Prologue: Unknown Reasons

[Location: Tevell Castle/ Throne Room - Kingdom of Tevell]

[1 month and 3 days have passed]

[The Story continues with "Princess Marina"]

In the empty throne room I observed the empty throne where my father used to spend most of his day ruling the kingdom but since he fell ill a few weeks ago, this throne has been empty without its rightful owner occupying it.

-Princess Marina: Father... please get well soon, all Tevell needs you in these difficult times.

Suddenly, the silence of the room disappeared when I heard the gate behind me open and when I looked up I saw two people enter, one was my dear friend Jeane and another hooded person accompanied her by her side, as they approached the throne they both knelt.

-Jeane: Princess, I bring important information.

-Princess Marina: Jeane, I understand, please report.

After closing the door and listening to Jeane's report, I felt a slight tingle in my body when I heard about a message from Lord Damian talking about Zyrus and his return to Andacia.

-Princess Marina: I see, I should have imagined that Zyrus would be involved in the incident at Galma and the East Border Gate.

-Jeane: That's right, now apparently after spending the night in Lord Damian's mansion he left the next day and according to Lord Damian, he is heading to the Kingdom of Rusta.

-Princess Marina: Rusta? Why would he go to that place?

-Jeane: We are not sure, his motives were not clear.

I felt a concern but also a discomfort to think about what Zyrus would do in Rusta, I had understood that this place was in ruins and is only a shadow of what it once was for what the reasons that led him to change direction so drastically.

-Princess: What was he thinking? Does he no longer want to return home?

-????: He still wants to go home, that's for sure princess.

Thinking about her motives, the voice of the hooded person caught my attention and I turned to see her, making it clear to me that Zyrus still wanted to return home but if that were the case, why deviate in the opposite direction from Gainsworth.

-Princess Marina: How are you so sure?

The hooded person looked at me and took off that hood revealing the blue hair and the beautiful face of Sarah, my friend and trusted person on the streets of the city.

-Sarah: I could see it in his eyes when I met him, someone like him wouldn't give up so easily on his goal but I imagine something must have happened that forced him to stray from his original path.

-Princess Marina: Perhaps, although I am worried about his motives, I am sure that they are not about anything we should worry about for now.

-Jeane: I agree, although he is not the Hero we expected, inside him beats the heart of a kind person.

-Sarah: So we agree to leave Zyrus on his own until we see what he plans?

Both Jeane and I agreed, only time will tell what he planned to do in Rusta but at the moment there are other more important matters that we must worry about within our Kingdom.

-Jeane: Now there's just the matter of Chancellor Edmond.

-Princess Marina: Despite the fact that he managed to escape the trial by revealing and delivering all of Count Belin's dark acts, we cannot leave him alone, we do not know what his next furtive act will be.

-Sarah: that man seems to be obsessed with bringing Zyrus back.

-Jeane: You're wrong, it's not Zyrus, what he seeks is the power of the Hero that he wishes to possess.

There was no doubt that the power of the Hero, of the blessing was something incredible, at first I thought that he might fear that if Zyrus managed to master his blessing he would see him as a threat but now it was the Chancellor who was showing himself to be a real threat.

-Sarah: In that case, what will we do? Can't you just send him in for arrest?

-Jeane: It's not that simple, the Chancellor is a representative of the House of Nobles in the castle, arresting him just on suspicion would cause the other nobles to rise up in protest and that could throw the kingdom into a state of chaos.

-Princess Marina: And without my father to control them this could end up dividing the kingdom and that is the last thing we need now.

-Sarah: So even if you could, that Chancellor is protected everywhere, there is no doubt that he is a dangerous man.

-Princess Marine: It is precisely why we have him under surveillance, let's just hope he makes a mistake that we can use against him, Sarah, could you continue with your work in the city? If you find out anything about the Chancellor's contacts, let me know.

-Sarah: Of course, Princess, I will keep my ears and eyes open.

There was no doubt that the Chancellor represented a threat and without knowing what his real objective was or evidence to prove it, we had to act with caution without raising his suspicions.

-Jeane: The situation has only been getting worse, given the King's illness, many look to the Chancellor for guidance and that is not good for us.

-Sarah: Huh? why's that? Isn't it the Princess who should guide the people in the absence of the King?

