Captain Breznev escorted the lady and her companions to the Duke's mansion in the city. When they arrived at the mansion and entered the mansion, the Duchess, still in her nightgown covered with a shawl, came running toward Mary and hugged her. The Duchess looked like she had just woken up and immediately ran toward the front door as soon as she heard the news that her daughter had come back. She was in disbelief that she had come back and defeated the Marquis’s army, and was relieved that she was safe and not hurt.
They hugged each other lovingly. Lucas saw their reunion and reminded him of his mother, she was the one who loved him most and took care of him, and she was the one who was the one keeping him sane after the incident 2 years ago. For him, she was the strongest and most loving woman he knew.
Then, came a man wearing a fine suit with a tired face, however, he still looked dignified and focused. He looked like he was in his 40s but his body was still strong and healthy. Lucas concluded that he was the Duke.
“Mary, what did you come back for?” asked the Duke with a concerned voice.
“Father, I am home! And I brought friends with me,” said Mary. She made a gesture with her pointing toward Lucas and his crew. The Duke moved his gaze to them and Lucas and the others bowed and curtsy to the Duke, the Duke answered their greeting, and he saw that they looked tired and their clothes dirty.
“I see, I thank you for helping my daughter and for defeating the Marquis’ army. I would like to know how you do it, but all of you looked tired. It would be rude for me to not let you take a rest after doing such a feat. Butler, please lead them to their room,” said the Duke. Lucas thanks the Duke then the butler of the house led them to their own rooms. Lucas and the others finally were able to sleep with a soft bed under their body.
Lucas woke up in the evening and he felt his fatigue was lifted. When he woke up, there was a glass of water on the table next to the bed. He drank from the glass and a maid came in, she asked whether he wanted to have a wash, he accepted the offer and the maid came back with towels and water for washing, the water was lukewarm.
“Is it warm enough for you, My Lord?” asked the maid.
“Yes, thank you.” Then someone knocked on the door, the maid opened the door and another maid came bringing a tray of snacks and water.
“My Lord, the Duke would like to have dinner with you, I will come back when it is time to escort you there. For now, I have prepared you a snack to eat and water to drink.”
“Okay, thank you.” Both maids then went outside the room and Lucas started to wash and prepare for dinner with the Duke.
In the dining room, the Duke and his family were already seated and they were waiting for Lucas and the others to come.
“How are you feeling, Mary?” the Duke asked her daughter.
“I feel better than before.”
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt that bad. So they treated your bruises right?”
“Yes, father. It was Bianca if I remember the name correctly. She was the one with the white-coloured hair just like their leader.”
“Now that you mention that. Do you know who they are?”
“From what I know they most likely are nobles, with how they acted and their clothing.”
“That’s right, their etiquette was perfect, the way they greeted you this morning was perfect. My maid told me they treated the maids with respect,” said the Duchess
“Do you know where they are from?”
“I don't know exactly, father. But Lucas told me they came from far away and they could not get back home. He said his ship was destroyed and they ended up grounded near the shore of Wallowing Forest.”
“What did you say? They grounded on the Wallowing Forest’s shore and went through the forest?” said the Duke, he was surprised.
“Yes, father. He said he lost all the crew that went with him and now there were only 6 of them.”
“That’s amazing, to go through the forest and then still survive. The Wallowing Forest only has a shore on the northern part of the forest and to traverse the whole forest then rout the whole army by themselves, I am curious what kind of country they are from.”
“I saw them use the long thing they carried around with. I think it shot out some sort of magic. The first time we met, we were saved by them and I heard a loud noise then all the pursuers were dead in an instant. When they were dealing with the Marques’ army, I didn't see or hear anything, we were told to guard their belongings. There was silence then I heard the shout and commotion from the Marques’ camp. But, I did not hear anything loud like before, then after a while, they came back and told us to prepare to move. When we came out from hiding and looked at the camp from the cliff, there was chaos and destruction in the camp.”
