"Let’s go then."

I uttered the words while standing up from my seat. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Alicia and the rest seemed surprised by my sudden action, though Ashlyn stood soon after while nodding at Ana.

"Eat slowly, and wait till I return."

I stepped towards Alicia while speaking the words, and the latter... she had a confused look on her face at my sudden order, though she managed a small nod at the end.

"Let’s visit the market later."

The moment the words left my mouth, Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise, though she managed to stay composed.

I had already been planning to make a visit to the market... taking Alicia along with me was just a bonus.

Maybe... I would end up learning more about the Frost.

***

Alicia observed as Kael left the cafeteria along with Ashlyn.

Even now Alicia couldn’t come to terms with the fact that her brother was allying himself with the Levaiths, despite them being clear rivals of the Frosts.

And not only that, but her sister was also competing for the position.

So Kael’s support for Ashlyn meant that he would be standing against Victoria in the coming elections.

Though knowing Kael’s current relations with their family, such an outcome should have been obvious to Alicia... but seeing the situation unfold before her eyes made Alicia unable to accept the fact that this was her reality.

Kael... he didn’t really care for them.

Alicia could feel it from the way he clarified his stance of supporting Ashlyn.

Still, the warmth from the hug was still etched into Alicia’s mind.

Remembering it, Alicia hoped that she would be able to change Kael.

That she could bring him back.

"You worry too much."

Diana had a fair idea of Alicia’s thoughts.

Hearing the comment directed at her, Alicia’s first response was to deny it, but she paused midway seeing the knowing smile that Diana had while looking at her.

"I will take my leave."

Ana, having finished her meal, knew that the topic of discussion had shifted to something more private for the Veltran princess as well as Alicia.

So knowing that she was being an outsider in the conversation, Ana stood up from her seat before slightly bowing towards Diana.

"It was a pleasure talking with you, Miss Ana."

Diana didn’t stop Ana from leaving.

"It was my honour, Princess."

Saying the words, Ana quickly made a quiet exit, leaving Diana and Alicia to talk amongst themselves.

"You know Victoria still has a lot of hostility towards Kael... at least from what she has shown in the recent events."

Diana’s statement made Alicia bite her lower lip in acceptance.

Indeed, from the way Alicia had seen everything, she knew for sure that even if it hadn’t been Kael cutting Victoria’s arm to end the fight, it would have been the other way round, with Victoria trying to dump all her pent-up frustration on Kael in the very same fight.

Lifting the nearby glass, Alicia slowly took a small sip from it before placing it at its earlier location.

The small gesture on her part was a way to let Diana’s words dissolve into the silence, without them weighing on her mind, but—

The weight of those words was too great for Alicia’s shoulders to bear alone.

Diana quietly observed Alicia, having a fairly good idea about what might have been going through the girl’s head, and she wasn’t proven wrong as Alicia’s eyes had begun to water again.

Diana let the scene unfold without trying to comfort Alicia; at least, she waited for the right moment.

Alicia, on her part, just kept staring at the table without speaking a word, though her tears were proof enough of the storm that was raging in her heart.

"W-What should I d-do?"

With a trembling voice, Alicia uttered the words, making Diana place a hand on her shoulder.

"See... you are worrying again. The past is not something that you can reset with a flick of your finger. It takes time to heal the wounds of time. Kael’s disappointment in us... it had been rooted in his mind due to years of conflict, so expecting to solve such resentment within days isn’t really a practical way to approach the situation, is it?"

Though Diana said the words, from within she couldn’t help but be amused by the situation.

Such complex family dynamics were an entertaining thing to watch, and Diana... she was grateful that the Frosts had such conflicts in their family, or else—

It would have been far more difficult for ’her’ to take over this body.

Alicia seemed to have received some sort of enlightenment from Diana’s words, as a hint of hope returned to her eyes.

"Do you really think time will heal—"

"I know it will. Trust me on that."

"..."

"The only thing you have to do is behave like your natural self. Don’t try to burden Kael with your emotions or else it might have an adverse effect on your relationship."

At least that was something that Diana had analysed from the human named Kael Frost.

The kid had his entire thought process rooted in practicality.

Diana knew that Kael would always see every situation from the point of view of the profits he could derive from it or the losses he may suffer.

If something became a hassle for him, then he would completely distance himself from the given situation.

Or at least that was her primary judgement.

The human may have more intricacies to his thought process that might still have been hidden from her eyes.

After all, Kael... the kid was good at creating illusions and hiding his true thoughts.

Even ’she’ had to be careful around him because her instincts had warned her of it.

Kael... he had a lot more secrets than what he made the world believe.

Diana had felt a strong warning from her instincts when she had thought of trying to control the boy through direct means by using her own power.

She didn’t think that a mere Silver 3 would be able to stop her might, but she felt it.

Kael had many ways to protect himself from her influence, even going to the extent of being able to fight her.

And that conclusion was far more interesting to her because there were only a handful of people in the world who could truly fight her head-on at her peak.