CHAPTER 97: CHAPTER 97: DIFFERENT WORLDS

The morning sun flooded the Royal Solarium, an extensive, glass-walled chamber overlooking the palace gardens.

The light was sharp, almost sterile, shining off the polished silver and crystal arrayed for breakfast.

Princess Viora entered, the lingering tension of her early-morning death-combat session rolling off her sleek, sweat-wicked training gear.

She had hoped for a quiet, energizing meal. Instead, she found the long table, set for a dozen, occupied by only one person.

Aphrodite. And she was the definition of draining, both literally and figuratively.

The woman Viora had, until recently, believed to be her sister, lounged in a plush chair, scrolling through an Omni-Pad.

She wore a dark dress that matched the color of her hair and did little to hide the generous curves straining against the delicate fabric.

A wave of perfect, raven-black hair fell over her shoulders, framing a face of goddess-like beauty.

A servant moved silently behind her, refilling a glass. Viora’s gaze scanned the empty, gleaming chairs.

"Where is mother?" she asked, her voice quiet.

The servant dropped a curtsy. "Princess Athea has another early strategy meeting, Your Highness. Lady Calyra is off-sector. The Queen is... occupied."

Viora nodded, the familiar feeling of disappointment settling in her chest. They were a family only in theory.

Aphrodite finally looked up, her green eyes—the very color that had first sparked Viora’s suspicions, sweeping over her older sisters functional gear with a dismissive glance.

"Still sweating in the training yard first thing in the morning?" she asked, her voice a smooth, sweet melody. "How... practical."

Viora ignored the jab, taking a seat several chairs away. "Some of us have work to do."

"As do we all," Aphrodite murmured, returning to her screen.

Just as Viora signaled the servant for synth coffee, the solarium doors hissed open, and Princess Valerie breezed in, bringing a gust of cheerful energy.

"Good morning!" Valerie chirped, eyes twinkling. "Why is everyone so grim? Are we still in the’speak-only-when-the-Queen-is-on-fire’ part of the day?"

Aphrodite sighed dramatically. "I was enjoying the peace, Valerie."

"You were enjoying pictures of shoes," Valerie retorted, peering at Aphrodite’s screen before winking at Viora. "Don’t mind her, cousin. Aphrodite’s biggest battle this morning was deciding which thousand-credit outfit to wear."

Aphrodite sniffed, pushing a bowl of brightly colored fruit away with a perfectly manicured finger. "These berries aren’t ripe. Totally inedible." She fixed her gaze on Viora, her boredom shifting to petty antagonism. "I trust your morning was more productive? You look tired. Did you break a nail fighting your imaginary monsters?"

Viora’s jaw tightened. She had spent the last three hours sparring to the point of collapse, a session where a single mistake meant a simulated, painful death.

Valerie leaned forward, her voice shaky. "Viora... you’re doing death battles? That’s... I don’t know... terrifying. I’d probably freeze up completely. I’d be dead before I even got a chance to react."

"They’re necessary," Viora said, her voice flat. "These battles prepare the War-Ladies for what’s coming. If they can’t survive here, they won’t survive out there."

Aphrodite, who had been listening with an almost amused expression, spoke up, her tone smooth but biting. "Survive... by dying? You make it sound charming. How very efficient."

Viora’s eyes flicked to her, patience thinning. Her voice lowered, sharp as steel. "It’s not quaint, Aphrodite. The Vorthak are real. Very real. And two War-Ladies died under my command just last week."

Aphrodite’s lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. "Ah, yes. The grim results of your training. How charmingly... brutal."

Viora’s hands clenched into fists on the table. The casual, unthinking cruelty—her fallen soldiers equated to a difficult dress fitting, was too much.

"There is nothing charming about it," she said, her voice dangerously quiet and cold with contempt. "It was their sacrifice for everyone. A concept you clearly wouldn’t understand."

Aphrodite let out an impatient sigh, as if Viora was being a dramatic child. She gave a slight wave of her hand, completely dismissing Viora’s anger and the memory of her soldiers.

"Oh, please," Aphrodite said. "Yes, yes, it all sounds terribly heroic. But honestly, it’s so draining to even hear about." She sighed, leaning back in her plush chair. "I have a gala fitting this afternoon, and the designer is being an absolute tyrant. We all have our battles to fight, I suppose."

