Fate, Chapter 1
Our spirited youths have finally arrived at their destination. After a very long trip which had consisted of three days riding on coach to Solde, a sea-port city located in the Dunan region that was created just three years after Teresa Wisemail was elected as its president, our two heroes still needed to go on their first sea-trip to Falena’s sea-port city, Estrise.
Iris, both her mind and body in high spirits, did not care about how the sea ship would be rocking all the way on the wide sea and stood firmly on the harbor. Rudger, however, was the exact opposite. He was having a terrible seasickness and so he decided to sit at the pile of crates nearby, waiting for their guide to come.
People who passed by them began to wonder who they were, as their skin and hair color were noticeably different from Falenans. Wandering traders even tried to persuade Iris to buy some of their goods, as they thought she was a first-class Harmonia citizen judging by the golden color of her hair and her fair skin.
“No, I’m not a first-class citizen from Harmonia,” Iris said for the fifth time in the past three hours. Again, a soldier who tried to tease Iris walked off away from them, grumbling something about how arrogant she was.
“And I’m not arrogant!” she hissed and turned around to face her companion, who was still lazily sitting on the crates. “Rudger! You should help me to avoid them, geez!”
“Nah, I prefer to enjoy the moment seeing you being teased by those not-too-pretty-guys,” he remarked as he toyed around with the strands of his soft hazel colored hair. “Anyway, where is that royal who is supposed to guide us to the excavation site?”
“I don’t know,” Iris said irritably. “I just wish these people would stop making fun of us just because our country is one rank below them.”
Suddenly a noisy cheer from the townspeople erupted. Iris and Rudger looked at each other and grabbed their suitcases, hoping the cause of the cheer was what they think it was.
They were right. A young man with short silver hair approached the teens, followed by some white-suited soldiers that Iris recognized as the Royal Capital Guardsmen. When the silver-haired young man saw Iris and Rudger, he bowed respectfully, as did the guardsmen.
“We deeply apologize for being late, guests from Dunan Republic,” he said. “I am Ehlen Falenas, the Prince of Falena. I will be your guide for the first full month after your arrival to our country. I’m pleased to meet your acquaintance.”
“Oh, the pleasure is ours, Your Highness. My name is Iris Wisemail, and this is my companion Rudger Fleming,” Iris said and then she and Rudger both bowed politely. After they raised their heads, Iris continued, “It’s such a great honor to be greeted by the Prince of Falena.”
“Ehm…” For some reason, Ehlen seemed to look uncomfortable. “…Can we please drop the formalities?”
Iris and Rudger looked at each other and then looked at Ehlen again. “But…is it really okay for you, Your Highness?” asked Rudger nervously.
“I…always feel uncomfortable to talk in this stiff atmosphere,” Ehlen grinned shyly. “How shameful, right? For a prince to not get used with all the formalities…I can’t join in any political business at this rate.”
“Oh, I see,” the blonde girl chuckled. “Then you won’t call me Wisemail, right?”
“If you want, I can call any nicknames that you want me to use.”
“Nah, Iris is fine enough.”
“Okay then, Iris,” Ehlen smiled and shifted his eyes to Rudger. “Can I call you Rudger as well?”
“Yeah, of course, Your Highness,” Rudger nodded. “So…will we be escorted directly to the site, or do we need to stay the night at an inn or something?”
“Oh, that’s right. Her Majesty Queen Lymsleia wants to have an audience with you.” Ehlen sigh before he spoke again. “I’m sorry. I know you are all tired, but can you two please meet her? She was a bit over-enjoyed when she found out you two were coming here.”
“Like I said, it’s our pleasure.” Iris laughed. “Well, we better not make the Queen wait for us, right?”
The coach escorted the teens to the capital. The conversation inside the coach was quite lively, as Ehlen’s way of speaking became more and more informal because he knew his men would not hear him talking like that. Iris and Rudger did enjoy it, though. It was so rare to talk with a royal, and even more a royal who talked so casually.
To their surprise, Ehlen revealed himself as the sole son to the hero Prince Freyjadour.
“Really? Wow!” Iris exclaimed, surprised. “I’ve read many books about the Falena Civil War and Sun Rune’s conflict war, and the Prince always proved himself as a good leader! He even once possessed the Dawn Rune, and was chosen even!”
