Chapter 294 - No More Pretenses, No More Courtesies

Back on Fatima's side, the battle had quickly ended. With the initial fear of being drowned by the two rivers and now that their general was killed and their weapon dismantled by Serilla, the Merkruz Forces immediately began retreating out of the city.

Albert chose to pursue the stragglers, but Rowan stopped him from doing so. He wanted to report the issue of Armano's attempted assault on Serilla. Now knowing that his brother had essentially assaulted the wife of Silvaria Kingdom's Crown Prince, things could go bad for his engagement and the Regulus Kingdom might also make another enemy with a nearby kingdom.

Although the King and the First Prince haven't yet seen the combat prowess and military power of the Silvaria Kingdom, they should know by now that no matter how 'backwater' their kingdom was, Fatima's presence alone could single-handedly deter any assaults or machinations their kingdom had for the Silvarias.

Her clever brain and her military strategies should already be a large deterrent force for the kingdom to engage in any sort of hostilities with the Silvaria Kingdom. As for the plan of holding the missing brother hostage when they found him? That plan had already flopped the moment Lucia and Serilla showed up and declared themselves as the missing brother's wives.

Rowan had already seen the military might of the Silvaria Kingdom. Although their soldiers were only a few tens of thousands, nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of troops that the Regulus Kingdom could mobilize, but each man of the Silvaria army could hold their own against B ranked monsters.

Not to mention this was only the minimum requirement that Kaiser had placed on his soldiers, which was something that Rowan had learned the hard way when he first arrived at the kingdom.

Once Albert was informed of his brother's folly, he appeared indifferent and had ordered a search party for his brother. It wasn't long until they found the battered and castrated body of the second prince.

Seeing the condition that his body was in, Rowan shook his head inwardly, while Albert was enraged.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!"

"B-Brother?!"

"BRING THAT WOMAN TO ME! No one castrates and disrespects the royal family!!"

"Brother! He was the one that committed the crime! He's lucky to still even be alive!"

"What?! You're saying that we should allow this offense?! Only because she's the servant girl of your fiancée?!"

"S-Servant girl? Do you mean Serilla?! What are you talking about brother?!"

"Serilla?! Is that her name?! Bring her to me, NOW!"

"Brother what do you think you're doing?! She's not just some girl! She's the crown prince of Silvaria Kingdom's wife!"

"What?"

Albert eyed his brother suspiciously. "Didn't you just say that that girl was the wife of the missing brother?"

"That's what I'm trying to say, Fatima's missing brother is the Crown Prince!"

"What? You mean that fellow...Matheus, who had previously come to our kingdom as a guest wasn't the Crown Prince?"

"No, apparently he wasn't. Now it also makes sense why Fatima's family has been desperately searching for their missing sibling!"

"...It does not matter...regardless of what status that woman possesses, she still committed the crime of assaulting a member of the Regulus Royal family!"

Albert ordered some men to carry back Armano before bringing his soldiers over to where the girls were at. During the entire journey, Rowan continued to dissuade his brother from taking such actions against the girl.

He didn't want his kingdom's relationship with the Silvaria Kingdom to sour. Serilla had indeed attacked Armano, but it was in the form of self-defense. There was hard evidence of Armano's attempted **** so they were not on the moral high ground.

They couldn't just detain Serilla just because she had attacked a member of the royal family because in a sense, Armano had committed the same crime as well. His crime was much more serious, he had tried to **** Silvaria Kingdom's Crown Prince's wife, the next Queen of Silvaria!

Armano should have been killed instead of just being castrated. Then there was the matter of whether Serilla would come quietly... or grow infuriated at Albert's demand to detain her.

After having been nearly r.a.p.ed by Armano, Serilla had dropped all pretense and decorum with anyone related to the man. So there was no way Serilla would comply with Albert's demands.

Rowan's attempts to dissuade his brother were all futile and when Albert and this entourage arrived at the Wanderer, he immediately took notice of both Lucia and Serilla, Fatima was also there.

Fatima also happened to notice the large entourage that Albert had brought along with him as he menacingly drew closer to them. She decided to clear things up with the Prince and immediately told Serilla and Lucia to head into the wagon.

Serilla didn't even bat an eye to the people who were making their way over as she made her way to the wagon's door. Just as she was about to enter the wagon...

"Woman, you better stay where you are! Don't think that you can get away wi—"

Just before the Prince could finish his words, Serilla's sword suddenly appeared just below his neck. The sword closed in and the tip pricked his neck causing the prince to freeze in place and break out in cold sweat.

He hadn't even seen when Serilla had moved, actually, now that Albert took a better look at the situation in front of him, Serilla's sword was levitating in the air. Serilla herself hadn't even moved one muscle away from her previous spot.

Rowan immediately went pale at Serilla's actions while Fatima heaved a sigh of defeat at the development. Now all plans of negotiations had flown out the window. The soldiers around snapped out of their shock and immediately began surrounding the wagon.

