It’s only ten in the morning, but the city streets of Celestia are jam-packed with people. Here on the main street, which leads directly up to the steps of the palace, merchants are hard at work selling their wares, the smell of fresh-baked bread fills the air, and trickles of music intertwine with the clamber of footsteps, conversations, hoofbeats, and clattering utensils. There must be a few live musicians playing in the nearby taverns this morning.
The main street is one of the oldest parts of Celestia, so it makes sense everything is constructed out of polished oak, the original building materials of Celestia. We carved our nation’s capital out of the Wendigo forest where it meets the rolling hills and grassy meadows of our farmlands; all that wood was put to good use constructing our nation. The two-story buildings are pretty much the same throughout this first block: tile roofing, wood plank flooring, magically reinforced exteriors, and plenty of flower boxes outside the windows. The second floor of every shop is the shopkeeper’s apartment. I see the daughter of a well-known baker running around with her older sister just across the street, her laughter floating through the open window and making its way to me.
The sound tugs on my heartstrings. I wish my sister and I had moments like that growing up.
“Alessia, why are we here?” Aurelio asks.
“Let me explain this to you, since you’re sorely lacking important information,” I sigh impatiently. “My twin sister, Daelia, was born after me, making her the second born of the family. The firstborn is trained as a queen, but according to the deal struck between the church and the royal family while establishing Celestia, the second born must be raised as a loyal religious servant of the Church. Over time, that religious service came to be the defender of the Church, and by extension, all of Celestia.”
“So…you didn’t grow up together?”
“No. Instead, we got birthday and holiday visits, and that was it. Daelia was busy training to be a hero, and I was busy training to be a queen. Our paths diverged in the most opposite of ways.”
My chest tightens, but I force a deep breath through my lungs and ignore it. Instead of looking at Aurelio, I stare at the group of men drinking firewhiskey across from us. They’re clearly adventurers, judging by their dirty cloaks, well-maintained weaponry, and athletic physiques.
“Drinking this early in the morning? I wish that was me,” I grumble.
“Do all adventurers turn into drunks, or is that just the adventurers I’ve met?” Aurelio asks.
“If you killed monsters for a living, you’d be a drunk, too. But to answer your question, no, most of them just drink while they’re in town. The Adventurer’s Guild pays for three drinks per person if they come back with a completed A-ranked quest or higher.”
“Lucky. I wanted to be an adventurer,” Aurelio mutters, slumping into his seat.
“Get over yourself. You’re the future king. That’s a much better job.”
“Not even close. This is boring. Going on quests sounds fun.”
I deadpan as I watch him pretend to pout, sticking out his bottom lip in the most pitiful way possible. I hate how adorable it makes him look. He’s making it hard to concentrate.
“Shut up and pay attention. I’m giving you a crash course on the country you’ve agreed to be the literal monarch of,” I growl.
Aurelio begrudgingly sits up. “Fine. Please continue.”
“Anyway, the Adventurer’s Guild kind of runs the show around here. Without them, merchants wouldn’t survive, so they trump the Merchant’s Guild when it comes to making new policies, maintaining laws, presenting quests, or answering the public’s requests. That’s not to say that the Merchant’s Guild doesn’t hold considerable power over the economy; they do set the fair prices of goods, hold shopkeepers to certain standards, and enforce regulations on employee treatment and pay. Almost everyone in the city works for a merchant or a trade company if they’re not employed in construction or mining.”
“The aristocrats are the exception, I’m assuming,” Aurelio says.
“Not just the aristocrats. The scholars, scientists, engineers, and teachers all belong to the same Guild you do: the Inventor’s Guild. Their information, production processes, and knowledge seeking change the way the other two guilds operate. All three hold each other accountable.”
“Ah. So it’s the same way the Church and the royal family hold each other accountable.”
“Exactly. That’s part of why the second born is sent away to the Church in the first place. In the event that I or Daelia would gain too much power, whether it be winning the hearts of the people or taking military power too far, we hold each other accountable. We stand on equal footing.”
“Okay. That makes sense. But…why are we going to talk to your sister, exactly?”
“I can’t do anything further to establish myself as queen in my own nation. The meet-and-greets and paperwork will run their course in due time. While I wait for them, it’s imperative that I meet with the leaders of our allied nations, or at least visit cities within their borders.”
“And to do that, you need an official escort,” Aurelio gathers, his face lighting up. “You’re going to ask your sister to escort you to the other nations, aren’t you?”
“I am. I haven’t seen her in months. I’m sure she’d be happy to have an excuse to see me,” I say.
“How do you know she won’t be busy?”
“I sent Mina to visit the Church yesterday. Daelia returned exactly two days ago from a light missionary escort duty. It was uneventful.”
Aurelio grimaces. “That poor girl. Her life must be boring as hells.”
“So was mine until you showed up and set it on fire. Now it’s too not-boring for my liking,” I sigh.