“Yeah, I’m proud of him as well,” Ehlen said, smiling shyly.
“I’ve read about him in books too, but they none of them revealed he was married,” said Rudger thoughtfully. “Who’s your mother, Your Highness?”
“The Queen’s Knight, Lyon, the ex-bodyguard of his.”
Iris gasped and blinked again. “Lady Lyon? You mean the possessor of the Twilight Rune during the Falenan Civil War? Wow, I never thought of that! I heard they were childhood friends and very close, but…I always thought he would marry a noblewoman.”
“Nah,” the silver haired guy shook his head. “Father loved mother dearly ever since their relationship grew when the war happened. A master and his bodyguard, heh, that’s quite romantic. I usually tease them about that every time and they get all blushing.”
“That’s a nice way to tease your parents,” Rudger laughed. Suddenly he remembered something and stopped laughing. He shifted his eyes to Iris, who was sitting next to him.
The girl looked rather sad, but she quickly erased that expression so that Ehlen would not notice. “Well, parents are always shy about their pasts. I guess its normal…for them…”
“Iris, stop,” hissed the Rudger. Iris gasped and stopped talking. Instead, she gave a pure smile to a confused-looking Ehlen.
“Oh, we’ve arrived.” Ehlen looked outside through the coach’s window.
One of the guardsmen opened the coach’s door. Ehlen came out first, followed by Rudger and lastly Iris. The two Dunan youths were amazed when they saw the magnificent scenery of Sol-Falena. However, there was no time for them to praise the city’s splendor as some knights in black uniform approached them. Iris immediately recognized them as Queen’s Knights.
One of the Queen’s Knights with long violet hair smiled to Ehlen and then to Iris and Rudger. “We’ll take care of them from this point, Your Highness,” he said respectfully.
“Oh, but Her Majesty gave me direct orders to bring them right away to the Audience Hall,” replied Ehlen, trying his best to sound ‘princely’. “And if you are worried that I might be tired, Kaylee, Clovis, I assure you I will get some rest, only after I bring these people to the inn.”
“What Kaylee is trying to say is, Your Highness, that it is not your duty to guide these youths,” interrupted the Queen’s Knight with black hair.
“I repeat, I have Her Majesty’s direct order,” Ehlen hissed, annoyed by his knights’ stubbornness.
The two Queen’s Knights rolled their eyes each other and sighed heavily. “Alright then…Please, this way.” Queen’s Knight Clovis turned around and led the way.
The two Queen’s Knights escorted the teens. To reach the palace, they needed to go through the very long bridge that crossed the city’s plaza. The citizens who bypassed them gave the royal prince very respectful greetings, to which Ehlen replied with dazzling smiles.
After having passed the bridge, they still needed to go to the ascending path to the palace itself. This time, nobles who were on their way to the Parliament Court Hall greeted the party. The guardsmen who stood in front of the palace’s entrance opened the large doors to let them enter the main hall.
There were other Queen’s Knights who were present in the main hall, only this time they were girls. One of them, which was wearing white knee length skirt under her black uniform approached Ehlen.
“Your Highness, I thought Kaylee and Clovis asked you to stop escorting our guests since we’ll be the ones who will guide them afterwards?” she asked politely.
Ehlen sighed, but before he could complain, the other Queen’s Knight Lady interrupted. “Oh c’mon, Alexis. You know that the Prince is quite stubborn about his task,” she said teasingly.
“You’re absolutely right as always, Latina,” added Kaylee with the same sly tone.
“Could you all be quiet please?” hissed the silver haired prince. “Anyways, commence our arrival.”
The four Queen’s Knights nodded and went to their positions. Kaylee and Clovis lined up in the right side of the hall while Alexis and Latina stood at the left. After taking a deep breath, they all shouted in unison.
“His Royal Highness Prince Ehlen has returned along with the honorable guests from Dunan!”
The large door to the audience hall opened. Iris and Rudger entered the hall, with Ehlen in the lead since he was the prince and because he needed to report to the Queen himself. The audience hall was larger than the front hall, adored with red carpet until it ended right in front of the throne.
Iris could see four people in the throne area. One of them was sitting on the throne, and Iris recognized her as Queen Lymsleia, ruler of the Queendom of Falena.
