Chapter 23: Arrived at the Xaverion Empire
Before the sun rises,some of the knights have left and only few remains,Ria woke up early and took a bath then she went down to have her breakfast and prepare her things before they left."princess"sir paul greeted ria ,the knights were busy preparing foods and packing their things, "sir paul you look kind of refresh" ria complimented seeing how sir paul look like he's in a good mood, "i have a good night princess what about you did you sleep well" he ask while they were walking out of the inn "hmm i slept well,where are the other knights I didn't see sir owen and the others" she ask
Lucius who was standing outside saw ria and sir paul coming towards them "they went back first your highness" he heard their conversation and they stop when they saw him Astria bowed and greeted him "your majesty" "did you sleep well princess" he ask "i did your highness what about you" she ask back "i slept comfortably,you should have your breakfast and we'll leave shortly after" he replied then two men came and bowed "milord we finished packing some dried foods,where should we place it" they ask "at the carriage and packed us some foods for our lunch" "yes milord" they bowed "here's an addition payment for your services" Lucius took a bag of golds in his pocket and gave it to them "ah no we already received a lot milord" they refused "just take it and do your work" Lucius
"t-thank you milord" they bowed and left Ria who was observing him just smiled 'he still have a heart i guess'
"your majesty may i ask why you sent the other knights away"Ria "i gave them work" he replied short but blunt "oh"Ria gasped "we also need to return at the empire as early as Evan wants,when we arrive at the village we'll teleport back to the empire" he added "hmm maybe i can help the knights when we arrive at the village i can used my magic well when were near at the location, why don't we have our breakfast your Majesty,Sir Evan must have awoken as well" Ria suggested "alright let's have our breakfast" Lucius agreed 'we needed her power to return without delay' Lucius thought and they went inside
"ughh why are they so noisy when it's still so early in the morning" Evan complains and was headed to the dining room of the inn "Ah Evan your awake,have a breakfast with us" Ria who was eating her food ask evan to sat with them,ria was sitting besides sir Paul while Lucius was at their front and at the other table was where sir El and sir Joseph along with the other knights 'do i have to sit with him' he thought "good morning your majesty, princess" he said with a smile and took his seat besides Lucius "pardon me your majesty" he said and took a plate "hm your comfortable calling my aide's name whom you just met for weeks and yet you refuse to call my name before" He said and Evan who was chewing his food cough,sir El who was eating his soup suddenly stops and the soup just went out from his mouth
"cough cough" Evan was choking so ria handed a glass of water "here drink some water" she said so evan took it and drunk,he puts the glass down and stare at Lucius who still had his poker face but was smirking 'are you crazy your majesty' he thought,The imperial family had some dark secrets and one of it was imprinting,to devote their loyalty to the royal family,some used the imprinting so that they will never betray them and for others they used it to fill their lust and greed, Lucius had used it but to those traitors only that were useful and he never tried imprinting a woman,there were many ways for the imprint to be done some ways are intimacy to women but the most basic is that when the emperor will allow the other one to call his name or he'll just used force to imprint the others by using his power
Of course it's not for sure that the emperor was planning on imprinting the princess but that was still surprising,on the other hand Lucius was having different thoughts about why he wanted to imprint Astria 'hmm if she didn't refuse I could have imprinted her,that way she'll suffer the consequences of hurting me i still haven't forgotten what she had done and a loyal powerful mage would lessen my work,too bad she's putting her guard' he thought and ate his food "what's with your stare" He ask when evan keep looking at him "you can't your majesty" he said "stop your nonsense" Lucius answered while Ria was only listening to their conversation and ate her meal,Sir paul who had an idea of what the emperor was trying to do just stare with his cautious eyes
As soon as they finished their breakfast they left the inn and continued their journey, Inside the carriage,Evan was keeping an eye on Lucius and kept asking several questions "what contract should we make with the princess your highness" he ask while Ria was staring outside "didn't i told you that she'll work at the magic tower" Lucius was irritated "and when will she retired" he ask again "hm for 20 years" Lucius stare at Ria and upon hearing her retirement ria gaze at Lucius and she stared at him "can i have a day off or vacation" she ask "you can" Lucius answered so ria was happy "if" but she was taken a back when Lucius added some conditions "if" evan and ria ask "if you'll call me by my name" he said and so ria and Evan widen their eyes
'princess ria no matter what don't agree on calling his majesty's name' ria remembered sir Paul's warning before they left so she knew that it must be danger "your majesty" Evan was distress "how could i call the emperor's name forgive me but I can't your majesty" ria lowered her head in disappointment. "hm it's your choice" he glared like threatening her but ria didn't mind him and just stared outside 'why do i serve such a lunatic bastar*' Evan sigh and felt sorry for the princess..Two days had passed and they reached the Trisberg village,the gates opened and they went inside of the village
