Welcome to the Royal Palace of the Eastern Continent, I’d like to officially say. Hope you all had a great journey this far. Oh, I know some of you stayed here last night, but try to put your previous stays aside and treat this as your first time here.
The cheerful face of Noctus looked lack at Aurora and her companions. They had finally gotten to regroup and take a breath of fresh air before being whisked away by the Royal Soldiers.
Word on the street was that Lady Mei had returned to the tower already and it was finally safe for them to come out.
Most people were surprised when Lady Mei chose to depart all of a sudden. Nobody had, however, been able to prevent her from departing.
“Ignore the past experiences he says. It’s not like we almost didn’t die back there or something.”
Aurora sighed at Rita’s complaining tone. There was a clear reason for Rita to be irritated but it had nothing to do with the Royal Family.
In addition, their visit to the temple had served its intended objective, and Aurora now had the temple on her side.
“By the way lady Aurora, I was not aware that you had such a magnificent creature as a companion. Now I understand why you became such an amazing person. Anyone with a dragon god as a companion had to be strong.”
Had it been anyone else who said that to Aurora, she would have taken it the wrong way. But the one who spoke was Noctus. And his aura held no ill-will against her or her companions.
“I am flattered by your compliment but I’m not going to hand Ur over to you.”
Aurora flat-out denied the request that was about to come out of Noctus’s mouth. And the Dule looked bumped at the quick refusal.
“Well, it was worth a shot. Anyway, today is a good day for us all. We have you here and our king has woken up. Now, I would like to invite Lady Aurora and her companions to meet the king.”
The Duke was making a big deal out of this, but Aurora could see why he was putting up such a show. Various people around her were eying her interest.
Were they seeing her as an easy target to conquer since Aurora had not shown them her power?
“Astoria, would you like to accompany me in? Rita, you keep an eye on Mary and Ur.”
The invitation to meet the king was likely extended to the whole party but Aurora did not want to take her entire group in.
Mary was a kid and Ur was a bundle of destruction. Taking them in might not be the best idea right now.
“Alright. Have fun in there.”
Rita seemed to have no intention of following after her either which relieved Aurora. She might have folded if Rita had asked her to take her decision back.
“My ladies, you need to head this way.”
Aurora nodded toward the Duke in thanks before she followed his instructions. The second she entered the door she felt weird energy all around her.
“It’s a dimension door. They separated their king into a different world than the normal one. I wonder why they did that?”
Astoria’s sharp senses picked up on the detail as well. But she was able to better classify the magic and its purpose. Her experience truly shined through her words.
“Let’s keep on moving now. The Duke did not follow after us, right?”
Aurora could not feel the Duke’s magic signature coming after her. It was unusual for the Royal guards to let the two enter such a grand place without any checks in place.
‘Are they underestimating us? Or do they trust us this much?’
For some reason, both of the reasons did not fit well with Aurora. No matter how lax she had been, she was still a dangerous goddess. Did these people not think of Aurora as dangerous?
“Welcome to my hoard. I see that you made it here well, daughter of the Lady Minerva. And your companion is the most unusual person I ever expected to see again. I heard that the young lady of House Dehva went missing, but it seems like you were just sightseeing.”
Aurora was shocked to hear her last name coming out of someone’s mouth. She had made sure to keep her origins a secret.
She was not ashamed of her lineage but Aurora did not want to be dragged away just because of her last name. Aurora had not considered herself a part of that house for a long time.
“Are you the emperor of the Eastern Continent?”
Aurora’s question was aimed mainly to distract the man from speaking. There was no presence of human life around Aurora so she was on alert against the unknown.
She had a weird feeling that she had heard that voice before but Aurora’s mind was a mess these days.
‘I must have heard his voice in my past life. But since I don’t recall anything significant happening, it must mean I heard him in passing.’
Aurora tried to justify her feelings but her heart told her that she was wrong in this aspect.
“I am indeed the current king of the Eastern Continent. I see that the Young Lady of Dehva house forgot me. But then again, you were a kid when we last met so it should be expected.”
‘Ah, so it’s that kind of know. No wonder I don’t remember him.’
Aurora had taken out all memories that had to do with her life before the temple. The emperor was just another victim of her brain.
“I am sorry my lord. It has just been a long time since I last laid eyes on you. But it is nice to see you in good health.”
Auroras’ words were polite but she had no interest in carrying out this conversation. She wanted nothing to do with her past.
“It is indeed nice to see you again. I heard from the Duke that you helped me out. Is there something I can help you with in return?”
There it was, the loaded question. Aurora could have asked for so much at this moment but she did not.
There was only one thing Aurora had prioritized when it came to this deal.
“I want your support in trading. Our relationship with the tower and the center is not the best so we need to look for new trade partners. I hope my lord would consider my proposal.”
Aurora gave the barest of bows toward the emperor’s direction. Her instincts didn’t want her to bow but Aurora still forced her head down.
‘It’s just once so it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get this done and over with.”
The emperor seemed to be in thought before he nodded. Not that it would have any other outcome when the emperor asked Aurora to say what she needed.
As long as the request being made was not outrageous, the emperor would agree with it.
“I understand. I will ask the Duke to make arrangements. We will also give you a fair deal on all our goods. So, will that be all?”
Aurora had a few things more to ask but they were all she asked for right now. Anything else could wait until Aurora was back home.
“Yes, that will be all. We still need to prepare for our trip back tomorrow after the festival. The sooner we return home, the better for us.”
Aurora had initially wanted to stay for longer but she no longer had the drive to do so. Too much had happened in the Eastern Continent in this short period and Aurora wanted time to relax.
At the same time, a new kind of worry had risen in her mind. She had received Rex’s message that morning and it had been anything but optimistic.
‘The tower purposed the annual games to take place in the Rocx academy? But we have not even been operating for a year and we don’t have enough resources. The tower knows that but it still pushed for this? Something is fishy here.’
Aurora had a bad feeling about the upcoming games. Her academy would not be participating this year due to the age restriction so Aurora had thought of herself as safe.
But now this new development worried her.
‘I guess I will tackle one problem at a time. Fortunately, we have Ur’s adult with us now. He will be a big asset for me.’
Amane had not expected things to take this direction but things had somehow ended up like this.
Not to mention, Aurora had also promised Mei that she would invite her to the academy. That promise would also fall under the same time frame.
‘There will be a lot of divine power gathered in a single place. Me, Ava, Mei, and Seraphina. Plus the core I have inside me as well. I wonder if things will be alright around all of us.’
Aurora should know better than to hope but she still did.
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