The Queen of Falena rose from her throne seat and nodded to the teens. Ehlen stepped aside from the carpet so it was only Iris and Rudger who stood on it.
“Welcome, young ones,” said the beautiful queen. “I am glad that you have finally come to my country, even it is only for business matters. I am the Queen of Falena, Lymsleia Falenas.”
Iris and Rudger bowed respectfully. “It’s our honor to be able to work here and also to meet you, Your Majesty,” said the blonde girl.
“I’m sure you already know about this, but let me explain more for the sake of convenience. For the very moment, you two will prompt to stay in the city’s inn as honorable guests. If you prove that your work is excellent, I’ll give you the right to live in this country for the rest of your life and also a manor in the East Palace.”
“It’s such a promising offer, and we will gladly take the chance to perform our skills, as ones who seek the truth behind great mysteries, just like any other scholars,” continued Rudger.
“Thank you,” Queen Lymsleia said and sat on her throne again. “Thanks for your service, Prince Ehlen. You have proved your capability to escort our important guest safely here.”
Ehlen turned to the young queen and nodded. “Anything to please you, Your Majesty,” he said and bowed.
“Now, shall we end this audience? I think our young guests are tired from their long journey by now,” Queen Lymsleia turned her head to look at the people who stood by her. “Well? Who wants the great honor to bring our guests to the inn?”
The man who was standing in his place at right side of Lymsleia stepped forward. Judging from his appearance that greatly resembled Ehlen’s, Iris immediately knew the man as the country’s previous prince, Prince Freyjadour.
“I believe that Prince Ehlen wanted to guide the guests by himself, but I shall take the assignment so he could rest.” The man in his forties approached Iris and Rudger and shook their hands.
“But, I--”
“Prince Ehlen, you still have other assignments to you need to complete,” interrupted a black haired lady who looked about the same age as Freyjadour. “Sword training, inspection to the Baska Mine and Hershville, and many others that you promised to finish this week.”
Ehlen sighed. Iris threw him a sympathetic smile. After that, she, Rudger and Freyjadour walked out of the audience hall while the others stayed, more specifically the fight between the black haired woman and Ehlen. The other Queen’s Knights who were waiting outside gave Freyjadour a respectful bow.
“Your Eminence, are you going to guide these youths to the inn?” asked Alexis.
“Then, we’ll replace you and bring them there ourselves,” added Clovis.
“Now, now, it’s actually Ehlen’s task, but I need to replace him,” the silver haired man said, smiling. “I can’t let my own son get sick because he’s too tired, right?”
“Stop!”
The large door of audience hall opened again. This time, Ehlen with the black haired woman came out from the hall. The younger man approached his father and frowned, followed by the lady.
“If it’s just escorting them to the inn, I still have lot of energy left!” Ehlen protested.
“Lyon, you lost?” asked Frey to the lady.
The woman named Lyon sighed and nodded. “Always stubborn just as he is determined. Really looks like exact someone here,” she commented. The older silver haired man blushed while his son smirked evilly.
“Is it really alright, Your Highness?” Latina approached the royals with Kaylee next to her. “I mean, you’ve been wandering in the city quite a lot lately…”
“Hm? If I do recall, Prince Freyjadour here did the same thing in his young age.”
Again, the door opened. The man that had not spoken in the hall just now appeared. He wore a black Queen’s Knight Uniform, which only meant that he is the current Commander of the Queen’s Knight. Every Queen’s Knights there gave him a respectful bow as the man approached Iris and Rudger.
“Zane, not you too. Why does everyone keep saying that Ehlen’s bad behaviors were from me?” Frey complained and folding his arms.
“But, that is true,” the man with black hair replied, and Ehlen and Lyon laughed. The man called Zane then turned to the two youths. “I haven’t properly introducing myself yet, have I? I am Zane Rescales, the current Commander of the Queen’s Knight. It's nice to meet you, Lady Iris, Sir Rudger.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Iris nodded.
“So, who exactly will escort us to our inn?” interrupted Rudger. He really wanted to sleep. He had met too many important people today and was beginning to feel symptoms of a splitting headache.
“Clovis, Alexis, if you please,” commanded Zane, which made his nephew gasp and glared at him.
