Chapter 70 Free Passage

Floid smiled at Maryleen and she couldn't deny that he was extremely handsome. If she wasn't suspicious of him then she would have attempted to flirt with him. Well, that's if he wasn't already married. She looked to the side and she saw the duchess giving her a heated stare. Maryleen has been holding the Duke's hand for too long so of course, the duchess would become annoyed. Maryleen immediately coughed she stepped back with a bow.

"I welcome you both. The king is in the castle and we will guide you there in a carriage,"

Floid nodded and he took Rosavellts hand again as they all moved into the town. The carriages were located on the road and they had to first leave the port before they would get to it. As they walked, Floid looked toward Maryleen and saw that she was still stealing glances at him. He wondered if it was because she didn't trust him or if she was just attracted to him. He hoped it was the latter. It would be troublesome if someone like Maryleen suspected them too early. If she suspects them a little later then there won't be a problem at all, but for now, Floid needed her to remain in the dark.

"Oh, you students are here?"

A voice suddenly spoke up from the front and Floid turned to see who was causing them to stop. Two young teenagers were saluting the guards and Floid immediately knew that they were students of Aquinas magic academy. They were wearing the uniform and they were saluting perfectly, with one hand on their chest and their other hand behind their back. It was like they were in front of their superiors.

The head guard nodded to them as he greeted them. The two students were Dray and willow and the head guard immediately saw this as an opportunity to show off one of their best students. He immediately introduced the Duke and Duchess to the students.

"Duke, duchess. These are students of our Aquinas magic academy. They are some of the finest students in all the kingdoms. Especially our honor student, Willow. At her young age, she s already an S-class and we have very high hopes for her."

Once the head guard said this, willow grew uncomfortable as he pointed at her and started to introduce her specifically! This is a duke! She knew why the head guard was trying to hype her so much, it would be good if foreign dignitaries had a good impression of their kingdom. But she was still a little uncomfortable with all the praises.

Floid nodded along as the head guard continued raining praises on Willow, but he wasn't interested in her, he has already seen many strong people in this world, so seeing another strong person is nothing new to him. But what he was interested in was the other person there. Floid spoke up as he looked towards Dray.

"And who is this?"

The head guard and Willow were shocked when Floiid asked for them to introduce Dray. Even Dray blinked in surprise! He knew that he wasn't strong so why would the Duke want to meet him! Dray immediately snapped another salute as he introduced himself.

"My name is Dray Black from the house of Black! It's an honor to meet you!"

The house of Black wasn't prominent in the kingdom of Aquinas. They were very small when compared to families like the Smith family that Willow was a part of. The main magic of the Black family centered around fire, but they were not powerful enough to even be considered a noble house. Dray was the oldest son of the house of Black and he decided to showcase his family name to the Duke so that he can try and increase their prestige. If the Duke knows about their family then it would be easier for them if they ever met again in the future.

Dray Black? Interesting. Floid hummed as he felt a grin forming on his face. He could tell that there was more to this boy than meets the eye. Floid's skill [True Sight] allowed him to see things beyond what was on the surface, and Floid could tell that this boy was hiding a lot of magic power inside him. It wasn't enough to pose a major threat, but it was far more than any other human here. He is even stronger than this head guard! But why isn't he showing his real power? Is he not able to bring it out? Or is there some kind of condition he needs to achieve before he can use it?

Floid didn't really care either way since they would all die but he just felt it was interesting. He nodded to Dray and then told the head guard to continue leading the way. The head guard quickly moved again and they left Dray and Willow behind as they moved to the carriages.

Once they were gone, Dray and willow released tense breaths. They looked toward each other for a second before they both chuckled! They couldn't believe how tense they were! It was like they were in front of their examiner for the final exams! Dray looked towards where the carriage was leaving and he wondered why the Duke was so interested in him. Did the Duke notice the seal that was holding my power back? But if he noticed that deal then that means he is at least SS-class! No, that would be wrong! The head guard is an SS-class and he didn't notice my seal, which means that the duke is even higher than that! An SSS-class!!?

That is unbelievable! How can someone be that strong and no one would know about it? I'm sure that if the duke had that much power then he would be one of the most popular people in the world. I'm just imagining things.

Dray then turned his eyes towards the Duchess and he felt a small blush coming to his cheeks. The duchess was extremely beautiful. Willow saw him blush and she immediately pinched him on the side!

"Ow! What was that for!?"

Willow huffed and turned away and Dray chuckled as he grabbed her waist and pulled her into a hug!

"H-Hey! Let me down!"

"No! I wanna hug my girlfriend!!"

.....

The Sea of Aquinas was a large body of water that separated Aquinas from the other two kingdoms. Aquinas floated on a large island in the middle of the sea. It had nothing but water for miles on one side and the other side had ten outposts in an arc. The ten outposts were responsible for watching out for any attacks or threats and informing the kingdom of the dangers before it arrives.

The tower master was named Gareth. He was a slim man who was the captain of one of Maryleen's battleships. He had just welcomed the Duke of Winchester into Aquinas a while ago, but once the duke left, Gareth suddenly got a message from the head captain of the guards saying that the duke was not happy with the treatment he got. Gareth tried to defend himself! He only did the mandatory searches and nothing else, but Trevor commanded him not to search any of the Duke's ships anymore! It would be bad if the duke became angrier!

Gareth was reluctant to obey! His job was the search every ship and make sure that nothing illegal was being brought into Aquinas. What if they don't search the ships and it turns out that the Duke was carrying something dangerous! But Trevor would not allow Gareth to even argue! Trevor said that it was a direct order from the king himself! No one is to delay the ships from coming into Aquinas! If you see the supply ships then just let them pass!!

Gareth finally relented and told Trevor that he would do as he was told. Once Gareth closed the communication circle, he called all the other outposts and told them to allow any ships with the symbol of the red sword to pass without trouble. The other outposts all obeyed immediately and Gareth sighed as he turned and saw a large number of ships coming from the horizon. He didn't know why Trevor was adamant to please this Duke so much! Is this really a good idea!?

A hundred ships were coming towards the outposts and they were all filled with cargo. Gareth knew that they belonged to the Duke once he saw that their flags had the symbol of a red sword on them.