---------------------------------

Eileen was restless in her bed.

It has been 2 days since Riou stormed out of the castle and she once again found herself thinking about him.

Her curiosity sparked thoughts towards the enigmatic boy that, despite his young age and lack of magical knowledge, was able to win against powerful mages. A feat considered impossible, a strike of sheer luck.

But Eileen couldn’t agree with that, she was the only one to see him in action. And to her, luck has nothing to do with it.

She frequently recreated the events in her mind, attempting to unravel some of the things that bothered her, “Why the lightning spell didn’t reach us? How was he able to approach the mage in the first place? He wasn’t close and had plenty of time for another of those spells.”

Eileen couldn’t help but wonder, “He was too calm, he is always too calm. During the duel, against the mages… even on the balcony when we first talked, I was the only one nervous there...” But she couldn’t understand how that could be true. He was far too young to be like this, he shouldn’t have the experience nor the training.

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The castle was busy once again, the defenses were raised and every knight general was called back.

It was night and they had gone to their quarters. A servant of one of the knights approaches his master’s room. The knight was sitting down on a desk wearing his official outfit and a yellow cape on his back.

“Lord Rodrick, the guild of assassins reported back” Spoke the servant with deference towards the lord.

A vile smile of satisfaction appeared in the knight’s face. “Was the boy dealt with?”

“No, my lord, they reported that the boy had help, he was being escorted by a mercenary group and they lost the boy’s track by the Dracar River.”

The knight restraining his anger, and in a contained manner he continued “I hope they intend to remediate this situation at once” slowly, trying to calm himself down.

“Yes my lord, they will resume the contract as soon as they find the boy”

----------------------------

It was past noon and the Drinking Bear tavern was full of customers. Syldis was busy on the ground floor serving and cooking.

Riou was on the second floor with Maximilian’s at Eleanor’s room, the old mage was looking after the lady.

The boy was leaning by the wall near the window, looking outside at the people passing by with his arms crossed. The day was beautiful and the sun was shining through some remaining clouds.

Maximilian was sitting down in a chair in front of the bed, by Eleanor’s side, she was still recovering from the events on the graveyard and the mage was clearly worried.

Riou turned his head towards Max, the boy had a serious expression on his face “Are you sure about this?”

Max without turning his eyes from Eleanor answered quickly “Yes. Syldis already talked to the mercenaries, they won’t talk about what happened, so for everyone’s concern we both are still missing”

Riou shook his head “I don’t like it, but I will trust your judgement on this one.”

Maximilian turned towards Riou “Knowing the Twilight Council, they will not back down just yet. They aren’t crazy to attack the castle now that they are on alert. But they won’t give up that easily, trust me… they will be lurking around, like a snake ready to strike first opportunity”

The boy nodded understanding his concern “That’s more of a reason for you to stay, the king seems to trust you, right? He can definitely use your help.”

Maximilian smiled at the boy “That’s why I will leave them in good hands” His expression turned apprehensive as he continued “I can’t show up on the castle or the little time we gained with Landgrave will be lost. You said it yourself, chances are that there are traitors hiding within the castle. If they think I’m dead then I can move to Thanes and warn the king. And you… they would never suspect a young boy like you.”

Riou puffed air through his nostrils, smirking not too convinced “You want to play a dangerous game Max, and I didn’t agree to anything. I don’t really want to get involved, things are getting exponentially dangerous and I just want to get back home.”

Maximilian looked down before looking up at him again with a sad and preoccupied expression “It’s clear now that the council is aiding Argos in the war… and If by any chance the Argonian win and rise to power” Maximilian stopped fearing his own thoughts. “You must understand that I can’t focus on getting you home when there is such a crisis in front of me. I hope you do help us, we might not make it without your help.”

Riou sighed in defeat. Max was a friend and his best hope to get back home.

Looking at his face Riou could tell that he truly feared for what would happen if Argos succeeded in their plans.

“You truly are a good man.” the boy sighed in defeat “Fine… I will help” Riou put a smile on his face once again “Once we are done we can continue to look for a way to get me back, right?”

