Chapter 107
"Before the Escape" Part 2
Befriending Clarissa Bor was excessively easy.
After the young girl had helped her speed up the regeneration process of her arm while they chatted, Kalysto had helped her finish healing Edward after putting them both to sleep when she saw how exhausted the poor girl was. She even left her two bottles of mana potions and one of revitalizing potion, as well as giving her a couple of tips and several warnings about trusting the people at the temple too much.
But now, two weeks after that incident, Kalysto could see Thomas a couple of meters from where she was standing while wearing an elegant party dress that the queen had prepared for the heroes’ presentation to the allied kingdom of Bhallys. And any thought or sympathy for the situation of the young woman who just wanted to get away from the temple and form a nice home with her husband, completely vanished from her mind.
“Prince Dantel Ivon of Bhallys! and Hero Thomas Granthy of the kingdom of Bhallys, make their entrance!” announced the guard stationed at the entrance, after opening the gates for the prince, Thomas and a small group of companions to enter behind them.
Kalysto examined each face from a corner of the podium, where she stood with the rest of the heroes, as if they were a painting on display for those present. Her stomach turned when she realized that Alice was not part of the group of guests who came from the other realm.
“Your friend came?” Rita whispered to her left, leaning close to her ear as she hooked her arm through hers. The friendship between the two had blossomed quickly since they had fought the horde of monsters together on their way to the city of Cifha.
Koden was on her right.
“...No," she replied with a frown, her gaze fixed on Thomas, who was watching everything with his mouth open, admiring the elegant decorations and the nobles in gala dresses with expensive jewels adorning their bodies.
“I hope that doesn’t delay our plans," Koden whispered, leaning close to her other ear. And although her relationship with him had also improved in recent weeks, she still felt a little strange about his closeness.
“Don’t worry about that. I can still do something," she replied, just as the entrance of the king and the royal family was announced. And they all bowed.
King Medhas walked in the midst of all the aristocrats of the kingdom, or at least one representative for each noble family, dressed elegantly. His reddish, broad nose stood out against his pale skin and matched the huge red cloak that weighed on his shoulders and matched the crown made of gold and rubies that decorated his head. At his side, stood the beautiful queen Tathiana, and at the other the crown princess, their only daughter. All three were dressed to match.
A little further back was the king’s consort, who, unlike the queen, was dressed entirely in black.
The royal family walked to where the king and queen’s chair was at the back of the hall and on a small podium a couple of steps higher than the rest of the marble floor. In the corner of which were the court magicians, and in the other corner were the summoned heroes from another world.
The king stood and surveyed his subjects before raising his voice in the silent hall.
“I thank all the noble people present for attending tonight despite all the misfortunes that have struck the kingdom in recent days,” the king’s gaze swept over the huge banquet hall inside the royal palace, the tables decorated with beautiful floral arrangements, the vast amount of food displayed untouched and the servants keeping the nobles’ glasses full. And he completely ignored the heroes standing in front of the audience. “I ask for a moment of silence in respect for the memory of the second princess.”
The nobles were silent as they watched the royal family intently. Their pitying gazes fell on the sad figure of the concubine, whose eyes were still swollen from crying over her recent loss.
The king, however, did not seem so affected by the death of his second daughter.
“However, I can assure you we will not stand idly by. And although the demon king and his army of evildoers are trying to steal our peace, sow chaos, destroy our cities and are responsible for the wave of monsters that are destroying our cities... besides murdering my dear Teresh,” at that moment the king lowered his gaze, almost as if it pained him to speak of the death of his daughter, immediately gaining the sympathy of those present. But he raised his face again too quickly and continued his energetic speech. “I assure you, we will not stand idly by without a fight! That is why we will maintain a powerful alliance with the kingdom of Bhallys. Not only will we send our heroes to fight alongside the hero of our neighboring kingdom, but I will also reinforce this alliance by giving my only remaining daughter in holy matrimony to Prince Dantel,” announced the king and the face of the now only princess of the kingdom lost all color as she heard her father’s words.
“What?” -The princess’s shriek was lost amidst the bustle of aristocrats wondering what would happen to the heir’s position.
It must be awful to suddenly be forced to marry your younger sister’s fiancé. Kalysto thought. And it must be even worse to see the position you wanted so badly slip away.
Medhas shot a look of disgust at his daughter, shutting her up on the spot. While Prince Dantel, who was one place behind his older sister to inherit the throne, accompanied by two guards in blue cloaks, approached the king, leaving Thomas alone with a female guard.
The guards knelt before the king and the prince bowed.
“Prince Dantel Ivon of Bhallys greets His Majesty the King of Balsac," the king nodded his head in acknowledgement. I offer my sincere condolences for your recent loss," then the young prince raised his hand and one of the servants who accompanied him brought a chest full of precious gems and mana crystals. “I regret that we could not hear the news sooner, but my father sends you this gift as a token of appreciation for the union between our kingdoms," other servants began to advance, bringing more chests filled with beautiful fabrics and gold.
