Valeria

“You have been drawing a lot of attention Val please be more cautious we don’t want any unnecessary trouble,” Oberon told me from below.

“It can’t be helped I am quite the beauty after all,” I replied with a bit of pride.

Is he jealous? Probably not, he is quite confident in himself, but I wish he showed a bit of concern. Even if he knows I would crush anyone who approaches me so tactlessly there is still a small chance I will not just so I can make you jealous you know.

He grabbed one of my hands using it to turn himself around and pulled me down on his lap. Though I could have easily resisted I wanted to let this play out.

“It is because you are so beautiful that I worry Val. One day you may decide that you no longer want me and the thought of you with someone else makes me burn with jealousy.”

I almost believed him until I saw a slight smirk forming on his lip and the mischievous glint in his eyes. I blushed and got off of him taking position behind him again.

After all our time together, I should not be surprised he knows what I want to hear. I am the same with him at times.

“I will get you back for playing with my heart like that Oberon.”

He laughed “I look forward to it.”

Perhaps you should not I know your weakness after all.

I enhanced my vision and focused on the entrance to the garden until finally the last person we were expecting entered.

“It seems that all the major players have arrived Oberon,” I said pointing Prince Bertrand Terramanz out.

Sip, clang! Oberon finished his tea then sets his cup down. “It would appear so, all the royal siblings have arrived, the nobles, well those that matter have arrived, and the Earl of Vesterwood Louis Flamberge, my father.” He said as if it was a curse. He squeezed his teacup so hard I feared he would break it.

“Let me serve you some more tea Oberon,” I said as I gently uncurled his fingers from his teacup. He breathed evenly as if to steady his emotions which were probably exactly what he was doing. As I poured him a cup of his favorite black tea imported from the Sagittarii duchy he got himself under control.

“Thank you Val,” he said as I gave him his cup. “Not just for the tea but for sticking with me all this time. Now that we are here, I realized I haven’t told you that enough.” He took a sip of his tea to hide his embarrassment.

At least I think that it's embarrassment, I hope it is embarrassment and not just an attempt to make me forgot his mischief from earlier. It is rare to catch him in such a vulnerable moment nowadays. Either way, this is the perfect time to get him back!

I hid a small smile “There is no need for thanks. We already said and swore what we needed to say to each other years ago.” This time I could not hide my smile. “Even if the world aba-“

Kugh! Oberon pretended to choke on his tea. No, looking at his face he is not pretending, I took the teacup from his hand and set it down then proceeded to massage his back,

Eventually, his coughing subsided. I wanted to laugh but managed to stay stoic. “Even after all these years, you’re still embarrassed by those words huh. If I did not know any better, I would think you didn’t mean them.” I managed to add some sadness to my voice.

Perhaps because Oberon was so used to my tricks, he did not register it and simply snorted. “Like you said we already said and swore what we needed to each other years ago. No need to repeat it if we already know in our hearts it's true.” He spoke that last bit in a hurry.

As I thought his biggest weakness is still the words he said to me at that time. With this, we are even again.

He cleared his throat. “Enough banter let’s get to work.” I nodded and retrieved a comb from inside his wheelchair pocket and started to comb and style his hair.

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“I think we should approach the third princess Alexandria first. She is the most approachable and I have some rapport with Sir Foltest, though I haven’t seen or spoken to him in years. She is also my first choice so if it goes well we may not need to approach the others” Oberon told me wanting to hear my thoughts.

I took out the small mirror inside his wheelchair's pocket and held it out for him. “Is that wise Oberon? The princess seems simple enough to handle but you’ve always told me that Sir Foltest is a dangerous individual.”

He gazed at his hair in the mirror, and said, “It’s acceptable.” I knew that was probably the best I was going to get when he was in business mode. I sighed and put the mirror and comb back inside his wheelchair pocket.

“Sir Foltest is most dangerous for people that assume he is a but a brute. We know that behind the gentle giant routine hides a sharp mind.”

I nodded and began pushing Oberon's wheelchair trying to find the third princess within the vast maze-like garden while avoiding everybody else.