Max nodded, “That is all I could ever hope for my friend” the old mage was truly grateful to the boy. With Riou’s presence at Allard he knew that anything the council attempted would certainly fail.

He now was able to travel without worrying and disrupt whatever they had going in Thanes without their realization.

“What about her?” Asked the boy referring to Eleanor who was still unconscious.

“I’m afraid she will take a couple more days to recover… I know I can’t wait too long or our enemies may discover us… but will not leave without talking to her, not again” Said the mage with a sad tone in his voice.

Riou understood the mage’s concern, he could see that Max really cared for her.

The boy nodded “You should take her with you then and lay low for awhile in Thanes, do what you gotta do and don’t let the council find out you are alive. Since we are going for it, let’s try to stretch that lead as much as we can”

Max pondered for a moment and nodded. “The council doesn’t have many officers, there must be one of them operating for all Allard, if you manage to find this person and disrupt their activities, it will take a long time for them to recover. We can use that time to regroup and plan our next moves. We could use my house in Thanes for that, it is well hidden and the council would never find us.”

“Fine, I will see what I can do over here… So I guess I will head back to the castle and monitor the situation from there for a while. I never found you and if nobody does either, that should be enough to make the council believe you are dead. Good thing I destroyed the dome then”

Maximilian nodded “That was a genius move, they may think my body is below the rubble and even if they search for it, it may take a long time to dig it all up.

Riou smiled “So, I guess I will have to find a way to go to Thanes in a few days.”

The boy began to walk towards the door, when he passed beside the mage, he touched the mage’s shoulder “Take care my friend, you are my best bet to get back home, so don’t go dying on me, do you hear old man” Said Riou tapping the mage’s shoulder,

Maximilian smiled back to the boy “Very well my friend, rest assured that I will not be caught off guard again so soon. And remember, look for the Flying Dragon Inn, say you are my apprentice and they will show you how to get to me… I will be waiting for you there” Riou nodded.

“See you soon then”

---------------------------------

Riou was back at the castle’s entrance once again, it was just 2 days since he left, but so much happened that it felt like ages ago.

They allowed the boy inside. He went straight to his room, he looked everywhere but there was no letter there. He took a bath and changed into his noble’s clothes that Syldis took the trouble to wash for him while he was out.

It felt right to clean himself and change into a set of clean clothes after all that had happened.

Better dressed, he searched first for Bhalrom. He wanted to know what they had discovered about the attackers while he was gone.

Walking through the castle he noticed movement towards the throne hall, guards were on the entrance but all the side doors were opened, Riou approached to take a peek inside.

Not too far from the throne were all the knights and mages, divided into two groups, parallel to each other. The knights at the right side of the king and the mages to the left.

Bhalrom was standing a few steps from the king’s throne. The prince was standing in the first position beside the knights in the lower ground.

Together with the king, sitting beside him, was the queen and the princess.

Riou didn’t understand how the power balance worked in that world, but the king clearly was in charge.

Bhalrom was the first to notice the boy peeking by the door and quickly approached the king’s ear.

The king looked surprised towards the boy’s direction and waved his hand for him to come inside, he wanted him to approach them.

Everyone followed the king’s gaze and noticed the boy. As soon as he stepped inside, one person seemed overly surprised by his presence. The yellow knight couldn’t take his eyes off the boy.

But Riou’s attention suddenly was taken from him by a strong contempt feeling emanating from the prince.

Approaching, Riou also noticed Lilly’s discomfort with his presence there. Nonetheless he didn’t care too much about them, after all, he was just complying with the king’s summon.

The princess just kept silent, elegantly watching the boy walking without any change in her expression.

The queen on the other hand seemed to sense something and turned towards her daughter in surprise. A mother knows her daughter well, she immediately noticed the subtle change on the princess, she could tell that Eileen became restless the moment she saw the boy on the entrance.

Even from a young age, the princess could never deceive her mother, Hanna just smiled at her.

The princess, unaware of why her mother was smiling, just returned to watch Riou entering the hall.

