Chapter 325 - The Fifth Member (1/2)

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

After the Ninth Prince left Dane and Griselle off to themselves, allowing the two of them to do whatever they needed alone, he went ahead and headed to the entrance of the household, lightly knocking on the door as he knew that it was already nighttime. Nevertheless, even though it was already late at night, one of the household's servants opened the door, only to be given the shock of his life after she came face-to-face with the Ninth Prince.

Apologizing that he was requesting something after it was already late at night, he then went ahead and told the servant that opened the door if it was possible for him to rest in one of their guest rooms for the night. Of course, the servant responded to that request by asking as to where Dane went. Surprisingly, she was one of the people who saw how their Lady Griselle banished the two of them away from the household.

In response, Vanadir lightly giggled as he told the servant that it was a secret. Although the servant wondered as to why the Ninth Prince wanted to keep something like that a secret, she still went ahead and asked the others if it was possible for the Ninth Prince to sleep in their household for the night, to which the others hastily responded by leading him to the most lavish guest room they had in their household.

Naturally, it was a shock to everyone in the household that the Ninth Prince, who they thought had already gone back to the palace a few hours ago, had requested to sleep inside one of their guest rooms. Of course, it was an absurd request, but the fact that one of the royal princes of the Seraph Kingdom opted to sleep inside their household rather than head somewhere else was a great honor to them.

Nevertheless, it was a given that Vanadir wouldn't be interested in any that, only letting out a chuckle as he requested a cup of tea from one of the servants the household allocated to him while he was staying in the household for the night. After taking a sip from the cup of tea he had received, he then looked out of the window to gaze at the night sky as he could hear faint grunts and m.o.a.ns coming from some place. Hearing this, he could not help but let out yet another chuckle as he wondered to himself, ”I wonder how long their tussle would last?”

With that in mind, he went to sleep, only waking up once the sun was already at the peak of the sky. Letting out a yawn after taking one of the better sleeps he had these past few days, he got out of his bed and did some light stretching before asking one of the servants that attended to him if it was possible for him to get something to eat. Naturally, the servants of the household went above and beyond since it was a request from one of the royal princes. It did not take long for Vanadir's request to be accomplished, though instead of a basic meal, he was instead given a fancy five meal course that was definitely fit for a king.

Letting out a light sigh in response to what was given to him, he ate all of the meals given to him since to him, it was a waste if he left food. Deciding to do a bit of strenuous exercise before checking on the two, he then gave the empty plates to the servants before doing some basic swordsmanship moves. After feeling that he had burned off most of the calories he ate, he then headed to where Dane and Griselle were, this time through the corridors inside the household.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Knocking on the door leading to Griselle's room, Vanadir waited for either one of the two to respond, only to hear a muffled cacophony coming from the other side. After some time, this noise quieted down as the voice of a woman resounded from the room, asking him in a slightly panicked tone, ”Who is it?”

”It's me, Vanadir,” Vanadir replied with a light smile on his face as a light sigh could be heard from the other side. A few seconds later, he then heard the woman's voice telling him to come in, prompting him to subconsciously nod as he opened the door. Of course, he closed the door behind him soon after, knowing what had happened during the previous night.

”I knew something would happen between the two of you, but I wasn't expecting the two of you to go this far,” Vanadir could not help but mutter as he looked at the current state of Griselle's room. At the moment, multiple scratches and stains could be seen scattered throughout the four walls confining the room, while at the center, two people laid on the bed with a stained blanket on top of their bodies.

The first person was naturally Griselle, who had responded to Vanadir's knocking a while ago since this was her room. Right now, her face was slightly red as she listened to Vanadir's words. With an awkward chuckle, she replied, ”It was the heat of the moment…yeah…that's it…definitely the heat of the moment…”

”Well, I'm not blaming you for having your way with him since I did tell you to do whatever you wanted, but you could've at least given him some breathing room, no?” Vanadir could not help but say as he looked at the second person beside Griselle…or at least, what seemed to be a person. If it were not for the fact Vanadir knew who the second person was, he would instantly think that this person was siphoned to near death, with only the faint movement of his chest being the sign that he was still alive. Although incredibly emaciated at this moment, the second person was, in fact, Dane.

”Urghhh…” Dane tried to say something to Vanadir, but only faint m.o.a.ns came out of his mouth, prompting him to hastily move one of his hands to conjure a rift. Naturally, this rift was open to drop down a mana stone on one of his hands, which he hastily absorbed from like a man that had gone without water for days. After a few seconds, he regained a bit of his complexion, as well as his energy as he looked at the Ninth Prince and slowly said, ”Your Highness…at the very least…you should tell me…you were planning to do…something…like this…”

”I won't hide anything from you if it involves your life. Of course, I thought Griselle here would stop after some time,” Vanadir responded to Dane's words before looking at Griselle, prompting the red on her face to intensify. He then continued with a chuckle, ”But it seems I've highly miscalculated. Who knew the Great Fortress would have such a ravenous appetite?”

”In any case, now that I've held up my part of the deal, it's time for you to fulfill yours,” he said not long after, to which Griselle timidly replied, ”Well, yeah…but…”

”Could you at least let me wear clothes first?” she hastily added soon after, to which Vanadir replied with a chortle as he used his mana to bring the gradually recovering Dane away with him. Of course, he made sure to cover Dane's n.a.k.e.d body with a robe made out of his energy.

By the time the two of them got out of her room, Dane had already recovered enough energy to move on his own, creating a rift that enveloped his whole body. At the exact moment he was put down on his two feet by Vanadir, he was already wearing his usual attire, robe and all that. For a while, silence ensued between the two of them, but this was soon broken by Vanadir as he felt a little bit guilty for having Dane do something like that.

With a light sigh, he looked at Dane beside him and said, ”Alright, I apologize for letting you go through something like that…again? Wait a second, did you also do it with Valentia?”