☀️ Arselia and Akonia

Was this princess lucky that, for some reason, contrary to monarchical custom, she wasn't married off for political gain to a respectable but undesirable man? Many would undoubtedly say yes. But what if freedom of choice is followed by apathy and indecision, ultimately leading her down a different path, but one that still results in the same lack of agency? Advocates of personal freedom will vehemently defend this as the only right path, while proponents of duty and traditional values will reject it outright, while adherents of universal determinism will once again gleefully rub their hands together. Perhaps these local deities really do manipulate human destinies as they please, and no one can prevent it, because the thought of a pawn about its own free will simply cannot go beyond the predetermined path. How, then, does this call fit into all of this? Surely, if necessary, the deities could have found an easier way to fulfill their will within the existing reality. Perhaps their games have evolved into something intense, and the deity responsible for moving Ayano into this world decided to overturn the board? Or – and this is much more likely – the princess invented this argument on the fly to hide her true motives behind jokes. Perhaps all this "science of astrology" is nothing more than a form of local occultism, in which the only thing they can do is blindly poke around, performing incomprehensible rituals on blood, in the hope of fulfilling some desperate ambitions – for example, summoning a drunkard with a tie on his head for her sisters, who, with two reciprocating movements, will cut off their rights to the throne. Or maybe other players are involved. Time will tell whether all these speculations have any basis, or whether it is just an exercise for an inquisitive mind trying to find meaning in a new existence. While contemplating all this, Ayano moved towards the concrete, brick, and wooden boxes, but without much enthusiasm, and absorbed the natural beauty while it was still possible. I'll go in descending order, starting with 49