Zoltan Unredeemed

"...the country is stagnant, our military is behind even the viceroyalty, and the madame palatine is still stockpiling government funds as if there's a coming catastrophe that we all cannot foresee but her..."

"More rice, Arcelon?"

I looked up and saw a smiling woman looking down at me before raising the pot of white rice under her arm.

I nodded and smiled, "Yes, mama, thank you."

"Here you go. Eat as much as you want. Your sister really filled the food stores to the brim when she heard that you would come for a visit," she said earnestly before sitting next to me in front of the dining table, fully laden with my favorite foods and sipping from the glass of wine comfortably.

I nodded and continued eating ravenously as the news reporter commented on the television ceaselessly while we listened silently.

"...tensions along the border with the castle, the empire demanding more industrial output from the palatinate, the archduke announcing a raise of tariffs from Fang's goods, and all the monarch is doing is what she has been doing so for years. The world is changing around her, and she is still at it as consistent as the lives of Fangers are the same as it was a century ago under her predecessor. What is she doing? Amassing fortune from her nation's coffers and stuffing it inside the Palatine Bank vaults, seemingly never to see the light of another day. Completely unreasonable at this point..."

Mama chuckled and shook her head as she put down her glass and sighed, "Men and their narrow-mindedness. While I don't know what she is doing, it is common knowledge among us females that we never do anything for no reason at all."

"I think she is unreasonable," I disagreed quietly and looked at the television to see the ruler of the palatinate entering her palace and among the cheering crowds, "Instead of using the money to stimulate growth, she is just shoving it under her bed uselessly. What a waste."

Mama didn't answer and instead looked at the clock which showed that it was almost five in the afternoon.

As if on cue, the door opened, and out came a beautiful teenager around fourteen years old with a guitar hanging on her back and drumsticks in her hand.

She looked around wildly, and when her eyes fell on me, she ran as fast as she could in my direction and hugged me tightly, "Brother, you're back! I missed you so much!"

"And I, you," I answered simply as her tight hug didn't allow me to say any more than that.

This wild and explosive woman is none other than my sister, Nayla.

At the young age of fourteen, she is already one of the most famous celebrities known as Lythena, not just in the viceroyalty but also in Crysalia.

Combining our father's musical talents and her mother's charm and confidence, she became a pop culture icon larger than life, even for me.

"Oh my, have you two eaten already?! Did you save some for me?!"

She asked loudly, and mama just chuckled and sighed, "Yes, yes. Calm down. I cooked a lot, so everyone can have their seconds or thirds."

My sister clapped her hands in approval before talking to me again, "How have you been, brother?"

"Bored to death as usual. Nothing to do in the house but look after the cats and sleep," I answered truthfully, which made her frown, "What did you expect?"

"Well, since you are sixteen now, I was expecting that you would at least get something to do..."

"That was my guess as well. But nope, just stay put inside the house, sleep and eat all day."

Mama returned with a new batch of dishes and looked at me worryingly, "Have you decided which school you will go to for your masters?"

"Funny you should ask, mama. Since when did I ever get a chance to choose for myself anyway?" I replied irritably, which made her sigh and shake her head.

"If you want, you can tell your papa when he comes home later to talk to your mother about it," she offered, and I just let out a peal of hollow laughter.

"I would like to see him try."

My sister decided to change the topic by pointing at the television where a quartet of a boyband around my age is singing and dancing in front of millions of adoring fans, "You like Frazers, right?"

"Yeah, I like their songs. More exciting than my life, that's for sure."

"Well, get a load of this!"

To my surprise, she extracted from her pocket a gray baller with the Frazers' four cats emblem on it as she took my left hand and put it quickly.

"Wow, how did you get this, Lythena?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked pleased with herself as she got the reaction that she was expecting as I gazed at the bawler appreciatively, "We were invited to a music festival in the archduchy last week, and we performed one after the other, so I took my chance and ambushed them for this."

"But this is a super limited edition baller," I said in astonishment as I looked at it on my thin wrist, "You have to buy all their albums and go to all their concerts before you even get the chance to join the lottery to get one of the four bands and you just went up and ask one for it?"

My sister shrugged her shoulders as if it was not a big deal, "Well, I traded them one of my band's vinyl records, which they lap up surprisingly."

"Thank you, Nayla. I appreciate this..."

"To see you crack a smile is enough, brother," she replied simply as we turned to the television again mama switched the channel to lifestyle one.

"...Imperial Crown Prince Loki just finished his empire tour with a huge success. The imperial dominions of Hel, Garm, Habrok, and Sleipnir all pledge their loyalty to their mother state in a renewed effort of the empire to secure its borders and show solidarity as their emperor celebrates his silver jubilee in the Crown City of Folcourt, attended by the rest of the eight nations' delegates..."

"Now that's a strapping young man who has everything in the world," mama remarked as we looked at the admittedly very handsome heir to the imperial throne, "He kind of reminds me of you, Arcelon."

I snorted and shook my head as I looked at my reflection in the mirror across the dining area.

I saw a pitifully thin teenager with a messy mat of curly hair that almost covered half his face, slouched and looking pathetic compared to the boy waving right now in front of an ecstatic crowd.

"I wish..."

"Now that mama mentioned it, he looks like you, brother," Lythena seconded, which I just brushed off and continued eating the scrumptious food only mama can cook for me.