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A sweet serenade danced in the air above Belhalla Palace’s ballroom. Scrounging up an orchestra after a continent-wide revolution had been quite the task, but somehow they’d managed. The future kings of Grannvale and United Thracia stood by a buffet table, the latter shoving pastries into his mouth. Next to them, the Princesses of Grannvale and Nordion watched in a mix of awe and disgust.
“Man, these are good,” Leif said, licking honey off his fork. “What did you say these are called?”
“Loukomades,” said Julia.
“Loukomades, huh?” Leif said, placing his plate down. “Well that makes sense since they’re crazy good.”
He chuckled. Nanna rolled her eyes.
Julia tilted her head. “I don’t get it.”
“Loco means crazy in Thracian,” Nanna said.
“Oh,” said Julia. “But those are Miletosian.”
Leif frowned. He took the tongs and served himself some more pastries. “I’m not letting the language barrier get in the way of my puns.”
“But the language difference is the…” Nanna gave an exasperated sigh. “Never mind.”
Seliph raised a hand. “Careful, Leif. You won’t have room for dinner if you eat too many of those.”
Leif popped another pastry into his mouth. “But what if this is my dinner?”
“You can’t eat doughnuts for dinner,” Nanna chimed in. “That’s not healthy.”
“Nanna, you know how much we’ve been through for the last… forever. Just let me have this.”
Julia couldn’t argue with that. Leif was a toddler when his life was last stable. He’d lost his parents and sister in a massacre, then his grandparents in a surprise attack not long after. His father’s retainer narrowly escaped with him in his arms. For the next thirteen years, the two lived in hiding, until it was time for Leif to take back his kingdom. He deserved to have doughnuts for dinner tonight… though perhaps it wasn’t the wisest move on his part.
“Man, I could eat these forever,” He said, voiced muffled from the food in his mouth. “Do you think if we’d grown up with these, we would have turned out to be spoiled brats?”
Julia froze. Her body grew hot, skin tingling, nerves on end. She knew Leif didn’t think she was a spoiled brat— why was this affecting her so?
Seliph raised his knuckle to his mouth, eyes wide.
“Leif!” Nanna placed her hands on her hips. “You can’t just say that in front of Julia!”
Julia gave a small, nonchalant wave. She shook ever so slightly. “It’s fine. He’s just… curious, I suppose.”
Nanna raised an eyebrow. “It’s still rude.”
“Perhaps we should change the subject,” said Seliph. “Julia, is there anyone you’d like to dance with tonight?”
“Um… no, not particularly,” Julia said. She grabbed her arm and gazed down to the floor. Her feet rocked back and forth. The heat was growing unbearable. “I need to step outside for a moment. Excuse me.”
She scurried off to the balcony, music (and Nanna’s chastising) fading behind her. The stifling heat of the ballroom dissipated. Her heels clicked on the marble floor. Gods, they were uncomfortable. She hadn’t been old enough to wear them before things went awry, and had no reason to wear them during her time with Lewyn. A faint memory surfaced. Her mother always hated heels, but never knew why. Now, Julia knew why— it was how she’d grown up. A memory stolen by cruel fate.
That’s when it clicked. Julia grew up in a palace. Julia grew up with a stable family. Julia grew up with three meals a day, a world-class tutor, and the comfiest clothes money could buy. Her friends, her family; they’d grown up with nothing. Parents murdered, kingdoms usurped. They lived under fear of being caught and killed. Any little slip up and it was over. High expectations were thrown upon their shoulders at such a young age. Yes, Julia experienced that too, but proper manners were nothing compared to leading a revolution.
It wasn’t fair she’d lived the life they were supposed to. It wasn’t fair for her to exist.
She sighed and rest her head upon the smooth stone railing. Had she not lived like them all those years, would she have been a spoiled brat, just as Leif suggested? Would Seliph have turned out that way had he lived like her? The thoughts spiraled in her head, growing worse and worse and--
“Hey, Julia.”
Julia’s head shot up. That voice… she turned.
Her heart sank.
Before her stood Julius, awash in a golden glow. His translucent form wavered ever-so-slightly in the moonlight. A sad smile sat upon his face.
“Julius?” She scrambled over to him, arms splayed out for a hug. A thick, almost gelatinous feeling enveloped them as they went through his form. “I… how…”
He scratched the back of his head. “I came to apologize.”
“Apologize for what?” She stepped back. “Jules, that wasn’t you! I mean, it was you, but it wasn’t, because of Loptyr, and…”
“Julia.”
Tears formed at her eyes. “You don’t need to apologize, Jules!”
“And you don’t have to either.”
Julia opened her mouth, but Julius interrupted before she could make her rebuttal. “Don’t say you weren’t gonna. I know you feel guilty over killing me.”
Tears flowed freely down Julia’s face. “How could I not?”
They stood there, silent.
“Mother is here,” Julius spoke, breaking the tension. “She’s with Seliph’s father. They’re really happy together.”
Julia curled her lip. “And father?”
“I… haven’t seen him yet. But he’s here somewhere. I can feel it.” Julius curled his fists. “Ishtar can’t find her parents either. But Ishtore is here. And Liza, and Reinhardt. He wasn’t so happy to see me.”
Julia giggled sadly. “I can imagine.”
“It took a lot of explaining to get him to calm down. A lot.” He smiled. “We’re all happy now, so don’t worry about us.”
The golden glow around Julius started to fade. His form grew lighter; more transparent.
“Guess it’s my time to go,” he said. “Tell everyone I said hello, alright? The real me, not the Loptyr me. That’s an important distinction.”
“I promise,” Julia said, nodding intensely. “Tell everyone we love them.”
“Of course I will. But they already know that.”
Julia held her hands out, wishing to hold Julius’s one last time. How cruel of fate to deny her such. “Goodbye, Julius.”
“Not goodbye,” Julius said. “Just see you soon.”
With that, he dissipated, golden sparks and silvery mist rising up to the heavens.
Seliph later found Julia sobbing on the ground.