Chương 58: Cat That Ate The Canary

'The seasons of the nightrealm don't make any sense.' June sat in a carriage while reading a pamphlet about the continent of Lengue. The entire continent of Lengue is a country made up of four major provinces, each province experiences one of the four seasons, and like a clock, the season rotates every twenty-four days. The capital sits in the blind corner of all four provinces, right in the center, meaning that it experiences all four seasons in visible sectors, just outside its territory.

The capital never gets winter, fall, or summer since it is in a constant state of being in spring. June dropped the pamphlet and leaned back with both his hands on his face.

'Why can't anything make sense here?' He plopped his head to the side and leaned on Lilia's shoulder. They were here for several reasons, one of which was for a formal event that the coalition had every year.

'A gladiator colosseum, how cliche.' Afterwards, the royals of the coalition would often spend time together to tighten alliances and form bonds, but a decent amount of royals just took the time to relax from their impending duties, and some, like Lilia and Mortimer, teach at the academy as guest teachers during the event. June could feel the stares of the other royal families; everyone was dressed professionally, but unlike June, they all sat stiffly and in imposing ways.

'They probably have sticks up their asses, slouch a little.'

'I would whine more if they weren't looking.' June spent most of his rehabilitation being pampered by the family; they all took their time to visit him and help him. He had mostly recovered now, but he enjoyed being pampered too much to stop. His eyes had been closed the entire ride, so the other royals' first impressions of him were that he was blind.

He didn't mind that misconception, of course; he got to play the fool, and Lilia, knowing, held his hand to guide him around despite knowing he was able to move without his vision. The voice had taught him many tricks, one of which allowed June to see without eyes, but the process was difficult to explain in any other way than just calling it a bubble of total awareness. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The voice seemed to have a plethora of convenient tricks up its sleeves. The carriage they sat in had a subspace realm for seating. In front of their carriage were the royal carriages in all their ornate glory, but the one they sat in was the true royal carriage despite its outward appearance of being for servants. June wasn't able to sense the outside world, considering that they were in an entirely separate realm.

Subspaces came in many different forms, and this one was a round room with chairs for each of the families to sit on; it was large enough to have its own snack carousel in the middle of it.

'Maybe I should learn how to use subspace magic.' At this point, June fell from Lilia's shoulder to fully lie in her lap. She didn't seem to have any complaints; in fact, she seemed to silently gloat about it to the other royals despite her face being aloof and cold.

'Only a few Dreamers and a couple of Aspirants' June didn't feel in danger, but he felt a coldness within him; it wasn't from him, but from the voice, which was ever alert and watching everyone like a hawk. June started to get more comfortable while lying down in Lilia's lap.

'This is the best.' His woolen heart was beating despite the nil requirement for blood. The trip went smoothly despite his worry; his casual posture lying in Lilia's lap seemed to have attracted some jealous and malicious intent from some other princes and princesses, but he would rather people hate him than make Lilia uncomfortable from their stares. June and Lilia's relationship was a quiet one; they both spoke a lot with others, but when with each other, they seemed to take in and enjoy the moment.

It's just that Lilia and he were both Dreamers, and understandably so, people were compelled to look at them despite either's intentions. The power that came from putting your foot down in the world was indeed attractive and mystical, but the unfortunate truth is that it attracts unwanted stares and the occasional moron who got too brave, so June felt satisfied that he stole those unwanted looks and replaced them with jealousy.

'Maybe I'm just an asshole?' June was indeed experiencing glee from their jealous stares; he was also smelling a faint sense of relief from Lilia, who didn't have to constantly put up a front because of them. The sense of accomplishment June felt was short of angelic.

The royals found their seats in the highest chairs around the colosseum; there were hundreds of royal families that were part of the coalition, so the colosseum was several kilometers wide.

'Everything in this world seems to have an eye for the grand.' June had read in the pamphlet that the colosseum was a figment that appeared several hundred years ago, but he also didn't know what a figment was and was a little shy to ask. June stood behind Lilia's chair since only royals were allowed to sit on the highest floor. June wasn't royal yet, so he wasn't officially part of the family. He wasn't bothered by his need to stand, so he didn't complain about it as long as he got to stand beside Lilia.

After a while, one of the hosts began speaking through unknown means.

'I wonder if it's a spell, or a mic.'

'Maybe they're strong enough to imbue their voice with will that covers the entire arena.' June was excited to see what was going to happen; he had never seen an event at this scale before, and this was a world of magic and technology that surpassed the mundane worlds, so literally anything could happen. He kept his mind open to anything that might suddenly happen in this fantasy world: monster trucks, dragons, ballet, and ping-pong.

But the last thing he expected was for the announcer to call his name when listing gladiators.