"this looks more like a town than a village" ria "it will be recognized as a town sooner" Evan smiled while explaining to ria, Lucius was staring at the two who sat besides each other 'they look good together,should i arrange a marriage for them' he thought 'tsk that will be troublesome' he added and didn't mind the two who was chatting.The abandoned mansion at the village was their meeting place,sir owen opened the carriage and Ria went out first "watch your step princess" he joked and hold her hand as she went down from the carriage "thank you sir Owen" ria smiled and look around at the mansion which was rusty and ruined
"your welcome im glad your doing just fine your highness" he replied and bowed when Lucius went out "are preparations complete"Evan ask the Knights "yes milord we'll be able to teleport at the empire today" George replied and so Lucius walks toward the mansion and entered it,the other knights took their luggage and followed Lucius "princess let's go" sir paul escorted her and they followed the Knights ,inside was where the incantation was placed, a round circle placed at the floor and the knights gather around to form a circle "princess please stand besides his Majesty" owen said so ria went near Lucius,aside from them there were 8 other individuals who was inside of the magic circle including evan and sir Paul
"we're ready your majesty" George said "then let's leave"Lucius answered, Ria was not familiar to how they used incantation and teleportation since it was very different from hers "swoosh" a light covers the magic circle and it made her stumble,sir paul holds her shoulder so ria was feeling at ease "i suggest you hold tightly to your knight" Lucius spoke and ria just nods,the light was still lingering at the room then suddenly they vanish,Ria was in confusion it felt like they were floating in space for some time "will take a few hours to arrive so stay still princess" owen advised, the light was still covering them so ria didn't know where they were or how they'll be able to reach the empire but suddenly the light that covered them seems to be breaking
'creak crack" Evan panick "were under attack" he said so ria was more in confused 'how can they attack when were inside the pillar of lights' she thought and Lucius explained "the mansion where the magic circle was made is been ruined and if it's ruin the teleportation will be invalid" he said "prepare yourselves our enemies are waiting" he said then the light suddenly broke and they teleport at a forest owned by the royal family "ughh" Evan and some knights vomit from the crash landing that they experience,ria was also covering her mouth while sir Paul was holding her tight "swoosh" Lucius slash his enemy when it tried to jump at them "ah" Ria was surprised and when she look around she realized that there were black mask men waiting for them
"stay there and protect yourself" Lucius glared at ria "we'll deal with the assassins your majesty please return at the palace" sir Joseph suggested but Lucius wanted to stay "it won't take long to deal with them,sir El prepare another magic circle" Lucius replied "yes your majesty" he replied and took the knights to form another magic circle, Sir Paul was busy attacking the assassins that tried to harm ria while owen and his group was on their killing mode "another assassins but the mages with them are a lot" ria ponder 'i thought the empire had few magicians so why do i sense a lot,but wasn't the Xaverion empire holds the title of the largest number of mages even though mages are rare it was only considered at the Sylvester empire but it's unbelievable some of the assassins were strong
"ack swoosh"Ria's attention was taken by Lucius when he slayed his enemy while keeping his poker face,no emotion was Sense and his mana was been scattered at the forest that made the enemies tremble as if they were caught on a spider web and they were trap with no escape "release the poison"the assassin shout and then throw some bag full of powdered poisons, "gather around and form a barrier" sir Joseph ordered so the knights hurriedly used their magics yo deflect the poison but Lucius didn't mind and continued killing his enemies "wait his majesty" Ria was worried and he knew he won't be killed but she thought that she should do her job as a mage that would serve him "princess" Evan was worried when ria runs out of the barrier but the knights didn't let him go out "she'll be fine sir evan" sir Paul was calm while watching his master running outside towards the emperor
"but she's" Evan but sir Paul point his finger at them and they saw how ria kept the wind surrounded them so no poison would enter "ah" evan was amazed,, Ria who created a wind barrier sigh with relief "why did you go out princess" he ask and glared at her " to help you your majesty" she answered "there's no need I'll deal with them at once" Lucius puts his sword back and release more murderous mana "ack" the enemies were feeling pain "swoosh" Lucius flick his finger and the golden mist turned red and swallowed the assassins turning them into ashes
"oh your really powerful as the rumors" she said and cleared the forest with her wind magic "princess" evan run towards them "are you alright" he ask "im fine" she replied "let's return to the palace" Lucius ordered and ria spoke "i think I'll be able to teleport us back at the palace your majesty" "hmm fine do your thing then" Lucius. "it would be easier if all us gather around the princess" sir Paul suggested so the knights hurriedly took their luggages and went near them "thank you sir Paul"Ria smiled and gathered her mana
She took a breath and gathered the wind to surround them "swoosh"a vast wind circled around them and they disappeared,the knights were unable to open their eyes since the wind was strong,"swoosh" a minute pass and the wind was slowly disappearing when they opened their eyes they were surprised to see the imperial palace, they were at the front of the main palace, the servants who were cleaning the garden at main palace was shock to see the group of the elite knights along with his majesty but more surprisingly their hair was in a mess.....It was a bit funny that they hair look like a cotton candy....