The Kingdom of Vacanta, a land filled with peace and happiness, was also known for their beautiful and mysterious lands. One of the few continents that had a small population with a large landscape that was also surrounded by many islands. Despite having a small population, Vacanta was known for being the most powerful and strongest kingdom. No other continents were able to bring the Vacanta kingdom down. The people of Vacanta were taught exotic fighting techniques that would take many years to master. They were even taught to fight without any weapons for fifty years. Their training would be three hours per day, especially on the hottest day.

  The Kingdom of Vacanta was the safest continent in Tellus. Due to the harsh laws that were put in place, the kingdom was really strict about the laws. If anyone, that also included foreigners, was caught not following the fifteen laws, they would be put into the dungeon overnight and had to pay a big fine. If they were caught repeating the same issues three times, they would be facing the death penalty. Because the fine and death penalty were put in place, Vacanta was a very safe continent.

  The people in Vacanta were known for being friendly regardless of the other people’s backgrounds. They were always welcoming when foreigners would come to visit or planning on staying in the kingdom. Vacanta also had a reputation of protecting their lands. No one was allowed to build houses or mansions in most parts of the massive island because the parts of the land were precious to the people. That also included the many islands that surrounded the main island of the kingdom.

  The kingdom was ruled by an emperor named Ashok Karthik Manrayar. He had been the emperor for four hundred and forty years. Not only was he an emperor of Vacanta, but an emperor of two worlds, Tellus and Mortalis. He was known for being very strict in terms of making sure that the people were very safe. He was very serious as an emperor and he made sure that the people followed the rules, the people in the continent were taken care of and the economy was doing well. But he was also known for having a fun personality out of the working hours of being an emperor. He and family would spend time with the villagers and join the fire dance that would happen every evening. Or would spend time with the fishermen to catch fish.

  In the middle of The Cherry Blossom Forest behind the massive green and purple palace, a beautiful young woman was sitting with her back touching the tall tree branch. She was reading the thickest book she found in the palace library. Cherry blossom petals fell from the trees but they deliberately landed on the woman’s long curly pitch black hair to create floral patterns.

  Her green eyes were so engrossed in the book that she didn’t know that there was a tall figure in front of her. “Princess Yaithra Ivanshika Manrayar, you’re in this forest again.”, a woman mentioned.

  Yaithra’s light green eyes lifted and met the woman. “Princess Lithanya Nanitha Manrayar, shouldn’t you be in meetings with pa?”, Yaithra asked.

  Lithanya was still standing with her hands together. “He gave me a few days' break since we’re going to Rosalina for his best friend’s banquet.”, she answered. “I thought you were packing your dresses for the trip.”

  Yaithra closed the book and got up slowly. “You know I always make time to come to this forest to read something to clear my mind.”

  Lithanya held Yaithra’s elbow so she didn’t fall. “Of course.”

  Both the women walked down the hill to the entrance. “Do you know why our father’s best friend is having this banquet with only a few people?”, Yaithra asked.

  “He is just having a small dinner banquet since they haven’t seen each other for many years.”

  Yaithra nodded, then looked at the front. “So, what are you going to do now?”

  “I’m going to do nothing because all I want to do right now is sleep.”, Lithanya answered steadily.

  “Even when we’re in Rosalina, you’re only going to be sleeping.”

  “Absolutely no, that’s so rude. I’ll be awake during the banquet. Once the banquet is over, I’ll sleep straight away.”

  Yaithra shook her head. “You’re such a well-mannered girl.”

  Lithanya looked away. “I need this break because my father is forcing me to take this throne.”

  “Then why don’t you tell him that you don’t want to be an empress?”

  “Because you and the twins told him no. And you three pointed your fingers at me then told him that I’m fit for this throne. After almost ten years of learning the responsibilities of being an empress, I can’t tell him now that I don’t want to be an empress.”, she explained steadily.

  Yaithra felt so bad for putting Lithanya in the line. “But what choice do we have? If all of us didn’t accept the position, the kings would be fighting with each other for the throne. It would cause a huge catastrophic war and many innocent people would be harmed.”

  Lithanya understood Yaithra’s explanation but Lithanya felt like she still wasn’t fit enough for the throne due to some issues she currently had. “Well, I still need a break after spending almost ten years of constant learning of being a proper empress.”

  Yaithra nodded, then decided to change the subject. “So, what are you going to wear for the banquet?”

  “As always, something simple.”

  Yaithra rolled her eyes. “You’re so predictable. You don’t like wearing new clothes.”

  “If I wore new clothes, I would’ve got criticised by society. You know how people are if we don’t follow the standards.”, Lithanya answered.

  “True.”

  The women came out of the forest then went straight to the palace. Also, Yaithra wanted to put the book back in the library because it was so heavy.

  Ashok came out of the main dining room after having an important meeting with the head knights. Now he was looking for his four daughters because he wanted to have a word with them. He saw Lithanya and Yaithra just entering this passage together. He was about to say something when caught Yaithra holding the thickest book.

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  “You were in The Cherry Blossom Forest, again?”, he raised a brow.

  Yaithra lifted the book which caused her to fall down. “Oh shit!”, Lithanya screamed and picked her up.

  Ashok was about to help them but Lithanya managed to get her sister back on her feet. Lithanya took the book from her then placed it on the clear glass table next to her. “There, problem solved.”, she dusted her hands. Suddenly, she heard a cracking sound from the table. She immediately picked up the book and held it tightly. “Nevermind.”, she was also struggling to hold it.

  Ashok shook his head. “Anyway, are you ladies ready for the trip? Everything is packed for tomorrow?”

  “Yes.”, Lithanya answered.

  Yaithra said a curse word because she forgot that they were leaving tomorrow morning. Ashok raised a brow. “Did you forget that we’re leaving tomorrow?”

