“What! Are you sure?!” The normally calm and composed King of the sole human Kingdom shouted out loud. Thankfully, he was in his private office with no one else around, except for a masked man, Number zero.
He had come to report his findings to the King, as it was of utmost importance.
“I’m very sure, your majesty. He gave off a feeling of pressure and sense of danger far surpassing the royal court mage, Sir Albert.”
The King looked at the masked man with disbelief. Soon, his expression turning into one of unrest. Number zero was a trusted subordinate, directly reporting to the King. He would not make up matters of such scale.
“Hmmm……”
“I’ll have to consult the royal ancestor. You have the report?”
The masked man shook upon hearing the name ‘royal ancestor’. As a servant reporting only to the King, he knew exactly who this figure was. He handed over a sealed envelope to the King.
“Ok, you may go. I’ll summon you later.”
The King got up and exited the private room without paying further attention to Number zero.
***
“Big Sis! Here!!”
A tall boy ran towards a teenage girl and a young man standing together outside the royal magic academy.
“Alex!” The siblings hugged each other, with the girl bursting into tears. Kyle stood by silently as he waited for the two to calm down.
“Oh, hey Kyle.” Alex gave a goofy grin towards Kyle after separating from Vanessa.
“What happened to brother in law.” Kyle muttered in a fake disgruntled tone.
Before Alex had time to talk, a loud voice could be heard with quick footsteps approaching them.
“Alex! Wait for meee!!”
A girl, of similar age to Alex but smaller, shadowed by a squad of ten soldiers came towards them, following the voice.
A cheerful girl stopped next to Alex and looked at Vanessa and Kyle with shining eyes.
“Alex, is this your Big Sis? This must be the brother in law! Hi hi! Nice to meet you, my name is Amelia!”
Kyle thought she was a very easy-going girl as he tried not to notice the increase in ‘shadows’ around the new group of people. There were far more than when they came to the visitor centre two days ago. ‘That kid must be someone important’, thought Kyle.
Vanessa busied herself introducing herself and Kyle to Alex’s friend.
“Well, let’s get going. We have to pick up the key for the house.”
“House?” Alex perked up upon hearing the word.
“Fu fu, it’s a surprise for you Alex, follow me!” Vanessa tried acting all mysterious and mature, and took off with the two kids in tow.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Kyle shook his head and followed behind. The soldiers walking even further back.
Alex pestered his sister for answers but Vanessa ignored him with a smile. Alex gave up after a while and started telling her about his life at the Academy in detail, with Amelia supplementing from time to time.
***
The motley group stood outside a gate, in front of a house surrounded by a low fence. They had come to the housing district where the upper middle class lived, after collecting the key from the merchant company. Kyle and Vanessa’s new home was located in a good neighbourhood.
As they entered the front yard, Alex curiously looked around at everything.
‘It’s so small!’ thought the only noble present. Amelia was not used to being in such a ‘run down’ environment.
Kyle opened the front door and let the three inside. The soldiers stationed themselves around the house without making hints to follow them into the house.
The house had two floors with two bedrooms and a study upstairs. A kitchen, living room/dining space and a bathroom was located downstairs.
All the basic furniture had been placed in the house, so it didn’t look so empty.
“I’m sorry, there’s no food here yet. We’ll go out for lunch later on.” Vanessa apologized to Amelia for not being able to offer snacks and drinks.
“Big Sis, I think I need some explanation, what’s going on?!” Alex interrupted before Amelia could respond.
Four people sat around the dinner table. Vanessa glanced at Amelia, before starting. She probably thought it wasn’t such a big deal for Alex’s friend to hear about their family.
Vanessa glanced at Kyle before speaking. “Kyle, your brother in law, proposed that we relocate to live here.”
“Seeing that you are my only family member, there’s nothing tying me to the village. Kyle also said that you probably won’t be able to come back to the village later.”
Alex thought about the information for a couple of minutes. Amelia chose to stay silent as this was a family meeting and she was merely an outsider.
“Wahh! So, I get to see you every week? That’s awesome!” Alex laughed and held his hands up in the air in celebration.
“Wait? Brother in law?” Alex finally realised the oddity in Vanessa’s sentence and gave a quizzical glance to the two.
Vanessa blushed as she held Kyle’s hand on the table. She showed her silver ring to Alex.
“We’re engaged now! Kyle proposed to me.”
“Ohhh! Congratulations Big Sis! I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Hehehe!”
Amelia also congratulated the couple. She did not know them all that well yet but she got along with people very easily.
“So, when is the ceremony?”
“In two weeks. We booked the ceremony at the local church. We made sure it was a day off so you can attend.”
“Of course, I’ll be there! You wanna come too Amelia?”
“Yes! It’ll be fun. I’ve never been to one before. My father’s new wives never get one. I’ll drag Susie and Mikey too!”
‘New wives?’ Vanessa tilted her head at the phrase as she didn’t understand the implication. Kyle merely chuckled silently. He had long guessed that this little girl was an important noble from her behaviour and the number of ‘shadows’ lurking in the background.
***
The King seemed more tired than usual. It was quite late in the evening. The King had just exited the dining hall, excusing himself from his family.
Number zero handed a written report to the King, who opened and read it with care. His brows tightened as he read the report.
“So…he’s perfectly acting like a hunter. When will the information I asked for be ready?”
“In two weeks, your majesty.”
“I see. Do not monitor him unless that Gray girl goes to meet him. Make sure only one shadow follows his brother in law. We don’t want to arouse his suspicion. We definitely don’t want to earn his hostility.”
“Your majesty, what about the royal ancestor?”
The King sunk into thought, before replying. “The royal ancestor said not to provoke him and he will not bother with mere mortals. Some kind of agreement between them. He didn’t say anything else.”
Number zero let out a sigh in relief which the King ignored, for he too, felt the same when he first heard the information.
***
A small hut sat alone, on top of a cliff, surrounded by clouds. The mountain was located behind the capital, acting as a shield against enemies.
An old man sat cross legged in the hut as he stared down onto the city. He recalled the report he received from his descendant. It seemed that one of his colleagues had been discovered in the kingdom.
Suddenly, he felt his soul tremble, as if being stared at by a prehistoric predator.
He hurriedly retracted his gaze. He had never been that afraid in his entire life. As the sole Demigod from the human side, he was one of the stronger amongst them.
He wondered what kind of person could give him that kind of feeling. The old man decided to not look into it. As long as that person did not make trouble, he had no reason to confront him.
“Ahh……I wish the peaceful days would continue.”