Valerie winced, shooting Aphrodite a look that clearly screamed shut up, but Aphrodite was already admiring her nails, convinced she had won the point.

"You handle the messy parts, Viora," Aphrodite continued, her tone charitable. "I handle the important ones. Image. Diplomacy. Mother always says that’s where the real power is. One day, I’ll have a high position on her council, and I won’t have to worry about mud or monsters at all."

Valerie quickly tried to steer the conversation back from the ledge. "Right. Well, the strategic importance of the gala is critical. If Aphrodite shows up in the wrong shade of silver, the entire court alliance might just collapse from secondhand embarrassment. A huge burden."

Viora didn’t smile.

"I’ve lost my appetite," Viora said, her voice flat and cold.

She pushed her chair back, the legs scraping quietly against the crystal floor, and stood. The sight of Aphrodite, so perfectly beautiful and so utterly empty, filled her with a cold, quiet rage.

Valerie watched her go, her cheerful mask finally collapsing into a genuine sigh. She looked back at Aphrodite, who had already returned her full attention to the shoe catalog.

"You know," Valerie muttered, picking up her synth-coffee, "sometimes I really wonder if you hear yourself at all."

Aphrodite just hummed. "It’s not my fault she can’t handle a simple joke. She’s just so sensitive all the time. Everything is ’duty’ and ’sacrifice.’" She leaned back. "It’s exhausting. She should try enjoying being a princess for once. It’s not a bad life, you know."

Valerie shook her head, a small, humorless laugh escaping her. "You two really are from different worlds."

Valerie took another sip of her coffee, watching Aphrodite preen. The self-satisfaction rolling off her was so thick you could almost taste it.

"I forgot" Valerie began, setting her cup down with a soft click, "I have to meet Sage Stellan today, apparently, the Aegis division needs more brains."

Aphrodite’s interest was immediately piqued, but not for scientific reasons. "Stellan? The tech family?" Her perfectly shaped nose wrinkled slightly. "I suppose their name carries some weight. Good for her." The praise was thin, barely hiding her dismissal of someone from a non-royal lineage.

"I was thinking," Valerie said, her tone bright and casual, "You should accompany me as I pay her a visit. A little welcome to the inner circle?"

Aphrodite stared at her as if she’d just suggested they go dig ditches for fun. "And why on earth would I do that?" she drawled. "Visit some lab technician in her workshop? How utterly dreary. Besides, I have my fitting this afternoon."

"Oh, it won’t take long," Valerie insisted cheerfully. "It’ll be an adventure!"

"It will be boring," Aphrodite countered, picking up her Omni-Pad again. "I’m not interested. You can go make friends with the commoners on your own time."

"She is not a commoner. Her family contributes to this Queendom by a lot. Her mother... is Cassia Stellan."

Valerie let the name hang in the air, knowing it would get Aphrodite’s attention. "You know, the CEO of Stellan Innovations? The woman who personally controls the patent on half the bio-circuitry and advanced Vitae conductors our entire military uses? Your mother herself has to schedule meetings with her. So no, Aphro, Sage isn’t some ’lab technician.’ She’s the heir to all of that. Which makes her very, very important."

Aphrodite’s perfectly shaped nose wrinkled slightly at Valerie’s explanation. If she had favourite kinds of people, it was people she knew who offered meaningful connections.

"Stellan Innovations?" Aphrodite repeated, acknowledging the name. "Fine, yes, I suppose that is important. The Queendom does rely on their Vitae conductors for our fleets."

She waved a dismissive hand, already picking her Omni-Pad back up. "But that makes her a strategic asset, Valerie, not an afternoon adventure. I still have my fitting, which is actually urgent."

"But Aphro—" Valerie started.

"You handle the dreary lab visit," Aphrodite cut her off, her tone final as she scanned her shoe catalog again. "You’re better at pretending to be interested in, all the boring science stuff... anyway."

Valerie sighed, her cheerful energy deflating slightly, but she knew a lost cause when she saw one. "Fine. Have fun at your fitting. I’ll go make friends with the commoners on my own."

"Do," Aphrodite murmured.