Chapter 315 - Roping In From the Shadows (1/2)

Scratching his head from the seemingly absurd request Vanadir gave to him, Dane looked through one of the large windows covering the pavilion, taking note of the current position of the sun. He then went silent for a bit, pondering over something before finally looking back at Vanadir and saying with a light sigh, ”It's already a bit late in the afternoon, Your Highness. It'd be possible for us to arrive in front of the Astelia family household and get back to the capital before the sun sets if its proximity to the capital is somewhat close.”

”But if it's as far away as the Arcenon family household, then it would be impossible for us to get back to the capital before sunset, Your Highness,” he added. Surprisingly, the Ninth Prince listened to all of that without a frown on his face, as if he was expecting Dane to be against it in the first place. With a light smile plastered on his face, he said to Dane, ”Now, what if I tell you that heading to the Astelia family household closer at night would be beneficial to our cause?”

”Is it?” Dane lightly shook his head, disbelieving of the prince's words. Nevertheless, he had to comply with Vanadir's wishes as he was, after all, his royal advisor. Asking the Ninth Prince to bring out the map he unfurled before they headed to the Arcenon family household, Dane went ahead and asked him, ”So, where is the Astelia family household situated in this map, Your Highness?”

”Right here, the Duvir province,” Vanadir hastily pointed at the rough location of the Astelia family household on the map, pointing towards one of the provinces that was closer to the capital. Inwardly letting out a sigh of relief, Dane lightly nodded as he said, ”I see. I think we can get back to the capital before sunset if it's that close, Your Highness. Speaking of which, do you need to ask for permission from the king again since you're leaving once more?”

”I asked permission from the king if I could have the freedom to leave the palace the whole day, so it'll be fine,” the Ninth Prince assured his royal advisor with a light smile on his face, only to recall a certain thing regarding the Astelia family not long after that. At that instant, he placed both of his hands on Dane's shoulders, making the latter wonder as to what was going on. With no choice but to look at Vanadir's face, he then asked, ”What's wrong, Your Highness?”

”Let me ask you something, Dane,” Vanadir responded in a slightly solemn tone. ”Would you be willing to follow my every order, as long as it doesn't harm you in any way?”

”Why are you asking that same question agai—” Dane could not help but ask, only to stop at the very last moment as he wondered if the prince was intentionally choosing people with eccentric personalities. Although he had not met the person the Ninth Prince wanted to poach from the Astelia family before, after seeing Valentia and helping out satisfy her desires, he could not help but feel that the one from the Astelia family would turn out to be the same as her.

Making sure that his hunch was not wrong, he then asked, ”Are you telling me that there's a possibility where there would be a surprise for me?”

”In a way, yes,” Vanadir lightly nodded as he replied. ”So, are you willing?”

”Well, my answer will have to wait for now, Your Highness. In any case, let us be on our way to the Astelia family household,” Dane did not accept nor deny Vanadir's proposition, prompting the Ninth Prince to focus on what was most important, which was to get there.

With a light nod, Vanadir then walked closer to Dane, allowing the latter to conjure a magic circle that would envelop the two of them as they soon disappeared from the area not even a few seconds later.

…

XXXX Continent, Duvir Province, near the Astelia family household.

Whoosh!

Just like before with Valentia, the two of them appeared in a small forest not far away from the household where the Astelia family resided. Although Dane could teleport the two of them directly in front of the household, it would be unsightly in Dane's opinion for the royal advisor to be out of breath while accompanying the Ninth Prince. As for Vanadir, he couldn't care less as to whether Dane was tired or not, but he did appreciate what Dane was doing, knowing his intentions to help him look better in front of other people.

Taking a peek through the leaves that gave them shade against the scorching rays of the sun, Vanadir took a look at the current position of the sun, estimating that they had around half an hour to an hour of sunlight at most. As to why that was the case, Vanadir told Dane to take rests in between teleports, which Dane fortunately listened to this time around. Thanks to that small change, Dane only had to absorb energy from a few mana stones before returning to his peak condition.

After making sure that Dane had returned to his peak condition, Vanadir then asked Dane to cast a movement speed boosting spell on the two of them before heading to where the Astelia family household was at full speed. Around ten minutes later, the two of them had arrived at the entrance of the household, leaving those from the Astelia family household at a loss for words as they did not know these two people to arrive when it was close to nighttime.

Nevertheless, the word that the two of them were at the entrance of the Astelia family household still spread throughout the manor like a wildfire, causing some of the highly esteemed servants of the family to serve the two of them as one of them bowed in front of the two before asking, ”May I ask what the two esteemed sirs are here for?”

As if their response to the question was planned from the start, Vanadir took a step forward before introducing themselves to the servants, saying, ”I'm Vanadir Seraph, the Ninth Prince of the Seraph Kingdom. Behind me is my royal advisor, Dane Grossezauber. We are here in the Astelia family household to ask if the 'Great Fortress,' Griselle Astelia is inside the household as we want to talk with her.”

”Ah.” Listening to their intentions, the servant that asked them lightly nodded as he politely replied, ”I understand. I will try to get Lady Griselle to come to you as soon as possible.”

Fortunately for them, just as the servant was about to turn around and head into the household to call for the Griselle Astelia that Vanadir spoke of, the slim figure of a young woman came into view of the servants, as well as Vanadir and Dane at the very instant the servant was finished speaking.

Wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt made out of cotton that was light red, which was complemented by black pants that accentuated her beautiful legs, as well as black shoes that made sure to cover her feet, this woman with her silver hair tied into a ponytail looked at Vanadir and Dane with a solemn gaze before saying, ”I already know of your intentions, Ninth Prince. In that case, I'm not willing to accept.”

After saying those words, she then turned around and headed back into the insides of the Astelia family household, leaving the servants and the other people there at a loss for words as they knew that if she said those words to those people, then what she wanted to happen was for them to be escorted away. Usually, it would be easy for them to do so, but now that the two people she wanted to shoo away were the Ninth Prince and his royal advisor, then things became quite difficult for them.

Taking the initiative amidst the silent atmosphere in the surroundings, one of the servants stepped forward and looked at the two as she politely said, ”Esteemed sirs, I would like to sincerely apologize on behalf of the Astelia family, but since our Lady Griselle told the two of you to leave the premises, then we…”

”Ah, we understand. We'll leave shortly,” Vanadir responded to the servant's words with a light smile, knowing that she was just doing her job. While a dumbfounded expression was still plastered on Dane's face, Vanadir went ahead and grabbed him by the arm as they walked further and further away from the Astelia household, stopping at the small forest where they rested quite some time ago.