Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 160. The First Prince’s Reply.
“I’m Casimir, the eldest son of the Warrior-King Azuresky,” the First Prince introduced himself once Laien and Yin sat down. He then glanced at the beauty at his side, prompting her to do the same.
“I’m Anna, the eldest daughter of King Emeric,” the dark-blond-haired beauty said, her voice sweet and refined, almost intoxicating.
“I’m Alexander,” the younger of the Princes followed up. “As you can guess, I’m his younger brother and the second son of our father,” he added with a merry smile, all the while eyeing the two guests with great curiosity. It wasn’t hard to tell that in comparison to his older brother, he was much less formal and far more straightforward; and quite a bit more mischievous, too.
“I’m Eve,” the youngest of the four, the ten-year-old girl with black hair, said with a casual, confident smile. “I’m the youngest daughter of General Adrian, it’s nice to meet you,” she said with a quiet laugh, mixing both the formal and informal words, only to exchange a glance with Alex and chuckle again. Indeed, General Adrian’s worries that his youngest daughter had been entranced with the Second Prince of Azuresky’s were likely true. Moreover, if judging at the first glance was a thing, then Prince Alexander seemed to fancy this black-haired, cheerful girl, too.
Once the four introduced themselves briefly, their attention focused on their two guests. Curiously enough, neither of their two parties used their aura to probe the others, for once abiding by the common social norms. As for being intrigued by the appearances, the original group of four had seen many beautiful women and handsome men in their lives, so although they needed to admit that their two guests were good-looking, especially in the case of that green-haired one, they weren’t overly excited over this fact.
“I’m Laien and he’s Yin,” Laien introduced the two of them at once, trying not to waste any more time. He was already getting impatient when those four were taking their time speaking, but he had held back from saying anything since they needed their help. “As for who we are, I believe this will suffice for the proof,” he added and took three sigils out of his interspatial ring, while Yin also took out his own sigil. The two of them held the blue diamond Core Martial Sigils in their hands, while the ruby Diplomat Sigil and the white-marble Roaring Tiger Sigil were placed on the table by Laien.
While common noble youths might have taken a moment to recognize what they were looking at, the four present had all received a thorough education since their earliest years. There was no way they wouldn’t know something as basic as the appearance of the most important sigils of all nearby countries, much less those powerful ones. Thus, the appearance of the three precious sigils startled all four of them, though in the case of Prince Casimir, the shock didn’t persist for long.
“Impressive,” Casimir said with a smile. “It looks like General Adrian wasn’t exaggerating when he said that you have a strong backing of those two countries,” he added, the way in which he looked at Laien and Yin changing explicitly. Previously, he had been looking at them with the usual amicable way nobles looked at their fairly important guests, but now there was a true curiosity in his eyes.
“Wow.” On the other hand, the younger of the Princes, Alexander, wasn’t nearly as reserved with his response. “How did you get all those sigils in your hands? You seem younger than me, too!” he exclaimed while leaning forward on the sofa and holding his hands between his legs. His position was quite curious, resembling that of a puppy, and had Laien and Yin not been so stressed, one of them would have surely teased the young Prince about it.
“It’s too long of a story,” Laien said offhandedly, trying to sound as polite as possible while still postponing the subject for some other time.
“I don’t mind, tell us.” However, Prince Alexander missed the hint and urged Laien. He was sure that Laien didn’t want to tell him because it was bothersome; never would he have imagined what in truth was going on. After all, it was his older brother who was the inheriting descendant of their father’s, so despite receiving the formal education, Alexander himself had never been too interested in the schemes of war and politics
He did, however, notice the clearly angered expression that emerged on Laien’s face. He couldn’t help murmuring unhappily, was his question really enough of a reason for Laien to get annoyed with him? Was it because he was just the Second Prince that this black-haired kid thought he was so much more important than him with all those sigils that he didn’t want to waste time talking with him?
