Miri’s POV

"Well I have to carry this shirt, it's my favorite top, I can pair it with these blue jeans, wow they look so cute together. Miri, my box is full, can I put some in yours?" I hear Alira yelling from our opened doors as we pack up.

It has been one month since the recognition banquet and me and Alira are doing some last-minute packing for the academy tomorrow. Alira is freaking out 'cause she at first thought she wouldn't be attending 'cause she is human, but Dad told us a few days ago that he has already made preparations for us to go together.

A lot of things have happened this past month, like the fact that both me and Alira call the Shadow King Dad now. The first day, which we planned to do over breakfast, he literally cried and hugged us both, telling us how much he loved us which in turn made Alira cry 'cause she was insecure, thinking Dad and our brothers were merely tolerating her because of me. So that day was very emotional for all of us.

Another development is that after that night, me and Aeren have been inseparable, and he also made it a life mission to tease and annoy me to death. Me and Alira are now no longer a duo but now a trio with Aeren. It's so lovely.

And another is I think Alira might become my sister-in-law 'cause she and Malric have almost become inseparable, but she refuses to admit to anything so I am just keeping a close eye and watching over them for now.

And I think the last update is that me and Ryden are somewhat close. We had established a love-hate relationship before he had to return back to the Dragonian Empire, but Alira thinks he likes me, which sounds absurd. 'Cause I also learnt that the Demon Empire is pushing to make me the Prince’s fiancée, but my father has refused to do anything against my will and said he will only agree if I choose to do so and I love him for that.

"MIRI!!! I need your help!" I hear Alira screaming and run over to the next room shouting frantically, "What's wrong?"

Then she turns, looks me dead in the eyes as if she has done absolutely nothing wrong and says, "Which of these outfits do you think screams first day slaying at an institute I technically shouldn't be at, but I have a dad who's a king and loves me so screw it?"

I look at her baffled. "What?"

"Miri, I am being serious! Which one of this screams that?"

I laugh. "Ohh, you should have said that earlier. My choice is the one in the middle 'cause when I'm done with you, you're going to be screaming more than that even."

I say as I lunge at her as soon as I am done and she quickly dodges as she starts to run away. I chase after her and then we bump into Aeren. She shields herself behind him while sticking out her tongue to me.

Just when I was about to attack once more, not even caring that I might take Aeren down with her, Tarin steps in.

"It seems you two little ones are done packing. Should I come and check?"

We both instantly behave and shake our head.

"Brother, go easy on them," Aeren says, which earns him a side eye from Tarin.

"Since you are done with your own packing, you can go help your sisters."

"I'm not done yet," Aeren replies, already slowly backing away.

"Could you repeat that?"

"No thank you," Aeren says as he runs away, leaving us alone.

And as Tarin turns to look back at us, we run as well. We have seen Tarin angry once and I would never like to see it again. It was the day a minister came to visit with their daughter and she slapped Alira thinking she was a slave. Safe to say that the minister might have preferred death and his daughter would never slap anyone again. Well, she will be physically unable to after what Tarin did.

We wrap up with all of our packing and head down for a farewell dinner. It will be me, Alira, Malric, Lior, and Aeren still attending the academy. Renn, Fenn, and Ryden graduated early due to academic excellence, while Renn and Ryden are currently instructors there, so we all will set out there tomorrow and I will be able to see Ryden again. It has been about two weeks since he left. I miss him.

So we decided to have a family farewell dinner. As me and Alira make our way down to the dining, she suddenly runs to Dad's arms and gives him a big hug, which he returns, and as I walk up to him, he pulls me in as well.

"I really don't want to let my daughters go. Or will you girls just stay with Dad?" he asks us.

Rian laughs. "Dad, that isn't how it works. They have to go to school, and you can speak with them whenever through the communal device. So how about you stop squeezing them and allow them to come and eat?"

He lets us go at Rian's words and we all take a seat. The table was adorned with all of our favorite dishes and we dug in.

My dad speaks up again. "You boys better take care of your sister while you all are at the academy. You can't allow anyone to bully her, and if anything happens, you must tell me right away or solve the issue instantly. If anything happens to my fragile and delicate daughters, I will disown you all."

Aeren spits out his water at my father's words. "Dad, which daughter do you have that is fragile and delicate? These two scary warriors that are capable of taking out five men alone? Or did you get another daughter and didn't tell us?"

That earns him a glare from our dad and loud laughs from our brothers.

Fenn hands over cards to Alira and I. "Here girls, this is a gift from your big brother. With this, you can buy whatever you need while at the academy island. Use it as you like. I trust both of you."

"Thank you, big brother," we both say simultaneously.

"Alright, alright. No more talking, let’s just enjoy our meal," Tarin says as the table falls into a comfortable silence.

As we finish and are about to leave, Dad reminds us, "Sleep early. The boat that will take you to the island will leave early, and the island is on neutral territory so no private vehicles are allowed to go in unless all empires agree on it. So if you miss the boat, you will have to wait a week before you can check in, and if that happens, there is no guarantee that you and Alira can continue to be roommates like I had already previously arranged."

And with that, we assure him that we will be awake early 'cause we both hate strangers in our personal space. Sharing a room with people we don't know will be a nightmare.

So off to bed we go.

We wake up bright and early and get together little last-minute things and are already at the docks in record time to wait for the school personal ship. Once it arrives, we hug our remaining brothers and our father and say our goodbyes as we get on.

We continue waving at them until they are completely out of sight and I know that this is the beginning of a new chapter of my life and I can't help but be a bit excited.