The zone between the actual Palace and the place where we were was huge. It was a lush garden with a road made out of a combination of white and yellow bricks, all smoothed out and perfectly aligned between each other, that led from the Imperial Barracks to a tall gate at the end of it all—the entrance of the palace.

I was at awe as I looked around at everything in here, from all of the colorful flowers that somehow were still blooming in the middle of this heat, to the small forest-like patch to one side of the road, and even a pond with blue water that sparkled under the sun.

What’s more, it was all being maintained by maids and butlers, all wearing the same black and white uniform that you’d expect to see in some fiction. None of them turned their eyes to us, as they were all busy working on whatever they were doing. Some of them were using magic on the flowers, and a couple of them were even down on the ground with a pair of scissors, making sure that the grass was the proper height.

It was all… so extreme for something that only the people in the palace were going to be looking at, since this was private property and nobody was allowed to just come in here as a tourist.

“Sorry for the strange interaction at the barracks, Radiance Althea,” the knight, Helena, said, causing me to look at her and away from the pretty gardens.

“What do you mean?” Althea asked, carrying the same confused frown from before.

“For having to make up such a ridiculous scenario regarding your appearance,” Helena followed up, half-turning her face to look at Althea. “It’s obvious to any properly trained Holy Knight that you’re no longer the same woman from before. Just looking at your young appearance is more than enough to give it away.”

“Ah, so you did understand what I said before,” Althea replied with a nod of her head. “Then what was the point of saying those things?”

“Not all knights will understand the changed person that you are. So if you come looking like that, they’re going to believe that you’re a tainted existence, and they will go out of their way to end you—even against His Majesty’s orders,” Helena said, shaking her head, before giving a small smirk. “Not that they would be able to end you, if you’re the same knight from the past.”

“Eh…” I involuntarily let out, turning to look at the knights that were still standing by the building.

I wasn’t so sure that they wouldn’t be able to kill us… they do look very strong, and as far as I know, they use Holy Magic, which is one of the most powerful expressions of magic, so… I think both me and Althea would be turned to nothing if they went on the offensive. And now that I look at Helena, she looks like the leader of the knights, which probably makes her even stronger than everyone else. I bet she could end both me and Althea in the blink of an eye!

“And this is Lady Asteora’s new disciple?” she asked, giving me a look from top to bottom.

I nearly tripped on my feet since I didn’t expect her to say anything to me, but I quickly stood straight and nodded my head like a chicken. “Yes! Pleasure to meet you! Nicole Lain!”

She looked at me for a while, and I could feel sweat forming on my back the more she did, but after a moment, she looked forward again. “Quite surprising to see the Embodiment of Magic training someone else.”

“Hehe… yes, I’ve heard that a few times before,” I said, scratching my cheek as I did.

Most people that I met over the past few months that were related to Arretia in any way would say that to me. It was always like ‘I can’t believe Asteora is training someone!’ or ‘I hope this one doesn’t turn into another calamity…’.

I tried my best to ignore everything they said, since some people were looking at me like I could be the next ‘Hero of the Holy Gods’, and everyone that did, had completely different reasons. I just focused on doing my best!

Speaking of doing my best… there might be a need to use a bathroom soon. All of these stressful things are taking me to the limit! But… no matter where I looked, there was only this stretching garden…

I had to hold it in! Phooo deep breaths, Nicole, deep breaths… I told myself as I tried to recall the power of the phoenix to reproduce one of those spells that Asteora uses to hold back the body’s needs. A warm feeling washed over my body, and I could feel myself calm down. There actually wasn’t a phoenix… but that’s how I thought about it to control it better.

While doing that, I didn’t realize that Helena had taken notice of what I was doing, and she raised an aura of her own.

“Trying to get your presence known while walking behind the Knight-Commander of the Empire, in the Imperial Palace’s main garden?” she said, and I felt like a boulder fell on me from her Magic Aura.

