Chapter 41 – Journey
Chapter 41 – Journey
It took three long days of continuous marching until the wooden wheels of our carriage finally reached the vicinity of the North Gate. The entire journey dragged on under a heavy, dense, and suffocating boredom, cruelly intensified by the absence of Katriny's and Yara's voices. Without the two of them around to shake up my routine, there was only a massive void settled right in the middle of my childish chest. Deep down in my conscience, what remained was the bitter guilt for my own and psionic pranks. My forging tricks had gone far beyond all acceptable and unacceptable limits for the nobility, and as a direct consequence of that audacity, I would now have to serve two full years of forced exile alongside the beastman clans.
To make my despair worse, all I received from the marquisate to guarantee my subsistence was a small oak chest containing a miserable five thousand gold coins for my personal expenses during this long period. My parents had been categorical: due to the political chess game with the royal capital, they could not intervene or send me provisions in any clandestine way, which made the situation of my journey even more terrifying.
Unfortunately, when our convoy slowed its pace to cross the alleys of the fortified village of the North Gate—a region famous throughout the kingdom for the intense flow of goods, textiles, and merchant caravans—I came across a revolt-inducing scene that made my blood boil: the open sale of slaves in the public square. Ever since my earliest life cycles, I had always put up a fierce and loud opposition against this inhumane practice before my father, even though Marquess Arl had never taken a firm position or issued a prohibitive decree on the matter due to agreements with other lords.
To my surprise, atop the merchant's wooden platform, there were chained displays of a young draconoid beastman, a frightened elven boy, various human prisoners, and some rabbit-type beastmen known in the province for their natural skill in trade business. But what truly captured my attention in a magnetic way was the young dragoness. There was something deeply anomalous emanating from her vital breath... A latent, subtle, and hidden psionic resonance.
-_This girl has a seed of energy identical to mine, locked within her flesh,_ - I calculated, feeling a chill run down my spine. It was precisely this inexplicable instinct that drove me to push open the carriage door and step right down onto the courtyard stones, determined to analyze that situation up close.
---
## Sixty-Five Days Later – The Arrival of Royalty
While the youngest of the Vances initiated his impasses at the northern frontier, time ran relentlessly in the rear guard. Exactly sixty-five days after the secret conference with the Nerius family, the pompous retinue of Princess Eva Aeterna finally reached the vicinity of the garrison. The heir to the Throne marched with the absolute weight of the Crown: she was accompanied by two dark-robed mages from the Royal Tower, twelve knights in shining armor, two elite paladins, thirty infantry soldiers, and several personal servants tasked with supplying her luxury needs along the roads.
Upon reaching the horizon line and catching sight of the immense ashlar walls of the fortress city, Eva raised her chin, evaluating the landscape with her bright blue eyes. She immediately noted the medieval imposingness of the structure, but her analytical mind also perceived subtle and intriguing changes in the architecture of the towers and the alignment of the ramparts; modifications that she simply could not decipher right away.
As the arrival of the imperial convoy occurred around exactly twenty-one hours—the hour of Night Concealment, when Aegis swallowed the twin suns and the Three Crystal Rings lit the sky in silver—the heavy drawbridge had already been pulled up and the iron gates were firmly closed, requiring the guard's initial approach to be made from a distance. The princess narrowed her eyelids, intrigued to observe unusual gears and bronze counterweights attached to the bridge's large chains, as well as an unprecedented fortified guardhouse that served as the mechanical control center for access. Curious about that demonstration of urban innovation, she ordered the officer of her escort to question the rampart sentries and bring her a detailed report.
Minutes later, the knight returned to the royal carriage, removing his helm and reporting with reverence:
— _Your Majesty, these structural modifications were idealized by young Kaelen Vance. The wall guards speak with immense pride about how the boy projected these mechanisms together with Master Balin, creating a lock system that totally prevents unauthorized opening of the bridge and gates without the correct master key and due knowledge of the operational clock. The soldiers report that, even when the main cables were cut by saboteurs in the past, this backup system prevented the total collapse of the structure. The most curious thing is that the barrier withstood the attack perfectly._
Eva drummed her fine fingers on the silk upholstery, surprised:
— _You mean he had the help of a blacksmith, but the mind behind the architectural project was entirely his?... Jot down this information in our scrolls, captain. We will make a point of finding this so-called Master Balin during our stay._
As the gates were cleared and the retinue advanced toward the inner courtyard of the castle, the princess observed even more radical transformations inside the citadel. The rustic stone streets were impeccably clean and illuminated by posts fitted with oil lanterns, displaying lanes separated exclusively for pedestrian traffic. Wood-carved plaques clearly indicated the paths to the "Public Restroom" and the "Public Laundry".
