Ascension of the last Celestial

"Where is he! We have been waiting for 30 minutes now!" Elena asked in annoyance, rapidly tapping her foot on the stone floor of the palace. All the other members of the royal family were already finished dressing and ready to head out to the elven princess’s birthday. They were just waiting for Valerian at the staircase.

Helias wore a regal-looking red robe with golden embroidery, the official colors of the Solaria Kingdom. He didn’t wear his crown, but his entire body was adorned with jewelry that clearly showed the wealth of the Solaria Kingdom. Instead, his golden hair was styled to perfection, framing his still youthful, handsome face. Next to him was his wife, Freya Solaria. She wore a matching red, sleeveless dress that accentuated her perfect hourglass figure. She wore a golden necklace and rings, as well as golden earrings. Around her shoulders was a golden stole. Her shining silver hair was braided at the side of her head, converging at a bun at the back of her head. Elena also wore a red dress, but hers was less eye-catching and more appropriate for someone her age. Similar to her mother, she wore golden jewelry and had her silver hair the same way Freya does, with the exception of a ponytail at the back of her head instead of a bun.

"I don’t know, baby. The last thing I heard was that he shoved the maids out of his room to get dressed." Freya answered Elena’s question with an answer that didn’t leave her satisfied.

"Shouldn’t you or I take the longest? What is so hard about putting on your clothes?" As Elena continued to voice her annoyance at Valerian taking so long, Helias just stood to the side and watched his daughter ramble with a sigh.

Just then, they heard the clicking of boots on the marble up the stairs, and what they saw took their breath away.

An incredibly handsome young man was walking down the stairs. His face was the epitome of beauty, a perfect mix between male handsomeness and feminine beauty. A jawline looking so sharp it could cut through steel framed a gorgeous face. His slitted purple eyes looked like the eyes of a cosmic ruler looking down at their mortal subjects, the uniqueness of his eyes giving them an entirely new beauty. Around these cosmic eyes were long white eyelashes. His head of long, snow-white hair was tied back in a ponytail, while leaving a few strands to frame his divine face. At the side of his head was one braid at each side, reaching down to the middle of his chest.

Two long, onyx-black horns stood tall and proud on his head, giving a perfect contrast to his white hair. They had a slight curl in them. The mixture between his divine face and the horns gave him a mysterious vibe that combined the holy and the profane. His ears had golden earrings with a purple gem hanging from them. His clothes were made up of a mix between a black robe and a black suit jacket with golden rims. A black mantle rested over the shoulders, lined with deep purple silk and embroidered with light-gold celestial patterns. Epaulettes decorated with gold chains, amethyst gemstones, and tassels hung from the shoulders, giving the outfit an imperial, divine appearance, and the inside was a matching purple. His hands had golden rings with both violet and red gems.

"Took your breath away?" Valerian addressed his family, who stood down the stairs with their mouths hanging open, with a grin.

"You took way too long!" The silence left behind by Valerian’s question was broken by the outcry of his sister.

"Well, little sister, perfection takes time," Valerian answered while flipping a strand of his hair up. His confident and utterly narcissistic declaration caused her to burn up with anger.

"I will show you perfection!" Before Elena could reach him to "show him perfection", she was held back by Freya, who gave her daughter a glance.

"Don’t start to fight now."

Helias walked over to Valerian, who reached the bottom of the stairs. He put both his hands on Valerian’s shoulders and looked down into his eyes.

’He’s grown so much.’

Helias wasn’t thinking as a king who made a great investment by saving a boy 10 years ago, who turned out to be the greatest genius history has ever seen. He was thinking as a father who now only barely stood taller than Valerian by 10 cm.

"You look good when you actually make something out of yourself." Helias threw a joking insult at Valerian, who answered in retaliation.

"I always look good, old man. Don’t tell me your old age is catching up to you."

A slight vein popped on Helias’s forehead. "You clearly forgot who the head of this house is for you to talk to me like that."

Before it could escalate into a full-on brawl, Freya stepped in again to stop her family from fighting her son. ’She really got that hotheadedness from her father.’

"You two stop now, we are already late!" Upon hearing Freya talk, they both had a mutual agreement to let this down for now and attend the birthday party.

Before they could make their way down to the teleportation gates, space bent around them and they appeared in the middle of the chamber holding the gates. At the arrival of the royal family, every overseer, knight, or other worker went down to one knee and put their right fist to their heart.

"I can’t tell you how jealous I am of you," Elena sent that small comment in the direction of Valerian. And indeed, a space affinity at the strength he possessed was something to be jealous about. Setting aside the combat applications, space is without a doubt the best form of transportation, being able to completely skip the route and just appear at the destination.

Together, they walked up to the teleportation gate that was already prepared for them to take. The overseer there, already knowing what would happen, made way from the terminal and Valerian took his place. He began to channel his space mana into the terminal and a gate began to form in front of them. Unlike the bluish portals with a black center that normally appeared, a violet portal appeared where the destination of the portal was clearly seeable. On the other side was a platform made from white marble, and in the background was a massive wall of bark that had a building at the side.

Valerian joined his family in front of the gate and together they walked through.

Arriving at the destination instantly, the light sickness that normally came with teleportation never came. Another advantage of Valerian’s space magic: his portals were better, more solid, and therefore allowed a more seamless travel.

When all of them stepped out, they were immediately met with two rows of elven knights lining up across from each other, creating a passage. They had silver armor with silver linings and a depiction of a tree in the same silver. From the end of that passage, three figures walked towards them calmly.

As the figures got closer, their features got more clear. Two of them were male and one was female. One of the male ones was walking next to the female one, while the third one was slightly behind them.

The ones walking in front looked slightly older. The man wore deep green and brown robes and a silver crown that looked like roots. He had long blond hair that reached the end of his back and golden eyes. The woman had silver hair with light pink highlights, and her eyes were a clear blue color. She wore similar robes, going for a combination of silver, green, and brown.

The young man in the back looked to be slightly older than Valerian and had long blond hair that reached the middle of his back. He had a handsome face and the same clear ocean eyes as the woman. Obviously, all three of them had long pointed ears.

"It is an honor to meet the Emperor Alderon Verdantia and Empress Avelia Verdantia of the elven empire, as well as the Crown Prince Kaelen Verdantia," Helias began the conversation by addressing each of the imperial family members.

"The honor is all ours. It fills us with great pleasure to have the royal family of the Solaria Kingdom with us," Alderon Verdantia answered with a polite smile.

Then his eyes moved to Valerian and even he, the leader of the elven race who are generally known as the most beautiful race, lost his breath when he saw Valerian. His eyes moved to the onyx horns sitting on Valerian’s head, leaving him with confusion. Then his eyes moved downward and met Valerian’s violet slitted eyes, and for a moment he lost himself in their beauty, but he managed to catch himself fast and put on a trained political smile.

"I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I’m aware of your name, young man."

Before Helias could introduce Valerian, he stepped forward, now standing in front of his family. "My name is Valerian von Astrea, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Von Astrea? I don’t believe we sent an invitation to your family."

This time, Helias stepped forward and spoke to the elven emperor. "Valerian is my adopted son, and he chose to keep his name."

"I see. If he is part of your family, then he will be treated as such." Seemingly content with Helias’s explanation, he gestured for the royal family to move inside instead of continuing to stand on the teleportation platform.

Throughout the entire conversation and walk, the eyes of the Crown Prince Kaelen Verdantia stayed glued on Valerian with interest.