The snow-white horse stopped directly in front of the crowd. The said crown prince, a young man with medium length golden hair.
From old to young, the people bend their knees to greet him.
"Rise." He commanded as he dismounted.
Meanwhile, Sterne lowered her head to stare directly at the pair of approaching silver sabatons. Not daring to look up and sneak a second glance. Why did this royal pain in the neck come here?
As the figure walked past a chill crawled up her spine as he momentarily halted and stole a glance at her.
Upon arrival, Prince Irvin had already caught sight of this little girl, not because she called for attention, it was because she stood beside an acquaintance. The pair of children made a beautiful contrast of light and dark that was hard to unsee. Especially if both bore exceptional appearances that quickly catches the eyes.
The group standing to attention had their nerves tense. At the same time they were also puzzled at his sudden arrival. But no matter what his purpose was, his presence was still highly welcomed with excitement and anticipation nonetheless.
The royal knights followed their prince and dismounted. They began securing the area by creating a safety perimeter within a mile. Shortly after as the clean up party left to fight the remaining scourges, a team of physicians erected tents to see through the injured people.
Prince Irvin walked around the camp to personally see through the procedures. His action set the adventurers and nobles' tongue aflame. Several ladies peeking at him made gasps of surprise as the prince came in plain sight.
People in the royal capital would never believe a word once they said they saw Prince Irvin in the flesh!
Someone tall, blonde haired with gentle eyes slightly different from the ones they knew. Wearing a white and gold heavy armour, his bearing lacked superficial airs nor smug confidence due to his birth. The billowy red cape draped over his left shoulder has dots of black stains, probably from the enemy's blood, but that did nothing to defile his noble mien.
Oh, what great luck indeed. From a sudden misfortune to a complete bliss. The terrors they had with those monsters seem to no longer matter.
"It's a great mystery how these ferocious ladies in front of the scourges have now turned into simpering ninnies." Royce remarked with a sour face.
Viktor did not hold back his laughter. "If you are a girl of ordinary background and has little to no chance of seeing his figure, I'd wager even someone as haughty as you would rein back your tempers. After all, any girl wouldn't want to leave a bad impression on such a charming royal."
"By any girl, you mean all the females in general, sir?" Royce asked with a doubtful expression as he threw a glance at Sterne and Emilia.
Viktor choked, "Perhaps, not everyone."
"I dare say, the crown prince charms which are known to all of Aurum Kingdom even as far as its neighbors could not manage to impress these two, don't you think so?"
Sterne made no comment, she was busy hiding behind Emilia as the blonde figure slowly approached.
Walking under the scorching heat, a thin sheen of perspiration can be seen on Prince Irvin's forehead. The colour of his eyes is very light, like amber glass making his gaze warm. This young man has an easy, calm and unaffected temperament, not the least bit oppressive. With a handsome face and gentlest smile, it makes people easily like him. Emiia wondered why her little lady seemed to be frightened by him.
Sterne is starting to have a crick on her neck for trying too hard to hide her face. Others may not notice but this royal might suddenly find a slight familiarity, and that will be the end of this journey!
Prince Irvin hid his smile and deliberately slowed his steps, taking his time. Not long after he closed the distance he was hit by the uncanny resemblance of the boy to a certain confidante.
Yes, indeed he looks too similar to him.
He could also see her efforts to hide away but alas, no matter how she appeared unconcerned and nonchalant about it, that face has already given her away. Be that as it may, the prince has no plans of exposing her today.
"Your Highness!" A sharp call from a young lady behind interrupted his visual inspection.
Monique hurried to push through the crowd so that she could move closer to where the Crown Prince was. She urgently needed to report what happened just now!
"Your highness," Monique stopped, then bent her knees in a manner she thought graceful before looking up to him.
Prince Irvin paused, "You are…?"
"I, I…" Monique's whole face went numb.
The Crown Prince is a well-known figure to be lax, not someone who likes to impose his authority and nitpick on etiquette unless inside the royal castle and on formal occasions. Whenever there are areas that needed attention, he would be there to lend a hand regardless of the distance or level of difficulty. So long as it concerns the kingdom and its people, he will be there.
She had the fortune of meeting him twice inside the academy, but it seems her person did not quite make an impression. Monique had wanted to use this opportunity to catch his eye with the purpose of elevating her position inside their foster home and social circle. Surely Prince Irvin would not snub her.
Her, an orphan had a friendship with the crown prince? Just imagine that!
Before she could open her mouth again, Prince Irvin already walked to the middle of the crowd.
"Excuse me, miss." He looked around looking for a person. "Who's in charge?"
Everyone exchanged looks, no one was inclined to step forward until Gram took the lead. With utmost courtesy, he introduced himself and explained the situation from the beginning to end. On how they were invited here to explore a new ruin, the people involved and the kind of enemies they encountered.
Seeing him talking animatedly to the prince and seeing that he was amiably welcomed, some people grew jealous.
"How poor this boy's manners are. What does he mean by volunteering himself as though he was the one to lead us?" Monique frowned.
"Quite so."
Snorting loudly, a nobleman looked at Gram. "I believe he is a foreigner from another kingdom. Those shameless and uncouth lot stomping around our territory."
"Indeed he even dared speak to His Highness in such a familiar tone!"
The nobles who were talking ill of him had a bitter and mean gaze on them but Gram ignored them all.
Prince Irvin on the other hand had his attention to the report and not paid any mind to the naysayers nearby. He continued to inquire on Gram, "Those scourges you've met were also the ones who came in with you?"
"Yes, Your Highness. The majority of those are people from this kingdom who attended the city lord's banquet last night. When we finally reached the vicinity of the ruin, they began to show abnormal behaviour. If it wasn't for the timely warning we would have been dead."
