Unseen Shadows

The banquet was nearing its end and people gradually excused themselves from the party. Some stayed and slept on the guest rooms in the palace because they were too drunk to stay on their feet. It was such a memorable day for the Sylpharians that the borders were even left unguarded since every soldier stationed on the Western Battlefront had come back to the capital to join in the celebration. The enemy won't have guts to launch a surprise attack towards them anymore after suffering a shameful defeat in the hands of the Infernal Monarch Army, not to mention that Raphkiel held a concealed dirt of the Chalandrians that would enrage the whole continent if they found out that they had hired mercenaries from the outside world. 

Alisa had nothing left to do and was bored since Grunt was dragged by Timothy earlier after their conversation. She wondered when the king would reward them with coins. She needed those in order to survive once she returned to her homeland. The hidden continent and the outside world had different currencies used. In here, they used precious metals like bronze, silver, and gold as currencies. However, in Eidelweiss which was part of the outside world, they used banknotes instead. The gold coins were unusable in the outside world, but it carried a great value and could be exchanged for banknotes. That was the reason why she needed the gold coins Raphkiel had promised her. 

Soon enough, she was approached by the palace butler.

"Are you Ms. Hayworth?" The butler inquired.

"Yes, I am. Is there anything wrong?" 

"The king has requested for your presence in the palace study. Please follow me, Ms. Hayworth." 

The butler turned around and left. Alisa's eyes lit up and her lips curved into a wide smile as she thought about the long-awaited moment. This was the time to reap the rewards she had painstakingly tried to get. She swiftly scurried after him while humming a happy tone. 

"Your Majesty, I have brought her." The butler called out to the other side of the closed door after knocking it three times when they arrived in the palace study.

"Come in." A voice coming from inside replied.

"You can go inside now, Ms. Hayworth." The butler stood on the side and gestured for her to go in in a respectful manner. 

Alisa opened the door and went in. She saw a handsome man currently in his thirties, who was wearing a royal robe and a crown on his head, while a young man was sitting across him. The two were currently playing chess, but stopped to take a look at her. Her eyes met the young man's gaze. She felt weird being stared by him intensely and quickly averted her eyes slightly. She then made a respectful kneel to them. 

"Your Majesty, it is a privilege to be in your presence." Alisa said.

"You may rise now, soldier." The king said and gestured for her to sit on the vacant seat beside the young man. She was a little bit nervous. Was it okay to sit beside the young man and in front of the king? But they did ask for her to sit, so it wasn't like she was being rude or anything. 

She walked over there slowly and sat beside the young man who kept on gazing at her. The king saw this and raised an eyebrow. "Have you taken a fancy on her, my son?"

'Son?! So that means... this person beside me is the crown prince?' Alisa's mind was in a turmoil. She even became more nervous. How did she end up sitting side by side with the future ruler of Sylpharia?

The young man chuckled and didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up a chess piece and made his move, but then let out a sigh. "I don't think we would be able to finish this game, father. How about I leave first to let you two discuss matters?"

"Bah! As if you're an outsider. And besides, don't think you can fool me with how intensely you've been looking at her. But I warn you. She is my good soldier. Raphkiel says her combat skills rivaled his own. It would be a waste to confine here in the palace as your wife. No way I'm letting you make a move on her." The king said unhappily. 

"His Majesty, Augustus La Croix, is such a sharp man. Nothing gets past you." He said coolly while closing his eyes. 

"Hmph! A brat like you has a long way to go before you can fool me." He proudly said with a smug.

Alisa was baffled by their playful exchanges. She didn't know what to say. It was only after a while that they had remembered that she was there listening on them. Augustus cleared his throat and changed the topic.

"Anyway, Raphkiel said that you were the one who infiltrated the headquarters of marshal Balthor and captured him on your own. I simply couldn't believe it when I heard him saying that, but then I saw his stern expression and therefore, had to believe in his words. Is it true?" 

"Prince Raphkiel was just exaggerating, Your Majesty. It's because we put all of our efforts together that we were able to pull out that stunt. I just simply carried out his orders." Alisa explained.

The king was shocked at her modesty. It seemed like she wasn't a credit grabber, after all. What the other prince spoke of was definitely true since he regarded her highly. He was satisfied at her pleasant and easy-going nature and nodded.

"Good, good. I see a great future ahead of you." The king laughed heartily. He then turned towards Luis. "What do you think should be the suitable reward for her?" 

Luis pretended to think hard as his face frowned. Then he said, "If you ask me, the greatest reward she could ever ask for is a marriage with me. What do you think, father?"