The boy took position in front of the king, between the two groups as it was customary.

The king was the first to speak.

“It has been 2 days since you left in a hurry, and I’ve heard from the soldiers that you’ve been seen all over town and even outside of it. I believe you’ve been really searching for Maximilian, have you found anything?” Asked the King eager for any new information. By his attitude, Riou determined that they had nothing so far as well.

Riou respectfully began “Unfortunately, I was not able to find anything” Said the boy in a serious tone.

The king nodded already expecting such news.

Riou continued “I had searched the house of Lady Eleanor as suggested. But it was an ambush, probably the same group that attacked the castle. And there was no sign of Lady Eleanor or the Magus there.”

The king pondered for a moment “Those are grave news, but if there is not a body, he might yet live”

Riou nodded “I fear he may have been taken prisoner at the enemies hideout. That’s why I’d like to help find him, I want to help with the investigations”

Before the king could answer, the prince stepped forward with a loud voice interrupting the conversation.

“Preposterous!” he turned to the king “My king, father... I can’t take this nonsense any longer. This boy is a liar, or a crazy person at best. Spouting these nonsensical things. He is clearly a charlatan trying to get a free meal and a roof above his head. Now that the good magus is gone, he fears he will be thrown into the gutter where he belongs. I bet you, he must have stayed in the city the whole time, plotting this marvelous story to get into your good graces and barely left the city gates just so the soldiers would see and report back!”

The Prince turned towards the boy pointing at him “Look at him, on whose authority did he proceed with this supposed investigation? How could he have fought enemies that managed to invade the castle on equal footing? You can’t take this story as the truth my king.”

The king sighed, after all that happened the king had some respect for the young Riou. Beside that, there was also the blind faith that Maximilian had in him. That alone meant more to the king than anything else.

But the king was in the throne hall with all his knights and mages. It was a solemn meeting and there was a protocol to be followed.

Any question should be allowed to be answered. So with a sense of unwillingness, the King waved his hand so the boy could answer the question.

Riou looked to the prince quite irritated, that was not the time for that and he was getting fed up with the prince’s attitude.

“I searched him on my own authority, as any friend would, after all, last time I checked I was not a prisoner here. And regarding the enemies, I was escorted by a group of mercenaries that were hired by the Drinking Bear.”

Riou could see in everyone’s face that the story became more credible. But the Prince had another agenda in mind.

“Enough with this! My king I have heard too much since I’ve returned to the castle after that terrible attack. Some of the soldiers are telling tales that his boy won against mages using nothing but his bare hands and now I hear that he was leading an investigation on his own accord with the help of mercenaries... mercenaries my king! Allard Royalty's reputation will sink if the nobles hear about this, what will grandpa say about this?” Prince had a distasteful tone to his voice.

“But look at him, a frowny boy that is yet to grow into maturity... I ask all the present here, if he was remotely that good of a fighter. How come we have never heard of him before? Legends of his prodigy should have reached our lands… if he is such a good fighter, how come he was completely massacred by the princess on their duel?” Interjected the Prince with elaborated movements and a captivating voice.

But the king was not swayed in the slightest, he was there and saw firsthand the boy’s capabilities, he knew all too well that Riou threw the duel away as a courtesy.

Eileen squinted her eyes, angered by what her brother was saying.

Suddenly a spark of realization assaulted the king’s mind and fear erupted from within him.

“This foolish son of mine, couldn’t possibly be thinking of challenging the boy’s word in this hall!”

“You are all being deceived by this boy, he couldn’t possibly be able to do half of what he proposes even with the help of the knights themselves! He is a charlatan, a liar, a deceiver… And I, Prince Kasius Strongheart will show you all, by calling upon the Allardian law, I hereby challenge the word of this boy, having the king and the elements as my witnesses!”

The princess’ eyes widened in the instant she heard those words and looked at the king as did everyone else. King Elrik was with his hand on his face.

The queen was the only one that got up instantly from her seat really troubled by what she just heard. The prince was still her son and she knew he was way over his head on that, he could be one of the knight generals but he was not nearly the fighter he should be.