“Now, now, Ehlen,” Lyon grabbed Ehlen’s shoulder before he could take any steps to burst out his anger. “Obey the elder, dear.”
“Hmph!” Ehlen settled down.
Iris giggled and patted his back. “Don’t worry. If you finish your assignments, you might be allowed to meet us again, Your Highness,” she said.
“You heard the lady. Now go back to your chamber, take some rest and you will be faced to your true live, young prince,” added Frey.
Iris and Rudger tried their best not to laugh at Ehlen’s annoyed face as they walked out of the palace with the two Queen’s Knights. The inn that they were staying was quite big, just like expected for such honorable guests, though Iris and Rudger were not that important.
After they entered their room, Clovis and Alexis left Iris and Rudger, only saying ‘Good night’ as their parting. The blonde girl sat on her bed, while the other youth dropped his entire body to the bed.
“Rudger, don’t sleep just yet!” Iris sighed. “We still need to arrange our plans for tomorrow thoroughly.”
“Nah. I’ll leave it to you, Iris…I’m only your companion after all…” answered Rudger, who was sinking his head to the cushion.
“Fine, baby-sitter! Lemme arrange everything myself!” Iris picked a paper sheet and a pencil from her traveling bag. She then sat on her bed again and began to write. “…Let’s see…buying weapons, medicines, armors…”
Rudger raised his head when he heard the unusual things-to-do-list from his friend. “Wait, why we need to buy those stuffs? Medicines, yes, but why do we need weapons and armors? What are we, soldiers on patrol?”
The black-eyed girl laughed happily, but Rudger caught it as mocking laugh. “Hello, we’re going to explore a site. A site. A site which is supposed to have these annoying monsters and if there are no soldier around us, we need to kill them ourselves, got it, young spoiled brat?”
“Do you even know how to swing a knife?” asked the brunette boy, still lying on his bed but his head facing at Iris. “I’m a noble, so I have already learned basic skills of combat. But you? The only time I saw you commit violence was when you threw stones to naughty kids!”
“Just be quiet! I’ll learn how to fight better eventually!” hissed the blonde girl. She finally finished writing on the sheet and put it down on the drawer next to her bed. Iris dropped her whole body to the bed and felt her eyes beginning to feel heavy all of the sudden.
“Good night, Rudger…”
“…Hhh, night, Iris.”
Iris, both her mind and body in high spirits, did not care about how the sea ship would be rocking all the way on the wide sea and stood firmly on the harbor. Rudger, however, was the exact opposite. He was having a terrible seasickness and so he decided to sit at the pile of crates nearby, waiting for their guide to come.
People who passed by them began to wonder who they were, as their skin and hair color were noticeably different from Falenans. Wandering traders even tried to persuade Iris to buy some of their goods, as they thought she was a first-class Harmonia citizen judging by the golden color of her hair and her fair skin.
“No, I’m not a first-class citizen from Harmonia,” Iris said for the fifth time in the past three hours. Again, a soldier who tried to tease Iris walked off away from them, grumbling something about how arrogant she was.
“And I’m not arrogant!” she hissed and turned around to face her companion, who was still lazily sitting on the crates. “Rudger! You should help me to avoid them, geez!”
“Nah, I prefer to enjoy the moment seeing you being teased by those not-too-pretty-guys,” he remarked as he toyed around with the strands of his soft hazel colored hair. “Anyway, where is that royal who is supposed to guide us to the excavation site?”
“I don’t know,” Iris said irritably. “I just wish these people would stop making fun of us just because our country is one rank below them.”
Suddenly a noisy cheer from the townspeople erupted. Iris and Rudger looked at each other and grabbed their suitcases, hoping the cause of the cheer was what they think it was.
They were right. A young man with short silver hair approached the teens, followed by some white-suited soldiers that Iris recognized as the Royal Capital Guardsmen. When the silver-haired young man saw Iris and Rudger, he bowed respectfully, as did the guardsmen.
“We deeply apologize for being late, guests from Dunan Republic,” he said. “I am Ehlen Falenas, the Prince of Falena. I will be your guide for the first full month after your arrival to our country. I’m pleased to meet your acquaintance.”
“Oh, the pleasure is ours, Your Highness. My name is Iris Wisemail, and this is my companion Rudger Fleming,” Iris said and then she and Rudger both bowed politely. After they raised their heads, Iris continued, “It’s such a great honor to be greeted by the Prince of Falena.”
