With their own portion of the ‘Messenger of the Mystics’, Francis made sure they were all nearly equal. The merchant had said that as long as there was less than a 10% difference in mass, it allowed for two way communication. With the amount that he was force fed by the princess, it wasn’t enough for him to talk to her.

Francis knocked on Estelle’s door. She let him in. She was fully dressed and ready to go. In a tight fitting, regimental suit. It really looked great on her, and enhanced her figure. The suit kind of resembled something he would see Napoleon Bonaparte wearing. Looking much like a military commander, Francis had an urge to salute her. Similarly, he was dressed up and ready to go. He had a blue dress with translucent sleeves, and light makeup done on his face. Francis placed his index finger on the side of his head.

“Can you hear me?” Francis asked.

“Loud and clear. How did you even find out about this?”

“Short answer, through the princess.”

“Still, this is amazing. We can essentially communicate from anywhere. And at any time too.”

“That’s true. Very useful.”

It certainly was. But it was also strange. Despite being up for so long, the princess has never spoken to him through the ‘Messenger of the Mystics’, so what was wrong? Even whilst he was locked up, she still kept communicating with him. The only other time when she stopped was when he was inside the anti-magic barrier that Kim Hye-Sung set up. Yet, he was inside it and talking with Estelle through magic. Or was that not how the anti-magic barrier worked?

“So how does this work?”

“Magic, I suppose. Now, let’s go shall we? My guards are waiting outside.”

“Of course. A carriage has been called for already. Shall I escort you, brother?”

“Thank you. Take the lead.”

Estelle smiled. She walked out of her chambers and motioned for him to follow. Placing his hand on her arm, she paraded him around.

“Nothing quite like having a beautiful woman by my side,” Estelle said.

“But you’re beautiful yourself. And let’s not waste time, shall we?”

They stepped out of the Rayleigh manor. Outside, a carriage waited. Pulled by a pair of horses, it seemed like they were strong enough for the 4 of them. That blonde girl was by the gates, trying to talk to the guards again but to no avail. She shot a glare at Francis before sulking away. Though, no one else really seemed to care except for him. Katalina motioned for them to head inside and opened the door for them. Francis and Estelle stepped in, and they sat together. The two guards followed suit. Once the door closed, the driver got the horses moving. To the others, they probably looked like a princess being escorted by a high ranking military official.

“-cis. Francis?” Haein, the crown princess called.

“Oh, hello. How are you?”

“You’re awake! Do you have any idea how long you were out for? You’re okay, right?”

“I’m alright. Just needed to rest and recover. Were you worried?”

“Of course I was. When are you coming back to the palace? I want to see you again.”

“I think I’ll stay here for a while. I still need to rest.”

“Is that so. I hope you can come back soon. I miss you, Fran. I want to see you safe and sound.”

“Of course. I want to see you too.”

That didn’t make any sense. Was she just not contacting him before? No, she was the type to not give up so easily. Then was his understanding of an anti-magic barrier wrong? Possibly. What if it was not an all cancelling barrier? The concept of a cell came back to him. The simple cell had a cell membrane. Semi-permeable, and it kept the cell’s insides in and unwanted things out. So did the anti-magic barrier keep the princess’ calls out? That certainly made sense.

After a while, the carriage stopped. There were various shouts outside, and their curiosity was piqued. Francis took a peek through the glass windows. Several men stood outside, and hostility was their answer.

“What happened?” Estelle asked the diver.

“My lady! Please be careful! There are bandits in the way!”

“Seriously? And you’re telling me to be careful? Stay back, brother.”

“Don’t kill them too hard.”

“Ah it’s just a warm up. I’ll end them quickly.”

True to her word, screams were accompanied by shouts. The smell of blood wafted through the carriage door, and Francis could watch through the thin glass window. Francis watched as she stabbed a group of 5 bandits. They had loose robes hanging off their bodies, and what looked like cutlasses in their hands. With a hole in their necks, they collapsed down onto the ground. Estelle flicked her rapier, and the blood splashed onto the grass.

“What a shame. Not even good enough for a warm up.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get a good fight in their territory,” Francis said as she re-entered the carriage.

She shrugged. The carriage got going once again. Soon enough, the carriage driver stopped, and let them know that they had arrived.

