Chapter 157: The King

In the massive courtyard of the Vanyar Kingdom which was situated just right outside the palace, dozens of fighters wearing identical white uniforms were seen preparing the horses. They were busy going back and forth as they were about to set off to where they were dispatched.

A figure of a man in his 50s wearing a golden armor that exuded regality walked out of the palace. He was accompanied by a beautiful woman who also exuded the same atmosphere as him, the Vanyar Kingdom's Elf Queen.

"Has he left already?" asked the man to his companion.

The queen glanced at him and replied, "Yes, he did, Callan. Just an hour ago."

"You didn't give him any help, right?" the Arcadian King asked again with a stern tone.

"No, I didn't. Everything is going the way you want it to."

"Good.." After saying so, King Callan took a long, deep breath before continuing, "I apologize, Leena. I was very impolite earlier. This is your palace.. I have no right."

Upon hearing that, Queen Leena chuckled. "You are the rightful heir of Vanyar."

"No, of course not. You are the ruler, Leena. I should have restrained myself." King Callan said while exhaling another sigh.

"Hahaha.." light laughter escaped from the queen's mouth. "You are more similar to your father than you think and admit, Callan."

When he heard the topic of his father, King Callan unexpectedly scoffed. "Huh! If they weren't too stubborn and went inside the mist, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place."

"What are you saying, Callan? My brother left the empire to a very capable hand, which is you. Arcadian has improved a lot in the last 50 years, and it's thanks to you."

Before King Callan could say anything more, he saw three elves approaching them, causing him to swallow the words back. The elves gave bow to the two of them.

"Callan, these are Vanyar Kingdom's most talented youngsters, as requested. From the left, they are Elyon, Alanis, and Sindur."

Hearing that their names were spoken, the trio immediately bowed again.

King Callan threw his gaze at each of them, nodded his head slightly, and said, "I see.. Alright. You three will follow Captain Raika. She will tell you what to do."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the trio replied as they bowed once again. Immediately after, they headed toward the Kingsblade captain.

After they were gone, Queen Leena turned to the Arcadian King. "What really happened, Callan? Why are you suddenly acting odd? You never asked for elven warriors from me before."

Hearing the question, King Callan showed a concerned look on his face for a while before answering, "The storm is gathering, Leena.."

"The storm..? What do you me-? Wait, is it?" the Elf Queen asked with clear astonishment.

The Arcadian King let out another sigh, "Yeah.. I believe we will have another big war soon."

Leena's face changed. A brooding expression shown on her face.

"Is the Dark Elf making trouble again? Or, those humans across the sea?"

King Callan didn't answer the question. He was deep in thought for quite a while before he turned to the queen and asked, "How sure are you of the prophecy?"

Even though Leena was confused as to why the man suddenly asked this question, she still answered it confidently. "The prophecy is absolute."

"I know the prophecy is absolute, but it can also be falsely interpreted."

The Elf Queen's expression changed again. "What exactly do you want to tell me, Callan?"

"What I'm trying to say is, it may or may not be him."

"Callan! How many Blood Elf do you see hanging around the kingdom? None!"

At that, King Callan argued, "It might not even be about Blood Elf.."

He noticed that Leena was about to argue more, thus he diverted his words. "Well, anyway, I don't want to argue again. I am still very much healthy, and I would rather give it to those arrogant High Elves than give it to that animal."

"I know, Callan. I believe that you know what's best. But that quest you give.. Don't think that I don't know what your plan is!"

King Callan's face became cold at the thought of a certain figure. "That is the least he needed to do, and trust me, I wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he failed the quest."

"Yeah, yeah. I believe you.  You are Callan, the Great King of Arcadian, after all."

"You're mocking me now, Leena."

Her signature teasing smile appeared on the queen's face when she heard his words. But then, she quickly returned to normal.

"But Callan, what if he really is the monarch in the prophecy? I know that you are preparing him in your own ways, but taking his sister is a bit too much as I can see he really cares for the girl. He might never let you go later."

Unexpectedly, the Arcadian King nodded his head. "That's the risk I am willing to take, Leena. But actually, there's something strange about his sister.."

"Something strange? What is it?"

"That's.. I don't know yet. I'm still investigating it at the moment." Noticing the look on her face, King Callan smiled and said, "Don't worry. I will update you about this later."

Not long after, the Kingsblade members were seen pulling a group of people in chains. All of them were humans. Amidst the group there was a female, but she needed to be carried as her legs were missing.

Looking at them, Queen Leena said, "These are the captured humans that I mentioned before."

He approached them at a casual pace and realized there was some kind of metals that seemed to attach on their bodies. "Space knights? These are good finds!"

One of them, a man with a scar that streaked across his face, seemed to be unafraid as he received and faced the Arcadian King's gaze head-on. "You elves will regret this!"

King Callan stopped right in front of the said man, looking down at him, and said, "I'm sure that you have many plans prepared. But I'm telling you right now, don't waste your breath. It all won't matter." Seeing the disbelief expression on the latter's face, the former chuckled. "Don't worry. You will soon know"

A moment later, the captured humans were swiftly brought into a massive steel cage as they would be carried to the capital with the Arcadian King.

"1...2...3...4? I thought you said there were five. We are missing one here, Leena." King Callan asked as he turned around. The moment he did so, he noticed that the Elf Queen was acting a little suspicious.

"What is it, Leena? What did you do to the other one?"

"Erhm.. how should I say it.." Under the piercing gaze of the Arcadian King, Queen Leena finally relented. "Actually, he's gone.. Hmm.. an hour ago."

King Callan immediately understood what had happened.

"You let him take one, Leena? Why?"

"Well, it's his idea. Moreover, you only specified no Vanyar or Arcadian, and these people aren't either."

King Callan was both surprised and annoyed by this. He was about to call his Kingsblade to give chase when he suddenly decided to changed his mind. 

"Well, this could be interesting."