“Ehm…” For some reason, Ehlen seemed to look uncomfortable. “…Can we please drop the formalities?”
Iris and Rudger looked at each other and then looked at Ehlen again. “But…is it really okay for you, Your Highness?” asked Rudger nervously.
“I…always feel uncomfortable to talk in this stiff atmosphere,” Ehlen grinned shyly. “How shameful, right? For a prince to not get used with all the formalities…I can’t join in any political business at this rate.”
“Oh, I see,” the blonde girl chuckled. “Then you won’t call me Wisemail, right?”
“If you want, I can call any nicknames that you want me to use.”
“Nah, Iris is fine enough.”
“Okay then, Iris,” Ehlen smiled and shifted his eyes to Rudger. “Can I call you Rudger as well?”
“Yeah, of course, Your Highness,” Rudger nodded. “So…will we be escorted directly to the site, or do we need to stay the night at an inn or something?”
“Oh, that’s right. Her Majesty Queen Lymsleia wants to have an audience with you.” Ehlen sigh before he spoke again. “I’m sorry. I know you are all tired, but can you two please meet her? She was a bit over-enjoyed when she found out you two were coming here.”
“Like I said, it’s our pleasure.” Iris laughed. “Well, we better not make the Queen wait for us, right?”
The coach escorted the teens to the capital. The conversation inside the coach was quite lively, as Ehlen’s way of speaking became more and more informal because he knew his men would not hear him talking like that. Iris and Rudger did enjoy it, though. It was so rare to talk with a royal, and even more a royal who talked so casually.
To their surprise, Ehlen revealed himself as the sole son to the hero Prince Freyjadour.
“Really? Wow!” Iris exclaimed, surprised. “I’ve read many books about the Falena Civil War and Sun Rune’s conflict war, and the Prince always proved himself as a good leader! He even once possessed the Dawn Rune, and was chosen even!”
“Yeah, I’m proud of him as well,” Ehlen said, smiling shyly.
“I’ve read about him in books too, but they none of them revealed he was married,” said Rudger thoughtfully. “Who’s your mother, Your Highness?”
“The Queen’s Knight, Lyon, the ex-bodyguard of his.”
Iris gasped and blinked again. “Lady Lyon? You mean the possessor of the Twilight Rune during the Falenan Civil War? Wow, I never thought of that! I heard they were childhood friends and very close, but…I always thought he would marry a noblewoman.”
“Nah,” the silver haired guy shook his head. “Father loved mother dearly ever since their relationship grew when the war happened. A master and his bodyguard, heh, that’s quite romantic. I usually tease them about that every time and they get all blushing.”
“That’s a nice way to tease your parents,” Rudger laughed. Suddenly he remembered something and stopped laughing. He shifted his eyes to Iris, who was sitting next to him.
The girl looked rather sad, but she quickly erased that expression so that Ehlen would not notice. “Well, parents are always shy about their pasts. I guess its normal…for them…”
“Iris, stop,” hissed the Rudger. Iris gasped and stopped talking. Instead, she gave a pure smile to a confused-looking Ehlen.
“Oh, we’ve arrived.” Ehlen looked outside through the coach’s window.
One of the guardsmen opened the coach’s door. Ehlen came out first, followed by Rudger and lastly Iris. The two Dunan youths were amazed when they saw the magnificent scenery of Sol-Falena. However, there was no time for them to praise the city’s splendor as some knights in black uniform approached them. Iris immediately recognized them as Queen’s Knights.
One of the Queen’s Knights with long violet hair smiled to Ehlen and then to Iris and Rudger. “We’ll take care of them from this point, Your Highness,” he said respectfully.
“Oh, but Her Majesty gave me direct orders to bring them right away to the Audience Hall,” replied Ehlen, trying his best to sound ‘princely’. “And if you are worried that I might be tired, Kaylee, Clovis, I assure you I will get some rest, only after I bring these people to the inn.”
“What Kaylee is trying to say is, Your Highness, that it is not your duty to guide these youths,” interrupted the Queen’s Knight with black hair.
“I repeat, I have Her Majesty’s direct order,” Ehlen hissed, annoyed by his knights’ stubbornness.
