77 Ratacia Palace (2/2)

”I’ll be right there. Thanks, Elena,” replied Lucien.

He slowly stood up from the couch and walked toward the mirror. Staring at himself in the mirror for thirty seconds, Lucien took a deep breath and walked out of his office.

......

Sitting straight inside of the dark purple coach decorated with the coat of arms of the Violet family, Lucien felt the movement of the coach was rather smooth. The dark yellow carpet made in Tria was thick and comfy, and the wine on the small table had a nice deep ruby red color. However, Lucien did not feel like having a drink at all, since he had to make sure he would stay sober and calm in the palace.

A bit more than ten minutes later, the coach arrived at Ratacia Palace on time. The magnificent front gate of the palace was made of stone and was engraved with relief sculptures of many famous heroes in history. A dozen of guards led by a mighty and muscular knight were standing in front of the gate.

After a security check of Lucien’s personal belongings, the knight waved his hand and let the coach pass.

As soon as Lucien entered the huge gate, he sensed the solemn and mighty divine power enveloping the whole palace.

This light golden-colored palace was the most spectacular and magnificent structure in Aalto. Besides its great momentum, the details of Ratacia Palace were also created with exquisite handcraft. The symmetrical architecture showed the majesty of the grand duke house. The two castle-like palaces in both western and eastern wings were connected by a grand palace complex in the center.

In front of the main palace there was a large square with fine spray fountains, covered with rare and beautiful trees and flowers.

A broad artificial river ran through the square, in which a few boats were floating by the river bank.

The coach which Lucien was sitting in followed the avenue going through the garden and crossed the long bridge over the artificial river, and it finally stopped right in front of the main palace. Two beautiful maids were already waiting there.

”Mr. Evans, please follow us to the princess’ music practicing room.” The two blond-haired girls looked like twins. They greeted Lucien with respect.

”Thank you.” Lucien nodded politely.

Following the two maids, he saw more details of the palace on his way to the practicing room. The designers and the architects used the finest colorful stone as the main building material of the palaces, and all the different kinds of stones were shining brightly in the sunlight. Inside of the palaces, the stairs and the handrails were carefully gilded, and according to the different themes of the palaces, dazzling decorations such as huge crystals, fine white laces and gorgeous dome paintings could be seen everywhere.

Being very familiar with the path, neither of the maids talked to Lucien on the way but just walked in front of him. They were trained to be respectful and remain silent. Soon Lucien came to a very charming corridor.

Facing the direction of the garden, there were twenty-four arched windows on one side of the corridor, while on the other side, twenty-four mirrors were reflecting the beauty of the sight in the garden, as if the corridor was also fully planted with the fine trees and flowers, which added radiance and beauty to the magnificent huge dome painting above.

This was the best-known part of Ratacia Palace—the Paradise Corridor. Lucien had read about it before, when he was working in the Association’s library.

Passing Paradise Corridor, which featured the great style of divinity, Lucien finally arrived at the palace where princess Natasha lived. The palace had a unique name—War Gallery. Here Lucien saw many fine oil paintings showing the theme of war on the walls.

”This is the princess’s practicing room, Mr. Evans.” The two maids led Lucien to a quiet room in the corner, and asked him to wait for a moment outside, since they had to report to lady Camil first.

A moment later, Lucien was invited to enter the room.

......

The practicing room was way bigger than any one in the association. The warm and sweet orange color of the room was peaceful and soothing. The carpet was very fancy, on which different kinds of musical instruments were carefully placed, and in the center of the room stood a light golden piano.

Natasha was sitting in front of the piano, playing a piece of music called March of War. Her playing was very skilled, even better than many professional instrumentalists. However, it seemed like she was mimicking Victor’s fingering intentionally, and thus her playing sounded a bit rigid.

In her black dress, Camil was sitting in the couch at the far end of the room.

Natasha stopped playing when Lucien came into the room. She turned around and smiled to him, ”I’m having a hard time here following Victor’s new fingering. Can you help me, Lucien?”

She talked to Lucien in a nice way, as if he was her old friend.

”Of course. It’s my great pleasure.” Lucien sat on the other bench and started to explain.

Lucien knew that the princess was very interested in piano and thus he was relatively well-prepared for the possible questions the princess might have. Although he could not make a perfect explanation, Lucien was very honest and sincere, which made Natasha feel that when Lucien was providing her with the proper guidance she needed, at the same time they were also learning and exploring piano together.

Time passed quickly. When Lucien was still introducing the new fingering, all of a sudden Natasha looked at him and asked, ”Lucien, is your mind being bothered by something? I can feel your anxiety.”

As a level five grand knight, Natasha’s intuition told her that something was wrong with Lucien. With the outspokenness in her personality, the princess asked directly.