"I came to warn you."
Elira spoke with a solemn look on her face, and at those words, Kael frowned.
He questioned, lowering his voice to match Elira's.
"This all went out of proportion."
"I do not understand. What happened?"
[Can you hear me?] Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire
Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head.
It didn't come from any particular direction, it just… rang in his head. It was as if he had high-quality headphones on and was talking to Elira on a call.
Seeing Kael's reaction, Elira got the answer to her question and then continued,
[Do you remember when I told you that they are throwing a party for your safe return and mission's success?]
Kael nodded at those words.
Even though he was still wondering how the Court Mage was doing that, for now, he decided to focus on what actually mattered.
[I didn't know every major force from Nerathis was coming today.]
Kael's expression changed.
[This isn't just a small gathering to celebrate your victory, it's a gathering to show you off to the rest of Nerathis. You are being presented as the ray of hope. I was told that this was supposed to happen in a year. I do not know why this is happening so early.]
"Supposed to happen in a year…?"
Elira momentarily turned silent, and then,
[Drakthar is the strongest and the most balanced Kingdom in all of Nerathis. This was the reason you were summoned here instead of other Kingdoms. You were only supposed to stay in Drakthar for a year.
In this year, we were going to assess your talent and help you grow accordingly. Once we had a good idea as to where your talents lie, you would have then been sent to a Kingdom specific to those talents and grow there.
If your talents were related to Magic, then you would have been sent to the Magic Empire, Xenthalor, together with your Magic instructor, me.]
Elira revealed. Actually, she seemed quite excited when she mentioned her going to Xenthalor.
The relationship between Xenthalor and Drakthar was not the best, so usually, she could never visit the Magic Empire. However, if she were to go there as the Hero's instructor, that changed everything.
"So if they are here…"
Kael muttered with a confused look on his face.
Were they here to take him away?
He had barely settled in here. Now he needed to settle in some other Kingdom?
'What am I? A fucking vagabond?'
He couldn't help but curse in his head.
Elira, however, shook her head.
[Normally, that shouldn't be the case.]
Kael stared at the woman with a frown.
[We never knew that you wouldn't know what your talent would be. It was something we were supposed to find out the moment you were summoned.
There was no need to 'assess' it.
Drakthar had no reason to keep you. Normally, we should have found out about your talent and sent you to the respective Kingdom.]
Elira answered, and Kael turned silent.
Politics was always the same no matter the place, even if the said place was a world that was supposedly facing a threat that could very well mean the end of it.
What surprised Kael the most, however, was the fact that even when he was at the very center of politics, he didn't feel nervous like he normally should. He was taking it very calmly.
'Even I changed, huh…'
It was a small moment of realization, which was soon interrupted by the Court Mage's words.
[The Drakthar Kingdom kept you here as a status symbol. To prove that we are the strongest and we have the resources to train you just as well as the so-called 'specialized' Kingdoms.
Giving you away when not even three weeks had passed would ruin the Kingdom's image. It is highly unlikely that the Kingdom would allow it.]
Kael spoke. He knew that, unlike Elira, others could hear him, so he was keeping his sentences as short as possible.
[As I said, they are here for you. To see your progress, to evaluate you.]
Elira's tone then turned solemn, and,
This will bring a lot of attention to you.]
Kael's face nodded at the Court Mage with a solemn look on his face.
Elira wanted to continue, but suddenly, Kael noticed another wave of hush fall over the hall. It was similar to how it happened when he came here. Instinctively, he turned towards the doors, and there, his eyes fell on an extremely handsome man who had just walked in and grabbed all the attention.
The man had long purple hair and purple eyes, showing that he was from the Drakthar Royalty. He carried himself with a grace and nobility that surprised even Kael, who never cared about these things.
He was wearing a deep crimson high-collared coat, adorned with beautiful gold embroidery of dragons and ancient runes. Beneath the coat was a pristine white silk tunic with gold buttons. With his presence alone, he radiated an aura of command and nobility—an aura that, without him doing anything, was quite overpowering and made the other nobles around bow their heads.
[That's the Crown Prince, Edric Dragonborn.]
Elira informed, and the Hero nodded.
He knew that already. With how much he had read about the Royal Family, it would be surprising if he didn't.
And finally seeing the Crown Prince he had been hearing and thinking about all this while,
After all, this man was a possible enemy.
Kael's eyes turned golden, or so he intended to, but,
Elira warned him, knowing what he was going to do.
[Assessing people's abilities is frowned upon during such gatherings.]
Kael nodded in understanding as he stopped himself. He saw as the Crown Prince walked in and was instantly swarmed by the nobles trying to impress him in one way or another. The Prince answered them with a gentle smile on his face.
A few minutes later, once he had answered everyone who came to greet him, the Prince's eyes fell on Kael.
'A person born to be the King, hard worker, never received his father's love, overshadowed by his sister in every possible way, his position as the next King came into jeopardy because of his talented sister.'
He thought about everything he knew about the Prince and suddenly,
'I kind of feel bad for him now.
I'd probably start my villain arc if I was in his place too.'
Kael thought sarcastically as he stared at the Prince coming towards him. Of course, even when he joked around, in his mind, this man was an enemy.
An enemy who could one day hurt his Igni and Cirri. Thinking about it in such a way, Kael steeled his heart and prepared to meet the Prince.
The Prince called out.
Kael greeted, and in an instant,
"It is Crown Prince Edric."
Yes, this was how the first meeting between the overshadowed Prince and the Hero started.