Before I dropped to my knees and soiled my pants from the magic pressure, I felt another powerful aura come from Althea, which easily crushed the one that was coming from Helena. With a quick turn, I saw how Althea was surrounded by a dark shroud, her eyes glowing red, and a pair of blood-red fiery horns growing on her head.

“I won’t allow anyone in here to bully my friend,” Althea said, followed by a pulse of darkness exploding from her, causing the knight’s aura to completely disappear as she looked at Althea with widened eyes.

After a couple of seconds, Althea's power receded and she turned back to normal.

“Nicole didn’t mean anything by raising her magic aura. She’s just nervous and was trying to calm herself,” Althea said to the surprised knight, “Please try to focus on me. She’s here just to accompany me on Asteora’s behalf.”

Seeing her do that right in the middle of the Empire’s front garden made me feel like passing out or running away, whichever one happened first. But I held my position. There was no way that those knights from before wouldn’t grab me, and if I passed out, I’d only be a burden on Althea.

I cranked my head slowly to look at the surprised knight and worried about what she might do now that she saw Althea’s powers, but she just remained in the same stunned pose from before, not doing anything.

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Even the few people working on the gardens—who hadn’t bothered to look at us—had their eyes opened wide this way, all aimed at Althea. I worried that perhaps… we had just committed a grave mistake. Arrrgghhh! If only I wasn’t so silly!

With a chuckle, the tension was broken, and we looked at the person that did so. Oliver was shaking his head. “Come on, now. There’s no need to be this tense.”

Helena quickly shook her head, and a stoic expression replaced her surprise. “You are right…” she turned to keep on walking, seemingly ignoring what she just saw, only to stop after a couple of steps. “I guess that… this is why Lady Asteora brought you over to meet His Majesty.”

“What do you mean?” Althea asked, not moving from her spot.

“Now, now,” Oliver said before Helena could answer her question. “Everything at its right moment. We shouldn't speak for His Majesty either.” He looked at me with a wry smile. “Try not to cause any trouble… remember what Althea just said: you’re here just to watch and learn, okay? Although…” he trailed off to look at Althea, “I’m not sure that everything’s the proper thing to learn.”

“Right,” Althea said, ignoring that last bit from Oliver as she continued walking. “Let's just get this over with.”

* * *

The palace itself was humongous! Just seeing this place made me forget the tension that I was feeling from walking behind that serious miss knight. The entrance was a tall gate that opened to show a sparkling hall, full of big paintings on the walls, and glinting… stuff… placed on important pedestals.

I wondered, however, how important those things really were, and from where they got those paintings, because none of them could be older than five years, since most of their things were lost in their old world… I guess it might just be things that important people left here as a gift to add to the little things they had on them when they were transported to Earth?

The floor had a bright red carpet that led up some stairs in the middle, which parted half-way under a huge painting of the previous emperor, to turn and lead to a higher floor. On the sides of this hall were closed wood doors, all of them tall, with intricate details, and so sturdy-looking that it made me wonder if common people could even push them open.

“Lady Greycastle. Lord Hanssen,” an old, wrinkly man, with a head full of gray hair combed neatly to the back and wearing a butler outfit said, “Lady Asteora and His Majesty are getting ready for your meeting. I’ll take you from here.”

Behind the old man were a handful of people, all elegantly dressed just like this old man, and all carrying an amiable smile as they looked at ‘Lady Helena’ or Oliver; their eyes never meeting mine or Althea’s. But I preferred it that way. I had already caused enough problems in the few minutes of being here, so if they just ignored me, then it would be for the best.

“I’ll go with you,” Helena said, standing her ground, which made me feel somewhat awkward about it.

“Very well,” the butler said, half-turning in the direction of the stairs. “Now, if you’d follow me…”

All of us went after the man. At first I was just at awe looking at all the intricate details of the palace, since even the steps of the staircases were all delicately crafted, and after every floor we went up, and every turn we did, even more expensive-looking things were displayed…

However, I also wondered what the point of such a big castle was… There were only maids and butlers working on the hallways… and I was even wondering if this place was built only for them to live and work here, because I don’t think the emperor could ever walk around the whole place.

