After running away from Alexandra, my whole body still aching, I made it back to my room, took a warm shower and changed into clean clothes.
It was still around eight in the evening so dinner in the main dining room was still being served. I headed out and made my way down the corridor.
The halls were quiet with no sign of any servants. I turned a corner and then stopped.
What the—
A couple of meters ahead of me, Sephira, the second princess, was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and her eyes closed.
I walked up until I was standing in front of her. She was wearing black pajamas, plain ones with no cartoon designs on them for once. Her chest rose and fell slowly and softly.
Yeah. She was completely out.
Sephira had always been like this. Ever since I first came to this family she had a habit of falling asleep anywhere and at any time she felt even slightly comfortable. The kitchen, the corridors, outside in the garden, up in a tree once. She always found a way.
It actually reminded me of Virgil, now that I thought about it. The difference was that Virgil at least stuck to one general area. Other than that they were basically the same.
Strange people, the both of them.
As much as I would have preferred to just let her sleep, I was not about to leave her on a cold stone floor.
I crouched down and said her name. "Sephira."
Nothing.
"Sephira." A little louder this time.
Still nothing.
I sighed, stretched out one finger and poked her cheek. It felt like mochi.
I just hoped she would not swing at me.
"Sephira, wake up. The floor is cold."
I kept poking until a low, incoherent sound came out of her mouth.
"Let me sleep a little more..." She mumbled.
I kept poking anyway. Her brow furrowed, then her eyes cracked open slowly.
"Who dares wake me up—" She stopped the moment her red eyes found mine. She blinked once. Then the drowsy irritation on her face melted into something warm.
"Hey, Lucas. How have you been? I feel like I have not seen you since the awakening ceremony." She paused. "Oh, and congratulations on your awakening. Sorry I did not say it sooner."
I smiled. "I have been good, thanks. And has it really been three days since we last saw each other?"
Now that I thought about it, I had not seen Andromeda either. Or that annoying pest Londres. Just the thought of her was already ruining my mood so I stopped there.
"No need to apologize about the congratulations."
Sephira nodded and then said, "You awakened incredible affinities. One that is already rare, and another that might be the rarest one in existence. I always believed your awakening would go well, but even I did not expect it to go that well."
I chuckled at the quiet pride behind her words. "It is all because you believed in me."
She shook her head. "No. That was your own work." Then she reached up and ruffled my hair.
"Can I see your second affinity? Please?" She asked, eyes wide and hard to say no to.
"Sure."
I held my palm open and murmured quietly. "Let it breathe."
The cosmos energy rose from my hand like a calm flame, swirling slowly in the cosmic latte color that never stopped being strange and beautiful to look at.
Sephira's eyes went wide.
"Wow, it is so pretty." She leaned in closer.
"It is." I agreed.
She looked back up at me. "Have you figured out any spells or techniques yet? There is nothing written about cosmos in any book I have ever found."
"Yes, actually. I managed to learn a few things on my own. I think I had some kind of vision while I was sleeping, probably the God of Cosmos nudging me in the right direction."
It was not entirely a lie. People did receive visions from their gods sometimes, so it was not an unreasonable thing to say. It was just missing a significant amount of detail.
Sephira nodded slowly. "That actually makes sense. Without a guide and without any written material, a vision would be the only way you could have learned anything. It would be strange if nothing came to you."
I was relieved she accepted that without question.
"Also," I said, "I have managed to unlock all the sub-affinities under Cosmos as well. So technically I have six affinities now."
Sephira's eyes, which usually sat at a comfortable level of half-interested boredom, went wide.
"Is that actually true?!"
"Shh, yes, it is true. Please do not tell anyone yet. You are the first person I have told." I pressed a finger to my lips.
Some people already had an idea of what affinities the Cosmos might unlock in time, but most assumed they would come gradually as I grew stronger. I wanted to keep it quiet for now, at least until I had teachers to help me properly manage them. With Virgil gone for six months I would need proper guidance, and Alexandra was the obvious person to arrange that.
Sephira crossed her arms. "I will admit I am a little jealous. Having six affinities makes you the first person in the entire recorded history of magic to wield more than three. That is genuinely how big of a deal this is."
She said jealous, but what I actually felt from her was closer to pride.
"It is not as clean as it sounds," I said. "Balancing control across six affinities at the same time is not easy, especially when it comes to ascending ranks. The higher you go the harder it gets."
It honestly felt like being a single father with six kids who all needed individual attention constantly.
"That is true," she said, "but if you want to be genuinely strong there is no other way. And with what you have, you have the potential to become the strongest person in this world."
Potential. I could never be Megumi though.
"Which is exactly why," she continued, "you should be careful about using your cosmos affinity openly until you are much stronger. There will be eyes on you and not all of them will mean you well. Alexandra will not always be right there to step in."
She was right. The other empires, the people who already resented my position here, and whatever the Ancient Evil actually was. All of them were reasons to be careful.
"Though," Sephira added after a pause, "I doubt anyone from the other empires would move against you directly unless they had ties to that evil organisation."
"Yeah. Good point." I nodded. "And thank you, I will keep what you said in mind."
She smiled quietly.
"Now that I think about it," I said, "you have never actually told me what your affinity is. What is it?"
I was genuinely curious. She did not have the sun affinity, that one belonged to the crown prince and was tied to his succession. But people in the royal family spoke about Sephira's abilities with a specific kind of respect that I had always noticed.
She opened her mouth. "That is a secret. Hehe."
I rolled my eyes. "That is not fair. I just told you everything about mine."
"When you get into the military academy I will show you. I promise."
Two years away. But she promised, so I left it alone.
"One more thing," I said. "Why were you asleep on the floor of a corridor?"
Sephira brushed her white hair back with one hand. "Well, I was on my way to the dining room and I suddenly felt very sleepy, so I sat down for a short rest."
"On the floor."
"Yes. And I unfortunately slept longer than I meant to."
I shook my head. She really was one of a kind.
I started to stand and then felt her hand grab my arm.
"What is it?"
"Uhm. Could you give me a piggyback to the dining room since you are going there anyway? I am too tired to walk."
I looked ahead. The dining room door was about twenty meters away.
For anyone else I would have said no immediately. But this was Sephira.
"Sure."
I turned around and patted my back. "Hop on."
She did not hesitate. She climbed on and wrapped her arms around my neck and I straightened up.
My expression twitched slightly.
She noticed. "What is wrong?"
"Nothing." I said, and started walking.
She was heavy.