“If I were to fight sir Foltest now who would win?” I asked Oberon.

He pondered for a moment “If it was the same Sir Foltest that I knew when I was a teen then I am confident that with the skills you picked up as a mercenary, your natural talents, and my tutelage you would win.”

I kept pushing him forward. “But the Sir Foltest of now?”

“I’m not sure. logically speaking as he is now around 40 years old. His strength should have waned. yet he has always had the strength to spare and now that he is older, I’m sure he has found new tricks to compensate for his older age.”

I thought for a moment. “Shall I ask him for a friendly match?” I said patting my longsword in anticipation.

“Please don’t joke around. Remember what I said about caution? Showing off in a situation like this will invite unwanted scrutiny not to mention potential assassins and nobles that no doubt will try to pull you onto their side.”

“I would kill all the assassins and turn down any noble that tries to get me on their side. Might kill them too if they persist.” I said without missing a beat.

“Are you confident that you can do so while protecting me?” He said looking up at my eyes from his wheelchair.

I was confident in doing so but that would ruin our plans and I did not wish to risk Oberon getting hurt.

“I’ll behave,” I said conceding.

We searched in silence until I spotted the stark black hair that is characteristic of the Terramanz family at a distance.

“Is that her?” I pointed.

“You know that I cannot see that far. Just tell me, is there a bear-like man with her?”

I nodded spotting the man carrying a greatsword on his shoulder seemingly on guard while Alexandria drank her tea. There was also a smaller petite woman accompanying them as well though she was not drinking tea and seemed agitated.

I focused my vision on the girl. Shorter than Alexandria, blonde, 25-26 years old same as me maybe younger. No armor or weapons on her like her companions. Not a fighter, wearing a simple light blue dress, cute face though it is distorted by a frown. I followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at the second prince Sylvain. Hmmm, she is uncomfortable and seems scared. They have a connection and not a good one by the look of it. She unconsciously hides behind Sir Foltest a habit it looks like. How cute. That is enough for now.

I pulled back my vision and watched my surroundings, to my left I spotted some noblemen gathered making conversation. I strained my hearing to listen but all I picked up was useless speculation on why the old king had summoned them here. I searched for anyone important that may provide some useful information, I saw the fourth princess Ludivine conversing with the first prince Bertrand. I also spotted their companions mingling with each other though they looked interesting I decided to focus on the Prince and Princess.

Once again I strained my hearing and picked up snippets of their conversation.

“He was such an impressive fellow that I gave him the courtesy of kissing his cheek goodbye and offering him a position in Leonis.” Said Ludivine.

Since I was focused on listening, I could not see them clearly but I believed I saw Bertrand nodding his head. “Indeed, I was so impressed by his knowledge of my magnificence that I put in a good word for him with the city watches Captain.”

Clap! Clap! “How generous of you brother I’m sure that Ronald will appreciate the boost to his reputation.”

So, nothing important with them either. I guess I will focus my attention on Alexandria and her companions.

We were close enough now that Alexandria and her companions would be able to notice us. Sir Foltest who was the most vigilant was the first to notice us or rather Oberon. Sir Foltest squinted and stared at Oberon a grin appearing on his face. He said something to his companions. Then waited for us to get closer before meeting us partway.

He has positioned us so that we are not close enough to physically reach the others but close enough that they can overhear and watch. I look at his clothed greatsword measuring the distance between us. It is not exact but taking the length of his arms into account he can safely attack us from a distance without us reaching him. It would be a gamble, but I may be able to close the distance. I stopped my thoughts there. we were not here to fight him. I would let Oberon do the talking.

All that setup while holding such an amicable smile. How Cunning! Though we may not be any different.

Suddenly, I felt Alexandria’s gaze on me. Letting a smirk form on my lips I snapped my eyes to look at her. I managed to startle her as she jumped a little off her chair before sitting down immediately. I wanted to wink at her but knew that it would be too mischievous. The other girl at some point had taken a chair and sat beside Alexandria. I wanted to meet her eyes too, but she avoided eye contact. That is fine I needed to pay attention to the matter at hand anyways,