The queen realized how much she had spoiled him and intended to put some sense into his thick skull, but the king promptly held her back as she was about to walk towards Kasius.

King Elrick understood her motivation, but his position demanded action. He was the king and he had to abide by the rules.

“A challenge has been uttered” Spoke the king with a heavy heart “They both shall fight until the truth can be unveiled”

The queen looked at her husband with surprise.

“If Kasius wins, the boy will be considered a liar and judgement will be passed by the challenger himself... If he survives the combat.” The king looked at Kasius with disappointment before turning to Riou.

“If the challenger wins, his words will be deemed true. Compensation will be due and if the accuser does not comply, he will be executed in dishonor. May the elements smile upon the righteous.”

The king was not looking towards his son anymore, his eyes were set on the young boy standing there in front of him, with messy hair and dark blue eyes that were staring back directly at him.

He shivered, so young and so resolute. The boy didn’t even waver after hearing the challenge. Riou seemed to be expecting the king some resolution, for he was clearly pissed off by the prince's constant bickering and attacked him.

The queen as well, she was trying to understand why he had allowed such a thing. Both knew full well that the prince was no match for the boy.

In her mind allowing that to continue was too much for her to agree, that should be put to a stop.

She didn’t believe the boy would really kill a prince, but the fear was there, it was a possibility in a fight of that kind.

But the moment she looked into the king’s eyes, she knew that despite his own wishes, the king couldn’t interfere. It was an official duel proclaimed in the presence of a full court, the king could not disapprove of it out of his fatherly accord..

Sighing deeply and clearly disheartened, the king ordered “Give the boy a sword”

Riou could grasp the king’s sentiment but nonetheless he needed to send a message. Now he was in front of the most important people, he needed to show them he was not just some random boy.

Riou analyzed the sword he was given. It was the same as the guards used.

The prince takes position in front of him.

The boy was calm but his eyes were dead serious. Even the prince was able to feel the boy’s animosity towards him now. It worried him for a moment, but his beliefs shielded him from his gut feeling and the unseen truth.

After all, he, the prince was right and therefore he had the protection of the elementals, there was no way for him to lose that fight.

The prince took poise while the boy still held his sword down.

Riou understood that the prince wanted to begin. But the boy was there to send a message, to make sure everyone understood that he was not there to be treated as a boy.

Riou just brought the sword up to his front with one hand in a rather dismissive manner telling the prince he was ready whenever he was.

Riou wondered, maybe if he taught the prince a lesson he would think twice before going after him again.

Kasius advanced cautiously and began to strike in Riou’s direction with many wide swings, Riou was quite shocked by his performance, the prince was not half the swordsman that the princess was. Riou was able to deflect all of the attacks with ease.

Smiling to himself as his confidence rose up, the prince continued. In his mind the boy was unable to counter his flurry of attacks and could only be in the defensive.

The prince then lunged at the boy, rushing forward with a diagonal slash, the sword path was predictable, from his right top side and moving to the left lower side. He was trying to hit the boy’s defense out of the way and towards the ground leaving the boy open for a frontal assault.

With a quick movement the boy stepped to the prince’s right side, avoiding Kasius sword completely while bringing his own sword towards the prince’s throat. The whole motion took but a moment in a very fluid movement.

Everyone was surprised by such a skillful display.

The prince froze in position when he felt the cold blade on his neck.

Everyone in the hall tensioned up.

Riou slowly removed the sword from the prince’s neck, pushing him forward, quickly getting some distance from him.

As the prince turned to face him again after recovering his balance, the boy showed his index finger to the prince. He then proceeded to take position so the prince could have another try.

This time Riou was keeping his sword down to his side, if before he was not taking him seriously, now he was completely mocking him with his displicent attitude.

The angered prince couldn’t accept such dishonor by a commoner boy. How a mere peasant could mock him in this manner. And once again rushed forward with a thrust, aiming his sword straight to the boy’s chest.

