The duel’s one-week payment deadline came and went.
The contract remained unbroken.
King Augustus destroyed more items in his rooms.
The Sedaverian convoy, escorted by Viscountess Venenum, continued their travel towards the Sedaverian-Angio border. Ren Xiyang declined all of Count Aegean’s study requests.
Ren Xiyang did some work and drafted the contract.
Rian did a lot of work and study and delegated what he could.
Agents attempted to assassinate Viscountess Venenum along the way and failed. Ren Xiyang captured them and handed them over to Viscountess Venenum.
Antonia Argentum, Luis Venenum and Valerio Silex learnt how to remotely sense heat sources and magic sources.
Overall, the rest of the trip to the Angio-Sedaverian border was uneventful.
Viscountess Venenum took them to the planned mountain crossing. This mountain crossing wasn’t as gentle as the one between the Marquis fief and the Cedar fief. Just to be safe, Ren Xiyang and Rian worked together to levitate the carriages and carts over.
Count Aegean gave a sigh of relief once they landed safely on the other side on Sedaverian soil. The entire trip so far had taken less than two months, but he felt it had taken over two years of his life. He was looking forward to peace and familiarity and better beds.
But while there was peace in Sedaveria, the undercurrents in Angio were becoming more tumultuous.
“Welcome, welcome, your Highness! We’re honoured to have your presence here tonight!” Marquis Fluvius’s face was polite and flattering as he led Prince Marcus into his grand house in the Angio capital.
Prince Marcus’s gaze swept around the house. So, this was how nobles lived.
Marquis Fluvius led Prince Marcus to the dining hall and gave him the head seat, as it should be.
Prince Marcus looked down on the five nobles seated around the table—Marquis Fluvius (water mage), Earl Fortunae (psychic-light mage), Baron Amnis (water mage), Baron Gelu (ice mage), and Lord Ignis (fire mage, not to be confused with his father Duke Ignis).
Prince Marcus was the youngest there, full of strength and vitality. These nobles all had to look up to him. They had invited him previously; it was only now that he accepted because they had offered him horses and gold worth his time.
“We greet Your Highness, Prince Marcus,” the nobles said together.
Prince Marcus gave a restrained nod in return.
“His Highness Prince Marcus requires no introduction,” Marquis Fluvius said with a nod towards Prince Marcus. “He is the eldest son of King Augustus, and his most powerful and promising progeny.”
“In my honest opinion…” Lord Ignis lowered his voice, “Your lightning combat exceeds your eldest sister.”
Prince Marcus inwardly snorted. He could see how they were trying to flatter him. But they were also right, so he let it slide.
Marquis Fluvius mentioned some of Prince Marcus’s past achievements, and then they moved on to the duel.
“We suspect that the Sedaverians played some insidious tricks,” Lord Ignis said with a frown, glancing at Prince Marcus.
“They must have tampered with the duelling field,” Baron Gelu said.
“Or my eldest sister as negligent in preparing it,” Prince Marcus said idly.
The nobles looked at him and then at each other.
“Do you know something we don’t, Your Highness?” Marquis Fluvius asked.
Prince Marcus leaned back. “It’s common knowledge that Princess Aurelia has dealings with the Sedaverians.”
Marquis Fluvius frowned with concern. He lowered his voice. “Your Highness, do you believe she might be a traitor?”
“She prepared the duelling field. She managed the contract for His Majesty. If anyone is a traitor, it’s her.”
The table went solemn. The room felt closed and dark, aside from the illumination around the table.
“Well,” Earl Fortunae broke the silence, glancing at Prince Marcus. “It is a horrible business that His Majesty King Augustus is still without his birth-given power.”
Prince Marcus liked how they glanced at him to make sure their words were acceptable. He snorted lightly. “I suspect that contract cannot be broken without serious damage.” He looked at the nobles around the table. “You should understand this information should not spread.”
Marquis Fluvius’s lips thinned. “Angio cannot be weak. The other kingdoms are constantly watching. If his magic cannot be restored, or cannot be restored to its’ original power, then…”
“His Majesty should grant Your Highness more judicial powers in his stead,” Lord Ignis said.
Prince Marcus sneered. “As though he’d do that. He’s gripping on to as much power as he can.”
“And how did King Augustus come to power originally?” Marquis Fluvius asked. “The previous late King Julius Lūpiter was ailing in his strength…”
They all knew that King Augustus has killed all his family members to grab the throne. That man would never give up any piece of power willingly, just like the man before him.