The two Queen’s Knights rolled their eyes each other and sighed heavily. “Alright then…Please, this way.” Queen’s Knight Clovis turned around and led the way.
The two Queen’s Knights escorted the teens. To reach the palace, they needed to go through the very long bridge that crossed the city’s plaza. The citizens who bypassed them gave the royal prince very respectful greetings, to which Ehlen replied with dazzling smiles.
After having passed the bridge, they still needed to go to the ascending path to the palace itself. This time, nobles who were on their way to the Parliament Court Hall greeted the party. The guardsmen who stood in front of the palace’s entrance opened the large doors to let them enter the main hall.
There were other Queen’s Knights who were present in the main hall, only this time they were girls. One of them, which was wearing white knee length skirt under her black uniform approached Ehlen.
“Your Highness, I thought Kaylee and Clovis asked you to stop escorting our guests since we’ll be the ones who will guide them afterwards?” she asked politely.
Ehlen sighed, but before he could complain, the other Queen’s Knight Lady interrupted. “Oh c’mon, Alexis. You know that the Prince is quite stubborn about his task,” she said teasingly.
“You’re absolutely right as always, Latina,” added Kaylee with the same sly tone.
“Could you all be quiet please?” hissed the silver haired prince. “Anyways, commence our arrival.”
The four Queen’s Knights nodded and went to their positions. Kaylee and Clovis lined up in the right side of the hall while Alexis and Latina stood at the left. After taking a deep breath, they all shouted in unison.
“His Royal Highness Prince Ehlen has returned along with the honorable guests from Dunan!”
The large door to the audience hall opened. Iris and Rudger entered the hall, with Ehlen in the lead since he was the prince and because he needed to report to the Queen himself. The audience hall was larger than the front hall, adored with red carpet until it ended right in front of the throne.
Iris could see four people in the throne area. One of them was sitting on the throne, and Iris recognized her as Queen Lymsleia, ruler of the Queendom of Falena.
The Queen of Falena rose from her throne seat and nodded to the teens. Ehlen stepped aside from the carpet so it was only Iris and Rudger who stood on it.
“Welcome, young ones,” said the beautiful queen. “I am glad that you have finally come to my country, even it is only for business matters. I am the Queen of Falena, Lymsleia Falenas.”
Iris and Rudger bowed respectfully. “It’s our honor to be able to work here and also to meet you, Your Majesty,” said the blonde girl.
“I’m sure you already know about this, but let me explain more for the sake of convenience. For the very moment, you two will prompt to stay in the city’s inn as honorable guests. If you prove that your work is excellent, I’ll give you the right to live in this country for the rest of your life and also a manor in the East Palace.”
“It’s such a promising offer, and we will gladly take the chance to perform our skills, as ones who seek the truth behind great mysteries, just like any other scholars,” continued Rudger.
“Thank you,” Queen Lymsleia said and sat on her throne again. “Thanks for your service, Prince Ehlen. You have proved your capability to escort our important guest safely here.”
Ehlen turned to the young queen and nodded. “Anything to please you, Your Majesty,” he said and bowed.
“Now, shall we end this audience? I think our young guests are tired from their long journey by now,” Queen Lymsleia turned her head to look at the people who stood by her. “Well? Who wants the great honor to bring our guests to the inn?”
The man who was standing in his place at right side of Lymsleia stepped forward. Judging from his appearance that greatly resembled Ehlen’s, Iris immediately knew the man as the country’s previous prince, Prince Freyjadour.
“I believe that Prince Ehlen wanted to guide the guests by himself, but I shall take the assignment so he could rest.” The man in his forties approached Iris and Rudger and shook their hands.
“But, I--”
“Prince Ehlen, you still have other assignments to you need to complete,” interrupted a black haired lady who looked about the same age as Freyjadour. “Sword training, inspection to the Baska Mine and Hershville, and many others that you promised to finish this week.”
Ehlen sighed. Iris threw him a sympathetic smile. After that, she, Rudger and Freyjadour walked out of the audience hall while the others stayed, more specifically the fight between the black haired woman and Ehlen. The other Queen’s Knights who were waiting outside gave Freyjadour a respectful bow.
“Your Eminence, are you going to guide these youths to the inn?” asked Alexis.
