Chapter 337 - 337 Exploring The Royal Castle

Entering into the royal castle for the first time, Marcus looked down the long hall that they first walked into that seemed to go on forever.

"So where to first Mraz." Marcus said looking at the nearby doors.

"I think we should first go and see the grand hall which is near the center of the castle. It is the biggest room in the entire place and is where the kingdom's meeting will be held in a couple of weeks. Then from there we can pick anywhere to go, since it is a central location."

"Okay, lead the way." 

Going down endless hallway after hallway, for as large as the castle was Marcus noticed it was pretty repetitive for the most part.

Just a bunch of hallways with different types of rooms, from guest bedrooms, bathrooms, the occasional kitchen, storerooms, and sitting rooms.

'How do people even navigate around this place.' Marcus thought as they continued walking through the castle that was starting to all look the same.

At one point Marcus thought they might find the dead body of some poor soul that had been lost in this place since it was so huge.

However, Mrazivý seemed to know where she was going, and walked with confidence.

Still even after they had been walking for twenty minutes, they still had not made it to their destination, and since seeing the two guards at the entrance, they had not seen a single soul.

"Mraz where is everyone." Marcus said his curiosity reaching its breaking point.

As far as he could tell the inside of the castle was a ghost town, but everything still seemed quite clean so someone must have been taking care of it.

"Hm, oh this wing of the castle is not currently in use. That is why I had us enter here so we would not run into anyone else for the time being. Though once the kingdom meeting starts, this place will be filled with nobles and their servants that will be staying here."

'Ah so this part of the castle is basically like a convention's hotel.'

Now understanding the function of this part of the castle, Marcus continued to follow Mrazivý until they exited one of the hallways and came out into a massive room, that was the size of a stadium.

"This is the grand hall where the kingdom's meeting will be held, impressive right?" Mrazivý said gesturing out to the massive room."

Looking around Marcus first noticed the crystal ceiling that was allowing the natural light of the sun to flow into the room.

And for the first time since arriving here, Marcus saw numerous servants moving about the space seating up luxurious chairs and tables for the nobles who would attending the upcoming meeting.

At the head of these servants was a middle aged blue haired man that looked quite a bit like the king.

The man who was certainly a member of the royal family quickly noticed both Marcus and Mrazivý and began making his way over towards them.

"My is that little Mrazivý I see. It has been at least six years since I last saw you." The man said as he approached them.

"Uncle Kalt, I am not a child anymore there is no need to call me little." Mrazivý said with a nostalgic smile on her face.

Marcus could tell at a glance that Mrazivý and her uncle here probably got along pretty well from the way she seemed happy to see him.

"Ha ha. Yes, I guess you have grown up into a fine young woman. Ah and who is this next you." Kalt said looking intently at Marcus.

"This is Baronetess Irene Geist, a good friend of mine." Mrazivý said introducing Marcus.

Giving a slight bow Marcus said, "It is a pleasure to meet you your highness, Sir Kalt. As Mrazivý said I am her friend, and she is currently giving me a tour of the castle ahead of the kingdom's meeting."

Waving his hand Kalt said, "No need to act so formally. Any friend of Mrazivý's is more than welcome to treat me as a member of the family. Anyway, it is not like I hold the position of king like my brother, so there is no need to feel stiff."

With Kalt's permission Marcus eased up a bit and said, "Okay then, it is good to meet you Kalt. So, were you close with Mrazivý when she was younger?

With a wry smile Kalt nodded his head and said, "Yes little Mrazivý here used to have me dote on here when her father was too busy. I would often read her stories to sleep when she was a young girl. Though since I never had any children of my own, I often acted as a second father for my brother's children when he could not be around. Oh, but did you maybe want to hear some of the more embarrassing moments from when Mrazivý was a child?"

Letting out a high-pitched squeal in a rare moment of fluster, Mrazivý vehemently opposed her uncle from disclosing some of her more embarrassing childhood moments to Marcus.

After Mrazivý got Kalt to promise not to tell stories about her, the three of them continued to talk for a few minutes before a very serious looking woman with black hair and blue eyes wearing glasses came over and said, "Deputy King, we are in need of your assistance with the arrangements for the meeting. I know that you want to catch up with your niece but right now we require your time."

Sighing Kalt looked sadly at Mrazivý and Marcus and said, "Well we will have to catch up another time. Work is calling, so I will have to be going. Enjoy your stay here at the castle and take care of little Mrazivý for me Irene."

After saying that Kalt left with the serious woman that looked like his assistant and went back to supervise the preparations for the kingdom's meeting.

However, Marcus had picked up on something and he realized now that Kalt was not just the king's brother, and his position was by no means low.

"Did she just say deputy king, as in second only to the king?" Marcus asked Mrazivý who was looking a little forlorn now that Kalt had left.

"Hm. Oh yeah, he is my father's right-hand man. Apparently the two of them have been thick as thieves since they were children, and it was thanks to uncle Kalt's support that my father became king instead of any of his other brothers. So, whenever my father is indisposed for one reason or another, Uncle Kalt acts as the king in his stead. In fact, you could say that the kingdom is as well of as it is now, because of uncle Kalt's support." Mrazivý said with a bit of reverence.

'I see she seemed to really look up to him.' Marcus thought seeing the look on Mrazivý's face.

In fact, he thought that she seemed to have a better relationship with her uncle than she had with her father, but maybe that was only natural when her father was the king.

"Now where did you want to head too next.." Mrazivý said gesturing towards the number of doors leading out from the grand hall.