There was a dark light in Prince Marcus’s eyes. These nobles were playing a dangerous game.
But if King Augustus’s power was never restored, then his erratic, paranoid behaviour would continue, behaviour that was unsuitable for a king.
Marquis Fluvius was right. The other nations must be staring at them, watching them run around headless, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The thought of having his weak and subservient eldest sister take power brought up deep distaste.
If King Augustus’s power was never restored, then it was better to change rulers as soon as possible, to defend Angio against hostile nations.
Great people were made during tumultuous times…
Aurelia nodded to Prince Marcus, who had arrived to take guard outside King Augustus’s quarters for the night. Once Prince Marcus and the new set of guards took their place, Aurelia turned away.
She was running on less than five hours of sleep, caffeine, and energising healing spells.
Spending most of King Augustus’s daylight hours guarding him meant all her usual work was pushed earlier or later. She still had to resolve disputes between nobles. She still had to deal with the piles of papers containing nobles’ various requests and the people’s petitions. She still had to preside over all of the major court cases that King Augustus didn’t want to attend—these now had to be pushed to either early morning or late night.
Aurelia headed down the stairs with a building annoyance and discomfort in her chest.
Refurnishing King Augustus’s quarters was yet another bother on her daily task list. She had to balance between purchasing something expensive enough for King Augustus not to notice anything wrong, yet not so expensive because it was going to get smashed within a week. She had heard King Augustus break another four items today.
She wasn’t optimistic about the contract being broken.
Or rather, she believed that the contract could be broken within the next hour—but there was no guarantee about the amount of magical power King Augustus would have left. If they broke the contract incorrectly, part of King Augustus’s magic could be permanently lost. This could be the case if they tried special burning methods that would completely destroy the contract.
The mages studying the contract were even more fearful of doing it wrong than they were of King Augustus’s blustering.
After careful observation, she concluded that King Augustus’s sword was magicless in his hands. Other nobles and mages must have also realised this. They could all defeat King Augustus now. It was up to her—the one guarding King Augustus—to block their attacks.
The only sure way to restore King Augustus’s magic was to fulfil the contract’s terms: to pay the fine. The full 110,000 Sedaverian gold coins or equivalent. But King Augustus didn’t want to do that.
Neither did Aurelia. 110,000 gold coins was a huge amount. If only King Augustus hadn’t changed that clause in the contract! If it was just 5000 gold—or 15,000 gold for losing and not stopping after the duel ended—then they could pay that much more easily.
But, he had changed it. Now he had to face the consequences. Did King Augustus want his magic returned or not? Did he not value it more than 110,000 gold? King Augustus had to choose.
Aurelia suppressed her frustration and forced her emotions back to coldness. She didn’t have time to deal with all that right now—she had work to do. Her priority was to keep the nation running. King Augustus could deal with his magic issue if he didn’t want her opinion.
Her ladies-in-waiting were waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. The most senior of the noblewomen inclined her head in greeting and handed Aurelia a set of documents.
“Your Highness, this way,” Lady Helios said. “The court session will be held in the Second Court Room.”
Another lady-in-waiting offered her a cup of tea.
Aurelia drank her tea while Lady Helios briefed her on the upcoming court case as they walked.
“…We have also sorted the requests and petitions, they are waiting for you in your study,” Lady Helios finished. “You have also received some requests to temporarily pause earlier-sent requests…”
Aurelia said nothing: they had reached the courtroom. Aurelia’s ladies-in-waiting formed two lines behind her as they entered.
After Viscountess Venenum finished escorting the Sedaverians, after Antonia and the others learned heat-sensing and magic-sensing, it was time for their biggest work yet.
Antonia showed Viscountess Venenum how heat and magic sensing worked. They took the opportunity to search around the border for possible bandits. They successfully found many wild animals, and a human hermit living in the forest, but no bandits.
They were starting to grasp the techniques the more they practised. As Earl Rosewood said, a lot of magical power wasn’t necessary—instead, it was all about fine control. The better their control, the less magic they needed to use.
Antonia found it novel to be able to sense metal on people—their jewellery, buckles, swords etc.
Once Viscountess Venenum started heat-sensing, she had mixed feelings. The technique was truly powerful. It was also a good way for her to track all nearby individuals. Was this what Earl Rosewood did during every waking moment? It was unsettling to think that he knew their positions at all times.
After their unsuccessful bandit hunt by the border, Viscountess Venenum and her team started back. They all sat in her carriage to go over the new ranking of locations to search.
