[Celeste Luminaris]:
After breakfast, Celeste watched as Eclipse snuck mysteriously into Corven's shadow and disappeared, disappointed she couldn't give the cat-sized shadow sphinx more pets, but she restrained herself. There will be time for that later. Plus, she was a princess; she had other important duties to perform.
Sean concealed morning combat practice, saying he had to go out, not saying where. Though Celeste honestly did not care; she was even happy she got practice with him off for the day. He had way too much malicious intent when sparring, which made Celeste often times nervous to spar with her brother.
Her father was busy talking to Achlys, probably assigning her a mission, no doubt. He was a man known for doing that within the Luminaris family, even towards those outside of his family. It was admirable and, at times, annoying, but Celeste did not mind. She was sure whatever mission he was assigning her friend was of the upmost importance. And whatever the mission it was she was assigned, she did not ask Achlys. If she was meant to know about it, she'd know one way or another.
So, instead, Celeste spent most of her morning pracitcing with her sword: A slender rapier whose blade, silver with intricate designs and runes etched into it, with an elegant golden and white hilt, also lined with enchantments. It was a soul-bound weapon — A special type of weapon that bonds to the wielder, and allows for users to use any extra additional skills and abilities said weapon possesses or enhances the user with.
Typically, only noble houses have them — her, her father, her brother, even Cimon and Achlys have their own kind of soul-bound weapon. Normal average joes and lowborn legacy cultivators would maybe be able to handle the power of lowranked soul-bound weapons, but noble legacy blood is much more saturated with divine ichor(the blood of the gods), as a result of intermarriage between great houses and, of course, for some houses, incest. As a result, many noble houses are known to possess two or three noble heirlooms that are passed down each generation in said noble families. Except for some cases, like Celeste, who had to get hers custom made.
It just happens that there were only two in the Luminaris family before her birth —— The halbert her father wields and the great sword her brother wields. As a result, her father, Peter, had Celeste's rapier made with the best materials money could buy and reinforced with the strongest magic encantations and runes found in the Alchemic magics. House Ilmari themselves forged the blade she calls 'Silvermoon.'
Anyway, Celeste practiced Silvermoon for a while, hitting the dummy in the training yard with skill and precision like needles through flesh. She was swift and precise. Her skill with her saber was one built over years of practice. Even before going against her brother, Sean in training sessions with the blade, Celeste already had quite the exposure to the way of the sword, which put her ahead of her peers in the cultivation world by quite the amount.
The morning shifted to Noon, and noon to afternoon, Celeste took a pause from her training. She was sweating buckets, but she had to decency to wave to her friend, Achlys, who, escorted by a small handful of Luminaris guards, she spotted walking to an envoy of cars, a determined expression on her face as she waved back at Celeste, smiling slight before entering the car. Two of the guards joined her inside the limo, but the others entered the surrounding cars, all of which had flags on it of the Luminaris family crest on them. Celeste watched as the envoy disappeared down the street and out of sight.
Soon after, a high ranking Luminaris guard came to retrieve her, "The Luminaris House Patriarch has called for you. Please come right this way."
The guard escorted her to her father's chambers, where Celeste found him peering out the window, lost in thought it seems. He nearly jumped when Celeste spoke. He must have not heard her come in, she realized.
"You called for me, Lord Father?" Celeste courtside with a slight bow. To which Peter dismissed and gestured for her to stand with him at the balcony, overlooking the gardens around the Luminaris Estate.
"Take a look out the patio. Tell me what you see," he said to Celeste.
There was a pavilion of white marble in the right garden of roses and lilies, the clouds overhead were white and sparse, showcasing a peaceful blue sky inwhich chirping birds flew in. It was a beautiful summer day, and peaceful. Quite the eye catching sight to see.
"Peace. Tranquility. Prosperity," Celeste answered after a moment of silent observation.
"Centuries of peace, wealth and tranquility for our house — The byproduct of countless battles and triumphs our house has overcome," Peter casually noted in reverence, almost in awe. Then his face darkened. "But… it won't last long; it never does. Our enemies plot our demise, daughter, I can feel it. I can smell war on the horizon. It's there, and it is coming. We must be ready regardless. Our enemies are gathering, my daughter, and our house isn't as secure as I'd hoped it would be."
"Spies?" Celeste asked.
"Spies," nodded Peter grimly. "I'm not sure when this sickness will take me, and I want to ensure both your claim and your safety, even after I am gone, but that means I'll have to do something I never wanted to."
