Monarch's Rebirth: Chapter 30

The carriage made it to the town and slowly traversed through the narrow roads back to the estate. I never knew how narrow the carriage was till I actually looked outside and looked below seeing there's only a few inches of space left before the carriage's wheels are off the road.

"The road really is an issue. This carriage barely fits." I told Alexander who was also looking at how close it was. "Yeah. I'll talk to my father about this soon."

Not too long later we made it to the estate and got off the carriage. My bleeding had stopped from the knife wound but I did lose blood. I need to get stronger.

"It's nearly two already. The journey didn't feel that long, did it?" Alexander said while looking at his pocket watch.

"It's because we talked most of the way. Must've slowed down our perception of time." I told him while walking inside the estate.

"Welcome back boys! What's the news?" Arnold asked us as we entered.

"We got introduced to the leader of the team. Told them about the project, gave a few blueprints and nearly got assassinated. Pretty successful." I told him in a monotone voice. I walked past him and started heading upstairs to my room to get my arm cleaned.

"You what!? Who was it?" He asked, startled from the news. "One of the alchemists. Some people just don't think properly when they're fueled by rage."

I turned around to face Arnold and see if he would ask any further questions. "What did you do to him?" He asked, skeptical of what would happen to him.

"I took justice into my own hands. He might be across the border to the Rigel empire right now on his route to the Aberdeen kingdom. His final resting place."

Arnold's face became dawned with dread as I told him in a twisted way of what's happening to him. "Lord Miyuki… You really have no mercy."

I shrugged off his comment and walked up the rest of the stairs and down the hallways to my room. I needed to get the blood stains off my arm and also dispose of this knife somewhere.

"Hey, Felix. Take this knife as a gift. Do what you want with it." I told him before throwing the knife to him. He caught it by the handle and looked at it for a second before smiling at me.

"Thank you." He simply replied.

I entered my room and quickly went to my bathroom to clean off the blood. It came off easily as it was dried for a while but there still was a scar. I might as well get this treated.

"Artorius… Can I come in?" A familiar voice rang out from outside the bathroom.

"Come in." I said from the bathroom while washing off my arm.

I walked out of the room to find Emily. I forgot how she sounded already. She looked at me with fear in her eyes. "I heard there was another assassination attempt on you. Are you alright?" She asked me, concerned for my safety.

I looked at her with a skeptical glare. "I am. It was just a scratch." I told her nonetheless, slightly suspicious of her.

"I see. Can I see it?" She asked me. I realised she had a roll of bandage in her hands. I shrugged off any suspicion and showed her my scar.

Without a word she quickly grabbed my arm and started to put bandages over the scar. I became puzzled as it wasn't even that deep and barely scratched my arm.

"What… are you doing?" I asked her, hoping for her to realise that it's barely a scratch. "Covering your scars. We learnt how to use a first aid kit in school, remember?" She said while bandaging my arm and looking at me with a bright smile.

"Yeah… we did…" I said, agreeing reluctantly. "It's barely a scratch." I told her straightforwardly. She looked at me, slightly irritated. "I don't want it to leave a scar, or get infected." She said softly, sounding concerned and displeased.

I felt bad and tried to make her mood better. "It's okay. I see that you still care for me. Thank you for caring for me." I told her with a friendly smile.

She cut off the bandage and tied it neatly. It was not too tight and I realised that all of the blood didn't dry up and was bleeding. Some blood bled through the bandage but I tried to hide it from her.

"There. All done! Come down for lunch. I heard you were leaving soon."

"Yeah. My work here is done. I'll go back home."

She leaves my room and goes downstairs for dinner. I took this chance to change my clothes as I hadn't changed my clothes since yesterday. I had my luggage in my room so I picked my last outfit that I had left and went with it.

"Red really is your colour! The tie and the vest really go well with your overall colours." Amelia complimented as I finished putting on my cape.

"Let's go. Don't want to be late for lunch." I told her as I picked her up in my arms.

She climbed back onto my shoulders and laid down on my shoulders as we walked down the hallway and downstairs. Felix was busy packing up our bags so it was a bit hectic downstairs. I realised how much we packed only for like five days but it's quite surprising.

"My lord. All the preparations are done. You may eat and we can leave when you give the word." Felix says as I get down from the stairs. "You come as well. We'll leave when we finish eating."

