"So, why were you guys trying to escape?" Alan started the conversation, leaning into his mattress.
Seated across from him and Lucian, were the two girls.
Iris glanced at Julia, who in return offered a small nod.
"The emperor has a secret."
"A secret that made you want to escape?" Alan raised a brow.
"Well..." Iris sighed. "It's something you'd have to see to understand."
Alan listened silently, then asked. "Where were you two going anyway?"
"The demon's continent." Iris replied.
"Why the hell would you want to go there."
"Plenty of reasons." This time, Julia answered. "There are things I want to find related to my birth."
"Uh..." Alan squinted. "How does going to the demon's continent even give you the answers you're looking for?"
"I don't know...?"
"Are you an idiot?"
Julia let out a quiet huff as her shoulders dropped, her features pulling into a sulky pout.
"Wait, I didn't mean it..."
"Really?" Her face lit up again.
'Something is definitely wrong with her...' Alan shook his head, and turned to Iris. "And why were you going."
"Because she was." Iris confidently replied.
'Yeah, nah, something is wrong with them both.' Alan thought to himself, then slumped down on the bed.
Those two idiots didn't even have a good reason for escaping in broad daylight.
"Alan, isn't this good for us?" Lucian, seating beside him, asked.
"What, why would it be?"
"Because we are also going there...?"
"Oh shit, you're a genius!"
Certainly, the two girls in front of him were strong, strong enough that Alan couldn't guarantee a victory.
Especially Julia, at first, Alan heavily underestimated her due to her carefree and innocent attitude, but the moment she retrieved her soul weapon, Alan saw no chance of winning.
"You two are going there?" Iris asked.
"You two are going there?!" Julia asked, a little too excitedly.
"Well yeah, that's the plan." Alan lazily waved it off. "But I have to attend the fourth princess's age of coming ceremony..."
Alan trailed off mid-sentence, before his eyes blanked on Julia, the very reason of his prolonged stay was right in front of him.
"Wait, why the hell are you escaping when your ceremony is in three weeks?"
"That's..." Julia hesitated, and looked at Iris.
"Because she didn't want to go." Iris responded for her.
A familiar gloom settled over Julia once more.
"Why's that?" Alan asked.
"Well, there are a few reasons." Iris stated. "First, something that the emperor received a few years back."
"Huh."
"It was a simple piece of paper, that read 'Sixteenth year', and everyone tied it to her ceremony."
"What the hell does that even have to do with anything."
"The issue is, the letter was in the emperor's chambers." Iris looked at Alan. "And the emperor's chambers are impossible to enter for anyone but the empress consort, for such a message to be delivered, it was obviously intentional."
"But the thing is..." Iris paused. "He seemed to know who left that note, not just him, but also all three grand dukes did too."
"Oh..." Alan rested his chin on his hand, digesting all the information.
'Does this have anything with Alaric constantly telling his kids to attend the ceremony?' Alan asked himself, it was quite possible.
"So in conclusion, something is going to happen during that ceremony, is that right?" Alan questioned.
"Pretty much." Iris confirmed.
Alan looked at Julia, her expression was still dark, clearly there was something more, but Alan didn't press it, after all she didn't seem comfortable sharing.
"Alright I see." Alan nodded. "Although I'm pretty tempted to see this secret of the emperor."
"...Then why don't you come see it?" Julia raised her head.
"What?"
"What?"
Both Iris and Alan had the same reaction.
"Wait Juli! We can't just bring him into the royal castle like that!" Iris protested.
"Why not?" But Julia innocently asked back.
"Well..." Just like that, Iris was defeated.
"Is she, uh... always this trusting?" Alan carefully asked Iris.
"Yeah..." She nodded.
"Damn..." Alan shook his head. "But it's not a bad of an idea."
"What?"
"As you have said before, Alden and Alessia are already at the castle." Alan started. "Me and Lucian have to go there eventually anyway, so going a little early and seeing some stuff you're not meant to see wouldn't hurt."
"Seeing stuff you're not meant to would definitely hur—" Lucian interjected.
"Shut up."
"Well... I guess it's fine..." Iris slowly nodded.
"Yay!" While Julia celebrated.
Alan smiled, leaning back until suddenly, he shot up realising something. "Wait, why were there assassins chasing you guys, if you're the princess?"
"Oh that." Iris shrugged and lifted the robes she and Julia were wearing. "These robes completely block our features, meaning no one can tell it's us."
"Yeah..."
"And we suddenly broke out of the castle, in a suspicious robe, also within a wheelbarrow, so I guess the castle guards thought we were intruders and went after us?"
"So you pulled off that idiotic stunt, while fully aware how stupid it was."
"Well..." Iris glanced at Julia. "Can you blame me? It was her first-ever plan to escape."
"Why didn't you just expand the plan and improve it?"
"She seemed very happy..." Iris weakly muttered.
"Both of you have some issues." This time, Alan didn't hold his thoughts back. "Anyway, let's just go to sleep and think tomorrow."
The moment he finished speaking, Alan spun around and snuggled into his bed.
Copying Alan, Julia immediately rolled into the opposite bed, wrapping the blanket over herself.
Iris and Lucian were left standing for no reason.
"Uh..." Then came Iris's hesitant voice.
"What? Do these beds not please your noble blood?" Alan snapped, settling into his bed.
"No, it's not that..." How the hell was she supposed to explain there were only two beds, actually she didn't even need to, it should be common sense, Alan literally asked for two rooms.
"Let's just go to the other room." Lucian suggested, already walking towards the door.
"What! How can I leave Juli behind with this horribly suspicious man!" Iris yelled, frantically pointing at Alan.
