Laura bit her lips while lowering her head. The image of a throne on which an old man was sitting flashed before her eyes. "I want to change the Deep Sea palace kingdom. For thousands of years, we have been hiding under seawater. I want to change that."
"King Lewis wanted to gain a footing on the land which is why he aimed for the Istarin Empire thinking that it would be easy to take over the Istarin Empire. Unfortunately, no one understood his real intention. In the end, he just wanted to gain his footing on land. You must already know that the people of the Deep Sea palace are very cultured and also kind of narrow-minded. There are only a few like me who was able to see the real reason."
"Everyone was very dissatisfied with Lewis for joining a war that did not involve them which cost the lives of half a million troops. Almost everyone questioned Lewis's action. They failed to see what benefit their Empire would get from attacking going to the surface and taking over a surface Kingdom." Laura paused to make sure that Aditya understood what she was trying to say here.
"So you also have the same intention as Lewis?" Aditya tapped the table with his index finger while looking at Laura with a cold smile.
Laura shook her head with a smile. "Sir, I think you have misunderstood. While Lewis's intentions were to take over land territory, his methods were not the right way. Lewis wanted to expand the Deep Sea palace while I want something different."
"Your Highness, I want to set up a trade partnership between two of our kingdoms. My intention is to connect the sea and the land. For thousands of years, we have been living under the sea. It's time for some change. The idea of conquering any land territory never came to my mind." Laura also had some insignificant plans for the future which will never harm the Istarin Empire or its interest in any way. So Laura felt that she did not need to tell Aditya about those plans of her.
In the end, both Aditya and Laura ended up talking for more than an hour while having their dinner. After having dinner Dinner, Aditya and Laura both decided to sign a soul-binding contract that prevent any party from betraying the other one. The contract had the following two conditions which applied to both parties.
The first condition, neither of the parties shall do anything that will harm the other directly or indirectly party or the other party's property or the other party's interest.
The second condition, the alliance between both parties will continue forever unless both parties simultaneously agree to break off the alliance.
"Here is a Peak 4-star cultivation pill just like I promised." While talking with Laura, Aditya learned that neither Laura nor anyone from the Deep Sea palace has any idea who Julia is. They think that Julia Aditya's unofficial Fiance.
Taking the Peak 4-star cultivation pill which was stored in a jade bottle, Laura sincerely thanked Aditya. "Thank you, Sir."
"Since both of us have entered into an alliance, you can just call me Aditya." Laura was relieved to know that her partner was not an arrogant and overly prideful man. Most Emperors or Empresses would not even allow their own children to address them anything other than 'Highness'. Just these simple words said a lot of things about Aditya. After an hour of talking, Laura found Aditya to be very casual and carefree which made it easier for them to have a deeper conversation.
"In that case, please call me Laura as all."
"Alright. Thank you for treating me to dinner. Miss Julia, I apologize. It looked like I had interrupted your date." Laura gave a polite bow to Julia as a form of apology.
"I understand. I would have done the same if I was in your place." Julia noticed from the corner of her eyes that while following, many men were staring at her and at Laura. Some men did not even try to hide the lust in their eyes which made Julia feel disgusted.
"Aditya, I will take my leave. I will be sure to send letters if anything major happens that could change both of our plans. For now, you can rest assured that until the tournament is over, no one will attack the Istarin Empire. If I managed to become the Empress, which will most likely happen, you will never see a day where both of our Empires clash." Laura has gained two major things from this trip. One was an extremely rare cultivation pill that was going to take her plans to the next phase and the other was she had found a powerful ally.
"I also hope that this day will never come. Otherwise, I don't mind personally paying a visit to the Deep Sea palace." Although Aditya was smiling lightly and there wasn't any killing intent in this tone, Laura still felt her spine tremble for a split second. She could not help but remember the intense killing intent that nearly choked her. Even though this man was nothing but a beginner 3rd-order, Laura's instinct told her that this man was even more dangerous than those old 5th-order ghosts who has been living for centuries.
"I alright, I will take my leave." The next moment, Laura disappeared from the street. The people who were walking past them looked at Aditya and Julia in shock. They could not understand how can someone move his fast. To the eyes of ordinary people, Laura moved as fast as the speed of light.
"Shall we continue our date?" Aditya asked knowing that she must have been a little bitter for being interrupted during their date.
"Alright."
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Laura did not leave the high-tide harbor city immediately after separating from Aditya and Julia. Right now she was going to a certain part of the city where her people were waiting for her. A moment later, Laura entered a luxurious Inn that she rented for the night.
Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?"
"Kate, its' me. Open the door."
Click!
After opening the door, Laura walked inside. Inside the room, besides Laura, there was another mermaid who was wearing a maid outfit. This woman was Laura's personal maid ever since the former Deep Sea palace Emperor adopted her. In the whole world, Kate was one of those few people whom Laura trusted with all of her secrets.
"My lady, thank God you're back. I was so worried. We cannot trust the damned humans. Who knows they might try to backstab us when we let our guard down?" Kate was a beautiful mermaid woman. Kate had light blue hair and black pupils. Kate was 37 years old but looked like she was in her twenties.
After closing the door, Laura helplessly smiled. She then proceeded to sit on the couch. "Even if the humans of this city wanted to do something to me, they can't. Did you forget that I am a 5th-order? Besides, why would humans try to attack us when we also look no different from humans?" The mermaids and mermen had this racial ability to free transform into humans. Their lower body would transform back into human-like legs. In some senses, when mermaids were in their human form, they were no different from humans.
"Still, we cannot let our guard down. Especially when we are in a city which is surrounded by powerful wild dragons and Wyverns." Before coming to this city, Kate and Laura had managed to learn about the forces that guarded and protected this city. It was because of Laura's fast agility that both of them were able to come here without anyone noticing them.
The agility of the 5th-order was too fast for a 4th-order. When Laura suppressed her Aura and came here, no one was able to find her that is except for Aditya who was able to overwhelm her and managed to bring her to the rooftop.
"Don't worry, there is no need for us to hide anymore. No one will attack us as I have personally met the Istarin Emperor in this city through some luck and had a meeting with him." Laura was very happy with the way things were going for her. She originally thought that it would at least take her a few days before she could meet the Istarin Emperor.
"Meeting the Istarin Emperor? What was the Emperor doing here?" Kate, Laura's maid was confused here.
"It turned out that the King was on a date with a woman named Julia. Everything has gone according to plan. Now I and the King have entered into this soul-binding contract that makes us allies. The next step would be to break through the beginner phase and enter the mid-phase of the 5th order before the competition."
"My lady, are we heading back?" As much as Kate disliked humans, she enjoyed staying in this city as this was the first time she had ever visited the surface. If possible, she wanted to spend some time here.
"No, we're going to relax for the next two days. I have been cultivating for the last 1 year. I want to take a break as well and enjoy myself."
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