Alexia and Charles left the servants who were busy offloading the cargo. After placing the furniture and other things in Alexia's room, they would leave THAMA. The officials of THAMA wouldn't let them stay for long. That was one of the academy's rules: Except students and professors no one could stay in the academy for an extended period of time. If a family member or friend wanted to visit they could do so at some of the private cafes and restaurants near the northern and southern gates, but they weren't allowed to enter the academy.
Alexia and Charles were making their way towards one of these restaurants near the northern gate.
"Oh Eaglis, I have missed you so much!", the princess exclaimed, petting and tickling Eaglis in every possible part.
"Shrrk! Shrrk!", Eaglis shrieked, as if sharing the same sentiments.
"Ah Ah…You like that?"
"Shrrrk", Eaglis replied with joy.
Charles felt as if he was third wheeling the union of two long lost romantics. He started wondering if he was actually accompanying the fire princess and one of the most fearsome beasts in the skies.
"This is the lord, I chose to follow.", he muttered under his breath, starting to reconsider all his life choices.
Suddenly Charles felt something very hot approaching him from his left. His eyes turned a deeper shade of gold, as he dodged a sizzling hot fireball. The inferno ball disappeared just as abruptly as it had appeared.
"Don't act like you had a choice in selecting me as your lord.." A voice said from behind followed by a "shrrrk" as if to agree.
"I didn't but I guess it's for the best, loping behind you I just need to look out for all your enemies who want to kill you and by extension me, rather than making sure that my lord himself doesn't kill me. So I guess babysitting you-" Charles ducked again as another inferno went past his head. "-ure has its benefits."
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"Is this it?"asked Alexia as she stared at the sign reading 'The Royal Court'.
"Yep, recently opened, allows only royalty and serves the best cheesecakes, or so I have heard."
Alexia's eyes lit up on hearing cheesecakes. The duo made their way inside, booked a private soundproof booth, ordered two cappuccinos, five cheesecakes along with some high-grade beast meat for Eaglis and settled in their booth.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Only after Alexia had devoured over two cheesecakes, did Charles speak, "So Alexia Dhamalan, sixth princess of the empire, tell me what has happened?"
Alexia ruefully looked at the third cheesecake in her hand, kept it back on the plate and said, "I am no longer the sixth princess. It's been months since Cecil entered the 'Heaven's Ordeal'. They are declaring her dead. That makes me the fifth princess of the Dhamalan Empire.They have not announced it yet, but they are going to do it soon."
"Well, that's unfortunate." Charles replied.
"Unfortunate…why so?"
"Well Cecil wasn't as gorgeous as you, but she was beautiful in her own right. An attractive face, a beautiful smile, good body." Charles started counting on his fingers, "But you know the thing that got me staring the most-" he was abruptly cut off by the sizzling sound of over ten fireballs hovering around Alexia.
"Okay, okay! I am kidding" he said as the heat started making him sweat.
"Shrrk" Eaglis who was eating his food in corner looked over, saw that Charles wasn't even half burnt yet, and went back to eating.
'Ungrateful bastard!' wouldn't even save his master in death,' Charles thought. He sighed in relief as the fireballs started disappearing one by one.
"Fifth princess, so you have entered the succession race." Alexia glared at him, pointing out that he was stating the obvious.
"Cecil had a lot of territories. What are they offering you?"
This time the princess replied,"I have the least influence, moreover I have just entered the race. So basically whatever is leftover after the others have their pick. Which turns out to be the Nivana outpost in the desert region or the Skullkyre town, near the Skul mountain."
Nivana was a large inhabitable desert region at the border between Dhamlan Empire and the Serpentine Empire, however none of them had laid claim to this region. There was also a Nivana outpost in the same area. The outpost was surrounded by sea on one side and the desert on the other. It had mainly been built to defend against any naval attacks by the Serpentine as no army with any brains would risk marching through the Nivana desert. But years of friendly relations between the two nations had made the outpost neglected. Today it was an outpost just in name, with fishing boats in its navy and a population of less than 1000 people.
"The Nivana outpost will be included right?"
"Yes"
"What about the Skul mountain?"
"All of the Skul mountain, at least the habitable part."
Skul mountain, once a rich region filled with all types of stones and minerals, but difficult to mine because of its high monster count and terrain. Skulkyre town had been built as a way point to access all of these minerals and over the years it had profited the Empire majestically. However now, three decades later, most of these minerals had been depleted but the number of monsters still remained the same. Once there had been rumours of the coveted Cyrux* ore vein inside the Skul mountain, but they had never been confirmed. Gradually the mountain and the town had lost its importance and had become more or less just an abandoned place.
"Dremon has about the same influence as you, right?" Charles asked, naming the fifth prince.
"Yes, but he entered the succession race before me. So his ask has more precedence."
Charles nodded, he turned his head and started staring intently at the wall of the private booth, as if seeing something only he could.
"Scheming face" Alexia looked at Eaglis and muttered. Eaglis moved his beak up and down, as if nodding.
After a minute of silence, Charles finally declared, "We'll ask for the Skulkyre, but we will actually be taking the Navana desert."