“I’m sorry.” At this moment, just as Prince Casimir was opening his mouth, Yin spoke up unexpectedly. “We’re in a hurry, so even though it’s impolite, we’d like to cut straight to the chase,” he explained and bowed his head slightly. How could he have not noticed Laien’s frustration rising up and the subsequent reaction of the young prince and the girl sitting beside him? Sure, he was just as frustrated, but he was able to suppress those emotions and they wouldn’t help them at all.
“That’s right, Alex,” Casimir said with a slight smile. Yet, a hint of reprimand sounded in his voice as he looked at his younger brother. “Do not speak carelessly just because you make your own assumptions. Stay put and listen or if you’re going to get in the way, just leave,” he stated outright, causing the look on his little brother’s face to sink.
Sighing secretly, Casimir told himself that his younger brother needed some tempering, if not from their parents and caretakers, then from him. As bad as he felt playing the role of the strict brother with this adorable youngster, he didn’t want him to end up completely spoiled either. “Now then,” he said in a refreshed tone, turning his eyes towards his two guests. “Since you are pressed for time, skip the pleasantries. What do you want from us and what can you give in exchange?” he asked, cutting out the usual chit-chat and all the talk for the initiative in negotiations.
He had been keeping up-to-date with the southern reports, as vague as they were, so he had a few guesses as to what those two youngsters might want. Adding to that the fact that they arrived here alone and they didn’t want to waste even a minute, it was likely military help… but as for the specific kind of request they might have for him, he couldn’t be sure. Depending on how hard it would be to accomplish, he would definitely ask for appropriate favors in return. The kids, for whatever reason, were in possession of an unthinkable amount of power, so as long as his requests weren’t too outrageous, those two countries would have no choice but to honor them.
“Laien?” Yin glanced to his right. He could do the talking, but it usually was Laien who took initiative in such things. And, well… sometimes, he saw the approach Laien tended to take with people as worrying, but somehow, Laien would always end up making friends with those he wanted to befriend. Despite having a better control of his emotions than Laien, he didn’t see himself as having similar skills with dealing with people.
“Yeah.” Laien nodded and breathed out. He could tell what Yin was thinking, both metaphorically and literally, so he focused on the task at hand. He looked Prince Casimir in the eye, then spoke quickly and strongly. “I’ll be straightforward then. Our friend and Mustafa’s son, Arslan, is in trouble as we speak, his unit suffering attacking of a martial master of the seventh rank, Abdain. We wish to request the Holy Union’s help in rescuing Arslan and his two hundred companions.”
Even though Laien and Yin had expected their request not to be easy, considering that the bulk of the Holy Union’s forces was apparently heading on a northern campaign, they didn’t expect the look on Casimir’s face to first turn astonished, then collected, and finally, stern and cold. At the same time, they saw a similar chain of emotions flash across Anna’s face, while out of the corner of their eyes, they noticed the surprised, worried and excited reactions of Alexander and Eve.
“You…” Casimir began saying, the word escaping his mouth unintentionally as he had been in the mindset of wasting no time until a few seconds ago. Yet, instead of continuing, he clicked his tongue soundlessly, then closed his eyes and took a few seconds to think this news through. Why was Arslan in battle while he was supposed to be hiding in the Ruishi Federation? Why was the request to save Arslan and not Mustafa? Were their forces separated? If so, then did they use Arslan as a bait? But, it was impossible for a large number of combat-potent White Guards to enter the Ruishi Federation unnoticed given the rumors of Mustafa’s critical wounds. Then, were those two hundred comrades this boy mentioned the forces provided by the Ruishi Federation?
Moreover, since it was two children with those sigils, was the plan to come to their Holy Union and ask for help in their original schemes? Did something go wrong along the way and thus, only those kids were able to come here while their guards stayed behind to stall the enemies? But that would also mean that the isolationist Ruishi Federation had allied itself with Makarash…
“I think I’ve got the picture,” Casimir said after five or six seconds and once again, looked at his guests. Laien and Yin didn’t know about it, but this young man had taken the scraps of information he had had since the beginning and Laien’s few words to picture the entire situation in the southern Eulene, and most amazingly, he was correct in all of his assumptions! If anything, this young Prince had potential to overshadow the legend his father, the Warrior-King Azuresky, was leaving in the annals of history, though only a few people closest to him had realized it at this point.