Felix nods and follows behind me to the dining room. The Damian family was already waiting for us to come in.

"Artorius! It's been a pleasure having you at the estate. I hope your stay was comfortable." Lady Lia told me as I entered.

I took my seat and answered back to her. "It was really nice! Thank you for having me at the estate and agreeing with the locomotive project."

"It's ambitious but with you as one of the founders of the project I can tell it will go far." Arnold chimed in. " I hope the assassination attempt hadn't thrown you off." He said with an overly exaggerated smile.

What is he planning?

Alexander looked at my bandaged arm and became curious about it. "I thought you said it was just a scar. Why do you have a bandage wrapped around your arm?"

I looked at Emily who did my bandage for me and she seemed nervous. She doesn't want me to tell them that she did it.

"I thought it was. It still kept bleeding so I just took some bandages and tied it ." I told him, lying through and through.

"Seems like you really didn't think this through." Amelia said as I told him the lie. "It's what I can come up with. It's the easiest."

"Well at least it wasn't like the dynamite one where you had to take a bath and a change of clothes." Alexander said, staring straight at my bandaged arm.

Not long after, lunch was served and I quickly ate up. I didn't want to waste anymore time since it would mean delaying my return. It was just a simple steak with wine and bread. As usual I chugged down all the wine I could.

"Uh… Artorius… Are you sure drinking so much alcohol is good for you?" Arnold asked, concerned for my safety, or his wallet.

"Yeah. I have a high alcohol tolerance. Another one please!" I told him and asked for another refill.

Lady Lia and Emily both looked shocked while Felix and Alexander were unfazed by my drinking habits. I drank one last glass before eating my last piece of bread and cleaning my mouth off.

"Thank you for the meal! It has been a pleasure to be with you for the short period I stayed here. I suppose Alexander will visit me soon for more planning on the project." I told them all as I got up from my chair.

"Ah~ Goodbye then, Artorius. It was a pleasure to have you around. Please take care of my son when he's in your kingdom." Lady Lia said as I walked to the doorway.

"Wait a minute… Artorius! I forgot something!" Alexander suddenly exclaimed as I was leaving. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Darkheart! He's still at your palace!" He said in a panic.

I remembered that he did come to my palace on his own horse. I was unfazed by it but I did forget that he was still at my palace.

"Oh, right." I'll send him over, don't worry." I told him before turning around and taking my leave.

I forgot that I had to wait for Felix to come as well so I waited at the foyer for him to come.

I heard footsteps come from the living room but it wasn't Felix's footsteps. I looked to my right to see it was Emily.

"Thank you for lying. I couldn't tell them I did it for you." She told me when walking past me. "I could tell you wanted me to lie about it." I replied back to her, hoping no one heard this conversation.

I didn't bother turning around to continue our conversation so I just stared blankly at the door and waited for her to pass by.

"You… don't hate me, right?" She asked me out of the blue.

I turned around and looked at her, confused and skeptical. "Of course not. We've known each other for a long time. I wouldn't hate someone like you."

She shyly avoided eye contact with me when I looked at her. "You just seem so… distant now. Before we used to be so much closer, remember?" She muttered out softly.

"Well… It is true we grew a bit distant but, it isn't like I grew to dislike you. It's mostly to not grow any misconceptions. You wouldn't want to be questioned wherever you went, would you?" I told her, hoping she would understand my reasoning.

"Well, that's true. But I still miss the times I had with you in the academy." She said, disappointed that she couldn't talk to me like before. "It's okay. Everything happens for a reason, change happens with time."

She nodded in response and turned around to leave. "That's true. Goodbye then, Artorius. I'll see you more often I assume?" She said before walking away.

I smiled and nodded as she left. "We will. See you around."

She left me at the foyer and I turned back around to stare at the doorway while waiting for Felix. I didn't have to wait for too long since he came soon enough.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to act more formally than you." Felix said as he came and opened the door. I stepped out and walked to the carriage with Felix. He went to sit with the chauffeur and I sat in my usual seat with Amelia beside me.

I turned around to look at the estate for one last time before I left. "I wish I had a place like this instead." I muttered under my breath as we started to move.

"What is it with Emily and you?" Amelia asked me through telepathy.

"I don't know either. I'm trying to figure it out myself."

