Chapter 24

The prince and the empress's secretary entered a distant region of the imperial palace, in the middle of what looked like a ritual hall with a mural of the legendary golden dragon and men in black robes covering their bodies, being magicians ensuring the stability of the ritual they were about to begin with deep concentration and diligence.

So much so, that even if they had noticed the prince entering the ritual hall, they considered it more important to carefully and continuously check the components of the magic circle than to bow in respect to royalty, making sure they had not made any mistakes that could cause it to fail.

Something that Kaiser accepted without giving it much importance while meeting with his colleagues, although that did not prevent the secretary from frowning, but in the end he did not say anything.

Teleportation magic was not modern magic controlled with formulas, but rather an ancient magic that modern magicians have difficulty trying to replicate with modern methods, requiring many valuable magical materials and other preparations.

Naturally, the archaic methods used here required a lot of attention from the magicians to keep everything running smoothly.

Looking around, one could see that it was a vast hall. It seemed as if the entire hall was made of marble, and he had seen very few halls on the continent of Fredonia that could compare in splendor.

The entire building had a soft golden glow, with enormous, beautifully sculpted pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling, decorated with beautiful carvings of flowers and thorns. It looked like a cathedral painted in gold, and the room had a very solemn atmosphere.

The prince and some armored guards walked to the center of the intricate magic circle, now dressed in black cloaks that covered their bodies. The secretary watched them silently with a calm gaze as the chief mage of the Magic Tower stopped near the center of the ritual and spoke.

“Your Highness, are you ready for this?”

She spoke to the prince in a relatively casual manner, something many nobles would receive with raised eyebrows or expressions of displeasure, but the prince himself cared little for her lack of it.

“Begin the ritual immediately, Grandpa Fluder. You know it’s rude for a man to keep a lady waiting, and as a prince, I can’t afford to do such a thing, after all.” Kaiser gave a small, mischievous smile at that joke, to which the old man nodded with a smile of his own on his wrinkled face, covered with a white beard that reached his chest. (😂😂😂 I couldn’t resist…Fluder…😂...)

"Okay... Okay, brats, get ready to supply your mana! Don't make any stupid mistakes or you'll see our cute heads rolling on the floor!"

On the orders of their chief, the surrounding mages used ritual staffs as a means to pump mana into the magic circle more fluidly, causing it to begin to glow while Fluder used a chant in a complex language to channel his spiritual power and control it, keeping it stable.

The light grew stronger, something that wasn't a problem for those who had previously closed their eyes during the process, and when they opened them again, the prince and his retinue of guards would have disappeared, leaving behind a slight ripple in space.

“It seems like it was a success…thank God.”

The secretary commented with his arms crossed, his voice echoing throughout the room.

Thus, the future crown prince of this nation departed for the Duchy of Dranalian, without alerting any member of the nobility about his departure for Ekaterina's party, except for a few select nobles and vassals.

♦♦♦♦

When Kaiser regained sight of his surroundings after a slight feeling of dizziness, he could finally make out what was around him.

The young prince found himself inside a ruined room with several individuals in mage clothes or hoods nearby approaching him and his entourage, who were standing in a magic circle that looked very similar to the one in the imperial palace that was losing its magical light.

One of the prince's guards immediately began vomiting everything in his stomach as soon as he regained consciousness, while the rest seemed quite disoriented.

I guess it's a side effect of crossing long distances using magic...

Kaiser silently guessed with an indifferent expression. Thanks to being an awakened 'Dragon Blood,' his physique was far superior to that of average humans, so he barely felt the effects of traveling through space and time in that manner.

"Where are we?"

The first prince asked the man who approached him, his black skill lightly covering his bangs, his eyes glowing in the darkness of the dimly lit room. The man, a hooded, middle-aged man, judging by his voice, responded in a respectful tone.

“Your Highness, Kaiser, this is the annex to the abandoned villa on the outskirts of the capital city of the Dranalian Duchy, near the Great Oal Forest, over half an hour away. The necessary equipment for undercover travel is already prepared and ready to depart at any time, with illusion magic spells ensuring the origin of Your Highness’s carriage is concealed until we are close to the capital city of this territory.”

“Excellent… All right, everyone, it’s time for us to get going.”

"Y-yes, Your Highness…" the man who had just vomited on the floor hurriedly replied, wiping his lips with his fist as a friend patted him on the back. With that, the prince was led by the hooded man to the outskirts of the building along with his guards, leaving the mages behind to clean the now useless magic circle.

Sunlight hit Kaiser's face weakly, causing him to squint as he walked out of an abandoned building he was in.

