Her black hair shimmered with a silver vitality. Her delicate brown laid blemishless, even if one scanned every inch, a single fault would be impossible to find. At the same time, her blue eyes shone like two twinkling pearls, hiding a cloudy but pure white within them that stood shrouded with a gentle blue. Meeting her gaze was like staring up at a bright sky.
Her body was now that of a grown woman. She stood quite tall, about an inch taller than even Damaris who was 6'2. However, her blue gown hid her figure. Or, rather, it was the shawl of white that covered her blue gown that did.
Why was such a beautiful woman unhappy?
For one, she was disappointed because the only person she wanted to see was nowhere to be found. Of course, she missed her family, but she had already spent several weeks with them and her father was still acting like she had just returned. It was frustrating.
But, this was only minor. This wasn't enough for a Princess, used to the etiquette of the court and a lady who had uprooted her life and moved to a completely new universe just for a trial, to display her unhappiness so clearly. No, the reason she was dissatisfied was because she had learned of the actions of the Sapientia.
The Shruti Clan Queen pinched her husband's side, glaring at him in warning. Didn't this big oaf see his own daughter's dissatisfaction, why had he insisted on throwing yet another banquet?
'We need to throw one for each one of my little girl's birthdays we missed.' He says… How ridiculous. But, when a King wants something done, it got done, even at the expense of his own daughter.
"Little sister, don't worry about that shameless old man." Saru's elder brother grinned, wrapping his arm around his sister's slender shoulders. "Come, praise your big brother. He did great deeds protecting your man. That deserves a kiss on the cheek, right?"
Even in what should have been a hall of nobles, Saru's elder brother still stood bare chested. Though, one could classify the gold chains around his neck as 'noble' if you were really trying to give him points he didn't deserve.
Saru's father's brows twitched at these words, stealing a glance toward a certain collection of individuals.
Unfortunately, Saru's brother, Tej, didn't seem to notice his father's pleading glances. In fact, he shamelessly began to tell stories of things that never happened.
Though it was true that he had gone to protect Dyon at his little sister's request, multiple times, in fact, Dyon never seemed to need his help at all. But, that wouldn't stop him from weaving grand tales.
Seeing her elder brother act like this, Saru's frown gave way to a light smile, before she began to laugh. It was a truly beautiful seen, akin to a flower awakening under the morning dew.
Saru elbowed her brother's side. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm sure Dyon has never even heard of you."
Tej feigned a deep wound. "How could you say this? Me and Dyon are like this." He twisted in fore and middle finger, wiggling them forward for emphasis.
"Oh yea? So if I asked him, he'd know you by name, hm?"
Tej coughed, "Of course, of course."
In the not so far distance, a man who was in fact just across the table from the two siblings felt his lips twitching uncontrollably.
When Tej first brought up protecting Saru's "man", he thought he was referring to how Tej had saved him. In fact, Tej had saved his life more times than he cared to count. It wasn't because Tej was so much more powerful than he was, but rather because they were in the same band of men. Though not as famous as the Heavenly Sword Guild, the Star Force, or the quickly rising Brotherhood of Guardians, they had a little fame for themselves.
But to then hear them mention someone else by name, and for that name to be Dyon of all names, he felt a crushing weight fall upon him from the skies above, destroying that small sliver of pride he had felt for but a small moment.
The young man smiled bitterly to himself.
It wasn't as though he didn't know. Tej had made the matter clear to him many times before. It was just that, in the martial world, matters of marriage were usually decided by parents, so although he never said anything when Tej warned him, somewhere deep inside, he felt that Saru would be his in the end, one way or another.
But there was something too striking about seeing her clear rejection of him. He had hardly spent much time with her to begin with, but hearing her automatically assume that the 'man' Tej was referring to was Dyon and not himself… Well, he wouldn't be much of a man himself if it didn't sting.
Sometimes even matters like these weren't black and white. Tej quite liked this young man – Heir of the 5th Quadrant, Adonis Atlas. He was calm and steady, not to mention the fact he had a strong backbone and had never betrayed Tej's trust.
Unfortunately for King Shruti, if he had wanted to control Saru's marriage, he should have never allowed her to learn that Heart Sutra.
[Author's Note: Saru's Sutra was first mentioned in chapter titled 'Shruti (2)']
How had a Clan who could control half of the 30th ranked quadrant become such close friends with the 5th ranked quadrant? Well, that's rather a matter of history. The Shruti and Atlas Clan had been close friends for numerous generations.
Their relationship had been growing a bit distant in recent times, namely due to the disparity in their strength. During the last generation – King Shruti and Adonis' father's, King Atlas' generation – the gap widened even further.
While King Atlas was a True God of the last generation, King Shruti remained an Emperor, unable to leap that final hurdle. It wasn't for lack of effort, it was rather because he simply lacked the necessary talent. As a result, the Shruti managed to keep their middling rank while the Atlas Clan shot upward from the mid 30s, and into the lofty 5th position.