“I, Medhas Antha of Balsac King of Balsac, humbly accept your condolences, Prince Dante, as well as your gifts and those of your father. I assure you that I will do everything in my power to make our union fruitful and lasting," he murmured, greed shining in his eyes at the sight of the costly gifts as he pointed to his daughter, beckoning her to come closer.
But she didn’t.
And as the prince walked over to where the princess stood to greet her while she stood frozen in place looking to her mother for help, the king took the opportunity to make one last announcement.
“And since we are celebrating good news, I bring you one more. My new concubine Lethicia, daughter of the Marquis of Tehro, will give birth in a few months to Carley, the next prince of the crown," the king announced, who turned to look at the queen after finishing his speech.
For although he suspected that the queen had not only been having clandestine meetings with the Duke of Lanish in the middle of the night for the past two weeks, and although he had no proof, he was sure that she was behind the landslide that buried his second daughter’s carriage, which occurred only a couple of hours before the banquet at which he presented not only the heroes but also his new concubine. He was sure that she had found out what he planned to do and wanted to ruin his plans in advance.
But now, the superior look in Medhas’s eyes made it very clear what message he was hiding for her.
‘I am always above you.’
And while all the nobles exploded in applause at the news of a new heir, along with whispers full of uncertainty that they dared not express aloud, Kalytso stepped away from the podium and approached Thomas stealthily.
“Hey, Thomas!” The dark-haired, black-eyed young man was filled with surprise at the sight of her, recognizing her immediately as Alice’s best friend.
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The female knight at his side became guarded, but seeing the friendly response from Thomas, she calmed down.
“Hey, hi! What are you doing here?” He greeted, approaching her.
“I was summoned along with Edward," she said, pointing to where the other heroes were.
“Is Edward here too?” He asked as he turned to look at him.
“That’s right, apparently you two were spared the final exam and the last Japanese assignment," Thomas’ kind face immediately paled.
“Please don’t tell the teacher, I know you two are friends!” Kalysto rolled her eyes at the young man’s nonsense, and instead put her hands on his shoulders, almost hugging him. Taking him by surprise.
Then she brought her body close to his and whispered in his ear, making him blush.
“Where is Alice?” Thomas’ body froze, before he could clumsily try to return her embrace as she whispered.
“She came with me and Sara, but since her system was flawed like her grandparents’, she asked to be allowed to leave the castle and get a job and a room to live in. Then Alice joined the adventurer’s guild right there in the capital and did well in the first couple of days, I even went to greet her once at a sort of tavern-hotel where they were staying, called Tom’s place," he hastened to tell. “But then she disappeared and apparently her grandparents vanished soon after while trying to find her. The guards have been trying to locate all three of them, but nothing has been heard from them. I fear something has happened to them." the sadness in his voice was evident as he delivered the bad news.
However, Kalysto doubted that was what had really happened. Knowing Alice well enough to know that she would do whatever it took to get her grandparents to safety, Kalysto suspected that the failure of her systems was related to what she had been muttering about the last day they had seen each other.
And how come her grandparents are here too? I was sure they were at the farm. She frowned, and before Thomas walked away, she asked him.
“Did she say anything to you before she left?” She questioned, knowing Alice was noble enough to help the guy who rejected her, especially if she was planning to escape.
“No, but she gave me a book," he replied, frowning.
Bingo! she thought, and tried hard not to show the joy on her face.
“Can you give it to me?” she asked immediately, suspecting which book it was.
“Sure, no problem. It’s better you have it than me, since you’re best friends and all. Although Alice asked me to read it, but it’s just that...” he said and blushed as he stroked the back of his neck, turning away from her, “to tell you the truth, I’ve never really liked reading novels and stuff.”
One more reason why it wasn’t in Alice’s best interest to have a relationship with you! She refuted to herself.
“All right," she replied, to take some of Thomas’s discomfort away. “But could you give it to me now? I don’t know if I can later," considering that everyone was still watching the king’s pregnant concubine as they gave their congratulations, it was much easier for her to slip away at that moment.
“All right, but we’ll have to go to the room they assigned me.”
“No problem," answered Kalysto immediately.
The female knight guarding him did not leave them alone as they headed towards one of the outer corridors and before leaving, one of the maidservants joined them on Milo’s orders using the excuse of guiding them while throwing glances from time to time to Kalysto at the same time she was leading them towards the guest corridor.
The fairy champion noticed the looks from the maid and hid a smile, then stared into her eyes, making her uncomfortable until the maid stopped being so obvious. Kalysto was well aware of the rumors that had begun to circulate about her, Koden and Rita after they returned from the dungeon, as the three of them used to lock themselves in her room for hours after training while they plotted a way to escape between whispers and compared the information they had obtained during the day.
By the time they finally reached the quarters they had given to the group accompanying the prince, Kalysto made sure to hurry to close the door and prevent the other two women from entering the room with them.
Thomas turned to see her, completely taken aback by her audacity and with red-tinged cheeks.