“I’m sorry to say that,” Casimir began saying, the tone and content of his words making Laien and Yin’s throats clench. “But we do not have the manpower necessary to engage in a war against a supreme martial master of the seventh rank. You should understand that holding such an expert off and defeating him or fighting him off are very different matters, and we are incapable of the latter two,” he declared bluntly. It pained him to say so, but their armies were too far away to possibly make it in time, while the top-level experts were stationed on the border for a reason. If a few powerful assassins of their enemies, or an elite unit of pure martial masters, broke through their lines and entered a major city or a capital, then they could easily cause a scene of carnage.
Thus… even if he was foolish enough to attempt, no Generals or supreme experts would follow his orders and abandon their posts.
Once Casimir’s stern reply fell, Laien and Yin froze up for a moment. Comparatively speaking, Yin was still better off, but Laien was thoroughly shaken. All the things he had been giving his best not to think about came back to him with twice the force once Casimir refused to help them. He was sure that those pent-up emotions were finally going to explode within him, but as the seconds passed, he found out that the state of panic he had fallen into started to… maybe not weaken, but become less unbearable. Somehow, once the stress which he had accumulated reached the boiling point, it overflowed in an unexpected way, causing him to grow calmer and more clear-minded.
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At this time, Casimir raised his eyebrows slightly. His first impression of Laien was that he was too emotional of a youth, so he had expected him to barrage him with either vulgar curses or desperate pleas. He never thought that Laien would actually do the very same thing he himself often did in order to calm down and quickly collect his thoughts; he didn’t think that Laien would close his eyes and take a deep breath, only to breathe out very slowly.
Not knowing that not only Casimir but also Yin and the other three youths in the room were looking at him with a mix of curiosity and anticipation, Laien took his time. He wasn’t sure what it was, perhaps the blow of ‘impossibility’ hitting him, but he startled to realize that there was truly no point to despairing. Only when something was truly impossible to achieve should one despair and weep his loss, but until then, until the last second, the right choice was to keep struggling no matter what.
It might seem obvious, but this wasn’t a logical breakthrough to him. No, it was a far more fundamental one, one that was capable of changing the core of one’s very personality. Incidentally, this very shift in the experienced emotions, from the extreme stress to an almost unnatural calm, prompted more than Laien’s personality to change. Within his soul, the omnicolored cluster of the Essence of Tranquility stirred, growing brighter and denser with each passing second.
In just a few breaths of time, Laien’s insights into the Aspect of Tranquility doubled. When Laien himself realized what had happened, he couldn’t resist smiling a little. This two-fold increase in the overall prowess of the Aspect of Tranquility, in terms of time, it wasn’t equivalent to just the three and a half years which he had taken to reach his level from before this breakthrough. The more insights one gained into the aspects the harder it became to improve them in any significant manner, and the Aspect of Tranquility was definitely the one he was the most compatible with. He had also long since completed its foundation, so his progress in this field had been limited.
That is, until now. He felt as if some invisible shackles had been removed from him. If he took his time to sit down and cultivate, then he was sure that in just a few days, he would be able to make his Aspect of Tranquility another thirty to forty percent stronger! Considering that ever since his insights became broad, any singular breakthrough was hard-pressed to increase his battle prowess by much, this one improvement became the exception to the rule. While him from a moment ago would at most be able to hold off a martial master of the fifth rank in a one-on-one fight, the current him would have a decent chance of killing him, even if the man was being careful and wasn’t underestimating him!
In the end, even though diligent cultivation was very important, what mattered the most were lucky chances that one grasped with his own hands! Just this one moment of self-awareness and self-improvement allowed Laien to shave off tends of years of painstaking meditation, the same one Rudford had willingly undergone for almost a century! By this point, Laien suspected that his insights into the Aspect of Tranquility were almost equal, if not equal to his elder brother’s!