A butler opened the carriage door. Francis could take a peek at the mansion through the glass windows. Oh how grand it was. White ceramic walls, and a beautifully cut hedge. Even the gates that Francis stood in front of were gold plated. Flowers of various colours bloomed in the garden. The night sky watched over them.

“Be careful.” Estelle pulled him close.

“Of course. Now, can you see us in?”

The butler nodded his head, and bowed down. He ushered them in, and took no questions. Nearly rushing them in, they stayed on guard. Estelle held him close, never letting him out of her sight. And the two guards stayed alert too. Kim Hye-Sung looked like she was ready to blast someone’s head off, and Katalina kept her hand on her sword’s handle.

Inside, Francis was surprised. There were far more people than expected. Many nobles, most of them he had never seen before, turned to look at the new arrivals. He tried to recall the exact details of the invitation. Indeed, the house of Castinate didn’t lie. Just that, they didn’t mention anything about the other guests as well. Granted, Francis should have been the one to blame. Given the wording of the invite, he had gone and assumed that it was a small party, with him as their only guest. It did make sense, seeing as how a murder with more witnesses was far more likely to be uncovered. They did invite him with the intent to murder, right?

“You’re finally here. It's an honour to meet you, lord..? Lady..? What would you prefer to be called, your...” her words trailed off, “Oh yes. I am Lady Mary Castinate.”

A middle aged woman called out. Her wrinkles were indicative of her age. That striking green was rich in colour, and it did not complement herself. Grey hair topped her head.

“I’m alright with both. Which are you more comfortable with, Lady Castinate?”

“Then seeing as you are in a dress, I welcome you to our manor and land, Lady Rayleigh.”

“Thank you for receiving me.”

“Oh dear! You brought three guards with you? Pfft. I did hear that you’re weak, but to need three of them? How pathetic.”

“My. And who are all these? Your guests?” Francis asked.

So that was the game that she was playing at. All around them, nobles watched every action and word. Her goal was probably to embarrass him. All sorts of nobles were witnesses. Dressed in luxurious clothes, from purple to black, None of them wanted to introduce themselves to him. Just onlookers. Fine by him.

“Yes, they’re all my guests. I invited them all here, you see. Because unlike-”

“Hmm. Very interesting. Oh my.” His eyes were drawn to someone out of the crowd. The only one of the guests that he could recognise. Francis waved towards his general direction. “Lord Wynt. How are you on this fine day?”

“I’m... Fine. How about you, Lady Rayleigh?” He placed down his wine glass.

“Thank you for asking. Why, I didn’t expect that you’d be here.”

Francis shot a sidelong glance at Lady Castinate. Her face flared with red, and she clenched her fists. Small murmurs made waves throughout the sea of nobles. Perfect. Her face was puffed up, and looked rather like an old wrinkly tomato.

“I was invited by Lady Castinate.” Benjamin turned away and sunk into the crowd.

“Oh right,” Francis said as he turned his attention back to the tomato, “So your guests. I see that you have a lot of them.”

“Yes. I do. And I’m sure it’s difficult to talk to an old lady like me. Why don’t you talk to my daughter? She’s only a few years older than you.”

“A few years? What kind of bullshit is that?” Estelle spoke to him through the ‘Messenger of the Mystics’, and Francis laughed internally.

“True. She’s at least a decade older.”

The sea parted. In the middle of the trench, there was a woman standing in the middle. In a yellow dress like that of sunflowers, she stood out from the various reds, whites, blues, and blacks. She approached Francis with a kind smile. There were hints of grey hair on her head, and they were the occasional salt piece on an otherwise charbroiled brown steak. She very much took after her mother, and one could easily tell that they were directly related. Their same eyebrows, the position of their eyes, how slanted they were, and even their gait.

“It's an honour to meet you Lady Rayleigh. I’m Claudia. I’m the daughter of marchioness Scylla.” She pulled the end of her dress upwards and bowed.

“I am honoured to make your acquaintance, Lady Claudia.

“Now then, you two enjoy yourselves. A party is not a place for an old lady like me.” She turned around and walked away. The crowd gave way to her.

“And yet she dressed up.” Francis talked to everyone that could hear him.

“I know right? She’s insane,” Hye-Sung responded.