It's an odd relationship I have with Emily. I can't tell if she is just doing this because we were close friends in the Academy or we were lovers. Either way I could care less, I'm not the Artorius that loved her. I'm a different person.

ALEXANDER'S POV

"Father, may I come in?" I said as I knocked on my father's door. "Come in." He answered.

I opened the door and stepped in. I looked at him with frustration from what he did at the science facility.

"What is it? Do you need something?" He asked me, seeing my irritated face.

"Why did you allow that assassin to enter the facility? He's a king! We would be the one to blame." I asked him from frustration.

The assassin wouldn't be able to enter the facility. My father had done it on purpose since we did checks on everyone's backgrounds and habits. We even had tighter security which meant no one could carry and concealed weapons.

"It was just a fluke. I didn't do anything." He said, avoiding eye contact and looking at his daily paperwork.

"Don't lie! You allowed him in!" I shouted in frustration. How could he do something like this?

He looked at me, equally annoyed at me as I was with him. "I see you've grown up enough to know when someone is lying or not. But the truth is something I cannot tell you." He said, sounding angry which in turn made me nervous.

I plucked up the last bits of courage I had left in me and spoke out once more.

"Tell me, now. I am really unhappy that you would attack my business partner. He saved me from the dynamite by sacrificing himself. But most importantly, he taught me how to be a monarch. He taught me more about how to have a golden heart and be a person that the public looks up to."

His eyes widened as I fought back against him. He didn't expect me to actually argue with him but I was not cowering away this time. I will have my justice.

"What did you say? He taught you how to be a monarch? I taught you how to rule. I taught you so that you can take over the estate and the duty as count after me. You're going to just insult me by saying that he is better? A trash king that suddenly became better?" He shouted out from anger and hints of jealousy.

I stepped back from his sudden rage. He looked at me with frustration and anger. "I need to keep you safe. Someone that was once known as trash cannot suddenly become better. I tested his abilities to see if it truly was him. Seems like he passed it this time."

I clenched my fist and tried my best not to go into a fit of rage. "Do not do this, ever again. His change is good for us. This will make us look bad. No more testing people's abilities, please."

He sat back down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I'm just really stressed with you. He's really unpredictable and I hate that." He said, calming down from his short rage that broke through.

"I've grown up enough. I know what is dangerous and what is not. Artorius is not one of them."

He sighs and gets back to work. "If you don't have any further questions you can leave. I need to keep working."

"As you say, father." I nodded and turned around to leave. I walked outside the room and sighed a breath of relief. "Thank you, Miyuki, for giving me courage." I said under my breath.

I walked down the hallway to my room and met Emily on the way. She and mother were talking and looked nervous. They noticed me and seemed to be relieved.

"What did your father say?" Mother asked me, hoping for good news.

I smiled at them and nodded. "He said he will stop. I tried explaining to him that Artorius is no threat and just an ally.

They both smiled and embraced me in a hug. "Thank god. Arnold is really anxious about Artorius. Thank you for talking to him."

"I had to do it. It would be terrible if he caught Artorius in a moment where he wasn't prepared."

Everyone in my family agreed that Artorius was not a threat, yet my father did not believe us. He thought he would be a threat no matter what we told him. Even after he talked with Artorius personally and agreed to help him at war.

We broke off from our hug and I looked at my Emily. "You and Artorius have a strange relationship. I don't get it." I asked her, hoping to get more information on these two.

She panicked and became nervous when I asked her, something she usually doesn't do. "O-oh! We were just really close friends in the academy." She said in a panic.

I looked at her skeptically and thought for a moment. "How close exactly?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows as a joke.

Her face became bright red and she became flustered. "I-i-it's nothing like that! W-w-we were just p-part of the same friend group! T-t-that's all!"

I chuckled at her behaviour and smiled at her. "I see! Well, this helps me more. If you trust him then I can trust him too." I told her before walking past the two of them.

"He's really trustworthy. You can depend on him all the time. I-I'd advise you to trust him whenever he tells you to." She told me which caught me by surprise.

"I see. I'll take your advice. I have some work to do, so I'll see you all later!"

I left the two in the hallway and went back to my room to relax for the day. I had no other plans for the rest of the day. I might as well read a book and go to sleep.

ARTORIUS' POV

It was already past eight at night and we had passed through the border an hour ago. There were no lights on the inside but there was a lot of light coming from the lanterns lit up on the outside.