“What... what are you doing?“ he said as soon as he saw her lock the door.
Kalysto put a finger against her lips, indicating silence, and as soon as she was close enough to him to prevent them from being overheard from the door, she whispered.
“Hurry up and find the book!” Thomas nodded, and did as he was asked. As soon as Kalysto received it, he put it in her inventory and took out a small vial of holy water.
“Keep this in a safe place and only use it if you have been poisoned. Don’t use it on anyone else, or allow anyone else to discover it, or it will be stolen from you.”
“What is it, and where did the book go? Where did you get that?” He questioned as someone knocked on the door.
“This is something that will save your life," she commented, handing him the vial. “And stop asking so many questions, we don’t have much time," she said, trying to hurry him to hide it.
Kalysto waited for him to finish putting his things away while smearing some of the lipstick that had been applied before the party against her thumb as the knocking on the door got louder and louder.
As soon as Thomas finished, Kalysto approached him and ran her red lipstick smeared finger against Thomas’ lips, who was surprised on the spot.
“Why...why do you do that?” He asked with a completely red face as Kalysto ruffled his hair a bit and messed up his expensive custom-made suit, loosening his tie.
“Open the door this instant!” ordered the woman knight as she continued to knock insistently on the door.
“What’s the problem?” Kalysto questioned, opening the door wide, allowing them to see a very flushed Thomas and his disheveled appearance. “Can’t two old acquaintances make themselves comfortable and... have a little chat?” She questioned with a flirtatious smile on her lips, and from the way both women looked at them, it was obvious what they thought they had been doing.
“My apologies. I thought the hero might be in danger.”
“From what, losing his virginity?” At Kalysto’s blunt words, the woman knight recoiled, realizing her mistake.
“I apologize.”
“It’s not what you are thinking!” Thomas tried to apologize while adjusting his clothes.
“Let it be!” Kalysto told him, shaking her hand, dismissing it as unimportant. “Until the next time we meet," she said, and her tone of voice sounded as if she was saying goodbye to a lover.
As she left, Kalysto overheard the maid said to the guard.
“In their world, they seem to be quite liberal. She has a romantic relationship with two other heroes.”
By the time they returned to the ballroom, the guards were surrounding the handsome Duke of Lanish. He remained stoic with his piercing gray eyes fixed on the king, despite being surrounded by guards whose swords were pointed at him.
“The Duke of Lanish is accused of treason! He has been seen having clandestine meetings with rebels! Moreover, the guards have discovered traces of the Lavia flower on the body of the second princess and on the knights who accompanied her! And as everyone knows, the Lavia flower attracts monsters, is hard to come by and abundant in the east, which makes us suspect that the death of the second princess was not an accident, but an act of revenge and rebellion against the crown!”
Shit! And there goes my escape plan! Kalysto thought as she saw the man with whom she had spoken at the previous party and to whom she had offered a contract. The handsome duke had been so desperate to save his sick father’s life, that he ended up accepting her proposal.
And as she walked to where the heroes were under Milo’s watchful eye, she watched as the wizard’s face lost a little color when he heard the king’s words. Curious, why did he react that way? She wondered as she passed several nobles on her way to the podium.
“That’s an absurd accusation! Everyone knows that that flower is also easily found in the south and abounds in the west, where the duchy of Brincy is!” a noblewoman muttered, hiding her lips behind an open fan as she sent a glance towards where the queen was standing.
“Besides, isn’t saying it was revenge the same as publicly admitting that he was behind the poisoning of the former duke after the old man refused to marry the priestess Darla, his former lover? It’s obvious that what he wants is the mine of mana crystals they discovered in the duchy! What a nerve!” Refuted the woman next to her. “What will come next? The destruction of the nobility? The theft of all our goods? What is the king thinking of accusing the best swordsman and warrior the kingdom has of treason? Handing over the protection of the nobility to Bhallys’ soldiers?”
“Ha! And then they wonder why the wizards in the tower fled when they should wonder why they held out so long without fleeing after the king banned the free sale of potions and took over the market? I think we should follow their example and start thinking about moving to another kingdom, my dear sister!” added one of the two women in a whisper.
“From this moment on, all the duke’s property will be confiscated and he will be stripped of his noble title!” The king continued, oblivious to the chaos he was sowing among the nobility.
“Silence, you two, or you’ll end up having our heads cut off as well!” Refuted the man next to both ladies, as Kalysto finished passing behind them while pretending she had not been listening to them and stopped in the middle of Rita and Koden as soon as she reached them.
“Where were you?” Koden questioned in a low whisper.
“You know she’s not your mother, right?” Rita scolded him.
“Shh, stop it you two!” Then she slipped an arm over Rita’s as Koden moved closer to them and Kalysto added in a whisper:. “Alice is somewhere in the capital Bhallys.”
Koden gave a half-smile.
“In that case, we finally have a destination route," he whispered back, happy that at last the eternal arguments between him and Rita about where would be the safest place to hide while they found the spell that would take them back home would be over.