I just want to say hi!

Once the tournament completed, the usual daily life returned to the academy. Myra and her friends had their own ways of training their skills, a training that would sometimes be very different from what they were taught by their instructors, but they still enjoyed their time at the academy anyways.

With so many students around, there was no lack of young people who were about the same age. As all of them were students, they had something in common and it was rather easy to find like-minded students to talk about all kinds of topics. With all the young people around, it was a very vibrant and lively place.

Even the disagreements the students had, seemed like harmless squabbles of children compared to a battle, where those disagreements would turn into bloodshed. They were confronted quite a lot with the dangers and hardships of war, they were even trained to one day be able to lead soldiers on the battlefield, but in the end it was still a place of learning and felt very sheltered.

Myra sent a letter to Ethan, to arrange a meeting, but it might still be weeks until she would receive a reply. Communication, not unlike teleportation was still one of the most power intense types of magic and except for extremely important messages, magic would not be used. In the end, even the shortest distance between two villages would require a long distance teleportation spell.

Usually archmages were not very happy if someone wanted them to deliver random mail and not many others would be able to teleport in the first place. Formations were too expensive and beasts were often too hard to tame and too unreliable.

No one had found any good alternatives to send messages yet. Signals of any sort would be too insecure and require some place to be manned permanently. It would defeat the point of a letter if it would require a big sign for someone with enhanced vision on the other side of the country to see.

With no other options than waiting for the reply, they decided to start with their trading company project. Myra was not very happy to use her free time and weekends to actually work, but she had to admit that it could not hurt to have a good source of income.

"Do we even have any idea how to setup such a thing?" she asked the others in the group.

"Can't be all that complicated!" Aaron decided, once it got obvious that none of them had the slightest idea about being a merchant or owning a business.

"I might know someone who would perhaps help us!" Myra suddenly exclaimed.

"A friend?" Liam was a little bit skeptical.

"No, not really, more of a business partner, but she surely knows where to start. She really liked my beginner runes, I'm sure if I offer her some better quality ones she would help us."

"Where would we find that … business partner of yours?"

"Maybe she lives with her clan? Might be worth a try."

Once they had an idea of where they wanted to go to, it did not take them long to actually find it. Nell and Liam were both born in the capital and would usually be able to find their way around.

Not much later they approached the arched gateway of the Heliphos Estate, a huge manor complex that caused Myra to be quite impressed.

"Look how big all these things are! You could easily fit a whole village into that single courtyard."

The guards had a hard time not to laugh and did their best to keep up their stoic and serious expressions. They had a certain amount of pride, as members of the Heliphos clan, even if they were just simple gate guards. The young girl in front of them made it really hard for them though. Her excited expressions were rather cute to watch.

Nell and Liam on the other hand were rather impressed by Myra's ability to make even those grumpy and serious guards smile like some kind father or grandfather figure might do. They were used to guards of great families to be rather arrogant and prideful. It seems like Myra's curious and outgoing personality was really hard to ignore and when she stopped in front of those guards, their attitude seemed a lot better than before.

One of the guards finally addressed her directly, as she also seemed to be the one leading the group around.

"Excuse me young miss, but unless you have an invitation or official business with the Heliphos clan, we have to ask you to leave."

Myra nodded and finally focused on the guard instead of staring at the buildings.

"Is Lady Amelia living here?" she asked, still not sure if the person she wanted to visit could even be found here.

Surprised by the question, the guard nodded and confirmed her guess. "Lady Amelia is part of our Heliphos clan and is currently residing in this manor. Do you have a message or something to deliver for the lady?"

The guard was looking at Myra and her little group again and considered what they might want from their lady.

'Maybe she is just delivering some materials? Those rune masters are always burning through all those strange things like there is no tomorrow, maybe she is just here because of some delivery. At least they don't really look like thieves or beggars.'

"Not really. I just wanted to say hi." Myra replied happily.

Aaron wanted to hide his face in his hands. 'You're way too honest girl! How do you think they will let us through with just a simple answer like that?'

He kept his thoughts to himself though and waited for the outcome that was obvious …

"I'm sorry, but we cannot let just anyone enter the manor without permission. If you have no specific business it might be better to leave. Lady Amelia rarely has the time for some idle banter."

The guard was still friendly, but he did not really take the young woman in front of him seriously, like an adult might tell a child to go play somewhere else.

Aaron however took offense to his words. If they were just targeting him, he would not really mind, but he was rather overprotective of Myra. After all she was still his girlfriend.

'Just anyone? Idle banter? Who does that guy think he is!'

