Chapter 31: 4 Years Later

Chapter 31: 4 Years Later

The bells toll in the distance, there are sounds of screams in the streets of Valletta. The capital of Grove kingdom was going through a major change, a change it had never seen since the birth of this great nation.

King Grove, the founder of this nation… was finally getting married. 

A young girl was screaming to her friend at the top of her lungs, "Did you hear?! Lady Elizah's dress is beautiful! I heard it was all black and gold! She's wearing the royal colors!"

"I can't wait to see her! I heard she was gorgeous, I wish that were me up there with the king!"

"How do you think Lady Samantha is taking this? Do you think she's angry?" A man who resembles the first girl spoke out. 

"Shut up brother! Don't jinx this for Lady Elizah!" 

This girl proceeded to whack her brother a few times in a frustration for ruining the good mood.

"I'm just saying, we all know the princess's mother died some years ago, and she was never even considered a possible candidate as queen. Wouldn't you be a bit upset?"

The two girls looked back at this man like he was the enemy for just being here. They grumbled in frustration but they didn't have much else to say. Even they had to admit he had a point.

After their worry started to set in, an older gentleman spoke up to help alleviate the trio's worries.

"Don't be ridiculous. I've served under the king personally, Lady Samantha's mother was a witch and a whore and everyone knows it. I was there when I heard the news that she was pregnant. This isn't a known fact by many but the truth is that the king and that witch never actually did anything with each other."

The three looked at him curious and confused until the more experienced brother spoke up, "Grandpa what do you mean? Are you saying they didn't do the deed?"

This old man spoke like he saw it all, and maybe he did. The confidence with which he spoke was convincing enough at least.

"Aye, in fact that woman had collected the king's seed in private until myself and a few others found out that she was 6 months pregnant. The only reason nobody knows this is because the first queen, Her Majesty Ava cursed us with a simple spell."

"What was it?" The second girl was almost excited to hear this story.

"The curse of 'non believing.' Everytime we told this story to others they would simply blow it off and eventually forget about it completely."

After a minute of silence the son spoke up in embarrassment, "Grandpa, enough with the silly stories. We're being serious right now."

After that, the trio got back to chatting and left the old man to sip his tea in peace.

"Bunch of brats."

___________________

Inside the palace walls a young woman was standing in front of a mirror while her maids stared at her, while some were crying tears of joy and others just prayed out loud that everything would work out in her favor.

"Eli… you look so beautiful. I still can't believe this is the same girl I adopted so many years ago. It makes me laugh at my own naivety back then."

Amelia stood proud and smiled at Elizah, deep down she always wanted this for her. After her mother left, Elizah was the only friend she had and despite what she said, the truth is that Elizah and Amelia are in fact the same age.

Elizah looked back at Amelia and was trying her hardest not to cry at this moment.

"If it weren't for you sticking up for me back then, I would never be here today. I would've died as a street rat, buried in filth or thrown in a river somewhere. You're the best mother and friend a person could ask for."

Now Amelia was on the verge of crying.

"Oh Dredan, help me get through today."

Suddenly a young man walked in wearing black and gold robes. He stopped at the door and admired the beauty of his future grandmother.

"Wow, super genes sure are something. You and gramps look like you could be my siblings. Are you sure you're 40?"

"Jessup! Get out! We are having a moment here! This is why you're still single!"

"Ouch- Well as much as I would like to… it's time. They're ready."

The two women looked shocked but they quickly got over it and started to get ready. The weddings here in Grove Kingdom are very different from earth, but at the same time, Queen Ava and King Grove never actually had an official wedding. So this was technically a first time for everyone.

The wedding had a very western\eastern vibe to it. It was simple but also very grand, the wedding was being held on one of Toshi Makoto's ships. This was his finest ship that he could summon with his ability. He held his own weddings here as well.

Toshi walked over to Jessup and smiled before asking, "How do you like it? When I died I was surrounded by ships. When they went up in flames it was the happiest day of my life. And the last."

Jessup gave him the 'What the F$#@?' look. He didn't seem to understand what he meant. "I thought you offed yourself?"

Makoto just laughed a little before replying to the naive little man, "Who do you think started it?"

The conversation was getting a bit disturbing for his taste so Jessup just decided to walk away without saying anything.

"Hopefully the buffet will have more morals than that guy."

The wedding was now over and things went without any issue. There was no one to claim her or object to the bride nor were there any crazy ex's to crash the party. It was just a 'normal' wedding. If you can call it that.

"Despite what he said, I'm kinda grateful he blew up an entire cruise ship. This place is nice."

While he was filling his plate he felt someone touch his shoulder. He jumped a little thinking it was an enemy and when he turned around he wasn't completely wrong. It was Shojo Makoto, one of his master's wives and Alora's mother.

Jessup's face went pale, he tried not to show fear in front of this woman but she practically oozed bloodlust. Nobody knows how Toshi Makoto managed to tame this woman and many don't believe he actually did.

"How did you enjoy the wedding?"

Jessup had to watch what he said in front of this woman. She was a very literal person, she didn't take jokes well and she wasn't the type of person you brought to parties. Rumor has it, Toshi tried to convince her to sit this one out but she insisted. How that man got her to be in a harem, nobody knows.

"Shojo-Sama," Jessup had to bow to this lady every time he saw her, "the party was done beautifully. I wish to have one myself someday."