“We have a lot of ground to cover. We will split into two groups, and target these areas first…”
On Rian’s first night back on Sedaverian soil, his secret agents visited him, bringing the goods he asked for. Rian paid their wages and reimbursed them for any extra costs. Then, he ordered them to have a brief holiday and await further instructions in a week’s time.
After they left, Rian found the marriage papers in the pile of Rosewood fief forms.
His chest grew tight, his stomach fluttering with anticipation. He was going to make this real.
He didn’t fill in the papers yet, but he envisioned what he would fill in each section. His name, then Ren Xiyang’s name—Ayden Rosewood—and their dates of birth…
He imagined them standing on stage, side by side, dominating the entire kingdom together…
Rian burst his daydreams. Before that could happen, he still needed to confess!
He put the papers aside and examined the gold, silver, and jewels that his agents had also acquired.
What was the most appropriate engagement ring for Ren Xiyang?
The beauty of gold was that it could handle a lot of manipulation without a problem. Rian extended his magic and started forming it into a design he had had in mind…
He wrinkled his nose. No, this wasn’t good enough. Try a different one!
One day, two days, three days, an entire week passed.
Ren Xiyang had the contract ready to go. Each morning, he considered whether today was the day. In the end, he decided that it wasn’t the day. They were no less busy now that they were back on Sedaverian soil. Here, the nobles they visited were much more eager to meet and talk to Rian, and they were more willing to let Ren Xiyang and Florence into their agricultural fields.
He and Rian also met with the noble children who were part of the association of future leaders, the children who proudly showed them what they had done, either excitedly pointing out, “Look, I did that!”, or conspiratorially whispering, “My mother/father wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for my suggestion!”
It was true that Ren Xiyang had originally planned to hand that contract over once they returned to Sedaveria. But, evidently, Ren Xiyang and Rian were both busy. They were still travelling together, so Ren Xiyang still had time. And the extra time meant Ren Xiyang could make sure his feelings didn’t go away.
He certainly wasn’t procrastinating for any particular reason, it was merely about priorities.
And just like that, more days passed and the convoy arrived back in the Sedaverian Capital.
It seems that you like voting! Shall I give another multiple-choice homework question then? Who do you think will confess first? >w
The duel’s one-week payment deadline came and went.
The contract remained unbroken.
King Augustus destroyed more items in his rooms.
The Sedaverian convoy, escorted by Viscountess Venenum, continued their travel towards the Sedaverian-Angio border. Ren Xiyang declined all of Count Aegean’s study requests.
Ren Xiyang did some work and drafted the contract.
Rian did a lot of work and study and delegated what he could.
Agents attempted to assassinate Viscountess Venenum along the way and failed. Ren Xiyang captured them and handed them over to Viscountess Venenum.
Antonia Argentum, Luis Venenum and Valerio Silex learnt how to remotely sense heat sources and magic sources.
Overall, the rest of the trip to the Angio-Sedaverian border was uneventful.
Viscountess Venenum took them to the planned mountain crossing. This mountain crossing wasn’t as gentle as the one between the Marquis fief and the Cedar fief. Just to be safe, Ren Xiyang and Rian worked together to levitate the carriages and carts over.
Count Aegean gave a sigh of relief once they landed safely on the other side on Sedaverian soil. The entire trip so far had taken less than two months, but he felt it had taken over two years of his life. He was looking forward to peace and familiarity and better beds.
But while there was peace in Sedaveria, the undercurrents in Angio were becoming more tumultuous.
“Welcome, welcome, your Highness! We’re honoured to have your presence here tonight!” Marquis Fluvius’s face was polite and flattering as he led Prince Marcus into his grand house in the Angio capital.
Prince Marcus’s gaze swept around the house. So, this was how nobles lived.
Marquis Fluvius led Prince Marcus to the dining hall and gave him the head seat, as it should be.
Prince Marcus looked down on the five nobles seated around the table—Marquis Fluvius (water mage), Earl Fortunae (psychic-light mage), Baron Amnis (water mage), Baron Gelu (ice mage), and Lord Ignis (fire mage, not to be confused with his father Duke Ignis).
Prince Marcus was the youngest there, full of strength and vitality. These nobles all had to look up to him. They had invited him previously; it was only now that he accepted because they had offered him horses and gold worth his time.
“We greet Your Highness, Prince Marcus,” the nobles said together.
Prince Marcus gave a restrained nod in return.
