“Worry less, my boy! Just know that I will look after her while she’s here! But…Why can’t she sleep in a bed?”

The General was really curious, did the little woman not feel dirty or uncomfortable?

There was a good thing about this though, when he takes her to the battlefield, she’ll already be used to the sleeping arrangements!

“…She was out in the big wilderness for quite some time, maybe having hay is a luxury to her.” Matthew pondered.

Again, the General was astounded, “What!? How long!?”

Matthew looked back at Shaun, “I’m not sure, maybe a year.”

“What!? A whole year!? Out there by herself!? How did she survive!?” Shaun was skeptical, it was too unbelievable!

Yet, where else would she have gotten that beast!

Matthew proudly smiled, “She knows the ‘Bending Space’ meditation and can teleport. I would assume that if harm was coming towards her, she would probably use that.”

“Bending Space?” Shaun didn’t think that the name sounded familiar.

Continuing with his pride over his Princess, Matthew said, “It’s the old meditation that used to be the best-known back in the Golden Haven era.”

 

Widening his eyes, Shaun blinked back at Matthew, “You mean the meditation that can see in other Haven’s when the person themselves are miles, upon miles away?”

“Yes! That meditation. She knows it!”

An opened mouth in shock, was the response Matthew received…

The General was so shocked that he was shaking his head! Imagine it on the battlefield!

Sadly, this General couldn’t wait for Green Haven to declare war upon another Haven…But the best action he had received in his life was the intense assignment he had to do to become a General. His dreams were exactly that! Sadly, he was like a little child playing cowboys, all dressed up and shooting a play gun! Well, that would be Sahara’s own interpretation of the General…But that doesn’t mean preparation isn’t done for battle. The General has made his men train to the bitter end and go through harsh circumstances, so that they would be ready at a moment’s notice to wherever they are called too.

“My son is angry.” The General mumbled.

Matthew frowned, “Why?”

“When I had been sick, we didn’t pay him any attention…”

The two men talked for a bit more, before they separated.

The General got two of his own guards to watch the lone girl in the stable, to keep her safe, and Matthew went to finalize his investigation upon clearing his name…And none of this was known to the one sleeping soundly on some hay…

 

***

 

In another part of the capital, in another very large establishment, a young miss, of the age of eighteen, had been waiting impatiently for her father to return.

Having waited for nearly an hour already, he finally came into his study to stop, when he saw his daughter.

“Rose!”

“Father!”

After a quick greeting, Rose got straight to the point to why she was there, “Father, I know the Second Prince will clear his name. I would like your help to ask the emperor again, for him to bestow the marriage between us.”

Her father looked at her and frowned.

Memories of being declined from both the Second Prince and the Emperor previously, was not something that he was proud of!

“You still insist upon the Second Prince, my dear?”

“Yes, Father! I have thought that perhaps you can offer something that they can’t refuse! Please, Father!”

Rose grabbed her father’s sleeve and looked up at him pitifully.

Her father sighed and took a deep breath, “The Emperor has already declined…”

“But!” Rose let go of her father’s sleeve in anger.

 

Her father sighed and sat down on the chair, the room falling into silence as he massaged his temples, “I had hoped that you would forget his highness, my dear…”

Rose interrupted him, “I told you all those years ago, Father, that I won’t have anyone else!”

Shaking his head to his daughter’s stubbornness, the father sighed and then said, “I did come up with an idea, if you did not change your mind.”

Rose looked up, her eyes sparkling, and she ran over to her father, “What is it, father? Tell this daughter!”

Smiling, her father said, “The Emperor may have declined, but the Second Prince is close to not just the Empress, but Empress Dowager. Telling them that you care very deeply about His Highness may help!”

“Oh, please, Father, let me enter the palace and ask!” Rose felt some kind of burden being lifted, seeing a chance come right before her eyes. She must take it!

Her father stared at her for a moment, “This Father had already wanted to gift to you the ‘Spirit Convert Association’ in your dowry, are you willing to part with that, to gift to the palace for this marriage that you want?”

Rose knew of how special and important this Association was. Without it, Green Haven would probably fall into chaos! Having been a rich family from many, many centuries ago, this family has always owned the Green Haven’s ‘Spirit Convert Association’. It was sad that there just wasn’t a direct heir to continue the line anymore…Not a male one anyway. Her sister was already married and so Rose was the last remaining legitimate, unmarried child to her father.

 

There was no doubt, the palace would definitely want this! Who wouldn’t want to own the place where ‘sum’ accumulates! This place is the heart of all ‘sum’!

Since obtaining the monopoly, this father had thought very thoroughly about this. He was positive that it would be losing something very substantial, but he had no male heirs…His eldest daughter had already married away. Having a few other daughters born from concubines, his last choice was to leave this to Rose, a daughter from the main wife…

He had already been unhappy about his situation for years but had never been able to produce an heir that lived beyond seven years old. Some years later now, this was the best he could come up with, to give this unmarried daughter what she wants or give it to her in her dowry…

“I am willing, Father!” Rose said, delighted.

How could there be any fault now! She will be the second wife of the Second Prince!