"M-marriage?!" Alisa exclaimed in shock. She became flustered and she blushed furiously. What was this guy saying? This was the third time and the third person who claimed to want to marry her.

Augustus scoffed and waved his hand. "Spare me with your nonsense. You're just going to add her on your collections of wives. You'll ruin her yourself."

"Fine. I'll give up on that one if it's not possible. Then, ten thousand gold coins should suffice as well as a land and a title." He smiled wryly.

Augustus turned back on her and asked. "How about it? Are you satisfied with the reward?"

It was quite tempting. She would be able to have her own land and she would even be able to acquire a title that would put her status above from others. However, she declined it. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. But I am not initially from here. I plan to return to my motherland after this. I am grateful for your offer, but the gold coins are more than enough."

The two men were shocked beyond belief. She just turned down a land and a noble title. They wanted to crack her head open to see if her brain had gone crazy. But then, she said that she wasn't from here. Alisa wasn't a citizen of Sylpharia. They were already fortunate enough that she helped their country reclaim the lands that were colonized by the Chalandrians. Her own country was lucky as hell to have such a powerful individual in combat. They truly envied those people. But the thought was also terrifying. What if she belonged to a neighboring country and decided to use her in battle? They won't be able to afford the consequences. Their faces darkened at the thought of it. Of course, their hidden expressions didn't escape Alisa's perceptive eyes. She hurriedly explained her situation to clear the doubts forming in their heads.

"Don't misunderstand me, Your Majesty. I'm from the outside world in a country known as Eidelweiss. I don't plan on entering any military or combat force. I'm actually tired of all the killing and fighting. I plan to live a simple and ordinary life far away from the conflicts of war." 

It was only then that their expressions finally softened and looked at her with pity. It was such a shame that a very capable person was going to live a life of mediocre, but since she had already decided of what to do, they would respect her wishes. 

"Little girl, since you won't accept the land and the title, then I should change your monetary rewards. How about fifty thousand gold coins?" Augustus suggested with a gentle smile. 

"Fifty thousand gold coins?!" Alisa blurted out loud as she lost her composure and abruptly stood up with a loud bang on the stable. Luis felt her reaction was just too cute. As for Alisa. she hadn't seen so much money in her entire life. She knew that it was already a luxury in this place to have at least a thousand silver coins that would last her an entire year if she spent it frugally. one silver coin was equivalent to a hundred bronze coins while a gold coin was worth a hundred silver coins. One ordinary meal in this place usually costed around fifty bronze coins while a meal that costed one silver coin or more was already a high-end meal. 

"Isn't it too much? " She asked shyly with a worried expression. She was afraid that they were only testing her greed and she didn't know how to respond to this situation.

"No. It's only right that you receive this much. It's nothing compared to the previous offer I gave you. Please accept it, Ms. Hayworth." Augustus said with a smile.

He then called for the butler to fetch fifty thousand calls from the finance minister of the palace. Not more than ten minutes later, he came back with a bag full of coins. He handed it over to Alisa, who still couldn't believe it. She hurriedly stood up and bowed to them.

"Thank you so much for your kindness, Your Majesty. I'll definitely remember your good will and put this to good use." 

"Haha! Don't sweat it." He waved his hand off with a hearty laugh.

"Still, I really can't believe that a woman is so strong and capable that she might as well rival a whole battalion." Luis said thoughtfully as he examined her appearance. Being trained at a young age to hone his senses, combat skills, and foresight, she could see right through the danger hidden with her. While she might look harmless on the outside, he assumed that she was like a devil smiling towards her enemies once angered and forced to draw the line. He was greatly amused. How did Raphkiel find this woman?

"It doesn't matter, you fool. What's important is she saved our whole nation. Sylpharia treats her as a very important guest. No one shall lay any harm on her or I'll have them executed right on the spot." Augustus' words carried a hint of threat as his eyes glint a faint trace of danger in it. 

Alisa couldn't care about anything else and was just happily hugging the bag full of gold coins. She then excused herself when there was nothing else to discuss and bid the two royals goodbye. As she exited the palace, she felt several malicious stares aimed at her. She pretended not to sense any of it and continued walking for a while on the streets until she arrived in a secluded corner and stopped. They were definitely targeting her. She sighed and turned around.

"You've been following me for quite some time now. How about you show your faces instead of plotting something sinister in the dark?" She coldly said while a frosty smile was plastered on her face. 

Several masked people, who were dressed in black clothes, came out with sharp blades held in their hands. This was going to be another bloody night for her. It was a shame that she had to soil the clothes she had borrowed from the detestable Meryl with these people's blood.