaimed, slamming part of the table with his knees as he abruptly stood up. On the front page, he saw a violet-haired boy dressed in a vermillion tuxedo with a golden, blonde-haired girl dressed in a fiery crimson dress, waving for the camera who stood at the forefront with several figures standing behind them with smiles on their faces.
Cassius's eyes soon wandered toward one of the figures of the photograph.
He saw Chancellor Osborne's bright and clear smile plastered all over it. He looked directly at the camera as the photo was taken.
Through the paper, it was as if Chancellor Osborne speaking directly at Cassius by saying, "your move".