Commander Kataleya

In a city located in the east of the Kingdom of Westya, named Ethyria.

The territory of Ethyria is adjacent to the border of the Kingdom of Farnodt, which lies to the northeast, as well as Abyss, which is located directly to the east of the city.

Due to the city's proximity to Abyss, wars against the demon race occur constantly throughout the year. Therefore, it is not surprising to find many soldiers, adventurers, and strong travelers in Ethyria.

When the night approaches, a group of people in white robes stand in the lobby of the residence of the Lord of Ethyria.

Leading the group is a teenage girl standing at the front with a sweet smile. She has pale blonde hair and eyes as blue as sapphire. Her oval face, sharp nose, and smooth white skin make her look graceful like a fairy.

She wears a dark blue dress with armor covering some of her body. A white hoodie cloak covers her entire body, indicating that the girl does not want her presence to be known by the public.

The girl is the Third Princess of the Kingdom of Huntara, Princess Sravati Lye Huntara. The princess from the northern kingdom came to Ethyria incognito for a specific purpose.

It didn't take long before the large door to the right of the lobby opened. A tall, middle-aged man with toned muscles, striding confidently.

The man had a wide smile on his slightly square face, with short wavy red hair and a thick mustache. That man was the Lord of Ethyria City, Duke Terrion Grenhal.

Behind Terrion, there were several maids and a butler with black hair and yellow eyes.

The butler walked behind his master with a smile on his face, but his slightly squinted eyes sharply observed all the guests in the lobby.

Princess Sravati felt a sense of terror in her heart when the butler's yellow eyes glanced at her. She trembled slightly, and her face wrinkled. Her attendant, Mia, who stood beside her, noticed this and stepped forward with an angry face.

"Hey, what are you doing?! You are in the presence of Princess Sravati of Huntara. What's with that look on your face? Is this how people from Duke Grenhal treat royal guests?!"

The aide of Princess Sravati, Mia, loudly pointed at the butler standing behind Duke Grenhal.

This caused Duke Grenhal and his entourage to be stunned. Duke immediately looked back, squinting sharply at his butler.

"What are you doing?"

The butler bowed slightly before answering, "I'm sorry, sir. I was just checking to see if they were a threat or not."

"What you did was a threat! Are you willing to take responsibility if your rudeness triggers a war between two kingdoms?" Duke Grenhal asked. His voice was not loud, but the tone was full of authority, making everyone who heard it remain silent.

"..."

Grenhal shook his head. "Gyo, leave this room right now."

The butler, Gyo, bowed to greet the guest for the last time before turning and walking out of the room.

However, when Mia turned to glance at him, she saw Gyo's gaze land on her. The man gave a slight smile before leaving.

Before Gyo went out and was about to close the door, he threw another glance at a woman standing behind the line of Duke Grenhal's entourage.

The woman had long white hair and emerald green eyes. She appeared cold and expressionless. As Gyo moved to shut the door, he paused, realizing that the woman's emerald gaze was fixed upon him.

"Can I assist you, Commander Kataleya?" Gyo asked, speaking softly and in a hushed tone.

The woman with white hair who wears a royal military uniform merely tilted her head slightly before responding curtly to Gyo's inquiry.

"No. It's just my feelings."

Commander Kataleya turned her attention back to the front, where Duke Grenhal had begun to greet the royal guests from Huntara.

Gyo was momentarily stunned, and a cold glare flickered in his eyes before he sneered and closed the door.

In the midst of the lobby, Duke Grenhal greeted Princess Sravati's entourage by bowing and extending his hand.

"Welcome to Ethyria, Princess Sravati. I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long."

Princess Sravati responded by bowing slightly and lifting the hem of her gown. "Not at all, Duke Grenhal. In fact, I must apologize for disturbing you on such a late evening."

They exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Duke Grenhal led the entourage of Princess Sravati to his reception room to discuss the true purpose of her visit.

Duke Grenhal and Princess Sravati sat on antique sofas facing each other, while their attendants stood behind their respective masters.

Princess Sravati then explained the reason for her visit to Ethyria.

