Iyesgarth

"Here we are, Iyesgarth!" Dragonfly exclaimed loudly as they arrived at the large front arch, the dazzling entrance of the city. It was adorned with ornaments dangling in the air, and the edges of the path was blooming with colorful flowers. Dragonfly went down from her horse, admiring the scenery before her.

Carefully, Carlos opened the door and stepped down from the carriage. With him, he carried the cane and the insignia in his coat's pocket. He walked forward to observe the city's entrance, a sight new to his eyes.

Dragonfly followed him from behind, boldly placing her arms on the prince's shoulders. "You'll blend in just fine here, this is the city where aristocrats gather. Perfect for people like you." She says.

Looking at the city, it was abundant with illustrious people and elegant establishments. Though one would wonder how they live and go on with their day so calmly even with the Asperities still ruling the kingdom. Left and right, aristocrats could be seen walking with their parasols, some sit idly under the shades drinking tea and chattering with their companions. Dragonfly wasn't entirely correct, Carlos won't blend in because he'd be considered an artistocrat with his mannerisms, he really is just introverted. He'd simply hide quietly among the crowd and ignore them, never looking at their faces.

With a nervous tone, Carlos tries to ask for instructions. "So, how exactly are we going to find-" Dragonfly then immediately cuts off Carlos. "This city is pretty huge so we'll have to split up."

"No, we musn't leave the prince alone." Fauna butts in and insists, speaking in an irritated tone towards the Pugilist Leader.

Meanwhile, Dragonfly seemed carefree and simply rolled her eyes.. "Shh, no, you listen to me. The prince has had enough being followed around, he's supposed to be free now, let him feel it." She says while holding the prince's shoulder. "Besides, the Superior Leader probably deployed their disciples here and we don't even know it! Now, go over there, I go over here, Revier will go there, and princey-boy Carlos will go wherever he likes."

"You-" Fauna tries to argue, but Dragonfly doesn't even try to listen to her. "Just go!" She cuts Fauna off. Defeated by the Pugilist Leader, Fauna ended up accepting it. "Fine, but Carlos, if you sense anything suspicious..."

"Fauna, relax, nothing's gonna happen to him, just go already!"

Dragonfly goes to Fauna and playfully pushes her to steal her away from Carlos. Even so, Fauna turned to Carlos while being dragged, "The insignia, use it!"

Carlos smiled awkwardly. He tried to turn to Revier and ask to be accompanied, but he's already nowhere to be found. Now he's all alone standing in front of the arch. He looked behind him to try to look for Berryll who might want to come walk with. Yet looking at the dog who's already relaxing on the ground beside the horse, he didn't try disturbing him. Well, if the dog would leave the carriage, nobody will be guarding their things. So all he could do was enter the city with the cane held by both his hands and his fighting spirit.

Dragonfly's idea of "leaving him alone" isn't quite working out for Carlos. Being under the Asperities for who knows how many years, he was heavily dependent on the people around him. Sure, he left the manor on his own and randomly found a place to be in, his extremely late realizations got him on a choke hold. He feels as if he is a child again, a lost one. Now he has to deal with walking around in public without looking awkward.

In the end, he could only sigh. Either way, the beauty of Iyesgarth took him away from his mental crisis for a while. Starting from the nearest establishment, he followed the trail of shops to admire their displays. The stores sold eye-catching thingamabobs, some were easily found in the castle, and some were things he had never seen before. Each time he passed by these stores, his smile became brighter and brighter. When he stopped by a shop which sold children's toys, he was taken particularly by the large bear plushie, which made his smile and eyes shine the brightest. The shopkeepers ended up covering their eyes due to the brightness, they were amused nonetheless.

As he passes by an alleyway, suddenly, he was grabbed into the darkness. A mighty hand pinned him into the wall and almost pointed a knife at his neck. "You fucking-" when the stranger was about to threaten him, a wave of electric shocks stunned their body. "Damn it!" They immediately took their hands off the prince.

Seeing the stranger's countenance and her voice, Carlos immediately recognized her. "Priscilla? It's you!" He happily spoke.

Priscilla tries to aim her knife again, and when she raises the arm holding her weapon, she gets electrocuted once more. She couldn't get near Carlos without feeling a voltage flowing through her veins. Seeing this, Carlos became distressed. "Wait, what happened to you?"

"That... superior bastard... they cursed me." Priscilla responded while struggling to regain control of her hands. She huffed, trying to catch her breath.

Carlos tries to help her, but she forces him away with a swipe of her hand. "Don't fucking touch me!" She yelled. "This is all your fault!"

Hearing this, Carlos backed away. "I... I'm sorry." He said with a downcast face. "Let me try asking Ami to get it removed."

"Who the fuck is Ami?"

With a bit of hesitation, he answered. "The... Superior Leader."

Priscilla's eyes widened once the name pierced into her ears. She angrily lashed out at Carlos. "Fuck off!" She bolted. "I don't want your help! I'll get this off on my own, and when I do so, I'm gonna kill you. I'll make sure of it." He red eyes glowered strongly at the prince.

For a while, Carlos was silent. He understood her anger and could not defy her. Still, he has a task to find the Triumvirate Fiend, and now that she's in front of him, he now needs to follow the plan.

"Priscilla, I need your help."