50 A Magical Carriage
Dinner was slightly awkward tonight as the two young masters of the Hendrix family had joined in too.
Maxwell Hendrix, the older of the two is currently 10 years old while Adam Hendrix, the younger one is 8.
Maxwell has cold, blue eyes and blonde curly hair. His face was also had defined features that he probably inherited from his mother just like his other traits.
Adam has a much more normal-looking face without any striking features that would indicate him being handsome. He was practically like his boring father with the genes of straight brown hair and brown eyes.
There really was not much of a conversation going on in this room as all the adults were planning on saving the stories for tomorrow.
Even though Daren and the rest of his entourage had rested pretty much the entire day, the marquess and his family were the opposite.
The family had to make their own preparations to leave at the same time as the Daren. This was an unexpected trip so they had to rush everything before nightfall. After lots of letters being written and a lot of errands being made, the Hendrix family was ready t head to the capitol alongside Daren and the crew.
Even though they could leave after Daren, Andrew wanted the extra security. Due to Celina's prospective value, there was going to be a small group of very powerful and talented royal guards escorting them to the capital.
Having the Golden Lions of the emperor's personal guard would make the trip as safe as it could get.
Due to helping her husband with all the tasks, Margret was also tired and was in a rare mood where she didn't feel like running her mouth.
The two boys wanted to talk to the cute, red-haired girl in front of them but were hesitant. They did not interact with children of their age.
Igrit did not have children that could even come close to the ranks of nobility so they had not been able to find playmates. Also, their father was not very trusting of most people so he did not actively search for friends.
The two were lonely but also had no idea how to engage in a conversation between child their it. They were even a bit shy due to how pretty this little girl was and how serene the scene of her being fed by the hands of her goddess mother looked.
Chloe is a lazy child and hates having to do things on her own. That's why Celina had the urge to feed her. This came naturally and did not mind it because just like Celina. Chloe at like a miniature truck.
She was constantly shoving food into her mouth and the chewing made her look like a chubby hamster. The boys were not disgusted by this trait of hers.
They found it rather cute. Anything this cute girl does would look cute.
The boys were content with just enjoying their meal and basking in the holy presence of Chloe's monster appetite.
That's why no one talked during dinner. They all just ate until they were full and headed to their rooms to sleep.
Daren and Chanela had their own room while Chloe and Celina slept together. The child had demanded she spends the night with her mother as she always had.
She had not asked for Daren as she was used to mostly being with her mother since her dad was usually busy doing work for the emperor or on the battlefield, fighting invaders.
Daren didn't mind that as he liked sleeping alone as he had done for the past thousands of years.
..........
As the sun rose, the morning sky took on the hue of a mesmerizing, golden orange.
The first people to wake up were the menial workers and day-to-day laborers. They had the toughest jobs and the longest hours.
Following them, the people who had worked the night shifts had gone home and went to sleep. That's if they even had a home.
The city had a charming, quiet bustle to it that made on relaxed and be in tune with the daily flow of a monotonous life.
This monotony had been broken by the sound of a dozen horses striding away loudly. The footsteps of the horses were in sync as if they all shared one mind and one pace.
Clip! Clop! Clip! Clop!
A procession containing 16 black, muscular horses with black angel wings made their way to the marquesses' mansion.
They were towing a golden carriage of ample size that was lined with. The carriage had back outlines and white edges that made it look ethereal.
the carriage's underside even had a golden glow emitting from it.
If one went under the carriage, they would spot innumerable small and large magic circles that intertwined with each other. These magic circles made this carriage like a holy treasure that no one except the highest authority in the land could own.
In front of the holy carriage and menacing horses with wings, a tall man could be seen sitting on a gigantic golden lion that was 9 meters tall. The lion had golden fur that looked like honey and its gorgeous mane fluttered lightly even if there was no breeze.
This man was Duke Duke Lystria. The current acting vice commander of the Golden Lions. He had been tasked to escort two individuals of high value to the capital.
Normally, a lower-ranked commander of the Golden Lions would be tasked with the task. This time though, almost all the Golden Lions except him and a dozen others were sent to do a secret mission.
This meant that he had to take 20 of his men and leave to their comfortable homes to go to the not so far away from the border city of Igrit.
Even though they spent a ton of money to get a high-ranked mage to teleport them over instantly, they could not teleport back as there were no high-ranked space mages around here.
They also had to stay overnight to give their guests some time to rest and digest their situations. This meant that not only did they have to spend the night here but they also had to go on a no rest, 3-day journey back.
Duke Lystria glanced back at his comrades to find out that he could not tell their mood whatsoever. If it wasn't for him talking to his men in the morning, he wouldn't have known that they were hiding feelings of laziness behind those stern faces of theirs.
With the things that were going on in the palace, they had been taking a good break. Silver Lions would be taking over for their duties for a month.
Who knew that the emperor would send them out on an errand 4 days after their vacation had started. They could be relaxing in their homes right now but they were stuck doing this.
They wished that the horses could fly many times faster and the magic circles were better so they could return to their vacations.
