In the beautifully lit hall within the Royal Emaencian Palace, crowds of statesmen, generals, governors, and a few foreign dignitaries gathered for the party on the eve of the Great Ceremony. The ceremony of the ascension of Nissim Emani, son of King Segev Emani who will retire and relinquish the civic duties of Emaencian Monarch to Nissim.

The hall is long yet massive to accommodate even the largest of gatherings. On one side of the hall are the musicians and the mystical illusionists to entertain the people inside. The other side are the windows overlooking the lush forest flowing across the land. Though at the far end is where the royals gather and converse with others. The conversations are what you expect, small talk regarding families all while trying to discuss politics in an attempt to win favors from the crown itself. Among those royals is one who is unique, someone who is both is and is not a member of the royal family.

Estera Emani, daughter of Segev and one of triplet sisters, Belicia and Noa. In Emaencian belief, if the king and queen have more than one child on the same birthing day, the children who're born are denied ascension to the throne out of fear of a civil war. Unlike the politicians interested in garnering favors, Estera is engrossed in the idea of knowing everyone as individuals. While powerful leaders see their followers as cogs to a great machine, Estera sees everyone as portraits of individual pictures varying in qualities and character. As much as she likes to know what each person is like as a separate person, having a vast number of people in one massive room would be overwhelming to Estera. It isn't because of shyness however, it's because Estera feels compelled to interact with everyone in the room. So many people to look... so many individual methods of how each one of them ticks... so many...

"Lady Estera?" a voice asked. Estera turned her head and finds Nissim approaching her. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, Nissim," Estera said as she mildly rolled her eyes. "Are we not siblings even if we don't share the same mother?"

"Forgive me, but it's a matter of formalities," Nissim explained with a modest smile. "I take it that Belicia isn't coming any time soon."

"Not unless Father wants to see his legally removed daughter inciting a fight," Estera chuckled.

"At least Noa's living it up as an illusionist. Strange that she interacts with everyone here more than you."

"Is she?" Estera asked as she looked back at the crowd. "Is simply knowing a person's name and nothing else a form of interaction? Noa sees everyone as whole groups of people who strive to obtain their needs and wants. Hardly considering how the group is formed to begin with..."

Art by  toughset

Characters belong to me