"Uh, well..." Lucian glanced towards Julia.
Snore Snore
Dead asleep.
He glanced at Alan.
Snore Snore
Sprawled on the bed like someone knocked him out.
"They're both out cold." Lucian whispered.
"Yeah, let's just go to the other room." Iris sighed.
Click
The two walked out of the room, leaving the previously noisy space quiet.
After a long moment of silence.
"Are you awake?" Julia whispered.
"Nah." Alan replied. "It's a neat trick I used to do, to avoid getting scolded by my mum."
Alan giggled. "Why what's up, can't sleep?"
"No it's just." Her voice quietened as she murmured. "Thank you..."
Alan immediately caught the tone in her voice and rolled in his bed to focus on her.
Her back was turned to him, he couldn't see what face she was making, but he could sure imagine it.
His intuition was firing off, telling him not to pursue the conversation, and so he followed it.
He simply nestled into his bed, pulling the blanket back up.
"Don't worry about it." He casually responded. "Well, goodnight to you."
"Goodnight..." Julia whispered back.
...
"Wake up."
"Fuck off..."
"It's morning."
"It's the fucking sunrise."
"That is morning."
"I want to go back to my mom..."
"You need to get up for th—"
Alan chucked a pillow straight into Lucian's face before he finished.
"Let me sleep for once!"
"No can do." Lucian replied, holding on to the pillow. "Everyone else is already up."
"Huh? Ain't no way the princess wakes up this early..." His words stopped as he glanced behind Lucian.
Standing behind him were Iris and Julia, standing upright with their cloak artifact draped over their shoulder covering their clothings and wearing their respective blindfold.
"Why the fuck are you two awake!" Alan yelled.
"Discipline is important." Iris responded.
"So you can do more things in the day!" Julia replied, why the hell is she so energetic.
"I hate this... mom I miss you..."
...
"My my~ did you lot have fun yesterday?" The innkeeper giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hands.
"Why are you even awake, it's the sunrise."
"I'm the innkeeper, silly." She smiled. "I have to be there for the customers."
"Uh-huh." Alan nodded slightly, then tossed ten gold coins onto the reception.
Immediately, her expression shifted, staring at the money in disbelief.
"Yeah, go ahead and retire now."
"Haha." She laughed. "So you are a noble."
"Nah, I'm disowned."
"What about your friends, they are quite beautiful." She asked, glancing towards Iris and Julia.
"Hmm, well, this one's the princess." Alan gestured at Julia.
Immediately, in response, Julia smiled and struck a peace sign.
"Yeah... sure."
"Eh, not my fault if you don't believe me." Alan shrugged and walked out the inn.
Jingle
The bell chimed, signalling his exit.
Alan glanced up, the sky was still slightly dark despite the rising sun in the horizon.
"It's too early to go to the church..." Alan muttered.
Over the past seven days of their stay in the third district, Alan and Lucian regularly visited the church to check up on the four girls.
But it seemed like he wouldn't be able to check on them for a while now.
"So, we're going to the royal castle now?" Alan asked, turning back to look at Iris and Julia.
Iris gave a small glance at Julia, then nodded. "Yes."
...
"What the hell were you two doing yesterday?" The guard scolded Alan and Lucian the moment he saw them.
The group were now at the bridge separating the second district and the third, in front of the same guard Alan previously ran into.
"Uh... well, you know..."
"You came to watch the tournament, then somehow end up flying over buildings on a wheelbarrow?" The guard asked with an incredulous face.
"That's just how it ended up?"
"Alright, even if that is the case." The guard glanced behind Alan. "How the hell did you end up gathering a whole group of blindfolded people?"
"Uhh... that's just how it ended up...?"
"Hah." The guard scoffed. "I, at least know you have a reason for wearing a blindfold and somehow roped your servant into doing it too, what about these two? Who are they, the princess and the daughter of Caelis?"
"Ah...haha..." Alan offered a weak laugh.
"Forget it." He waved his hand. "Identification."
"Identification?" Julia asked back.
"No way..." The guard immediately spun his head to Alan. "Where the living hell are you finding these people."
"We don't have our identification on us." Iris calmly responded.
"What is wrong with all of you?" The guard muttered. "All four of you don't have a single ID?"
"Hey, speaking just hypothetically." Alan asked. "Would an ID matter if you were to, I don't know, run away from the continent?"
"Depends? Where are you going, the east or the west."
"The south."
"What the fuck." The guard immediately cursed. "No, never mind, my fault for expecting something normal."
"So?"
"Well, you definitely don't need anything for that place, it's practically chaos."
"You talk as if you've been there."
"Nah." The guard waved his hand. "I just know a guy who did, the man came back without his arm."
"Oh, interesting."
"How's that interesting?" The guard scoffed, then rubbed his chin. "If you do try to go over to that place, head to Kahl."
"Kahl..." Alan whispered under his breath.
Kahl, was the largest city that connected with the vast ocean, it was practically a port city.
"Yeah that city, well, other than just transporting goods from other continents, it's also a place you can find a ship to sail off on."
"Hmm." Alan slowly nodded. "Yeah, thanks, I'll check that place out."
"Yeah, no issues."
"Well, mind letting us pass now?"
"Hell no, who are they."
"Well it's the daughter of Caelis and the princess."
"Huh?" The guard paused instantly, his face scrunched in confusion.
As if on cue, Iris lowered her blindfold, revealing her burning golden eyes, along with her vertical pupils.
The trademark of the Caelis bloodline, just as iconic as Zevril's violet eyes.
The guard's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, you mother fuc—"