Chapter 6 The Guardian of Valgus
A few days back...
To say Garfield was bewildered would be an understatement. Just a few days ago, he had been gearing up for a total war with all northern countries, including the hated Nadur Republic. But now all of that for naught. Why?
According to official reports, this territorial war was 'ordered' to be suspended because of foreign intrusion. Of course, that's true, but there must be a bigger picture for it.
But the main thing for him is calming him down.
"THESE BASTARDS!! THEY RETREATED AFTER ALL THAT PREPARATION I MADE FOR THEM. THE FUCK AM I HERE FOR? I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER, AND HERE I AM PLAYING MINDGAMES WITH SOME GODDAMN COWARD GHOSTS-
Yeah, he has to deal with an enraged Vinfred...
Noted..
Never anger him.
At least he's not angry at me...
Maybe...
Yeah, he's mad at me.
"I am sorry, but even I don't know what happened. I'll compensate you for this. " I said, trying to calm him down.
"Lend me one bird, I have to leave NOW! " With that, he charged towards the farm, where the Gilded Falcons are bred.
*hah
Sighing, I turned my attention to Luna, my beloved daughter.
"What do you think of this situation? " I asked her.
After thinking, she spoke with a thoughtful expression, "If what our spies had said is true, then the most likely scenario is that of third-party interference. Maybe the other factions, or... " She dozed off and whispered, ".. him? "
Him? Who? Is it that Aarigon brat! I knew it, should've kept him away from my little darling! I'll kill him-
"Gross, don't overthink. " She said to me while narrowing her eyes. My daughter is tainted! Damn it!
"Besides, I was referring to... " She continued incoherently,
"His Majesty. "
What?
---
A few days passed by, and Arthur's little scheme was coming to fruition. Garfield and Luna's suspicions were true when the news arrived about Arthur's 'tantrums' that had resulted in this situation.
When Luna heard about it, she was filled with emotions, happy that Young Emperor, whom she had cared for as her child, was helping her, and self-hate, for not even informing him about her circumstances and leaving him all alone, in that cold Palace.
While Garfield himself was also dazed, as the nostalgic times came back, he fought alongside his Lord, the Crown Prince. Maybe his son is still worth it.
Just then, a calm but chilling voice echoed in the room,
"Your Excellency. "
!!
Both Luna and Garfield reacted instantly, with later drawing his weapon later, to confront the 'invader'.
'Shit! Shouldn't have eased my foresight.'
By no means was Garfield weak; in fact, he is one of the 5 Aura pillars of the Empire, who has attained a high rank in Swordsmanship.
But since he was at his home, he had unintentionally been at ease, leaving behind an opening, which was exploited by the mysterious person.
The person quickly said, "Calm down, Your Excellency, I am but a mere messenger. "
"From whom? "Garfield asked, relaxing his guard a bit.
" Guardian of Valgus. "The person replied.
"I see. " Garfield said and took the letter.
The stranger left in the shadows, just like how he appeared.
"Shouldn't we check it thoroughly first? " Luna asked.
"No need. Guardian isn't that kind of person. He has his pride. " Garfield replied before tearing the envelope.
Reading the contents, a realization occurred to him.
'Vinfred would have advised the same. Besides, I guess, Guardian wants to let the late Crown Prince's retainers join his son, huh.' Thinking that, he looked at Luna for a second before determining his answer.
'I'll put my trust in my daughter. Since she said that His Majesty isn't like the rumor says, then that must be the truth! 'With that, he ordered Luna and his other retainers who had arrived, hearing the commotion or reacting to Garfield's Aura.
"Make preparations. I am leaving for the capital. Luna is coming with me, while Dynir would be in charge of the Margrave. His words should be taken as my words. " Garfield ordered.
"But wouldn't you want to stabilize th-
" Do as I say. " He said, with an expression that doesn't take no as an answer.
While giving orders, he looked at the envelope and found another letter from the guardian, which was for Vinfred to read.