“His Highness Prince Marcus requires no introduction,” Marquis Fluvius said with a nod towards Prince Marcus. “He is the eldest son of King Augustus, and his most powerful and promising progeny.”
“In my honest opinion…” Lord Ignis lowered his voice, “Your lightning combat exceeds your eldest sister.”
Prince Marcus inwardly snorted. He could see how they were trying to flatter him. But they were also right, so he let it slide.
Marquis Fluvius mentioned some of Prince Marcus’s past achievements, and then they moved on to the duel.
“We suspect that the Sedaverians played some insidious tricks,” Lord Ignis said with a frown, glancing at Prince Marcus.
“They must have tampered with the duelling field,” Baron Gelu said.
“Or my eldest sister as negligent in preparing it,” Prince Marcus said idly.
The nobles looked at him and then at each other.
“Do you know something we don’t, Your Highness?” Marquis Fluvius asked.
Prince Marcus leaned back. “It’s common knowledge that Princess Aurelia has dealings with the Sedaverians.”
Marquis Fluvius frowned with concern. He lowered his voice. “Your Highness, do you believe she might be a traitor?”
“She prepared the duelling field. She managed the contract for His Majesty. If anyone is a traitor, it’s her.”
The table went solemn. The room felt closed and dark, aside from the illumination around the table.
“Well,” Earl Fortunae broke the silence, glancing at Prince Marcus. “It is a horrible business that His Majesty King Augustus is still without his birth-given power.”
Prince Marcus liked how they glanced at him to make sure their words were acceptable. He snorted lightly. “I suspect that contract cannot be broken without serious damage.” He looked at the nobles around the table. “You should understand this information should not spread.”
Marquis Fluvius’s lips thinned. “Angio cannot be weak. The other kingdoms are constantly watching. If his magic cannot be restored, or cannot be restored to its’ original power, then…”
“His Majesty should grant Your Highness more judicial powers in his stead,” Lord Ignis said.
Prince Marcus sneered. “As though he’d do that. He’s gripping on to as much power as he can.”
“And how did King Augustus come to power originally?” Marquis Fluvius asked. “The previous late King Julius Lūpiter was ailing in his strength…”
They all knew that King Augustus has killed all his family members to grab the throne. That man would never give up any piece of power willingly, just like the man before him.
There was a dark light in Prince Marcus’s eyes. These nobles were playing a dangerous game.
But if King Augustus’s power was never restored, then his erratic, paranoid behaviour would continue, behaviour that was unsuitable for a king.
Marquis Fluvius was right. The other nations must be staring at them, watching them run around headless, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The thought of having his weak and subservient eldest sister take power brought up deep distaste.
If King Augustus’s power was never restored, then it was better to change rulers as soon as possible, to defend Angio against hostile nations.
Great people were made during tumultuous times…
Aurelia nodded to Prince Marcus, who had arrived to take guard outside King Augustus’s quarters for the night. Once Prince Marcus and the new set of guards took their place, Aurelia turned away.
She was running on less than five hours of sleep, caffeine, and energising healing spells.
Spending most of King Augustus’s daylight hours guarding him meant all her usual work was pushed earlier or later. She still had to resolve disputes between nobles. She still had to deal with the piles of papers containing nobles’ various requests and the people’s petitions. She still had to preside over all of the major court cases that King Augustus didn’t want to attend—these now had to be pushed to either early morning or late night.
Aurelia headed down the stairs with a building annoyance and discomfort in her chest.
Refurnishing King Augustus’s quarters was yet another bother on her daily task list. She had to balance between purchasing something expensive enough for King Augustus not to notice anything wrong, yet not so expensive because it was going to get smashed within a week. She had heard King Augustus break another four items today.
She wasn’t optimistic about the contract being broken.
Or rather, she believed that the contract could be broken within the next hour—but there was no guarantee about the amount of magical power King Augustus would have left. If they broke the contract incorrectly, part of King Augustus’s magic could be permanently lost. This could be the case if they tried special burning methods that would completely destroy the contract.
The mages studying the contract were even more fearful of doing it wrong than they were of King Augustus’s blustering.
After careful observation, she concluded that King Augustus’s sword was magicless in his hands. Other nobles and mages must have also realised this. They could all defeat King Augustus now. It was up to her—the one guarding King Augustus—to block their attacks.
The only sure way to restore King Augustus’s magic was to fulfil the contract’s terms: to pay the fine. The full 110,000 Sedaverian gold coins or equivalent. But King Augustus didn’t want to do that.
