Chapter 7

Lumina Kingdom

“We needed to explore Ruins of Aysfar; they are as ancient as the First One’s Tale.”

Mind of the Heretic, Vol. III

It’s been nearly two weeks since Noah had last seen the outside world. Though for some staying in a damp, dark room for fourteen days straight might be stressful, he hardly even noticed it; compared to sifting through the rained forests for months on end, it felt almost like a vacation.

He’d spent most of his time reading through the books Olivia had left him, starting with the simplest ones and slowly making his way up. To his surprise, the more he learned about the language, that was called Language of Light locally, the more similar it seemed to the languages back on Earth – especially so the English. It was structured similarly, through phrasal order building up the constituents; simple sentences elected the necessary parts, subject, and predicate, with the optional ones summarizing the modifiers, conjunctions, and complementizers.

On a more complex level, it behaved through clausal structures, namely coordination, and subordination. While he was still struggling with the words themselves, he felt as though he'd gotten the language's syntax down-pat. All that was left, really, was the grueling work of memorizing as many words as he possibly could.

This was helped by his everyday visitor – Olivia. She'd come every day, usually bringing with her one delicacy or another, and spark a conversation up with him. Though she probably didn't realize it, the fact that she spoke to him completely normally, only realizing he wasn't wholly understanding her after the fact, helped a lot. The key aspect of learning a new language is experiencing it in its natural state, being exposed to it unfiltered.

Today was no different; by his estimates, she'd always come shortly after the dawn, but he was no longer as certain of his calculations. Rather, he'd stopped being certain almost ten days ago, as mental math was hardly his strong point. With her she carried a tray of fruits, some reminiscent of those on Earth, similar to grapes, only yellow-colored, and others as exotic and as wild as anything else Noah had seen. One appeared to be built entirely out of steel spikes, darting out of the central obelisk, wholly dyed in thick silver.

“Good morning.” She spoke in her usual, jovial voice as she greeted him, rushing over and putting the tray down.

“Morning.” Noah nodded his head and greeted back, putting the book he was reading next to the tray.

“Wow, you’re going through them fast!” she chuckled. “I might run out of them if you continue!”

“Ha ha,” Noah laughed lightly, taking the yellow-colored grape and having a bite; it was on the sourer side, as a lot of foods seemed to be over here since it looked like it fit the local taste buds the best. “That… uh… that would… be bad?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, her eyes shining slightly. “You really are… at learning. Don’t… yourself, though.”

“…” Noah merely smiled faintly, taking another grape – they were strangely addicting. “These?” he asked, pointing at them.

“Yellowstones,” Olivia said. “A rare delicacy from the sea. I hear they only grow near… habitats.”

“Tastes good.” Noah said.

“Taste is good.” Olivia corrected.

"…" Noah merely smiled, not saying anything, instead taking another grape. He realized he really might get addicted to it. "Who… hmm… who are you?" he decided to ask, at last, wishing to sate his curiosity.

“Oh? Only now do you remember?” Olivia smiled cheekily, coughing lowly and standing up, her countenance changing immediately from the easygoing one to imposing and graceful. “I am Princess Olivia O’vorell, Sixth of Her Name, Lumina’s Second Princess.”

"…" Noah remained silent, meeting her imposing gaze squarely; though slightly surprised, he wasn't shocked to learn her true identity. He already suspected she was quite high up on the ladder, and, based on her current appearance and countenance, a Princess seemed about right.

His reaction clearly surprised Olivia whose imposing countenance mellowed into confusion; any other time somebody learned of her identity, if they hadn't known it prior, they would be flustered and agonizingly apologetic. However, the Outlander's rather mellow and lukewarm reaction left something to be desired, causing a faint trace of anger to surge within her heart.

“—it is a pleasure.” Noah, spotting the flicker of it in her eyes, quickly replied, bowing his head. “Princess Olivia.”

“A-ah, yes. Hm, yes.” Olivia said, flustered, coughing lowly. “Well, I still have some… attending. I will… tomorrow… know. Good luck.”

“Goodbye.” Noah bowed once again as he watched her walk out, before withdrawing onto the bed and lying down.

Over the past two weeks, he was forced to repeatedly adjust his plans. The more he learned of the world’s and the kingdom’s structure, the more he had to veer into the unorthodox. Lumina Kingdom was a Theocratic Absolute Monarchy, at least as far as he could gleam, headed by a solitary figure of the King standing at the very top, who was both a secular and a religious leader. The throne was inheritance-based, though in the few books he skimmed through, he saw references to something called the ‘Holy War’ in relation to the throne. He postulated it might refer to the individual duels of the Princes and the Princesses for the right to inherit the throne, but it was preliminary.

