The revelation of Elian's lineage hung in the air of the Royal Hall like the heavy, metallic scent of a cooling forge. The silence was broken only by the sound of a sharp, hitching sob. Elian had fallen to his knees, his hands clutching the rough fabric of his tunic.
"They didn't abandon me..." he whispered, his voice cracking with a decade of repressed pain. "They didn't leave me in that alley because I was useless or a burden. They... they loved me."
The realization hit him harder than the earthquake had. For years, the boy had lived with the rot of worthlessness in his heart, believing he was the discarded refuse of parents who didn't want him. To find out he was the son of a Prince who had sacrificed a crown for love, and a life for his safety, was a burden of a different kind—a beautiful, heavy gold.
King Boron walked toward the boy. The iron-hard King looked remarkably human in that moment. He placed a massive, calloused hand on Elian's head, his expression softening into one of genuine kinship.
"Your father was the best of us, Elian," Boron said, his voice deep and resonant. "I spent years wondering why he left. I grew bitter, thinking he had shirked his duty. But seeing you... hearing the voice that woke the Guardian... I see he left to preserve something far more precious than a throne."
The King turned to Aster and Astra, standing tall once more. "The wager is settled. Not just by the terms we agreed upon, but by the will of the moon itself. I, Boron Orestes, hereby declare Elian as my legally adopted son and a Prince of the Realm. He shall be given the education and the honor befitting his blood."
He looked at Aster with a smirk of grudging respect. "As for you, Snowflakes... your music has done what a thousand edicts could not. I grant you full permission to spread your art throughout Orestes. The trade deals for the magic stones will be finalized by sunset. And Elian... he shall perform wherever his heart desires. The mountain has found its voice again; I will not be the one to silence it."
Princess Lumine stepped forward, her eyes bright with a mixture of relief and excitement. She reached out and took Elian's hand, pulling him up. "Come on, little brother. I'm going to show you around the palace properly. You have a lot of siblings to meet, and I suspect they're going to be quite surprised to find out the market singer is their cousin!"
As Lumine led a dazed but smiling Elian away, the tension of the week finally evaporated. The day drew to a close with the signing of treaties and the celebration of a newly found prince.
---
The Departure and the Invitation
The next morning, the guest wing of the palace was a flurry of activity. Arliene, Astra, and Aster were busy organizing their belongings. After the monumental events of the Moon-Feast, the twins were preparing to return to their home country in two days.
"It feels strange to leave," Astra remarked, folding a silk cloak. "We came here to fix a trade deal, and we ended up starting a cultural revolution."
"Well, I didn't expect any of this either," Aster replied, looking over a newspaper covering the news of the silver dragon's appearance. "Well, a lot happened since we came to this country, after all."
A sudden knock at the door interrupted them. Lumine stood there, looking uncharacteristically nervous. She wasn't wearing her royal armor or formal robes; instead, she wore a simple, elegant dress of Orestian blue that flowed like water.
"Aster," she said, her voice slightly higher than usual. "I... I was wondering. Since it's your last two days here, and the capital is finally at peace... would you like to go out with me? Just the two of us? A tour of the city without any kings or soldiers."
Astra dropped the cloak she was holding, her eyes widening. Arliene paused, a playful smile dancing on her lips. For the first time in his life, the brilliant, calculating, and ever-composed Aster looked absolutely flustered. A faint pink hue crept up his neck, reaching the tips of his ears.
"A date?" Aster stammered, his silver hair practically shimmering with his internal agitation.
"Oh, go on, Aster!" Astra laughed, nudging him sharply with her elbow. "You've spent the whole week in mines and archives. Go enjoy yourself. We can handle the packing."
Arliene winked at her son. "It would be rude to turn down a Princess's invitation, wouldn't it?"
---
Aster walked beside Lumine through the winding streets of the Upper District. Usually, he moved with the purpose of a man calculating the structural integrity of every building he passed, but today, his steps were hesitant. Lumine, usually the stoic, seemed equally unsure of where to put her hands.
"You look different today," Lumine said, breaking the silence. "Less like a cold prince... and more like a normal boy."
Aster coughed, looking away at a merchant's stall selling glowing crystal lanterns. "And you look different today toor. I didn't realize Orestian silk could be so... blue."
Lumine laughed, a genuine, bell-like sound that made several passersby turn their heads. "It's the color of the deep-vein sapphire. My father says it matches the 'frozen' look in my eyes when I'm angry. Do they look frozen now?"
