A delighted Elric stood beside the table with all sorts of delicious-looking aliments on it. He was already holding a plate, ready to pile all sorts of food on it when he heard the sound of someone familiar to him cough once right beside him.

The food already in his mouth suddenly felt difficult to swallow. What kind of punishment was the princess going to give him this time? What if the princess decided to send him back to Hughesin’s side?

There wasn’t any emotion to be found on her face when Elric turned. “Put down your food,” Her voice was as cold as ice, “follow me.”

Elric complied, his head hung low and his food left forgotten behind him as he followed the princess. As they walked away, the four observers began to think about what they had just witnessed. 

As they thought, Elric was a man of importance. Rumors from the Kingdom confirmed for them that Elric was a peon for Princess Crazy. If he was here working for Flania, then surely Crazy must’ve loaned him to her niece like a tool. Powerful magi was a boon for any nation, and even Hecaris III thought about a way to secretly bring Elric over to the Empire (Kebrilio was getting on in the years and Hecaris III feared for him having no successors). Elric, as a magus, seemed like a worthy successor, but not if he already held allegiance to the Sovereignian royal family. It would be difficult to sway Elric from them, and he highly doubted that Princess Flania would be foolish enough to relinquish such a powerful and loyal peon over to a foreign nation. 

Hecaris III had to suppress a sigh from escaping his lips. A magus that could stand toe-to-toe against an entire squadron of paladins, shrug off ultimate magic, and even be willing enough to dress as a woman as a honeytrap. He was envious of another nation having a jack-of-all-trades and a powerful asset. A jack-ass, if you will. Why didn’t he have one of his own?

The emperor came to a decision. This jack-ass wasn’t his to use and control, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t think of a way to manipulate the fool for his own purposes. The princess of the Sovereign Kingdom would need to be brought into the fold for him to accomplish that, but Hecaris III was already thinking of a way for Princess Flania to remain in the Empire as a tool for him to use.

Marriage was the easiest method and would easily repair the bonds between the Kingdom and the Empire. Nothing about the princess seemed to indicate her being unwilling to accept such an outcome, but truth be told, the emperor felt nothing romantic toward her. His true interest was with someone else, not that he’d choose to marry Flania if he didn’t. 

Now, if Elric was truly a woman, then Hecaris III would say he wouldn’t oppose such a marriage, then.

Thinking about that, the emperor began to think of an alternative. If Princess Flania remained in the Empire as a hostage, then his goals would be much easier to achieve.

Meanwhile, a nervous Elric awaited Flania to say something like a criminal awaiting his own sentencing. He was at least comforted by the silence of the lengthy walk from the crowded hall into a small and private room where the rest of the dignitaries were gathered.

“As I thought, this fool turns into a buffoon the moment he lays his eyes on any aliment.” The princess threw her hair back. “He’d betray an order of mine if it meant being able to eat one bite more.”

Goosebumps appeared all over Elric’s skin. Her words were a prelude to something dangerous. As he stood there, silently panicking to himself, he heard his friend Jerry speak out on his behalf, “What punishment does Your Highness find appropriate for Elric, then?”

The princess swung her arms wide in a magnamious manner, “Punishment was never a consideration. Do as you are told, Elric, and you won’t need to worry.”

Her words brought out two contrasting reactions. The stress accumulating in Elric’s body disappeared at once at her words while Jerry slumped, disappointed. Recently, Jerry was having way too much fun watching poor Elric be pushed around so much. Just watching him crossdress was hilarious enough.

A sheaf of parchment was passed from Belladonna to Elric detailing the script of tonight’s performance. Elric took it in silence and began to flip through it to read. The script outlined the four’s journey to the Forest of Illusion for their exam and had all sorts of details removed and added, the biggest changes being made to the wolf, Vantus. In the script, Vantus was written to be like a heroic saint that rescued the four when they were accosted by ‘terrifying’ thorn dragons. When all hope seemed lost, the mighty wolf saved them from the jaws of death and even became a mentor to the four afterward. 

Upon reading the script, Elric concluded that he had never seen so many lies written about himself and his journey. It was almost insulting.

But what could he do about it? He’d be in deep trouble if he found out it was the princess who wrote the script after voicing his complaints. He’d still be in trouble if the author ended up being Charle. For the sake of his own peace, it was better that Elric didn’t say anything.

If there was one thing he was pleased about, it was the amount of lines he had to read. Even after reading the script thrice over, Elric couldn’t find any line that’d require any effort in memorizing. If anything, Elric only really had to say things such as ‘oh no…’, ‘whyyyy’, and ‘run awayyyyy’. 

The author of the script must’ve took his circumstances into consideration and delegated him to an extremely minor role with little to say. Even a fool with nothing but air in their head could memorize these lines.

Not a bad outcome, all things considered. Not having many lines to say made practice swift and easy. An attendant came into the room during their break, announcing that it was time for the memorial. Together, the group followed the attendant out from the palace and into the pine forest behind it.

Traversing through the trees, the group eventually made their way to a tremendous stage made of basalt. Twelve pillars two-meters tall protruded from the outline of the stage to reach toward the sky. A twelve-point star was created from the beams that traveled from one pillar to another, allowing for the sun to shine down upon the stage and produce a sight most magical.

All around the stage, Karthian aristocracy lined up along one another to await for the rite to begin. Several people were already on the stage; primarily the central figures of the greatest authorities in the Empire. 

There was only one person Elric didn’t recognize. An elderly man short in stature and slender in physique that stood on the far right side. Grizzled hair grew out from both sides of the man’s face and connected at the center to form a long beard that traveled beyond his neck. The elderly man had eyes sharp as an eagle and possessed frazzled hair more white than black. 

Emperor Hecaris III stood in the center of the line, and to his immediate left and right were Prime Minister Somiret and Archmagister Kebrilio. Hughesin was also amongst the few on stage and stood to the left side of the prime minister. To the right of Kebrilio was a mountain-of-a-man that almost looked like Hamon. Elric didn’t know his name, but the man was still recognizable to him as being the leader of the Paladin Order.

Everyone aside from Hughesin had stern expressions on their faces. The duke, on the other hand, looked restless. His head was constantly swiveling from one area to the next as if searching the crowd of people for something. Elric knew straight away what it was the duke was searching for. Who else did the man love other than himself? The answer was simple.

Unwilling to meet the duke’s stare, Elric looked away, though it was a wasted effort. The duke had only interest in finding Fantasia instead of Elric. Anyone else other than her was basically just an eyesore.