It was truly unfortunate that the magic circles were already as best as they could and these Nightmare Pegasi was the best flying horses in the human realms market.
The two burly guards in front of the gate took some time to open the massive, black iron gates but they tried harder this time since they didn't want to inconvenience the honorable Golden Lions.
Anyone of the Golden Lions could get the gate to open swiftly with just a flick of their wrist.
Even though they want to get home, they are still too lazy to just open the doors themselves. That is very contradictory but that's how humans are.
The escort fleet of golden armored soldiers entered through the gates and stood in front of the doors to the mansion.
The soldiers had their backs straight as some of them pointed their spears upwards at perfect angles while others held on to their swords in a calm manner.
There were even some magicians in the back that simply caressed their meter-long magic staff.
Even though these habits seemed odd, this was just an effect of their training.
Duke Lystria caringly patted his lion on the head and then jumped off. He landed on his feet without the metal armor making a single ounce of noise.
He then was about to open the doors and let himself in when the door blew inwards.
Holding the double doors were the two young maids that had seen Daren's assets yesterday. They were still taking small glances at him while blushing very subtlety.
Daren noticed this and could only shake his head in response. neither he nor the two young ladies were responsible for the incident yesterday. It was all caused by his overbearing daughter.
Celina also noticed the actions and expressions of the two maids and opted to ignore them. She had gone through Daren's memories of the day using the system.
This was a habit she carried out every night before sleepytime. She had seen the after-effects of letting her daughter wake Daren even though she was the one who was supposed to do it.
Celina held on to Chloe's little hand as they were the first ones to walk out of the mansion and onto the stairs.
The mother-daughter pair wore the same white dress that was embroidered with designs of blue orchids. They looked like saintesses and walked into the golden carriage without speaking a word to the duke.
Daren wore a light red shirt and black trousers along with a pair of white sneakers. Alongside him was Chanela who wore black leather pants, a white shirt with a leather jacket, and red, 2-inch heels.
Al the clothing that this group wore was something that the system came up with and created The system had picked up this strange habit of dressing the handsome Daren and the beauties in his family.
I liked looking at the outfits that it curated specifically for the models that are wearing them.
"Good morning Duke Lystria. Hope you had a good night's rest!" said Daren with his usual smile.
"Haha. Good morning to you too. You guys better have had good fights rest. This journey will take three days. that by no means is short." replied the duke.
He had an amicable smile as he guided Daren and Chanela to the carriage. Before he could open the door with the magic key, he heard a loud yet calm voice.
"You think you can leave without me, Ruden," yelled Andrew as he was fully dressed in a luxurious red robe. He was followed by Margret and then their two sons.
As soon as they left the mansion, Kuro came from nowhere and made a strange gesture from his hands. This signaled the two young maids to close the doors swiftly.
Kuro then tailed the Hendrix family as a butler should do.
"Are you coming with us?" asked the Duke who had not been called by his actual name in a while. His smile turned brighter as he remembered the days that he spent with his dear friends like Andrew and others at the Royal Academy of Nobles.
The only people that call him by his first name should be his wife and father. Even some of his friends could not talk to him like that because their status is many times lower than Andrew's.
"Of course we're coming. Can you wait for us? The carriage we ordered should be here soon." asked Andrew as he was hoping that his usually impatient friend could be patient for once.
The duke's face then had a weird expression of confusion that didn't last long as he became happy about having some more time to catch up with this long-time buddy of his.
"Hehe. No need to wait for your carriage. You can join them on this one." said Ruden Lystria as he smiled slyly.
The marquess was confused and upset at his friend's comment.
"This isn't the time for jokes. There is no way we can fit in this carriage It's not even that big!" Even though Andrew had an aggressive tone, there were still some hints of his calmness in it.
"What do you mean by a 'joke'? I'm serious. Just take a look inside." The duke then chuckled as he put in a tiny golden key through a minuscule keyhole in the middle of the left carriage door.
The doors then swung open without a sound.
When you looked inside, there was no space to sit but rather an oval, reddish portal that had an image of a gigantic, white mansion in it.
When everyone saw this, they were confused but slightly in awe as well. The portal seemed like something that would take them into another world.
The marquess though was not awed but rather surprised and practically out of his mind as he saw something incomprehensible.
"WHEN DID HIS HIGHNESS GET A SPATIAL CARRIAGE FROM?!!!" he yelled with no calmness and just total bewilderment.
Duke Ruden Lystria then started laughing like crazy when he saw his friend's expression. They were confused as to what spatial carriage was. Daren was just about to ask when his daughter said something more absurd.
"Hehe. Aunty look! This spatial carriage is so funny-looking. Grandpa's one didn't even need a portal to take us into sub-dimensions. These people are too funny! They are too poor!"
Duke Lystria, who was just about to explain what a spatial carriage is, dropped his jaw as he heard what this little girl said. Not only had she known what spatial carriage was but she also had seen ones that were only described in myths.
Marquess Hendrix was about to faint. With all the stress over the last couple of days, he was about to burst over his limit and faint.
And faint he did when he had processed the words of the little Chloe.