“But it's weird that they didn’t greet you, sister.”

“That’s probably their plan. Reduce me to a mere guard. But you handled that pretty well. Did you see how angry she was when you ignored her?”

“Oh I saw alright. That was hilarious.”

“Are your guards going to follow you around everywhere?” Claudia asked.

“Of course they are. Why, are they giving you trouble?”

“Because she wants to murder you~”

“Shut the fuck up Hye-Sung. Not now. Not whilst I’m talking.”

“Right, right. Sorry.”

“Oh no no! There’s no issue. But uhm, we can’t get any alone time?”

“Why would we need alone time? We’re at a party! We should mingle with people, not shut ourselves in a room.”

“That’s... That’s true.”

“Mhm. Well, I can humour you. Let’s make it quick, alright?”

“I thank you for your generosity.”

“Then uh everyone. Carry on, yeah?”

Francis waved at the crowd. Following Claudia, she led him to a separate room. With his entourage in tow, they sat down. It was only then did she seem to relax.

“I’m sorry. My mother, she doesn’t really like you.”

“Hm. I could tell. Actually, I’m surprised that she didn’t pour wine on me.”

“Your reputation precedes you, my lady. My mother was afraid of you turning violent and throwing plates at her.”

“So the rumours are still going around?”

“That you’re violent? Yes, they’re still circulating around. Which is why my mother provoked you.”

“She wanted me to get violent?”

“That is typically the best way to ruin someone’s reputation. That, or a scandal. If you’re engaged and you have an affair... You’ll end up like the Ooals. Disgraced and fallen.”

“Then I should count myself lucky that I have grown and learned from my mistakes.”

“So your reputation as a ‘piece of violent trash’ is correct?”

“Not is. Was.”

“I’m surprised. Oh, and don’t worry. I’m not here to ask you for your hand in marriage.”

“And I have no plans to accept. Now then, if that’s done, I shall return.”

Francis stood up and turned on his heel. How trustworthy were her words? Or rather, how much did Claudia’s mother hear? In the territory of an enemy, it was inevitable that they would be spied on. The walls had ears and eyes.

“Watch out. Most of the guests probably aren’t friendly,” Estelle said.

“I realised that the moment I saw Benjamin Wynt. He’s an Arcleus, so he’s a direct competitor for the position of emperor.”

“Yes. Not bad.”

“What kind of low standards did you have for me?”

“Well she said it, didn’t she? You were so different back then. Well, I guess you are a different person, in a sense.”

He couldn’t tell her that the original stopped responding. And so did the dragon, actually. The question of where they went still lingered on his mind. But no matter. That was not for the current him to worry about. In truth, their words sparked some fear in him.

Reputation was important. As he walked, he tried to search for those memories. Who had the original insulted? Who did he piss off? Those were the questions that he needed answers for. If they were here, then he could make a show of apologizing. Inside, he cursed the fact that the Rayleighs had no PR manager. Yet, despite his best efforts, those memories did not come. It was like they were forgotten. Just like what he had for dinner the week prior, everything up to the point when he took the identity of Francis Rayleigh was gone. Sure, he could still recall who he really was, but nothing else. The near seamless edit between the world that he lived in for more than a decade, and this new world that was his memories. If he wanted to become emperor, and secure that, he had to make amends.

The seat of the emperor was something to be envied. Not only was the empire one of, if not the most formidable entities on the continental stage, and the pair of emperor and empress had a near perfect track record of never being killed from external factors. Suicide, coups, revolutions, and the occasional plague. Of course, all of this was hammered in by the private tutor Hadel Frium. On Francis’ own request, of course.

He returned back to the busy ballroom. A butler walked towards him with a silver tray. A few glasses of red and white wine were balanced atop it. As he passed by, Francis and his entourage each picked up their own glass, with the exception of Katalina.

“Oh, it is an honour to meet you, Lady Rayleigh.” A middle aged man approached him.

Instantly, Francis knew that this man did not mean well. The way he carried himself, and the way he spoke just gave him bad vibes. Every word out of his mouth dripped with malice.

Francis’ wrist twitched. In the side of his head, near his right temple, a dull pain spread. Someone heated up a metal hammer, and just started pounding against his head.