Jessup stood there for a full minute waiting for her to reply back but instead she just stood there in silence without saying anything. It was clear she was scaring the bystanders around her. Jessup was no exception.

Finally she spoke with a neutral tone without a hint of emotion, "You could've if you hadn't called off the marriage with my daughter."

She stood close to Jessup with only a few inches separating these two. She would be breathing down his neck if he hadn't had a growth spurt just a few years ago.

"Ahhh, yeah… Very true…"

She narrowed her eyes at jessup but before she could speak another word another woman walked over and Miss Makoto was dragged away. It was none other than Alora. She was given orders by her father to keep an eye on her and it seemed the Misses managed to sneak away.

Jessup watched as this unfolded while not saying anything, he just watched Miss Shojo get dragged off by her daughter. He wanted to say something but instead he thought it was best if he just left things alone. 

It had been 4 years since he called things off and Jessup was now 20 years old, he was planning to travel very soon and he didn't need the distractions.

Jessup just continued picking out food in silence while watching the rest of the party go on. He watched his grandfather at the corner of his eye laughing and chatting with his wife Elizah.

He thought it was sweet how they could be so cute together, he even felt a little jealous as he looked back at the conversation he had 4 years ago.

Back at the bar Jessup asked how he was going to work around the 'immortality thing' and all he said was, 'There's nothing to do, I wasn't lying when I said that people die, but what matters is that they had a good life. I will watch over her and nurse her in her old age, and I will ask Dredan to take care of her soul like it's more valuable than my own.'

The thing that worries me is what he said after, 'She doesnt want that though. She wants to become immortal. Of course there are ways but those paths lead to a dark road, and I don't want her to suffer for eternity.'

Jessup didn't know what to say or how he could help, they talked about vampirism but that path led to many challenges full of suffering. Unless she became a high ranking vampire it wouldn't be worth it and even then, she would suffer the same curse as him. Time would flow the same for her. Eventually it would drive her mad.

As for Jessup, he had to figure out his own path in life. Soon he would travel to Rosary and set up a base of operation until he could… do something. He still wasn't sure what he wanted to do, he just knew that he wanted to do something.

He was planning to leave tomorrow, unfortunately the king is the only one who can portal him all the way there, and the king will be busy for the next few months on his honeymoon. He's expecting an aunt or uncle any day now. 

Jessup was looking around when he spotted his mother at the table eating her food alone, so he chose to go over there and talk with her.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

His mother looked up and smiled at her son and held his hand before letting go.

"A penny wouldn't do justice with how much I'm thinking. I'm scared about tomorrow."

His mother used to be a very cold person but over the years she relaxed a lot more. She's still strict but she's nothing like Shojo.

"I've been hearing rumors that you would oppose this wedding, who knew out of all the things you would worry about it would be me."

Jessup smiled at her attitude. He didn't like to admit it but he was a bit of a momma's boy now. He couldn't help it, he just had such a great mom.

His mother looked confused and scoffed, "People need to stop focusing on unwarranted rumors. Lady Elizah- sorry I suppose it's Her Majesty now. Her Majesty changed my diapers, she even taught me how to use my powers. It's hard finding fellow espers around here you can trust. She's already like a mother to me, this hardly changes anything. If anything, if it weren't for Amelia's mother…"

Jessup looked at her and just listened to her talk. There wasn't much for him to add and he certainly didn't want to stop her from letting out her stress.

His mother sighed and just sat there picking at her food until a surprise guest showed up. It was none other than the woman of the hour with her husband walking right behind her. She walked behind my mother and gave her a big bear hug before saying, "I love you too Sam, you'll always be my little girl."

Jessup watched them talk for a bit until the king tapped him on the shoulder and eyed the balcony. Jessup took that as a sign to walk, so he got up, patted his mother on the shoulder and followed his grandfather.

After they stepped outside they looked out at the still ocean and saw nothing but a few of Makoto's ships Patrolling the waters, occasionally they would shoot fireworks to scare off the hostile sea creatures. It looked strangely serene so far out at sea at night. 

"Congratulations old man. You got the crown and you got the girl, what else could a man ask for?"

The king chuckled at his grandson's quirky attitude before replying, "I get to send you off and away from here. That's what."

"Harsh."

He continued, "I'll be pretty busy tonight and tomorrow morning… and probably in the afternoon. We plan to set off on our honeymoon sometime tomorrow night. So I was thinking about sending you off after the party tonight."

"Gross. But yeah I get that. Was there anything else or did you just want to tell me you're kicking me out of the house early?"

The King pulled something out of his portal and surprisingly it was a teapot… The teapot. Jessup wasn't sure what he was doing with that until he did something that shocked him. 

He removed the lid and stuffed his hand inside the boiling golden water! His action sent shivers down Jessup's spine, he could still remember having his finger cut off and regrown because he did something similar. Except this was far more extreme.

Jessup was expecting the king's hand to be completely burned or something but surprisingly it wasn't. His hand was perfectly unscathed but now he was holding something. It was a glass ball with cracks inside of it, and these cracks looked almost like they were glued together with gold?

"What is this? Was that always there?"

The king looked at him with a blank face and spoke slowly, "I chose to hide this because I was worried people would discover I had a third divine artifact. The only thing I could think of doing was hiding it inside of another divine artifact."

Jessup looked at his grandfather in shock, he didn't know what to say until the king spoke again.

"And now it belongs to you."