The first thing he and his men saw was a simple-looking carriage, which seemed to be made only of wood and cheap metal, like slightly rusted iron, along with several horses, some of which were pulling carts filled with sturdy wooden boxes, with a few merchant-looking men standing nearby.

The man leading them quickly bowed to the prince and climbed into the driver's seat of the carriage as he removed his hood, revealing a thin-looking man wearing a relatively simple cloth garment, which would be normal to see on any carriage driver.

A calm, gentle smile naturally spread across his lips, making him seem even gentler than he already was. No one who saw him would doubt that he was simply a harmless driver who was easy to get along with and easily intimidated.

The men following the prince climbed onto the well-trained horses in the surrounding area, revealing cheap-looking swords as they rode, their hoods pulled close to their cloaks to cover their serious looks.

As for 'Kaiser', he seemingly calmly approached the carriage that looked like it would only be used by commoners traveling from one place to another without any obvious displeasure on his face, gently opening the door and entering to sit down.

Many who knew who the hooded youth was and didn't understand the situation wondered, "What's going on here? Why is the prince riding on that piece of trash?" Some even secretly mocked him, saying that the first prince had fallen into disgrace for having to use something like that for any reason.

After all, it was unthinkable that royalty would wear something so vulgar in the eyes of the high nobles, much less the one who is supposed to be the glorious Emperor of Hazar in the future.

However, the interior of the carriage could not have differed more from its dilapidated exterior appearance.

There were two pairs of extremely comfortable red cloth seats on which the 'first prince' had just sat down and his hand, which was holding the door, grabbed the inner handle that seemed to be made of pure silver to close it.

The door itself was also very different from how it looked from the outside, with white and gold paint giving it a rather luxurious look, seemingly made of steel.

All the doors had windows with transparent glass, which were not visible to the outside, so the occupant could see what was happening outside by simply removing the beautiful red curtains.

On the floor, there was what looked like a carpet made of brown bearskin, with intricate designs that made it look extremely luxurious, and on the ceiling, golden dragon and flower designs could be seen.

In short, this carriage was actually a total luxury compared to its deceptive exterior.

And that was only possible thanks to enchantment magic, with which a high-level illusion could be applied to the carriage itself to deceive the gaze of outsiders until it reached the capital, where the powerful mage acting as its driver would remove the enchantment before its time limit expired.

All these preparations were the Empress's idea, who wanted to give the Dukes a "pleasant" surprise with her son's visit, and she spent a lot of money to achieve this.

Mom is really ridiculous these days…

The emperor, who had watched his double calmly enter the carriage, had always thought so, but the emperor thought so even more today. However, as he was normally quite bored, he didn't mind participating in this nonsense of the empress.

Although she had to say it... spending the nation's national budget on a 'joke,' even if it was a very insignificant part, was the act of a foolish ruler. If it weren't for the fact that her mother was also a 'Dragonborn,' and that most of her competitors had died with the appearance of the demons, she would never have ascended to the position of empress.

Well, she wasn't a complete idiot either, as she considered that someone might discover this and try to assassinate him on his journey, skillfully preparing a decoy with illusion magic, but as a ruler, she was just normal.

"Let's go"

—Yes, Alte... I mean, sir.

With those thoughts in mind, the Prince Kaiser's carriage departed for the capital city of Dranalian, surrounded by guards protecting "a small caravan of merchants" to the sound of horses snorting as they passed through a seemingly abandoned road.

♦♦♦♦

Dranalian Duchy, Great Oal Forest, halfway along a road away from the Duchy Capital

A wine-colored carriage, quite beautiful and luxurious, was traveling along a road at a considerable speed, as if fleeing from something terrible. Several mounted guards escorted the carriage alongside, and the sound of horseshoes echoed in the area.

The carriage's bumps were inevitable from time to time, as its wheels would get stuck in the stones due to the speed. However, the arcane technological gadgets equipped with it ensured a comfortable experience for its occupants.

A 14-year-old girl silently watched the changes in the landscape through the window, contemplating the scene.

On the right side of the road was the riverbed, with the surface of the water illuminated by the sunlight, painting the surroundings with its beautiful brilliance.

To the left, he saw a gently sloping hill and a herd of animals moving along it. Ahead, some small trees were beginning to appear on the path and had begun to cast their shadows on the ground.

Only the sounds of carriage wheels and horse hooves echoed in the area, with no visible abnormalities found… However, the escorts seemed to have fallen into a heavy silence among themselves.

It was due to the unexpected situation the group encountered a few minutes ago.

The girl, Melbiana Rubiernity, as the daughter of a wealthy merchant family, the Rubiernity, had to accept the invitation to have tea with a baroness despite her young age in order to establish a relationship with her daughter, who fortunately was not an arrogant girl, making everything not so bad in the end.

