"We are happy to see you return to the Holy and Saving Palace, your Highness the Queen, Prince, and Princess Royal." When they went down into the carriage that was entirely made of gold they were welcomed by an old man who wore the same blue dress as the third Elder. He looked older than the third Elder and his jet black pupils had no trace of arrogance but rather shone with wisdom and placid. He gave people the impression of being in front of a benevolent grandfather.
"Content to see you again too, first Elder. We had some problems during our trip. Knight Ganne will give you the report about the third Elder. For now, we must escort our distinguished guests to the throne room for an interview with the king in person. Watch over treaties with the same statues of nobility as mine and the king." She says. when she saw the eyes of the first Elder sweep the area to look for the third Elder. "Welcome to the capital of the Darak kingdom. Please Mr. Dalvine, I'm honored to escort you to the royal palace." As Alvine and Sylvia went down into the carriage, the queen offered them her services with her words formulated politely.
"Your desires are orders, your Highness." Even if he was slightly confused, he had still managed to contain his curiosity about the identity of Alvine and Sylvia.
Without further delay, he showed the way to Alvine who was escorted by the Queen and her descendants.
His prudence went up a notch when she saw the queen's behavior towards... these magic beasts.
'Even if their technologies seem rudimentary, their construction techniques far exceed those of the planet Alzania and the kingdom looks more alive with these inhabitants who are filled with vivacity. But their customs seem similar to the latter. I wonder what kind of king can be the current king to have such a kingdom.' Alvine wondered under his tongue by analyzing every detail that had captivated him since he set foot in the capital.
In front of them, stood majestically the said royal palace which was made with materials and techniques of constructions unknown by Alvine. The palace itself looked like a gigantic tower that stabbed the sky with its height and was firmly embedded on the ground with a width of about one hundred meters. Its glowing color was not painting, but the color of the stones that were the very core of its construction.
After two minutes,
-Creeeeck!!-
The two huge doors were pushed by two guards who let royalty pass without question after greeting them respectfully.
-Tap...tap...tap...-
Entering the throne room had a golden carpet on the floor... up to the throne chair where the king who intrigued Alvine was majestically sat.
The king was a middle-aged Kelspien who had a fierce and majestic look adorning his face. Its thick and pointed eyebrows were like a sharp sword with its two huge fangs that could not be masked by its bloody red lips. He was harmonious with his throne, which seemed to be tailor-made only for him.
"Your greatness, the Queen, and your descendants have returned from their travels safe and sound. The queen asks for an audience with the king and his guests of honor." Says the Elder by playing the role of mediator as usual.
"Hm? The guests of honor? Did the queen of the kingdom have a fortifying encounter or a disastrous encounter?" His thunderous voice resounded throughout the throne room when he calmly said these words by frowning.
'By being in front of the guests, they play their respective roles perfectly. If I were not used to witnessing these kinds of scenes, I would start to imagine that the king does not attach importance to his family but I know this dark air and nonchalant attitude that he currently has. There is no need to say, this guy really deserves his title of king of this kingdom.' Commented Alvine in his thoughts while looking straight into the king's deep blue pupils without blinking. *Sylvia, is the king talking to the queen by telepathy, or is it just my imagination? *
*Indeed, from the moment we passed through the doors of the palace, the queen was constantly conversing with him. All this staging is only a way for them to save time so that he can have all the information he needs to better prepare not to attract your anger.* says Sylvia telepathically.
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The queen's female voice resounded to answer her husband's question after about ten seconds of silence on her part. "Indeed, it is a meeting that is both strengthening and unhappy for us." She said in a sad tone by nodding her head towards the prince.
Understanding his mother's signal, the prince who was kneeling in front of his father slowly got up and just caressed his ring.
-Appear!!-
The pale corpse of the third Elder appeared before the royal prince since in his mysterious ring.
"!!!" The king frowned with a dark expression. Even if the queen had already explained everything to him, Alvine could see that he was struggling to contain his anger just by seeing his breathing disturbed, his blue eyes slightly red with grief, and his fists firmly locked on the armrest of the throne.