“That is what Breznev told me about the situation last night. He saw everything, the chaos in the enemy's camp and the retreat of the army. Ah, right. It seemed most of the people who died were nobles and commanders of the army, even the Marquess had been killed.”
“What?!” said the duchess, surprised.
“Father, are you kidding?”
“No, I’m not. Breznev had checked and retrieved all the corpses on the camp and he saw the Marques’ body there.”
“How did they die?”
“There was a hole on their body, either on their arms, chest or head, most were on the head.”
“A single hole?” The Duchess could not believe what she heard.
“Yes, a single hole. I don't know what kind of magic they used, but they were able to penetrate even the most skilled magicians' shields.”
“Looks like I met terrifying people. Even the Marques’ most skilled magicians could not deal with them,” said Mary with a worried laugh.
“As long as they side with us, we will be fine. I will give them great rewards for helping us, and I will try to convince them to help us fight the nobles and search for the Crown Prince.”
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“I’m sorry father, I could not help you at all. He told me he would ask for the rewards from you when I asked for their help. E-even when I offered myself to him, he refused. I-i mean how did he refuse a beauty like me?”
The Duke and Duchess were surprised when she said that, and then they laughed.
“You really did say that?” asked the Duchess
“To think you would say that to him easily,” said the Duke.
“What is wrong with that? To have a beautiful bride is a blessing, right?” refuted Mary.
“Mary, you’re still young and Lucas probably saw you only as a child. Don’t you see the women who were with him? They are all beautiful, especially the ones with blonde hair. One of them is probably his lover or he already had someone back in his home.”
“Ahh, now that you said it. H-he does have a ring on his finger...” said Mary, shyly. She just recalled the ring Lucas wore when they met in the forest.
“Oh, so he has someone waiting for him. I guess he is someone who is committed and faithful.”
“Ugghhh.” Mary slumped on the chair.
The butler then came in and told the Duke that Lucas and the others were in front of the door. The Duke told him to let them in. To his surprise, they wore clothing much more fine and luxurious than they had when they arrived at the mansion this morning. Especially, Lucas wore more distinct clothes than the others. The Duke was sure that Lucas must be part of his country’s royalty and that the people around him were from high-ranking nobles.
Lucas and the others wore their dress uniforms. The service uniform they wore before was a sight for the Duke and his family. Imperial Guard service uniform for commissioned officers consists of a scarlet-coloured long-sleeve single-breasted jacket full-button up to the neck with a standing collar, on the top left arm was an insignia of the Division of Imperial Guard–Recon, Palace Guard and Foot Guards–the officer belongs to and on the left chest of the jacket was an insignia of Imperial Guard, and the rank of the officer was shown with the insignia of the rank on the left and right side of the jacket’s collar. Both male and female officers wore midnight blue trousers.
The dress uniform was more sophisticated. The uniform consists of a white shirt and black tie, scarlet red double-breasted jacket and midnight blue trousers or skirts for female officers when they are not bearing any arms. Aiguillette was worn on the right shoulder and medal or medal ribbons on the left chest, sometimes the officers would carry arms, a sword or rifle when the occasion deem it. On the cuffs of the jacket were gold rings to signify the officer’s rank. The rank insignia of the officers for the Imperial Navy was derived from the old world’s Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
Lucas and the others wore their dress uniform with medal ribbons and not bearing any arms, and the girls wore skirts. All of them wore gold cord aiguillette except for Lucas and Bianca, they wore white cord aiguillette, the colour of Lorien. Apparently, when they were told they would be having dinner with the Duke, all of them had the same idea to wear the dress uniform. The dress uniform functioned as their uniform for ceremonials and formal occasions, such as dining with nobles.
Lucas and the others bowed and curtsy to the Duke and the Duke let them sit down. The Duke looked at their clothing, he saw they had the same clothing with different decorations. He saw the white cord on Lucas and Bianca, and he wondered if it signified a certain rank or position in their country.