-_How can there be a separate location paved only for laundresses to wash clothes in the river?_ - Eva questioned herself mentally, shocked by the sanitary logic. -_And structured public restrooms to prevent the population's waste from being dumped directly into the waters of Gaul?_ - The structural organization of that province surpassed in many points the sanitation standards of the Royal Capital itself.
Ordering her carriage march to halt, Eva instructed five of her private spies to descend immediately and question the local population in the markets. Thirty minutes later, the agents returned to the vehicle window with the noted answers:
— _Your Majesty, these transformations are the fruit of Marquess Arl's current administration, but the province's people attribute all the ideas to his youngest son, young Kaelen. Rustic soap is commercialized by the guilds at popular prices, and its use has been disseminated not only for garments, but for the personal hygiene of the citizens. Many residences in the citadel received copper plumbing connected to elevated springs, guaranteeing running clean water. Furthermore, the elevated wooden walkways were inspected by the boy himself to avoid carriage runovers, drastically reducing accidents and raising the general well-being of the population._
Eva murmured in the vehicle's gloom, her brow furrowed with pure intellectual exaltation:
— _Kaelen again... That rascal not only structured the defense of the ramparts, but he reformulated the entire urban logic in a way that our counselors never pondered in the capital. What else was this kid capable of architecting in these lands?_
Before resuming the final journey to the fort, she turned to fifteen of her camouflaged intelligence agents:
— _Infiltrate the inns, taverns, and local commerce immediately. Scour every corner in search of confidential information about the boy, and let's schedule our reunion for the following day in the castle hall._
---
## The Strategic Misencounter
Upon crossing the gates of the main fortress, royalty was received in the grand hall by Marquess Arl and his wife, Lady Sylvia, although the absence of the problem child who motivated the journey was more than evident in the environment.
— _Be very welcome to the lands of Gaul, Your Imperial Highness_ — greeted Arl, maintaining his firm posture as a general.
— _I appreciate the extraordinary reception, Marquess Vance_ — retorted Eva, containing the chronic impatience beginning to throb in her mind —, _but I confess my deep curiosity. Where is the heir of your lands? Perhaps the boy is bedridden due to a weak breath?_
Lady Sylvia displayed a controlled and lethally polished laugh, adjusting her garments with relaxed elegance:
— _Pardon my manners, Highness, but it seems royalty harbors a somewhat unusual and premature interest in my little son. It turns out his feelings are already duly committed to an official fiancée from Oceana, and he also already possesses a second high-lineage northern beastman suitor. Therefore, your position as a Royal Princess would make matrimonial things somewhat complicated around here..._
Lord Arl Vance contained a discrete smile at the corner of his lips, thinking that his wife never missed the opportunity to deliver an iron barb at the pomp of the imperial royalty.
Eva furrowed her brow, her pride wounded by the marchioness's audacity:
— _What do you mean a twelve-year-old infant already possesses a second suitor among the beastmen?_ — the princess rebutted, her voice cutting. — _And where is he after all?_
— _Pardon my wife's relaxed manners, Highness_ — intervened Arl, taking control of rhetoric with his aristocratic and polished tone. — _My son no longer resides within my domains. He departed on a journey toward the Beastman Realm to forge blood ties and treaties with the House of Aurelius, fulfilling ancestral obligations of our family. As Your Majesty well knows by Eldoria's heraldic laws, legislation forbids a beastman female from occupying the post of first wife, which justified sending the boy north. He departed our borders over sixty days ago._
-_Damn it!..._ - thought Eva, her face flushed with pure contained fury as she swallowed hard. -_Those provincial lords set up this whole trap behind my back! They predicted our extraordinary arrival from the capital and emptied the castle ahead of time to leave me empty-handed!_
— _What a pity_ — lamented the princess, forcing a diplomatic smile that bordered on falsity. — _I would have immensely liked to dialogue with the prodigy of whom we hear so much in capital reports._
— _It will stay for a next opportunity, Highness_ — closed Arl with a victorious glint in his eye, offering the castle accommodations to the escort before dispatching them to the designated guest pavilion.
