It was only when he heard Jordon knocking on the door in front of them that Ace was able to calm down.
"Thia, we're coming in," Jordon announced as he opened the door.
Upon entering the room, Ace's eyebrows couldn't help but rise as his eyes fell on the woman sitting on the chair beside the bed.
'She really looks a lot like Mira,' Ace noted as he studied her facial features.
Whilst Ace was studying the pregnant empress, Sharanthia was also studying him, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't surprised.
Even though Jordon was a Warrior at the peak of the saint rank, he was only an eighth-rank mage, but his wife was a mid-stage saint as both a warrior and mage, so the power of her soul was substantially stronger than that of her husband.
As Jordon's only brother, Sharanthia had met Aiden several times over the years, so she knew how freakish his soul was. For the simple fact that Ace was his disciple, she expected Ace's soul to be impressive, but when she spread her spirit over him, she was shocked to find that the boy's soul appeared to be just as strong, if not a tiny bit superior to the average early-stage saint-level warrior.
It had to be remembered that although mages had stronger souls than warriors, upon breaking through to the saint rank, one's soul would see a drastic increase in power. Even mages at the peak of the 9th rank had souls far weaker than the average early-stage saint-level warrior, so for a boy who hadn't even broken through to the sixth rank to have such a powerful soul was nothing short of monstrous, no less monstrous than his freak of a master.
Still, though he was fairly impressive, she was extremely protective of her daughter. After seeing the way Amira reacted whenever he was mentioned, she felt she needed to meet the boy who somehow managed to find a place in her heart.
"So you're Ace?" Empress Sharanthia asked indifferently.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ace replied respectfully.
"My husband tells me that you and your classmate plan on visiting the O'Brien battlefield, and my daughter wants to join you,"
"That's correct," Ace nodded.
"A war zone isn't a playground. It's a cruel and unforgiving place where soldiers of all ranks die on a daily basis. It's not something a kid like you could possibly understand," Sharanthia said coolly. "What makes you think I'd ever entrust my daughter's safety to you in an environment like that?!"
"I understand the implications of war better than you know," Ace said solemnly as his mind went back to the day of his death in his previous life. "And for as long as I'm alive, I would never let any harm come to Mira!"
Sharanthia didn't say anything in response to that; she simply stared deeply into Ace's eyes. Even though his heart had been pounding with nerves leading up to that meeting when he said that last sentence, his heart had never been so sure of anything.
The empress stared into the eyes of the dark-haired youth before her, but no matter how long she stared into them, she never found so much as a ripple. As she continued to stare into them, without even realising it, her mind began to wander to thoughts of her past.
It was only when she heard the sound of her husband clearing his throat that she snapped out of her daze.
"Okay, you may leave," Sharanthia stated, clearly still not wholly present.
Ace didn't know what had Amira's mother so distracted all of a sudden, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask, so he respectfully said goodbye before following Jordon back outside.
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"Did I say something wrong?" Ace asked when he was back on the mound of earth, flying just behind Amira's father.
"It wasn't you," Jordon shook his head. "The pregnancy has just been hard on my wife."
Thinking back to the expression on Sharanthia's face, Ace knew it was more than just that. Still, it wasn't his place to pry, so he didn't say anything further.
Jordon promptly dropped Ace back at Amira's training garden before returning to his wife, not saying much to his daughter in response to what happened.
Seeing her father in such a hurry to leave, Amira turned her attention to Ace. "Did something happen with my mother?"
"I don't know," Ace replied, not much less confused than Amira.
Ace went on to explain precisely what happened in the meeting with her mother, making sure to neither embellish nor hide anything, hoping Amira would be able to shed some light on what happened.
When she heard what Ace had said in response to his mother's final question, her heart began to race, and a furious blush appeared on her caramel-coloured cheeks. Still, not even she understood what caused her mother's apparent dejection.
Whilst Ace and the others were talking, Jordon arrived back at their imperial bedroom.
"What happened?" Jordon asked worriedly when he saw his wife's longing expression as she stared vacantly out the window. "Are you okay?"
"His eyes…" Sharanthia muttered softly. "They're just like his."
"Who's?" Jordon asked, not following what his wife was saying.
"Amira's father," Sharanthia answered absentmindedly. "The look in that Ace boy's eyes when he spoke about protecting Mira was identical to the way Mira's father would look at her mother."
When she said that, the look of longing that appeared on Thia's face became understandable. The reason why Jordon felt the need to leave the decision as to whether Mira was allowed to join the battlefield with her classmates or not solely in his wife's hands was because Mira wasn't his child at all. It simply wasn't his place to make decisions like that on her behalf.
Taking a knee by his wife's side, Jordon gently took Thia's hands in his own. "I'm sure your brother and sister-in-law would be so proud and thankful for how you've raised their daughter."
"I just miss them," Sharanthia voiced softly as tears began to well up in her eyes.
"I know you do," Jordon replied as he took his wife in his arms, laying her head on his shoulder.
Thia spent the next few minutes softly crying into her husband's shoulders.
"Tell Mira that she can follow Ace onto the battlefield," Sharanthia said as she slowly stood up.
"Don't you want to tell her yourself?" Jordon asked back.
"It's probably best I don't see Mira right now," Sharanthia admitted.
Even though she didn't say it in so many words, Jordon understood that his wife's mood was quite fragile. Her brother had always been a sensitive subject for her, and as Mira still didn't know the truth about her parents, Thia didn't want to put herself in a situation where she could give anything away by mistake.
"I understand," Jordon replied.
"Also, make sure they're all wearing shadow robes. I don't want anyone to be able to recognise Mira or her classmates." Thia said thoughtfully as she slowly made her way to the door. "And I want Kaymin to act as their guard from the shadows. He shouldn't need to act, but if their group ends up being targeted by someone they can't handle, I want him there to deal with it."
Not only was Duke Kaymin a warrior at the peak of the ninth rank, but he was also the strongest mortal in the Rohault empire. Excluding Aiden, of course.
"That's all well and good," Jordon said as he hurriedly got in the way of his wilful wife. "But where do you think you're going?"
"I need to take a trip to the Pavilion," Sharanthia explained. "There's something I need to check with your brother."
"Whatever you need to ask him can wait," Jordon commanded as he ushered his wife to bed. "You may be a saint, but you're still pregnant. I'm not having you endanger our children's lives because of your impulsiveness.
You stay in bed, and I'll send a message to Aiden asking him to come back. He should return sometime in the next week or two at the latest."
Sharanthia may be in charge when it came to Amira, but Jordon definitely wore the pants in the relationship the other 99% of the time.
After putting his wife back to bed, Jordon took a trip to Kaymin's residence to pass on his wife's commands.
Since the order came straight from the Emperor himself, the Duke obviously had no complaints. In fact, he was actually all for it.
His son was the same age as Amira. As such, he too hadn't spent any time on any of their Empire's battlefields as yet, and like Amira, Ebeze had been itching for the chance for some time now.
Of all the forces on the Yulan continent, the Rohault Empire was by far the most militant. As such, most of the children saw spending some time in the army as something of a rite of passage.
Kaymin had initially planned to wait till his son had reached the sixth rank before letting him go. At that point, he should have the strength to protect himself from most threats that could come his way. Still, with Amira and her classmates all going together and him protecting them from the shadows, this was the perfect opportunity for his overzealous son to experience war.