Especially when after all this time of walking, we still hadn’t reached whatever place we were supposed to be to meet with the emperor! Heck, I was already getting tired of stairs, and hallways.

Thankfully, just when I was getting the itch to ask when we were going to reach the place we were supposed to be, the butler stopped by a couple of wooden double doors, which were promptly opened by a maid and a butler; both young.

“Here you go,” he said, gesturing with his hand to the room.

I turned eagerly to see if this was the throne room, or if the emperor would be majestically sitting with an attractive and confident smile just like the ones he had on social media, but to my disappointment, the room was completely empty—save for the furniture and expensive things that decorated the whole place, of course.

The few maids and butlers that came with us quickly moved into the room, and as if they had choreographed their movements, they each moved to a position and started preparing all sorts of things, from snacks, to drinks, and even a few board games and different forms of entertainment.

“You shall wait here for a moment while His Majesty gets ready to call you. Please, make use of everything that we offer,” the old butler said, standing with his back straight and with a serious expression on his face that didn’t quite make me feel welcomed… but as long as it wasn’t directed at me, I could ignore it as well.

As if this was her home, Althea wordlessly walked into the room and went straight for a comfy red couch, where she plopped down as she reached for a fancy cup of tea that was handed over to her by a maid.

I was left amazed by how comfortable she got inside this place, but after she threw me a look with one eyebrow raised, I quickly went after her and carefully settled myself close to her, avoiding as best as I could to look at all the elegant maids and butlers. But just like with Althea, a maid presented to me a fancy cup of… tea?

The pretty woman carried an amiable smile, but honestly, just looking at the drink made me want to go to the restroom even more, so I considered just saying no to it… but I was even more worried about offending anyone in this palace, so with a wry smile I reached for it and kept it in my hands.

“Thank you…” I whispered.

The woman nodded and moved aside. Right after that, Oliver and Helena walked into the room. Oliver took a seat by another couch that was perpendicular and to the side of this one, while Helena chose to move to the back of the room and remain standing as she looked outside the wide windows.

Oliver chuckled while looking at Althea as he took a drink from a butler. “I can see you’re quite comfortable in the Emperor’s home.”

“I don’t see the point of giving him any kind of special treatment,” she said, taking a sip from the drink.

“Haha, you must be the only person in the world that can say that—besides perhaps Asteora,” he followed up, matching Althea’s movement with the drink.

Althea shrugged and refused to continue the conversation. As for me, on the other hand, I couldn’t help but shake my leg, both in anticipation of meeting the Emperor, and in fear of asking where the bathroom was, because I wasn’t sure about how to act here…

You know how it usually is with these sorts of things! You’ve seen it in movies! How when someone does something they think is normal, and the queen goes ‘Off with their head!!!’ so I wasn’t sure if I should even say that I needed to go to the bathroom.

Thankfully, Althea noticed my feelings, so she stood up and looked at the maid that handed her a drink. “Where is the bathroom?”

“It’s right this way,” the maid answered without missing a beat, turning away from us.

“Come with me,” Althea said, and I sighed in relief as I quickly followed after her.

* * *

I sighed once more when I came back to the waiting room. Althea came like the heroine she was and saved me the trouble of looking for a bathroom, or the embarrassment of ruining my pants if I didn’t look for one.

However, I was frozen-stunned when I looked inside the room. There were strangers in there! And what’s more, none of them were like the pretty maids and butlers. There were a couple of kids with blonde hair, a lady with the same hair color, some old man wearing elegant renaissance clothes, and a man that looked similar to the old man only that he was younger and had a head full of black hair.

“Ah!” the old man exclaimed when he noticed us, causing the children to stop whatever they whispering to each other as they—like everyone else—turned to look this way. “So it is true! Althea is back!”

I paused, wondering who this old man was, but I refrained from doing anything as I just glanced at Althea, who had a deep frown on her face.

“The Hero of the Holy Gods is back!”