  Yaithra would always forget important stuff. “Yes. Lucky, you reminded us.”

  “Lucky, I did. Go and pack up before your mother storms into your rooms any minute. I saw her walking to your rooms right now.”, he said while clapping his hands.

  The girls ran straight to their rooms after hearing that sentence. Ashok watched them running while laughing because he tricked them with the last sentence. He just used that last sentence just to get them ready quickly.

  _______________

  After packing her dresses for tomorrow, Lithanya was standing by the balcony and watching the villagers dancing around the big fire. Every evening at eight o’clock, the villagers would come to the main village and dance around the big fire. Behind the villagers, some villagers were playing instrumental music for the dancing villagers. Not only was Lithanya listening to the music and watching the villagers dance, she was also enjoying the beautiful strong night breeze.

  Ashok walked into the room and went straight to the balcony. “I’m shocked to see you’re getting ready to sleep.”, he appeared next to her.

  “Because I need a lot of sleep after learning about the throne for almost ten years.”, she answered.

  He glanced at her. “I understand that you don’t want to be an empress. But you’ve leadership in you and I can see it. You just need to see it.”, he said firmly.

  She didn’t respond in a hurry. She tried to avoid the subject but she couldn’t. “How long will it take me to get the throne? Just out of curiosity?”

  “You'll have another ten more years ago. Hopefully, there won’t be wars or problems about you taking the throne due to your gender.”, he answered.

  “But aren’t you concerned that you’re putting a woman in the throne that is a male dominating position?”, she asked with concern.

  Ashok glanced at her. “I’m not worried at all. And you should either.”, he said firmly.

  “But I’m just scared because I’m tired of us getting criticised for everything from the upper class society. Even if it’s not related to us at all.”, she said.

  “Again, you shouldn’t worry about those people at all.”, he said but she was still scared. He sighed softly. “Get enough sleep because we’ll be leaving early in the morning. Good night.”, he said, then walked back into the room.

  “Good night.”, she answered back.

  Ashok came out of the room, closing the door behind him. On the other hand, Lithanya was still standing by the balcony to continue watching the dancers, listening to the music and enjoying the breeze.

  Eyana and Roja, Lithanya’s younger non-identical twin sisters, were waiting patiently to get warm water. Lithanya came into their room to see what they were doing before she could sleep.

  “Waiting for warm water, girls?”, Lithanya asked.

  They looked at her with some irritation. “We’re tired of having cold water baths.”, they said together.

  “I know. But what can we do? This is how it is in autumn and winter. Just put up with it for the next four months.”, she tried to calm them down.

  “FOUR MONTHS??!!”, they gave her a stunned look.

  That didn’t work. “Just handle it for the next four months. Are you ready for tomorrow morning?”

  Eyana came closer to Lithanya. “Do we really need to go to this banquet? It’s so boring, there are too many rules to follow and they’re always judging us. I’m tired of us getting judged.”, she explained with frustration.

  “I wish we lived in a world where we don’t have to follow so many rules. I want to do things where I’m not being judged.”, Roja joined.

  Lithanya tried to calm them. “I understand your frustration but what can we do? You know how upper class society is. Let’s not forget that the upper class society is watching everything that the lower class society is doing. If you don’t follow the upper class standards, we’ll be skinned alive.", she was deadly serious.

  “When you become the empress, make sure that you change a lot because we want to live a happier life without being judged.”, Eyana spat and saw the servants coming with the buckets of water. “Oh excellent.”, she walked to the bathroom.

  Roja followed behind her older sister. While Lithanya walked out of the room, thinking about the whole situation that just happened.

  Lithanya’s eyes were wide open and they were looking at the dark purple ceiling. It was almost three o’clock in the morning and she hadn’t slept yet. She tried to close her eyes but it wasn’t helping at all. Maybe because her body wasn’t used to sleeping so early. Eventually she got up, grabbed her silky dark green robe then wrapped it around her back while she was walking to the door.

  It was super quiet and pitch dark in Vacanta. Most of the villagers were in their homes, sleeping. Only a few villagers were awake for emergency reasons and many knights were wandering around, keeping the continent safe. Lithanya was walking in a quiet field further away from the palace. She covered her body properly with the robe since the breeze was getting stronger. During this part of the evening, it would get really cold. Because it was so safe in Vacanta, the people could walk outside at any time in the evening.

  Every evening at this particular time, Lithanya would walk on this field to get some fresh air or be away from the palace. Ever since she was chosen to be the future empress, she had been sneaking out of the palace to get some fresh air. No one knew that she walked in the main field. She was also thinking about what her sisters said earlier. She understood their frustrations but there was nothing she could do about it. She had no power to bring down the upper class society who created over four thousand rules for the lower class society (Tellus and Mortalis). As Lithanya was getting further into the field, something caught her eye by the mountains.

  A child was standing on the lowest mountain in between the big mountains further away from the field. Lithanya slowed down to have a look at a child but she was unable to see his/hers facial features because it was very dark. The only reason she could see the child was because the glowness of the mountains were bringing brightness behind the child. Lithanya wasn’t too worried because there were times when she caught a few children roaming around at this hour. Despite the rule of only being outside from six o’clock to eight o’clock, the people were still allowed to come outside any time. That was how safe it was in Vacanta.

  Lithanya continued walking closer to the mountains while staring at the child. The child turned around, revealing his/hers bright red eyes. Lithanya flinched immediately and stopped walking. Her head tilted a little bit to the right while looking at the child with her eyes slowly closing a little. But when she blinked once, the child was no longer there.

  Huh?

  Lithanya looked confused and continued walking closer to the mountains, still looking for the child. But the child was no longer to be seen. Eventually, she left it and walked back to the palace since it was getting extremely cold. And her body couldn’t handle this type of cold.