When they finally began their return journey, a group of bandits suddenly ambushed them. Faced with the appearance of more than thirty robbers, thirteen of the guards broke formation to delay them as long as possible and prevent them from pursuing them further.

Only five soldiers and a single knight remained by the carriage. And there was no sign of any of the previous guards catching up with them from behind, as Melbiana could see through the window, her long blue hair swaying slightly.

She was a beautiful girl with a small face and narrow eyelashes, and her light pink eyes gave off a kind of fleeting feeling.

The 14-year-old girl was also wearing a luxurious white dress, and the sunlight enhanced her incredible beauty as she thought.

I'm really unlucky...

Watching the passing scenery outside the window with slight concern and a sigh, Melbiana noticed her maid's anxious expression. Her short, reddish bob seemed to have lost all its luster due to the tension and anxiety of the situation, not that she could be blamed.

Inside the carriage, the only person besides her was this maid. Although it was usually the place for small talk, neither of them said a word.

After a while, the carriage's speed suddenly slowed, and the neighing of a horse was heard. The coachman's window opened, and Melbianae apologized.

“I’m sorry, Melbiana Ojou-sama. The horses can’t hold on any longer, so you’ll have to walk from here.”

"Is that so?"

From the moment the bandits ambushed them, the horses have been constantly pulling the carriage. It seems they've finally reached their limits.

As expected, it was a difficult task even for four horses. Although… it was probably our knight's horse that suffered the most…

While thinking this, Melbiana looked out the window and saw a middle-aged man tying his horse to the side of the carriage. He was one of the few knights in the Rubiernity family's service.

The remaining escorts gathered around him.

Knight Antonio finished wiping the sweat from his horse's neck with a towel. His black hair was short and neat, and he sported a well-groomed beard. Despite wearing light armor, his height revealed the toned muscles of his body.

-Antonio, can we say that the bandits have surrendered?

From the carriage window, Melbiana asked as she looked back.

“I was worried because the number of people sent against the bandits was very small, but since no one has come after us, perhaps it’s safe now. Don’t worry, Melbiana-sama, everything will be fine.” In response to her concern, Antonio gave her a big, reassuring smile.

“Is that so? I can finally rest easy after hearing that.”

Melbiana then looks at the road in front of the carriage.

The trees that had gathered along the road farther back were now scattered across the highway. The mountains visible from the road, signs of proximity to the northern capital, were now closer than ever.

As she looked at them, Melbiana couldn't help but feel an oppressive sensation wash over her. The unpleasant tingling sensation made her frown with even greater concern.

This is…. .

After looking at her, Antonio also looked closely at the surroundings with a frown, and just as he realized something, the sound of air tearing could be heard as multiple arrows flew towards Melbiana's entourage.

"Ugh"

With a dull thud as they penetrated his flesh, two arrows killed the driver. At that moment, the carriage wheels struck a rock in the road, causing the body to bounce and fly off as if nothing had happened.

The poor driver's body blocked the wheels, preventing them from moving forward.

On the other hand, numerous arrows from the trees pierced two of the escorts.

“No way! Another ambush? How could this be happening?!”

Suddenly, from the top of the hillside, next to the road, six bandits appeared with the sound of hooves, heading toward the caravan. Arrows stuck in the escort allowed the mounted bandits to approach without difficulty.

Two more guards were pierced by arrows, and another fell to the bandits in an instant. Only the knight cut down one of the approaching bandits with his sword. Two people emerged from the bushes to regain control of the riderless horse.

“Ramna! The carriage!!

“Ah…Y-yes!”

With Melbiana's urgent voice, the frightened maiden finally cleared her head. As if her previous fear hadn't existed, she quickly jumped out of the carriage and brutally kicked the driver's body out of the way of the wheels. And with the rear wheels unlocked, the carriage was able to move again.

Ramna then tried to climb into the blood-stained driver's seat, but her maid uniform was grabbed from behind forcefully, throwing her to the ground.

The maid's back hit the ground hard, and she lost all the air in her lungs. Out of the corner of her eye, Ramna saw one of the guards collapse to the ground.

The bandit who had knocked her down and was dragging her appeared before her. He had a vulgar smile on his face as he stared at her generous chest.

"¡¡ ...

At the same time, a painfully aching male voice was heard. When Melbiana looked in the direction of the voice, an incredible scene unfolded before her eyes that she couldn't even have expected: one of the guards behind Antonio had his sword thrust through one of the gaps in the knight's armor, his eyes wide open and his face twisting into a wicked grin.

The young daughter of a merchant who had never seen a chicken die in her life could only stare at the scene of the brave knight bleeding with horror in her beautiful pink eyes.