Chapter 184 - Important (1)

And so, the next month came. A week before her brothers' return from the academy.

Alexandra was in the garden having her usual afternoon tea party with her father while their personal knights stood not far away from them. It was a different garden, afraid of it (The one where Alexandra got dragged into the water by a dangerous monster) happening again, they chose a different one. A garden without a lake, there's just a small pond there with koi fishes swimming in it. They were surrounded by multiple types of flowers, some of them are rare ones and she can only see it in the books. To think that she would get to see it with her own two eyes and not just by in the book was making her happy and delighted.

Alexandra let out a satisfied sigh as she took a bite with a spoon from the slice of cake placed on the circular plate in front of her, near it was a glass of juice. There were multiple kinds of desserts placed on top of the table. Most of it, as usual, were her favorites made by the palace's pastry chef with the help of Diana, of course. "I have picked one person that will help you," Her father suddenly said out of nowhere while she was in the midst of picking up the glass with her favorite juice inside. She grabs hold of her glass before she responded to him, her eyes wide with wonder and curiosity lacing her tone of voice: "With what, daddy?"

"In order to become a proper princess, don't worry, you can trust her and she's kind. She is also good at teaching and is patient, she isn't that type of person who would scold you or tell you some harsh words when you made a mistake," Her father responded and he took a sip from the cup of tea that he was drinking since earlier. Alexandra just hummed before she brought the glass of her juice to her lips before she drinks it, gulping more than half of it down her throat. Was it because she was feeling thirsty than usual or was the juice that tasty? Nevertheless, she placed down the glass with only a quarter of liquid left inside.

Her father hasn't told her about her being a potential wielder of either Dark or Holy magic that might shock her and it would be bad if she became conscious of it and it awakened early without being fully manifested. He also can't cancel her coronation or his announcement of her existence just because of that, she might grow suspicious and would get angry since she was really excited about it. Aside from that, what if it awakened even before that he announced her existence. It would be problematic knowing how people would react to it, why keep her protected from everyone? To think that he would hide her from everyone just because of her ability. Aside from that, he already planned what he is going to do with the help of Sir Friyedor, he might like to play around but he is also helpful when it comes to this kind of thing.

Speaking about magic, Sir Devan, that creepy and weird palace wizard (Well, not actually palace wizard but he is a wizard who is able to roam around this palace because he somehow, forced them or threaten to allow him), he was confined in that prison for almost 3 years. He was silent and didn't tell anyone about the information that they need, however, he keeps on blabbering about Alexandra and how great her existence is.

[This is a Flashback from what and how it happened]

-- Alexander made his way down the stairs, the sound of his footsteps were loud and it resonated around the place, it bounced and echoed against the wall penetrating their eardrums. Behind were his assistant and his personal knight, Klaus and Lysander. From the distance, they could hear some sort of laughter. It wasn't a normal kind of laugh laced with happiness and such warmth but rather, it was something disgusting and ear-deafening, laced with malice and evil.

"Is that lunatic laughing again?"

"Sounds like it, your highness."

His assistant was the one who responded. What is he even laughing about? Did the knights who I assigned to guard him told him some sort of joke with their dark humor or something? He thought to himself as he walked. The sound of someone laughing became louder as seconds passed by and as they became closer to their destination. His expression crumpled every time he took a step and the scene became clearer to him. The knights who were on guard and standing still was clearly frightened and they stiffened, was it because of that lunatic or the unannounced arrival of the emperor of this empire?

Alexander, along with the two people behind him, stopped a few steps away from the bars. Staring at the scene the wizard was making, he looked more insane and crazier than the last time that we went here. Was it the last week or a few months ago? He clearly can't remember, with all of the meetings and work that he does, his memory is all messed up. But that's not important, he just stared at the man whose hands and feet were chained to the wall, this jail was sealed with magic as well as those chains so that he can use any kind of spell. This man inside the prison was crazy yet dangerous.

How they met him? That was a few months before he met Alexandra. As far as he can remember, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere inside his office while holding a body of a dead person, one of his knights to be exact. Then he blabbered and said so many things, mentioning 'dark magic' and 'conquer' multiple times. It was clear that he knew something about dark magic, it was possible that he might be a wielder of one or knows someone who does.

After a couple of months, with many people reporting about him and the knights who were assigned to guard and follow him wherever he goes inside the palace telling him that the man keeps on vanishing and disappearing. Not until Carlos said that he appeared two times in front of him and Alexandra, saying some creepy words with a disturbing expression on his face. At that time, he must have escaped the knights who were assigned to guard him. Even with the handcuffs that were used to seal his mana just so he won't teleport once again, he still managed to escape as it didn't seal all of his mana. He just decided to confine him to this jail, torturing him just to get the information that they need, everything that he knows seems very important to him.

