New beginning

The man sat in his place and kept on staring at the two people in front of him. That heavy atmosphere wasn't really his thing.

Comprehending his current situation was too tough for the man since he had been going through a ridiculous series of events.

The only thing he could do was look at the faces of the two women in front of him.

He glanced at another woman sitting right beside him. Perplexed by the current dilemma, he listened to their conversations.

"The young lord should pay more attention to himself."

Rudia was speaking as the carriage was headed towards the guard post; they were about to leave the kingdom.

The man had thought it would be only him and Aliana who would be travelling outside the kingdom, but it seems like he was gravely mistaken.

Jaden ceased his eavesdropping and let out a sigh. Within the carriage, sitting with three women, he was the only man.

Two people were people he had already met a few times, while the third one was almost a stranger to him.

'But she...'

Shifting his gaze at the two women in front of him, Jaden's eyebrows frowned tentatively. Unsure as to why she was present amongst them, he gripped his hands together.

'Why is Claire here.?'

Next to Claire sat Rudia, speaking nonchalantly despite being a maid. Claire and Aliana seemed to not mind it either. The difference in their social status was huge.

"What are you thinking about?"

The voice made Jaden flinch and turn towards the person who asked that of him. An awkward smile formed on his lips.

"It's nothing."

Aliana was sitting with her eyes close, next to him. She had not said a word since the carriage departed the Brimstone residence.

Claire glanced at the two of them while listening to Rudia. They had switched the topics to trending dishes. While the other three were carefree, Jaden was feeling anxious.

After he woke up, Jaden found out that Julianne hadn't returned from the palace yet. To top it off, Aliana had arrived at his place to pick him up. The day had a ludicrous way of beginning, just like the day before.

Rudia's following him made a bit of sense since she was his maid. As for Aliana, she was the one who had planned it all. But Claire?

When Jaden opened the door to the carriage, Claire was already sitting opposite Aliana. As he felt awkward occupying the seat beside her, Jaden was sitting next to Aliana.

"Oh my, Lady Belcher. You surely know your stuff."

Claire had a keen sense of current trends, which impressed Rudia. Jaden stared at the white mobcap on Rudia's head out of curiosity; he had never seen her hair colour.

Not to mention, every time Jaden looked into Rudia's eyes, they seemed to have different colors. Or maybe Jaden was just hallucinating.

"Just call me Claire from now on. I have nothing to do with the Belcher family."

Claire made the claim while sighing as if she were pleased with it. Their talks were providing Jaden with information that might be useful sometime in the future.

Jaden's tenacity was being put to a test since the carriage had yet to reach its destination. Jaden had almost run out of patience. He parted his lips gradually.

"So, where exactly are we headed?"

Following Aliana without knowing their destination seemed like a bad idea to him. With no appropriate notion, he had been following her.

Even the knowledge he had about his own novel was rendered useless at that point. Aliana's past actions have severely affected both the present and the future.

Jaden couldn't assume or determine what awaited them in the near future. They were already beyond chapter 266 of his novel; there was no chapter 267.

"To the elven forest."

Aliana had her usual bright smile, while Jaden was sweating with a pale face. Alian had stolen the Tear of the Goddess from the place she just mentioned.

It was a sure thing that elves would've placed a bounty on the head of the person who stole their most treasured and invaluable item. They hadn't done so yet.

'That means they don't know who the culprit is.'

The forest elves weren't the type of individuals to get involved with humans. There used to be exceptions from time to time, though.

In spite of being a peace-seeking species, they never let off their enemies easily.

If someone made an enemy out of himself, the elves would hunt them down by searching every corner of the world. Their spirit arts were far stronger than what someone could assume.

'Or maybe...'

Their being unaware of the culprit's true identity wasn't the only assumption Jaden could make. There was a possibility that they were trying to hide the theft on purpose.

Creak

The door made a creaking sound while opening; they had reached their destination. The place was bustling with people. The crowd was more than the street they had walked down just a day ago.

Jaden took a glance at Aliana and sighed. He had no idea what would happen next. And mainly, he hadn't told Julianne anything before leaving. As soon as Aliana arrived at his place, Jaden had to rush to her carriage.

"Don't worry about your sister. She will understand once she reads my note."

Jaden's worries were visible on his face, and Aliana was the first to notice them. It was like that from the start; Aliana could read Jaden more than anyone else.

Maintaining silence, Jaden scratched his head. It wasn't that he was annoyed, but because he was baffled by everything that had happened.