But the prince was sluggish, unrefined and slow. The complete opposite of his sister.

As expected, Riou dodged the thrust stepping to the side once again, turning on his own axis to end up by the prince’s exposed back, it was all in a quick motion.

Riou brought his sword up and pressured it against the prince’s back with its sharp point.

Feeling the blade to his back about to pierce him, fear assaulted the prince’s that quickly fled forward in an inelegant manner.

It was the first time he had felt a blade to his back with such pressure.

Kasius ended up losing balance as he moved forwards after a few steps and ended up falling on the ground, his sword slid away from his hand.

The prince quickly got up and tried to recover his royal composure. Weaponless, he glanced at the boy that maintained the same cold expression since the beginning of the fight.

The prince didn’t yield, at that moment he didn’t even remember that he could, such was the disarray his mind was.

Riou brought two fingers up now. As the boy looked at the weaponless prince, he suddenly threw his own sword to the prince’s feet.

Everyone gasped, the king almost stood up.

The prince got down and took the sword without taking his eyes off the boy.

Riou spoke “Do you understand it now? You can’t beat me, you are just not good enough”

Kasius just squinted his eyes at the boy. “You barely survived Eileen’s challenge! You are not nearly as good as you think!”

Riou shrugged “That only shows how much better than you she is. I mean, you are slow, and predictable. You have no finesse whatsoever with a sword… All you have going for yourself is that you were lucky enough to have been born first and can run you mouth as you owned the world.”

The court gasped in surprise by such words, the prince’s honor had been tainted.

Eileen felt her breath leave her lungs, she was often praised by her swordsmanship, but no one ever dared to compare her to Kasius like that. As the first born, Kasius was entitled to the throne and given all the opportunities to grow and develop into a king from a young age.

Luckily for her, heredity allowed her to use the rites of the north to avoid a political marriage. Giving her enough power to choose her future to the best of her own ability.

But as a princess she also had to prepare herself, so she also ended up studying politics and the matters of the kingdom, diligently under her mother's guidance while at the same time watched her brother being praised by all, for barely any effort.

She grew up in such an unfair environment, as if there was a natural order to things, nonetheless, grudges formed between the siblings, for Kasius couldn’t support that she was trying to be better than him

Eileen just wanted to be recognized by her father, she was not just a princess to be used for a political marriage. But unfortunately, Allardian culture and the nobles in the court did not look kindly at her, especially after choosing the rites and not marrying into the nobility as she should have.

But now, a young boy she had just met was calling out her brother’s inabilities in front of the most influential people on Allard, attesting that she was a much better fighter than him.

She couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction and appreciation.

After such words, the prince was completely enraged, foolishly he wanted to continue.

Riou glanced at the king.

As their eyes crossed, both seemed to have an unspoken conversation. The king understood what the boy was trying to do. The prince was overstepping his ways and was not able to discern the difference in power between the two of them.

Someone prone to anger that cannot read the enemy and himself… is not yet ready to be a ruler.

Anger grew towards his own son, the fool was incapable of understanding the situation and would rather die than admit defeat. Kasius was so blind by his own beliefs that he could not see the boy was mocking him in front of the court, showing them all how inept Kasius really was.

Still, the king couldn’t interfere.

“How could an apple fall so far from the tree? The prince is so different from the king” wondered Riou.

The prince was filled with a renewed sense of justice, he was armed while the boy was disarmed, it was all by the will of the elements he now would have his victory.

The prince blindly rushed with the sword in his hands. He went for a quick swing aimed at the boy’s head.

Before the sword began its trajectory, Riou was already moving, dodging it by simply turning his body sideways and stepping out of the way of the arch. Before the prince could take any other action Riou grabbed the prince’s hand that was holding the sword with his left hand.

Locking the prince in place and securing the sword, Riou just elbowed the Prince’s face with his right arm.

After the hit, Riou twisted the prince’s wrist forcing him to lose grip on the sword and easily removing the weapon from his grasp.

The prince was now unarmed and bleeding profusely by the nose.

Kasius stepped back once again.

