After getting the girl into the dress she chose and combing her hair properly, Kara took a step back to admire her work.
"There, all done now Princess. What do you think?"
Kara moved a mirror in front of the girl. The girl seemed satisfied as she checked her looks.
"Thank you Kara."
"You are welcome princess."
Kara bowed as she received the girl's thanks. Even if she was the one who did the work, objectively speaking the girl looked amazing.
The golden accents against the deep red and black really stood out. The shining yellow gemstone of the brooch laying on her chest also seemed to glow much brighter.
"If only it was for a different reason…"
Kara muttered beneath her breath. This was the girl's first time making a public appearance so, Kara worked extra hard to make her look the best she could. But as they were going to a funeral, she was rather limited on the colors that could be used.
"Shall we head to the entrance and wait for the others, Princess?"
"Yeah, let's go."
"Follow me Princess."
Naturally as Kara was leading she was in front of the girl. Thanks to that, she missed the girl looking at her dress with downcast eyes.
****
Arriving at the entrance hall, the girl sees her mother already there waiting. Seemingly noticing her gaze, her mother's head turned towards and gestured for her to come down.
"You look adorable dear."
"Thank you. Kara worked hard on it."
She was unsure if the compliments she was receiving were fake or not, nevertheless the girl was delighted to hear them. It was not every day that she could hear such sweet words, especially recently.
"Well, how do I look then?"
Her mother took a step back to show off the outfit she chose. Unlike most noble ladies, she was not very fond of dresses. So in place of a dress her mother was in a blood red suit.
"You look cool mom."
"Not exactly what I was going for, but it's nice that you approve."
"That's surprising, I wasn't first."
Suddenly, the girl heard her father's voice behind her. Turning around, the girl saw her father in a militia uniform alongside a cape on his shoulders.
"Haven't seen that one in a while. You still look great."
"I always look great Jyll, as do you of course."
"Why do I feel a hint of sarcasm in your voice, Darling?"
"Please believe me when I say it's only in your mind that you hear that."
"Really now?"
Her mother stepped closer towards her father's face as if to read his thoughts. She smiled before backing away.
"I'll believe you this time darling. Do not make me not believe."
"That I will assure you."
Her father then turned towards her and seemed to assess her attire.
"Hmm… I like the dress, Mira. You look nice."
"Thank you. You look great too dad."
"Hmm… I wonder how long it'll take Rel to come down."
"Not long at all daddy."
Just as her father was wondering where her big sister was, she appeared right behind him wearing an all black dress. However, she also had a veil on.
"Ah there you are. You look great, Rel."
"Thanks daddy."
This time it was her voice that lacked any energy. Considering the occasion it was appropriate for her. There was no need to peek behind her veil to see her expression.
"Ok, are we all ready to go? No one left anything they might need?"
As the empress asked the rest of the family, they all shook their heads no.
"Alright then let's get going."
With empress in front the other three follow closely behind, all with mixed emotions stirring inside them. Getting onto the carriage, the girl sat next to her big sister as her father sat next to her mother.
"It'll be some time before we reach the cathedral, so if you want to take a small nap it should be fine. We'll walk you two up when we arrive."
Though the empress said that to everyone in the carriage, the girl felt that it was targeted to her specifically. As she normally gets up at around noon and it was barely ten. Her body and natural clock was telling her to go back to bed.
"N-no… I'm fine."
"It's alright sweetie, it'll be a long ride. We'll wake you up when we get there."
The girl's senses were telling her to accept her mother's offer and fall asleep. Her mind and want to keep awake were fighting but before long they lost. She agreed on a compromise with herself, she rested her head against the carriage's wall and just closed her eyes for a bit.
****
"Did you bring any smelling salts on you Jyll?"
"Hmm? No."
"Good thing I brought some then."
"Why would you do that?"
"Hoho… you'll see."
Pyron laid back with a smirk on his face. He turned to look at Aurelia, whose face was obscured by a veil looking out the window.
"You can take a nap if you want to as well, Rel. We'll wake you. I have enough smelling salts that it could even keep a narcoleptic awake the entire day."
"Huh? Oh… yeah…"
Unlike her little sister, Aurelia immediately closed her eyes and got some sleep. That was slightly heartbreaking for the couple. The two spoke to each other in hush whispers as to not wake them.
"She's handling this a lot better than I would've thought."
"This is handling it well for you? Jyll, she didn't even give me a pity laugh. Not even a small one."
"Really? That's your metric to see if she's doing well or not?"
"Is it not a good way? She's a little more quiet but if you look at her she looks fine."
"Can you blame her? She really liked that boy."
"I know."
The two looked at the sleeping Aurelia with saddened eyes.
"I can't even imagine what she's feeling right now. Considering everything I guess she is dealing with it better than most."
"It'll be a while before we can even bring up the idea of getting engaged again."
"Are there a lot of them coming in?"
"A lot? It's basically everyone. I feel like even hers would send one if they weren't already engaged."