He claimed that he knows the existence of some wielders of dark magic and holy magic and such things. It was valuable information, not even a single book that was about both dark and holy magic was written. The knowledge that they have about it was only from the rumors and blabbers from their ancestors which became facts and passed to many generations up until now.

The man inside the jail was still laughing. Alexander let out a sigh even if they removed all of the nails in his fingers, he still wouldn't say anything. What's crazier was he was still laughing even if they were in the process of removing it. "Could you just stop laughing? It's making my ears go deaf," Alexander said, running out of patience.

"You! You're the emperor, the one who rules this land, right? You're a member of the Everly Bloodline, right? Along with your son and the daughter that you were hiding away from everyone!" He suddenly said and he stopped laughing but there was a grin on his face, a disturbing one. It showed all of his teeth and his eyes were buggy. How creepy and disturbing. Alexander didn't respond and just stared at him but his guard was raised. He clenched his fist.

"Ah! The existence of your daughter! It will be a great one, she possesses such powerful and destructive powers! Why are you hiding her?! She's the clear epitome of destruction and power. If we got her and the dark wizard on our side, we will win this war!"

War? What does he mean by war? This man's origins were unknown, not even a single information about himself can be extracted from him and now he's speaking about war. "What do you mean by war?" Finally, after minutes of not speaking and responding to him, Alexander opened his mouth and spoke. The man who he was speaking to, however, just grinned in response. "10 years, no, less than 10 years from now! You must prepare!" Prepare from what? Alexander's expression crumpled more than before and he narrowed his eyes, Lysander's guard was raised now and his assistant, Klaus, already prepared himself even though they knew that Devan can't attack them. Mark Devan was the name of the man in front of them, which was the only thing they know about him.

Before Alexander could speak once again, Devan did it first and interrupted what he was about to say. This time, the grin on his face was wiped off and there was a serious expression on his face. It feels like he was possessed by some sort of demon earlier when he was laughing and grinning. What a lunatic that he is, he thought to himself.

His voice was low and deep yet it was loud and rang inside their ears, "Do you know why your bloodline only has males?" Now, that was one thing that he really wanted to know. There was no prophecy or a book telling them why they only have males, aside from that, the history about their bloodline was only short and mostly about what they did to the empire and what they did in their life. Not a single thing telling him why they only have males. So he thought that it was destined or their bloodline meant only to have powerful males.

"Tell me."

Yet the man in front of him grinned once again and he chanted a few inaudible words. Their eyebrows knitted and his assistant, who was also powerful when it comes to magic and know a lot about it, widened his eyes. He cursed, "Shield yourselves!" He was able to surround the emperor, Lysander, and he with a barrier meant to shield themselves though they were confused, they followed what he said.

Two magic circles appeared inside the cell. One on the wall and one on the ground, what it seems like a black smoke was coming from both of the circles. Then the sound of the explosion was heard, a cloud of white smoke or fog filled with dust arise and covered their vision. Klaus, with the help of some spell, dispersed the fog with the wind that he summoned and their surroundings became clear. There was no man in the cell, the cell looked fine. Nothing was destroyed despite the explosion, they heard multiple heavy and loud footsteps coming from behind them. All of the knights, guarding outside came down to the jail as they heard the loud sound thinking that the emperor was inside and was harmed.

That cell sealed his mana, to think that there were still some left that isn't. He must have teleported but that would only—Klaus cursed once again. "Why did you come down here?! Go back up! The wizard has escaped and is only near us! Go and look for him!" Klaus said. The explosion was meant to be a distraction and to make a commotion.

Klaus decided to scan the surroundings with the use of his magic if he could still sense his presence but there was nothing, only his, the emperor, and the knights were found.

"D-Daddy?" His train of thoughts was interrupted when he heard Alexandra's voice. "Ah, pardon me, I must have zoned out. I apologize, I was thinking about something," He was making such a scary expression while he was thinking so Alexandra decided to call out to him. He took a sip from the cup of tea that he was holding.

That man used a dark spell meaning he was also a wielder of dark magic, which was what Klaus reported to him. What does he mean by war? Prepare because less than 10 years from now, something will happen? He was lost in his thoughts and Alexandra thought that she shouldn't disturb him. She continued eating the macaroons found on the plate on top of the table.

That man held valuable information that they failed to get, he was also able to escape. This is frustrating.

What if another war happens? Similar to that war that happened almost 200 years ago. That would be bad, he thought to himself. However, they have a wielder of Holy magic, a powerful one (said by Sir Friyedor himself) and powerful Elders. Nevertheless, he is still going to protect this empire that his bloodline worked hard to develop as well as his family who he treasured the most.