“Prince Casimir.” Laien opened his eyes and spoke up, the unhurried and confident tone of his voice catching the four nobles off-guard. “Is there truly no chance for you to help us save our friends? What if there are both immediate military advantages you haven’t heard about yet and the long-term advantages of sealing a deal with us?” he asked, his words startling the four once again.
Compared to how Laien spoke a minute ago, he was just too different! If someone told them that the person speaking to them now was Laien’s identical twin-brother, they would have believed him! It would still be more believable that Laien had a split-personality than for his whole attitude to have changed so drastically in the matter of comments! Out of the four of them, it was Casimir who was the most aware of exactly how much Laien had changed and thus, he was the most flabbergasted one, too.
It wasn’t something as simple as a change in approach that people took while negotiating, Casimir could tell that Laien’s heartbeat slowed down to a normal level, he could see the blush disappear from his face and the doubt clear from his eyes. Even Laien’s body became less stiff and his body language made a one hundred and eighty-degree shift, turning into an entirely relaxed one! He himself had taken many years until he was able to consciously put himself in such a state while under great stress, but this kid had done the same thing by his gut instinct! Had he not seen it happen with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t have trusted anyone who told him about such a miracle.
“Please take a look at that.” Laien took out a lightly tied up scroll and slid it across the table, towards Casimir. Then, right after Casimir’s eyes widened in surprise as he saw that the document Laien gave him was one stating that the Ruishi Federation and Makarash had entered into a full-scope alliance and were inviting the Holy Union to join them, Laien started speaking with a slight smile. “Please know that Abdain, Yimar Maar, and Arakar’s people think that the two of us are dead. The details are too long to speak about, but on our way here, a small unit of agents from Mustafa’s White Guard ensured that no news of our passage will make it southwards.”
Hearing Laien’s words while he was simultaneously looking through the document in his hands, Casimir failed to prevent excitement from very briefly appearing in his eyes. This three-way-alliance was extremely enticing in its own way, especially since by what he could tell, it would be finalized the moment their side agreed! Both Makarash and the Ruishi Federation were already in, so there was no uncertainty. True, Mustafa’s destroyed Qi Origin was an issue, but as long as they could give Arslan time to take over, there would be no trouble given how deep Makarash’s foundation was!
However, the piece of information which shook him the most was actually the one Laien had just delivered to him verbally. He had outright stated that there was no way for them to help Arslan with their manpower since he had assumed the Guode Yimarate knew those two had made their way here! He wasn’t even frustrated that one of his assumptions had turned out wrong; how could he? However, there were still a few things he needed to clarify before making any kind of a choice.
“Laien,” he said with an expression far more serious than at any point in this conversation so far. In fact, even his younger brother, Alexander, didn’t remember seeing his older brother making such a look before anyone else than their father! “If you want me to consider helping you, you must promise me that what you just said isn’t false. Then, you must answer a few questions of mine,” he stated simply, his heartbeat beginning to rise. Before, he hadn’t truly felt the pressure of time under which Laien and Yin were, but once he considered the possibility of helping them, the weight of each passing second instantly befell his shoulders.
“I promise I haven’t lied to you at any point in our talk and I won’t do so until it ends,” Laien said without an ounce of hesitation and received a nod of approval from Casimir.
Then, a quick and down-to-ground exchange of words between the two of them took place.
“How long ago did the enemies lose track of you?”
“Two days ago in the early afternoon.”
“Where and why do they think you are dead?”
“We were chased by an elite squad so we fled to the mountains of the Forbidden Lands. We stopped in time, they didn’t, so the Guardian killed them.”
“…”
“How long ago did you leave the Forbidden Lands?”
“About five hours ago.”
“Do you have a map with the current reports on the Guode Yimarate?”
“Yes, here you go.”
“The details of their forces… yes, it’s all here. Good.”
Once Casimir nodded to himself after saying the last sentence, he fell into a deep through. His eyes moved between the various spots on the map, only to stop for a bit as he thought something through, to then repeat the same process from the beginning. From time to time, he would circle an area on the map or cross it out, adding some lines and simple letters that made sense only to those who studied military calligraphy in the Bolan Kingdom. In such a tense silence, interrupted by the sporadic sounds of scribbling, what could be considered a brief minute passed.