She leaned in slightly, peering into Aster's pale eyes. Aster felt his heart rate skip—a biological anomaly he couldn't quite explain . "No," he muttered. "They look... well-pretty."
They wandered into the Artisan's Quarter, where the influence of the previous night's concert was already visible. Young Orestians were gathered in the plazas, some trying to beat out rock rhythms on empty ore canisters, others huming the melody of "Voice of the Peaks."
"Look at them," Lumine whispered, her eyes soft. "You didn't just give us a song, Aster. You gave us a reason to look up from the dirt. We've spent centuries digging into the earth. You taught us to sing to it."
They stopped at a small, secluded café built into the side of a cliff, overlooking the Great Forge. From this height, the sparks rising from the chimneys looked like orange fireflies. They sat in a corner booth, sharing a plate of spiced mountain honey cakes.
"Tell me about Wynfall," Lumine said, resting her chin on her hand. "Is it always so green? Is the air always so... light?"
Aster described his home—the gardens, the Great Library, and the way the Golden Dragon's presence is felt . As he spoke, he found himself relaxing. He talked about his research, his ambitions to bridge the gap between ancient magic and modern engineering, and how Astra was the only person who truly understood the rhythm of his thoughts.
Lumine listened with a rapt attention that Aster wasn't used to. Most people listened to him because they had to, or because they wanted something from him. Lumine listened as if his words were precious stones she was collecting.
"You're a strange one, Aster," she said softly. "You have the heart and mind of a revolutionary. But sometimes... I think you're just lonely."
Aster froze, a honey cake halfway to his mouth. "I have my family. I have my work."
"That's not what I mean," Lumine replied, reaching across the table and briefly touching the back of his hand. Her skin was warm, a sharp contrast to the cool evening air. "I mean having someone who doesn't need you to be the 'Silver Snowflake.' Just Aster."
The conversation drifted as the afternoon turned to dusk. They walked through the Royal Gardens, where the plants were bioluminescent, reacting to the mana in the soil. Under the silver mist that still draped the city, the flowers glowed with a soft, pulsing light.
Lumine stopped at the edge of the Moon-Mirror Pond. The water was perfectly still, reflecting the jagged silhouette of the Sentry's Crown.
"The mountain looks different now," she said. "Knowing the Guardian Dragon is somewhere in our country... knowing Elian is my cousin. Everything feels like it's shifted."
She turned to him, the silver mist clinging to her hair like tiny diamonds. "Are you really leaving so soon? The palace feels like it's just started to breathe again. Can't you stay for a few more weeks? My father would find any excuse to keep you here. He's already talking about building a grand hall and stores for your 'new music.'"
Aster looked at her, and for a moment, he actually considered it. He imagined a life where he didn't have to carry the weight of his mother's kingdom, where he could just research and spend time with a girl who could out-spar him with a sword and out-match him in spirit.
But the gold in his blood pulsed—a reminder of his purpose.
"I'm sorry, Lumine. I wish I could stay," he said, his voice thick with a rare emotion. "But no. There are too many things waiting for me at home. The appearance of the Golden Dragon in Wynfall and the Silver Dragon here... it's not a coincidence. Two guardians waking after centuries? It's a signal. A shift in the world's mana-currents. I need to find out why. If I don't research this, if I don't find the reason behind their awakening, we might all be in danger when the third one wakes."
Lumine sighed, a small, sad smile touching her lips. "I knew you'd say that. You're always looking very far ahead, aren't you? Calculating the next storm before the current one has even finished."
She stepped closer, closing the gap between them. The scent of mountain air and ozone surrounded them. "Then promise me one thing, Architect. Don't get so lost in your maps and theories that you forget the people living in the world you're trying to save."
"I won't," Aster promised.
Lumine leaned in and hugged him—a brief, and small hug that made aster's heartbeat speed up two times the normal speed. "Good. Because I expect you to come back and check on Elian. He's going to need a mentor who knows how to handle being 'special.'"
Aster stood there, his brain momentarily short-circuiting as he watched her walk toward the palace gates. He got his first hug from a women other than his sister or mother.
The sun finally slipped behind the peaks, leaving the capital in the warm, glowing embrace of the silver night. It was a beautiful end to a chaotic journey, a moment of peace before the next storm of discovery began. As Aster walked back to the guest wing, he wasn't thinking about trade deals or magic stones. For the first time, he was thinking about something else like a normal boy of his age.
***