"The stars look so pretty! So shiny and small!" Amelia said as she stared out the window at the dark moonlit sky. "Small from here, big when you get close to them." I told her, giving her some knowledge in the process.

"How big are they when you get close, papa?" She asked me, curious about stars.

"Very big. Bigger than this planet and continent we live on." I replied back to her.

This world did not have any knowledge on these kinds of things. They did not even have steam locomotives so having space flight would be out of question. Only I know what lies beyond the sky and space.

"Woah! I want to see them!" She said childishly.

"They're really hot," I stopped her imagination"Even getting close to them would make you burn up."

She became frightened by learning that stars are just hot masses of gas and freaked out. "What!? So I can't get close to the stars?" She said, saddened that she couldn't see stars up close.

"Not really. It's kind of impossible to go that far. Space has no oxygen and I assume no mana either. You won't be able to breathe or use magic.

I looked at her as she shivered and curled up into a ball. It seemed the space talks gave her an existential crisis.

"Come here. It's okay. As long as you're on this planet you will be safe." I told her while picking her up and putting her down on my lap. "Just grow up to be strong to protect me when danger comes."

She shivered and trembled but my words got to her ears. She plucked up the courage and looked at me. I gave her a smile to make her feel comfortable. She smiled in return and climbed up on my shoulder.

The carriage took a turn and headed towards a lightly defended town. It had a stone wall in the front with guards for protection. The town seemed humble and quite small, a lovely place to stay for the night.

"Are we staying here, papa?" Amelia asked as we slowly made it to the town. "I suppose so. We can't go camping since we don't have any preparations for a tent."

The carriage stopped in front of the gate for a moment but then started to move again and entered the town. It looked similar to Redwater, the first village I went to outside of my own kingdom's capital.

The town wasn't that busy as most had curfew past this time. We still grew the attention of those who were going back home or spending the time outside. We stopped outside of a tavern and Felix opened the door for me.

"We will be staying in this town. The town of Clannet." Felix says as I step out of the carriage.

"It's a small town. Let's head inside and have dinner." I said while walking past the carriage.

This was the first time I actually saw the chauffeur. He was dressed in a similar outfit as Felix, three piece suit with a bow tie but black gloves. People really know how to dress in this world.

"Pardon me but, what's your name?" I asked him, trying to make a good relationship with the chauffeur.

He shrieked and turned around. He looked at me with a nervous grin before introducing himself. "O-oh, good evening, my lord. My name is Ron, Ron Imani. I've been your chauffeur for a few years."

I raised my eyebrows and gave him a slight smile. "Apologise, It's been a while since we talked properly. Thank you for driving us around for the past few days. Did you have lunch?"

"No, sire. I was waiting for you." He said with a bigger smile. "Well, have whatever you want then." I told him before taking a handful of gold coins from my side pouch.

He freaked out as I handed him the coins and squealed. "My lord! It's okay! I have my own money!" He said before handing the coins back to me. I shook my head in response and told him, "No, eat up. You've had to go through a lot. You deserve it.

I pat his shoulder and walk past him with Felix. We entered the tavern and realised it was an Inn as well. Sweet!

The owner panicked as we walked in, realising that the king had arrived. Many that were inside the tavern also noticed us and stared at us.

"What? Never seen a king in an Inn?" I said before walking through and to the counter. The owner was trying his best to keep up a bright smile and not freak out.

"Do you have a menu?" I asked him, hoping to take whatever looked tasty on the menu.

"Y-yes, sire! There is!" He stuttered while replying and quickly brought out two menus.

The menu didn't have anything special, as expected. It had roasted ribs and mead which is what I took. Felix took salad and bread with ale.

"Also book us three rooms if you can. Don't kick someone out just because I asked for three rooms." I told him and warmed him together.

"Oh, sorry, my lord. We actually only have two rooms. I can book you those two rooms, if you wish." He said, nervously turning around and smiling.

I stared at him for a second before nodding my head slowly. "I see! That can be done!" He said before rushing to the back of the tavern.

I turned to Felix before telling him, "Well, you and Ron take the rooms. I'll go to sleep in the carriage." He was surprised but he agreed reluctantly. He knew I did it on purpose so he let it happen.

"Why the carriage, papa?" Amelia asked me, shocked that I'd pick the carriage over a bed in the Inn.

"I like it inside the carriage." I replied simply.