"Watch your tongue, plebeian! Are you implying that my uncle did something to them?" The bundled-up Sil shouted.
"Young master Sil," Gram said coldly. "I haven't said anything that implies or may implicate your relative. I only mentioned the banquet and the people involved which coincidentally turned to those things. What are you acting so guilty about?"
"Bastard, from the moment of your appearance you have been against me! Do not think you will get away scot-free— you, Your Highness that man is a foreigner, do not pay heed to his words."
"I am not afraid of you." Gram was calm and unbothered. "I have nothing to be guilty about, on the contrary it was you who may have done something irreversible."
"Shut up!"
"You not only sent your bodyguards to kill me last night but you also had to sacrifice them when the situation was tight earlier, have you not?"
Sil scoffed and shot back ferociously, "They exist to serve me. If they do not do as bidden what use do I have for them?"
Ignoring his crazed yelling, Prince Irvin invited Gram to his tent to listen for the specifics. Royce and Sterne exchanged looks. Can this prince find the anomaly? Will he be able to bring justice to Aster Town?
If he truly is noble and just, he will consider all avenues as to how this tragedy came to pass and will be able to mete out justice. If not then, she will have to rely on her eldest brother later. Sterne's thoughts were simple like that.
While Gram recounts the events, adding his own observation and Sterne's theory, the knot on the eyebrows of Prince Irvin grew tighter and tighter. Speaking of which, he kept glancing at Sterne as he told the story.
"You did great and I appreciate your efforts on behalf of the royal family. It is as you said, on our way here we encountered a large number of those beings at the entrance. It was not until we reached the centermost of Aster that we finally caught sight of the intense battle, even my Halcyon Knights expended great effort to subdue them."
A month ago during intense training, he asked for the permission of Duke Nachtwald to join the expedition in Sleeping Forest but he declined so decisively along with an extra roundhouse kick. Since he was feeling dejected, his friend Kyrios suggested an alternative thus, before the Duke and his sons left the royal capital, he was secretly given a task of investigating an old case which is the Blood Grass of Aster Town.
Who knew it would turn out to be like this?
Nebel's City lord had been doing illegal dealings to fatten his pockets. Most of the establishments within the city are burdened with heavy taxes while the adventurer guild, despite having autonomous authority, has conspired with the city lord to purchase monster loots at a very low price.
It has long called forth the attention of His Majesty and he was only looking for the right opportunity to unseat him and place a much more reliable one. Nebel is a small niche for foreign adventurers, it needs good management so that not only the visitors may benefit but the locals as well. As for the blood grass, it has to be eliminated once and for all before it plunges the kingdom to turmoil.
Aside from these concerns, there is one that angered him the most.
The involvement of the three Orders and their conspiracy is now clear to him, he looked around dismayed as he did not see not even a shadow of them. In order to chase a sacred beast they used everyone down here as diversion, choosing to sacrifice this many lives just to succeed. It looks like he needs to clean every nook and cranny of the government.
Inside the city lord's luxurious mansion.
The red-eyed middle-aged man swatted the hand of his mistress as she scratched on the black silk sheet while blinking coquettishly at him. The pretty thing is sprawled atop the bed beckoning him.
"Woman, that fabric is imported from the Eastern Empire and costs me five pieces of gold, don't destroy it with your nails."
"Ahh~ with your wealth, sir, you can buy a dozen more of this fabric, am I right? Even if I were to damage it, wouldn't you be getting more gold by the end of this month once they succeeded in subduing whatever beast was on the mountain?" The woman cooed.
The man was still annoyed. She rolled her eyes and sat on the rug in front of the fireplace instead. Her enticing figure wrapped in a thin gown was shown to him in full view.
"Lately, those horrid bunch of dirty adventurers had been clamoring to raise the purchasing price of monster loot. But how can that be when it would ruin our own business?" The woman chuckled. "I wonder how they would react once they found out that we sell those loot back to their country five times higher than the agreed price. I could hardly contain my laugh when I think about their—"
The city lord jumped to his feet and hurried to cover the silly woman's mouth.
"Shh, be quiet!" He scolded. "Did we not talk about this? This business shall not be mentioned at all."
She wriggled out of his hold and laughed. "Sir, need not to be afraid. This woman knows how to keep silent, as long as you give me the right gift."
The city lord glared at her. From the door a loud banging disturbed their conversation, the voice of his assistant came strained and hoarse. "S-Sir, sir we have a problem!"
Hearing that there was trouble, he jumped off the bed, fixed his robe and wore his boots to open the door. The sweat-drenched face of his right hand came into view. With an eyeful of reproach he snapped. "Talk."
"Halcyon… Halcyon Knights have come. T-They are already in the front courtyard waiting for you."
He lost all colour on his face immediately, even the woman lying on the floor was in a fluster. She quickly pulled out her clothes from the dividing screen, dressed speedily and tugged on the city lord's arm. "There's no time. Let us bring all that we can and leave quickly."
"Leave…?"
"Yes! Or do you wish to plead? Those knights are here for only one purpose. Don't even think of negotiating or trying to hide something from them, by being here they must have already known everything. We need to escape!"
He was at loss. How did the royal knights get involved so suddenly? Weren't things going according to plan?
"Sir!" The two in front of him shouted to his face.
"Let's go… yes, let's go!"
"There is no need." The shadows on the farthest side of the room warped. Two figures clothed in black came out, their faces covered.
With great vigour, the city lord yelled. "Damn it, who are you? Don't you know whose place this is? You dare trespass here?"
"It is exactly because we know who lives here that we came."
"No, no! Go away!"
With a flash of bright light, three people disappeared along with the new arrivals.
