“They have the same architecture as Valerya,” Karel remarked as soon as they arrived in Stavros the next day.

  Kani chuckled. “You really have keen eyes.”

  The Kingdom of Livariel was a vassage of the once glorious Empire of Kresimir in the formerly unnamed continent north of Grantierra. After liberating themselves from the tyrannical empire, the brothers who survived the war fought over the authority. In the end, they compromised by halving the former kingdom into two states instead, hence the separation—Stavros and Valerya.

  “The Empire of Kresimir…” Karel muttered to himself.

  Kani gestured to the direction of the isthmus as he continued: “The isthmus in between was given to their youngest sibling who didn’t fight for the succession and, as per the rumors, he didn’t want to get caught up in his brothers’ bullshits. He chose the small isthmus and built his own settlement and flourished to what it is now.”

  He hummed. “The Empire of Kresimir. It’s gone now, right?”

  “According to the merchants, it’s now barren. The stories passed down, however, spoke of someone who must have had a grudge against the empire.”

  “But, who made an entire empire barren just like that?”

  Kani hummed thoughtfully. “There is forbidden magic that can do that. It requires something, of course. I’m not privy to what it is, however.”

  Karel visited the said continent a few centuries ago and heard they officially named it Eucastra—a tribute to Reucas Travis who went against the Empire of Kresimir and conquered the continent. After his demise, the Queen of Travis, also known as the Grand Mistress, continued the king’s pns for the continent.

  With the help of their followers, they achieved great feats. The continent prospered and The Three Heroes, also known loyal followers of the famous conqueror, founded kingdoms on their own and The Three Kingdoms became the foundations of the said continent.

  Karel looked towards the northern direction, pensive.

  The Grand Mistress… She’s an entity not to be provoked.

  After dropping by the store for inspection, Kani took him to Stavros’ historical pces. After all, the heart of the Kingdom of Livariel centuries ago stood in the current State of Stavros.

  They continued sightseeing until Karel stopped on his tracks.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  Karel shook his head.

  “A resonance?”

  He hummed. “I think so but it’s very faint and flickering.”

  Kani became pensive as he pointed at his own chin. “Where do you feel it the strongest?”

  Karel turned to the direction of the market.

  “The market, huh? Why don’t we stroll then?”

  “If it’s alright with you. You look tired.”

  He huffed. “Oh c’mon, Karel. I’m not as feeble as you think I am.”

  The blond chuckled and walked ahead.

  While Karel tracked the hiding magical rose, Kani treated him to some food sold by the street vendors.

  As he received the skewers, he whispered, “It’s near but its presence is flickering. I don’t know if I can retrieve it this time.”

  “Trust yourself, will you?”

  Karel huffed and sat down on the nearby bench.

  “Wait here for a moment. I’ll buy some drinks.”

  While waiting for Kani, the resonance acted up again. This time, he managed to pinpoint where. His feet led him in front of a small jewelry store and dazedly strode inside.

  Where are you?

  Karel scrutinized each of the jewelry dispyed and with his trained eyes, he distinguished the cheaper and top-grade ones. He went towards the cheaper ones first and stared intently at the neckce inid with rubies before him.

  The clerk smiled to himself. “You have a good eye, sir.”

  Karel snapped out of his daze and frowned.

  Despite his upbringing and status, he also honed his appraising skills, especially with these kinds of products. With his knowledge about craftsmanship, none dared fool him.

  The neckce posed as luxurious but the cheapest out of the collection. If not for the magical rose attached to it, he would’ve not bothered buying it.

  He asked to closely look at it and when he hovered his hand, the resonance pricked him.

  Withdrawing his hand, he said, “Can you put it in a box?”

  “Certainly, sir!”

  He went to the other side of the dispy cabinets and also looked around.

  “Sir, this is the—”

  “How much does this arm band cost?” he asked, looking at the pair of golden arm bands engraved with nature symbols and inid with golden beryl gems.

  “That’s 100 golden Ryuu.”

  “Do you accept a Ramayan Gold as a payment?”

  The clerk stiffened on his pce and sweat ran down his spine. “You… sir…”

  “I can give you Ramayan Gold for both jewelry, will you accept?”

  “Wait a minute, sir. I will ask the manager first.”

  He heard their muffled voices from the room behind the counter.

  Ramayans rarely traveled outside of their domain. While a known fact, the adventurous ones often hide their identities to blend in other pces. It definitely came out as a surprise to meet someone from the said immortal race.