“Then, we’ll replace you and bring them there ourselves,” added Clovis.
“Now, now, it’s actually Ehlen’s task, but I need to replace him,” the silver haired man said, smiling. “I can’t let my own son get sick because he’s too tired, right?”
“Stop!”
The large door of audience hall opened again. This time, Ehlen with the black haired woman came out from the hall. The younger man approached his father and frowned, followed by the lady.
“If it’s just escorting them to the inn, I still have lot of energy left!” Ehlen protested.
“Lyon, you lost?” asked Frey to the lady.
The woman named Lyon sighed and nodded. “Always stubborn just as he is determined. Really looks like exact someone here,” she commented. The older silver haired man blushed while his son smirked evilly.
“Is it really alright, Your Highness?” Latina approached the royals with Kaylee next to her. “I mean, you’ve been wandering in the city quite a lot lately…”
“Hm? If I do recall, Prince Freyjadour here did the same thing in his young age.”
Again, the door opened. The man that had not spoken in the hall just now appeared. He wore a black Queen’s Knight Uniform, which only meant that he is the current Commander of the Queen’s Knight. Every Queen’s Knights there gave him a respectful bow as the man approached Iris and Rudger.
“Zane, not you too. Why does everyone keep saying that Ehlen’s bad behaviors were from me?” Frey complained and folding his arms.
“But, that is true,” the man with black hair replied, and Ehlen and Lyon laughed. The man called Zane then turned to the two youths. “I haven’t properly introducing myself yet, have I? I am Zane Rescales, the current Commander of the Queen’s Knight. It's nice to meet you, Lady Iris, Sir Rudger.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Iris nodded.
“So, who exactly will escort us to our inn?” interrupted Rudger. He really wanted to sleep. He had met too many important people today and was beginning to feel symptoms of a splitting headache.
“Clovis, Alexis, if you please,” commanded Zane, which made his nephew gasp and glared at him.
“Now, now, Ehlen,” Lyon grabbed Ehlen’s shoulder before he could take any steps to burst out his anger. “Obey the elder, dear.”
“Hmph!” Ehlen settled down.
Iris giggled and patted his back. “Don’t worry. If you finish your assignments, you might be allowed to meet us again, Your Highness,” she said.
“You heard the lady. Now go back to your chamber, take some rest and you will be faced to your true live, young prince,” added Frey.
Iris and Rudger tried their best not to laugh at Ehlen’s annoyed face as they walked out of the palace with the two Queen’s Knights. The inn that they were staying was quite big, just like expected for such honorable guests, though Iris and Rudger were not that important.
After they entered their room, Clovis and Alexis left Iris and Rudger, only saying ‘Good night’ as their parting. The blonde girl sat on her bed, while the other youth dropped his entire body to the bed.
“Rudger, don’t sleep just yet!” Iris sighed. “We still need to arrange our plans for tomorrow thoroughly.”
“Nah. I’ll leave it to you, Iris…I’m only your companion after all…” answered Rudger, who was sinking his head to the cushion.
“Fine, baby-sitter! Lemme arrange everything myself!” Iris picked a paper sheet and a pencil from her traveling bag. She then sat on her bed again and began to write. “…Let’s see…buying weapons, medicines, armors…”
Rudger raised his head when he heard the unusual things-to-do-list from his friend. “Wait, why we need to buy those stuffs? Medicines, yes, but why do we need weapons and armors? What are we, soldiers on patrol?”
The black-eyed girl laughed happily, but Rudger caught it as mocking laugh. “Hello, we’re going to explore a site. A site. A site which is supposed to have these annoying monsters and if there are no soldier around us, we need to kill them ourselves, got it, young spoiled brat?”
“Do you even know how to swing a knife?” asked the brunette boy, still lying on his bed but his head facing at Iris. “I’m a noble, so I have already learned basic skills of combat. But you? The only time I saw you commit violence was when you threw stones to naughty kids!”
“Just be quiet! I’ll learn how to fight better eventually!” hissed the blonde girl. She finally finished writing on the sheet and put it down on the drawer next to her bed. Iris dropped her whole body to the bed and felt her eyes beginning to feel heavy all of the sudden.
“Good night, Rudger…”
“…Hhh, night, Iris.”
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