Beyond the King, the secondary distinction to the other Monarchies lied in the second seat of power – the local church-like entity. He had no means of grasping the undoubtedly delicate relationship between the throne and the church, though he was highly confident it was a suspect to a thin balance; his idea was further enforced by the fact that only the King himself outranked the church-like entity, and that nobody else could order it – not even the Queen or their children.

Playing fast and loose with the political structure in this sort of climate would be extremely dangerous; while destabilizing the delicate balance wouldn't necessarily be too difficult, he had no means of ensuring his success within the vacuum that would be created after the fact. He'd already cemented himself on the idea of ascending the ladder of power within the Kingdom in order to use its resources to track down any signs of his colleagues having landed somewhere in this world as well, and, perhaps, even trying to figure out a way to pinpoint his location in the universe, though that was a far-off dream. He didn't recognize any of the stars in the night sky, and seeing as he was hardly someone who cared much about astrophysics, most of his knowledge came from the basics he used as orientation in case his equipment failed.

With the primary objective completed – his survival – he could focus on others, but he still didn't know enough. For instance, his biggest dilemma at the moment was Olivia herself. While the young girl seemed decent, fair and just, with all which that entails, she was not an idiot; she'd, on occasion, slip up and call him an Outlander, quickly shutting down to his questions afterward, but it was enough for Noah to conclude that she had a specific purpose in mind for keeping him here. The likelihood of others knowing of his existence was extremely low, and that was likely to remain the case into the future.

And while he was fairly certain that no other human from Earth came to this place, with his knowledge of the universe at large having been trounced into oblivion recently, it is possible that some other human, from some other planet, had landed into this world and was dubbed an Outlander. Or, perhaps, an Outlander was simply someone who came from beyond the borders of the known world to these people – he couldn’t say. Either way, his identity, in a sense, was quite fragile; she didn’t take him in purely from the goodness of her heart, and would definitely expect something from him in the near future.

His thoughts tossing and turning, he forcibly halted them and closed his eyes, entering a meditative state. The more variables he managed to squash through knowledge, the more seemed to pop out from behind the corner. It wasn’t even the fact that she might use him that had him questioning his future, as he could easily work with that rather than altruistic nonsense he didn’t believe in; it was her position within the Court that worried him. She’d been spending too much time with him ever since he arrived, which caused him to suspect she didn’t have a major role elsewhere. Considering the fact that she’s the youngest of six Royal Children, it wasn’t surprising.

There was also a chance that he could buy himself a decent slot in another one's camp through his identity as an Outlander, but establishing contact and gaining trust would likely be beyond difficult. He could temporarily remain with her and establish a base; learn the ins and outs of the city, as well as the political structure and the games they play, before making the final call – it was the choice he was likely to make, as it was by far the safest. But, all in due time; for now, he decided to take a nap. Those grapes look like to be similar to sleeping pills. I should keep that in mind… he yawned and stretched, nestling neatly into the comfortable pillow and letting his mind drift – all the way back to Joceline, one of the minor engineers on the government's Otherworld program that he was tossing the ball with. Ah, how regretful…

**

By the time she returned to her chambers, Olivia had completely calmed down and collected her thoughts. Gone was her easygoing and friendly disposition, replaced with the bearing of a Royal.

A guest was already waiting for her inside the chambers, one she was expecting – a young Duke Godwind’s son, Ludwig Fyrost. The chatter of the man sitting gracefully on a sofa had long since filled the courtly halls; young, handsome, smart, talented, irresistible, charming… whatever possible attribute could be ascribed to an individual, it was ascribed to him. However, for one reason or another, Olivia never quite took off with the winds of the chatter surrounding him.

Ludwig had turned twenty-four two months ago, during Rybirth month, having celebrated his birthday for nearly a week straight. He was on the taller end of things, though still falling short of the Outlander both in height and the build, being on the leaner side. He had a well-kept black hair, slicked to the sides, parted in middle, with a pair of twilight-colored piercing eyes decorating a handsome, pale face below. He was currently sipping a cup of tea in silence, staring off through the balcony's door into the sky, only waking up from his daydream once Olivia walked in and up.

“Your Highness.” The young man quickly scurried to his feet and bowed deeply, left hand lying to his side, the right crossing the chest up to the opposite shoulder.

"Lord Ludwig." Olivia replied to the courtesy, nodding and sitting down. Ludwig waited until she settled in the adorned, fluffy chair before sitting down as well, pouring her a cup of tea candidly and pushing it to her end of the table. "I was rather surprised when maids informed me you requested a meeting; I cannot imagine the scorn of young Ladies of the Court when they hear of your visit."

