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Lurtain of Borderline, Xandar

The city of Lurtain, always bustling with numerous people, mostly visitors, some merchants, and what left were its own residents. The city was wide and spread out, with many houses with red roofs having similar color as the setting sun, Located in the western region of Xandar itself, it was also known as the land of the setting sun for its beautiful scenery of the red evening sun.

It was a hot region indeed in comparison to others but the city and its citizens were already comfortable and properly accosted to its environment, their fashion and design upgrading to cool and cover themselves to a degree, many face-covering shawls and sun reflecting silks coming into play. Even though the resident demographic was less, in comparison to the high number of tourists and many other merchants going in and out of their country, all the citizens and guards were given proper respect, the reason being the red flame most of them possessed.

Flip….

Yes, most of them were fire benders, the heat and the spark of light flowing through their veins. It was already commonly known as the power of fire was indeed dominant and more practical than others and that alone garnered a level of respect among all the other fellow humans.

And to top it all, there mana level and control over their flame further increased with the help of none other than the ruler. The guardian of the west gate. One of the only nobles wielding the Peak-bloodline. Marquise, Apollo D Phonixia himself.

Flip….

Following the rumors, Marquise Apollo himself shaded his precious blood all over the city lands along the times of the past, primarily known as the time of war and with those many years of protecting his mother country with his sweat and blood alone, enriching the lands with mana, mana in close with his ferocious fire element which burned all enemies to ash.

And it is told that, until Marquise Apollo losses his last breath, Lurtain, the border city of the proud Xandar will never lose its essence of mana, which is now giving strength to its fellow citizens living within and the soldiers, guarding the border wall.

Thud….

With the end of the last page, the book of red stories finally closed, a delicate but lean hand touching its red cover, the evening red light, reflecting on her nails.

She looked at her side, the decorated window, fully open and the beautiful scenery for both of her crimson eyes to see. Her long red eyelashes fluttering with her every blink, her red curly hair, waving with the current of the wind.

"I miss him….so much…." she said, a tinge of sadness leaving her lips. Her warm beating heart, losing its flaming passion. Which was in contrast to her peak-bloodline giving rages and rages of heat to her body as it always should.

"haa...I already told you so many times Julie dear, forget about him already, he ran away with your peasant of a friend. Choosing them instead of his kingdom and you still say you miss him, your worry is wasted on that idiotic child of a prince."

"No!! he\'s not stupid, father. h..he is the smartest person I know!" she bellowed with fierceness, her heart rekindling to its raging glory.

With the stomp of her foot, she walked away, her palms gripped in a fist, her cute eyes all contracted, looking at her father in anger.

"I\'m not talking to you father! Mother was right! You really are a bully!"

With those words, she trudged away from her red-bearded father. Stepping away from the room, with fire flaming after her every step.

Bang!!

the door closed with a bang, only leaving flaming steps along the way.

"haa...my dear wife and my cute daughter, what did you do to both of them you scumbag of a child. I should have killed him when I had the chance."

He signed, waving his hand and with a puff, the raging fire left behind by her daughter gone in seconds, only leaving the burnt marks all over the décor carpet.

"You can\'t hide forever you rat, first the maid, then you, then eventually your mother. All will be done as my Liege plans, for me and my bloodline.

Guards!! Increase the soldiers around the gate, I don\'t want a fly getting out of Xandar without proper scanning." He ordered.

"""yes my lord."""

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Julie\'s room

There she was, on her bed, her whole face cushioned deep within.

"wh..is…da..li..th.." she mumbled, her face still cushioned. Feeling a bit suffocated. She finally turned around, her gaze back to the ceiling, looking at the red chandelier, hanging in the middle.

"I wish father knew how amazing you really are Atlas. Even though I am six years older than him, he still knows more stuff than me, always teaching me new things, I know for sure, he wouldn\'t run with those..those bad people and sister Anny wouldn\'t let this happen from the beginning.

I know for sure something is fishy, I wish mommy would take me with her to meet Aunty Elizabeth. Haa..."

Time went by as she looked at many of her photo collections of Atlas. In some of them, they were together, some of them with her mother but most of them were his alone. Every posture and smile of his was properly recorded.

"hihihihi...he is soooo cute when he shows his dimple and his eyes, why is his eyes so beautiful. I just want to keep looking at them for days and days to come."

Ring! Ring!

As she was staring at one of his photos of his mesmerizing eyes, her earring rang, surprising her all of sudden. The earring that was ringing was from her right ear, which surprised her even more as this was a gift from Atlas himself from her 9th birthday.

She quickly tapped her mana into it, hoping to finally talk to him or at least hear his soothing voice.

"he….hello, A…Atlas! Is it you?!"

"...sorry Julie but it\'s not his highness but.....me… Anny." Said a familiar voice with a low tone.

"Anny!!!??" she shouted

"shhh...keep it down, Julie…"

"S..sorry, Anny, where are you? Where is Atlas?" she said, lowering her voice.

"It\'s not appropriate to say anything here, come to the Redland. The garden where we met before. We can talk there and don\'t let anybody follow you, you have to come alone. So don\'t tell anyone and mostly don\'t tell your father ok?"

"um…um…ok, Redland, got it."

"ok…I will be waiting."

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"haa...this child, she will be the end of me at this rate and here I thought it would be easier to get out of this place with her majesty\'s disguise ring….how naïve of me. King Henry already gave out scanner rings to all cities to the borders, with mine and Prince Atlas pure mana intact.

This would have already shaved off a large amount of money from the royal vault itself which means his Majesty is getting impatient.

Is it some kind of sign, haa…..Prince Atlas, I hope we meet soon. Your maid can\'t be herself without you…..I hope Julie comes alone as I said. If Marquise Apollo hears about this, I\'m done for. It is risky but…..if it means I can see him sooner, then it\'s worth the risk."

*****

Thank you for reading! The next two chapters are free on patr eon (https://www.patr eon.com/Highelder), eight chapters beyond that for three dollars, and many more for five dollars (five-chapter release a week at this tier).

And if you want to ask any questions I\'m in discord: https://discord.gg/QbWyAP3Y8j