41 The king

A little while ago in a grandiose throne room, there was a very handsome man sitting on a luxurious throne that was made of gold and a very special wood, the wood in question was the wood of the world tree.

The throne had beautiful and intricate engravings on every piece of the throne, with the throne having an ancient feel as one looked at it.

The man sitting on the throne had long jade-colored hair that ran down his back, with a pair of jade-colored eyes of the same color.

He also wore a fancy golden circlet on his head and was currently looking down at a knight as he reported to him.

The man on the throne was the current king of the elves, Larfal Ljos Alf, and also Riveria's father.

The knight that was currently reporting to him was knight leader Astin.

"So you're saying that although he is about the same strength as a regular knight, he easily defeated one of your knights?" asked Larfal.

"Yes, according to knight Calen and what we saw, he seems to be very skilled even though he is just a child" Astin reported.

"A small and weak, but very skilled fighter that fought the slave traders, but was captured when Riveria was taken hostage, it matches with what Castien reported" Larfal mumbled to himself.

"Is there anything else?" asked Larfal.

"Your majesty, there is one other thing," said Astin.

"Oh? what is it?" asked Larfal in interest.

"It seems that the boy and the princess seemed to be really close to each other," said Astin.

"Close?"

"Yes, she even allowed him to touch her" replied Astin.

"What!" Larfal was shocked and asked, "Is this true?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Astin

"Hmm...Ok, that is enough, you may now leave" said Larfal, before he turned to a few guards on the side and said "Bring in my daughter."

After being told he can leave, knight leader Astin quickly left, and Riveria was quickly brought in before Larfal.

As Larfal looked down at his daughter and sighed as he said "I'm disappointed with you Riveria, I thought you were better than this."

"I'm sorry father... I just wanted to explore a bit..." said Riveira meekly.

"Nevertheless! you disobeyed what I said! and sneaked outside the city using the passages I told you about not long ago in case of emergencies! You traveled into the forest against my will, and eventually got captured by slave traders just to explore? Those passageways were not meant for you to use just because you wanted to explore!" said Larfal angrily as he slammed his fist on the arm of his throne.

"If not for that young boy, you could have been subjected to things worse than death if they succeeded. You also made me dispatch my knights all across the forest to tirelessly search for you! Do you know how much trouble you are in?!" shouted Larfal loudly as he looked at her angrily.

"Yes father..." said Riveria in a low voice, as she had her head down while trying to hold back her tears.

"Is there anything else you have to say for yourself?"

"No..." replied Riveria quietly.

"Then guards, please escort her back to her room, as it is late, I will decide her punishment tomorrow along with rewarding of the boy," said Larfal, and as the guards were about to escort Riveria to her room, Riveria suddenly shouted, "Wait!"

Larfal was already in a bad mood, and angrily said "What is it?"

"Father, Ashur was injured by those slave traders while rescuing me, could you send him a potion?" asked Riveria.

"The boy? Fine" said Larfal as he turned to another guard and said, "Order a maid to bring a potion to our guest."

"Yes your majesty!" said the guard as he ran out of the room.

"Now guards, bring the princess to her room," said Larfal as he watched as Riveria left with the guards and offering to resistance as they brought her to her room.

Except for a few guards stationed around the hall, Larfal was now left alone as he thought about the request Riveria made before she left.

'She seemed quite concerned about him, how close are they exactly? I can understand her being close to someone's Savior, but something doesn't feel right'.

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After soaking in the bath for over a half an hour Ashur soon finished, and slowly got out before drying himself off with the towel he grabbed earlier.

After drying off, Ashur walked over to the door to the changing area and went inside.

As he walked over to the baskets and looked inside, he noticed that his old dirty clothes were now gone. Instead, they were now replaced by a fresh pair of elven clothes that was around the same size.

He figured that this was the set of clothes that the maid said she would bring, and started to put it on.

After putting it all on, he noticed that it was really fancy, even comparable to his old set of clothes when it was not dirty.

Although the clothes he made in heaven was made in less than 10 minutes, it was really well made and it made him look like a young noble, so a set of clothes comparable to it, must be made by quite the experienced tailor, and the fabrics used were not cheap either.

Overall, Ashur was very pleased with this set of clothes as it reminded him of the high-class clothes he wore when he still worked in the mafia for his father.

"Are you done with your bath, Mister Ashur?"

Suddenly, a voice was heard from the hallway outside the changing room, and Ashur knew this voice, it was the voice of the maid that brought him to the bath.

"Yeah, one second," said Ashur as he tidied himself and made sure everything was neat, before walking out of the changing room.

As the maid laid eyes on him as he walked out, she was shocked.

If Ashur looked like a beggar before, the way he looked now would be described as a prim and proper noble boy.

The maid was shocked by the sudden change. how could a bath and a change of high-quality clothes from his dirty, bloody, and ruined clothes change someone so much? She even noticed his aura around him changed a bit,

Before, Ashur had the aura of a carefree boy, but now, she noticed that he had the aura of a dignified leader who had people at his beck and call, which confused her.

Ashur was just a child, how could it even be possible?

For a second she even thought she might even have had the wrong person and said "Mister Ashur?"

Hearing her call him, Ashur turned to her and answered "Yes?"

Hearing his answer, she was a bit flustered "It's nothing!"

Ashur looked at her weirdly before asking "Can I go back to my room now?"

"Most certainly, please allow me to guide you back," she said hurriedly.

"By the way, his majesty said he will summon you tomorrow as it is already very late"

Ashur already figured it would probably be like this, as when they arrived, the sun was already setting, and it was currently already night outside, and such time was not very suitable to schedule an audience with the king.

Walking Ashur down the hallway, The maid and Ashur started leading him back to his room, with him following just a few feet behind her.