"Y-You...this is assaulting a prince, it's a crime! Do you know the repercussions of—"

"Shut up... you stupid insect..."

"I-Insect!"

"Insects, don't, talk!" Serilla unrestrainedly unleashed her Sword Intent. The pressure caused all the soldiers around to fall to their knees while the Prince, who was receiving the brunt of it, was forced onto his knees with his face planted on the ground.

"That's better."

This was the first time Lucia had ever seen her sister genuinely angry. Sure she'd get mad at her for some of the antics and problems she'd cause in their house from time to time, but that couldn't be counted as getting mad. It was more like how an elder sister would scold their younger sister for misbehaving.

This was the first time for anyone to see her angry to the point where she had started to emit not only her Sword Intent but also her killing intent.

Rowan who was now standing next to Fatima was barely holding on. He couldn't help but grow pale at this frightening pressure that he was all too familiar with. It was the same pressure that Fatima's father, Kaiser, would emit whenever Rowan faced him in a spar.

Fatima had it easier since she had already been trained to hold her ground against her father whenever he used his Weapon Intent. Fatima's Sword Intent was naturally much weaker than her father's, however, Fatima couldn't help but widen her eyes in pure shock that someone, other than her little brother, had acquired Weapon Intent at such a young age.

Serilla was around her age and yet she had attained a realm that she wasn't quite at yet. Lucia was about to go help out her sister-in-law but was surprised to see Fatima cope with it all on her own.

"Ah, as expected of my sister-in-law!"

Once Serilla made sure that everyone around her, except for her family members, was kneeling to her. She finally turned to address Albert.

"If I didn't hear you wrong...you said that assaulting a prince is a crime? Then wouldn't assaulting a princess be a similar crime?"

"U-Urk..."

"I spared that puny little insect's life, however, don't expect my husband to spare his life once he's heard of this."

"Y-You! You dare—"

"Silence," Serilla said as she increased the pressure on the prince.

"My husband wasn't even afraid of attacking the Machina Empire's Emperor and noble families...what makes you think he'll hesitate to attack your kingdom? You, a puny kingdom, what do you possibly have that can compare with an empire?"

"..."

"Power? Hah, just so we're clear. If it wasn't for my sister-in-law and my actions of taking down the Mag-cannon, your pathetic kingdom would have already lost the battle," Serilla mocked. "And now, you want to detain me. Hahahaha, in what scenario did you think that I would comply with your stupid demand? Simply foolish... how could a weak man like you desire to be with my sister, Lucia?"

"Eh?" Lucia c.o.c.ked her head in confusion at her words. She turned to look at the man beneath his sister's feat and put on a visibly disgusted face.

Albert tried raising his head a little and when he saw Lucia's disgusted face, his ego took a big hit, but an immense amount of pressure assaulted his body in the next moment and his face was once again smashed down into the ground.

"Did I allow you to raise your head?"

"Y-You...you!!!"

"...pathetic," Serilla said as she eyed the man.

She turned around and gesture for everyone to get on the wagon. Quinn had already fastened Sleipnir's harness and they were ready to go anytime.

Lucia went in first and Serilla followed after. Quinn waited for Fatima who appeared a little hesitant at first, but then decisively entered the wagon. Things had already fallen apart to such an extent that she knew that it was no longer possible for her to stay in Regulus.

She had already achieved her objective anyway, so it was now time to head back home. Fatima turned around to look at Rowan who was helping his brother up.

"R-Rowan... will you come with me?"

"...Ima..." Rowan had a conflicted look on his face. He looked back at his brother and the beautiful woman before him.

"Brother, we should have the army retreat. We've already successfully pushed them back to their borders."

"You...What are you saying?!"

"...Armano was completely at fault this time. As a prince, he should know better and conduct himself more properly..."

Rowan walked over to Fatima and quietly said to her, "Wait for me...I'll be at your side as soon as I've finished taking care of things in the Kingdom... I won't let my brothers falsify a report on the exact situation that occurred here."

Fatima only smiled gently at him and nodded his head. He stepped back and Quinn closed the door to the wagon, separating the couple. Just before Rowan could head back, Quinn walked over next to him and slipped something into his pocket.

"Use this to communicate with us, I've already given Lady Fatima a similar MID so you can call each other. I'm not sure what the future has in store for you, but as my Master's sister, I shall respect Lady Fatima's decision in choosing you."

Rowan eyed the butler and thanked him, "Thank you."

Quinn bowed slightly to him before he quickly got onto the wagon and drove it away. The soldiers assigned to Fatima were already waiting on standby close to the wagon, but they were at a loss.

Their Lady had just gotten into a conflict with the first prince, so there were concerned about what to do next, but Rowan quickly cleared up their hesitation.

"What are all of you still doing here?"

"Y-Your Highness?"

"Regardless of the conflict, just know that she's still my fiancée and you're still assigned to protect her."

"W-We'll be on our way then, Your Highness!"

"Good, now hurry up, they're getting farther and farther away!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Captain Randolph replied before ordering his men to quickly follow after the wagon.