---
## Reports in the Dead of Night
Inside the Guest Mansion, tension exploded as soon as the doors were sealed.
— _Have you already gathered the reports and infiltration notes?_ — questioned Eva, pulling off her silk gloves with irritation.
Butler Luther approached with measured steps, maintaining caution:
— _Miss, the reports gathered in the taverns confirm that young Kaelen completely transformed this province's reality and conquered a devotion bordering on blind fanaticism by the common people._
— _Just that chatter of agriculture and soap?_ — she narrowed her eyes. — _What else did they discover?_
— _There are detailed reports about the great military conflict that occurred six years ago at the north guardhouse, Majesty. In the people's stories, Kaelen received the popular title of "Blue Devil" due to his combat fury._
— _A war nickname... That finally awakens my real interest_ — Eva leaned forward. — _Continue._
— _Veterans openly claim he was the authentic architect of the defense against the Solano Empire, decimating those colossal beasts and heavy infantry with the use of his magical arts. The most terrifying and mysterious aspect, however, resides in the pure nature of his elemental powers: reports indicate he conjured firestorms capable of reducing enemy soldiers to ashes, ice storms with the power to freeze entire marching battalions, and a beam of purifying light identical to our own sacred church's mystic lineage, which incinerates the target from afar._
— _A common human mastering elemental light magic without the clergy's backing?_ — questioned Eva, slamming her hand on the armchair's armrest, incredulous. — _This defies all magic logic._
— _There is even more disturbing data, miss_ — Luther swallowed hard. — _Records state the boy spent nearly two full years bedridden, without movement in his legs and completely blind after the extreme effort of that elemental battle._
— _If his organism went blind and his flesh was locked for so long, how does he present himself so vigorous and active in the adventurers' guild now?_ — the princess narrowed her eyes, seeking a hole in the story.
— _That is the most unbelievable part of the rumors, Highness. Hunters claim that, prior to this clash, he rescued a feline girl from the House of Aurelius who had suffered a carriage crush at the fairs and, after placing her inside his vehicle for scarce instants, the beastman girl walked out of there without a single scratch on her skin. If these notes are real, the youngest Vance possesses a miraculous healing aptitude comparable to a high-lineage Bishop of the Holy Realm of Lehantel. If the Grand Masters of the temple discover this, we will face an unprecedented diplomatic and religious crisis on the continent._
— _And how did our intelligence network in the capital fail in such a heretical way to catch these prodigies before?_ — Eva roared, her face flushed with fury.
— _Local informants report that Vance's head guard recruits household staff by demanding some personal-use object linked to the candidate to use as a mechanical loyalty test. Actually, rumors say it is the boy himself who manages this invisible screening of servants through some mental trick._
Eva massaged her temples, feeling her migraine throb with chronic strength:
— _This is complete madness... And what about the reports on the recent clash with the House of Nerius and his record in the adventurers' guild?_
— _Witnesses say he manipulated dozens of steel blades simultaneously in the air, without using magic circles, besides provoking detonations from afar._
— _Enough, Luther! This is already too disconcerting information for a sane mind to digest all at once_ — the princess ordered, exasperated. — _How is a boy without verbal incantation capable of commanding dozens of rustic weapons and evoking primordial elements without spending mana?_
— _I only repeat what resonates strongly in Gaul's taverns, Majesty. He is treated as the savior and hidden sovereign of that people._
— _Redouble the caution of all our spies in the corridors_ — Eva sentenced, looking at the window. — _Marquess Vance deployed soldiers to every corner of the citadel to closely monitor our steps. Tomorrow we will have the decisive conference with the lord and will need to extract the maximum advantages from this situation._
---
## The Chess Match the Following Morning
On the next day, the cold emerald light of dawn bathed the naval maps and trade tables spread across the solid oak table of the council hall. Princess Eva remained standing, maintaining a posture of extreme imperial rigidity and an uplifted chin, while Marquess Arl patiently awaited, reclined in his wooden armchair.