She had been participating in a student exchange program to study at the Westya School of Magic for the past few months. However, a few weeks ago, she heard some unpleasant news from her kingdom.

Duke Grenhal immediately knew what news she was referring to. It was about the alliance between the Kingdom of Huntara and the demon race from the Abyss.

It turned out to be far from Reiss's expectations. He was not the only one who survived the massacre of his group. There was another person who survived from Farnodt troops, someone who held the position of a warrant officer.

On the night before the incident, he left the military camp to go to Marina Town. He was assigned by the expedition captain due to his ominous premonition and asked for reinforcements to come as soon as possible.

However, the next afternoon when the warrant officer returned with dozens of reinforcements, the first thing he saw was soldiers from the Kingdom of Huntara and demons from Abyss, burning down the Farnodt troops while dancing.

Although his emotions boiled over and he wanted to take revenge immediately, he eventually chose to retreat and ran back to Marina as fast as he could. Bringing great news about the cooperation between Huntara and Abyss.

A few weeks after that, the peaceful world began to show signs of chaos.

There was still much unknown about whether the news was true or not, but at least it put Huntara's position in a slightly awkward position.

Last week, amidst turmoil, Princess Sravati received a message from the royal family in Huntara, brought by a magical bird. The message instructed her to stay quiet and hide in Westya Kingdom, as the city of Blackwinter had defected and allied with Abyss.

Unknown to outsiders and even to their own people, Huntara was currently in a state of civil war. However, neither side had made any aggressive moves yet, as there were many issues to be considered.

Sravati's mother urged her daughter to hide until the situation within the kingdom had subsided.

But would Sravati do as they asked? No. Reading the news only made her more anxious. She immediately ordered her entourage in the capital of Westya to leave secretly, their destination was of course the Huntara Kingdom.

However, problems arose for them now.

To get to Huntara, there were three routes, two of which were very dangerous. These were the Death Valley route and the Abyss route.

The remaining route was the only safe one and was used commonly by traders and anyone who wanted to go to Huntara from Westya. That route passed through the Kingdom of Farnodt.

Yup, the kingdom whose army had been slaughtered by Huntara and demon's forces . If Sravati went to that kingdom without a solid plan, she would be approaching her death.

Who knows what fate awaits the princess if she is discovered in the Kingdom of Farnodt. She may become a hostage, or even be executed publicly. Who knows, but going there is not a good idea for Sravati at this time.

That's why she went to Duke Grenhal for help. Sravati wanted to borrow Grenhal's people to smuggle her into Farnodt.

"That's my purpose for coming here, Duke Grenhal," said Sravati, who had finished explaining the reason for her arrival.

Grenhal touched his chin in thought. He was slightly intrigued by the princess's actions, but what was more concerning in his mind was the issue of cooperation between Huntara and Abyss.

For now, Westya still couldn't confirm the truth of the issue. Not only because Huntara was covering it up, but the inspections at the border of the Farnodt Kingdom were also becoming tighter, making news from the north of the Kastia Continent slightly delayed.

And that wasn't all, it seemed that Westya's spies in Farnodt were in trouble. Because after the issue spread, there was no news from them at all.

Grenhal was interested in helping the princess because he also wanted to find out the truth of the issue.

The middle-aged man then glanced at the long-haired white woman who had been standing quietly in the corner of the room.

Grenhal smiled broadly before finally agreeing to the princess's request.

Sravati was somewhat surprised because she did not expect Duke Grenhal to agree so easily, even without negotiating a reward. She could only express her deepest gratitude and promise to repay Duke's kindness at a later date.

"Commander," Grenhal called.

The white-haired woman in military attire stepped forward, bowing to the Duke and the princess alternately.

"Princess Sravati, this is Commander Kirana Kataleya. She is one of my trusted subordinates," Grenhal introduced the white-haired woman to Sravati. He then turned to Commander Kataleya.

"Commander, I entrust the affairs of Princess Sravati and her entourage to you."

"Understood, Sir," replied Kataleya, saluting her superior.