Chapter 132 – Distant Status (2)

“You two,” said Cyra. “This is a pleasant surprise. You must have come a long way.”

“Yes, your majesty,” replied Joshua, playing the fool. “We’ve come to seek an audience.”

“I see,” she looked at the throne room. She stood with a regal bearing. “Very well, please wait for in the inner courtyard.” she looked at her side. “Abel, please deliver then inside will you?”

“Yes.” he nodded.

The pious looking man gestured at Joshua and Zola. The two stood up and gestured at the others to follow. Abel noticed the entourage and turned to the princess. She politely looked at Abel and nodded her head. “You may let them in as well.”

Joshua followed Abel while Zola fell in line with him. Abel had his hands behind his back. He walked softly, leading the group inside the hallway crafted finely with marble, stone, and cement.

“I wondered where the Warlord of Avilla was. To think that I’ve found you here,” Abel said to Mia. She looked at Abel with a gaze filled with contempt. “And why do you care, Templar? You’ve taken my city and now your Templars hunt me like a dog. Are you going to hunt me down as well here?”

“Not yet,” said Abel. “This is the demesne of Maltius La Fende. I don’t know how and what’s your relationship with the Princess but you are playing well, Lady Mia.”

A flashed of grin and a mocking smile. Mia wanted to put a bullet through Abel’s head but decided against it. Joshua silently strode along with Zola until they reach the open courtyard with a giant pond. He thought of the place as serene and stepped around slowly to watch.

Abel led the group and left with a graceful bow. Mia snarled and cursed under her breath. Archie calmed her down, while Barbados watched the Cattus sisters who were looking at the fishes in the pond with interest. Joshua folded his arms and looked around. Zola stood near him, waiting to hear what happened to the princess who they thought would be struggling or afraid. But what did they saw instead? A person brimming with regal grace and confidence, that made the tow think that she was used to such matters.

It came both as a surprise and shock. The two wanted to some answers and so they waited for the Princess to come. It took minutes but she arrived along with Abel. Behind her was a pair of guards who then was told to guard the doors of the courtyard.

Zola and Joshua craned their necks towards Cyra. They scanned her from head to toe and wondered if she really was Cyra. Or could it be just another person posing as her? Cyra seemed to sense their suspicious gaze. She held the hem of her dress, she steps on the platform lightly and started towards the two with a gentle expression. Her aura was so calm that it made Joshua thought that maybe she’s not Cyra after all.

“Are you surprise?” said Cyra. “It must have been quite a shock to find me like this.”

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“I am,” Joshua admitted. “I expected you to be struggling or panicking. But to see you like this...was quite the shock.”

Cyra smiled. “True, it must have been truly a shock. I thought that I’d forgotten to act like a noble. But once I returned her my noble bearing seemed to have returned as well. How’s Silo?”

“A mess,” said Joshua. “He’s been drinking and moping around without you.”

“I see,” she flashed a face of disappointment. “I thought he’d be with you.”

“Well,” Joshua scratched the back of his head. “Knowing that you are the princess of this demesne, I think you’d find it natural that he wouldn’t dare to show his face.”

“I understand,” she held her forearm. “It must have been truly a kick in his confidence. He was recovering from what happened and yet fate seemed to twist our arms.”

“Are you going to see him?” Zola cut in. “It wouldn’t hurt to see him. Or are you?”

Cyra smiled bitterly. “I would love to. But...what I’ve learned here. And the things that my father is carrying, the weight of a thousand live behind my back. I cannot abandon my father. Hah, and I thought I hate him for chasing me.”

Joshua had a still look on his face. So that was it? Did he come all the way into this place for this? He didn’t know what to feel. He expected something like this. Yet hearing it straight from her mouth was something. Not even a visit? What happened? He had many expectations but yet a straight up rejection. Not even a visit to a friend?

Joshua’s heart sunk. The tiredness of the journey seemed to have weighed down upon him. He just sat there without trying to convince her. Cyra could see Joshua’s sullen expression. She explained her reasoning discreetly between them. Joshua listened but the threat of an Empire didn’t alarm him. What could he do to something like that? Maybe it was the tiredness that made him gave up gracefully. He just wanted to sit there.

Zola was the opposite. She listened with interest and when Cyra described the threat. She was able to understand. And when Cyra told her of the ancient ruins of the progenitor, Zola immediately offered to help. Cyra tried to not involve Zola. But Zola merely stepped out and punched the upward, releasing a shockwave that made Cyra gawp. There was no need to say otherwise. Cyra was forced to accept and even if she didn’t. Zola would have acted. It was her duty and hatred for the ‘Quietus’ that inclines her to purge them with all her might.

Then the others started to talk to Cyra. Joshua had nothing to say to her. He had done what he came for and he had seen the determined look on her face. Zola was helping her now too.

Could he try? Could he somehow convince the Princess who had accepted an emerald woven sash to abandon what her current duties were for the sake of love? He knows the answer. And the gaze that Cyra looks at her was that of a person who could only apologize.

It was a waste of time, Joshua thought.