Neither did Aurelia. 110,000 gold coins was a huge amount. If only King Augustus hadn’t changed that clause in the contract! If it was just 5000 gold—or 15,000 gold for losing and not stopping after the duel ended—then they could pay that much more easily.
But, he had changed it. Now he had to face the consequences. Did King Augustus want his magic returned or not? Did he not value it more than 110,000 gold? King Augustus had to choose.
Aurelia suppressed her frustration and forced her emotions back to coldness. She didn’t have time to deal with all that right now—she had work to do. Her priority was to keep the nation running. King Augustus could deal with his magic issue if he didn’t want her opinion.
Her ladies-in-waiting were waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. The most senior of the noblewomen inclined her head in greeting and handed Aurelia a set of documents.
“Your Highness, this way,” Lady Helios said. “The court session will be held in the Second Court Room.”
Another lady-in-waiting offered her a cup of tea.
Aurelia drank her tea while Lady Helios briefed her on the upcoming court case as they walked.
“…We have also sorted the requests and petitions, they are waiting for you in your study,” Lady Helios finished. “You have also received some requests to temporarily pause earlier-sent requests…”
Aurelia said nothing: they had reached the courtroom. Aurelia’s ladies-in-waiting formed two lines behind her as they entered.
After Viscountess Venenum finished escorting the Sedaverians, after Antonia and the others learned heat-sensing and magic-sensing, it was time for their biggest work yet.
Antonia showed Viscountess Venenum how heat and magic sensing worked. They took the opportunity to search around the border for possible bandits. They successfully found many wild animals, and a human hermit living in the forest, but no bandits.
They were starting to grasp the techniques the more they practised. As Earl Rosewood said, a lot of magical power wasn’t necessary—instead, it was all about fine control. The better their control, the less magic they needed to use.
Antonia found it novel to be able to sense metal on people—their jewellery, buckles, swords etc.
Once Viscountess Venenum started heat-sensing, she had mixed feelings. The technique was truly powerful. It was also a good way for her to track all nearby individuals. Was this what Earl Rosewood did during every waking moment? It was unsettling to think that he knew their positions at all times.
After their unsuccessful bandit hunt by the border, Viscountess Venenum and her team started back. They all sat in her carriage to go over the new ranking of locations to search.
“We have a lot of ground to cover. We will split into two groups, and target these areas first…”
On Rian’s first night back on Sedaverian soil, his secret agents visited him, bringing the goods he asked for. Rian paid their wages and reimbursed them for any extra costs. Then, he ordered them to have a brief holiday and await further instructions in a week’s time.
After they left, Rian found the marriage papers in the pile of Rosewood fief forms.
His chest grew tight, his stomach fluttering with anticipation. He was going to make this real.
He didn’t fill in the papers yet, but he envisioned what he would fill in each section. His name, then Ren Xiyang’s name—Ayden Rosewood—and their dates of birth…
He imagined them standing on stage, side by side, dominating the entire kingdom together…
Rian burst his daydreams. Before that could happen, he still needed to confess!
He put the papers aside and examined the gold, silver, and jewels that his agents had also acquired.
What was the most appropriate engagement ring for Ren Xiyang?
The beauty of gold was that it could handle a lot of manipulation without a problem. Rian extended his magic and started forming it into a design he had had in mind…
He wrinkled his nose. No, this wasn’t good enough. Try a different one!
One day, two days, three days, an entire week passed.
Ren Xiyang had the contract ready to go. Each morning, he considered whether today was the day. In the end, he decided that it wasn’t the day. They were no less busy now that they were back on Sedaverian soil. Here, the nobles they visited were much more eager to meet and talk to Rian, and they were more willing to let Ren Xiyang and Florence into their agricultural fields.
He and Rian also met with the noble children who were part of the association of future leaders, the children who proudly showed them what they had done, either excitedly pointing out, “Look, I did that!”, or conspiratorially whispering, “My mother/father wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for my suggestion!”
It was true that Ren Xiyang had originally planned to hand that contract over once they returned to Sedaveria. But, evidently, Ren Xiyang and Rian were both busy. They were still travelling together, so Ren Xiyang still had time. And the extra time meant Ren Xiyang could make sure his feelings didn’t go away.
He certainly wasn’t procrastinating for any particular reason, it was merely about priorities.
And just like that, more days passed and the convoy arrived back in the Sedaverian Capital.
It seems that you like voting! Shall I give another multiple-choice homework question then? Who do you think will confess first? >w
