Ch. 33: Ceremony (2)

Seeing thousands of organized, trained soldiers all lined up in formation wasn't something that you saw every day. Adrian'd never seen the forces of Urian, in his home at Ortain lined up like that before in those numbers, not even when his father gave royal announcements two or three times per year. He finally realized why Rosy had been so adamant about getting the Resistance's help to find the Kingstone.

Their numbers were small. Even the crowds in Ortain, haphazardly gathered, had over ten times the population of this entire camp, but what they lacked in population, they made up for in organization. They'd never stand a chance in a frontal battle, but they must have been ideal for information gathering. That was likely how they'd survived so long.

After only seeing a fleeting glimpse of the crowd, Adrian was told to wait in a tent behind the stage while Chloe gave a speech. Rosy would be waiting in a secondary tent nearby. Luckily, he could hear the whole thing, and he'd been told to wait for his cue.

"People of the resistance! Lend me your ears!" Chloe shouted, starting her speech. The crowd didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it, from the murmurs that were resounding, but they quieted down just a little bit, showing that they were at least willing to listen.

"Our cause is noble! We are the only force that is actively fighting for the good of our families! Our people! But our road is a harsh one!" Chloe said. Her speech then transitioned into the toils that they were going through as the only force fighting against the tyranny of Rosy's father.

"Our forces are small. We die... every day, for a cause that doesn't seem to advance at all. Our fathers died for this same cause, and their fathers before them. Alone, we die... useless.

The Shadowborn King doesn't even see us as a threat. We're bugs to Noctus. A simple, controllable way for his people to vent their anger against him without causing him any real problems. Will we allow that!?" She asked, shouting the question at the end.

"NO!!" The warriors screamed.

"Exactly! We need to fight for our future! Fight harder, smarter, and better than our ancestors have. We will not follow the path of the Aqua vampire clan! And we've decided exactly how to do that!" Chloe shouted, dropping an interesting fact in the middle of her speech, but Adrian wasn't able to linger on that too much. She was getting to the part about Rosy.

"Lately, the Shadowborn King has learned a new magic. He's used blood magic to cross dimensions in search of more land to conquer. More people to enslave. But with that magic, a new hope has been found!"

The murmurs got louder. They'd expected this to be about Rosy. So had Adrian, in fact. A new person...? They didn't really know how to react to that.

"When the Shadowborn King sent his Enforcer, the terrifying enemy that we all know, the Rose Princess, across the dimensions with a mission, she didn't carry it out.  Instead, she found something far more interesting in the other dimension, in a kingdom known as Uriah. She found love." Chloe was laying it on a little thick, but the thicker, the more likely that they'd accept it, Adrian figured.

"After the Rose Princess failed her mission, though, the Moon Prince, Charles was sent back to Uriah to complete it. Not only did he steal a powerful magical catalyst from Uriah's royal family, but he also kidnapped their crown prince." Charles must have been the other Royal Vampire that Rosy'd told him about. She hated the guy, making it sound like he was a black-hearted yes-man, unlike her.

"Infuriated, the Princess immediately took action against her father. She freed the prince from his cage and raced to join us. Along the way, she developed a bond with the prince, freeing her of her bloodlust! With her insight, and terrifying power truly on our side, we have a chance! Everyone... The Prince of Uriah... Adrian Allaris!" That was Adrian's cue. Leaving the tent, he strode onto the stage with confidence grown from years of training. No matter what he was feeling on the inside, putting up a confident front in public was as easy for him as slipping on a mask. Making his way to the center stage, he waved for the crowd. 

The crowd's reaction to Adrian was weak. The new information had confused them, and they didn't know how to react to someone who'd 'tamed' the terrifying Rose Princess. All Adrian could do is what he'd been learning about for his entire life.

"And... The world's strongest fighter, the unrestrainable, unbeatable Rose Princess... Rosemary Hecate!" Any thoughts that Adrian had about that impressive introduction were immediately halted the moment that he saw Rosy walk onto that stage.

The last time he'd seen her dressed up like that was back when he'd been trapped in the Noctian dungeon. He hadn't paid much attention to how beautiful that she'd been back then, since it'd been so opposite from her aura, holding Adrian's sword in her hands... But Rosy was insanely beautiful.

He'd thought that he'd already understood how perfect the girl's physical appearance was from everything he'd seen of her... but right now, her appearance and her aura were perfectly synced.

Rosemary Hecate's natural beauty was enough to stand out among a crowd of supermodels. With the dark expression that normally crowded her face lifted, showing her regal beauty to all. Wearing a simplistic red dress and a small amount of lipstick, she absolutely dominated the stage.

Even the resistance warriors who'd joined for the sole purpose of getting revenge on Rosy were as silent as the death that she'd brought to all of her enemies in the past. There were people who'd been planning to storm the stage... but feeling her overpowering presence made them rethink their choice.

Maybe she deserved the benefit of the doubt after all, some of them couldn't help but think.