"You plan to marry me into another noble family," Celeste realized, though she kept her expression guarded and schooled. She was not happy about this.
"I… I was contemplating marrying you into House Ausar, finally unite our two houses once and for all. The crown prince there is known as a very notable figure of this generation of legacy nobles, and he's a demigod," Peter tried to explain himself, before clicking his tongue.
This was the first time Celeste was hearing about this, but of course it was! She could hardly believe it, but, when she thought about it, she could see why her father came to this conclusion. She wasn't an idiot; she could see the benefits of marrying into House Ausar. House Luminaris and House Ausar were both important houses in the Shadow Realm. And, as the youngest of the 8 great houses, they were also the more vulnerable of the 8 great houses. By joining their two houses together, they could bridge the gap between them and the other 6 great houses in terms of power and influence, possibly even ranking up higher on the power scaling of the great houses. It was a solid plan; ingenious, even, when Celeste looked at it from a subjective point of view.
Strategically, it was a full-proof plan…
And yet, Celeste wasn't sure how she felt about being in a politically arranged marriage. She wasn't sure she'd like it too much. It was too political, honestly.
"However," Peter suddenly said, causing Celeste to realize he wasn't done speaking, as he looked inquisitively at his daughter. "I wonder what you think of the boy from House Umbrovante…?"
Again, Celeste was not stupid. She knew what he really wanted: Her thoughts of marrying Corven — Her approval. He saw Corven as a better option than marrying into House Ausar — An opportunity to further protect her claim and enhance her status and power. Should Corven truly become successful in unsealing the Shadow Realm, then many people will re-learn the true power of House Umbrovante and House Luminaris would have a right hand seat and the privilege of marrying into such a powerful house.
To Celeste, though, it was just another arranged marriage.
And yet, as she thought about it — really thought about it and from a subjective point of view — the pros and cons and all, there were more pros than there were cons. From what she's observed, Corven wasn't an arrogant guy, not by nature, anyway — He was introverted and reclusive, but calculating – very calculating and very sharp if the sharp inquisitive looks she received from him about Sean's behaviors were anything to go by. These were not necessarily the worst traits to have in a partner. Plus, if what he said was true, he was from a Lost House, and their heir of it, too, apparently, which, did not, in fact, make for the worst options when compared to House Ausar's heir, who was, while an excellent warrior and notable figure[she's met him a few times], a hyperactive spaz at times, and younger in mind than he is in body.
"He's not the worst option…," Celeste said with hesitation, after her moment of thought. "And he is quite handsome…'.
Peter looked hopefully at his daughter, before speaking. "My daughter, I have a mission for you then. Get close to Corven Umbrovante, no matter the costs, as, if you are successful, our two houses will unite, and your claim and life would be secured. Plus, we would have a greater chance of unsealing the Shadow Realm if we are helping the Umbrovante boy.
"I've already sent Achlys and a handful of my personnel guardsmen to talk to House Ausar and our shadow realm allies who escaped the Shadow Realm sealing with us about Corven. Within the month, we'll have every one of our shadow allies notice that Corven is of House Umbrovante and that will be when we schedule a Shadow Conclave. Achlys will be sending the invites personally, so we can be rest assured that all our shadow allies will be received. We will return to Shadow Realm no matter what and, hopefully, you'll find common interests with Corven along the way.
"There's something else, too."
The sudden switch to a serious tone had Celeste looking at her father inquisitively. "Yes, lord father?"
"Fourteen years ago, there was a tear occurred and caused a ripple in space-time very briefly. And something came out of it in that minutcule moment," Peter began. "At the time, many noble houses, low, mid and high, went to investigate, but nothing was found aside from a blue beam. When they tried to track it, it vanished into the void, as if whatever it was was protected."
"This beam… You think it was Corven?"
"It was definitely Corven. It was a teleportation beam of advance interdimensional power — Power so old yet powerful, it could only have been from the Shadow Realm," Peter said. "If that really was Corven, then it was something that could teleport someone to and from a sealed space, or at least through a weakened ripple of it. I just know it, yet I can't be certain just what has that kind of power."
A silence befell the two, as Celeste let this revelation sink in.
"Then, does that mean that whoever, or whatever, saved Corven was running from something?" Celeste asked, curious. "What could cause a family of such power to flee from their own domain?"
Peter was quiet for a moment before he answered. "Nothing good," he stated. "We must be prepared for anything, just in case."
With a sigh, Celeste said "Just in case," before being dismissed and leaving her father's chambers.