-Princess Marina: Both nobles and high-ranking commanders have more confidence in the Chancellor because of his knowledge.

-Jeane: Besides, they see the Princess, since she is still young, not yet fit to rule in his father's place.

-Sarah: That is bad, if he has both the army and the nobles on his side.

-Jeane: Of course, me and the Royal Guard will always be loyal to the royal family no matter what.

The situation in our kingdom only got more complicated every day and I feared more for the safety of my loved ones but I could not let this fear dominate me, I had to remain firm and calm if I wanted to overcome this challenge and I knew that I could count on Jeane and Sarah .

-Princess Marina: We will not let the Chancellor do what he wants, I will show the nobles that if I am up to taking my father's place, Jeane, Sarah, I am counting on you to help me in this task.

The two nodded without hesitation, giving me their full support and now I just had to show how wise and strong a ruler I can be to the nobles and thus obtain their approval and support.

[The Story continues with "Zyrus"]

It had been a few days since we left Andacia with the new wagon that Damian give to us, as we headed to the northeast border gate, Celes was driving the wagon while I read the first Hero book and the more I read it the more I was surprised by the amount of information that there was about the blessings.

-Zyrus: This is really incredible, according to the book you can obtain blessings from different entities of great power.

-Celes: Entities of great power?

-Zyrus: Yes, as great spirits or inferior deities that exist in the different cultures of the world.

I was fascinated, the more I read, the more I felt drawn to this subject of blessings and the more I wanted to understand my own blessing and although various types of blessings were mentioned in the book nowhere was anything mentioned about mine.

-Zyrus: Apparently the blessings are also something permanent and you can only have one, that means that they are linked to the soul so even if you die and are reborn, said blessing will continue in you.

-Celes: Does it mean that if someone in this world has a blessing without having obtained it before, does it mean that person is a reincarnation of someone who obtained it in his previous life? It sounds hard to believe but if the first Hero wrote it, I see no reason to doubt him.

-Zyrus: It's true, I got mine when I was summoned to this world so this blessing will be with me even after I die, I wonder how that will affect me in the future...

Our trip continued without any problem, as always we only stopped to rest, eat and train then we resumed our way without any change and while we continued I took the reins of the wagon while Celes reviewed the map of Drolum that was among the provisions that they packed us.

-Celes: There are some small villages on the way to the city, we could stop in some of them to rest, if you agree, My Lord.

-Zyrus: It would be a good idea, I'm interested in knowing how the people of Drolum live.

After everything we lived in Tevell, visiting another kingdom would be a good change of scenery for us, I wondered what life would be like in Drolum, would it be the same as in Tevell or would it be worse, several questions invaded my mind regarding that topic but no matter he was determined to keep going.

-Celes: My Lord, if you allow me to ask, what is the reason why we went to the Kingdom of Rusta? there is nothing but rubble and a depressing view of what was once a prosperous kingdom.

-Zyrus: Celes, my decision may seem somewhat confusing and difficult to understand but I only ask you to trust me, I will reveal everything to you once we arrive.

-Celes: I understand, I trust you without a doubt, My Lord.

I didn't like keeping secrets from Celes but I was afraid of her reaction if I didn't tell her the truth, being trained as a Knight, following a code of honor could question her own beliefs, so I only hoped that she would trust me until then.

"Since the incident in Galma, I have had this growing desire inside me, I hope you can forgive me Celes for what I plan to do mom, dad, Kaoru, you too forgive me for this selfish act, my return will be delayed longer than I thought but I won't be able to be calm with myself if I don't do this"

We finally made it to the northeast border gate without incident, which was already quite an achievement, people were crossing in and out of the country and we were only a few steps away from entering another country. After the guards checked our belongings and after answering a few questions, they finally let us go through the gate, but before going through, I looked back, observing the landscape of Tevell.

"After everything that happened, we will finally leave the Kingdom of Tevell behind to enter a new country, I wonder if one day I will step foot on Tevell's lands again, probably not"

In this way, we left the Kingdom of Tevell behind and set off towards the lands of the Kingdom of Drolum without knowing what kind of people we would meet and what kind of challenges would be waiting for us on this new and unknown path that opened before us.