“Welcome everyone, thank you for coming to my invitation,” said the Duke
“There is no need to thank you, Your Grace. We stay in your house and if you were to ask us to come, we will come. We are the ones who should be thankful for letting us stay in your place,” said Lucas.
“As the saviour of my daughter, this is the least I should do. Now, I will introduce you to my family. My name is August Aruburn, the Duke of Aruburn and I rule most of the northern part of the Romanovia Kingdom. Then, this is my wife, Saury, and then beside her is my daughter, Mary, and then my son, Jacob.” Duke August introduced his family to them.
“It is nice to meet all of you. My name is Lucas Lorien, I am the leader of the group, then this is Bianca Lorien, she is my cousin and the daughter of my uncle. Next to her is Ariana Parmis, she is my aide, then Max Brawn and Sarah Roseman and…” Lucas fell silent for a second to think. “Tuli Lorien, another cousin of mine.”
“So you are the leader of the group, did you go alone with just one ship?”
“Yes, we were exploring the ocean, but something happened to our ship and it ended with landing on this place.”
“If I may ask, are all of you nobles?”
“No, not all of us, It is only me and Bianca who are nobles. And all of us are part of the military.”
“What? Are all of your clothing part of the military uniform?”
“Yes, this clothing we wore and the one before are our military uniforms. This one is used for only ceremonial and formal occasions. The one before is used for our daily duty.”
The Duke was amazed by his explanation, for a country to provide such fine clothing for their military would mean the country had an advanced military and a lot of money. Not to mention, the weapons they used and their tactics were able to defeat a massive army. The food then came and they enjoyed the delicacies served to them. After eating the main course, the desserts were served.
“How was the food?” asked the Duke.
“It was great,” answered Bianca.
“I am glad you enjoyed the food, Lady Bianca. Now, about the rewards for saving the city and my daughters. Do you want something in particular?”
“How about you tell us what you want first, Duke?” said Lucas, with a smirk on his face.
“Ahh, so you knew.”
“Of course, if I were you, I would do the same. I would not let someone capable go away, and of course, I would reward them accordingly.”
“Indeed. Then let’s not waste our time, I am planning to relieve the Royal Capital from the siege, I want you to support our army.”
“Of course, all of us are well-trained in matters of military strategies, tactics and combats.”
“Now, for the reward, what do you want?”
“Money,” said Lucas confidently. Bianca, who could not believe his shamelessness, stepped on his foot making him distracted and pause his speech, “That is the first one.”
“I see, that is easy for me. What else?”
“Then, I would like you to provide us with clothing, as you know we only brought a few changes of clothing with us and it does not have to be fancy, regular clothing would be fine, and we also want weapons.”
“Understood, I will have the clothing prepared. At least I will procure one for tomorrow morning and the rest will come soon later. For the weapons, I will call a blacksmith to come here tomorrow. What else?”
“I want you to help us learn magic.”
“Huh? You guys do not know magic?”
“Yes.”
“Then how did you defeat the army? Didn’t you use magic? ”
“No, we used our weapons and it was not magic.”
“Then how did it work?”
“Ummm, well, in the term you would easily understand, our weapons are just like a bow and arrow. But, instead of shooting an arrow, it shoots a small metal. ”
“What a peculiar weapon. Alright, well, I think Mary is a good enough teacher for you.”
“Eh?” Lucas was surprised. He saw Mary and she had a smug face.
“She is a genius magician,” said the Duke, proudly.
“I did not know that. To think she would be that amazing.”
The Duke took a sip from his glass"Do you need anything else?"
"No, thank you. That would be all from me."
"Ah, Duke. Do you have books or a library?" asked Max.
"I do have a small collection of books. If you are interested then you are free to read them. They are in my workroom, feel free to come," answered the Duke.
"Thank you, Duke."
"Then, you may go back to your room and continue your rest,” said the Duke. He left the dining room first.