"Please tell Lady Amelia that her Highness Princess Myra Elení Aer would like to see her. I'm quite sure she will find some time, even if it is for some idle banter." Aaron's angry words were followed by a cold stare, making it rather obvious that he was quite unhappy with the earlier response they got.

Taking Aaron's usual attitude into account, his words were likely already mild. If the guard wouldn't have been so friendly he might have phrased it rather differently.

When Myra frowned at him though, his self-righteous behavior quickly took a nosedive. 'Have I been a little bit unreasonable with those guards? Probably. Oh well, could have been worse. Don't look at me like I just killed them. I was rather nice … well mostly, or is this about using your name? No look away, you make me feel guilty if you stare at me like that.'

The guards obviously froze for a moment, considering if what Aaron just said was the truth, or just some made up story that would get them into trouble if they report it that way. When Myra noticed them hesitate, she took out a little badge with the Aer symbol. It was the badge that General Jaros had given her during their very first meeting.

'He told me that I would be allowed to enter the royal palace with this. Maybe it also helps with those pitiful guys, before they do something that angers Aaron. Looking at their strength he could turn them into minced meat without much effort.'

The guard just stared at the badge, before he bowed.

"Your highness, I'm sorry for not being aware of your identity earlier. Please follow me, I will let Lady Amelia know of your arrival right away."

--

"Your Grace! Your Grace! There seems to be trouble!"

Duke Pharrell was sitting in his study, reading a report from one of their many holdings in the empire, when one of his aides rushed into his room.

"What's the problem? Why are we in trouble?" he seemed calm and composed, not even looking at the man who just rushed into the room.

'He's way too worried again. What could there have happened this time that gets him so agitated all the time? It's as if the house would collapse any moment. Maybe I need a new aide who is more competent.'

"We cannot find Lady Amelia! She seems to be with the rune master and we cannot contact her. The guest is already destroying the walls!"

Now that definitely got Pharrell's attention. "They are destroying our walls, did I hear that right? Who would dare ruin our home right under my nose?"

The aide, who finally managed to get the Duke's attention tried to explain further.

"It's the princess! Your grace, the guest is her highness Myra. She seems to be looking for your niece. I don't know why she is here, she didn't want to tell me, but it has to be bad if she is destroying the manor already."

"Princess Myra?" for a moment he was wondering if there was some Princess Myra that he had not heard of before. "Oh, the new waif the royal family has picked up from somewhere. Isn't she just some bastard child, who was not even raised in the palace? What would that girl do here and why would she be looking for Amelia?"

"Your Grace she didn't want to tell us. It's just that the Lady is with her master currently and we do not dare to disturb them."

"Call her here, I will explain to Lord Edmund about the interruption later. This troublesome girl of ours has probably angered that waif in some way. Wouldn't be the first time that she tricked someone and stole their treasures."

Sighing about the unnecessary trouble Duke Pharrell already thought about how to solve this issue.

"Well, she's just a little kid, if that silly niece of mine really caused some issues, we just compensate her with something slightly valuable that's shiny and she will leave."

The aide was already on his way to search for Lady Amelia, when a shadow stepped out of a dark corner of the room.

"Your Grace, I have heard some … rumors that might be important."

"Rumors? You mean about that girl? It's unusual for you to come out of hiding just because of some rumors about a kid." The Duke didn't like where this was going. His shadows were some of the most elite knights and mages one could find, all of them at least at the grandmaster level. If they wanted to tell him about some rumor, it had to be something important.

"I couldn't confirm it myself yet, as I just got this information recently, but with the situation as it is, I thought I'd bring it up anyways."

The Duke nodded and indicated for him to continue.

"As you are well aware we have a retainer at the southern border. A skylord who has no chance of advancement and who is currently stationed at Mountain Towers."

"That's quite far away, what has that old fortress got to do with our situation here?"

"Recently the fortress came under siege by a few thousand soldiers, led by five archmages. General Jaros was requested to help out and shortly after arrived, in the company of a young woman."

"He addressed the young woman as your highness and she seems to have a younger sister in the capital. The same woman was seen together with Jaros at the Silverspire Military Academy earlier. This princess Myra seems to study there"

"So you want to tell me that this new princess has another sister? That is interesting, but I don't see why it would be important. That's mostly the problem of the royal family how many extra mouths they have to feed. It's not like they lack in money. If they want yet another extra princess let them."

"Your Grace, our retainer said it was because of this young woman, that the situation was resolved. She killed the five archmages and then cast a spell that had the ground swallow up all four thousand enemy soldiers. If his words are to be trusted, it is very likely that this woman is an earthbound god."