— _I appreciate the forced hospitality, Marquess Vance_ — initiated Eva, with a cold, mercantile tone. — _I will go straight to the core of my extraordinary visit to your lands. It has come to the imperial council's knowledge that your lineage sealed an indissoluble commercial pact with the House of Nerius of Oceana, involving the project of an inaugural model ship of large cargo capacity and revolutionary engineering. Facing this fiscal imbalance that threatens monopoly and the royal treasury, the Crown demands its fair participation in profits, imperatively raising customs duties over the Province of Gaul._
Arl maintained the unchangeable serenity of his rustic features, arching a single eyebrow with a general's disdain:
— _I perfectly understand the monetary concerns of Eldoria's Throne, Highness. But I fear the royal capital's counselors are looking at the wrong spreadsheet of this chess game. What I hold in my hands over this table is not a mere merchant cargo ship. It is the detailed schematic of a revolutionary combat watercraft, entirely furnished with thick iron plates and reinforced bronze spurs to guarantee dominance and protection of river routes._
Eva narrowed her blue gaze, perceiving the violent shift on the board of interests:
— _Handing us the detailed records and schematics regarding your son Kaelen's industrial methods can lead us to negotiate a truce and a partial exemption on these new tributes, Marquess. Gold and progress must always flow toward the Throne._
Without any haste, Arl opened a drawer of the oak workbench and slid over the wood a heavy scroll of parchment densely scribbled with his son's unmistakable technical strokes and annotations.
— _If Your Highness wishes to talk about war vessels and Kaelen's gifts, look at this closely before demanding our coins_ — said Arl, with a calculating glint in his eyes. — _This engineering project does not belong to the Nerius family's exclusivity. It is a combat model adapted to withstand any Solano assault. Either the Crown grants total tax exemption to my sugar and grain domains and finances the construction of two such naus at the Port of Teguma for our direct defense, or I will close a commercial military supply contract with another sovereign province still this week._
Color temporarily drained from Princess Eva's face upon recognizing the overwhelming tactical potential of that technical document from Gaul.
— _Does this by any chance manifest as a direct affront and insurrection against the authority of the Royal Crown?!_ — she exclaimed, raising her voice in the hall, her imperial pride wounded.
— _It is merely pure frontier geopolitics, Highness_ — retorted Arl Vance, relentless and firm as a rock. — _There are beastman nations north of our borders that are starving for this naval technology and would gladly pay double the weight of this papyrus in pure gold to hold a monopoly over these weapons. Choose wisely, Princess: will you return to the imperial capital carrying an advantageous military pact or empty-handed with a strengthened border rival?_
Eva breathed deeply, feeling cold sweat moisten her fine silk garments. The Marquess held absolute control over the realm's economic situation. Deciding to change tactics to extract at least some information about the mind behind those forging artifices, she attacked from another flank:
— _Where is your youngest son, Marquess Arl?_ — Eva inquired, her blue eyes sparking with curiosity and distrust. — _There are persistent rumors in the high court that young Kaelen is the true mind behind these miraculous schematics and urban innovations. I demand to inspect this infant's routine and converse directly with him to evaluate your lineage's degree of loyalty before the Throne._
Arl Vance reclined in his armchair and released a short, genuinely amused laugh, knowing the tactical victory was total:
— _I fear Your Imperial Highness's desire has bumped into the continent's harsh geographical reality, Princess_ — said Arl, with a calm smile. — _To fulfill ancestral marriage and bond obligations with the beastmen, Kaelen departed at the first hour of dawn sixty-five days ago, toward the frozen northern lands. He will reside in the Beastman Realm under the House of Aurelius's tutelage for the next two full years. If the Princess wishes to interrogate my boy's mind and dissect his mysteries... she will have to march with all her imperial pomp for over a hundred kilometers amidst northern blizzards and ice, besides needing to forge a new treaty directly with the beastmen's sovereignty._
Eva clenched her fists tightly beneath the long sleeves of her mantle, her face flushed with pure fury and contained humiliation.
-_That rascal boy fled north right under my nose! He predicted every step of our retinue and cleaned the castle before our arrival!_ - she concluded internally with bitterness, swallowing hard before the Marquess's victorious and unshakeable smile. Gaul's grand chess game had crumbled even before she could move her first piece of real rhetoric... and the worst of all was realizing she had already lost that dispute before her carriage even left the capital's roads.