Everything that she felt like she had lost before this day, she felt like she had gained the whole world in return!

When she sees that commoner again…Well, perhaps they will never meet again anyway, because they are too different! She belongs down below, and the Second Prince and I have to be careful not to walk on her…Haha.

 

***

 

Upon Sahara’s awakening, she was met with somebody close by who had been waiting for her.

She found out then, that the General had invited her to stay, that there was a guest room and that she could tell someone if she ever needed anything.

Sahara only nodded her head, to say that she had received the invitation…Then watched as the other person stood there, looking quite conflicted.

What? Do they want a tip?

Guessing, instead, that they wanted her to tell them to lead the way, Sahara told them that they could go instead.

The other person left, confused, didn’t the miss want to know where she was going to stay? Did she not want to meet the General to say her thanks?

 

Sahara didn’t mind that the person had left with these questions and instead cleansed herself, re…Browning her irises and she redid her messy hair.

It was time to finally go to the Academy!

Well, it was take two…

When Sahara had finished getting ready, she told Naruto to stay there. But remembering the time upon the mountain and being left alone, she then picked him up.

He was already clingy enough as it was…

Making him even smaller, so that he was only the size of one hand, instead of two. Sahara put him back onto her shoulder and he cuddled into her neck. At least, while he was small, his claws didn’t dig into her that much.

“Arf!”

Awe, such a cute, near a chipmunk type of sound!

 

After Sahara teleported to a place, close to the Academy, she walked up to the big doors and bluntly asked to know how to be let in.

At first, the ‘apprentice’ seemed to be stunned into silence upon seeing the beast on her shoulder and her gorgeous face.

“Oi!” Sahara said, waving her hands in front of him.

When he finally got his bearings, he asked, after clearing his throat, “Isn’t that a beast?”

“His name is Naruto!”

The ‘apprentice’ looked at her confused, “Naruto?”

“Mmm, can you tell me now, what I have to do to attend this place?”

The apprentice really did try to regain his composure, but it took him at least half a minute…

“Ah, there are three ways. One is through cultivation and actively continuing to rise in your cultivation every month. The second way is through sum, transferring a minimum of fifty sum, every month. The third way is paying through silver, again, payment is every month.”

Sahara put her hand to her chin, “Is that all? If I pay you, I can go in?”

The apprentice breathed in and said, “Oh! Of course, there’s another thing. Payment by cultivation is the most impressive, so they will always be able to do more than those who pay with sum or silver. Then those who pay with sum will be able to do more than those who pay with silver.”

Staying silent for a minute, to gather her thoughts, the apprentice looks back at Naruto.

 

So, if I use cultivation, I get treated better, but everyone will know how strong I am…Perhaps not at the moment. I want to keep a low profile for now. This, ‘sum’, I still don’t understand, so it looks like I’ll be paying with silver.

“How much silver?” Sahara asked, getting out all the silver that she had, compliments to her mother.

The ‘apprentice’ was a bit surprised, he had honestly thought that this gorgeous girl in front of him would get in another way!

“Hello!?” Sahara said, once again waving her hand in front of him.

“Oh, yes, it’s just three medium sized pieces.” He said.

Sahara had, what seemed to be, one big one, two medium and several small silver bars…She had no idea how many small ones made a medium bar, or how many medium bars was needed for a large silver bar, to compensate…

Ridiculous!

 

“What’s the problem?” An elder said, looking like he was just about to walk into the Academy.

Sahara turn around, and the man sees her and Naruto.

Honestly, for this poor elder, it was a shock. Not only did her pretty, innocent face look way too gorgeous, but Naruto was still silently cuddling into her neck, and she was guessing that the little beast was asleep…

The elder just stayed silent and the ‘apprentice’ had talked, but he hadn’t heard a word!

“Master Moe?” The ‘apprentice’ says, trying to get his attention from Sahara.

Seeing this, Sahara thought it quite comical that the tides had turned. The ‘apprentice’ was nearly acting like she was just before, in trying to get someone else’s attention…

Master Moe puts his hand out to touch her and Sahara frowns.

After a quick touch, he pulled back his hand and then he went silent once again!

The ‘apprentice’ couldn’t believe that the Master seemed so silent for so long, with someone who’d he was sure that he had never met before.

Was there something special about her?

Wanting to find out about her cultivation base as well, he put a hand out, but Sahara stepped back.

As it was, the elder was lucky she let him touch her for a moment. Sahara thought that the ‘apprentice’ can stick his fingers elsewhere!

 

“You don’t attend here already? What were you doing before now?” Finally, the elder speaks, only saying the most important questions…Even though he desperately wanted to find out about what was on her shoulder and what meditation she knows.

“No, I came here…To go here…If I went here already, wouldn’t I have just walked inside?”

Actually, no, I probably would have teleported…That reminds me, I gotta find a good spot to teleport in and out from here.

“Did you go to another Academy then?” The elder asked next.

“No.” Sahara answered.

“What were you doing till now, to already reach the peak of rank four cultivation?”

Sahara look at this ‘Master Moe’ and cheekily smiled, then shrugged, “It’s a secret!”