"Who dared?!!" Unlike the king who managed to maintain his coolness, the conscience and common sense of the 1st Elder sank into angry madness. His translucent purple aura poured in all directions like a rabid tsunami when he asked.
"Enough, First Elder! We will discuss it after the meeting. Leave us alone, for the moment." The thunderous voice of the king who was crowned with sorrow resounds once again to calm the first and thus avoid another disaster for his kingdom.
"Your greatness, with all the respect I owe you, what can be as important as the death of an Elder?!" Tonna the first Elder. Even if the third Elder was arrogant and took others as beings inferior to him, he was still a spiritualist faithful to the throne! This is also the reason why he risked his life to help the current king tame his magic beast which is an elementary beast of fire!
"Your majesty! The strength of each Elder is the equivalent of an army for your kingdom! The loss of the third Elder is no different from the extermination of a thousand vigorously trained soldiers! If we leave the people who have committed these misdeeds, the entire kingdom will be in great danger!" He insisted in a slightly rising tone. He had never imagined that the third Elder would be killed by the said guests who did not seem to be made for fighting. He had not even imagined for a single second that the first Elder could be killed by two people. After all, he could even imprison an army with his unique skill and kill them in less than three minutes!
"Sigh, I understand your anger and worries, first Elder. But have I ever made an error of judgment since I was appointed king?!" Asked the king in a calm and placid tone. Even Sylvia slightly frowned her fine eyebrows when she saw his reaction toward a subordinate who questioned his words.
'This man is dangerous.' concluded Alvine about the king.
Hearing his sentence, the first Elder was silent about the second after. His anger was still bubbling but his aura was despite his rage, repressed by him. He bowed to the king afterward. Be sure to excuse me for being so unsightly towards my lord. I will spend three months in the dungeon of the first underground to atone for my sins." He said while taking out a white fabric in his storage ring and wrapping it around the corpse of the First Elder.
"Sigh, no need. We need to mobilize our forces for the great meeting with the leaders of the other two kingdoms that will take place tomorrow. You already know what this means, so I see myself being obliged to let pass this affront you have just committed." Calmly replied the king with a big sigh.
"I am honored by your mercy, my lord." He said, bowing once again before the king. "In this case, without further ado, I will go to the hall to ask for more detail from the royal knight who was traveling with the queen as the queen had advised me." He continued by going out into the throne room followed by the prince and princess.
The queen let go of a big sigh of relief when she saw the actions of the first Elder.
"Well, my wife explained to me all the details. But Dervine, if you are not a magic beast, how is it that you are invoked with a teleportation circle that was only intended for magic beasts?" Asked the king, frowning.
"I think the invocation portal had reacted to the energy of my pet. I followed her because I was curious to know the identity of the people who dared to try to snatch from me the ferocious beast that I had sacrificed so much to cultivate it." Alvine replied nonchalantly.
*Eh? Master, did I miss something? Since when have I become your contracted beast? And besides, how dare you to call me such?! * Grumbled Sylvia by inflating her cheeks.
*Sigh, little girl...simply follow the current. As you were so excited to behave like a magical beast, then I only fulfilled your wish. *
*What?! Since when have I behaved as such?! It is...
*The natives originally saw us as magical beasts. No matter how many times I tried to convince them, they always thought of the same thing. And to confirm their doubts, you had thoughtlessly spread your wings! So it is now impossible for you to make them change their minds about you. Endure it, Sylv. This is the consequence of your stupidity. You should never have spread your wings in front of them. Believe me or not, I have empathy for you. Hehe~* Even if her words seem sincere, Sylvia knew he was making fun of her.
"Tsk!" -Sylvia
"So everything can be explained now. The reason why you told us all the time that you were not magic beasts. In fact, during all this time, you were talking about yourself and not your pet." Suddenly Fulminated the Queen as if she had just unraveled the mysteries of Alvine and Sylvia.
'Well, it's now that the hearing begins for good.' Alvine says to himself frowning.