"And yes, give this letter to Vinfred. "
With preparations done, Garfield left for the capital while sending one of his retainers to contact Vinfred.
---
Meanwhile, in the capital, Archduke Aquila and Archduke Raul are having an intense political battle.
Louie thought that the entire reason the territorial war was a scheme to scare or persuade the neutral nobles into taking Raul's side, increasing his influence, which was technically true.
On the other hand, Karl has misunderstood the situation, thinking that Louie had managed to influence his puppet into intervening in his affairs. His original goal was to remove the obstacle between him and the Emperor, called 'Ginny', so that he could place his people in her place. Since the late Crown Prince's retainers are busy with the monster tide, occurring in the southern region, he intends to force the Elsmworth margrave into joining his side.
But alas, everything went astray, and now they are locked in this stalemate-like situation.
And between their political battles, Arthur's having a continuous deja vú days, with the same schedule, every single day, and no Ginny to whom he could open up. Being bored to death, Arthur, nowadays, has resorted to conducting pranks on servants, just for fun.
While two factions battled over the prestige of gaining the Emperor's approval, the boy himself was conducting mischief and becoming a nuisance to all.
But just then, he came across a door. Normally, Arthur wouldn't have thought much of it. This Palace has plenty of doors and rooms, but this was special. Why?
Because just yesterday, there wasn't any door here; Arthur had passed through this exact corridor just this morning, and there weren't any doors or windows on this side.
Besides, there wasn't any construction for expanding the Palace as well, that means, either this door was quickly constructed or...
It has always been here...
When he tried to open it, the door didn't open. This time, he poured out mana, and the door started glowing faintly, before losing its glow and returning to normal. After doing this countless times, he gave up, especially since he had to be careful not to get caught.
'Hmm.. Maybe I need Mana Core to unlock this door. I will return one day. '
With that thought, he walked away.
Meanwhile, a man in regal clothing, befitting of a mage, is looking in the direction Arthur went.
With a smile, he said, " There's still time yet. We will meet again one day. "
With that, he turned around and opened the door, which was locked to Arthur.
---
On the present day, the Elmsworth Margrave has arrived with his daughter, and has formally asked for an audience with the Emperor...
During an Imperial Session..
The Palace was now full of activities, as the servants were going in and around.
After all, this will be the first time that the Emperor was going to held an Imperial Session since his birth.
In the Past, Imperial Session was generally held during important times like wars, rebellions, or financial crises. But during the reign of the Mad Emperor, William I, this session lost all its importance, as he not only called for this session literally every month, but also wasted everyone's time in doing so.
During the reign of William's successor and Arthur's grandfather, Edward II's reign, the Imperial Session's importance was restored to some extent.
Now it's Arthur's turn for it.
The Chamber, where the Imperial Session would take place, is a Massive Hall with many different floors, that is situated inside the Imperial Palace. This Hall is capable of housing up to house upto 5000 people, the size of a village.
At the end of the Hall lies the Regal Throne, with two Golden Griffin statues on each hand, where the Emperor sits. Beside the throne is another throne, of a similar structure, just silver colored. This is for the 'Queen' of the Empire.
Besides them, there is a plethora of different thrones for other members of the Imperial family, while the retainers of the Imperial family Ignivar had to stand, as a sign of respect. Only the Emperor and his family are allowed to sit.
Looking at the large Hall, Arthur was thrilled, but what made him happier was that he was finally going to meet Ginny.
'I never knew that this Palace is this big. 'Arthur thought in wonder. Unfortunately, he can't thoroughly check the place, with his mana vision, because theirs barriers everywhere and it is constantly under surveillance.
Unfortunately, the Imperial Session was extremely boring..
The Emperor has to follow a lot of rules and ceremonies before the session starts. Thanks to his now reputation as a spoiled brat, he forced his way through starting the session.
This time, fewer than 300 people were present in this session, due to the suddenness of the situation.
Finally, after hours of 'wasting' time (according to Arthur), the main part of the session began in earnest.
---