“It’s…” Prince Casimir murmured, then raised his head and looked at Laien. Along the course of their negotiations, he had forgotten about Yin and now, was only paying attention to this one boy. “There is a way, but it’s going to be incredibly dangerous, so dangerous that I don’t think it’s worth it,” he said without taking his eyes off Laien. Seeing that the boy wasn’t shaken this time, he allowed himself to show a smile and continued without beating around the bush.
“I want you to make an additional promise. Since if we fail, this alliance will go down the drain, I want the Ruishi Federation and Makarash to provide reparations for the lives of the men lost. Of course, I mean the men which are going to go and try to save your friends.”
“It’s reasonable,” Laien said without delay. “As a representative of the Ruishi Federation and Makarash, I agree to this condition,” he said simply. He only wished that Casimir wouldn’t ask him to sign any documents about that as it would waste more of their precious time, but thankfully, Casimir seemed to be of the same mind. Apparently, a verbal promise was enough.
“Good then,” Casimir stood up with a resolute look on his face. “Alex, I have an important task for you. Go get your horse and ride to our father as fast as you can. You’re the only one in the citadel who has a personal elite mount and can move, so I’m entrusting this to you,” he explained, but it was the next words which came out of his mouth which truly shocked the young Prince, and not only him, but also the Yali Kingdom’s Princess.
“Tell father that I took my one-hundred Royal Guard and loaned two hundred riders from the eastern citadel. Tell him what we talked about here and tell him that I’m going to need help. If the reinforcements don’t arrive fast enough, we will probably all die there.”
“And take this military map to father. He will know what to do with it.”
However, even though Alexander and Anna were equally shocked to hear that Casimir intended to go personally, it wasn’t one of them who asked the question which pressed itself onto their lips.
“Why would you take this risk?” Laien asked, frowning slightly. He didn’t know if he should rejoice or be suspicious… but judging by the reactions of those nobles, they probably were yet to understand that Casimir just declared that he was going to invalidate the entire northern campaign of the Four Kings with his arbitrary decision. The Four Kings would most likely not be too happy about that, and it would be even worse if Casimir lost his life in the Guode Yimarate.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Casimir asked with a somewhat ironic smile. “We don’t have the manpower necessary to fight Abdain. The fact that our enemies won’t expect us is just the thing that makes our whole plan possible, it doesn’t help us that much in terms of success. Honestly, I'd say we have about an eighty percent chance of being slaughtered. Still, one in five chances are acceptable for a bet with high returns in case of success like this one,” he said in an unreasonably cheerful tone, only to add a few more sentences in an even more playful, unbefitting the situation manner.
“Thankfully, you agreed that our lives will be compensated and I still have a little brother who can take the throne if I happen to die. So, looking at it from the perspective of our country, it’s a win-win situation.” Having said so, he smirked at the flabbergasted Laien, who was wondering how much the life of a prodigious Prince was worth, then walked towards his little brother. The boy had long since sprung up from his sofa, so he grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye.
“Alex, our lives are in your hands. There’s no time, ask General Adrian to bring you and your horse outside. Go, now,” he spoke as a matter of fact, undoubtedly placing a great deal of pressure on his still thirteen years old brother. “Alex.” He crouched, seeing that his little brother was unable to collect himself. “I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t trust that you can do it better and faster than anyone else. You’ve always been a better rider than me, so trust in yourself and go, just like I trust in you,” he said truthfully, without a hint of uncertainty in his gaze.
His older brother’s words caused the look in Alex’s eyes to change. He still was nervous and still had no idea what was going on or how did it come to that, but he promised himself do to his best. He would do just like his brother asked him! He quickly hugged Casimir, embracing him strongly. “I’m going!” he said the next second and let go of his brother. He quickly ran out of the room, remembering that General Adrian had told them he would be waiting in the courtyard.