Riou then showed 3 fingers up for the prince who was taking distance from the boy that had his sword back. “You are dumber than I imagined. Can’t you see? You can’t win… stop embarrassing yourself, give up before you really get hurt.” Said the boy in a condescending tone.

The prince got even more distance from him, with one hand to his nose he was looking around for his lost sword. But it was behind the boy.

Kasius desperately looked towards the knights and soldiers, in a silent hope that one of them would provide another sword, but no one dared to help as no one was allowed to interfere in the challenge.

The prince was with his back to the king. Buthis pride wouldn’t allow him to concede victory. As a last resort and far enough from the boy, he pulled a last card.

He began to chant in elven language as he pointed his open palm towards the boy.

At that moment a few knights and mages began to stand up, restlessly and many glanced towards the king in disapproval.

Such action was not forbidden, but for a noble to have to resort to magic against a commoner it was a great dishonorable act.

In their eyes the prince should have acknowledged the boy’s skill and gracefully withdrawn from the challenge on the first loss.

But as he opted to continue, again and again, he only brought more shame to himself.

The prince was showing an unscrupulous and unprepared side that gravely hurt his image as a future king.

Riou chuckled when he saw a feeble Fireball flying slowly towards him. The prince clearly slacked in his magical training as well.

Without delay Riou rushed forward the fire.

The boy could have easily dodged the spell but that would mean the fire would hit the ground or a carpet and spread. Potentially damaging the hall.

To avoid it, the boy prepared the sword to his left side and fiercely slashed the fireball in a upward movement as he passed through it, forcing it to disappear without causing any damage to the surroundings.

The boy didn’t let the prince recover or prepare another spell, Riou continued forward and went at Kasius at an uncanny speed.

Before the prince could tell, he had a sword pointing to his face, just a hair’s away from his right eye.

The hall tensed up once again.

Riou spoke slowly as if talking to a child, his voice was as cold as his expression “Do you understand now?”

The prince was a turmoil of contempt, despair and rage, he was not able to think straight. He couldn’t lose, he was a prince, a greater being beloved by the elements, descendant of heros and nothing that the boy could do would stop him.

Clearly out of himself he answered “You cannot win! That’s all I can understand! I will not allow you to win!”

Riou sighed, he glanced at the king, pitying him for having such a son.

“I cannot argue with an idiot” Said the boy to the king while pointing the sword to the prince.

At that point, Riou had considered ending that fool suffering for good, but it was not right. Besides, his parents were watching.

So Riou threw the sword to the side once again.

The Prince showed a distorted smile and was about to begin his nonsense speech once again, or maybe chant another spell.

Riou prepared his right arm and punched Kasius in an upward movement right in the middle of his chest before he could utter a single word more.

The prince fell down instantly, having difficulty breathing and completely unable to speak, feeling pain and nausea like he had never felt before.

Looking to the prince Riou leaned towards him and in a serious and cold tone, he whispered to him “Take this as a lesson in humility, accept the loss with dignity. And be ever grateful to your parents, it was my respect for them that kept you in this world… don’t test my patience again, they might not be looking next time”

Riou turned towards the king “Your son is a fool beyond redemption.” Said him blatantly.

The king sat down and leaned back on the throne, the tense atmosphere began to dissipate after the bloodless resolution. The realization of the boy’s prowess began to sink into everyone’s mind, he was a very good swordsman.

And his ability far surpassed the prince’s. The display clearly showed them that Kasius wasn’t nearly as good as his sister and in more ways than they anticipated.

The word of what happened that day would spread and Eileen would be seen in better eyes by the whole court, many would even consider her to take the kingdom instead of the prince once the King was of old age.

Elrick knew the boy was good. But seeing him demolishing the prince's swordsmanship in such a manner without even actually hurting him was a remarkable feat in the king’s eyes, as a fellow swordsman, he knew very well what it took to do what the boy just did.

The queen calmed down as well. And after such a display of skill and wit, the queen was even more impressed.