Soon, Aliana went to a counter nearby, and he could peek at the huge gate through which they would soon be leaving Dragonaria.

His lips were parted for a while as he stood amazed by the huge walls around Dragonaria Kingdom.

"I hope she is doing fine."

Jaden's worries made him mumble while he thought of Julianne. He was feeling guilty for not telling her anything.

-----------------------

"Are you still worried about your brother?"

Roland headed back to the Rosenstein residence as soon as the sun rose above the horizon, leaving Blaise and Julianne all alone.

They were almost done handling the matters within the imperial palace. Julianne was going through some documents for the last time.

"Of course, I am."

The flipping of pages came to a stop, and Julianne hit the bundle of papers on the table. She was putting them in the proper order.

Throughout the night, the three hadn't had a wink of sleep. The reason Roland went back home wasn't because of that, though.

After reading the note he received in the early morning from Aliana, he ran to his horse with a furious face.

"You don't need to worry, you know?"

Blaise put his fingers through his hair and pulled them up. He had a smile on his face.

"He is with 'that' lady Rosenstein."

Julianne wasn't the only one who was aware of Aliana's prowess. Blaise had found out about it during the banquet too.

Whenever his green eyes glowed, an original magic spell he came up with would be in effect. That magic allowed him to see the amount of mana within a person's body.

'Just what is that monster...'

He was getting goosebumps all over his body, remembering what he had witnessed when he used that spell on Aliana.

The amount of mana Aliana possessed far surpassed the human realms.

Interfering with the banquet and revealing his identity wasn't what Blaise had intended to do. But he had to after the emperor used the relic to block off Aliana's magic.

'To think that ancient relic of the Dragon Age was useless against her.'

Aliana's magic was never blocked off by the pendant. She was just holding herself back from using her magic.

Had she used her magic, Aliana would've managed to bring the imperial palace to ruins. Blaise could tell this just by taking a glimpse at her mana.

"I suppose that's true."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Julianne stood up from her seat. She put on the cape, which was resting on the hands of the chair. Julianne spoke lightly while walking towards the exit.

"Even so... I..."

Blaise couldn't hear her since she was standing at quite a distance. He only stared at the back of Julianne, which soon faded away.

Glancing at papers organised on the table, Blaise took off his monocle and wiped it using a handkerchief. He couldn't take his mind off of thinking about the events that occurred during the banquet.

And the main topic on his mind was about Dragon King Solas. To be specific, his handsome face. He had no inferiority complex, but he was simply jealous.

'I would've gotten into a relationship by now if I had a face like that.'

He swallowed his own saliva bitterly. It wasn't that he lacked anything to be called handsome.

Had he not spent around 10 years within the magic tower, he would've been in a relationship with some beauty by now.

"Hah..."

He tried to remember his schedule as he let out a sigh. Usually he would carry a diary, enlisting important tasks for himself.

Originally, he was going to attend the banquet and return to the magic tower as soon as he could. But his plans had been messed up thanks to an irregular individual.

"Right. I had to go there."

His next destination was a place no human could enter. It was about two years ago that he ended up helping an unknown person. But remembering what happened after that left him with a pale face.

To return his favour, the person whom he had saved offered herself to him. To be clear, she asked him to marry her. And as soon as she asked that of Blaise, he gave it his all to run away.

"I don't really want to visit that place again."

He was never interested in marriage or stuff. People within the magic tower were mostly being teased for not having a partner, and he just wanted to show off his lover.

Simply speaking, he wanted to be a magic nerd who had a girlfriend. However, he had never anticipated being asked to marry a complete stranger he had only met by chance.

He got up from his chair and stared at Julianne outside, looking down from the window. He could feel her gaze in the room before she got into her carriage.

Sigh

Now Blaise was really the only one left within the palace. The emperor had gone into hiding after what had occurred that night.

Someone who used to act all high and mighty in possession of an ancient relic got humbled up by the Dragon King Solas real quick. It was the first time he had experienced the emotion called fear.

Even if he were alive in some corner, those memories wouldn't possibly stop tormenting him for rest if his life. The Dragon King was feared at some point in time for a reason, after all.

"I should take my leave too, I think."

Blaise packed up his monocle and quill pen as he pulled a bag out of his ring. The ring was an item the former tower master had created.

No one knew the former tower master's identity or gender. It was 15 years ago that the current tower master was appointed.

Fwish

Blaise walked out of the entrance while making his possessions suck within the storage ring. Finally, he was done with staying at one place.

"Time to visit the Elven Forest."