  The manager decided to meet and negotiated with him. He even tried to entice Karel more with the other luxurious jewelries dispyed but the blond also insisted that only the arm bands caught his interest.

  As they concluded the transaction, the manager happily saw him out and profusely thanked him for the patronage. Both the clerk and manager colpsed to the floor thereafter, clearly relieved about his exit.

  They truly feared us, huh?

  He returned to the pza and saw Kani sitting on the bench surrounded by three unknown people. A strained, forceful smile painted his lips and their food neglected beside him.

  Karel pocketed the boxes, tossing it to his spatial storage and strode towards his master in a hurry. His menacing aura scared the three men off and shooed them away.

  “I’m sorry about this.”

  “It’s fine,” Kani replied despite his strained smile.

  “C’mon, let’s return.”

  The men gred at him for taking the brunet’s attention but he also gred back then they scampered away.

  Kani finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Where have you been?”

  “I retrieved the magical rose.”

  “Already?”

  “Yes.”

  After the uneventful dinner, Kani leafed through the books once again. The blond, on the other hand, finished bathing. As he continued drying his hair, his attention turned to the velvet box lying atop his coat on the rge bed. He snatched it, sat on the other edge of the sofa and fiddled with it.

  Kani noticed him and put down the book from his hand. “That is?”

  “A neckce housing a magical rose.”

  “Are you going to retrieve the rose?”

  “I have to.”

  They waited for the magical rose to appear before it assimited with him. The blond leaned back as the memories came pouring in.

  It showed Elise’s simple life in the Underworld. With the scarcity of resources knowing how desote some parts of the pce was, both monarchs attended to her and gave all that they could.

  Yukihiko often spent time with her telling stories and also taught her obsolete magic while the Supreme Queen sparred with her everyday. Yukihiko’s retainers taught her about what she needed to know ranging from political to economic aspects, history and even the liberal arts. Some other officials composing the Underworld’s court also highly regarded her.

  Denizens of the Underworld often saw her wandering the main city with the other retainers and often mistaken as the Supreme King’s younger sister due to their uncanny resembnce.

  It’s no wonder the magical rose is a silent one and chose a simple neckce as a medium.

  The simplicity reflected the time she spent in the Underworld and their worries of maltreatment turned out to be unfounded. Like in Ramaya, they pampered her even in the deepest part of Trojka.

  “Karel?”

  He grunted. “I’m fine.”

  “What did you see?”

  He blinked his eyes and stared at the ceiling. “Elise lived a simple yet happy life when she was away from us.”

  “Isn’t that good to hear?”

  Karel smiled a little as he shut his eyes. “Yes.”

  “I’ve always wondered though…”

  “Mm?”

  “Judging by how you speak of Elise, she seems lovely.”

  “She is.”

  “Can you tell me more about her?”

  With a wintry climate throughout the year, seeing clear blue skies in the said region where the Ramayan Kingdom stood signified blessings. During the Ramayan Princess’ birth, the same auspicious day dawned on them once again.

  Clear blue skies with no clouds to be seen, the calm breeze blew like a comforting embrace and nature rejoiced for the newborn life. At this point, Karel was already past his 800 years of age. Among the cousins, he had the honor to hold the Ramayan Princess in his arms first.

  Amethyst eyes gleamed under the light, chubby cheeks crinkling in delight and little Elise babbled as he tried to reach the long blond locks he used to have. Kelzo became an aide and knight for her a few years ter and watched her grow to a fine dy.

  “We mostly pampered her and stirred her away from trouble. Because of it, many called her a good-for-nothing.”

  “That’s… harsh.”

  Karel nodded solemnly. “She’s actually a fast-learner and the monarchs hid her abilities to protect her. If our kin knew how capable she was, she could be used as a pawn for politics and we didn’t want that.”

  Kani frowned. “But, she was married politically to someone else.”

  “Unfortunately.”

  The Supreme King of the Underworld asked for her hand in marriage. However, according to the magical rose he tely gathered, they sheltered her despite the de facto marriage they agreed upon.

  Karel shook his head fondly realizing to what lengths Yukihiko went through just to protect Elise.

  Would the Late King and Queen be delighted if they knew? Would Reiwen receive such news more happily than menting for her younger cousin’s fate? Karel sighed at his thoughts, realizing there’s no point in thinking about the what-ifs.

  “One thing doesn’t make sense though.”

  Karel turned to the brunet, puzzled. “What is?”

  “She returned to Ramaya from the Underworld, right?”

  He nodded, awaiting Kani’s next words.

  “Then, why did she return despite them steering her away from trouble?”