Riou not only outsmarted the clever prince but displayed a talent that very few possessed. The warrior in her instantly recognized the boy’s valor, courage and even wisdom to show restraint after such a displeasing act from her own son.

She looked at Eileen and smiled.

The boy passed with commendation on her evaluations so far. And judging the effects he had on her daughter in such a short time. The boy could really become a solid candidate for her in the near future.

On one side the queen was pleased, but on the other… Kasius would be hearing her thoughts regarding his actions. She could not allow her son of hers to display such a lack of honor. He clearly had been slacking in his training and was not even able to notice the difference in skill. He had grown weak and that’s something the men of the north cannot be.

Eileen eyes still gleamed towards the boy, she was remembering their own fight once again as she looked at his quick and precise movements “Was he even serious back then?” was all she could think after watching him fight from the sidelines.

Deep down something was telling her that the boy was still holding back. And that possibility amazed her beyond imagination.

And beside them, Bhalrom watched it all thinking how the First Army training could have transformed the boy into a fighter like that in such a short amount of time. A month’s training should not give that level of skill.

For Lilly, such a display didn’t convince her, a swordsman could never beat a mage that had the advantage. It made no sense that the boy could really beat those mages and she was still suspicious of him.

The king finally spoke back to the boy “Riou is the winner of the challenge and his word is hereby taken as truth.” The king paused for a moment before continuing “As the life of the accuser was spared, compensation is necessary. As next of kin, I offer to take upon myself that responsibility and atone for such dishonorable display, not only as king, but as a father. So tell me Riou, what would you wish to receive?” Spoke the king in a solemn tone.

Riou pondered for a moment, he hadn’t thought about that yet. His eyes ran the room while he and by chance ended up meeting the princess’ eyes. She was still gazing intently at him while lost in her own thoughts.

Riou found it rather curious and kept looking at her trying to understand what she could possibly want “Why is she looking at me like that? Am I missing something? Maybe she’s trying to tell me what to ask for”

Noticing where the boy was looking, both the king and queen turned towards their daughter.

Eileen seemed hypnotized staring at the boy with gleaming eyes. The queen quickly looked to her husband, ecstatic and very surprised. Smiling and turning back to the princess, she touched Eileen’s shoulder to wake her to the present.

The princess feeling the touch quickly looked back to her mother very surprised that everyone was paying attention to her.

Elegantly as always she tried to hide her embarrassment for spacing out like that. Nonetheless she was clearly flustered by such blunder in front of the knights and mages.

Seeing her flustering the same thought ran through the minds of the king, queen, knights and mages

“He will ask to marry the princess!”

Rodrick seemed agitated and uncomfortable, he was ready to oppose such a request.

The king froze, to save his foolish son he would have to give his daughter to an unknown boy. Not even the rites would save her now, since the boy could win against her.

The queen on the other hand smiled joyously looking towards her daughter. Eileen had grown much since that boy appeared. The idea that her daughter would be appreciating the idea to be betrothed to someone was making her overjoyed.

Riou was not understanding the looks he was receiving from the room, “Did I do something wrong just now?” as he looked to the others staring at him and the princess.

“Oh crap… I guess I stared more than I thought”

Needing to dismiss the confusion he addressed the king.

“Actually there is something I wish…” Said the boy to the king, who almost had a heart attack in his throne as he heard those words.

“Can we get a bathhouse constructed in the castle? Designed by me… I tried those buckets but I can’t stand it anymore. There are better ways to take a good bath than that.” Said the boy, lightening the mood and surprising everyone. “Oh another thing, even more important than that, I want to be included in all the discussions, planning and actions about Maximilian and the enemy”

The king laughed in relief while the queen turned to her daughter whispering to her “Don’t worry my darling he just got shy… I will help you with it.”

The princess looked confused to her mother. But since she seemed so happy, Eileen just nodded at her.

The king positioned himself on the throne to speak once more “Very well, it shall be done as you requested.”

The king called Bhalrom “Send someone to take a look at Kasius, I wish him to be in full health for when I talk to him later” Said him with a serious expression and anger aimed towards the prince.