Jyllene gestured to their youngest.
"You think so?"
"Selena asked how Aurelia was doing. Felt like she was probing a bit."
"Too bad for them. Mira really likes Felix."
"I know. I just hope the boy likes her too."
"I just want him to treat her well."
Pyron crossed his arms and laid back as he thought of his youngest's marriage partner. From what he heard from her, she's head over heels for him. Though he never heard if the feeling went both ways.
Objectively speaking, his youngest was not a bad person. She was kind, excitable, and generally just a nice person to be around. But being a nice person and being a nice partner for nobles were two different things.
Judging by the reports of her academics and etiquette, the girl seemed to be struggling unlike her sister who passed her tests with flying colors.
"I hope his skills can make up for hers."
It was not exactly a nice thing for him to say, but it was the truth. He muttered it under his breath so much so that Jyllene barely heard him. Unfortunately, there was one more person listening in on their conversation with her excellent hearing.
'I should've gone to sleep.'
It took all of the girl's willpower to hold back the tears threatening to flow out of her eyes. She steeled her heart and continued to close her eyes until they reached the cathedral.
****
"Wake up you two, we're here."
Before the girl could accidentally fall asleep, they already arrive at their destination. Though she was a little disappointed they got there so fast, it was probably more fortunate that they did.
"You can probably wake up Rel like that, but Mira doesn't work that way."
"How so?"
"It'll be better if you see for yourself."
Her father seemed to lay back and watch as her mother tried to wake her up.
"Mira, sweetie get up, we're here."
As her mother shook her to wake her, she refused to open her eyes. The girl was trying to figure out what kind of face she should make when she faces them. Next to her, her big sister was already stirred awake.
"Hmm?"
"Morning Dear, looks like you had a nice nap."
"Yeah…"
Though the girl had her eyes closed, just from the tone of her big sister's voice she could tell just how little energy she had. The girl could feel her stretching beside her.
"Wow. You really weren't kidding when you said she wouldn't wake just from this."
"Honestly I think an earthquake couldn't wake her up. Here let me."
Suddenly, the girl heard a snapping sound followed by a pleasant smell. It was a smell that she had grown familiar with and while she was still awake she was well aware of its uses so she had no choice but to at least pretend to stir awake.
"Hmm? Ah…"
Getting up she even let out a sigh.
"Good morning Mira. We have arrived."
"Mhn… good morning."
The girl rubbed her eyes and stretched her body to really sell her act. Suddenly, there was a knock on their day.
"We have arrived, Your Grace."
"Thanks Shira, you can open the door. You heard the man, let's go."
With her father's declaration, the door to their carriage was opened by their butler. One by one the family stepped outside. The occasion was rather unpleasant, but the girl was a little bit excited. This was the first time she went out of the palace's walls.
Normally such a thing would only happen after she turned thirteen when she would finish with her studies and be at an acceptable level to present to the other nobles. Apparently it was so that the children would not tarnish the reputation of their house.
Had this happened earlier in time, the girl would probably be filled with confidence to face any of them. However due to recent events, she learned that the favor that the people around were giving her was all in her head.
At the sight of the massive cathedral filled with people, the girl had the wish to hide in her shadow.
"Hmm? Something wrong sweetie?"
Perhaps seeing the girl cower slightly, her mother suddenly asked her a question.
"N-no. I'm fine. Just a little intimidated."
"Well it is your first time outside the palace. Don't worry too much. You'll get used to it soon enough. Come on, let's head inside."
With her mother boldly stepping forward, the girl had little choice but to follow her. It was a much better idea than being left behind in such an unfamiliar place.
Entering the cathedral, even with the girl on edge she was still able to marvel at the aesthetics. The walls are lined with statues of what she assumes to be the gods. Some she knew like Sol and Luna, while some were new to her.
Though the Recora empire mainly worshiped Sol as it was part of the imperial family's half of the bargain, acknowledgement of the other gods were still permitted.
"Mira. You can explore later. Come with us."
"Huh? Yeah."
The girl hurried to her family's side as they stop in front of a large door.
"Shall we announce your arrival, your Majesty?"
"No need. Today is not a day for us. We are merely guests this time."
"Very well."
The butler opened the large door before stepping aside and allowing the family to walk past. The girl followed her family as they walked to the front of the sanctum. Just ahead the girl could see the images of Sol and Luna carved into the wall and in between them was a small casket. There was no need to guess who was inside.
Though they were not announced, few could miss the doors opening and even fewer would miss the gold hair of the imperial family. Those who noticed bowed their heads towards them. Her father and mother raised their hands to acknowledge them, then took a seat in the front row.
The girl took a look around the sanctum and felt melancholic. All of these people were here to see off a young boy who passed away. Even if they were never going to meet now, the boy was going to be her brother in law.
Before long, someone wearing the robes similar to the priest she's seen in the books stepped out and stopped in front of a podium.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Ivan Gildea…"