Having finished their meeting with the adventurers guild’s higher up, Marcus and Mrazivý made their way through the halls of the castle back towards the section for royalty.
“What do you think your father is going to say?” Marcus asked Mrazivý.
She had a pensive look on her face, and it was obvious she was thinking about how to break the news to her father the king.
Before the meeting they had decided to not commit to further involvement with the guild, but the offer of a free unique skill orb a piece was too tantalizing for Mrazivý to pass up when they honestly only had to deal with so few stipulations.
Certainly, the guild would be able to call them in on emergencies, but it was not like those happened all that often.
The only problem now was how the king was going to take it. During their preliminary meeting with him they had told him they would not agree to a rank up.
“I mean you agree with me right Marcus. He offered us both unique skill orbs for practically nothing other than becoming mithril rank adventures. Most people would be beyond ecstatic for that kind of deal. Normally you have to prove yourself to even to become a mithril rank adventurer, but we were personally asked by the head of the northern quadrant of the guild. It would have been foolish for us to refuse, right?” Mrazivý said as the dam around her thoughts and emotions burst..
She was having a bit of buyer’s remorse so to say, and she was looking for confirmation from Marcus to help ease her worries that she might have made the wrong choice.
“I think that you made the correct call Mraz. We were not going to stick around Borealia forever anyway and getting a unique skill orb each out of it more than makes up for any inconvenience we might have in the future responding to the guild’s summons.” Marcus said to encourage Mrazivý and ease her worries.
After he said this the tension in her body practically vanished and she gave him a bright smile that pulled at his heart strings.
“Thank you, Marcus. I know that you gave me your consent, but I was afraid I was dragging you into something that you did not really want.” Mrazivý said right before kissing him on the cheek.
Soon they arrived in front of the doors to the king’s office where they were going to inform him of how their meeting with the guild had gone.
“I just hope that your father does not take it too badly since it looked like he wanted to keep us close to home.” Marcus said before opening the door.
Inside was the king and standing on his left was his guard knight who was a level seventy-six spearman who was one of the top fighters in the kingdom.
Of course, normally it would have been knight commander Darius acting as the king’s guard, but he was still busy in Tralenstein making sure that no more attacks from the southern kingdoms came.
The king beckoned them inside, and they swiftly came in and sat down in the ornate chairs that had been prepared across from the king’s desk.
“So, how did it go?” The king asked with an inquisitive look.
A bit hesitantly both Marcus and Mrazivý told him about how the meeting had gone. They focused mostly on how they had probed about Marcus being Irene and how they accepted to become mithril rank adventurers after their wedding.
“I suppose it was inevitable that the two of you would advance through the guild at some point.” The king said as if he had already expected this outcome.
He then stared directly at Mrazivý, with the look of father on his face rather than that of a king.
“When you first said you wanted to be an adventurer, I thought you were misguided. It is dangerous to go out and hunt monsters and beast and it is not something a princess would normally do. But when I tested your determination, you worked hard to learn magic and how to wield a sword and I could not deny the sparkle that came to your eyes when you got closer to your goal.” Mrazivý’s father said with nostalgia in his eyes as he remembered his daughter when she was younger.
“It filled me with fear to send you out into the harshness of the world, but I felt at least a bit at ease as long as you were with your guard knight and those that I assigned to be your party. But after the incident in the Ocean Bluff Temple and when you joined the battle in the dungeon against a powerful demon, I feared that you were going to get yourself killed and called you back in order to settle down. I wanted to do what I could as a father to keep you safe but also as a king to strengthen the nation.”
There was a hint of regret in Mrazivý’s father’s eyes as he mentioned her previous arranged marriage and it was clear he knew how much she had not wanted it.
Still, he had thought it the best move for the kingdom and to keep her safe at the time, and while he did want his daughter to be happy, his first priority was always the kingdom.
The king then turned his head towards Marcus and bowed towards him.
Normally this would be unthinkable for a ruler of a nation to do, but here he was not acting as the monarch, but as a father.
“I know it came at a personal cost to you, but I want to thank you for giving my daughter a happier life. I have never seen her as joyful as when she is with you.”
Hearing this Mrazivý’s porcelain white skin became bright red with embarrassment.
“Dad is there a point to all of this.” She said in a fluster.
Smiling, the king nodded his head before motioning towards his guard knight who had been standing like a statue to hand him something.
Swiftly and with no wasted movement the man handed the king a magic bag.
Opening the magic bag, the king reached in and what he pulled out left Mrazivý wide eyed and stunned.
In his hands was a beautiful amethros saber that closely resembled the adamantine one that Mrazivý currently had.
It was a stunning weapon that was near the highest quality and was no doubt one of the strongest weapons in the kingdom.
After she had gotten over her initial astonishment, she turned towards Marcus, and said, “Did you make this?”
Of course, she was curious to know if Marcus had not only made her the amethros engagement ring but also this saber.
“No, I did not make this, it is still beyond my skill to make a weapon quite as good. Though I have known about its creation for a while since it was made by Thabon.” Marcus said.
Mrazivý pursed her lips at this since Marcus did not tell her, but she understood why and turned her head back towards the sword unable to contain her excitement.
“I had originally meant to give this to you as a present during your engagement party, but I was advised that it would be best not to show it off in public less it create jealously and spark some to plot against you. Therefore, I am giving you this sword now as an early gift to not only avoid an outburst at your engagement party, but in order for you to better be able to protect yourself.”