"Ha ha, you jest, Your Highness," Ludwig chuckled dismissively, taking a sip of the tea. "I am more worried about what young men might do to me once they learn you have so graciously accepted my request."

“…” Olivia smiled faintly; both were children born and groomed in the world of politics. Though Olivia detested the small, pointless talk that orbited every discussion, it was the required part of putting up a proper front. “My apologies, if so. I hope you make it out okay.”

“Thank you for your worry,” Ludwig said. “I feel safer already.”

“Not to understate the importance of young lads and gals surrounding us, but I am a bit tired, Lord Ludwig.”

"Ah, of course; my apologies, Your Highness," the young man quickly picked up on her words and coughed lowly, settling down. "I will get straight to the point then: a few other young Lords and Ladies and I have been in talks over forming a temporary group that will be in charge of gathering funds and redistributing them to the less fortunate. As you may know, however, we need a seal of approval from a member of the Royal family for the formation of any independent group; we would be honored if you could help us, Your Highness."

"…" Olivia fell silent for a moment, carefully examining Ludwig. Though she hardly believed the young man was evil, she also didn't quite believe he was as altruistic as he led others to believe. In the end, he was his Father's son – and his father, though a brute on the surface, was a scheming and shrewd sort that never suffered a major loss ever since he inherited his own Father's Dukedom. However, she couldn't simply outright ask his actual motives, nor did she care enough to do it. "I, naturally, will not reject means of helping the less fortunate of my Kingdom," she smiled faintly and nodded. "As the matter of fact, I will personally donate a coffer of coins to kickstart the project. By the end, I hope we will see more and more people make it in life."

"Yes, of course, Your Highness!" Ludwig exclaimed joyously, unable to hide his smile. "You are too gracious; Your help will not go unnoticed, I promise. As a matter of fact, we will name the organization after You, Your Highness – that is, of course, with Your permission."

“Go ahead,” Olivia nodded, maintaining her smile. “If you would, please do report to me the progress from time to time. Otherwise, I wish you the best of luck, Lord Ludwig.”

"I will ensure You are always informed," Ludwig said, getting up, spotting his cue, bowing deeply. "I will apply the papers first thing in the morning. May the Light bless You, Your Highness."

“Likewise, Lord Ludwig.”

Olivia took a sip of tea as the young Lord turned around and walked out with jittery steps. She stared at his back for a moment as he closed the doors, her gaze piercing. Just a moment later, a sift of smoke trounced from her side, manifesting into a hooded and cloaked figure draped entirely in black, only a pair of yellow eyes visible, shining like feline’s.

“Look into what the hell they’re concocting now,” Olivia muttered without even looking at the figure. “But don’t disrupt them. Especially if they do help a few, even if it’s only as a mask.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The hooded figure replied in a low, coarse tone, revealing a masculine façade.

“Is everything settled with the Physician?” Olivia asked, turning toward the figure with a trace of anxiety in her movement.

“You don’t have to worry about him, Your Highness,” the figure replied. “It has been taken care of.”

“… good,” Olivia said, breathing a sigh of relief and quickly dismissing the faint trace of guilt in her heart. “What do you think?”

“About what, Your Highness?”

“About Noah—the Outlander, I mean.” She elaborated.

“…”

“You can be honest.”

“… I… I think he is quite dangerous, Your Highness.” The figure replied after a brief silence.

“Dangerous?” Olivia arched her brows, the sip of tea she was about to take halting as she held the cup near her lips. “What makes you say so?”

“Unfortunately, it is merely my senses that are warning me; he seems no different than me, Your Highness – but lacking the heart to serve you.”

“…” Olivia frowned for a moment, thinking on the figure’s words. “He… does seem deliberate in his actions. But… I think he is worth the risk.”

“… as do I,” the figure said. “You, however, should be careful around him.”

“Aren’t you with me all the time?” Olivia shrugged. “No matter how dangerous he may be, he is still a calf in front of you, Synthia.”

“I know,” the figure said. “But, if he is to be used properly, I think it is best you stop treating him as a friend – especially considering his reaction to learning Your identity.”

"… no," Olivia shook her head, sighing and leaning further back into her chair. "If he'll become a quintessential element of my future plans, Synthia, I can't have him become a simple tool. I'd rather not have him at all if that's the case. I'll soon share with him what I wish to do, and hope he will be capable and willing to support me. If not, and if you spot a trace of defiance in him, you know what to do."

“Yes, Your Highness…” the figure’s voice faded alongside the figure itself, turning into the whiffs of smoke before vanishing, leaving contemplative Olivia alone in her own thoughts and in silence that reigned supreme as the rays of sun burst through the balcony’s open doors, washing over the beautiful carpets and drapery, shining.