For an entire hour, Elric was at the mercy of six attendants while they dressed him in what seemed to be forty individual components to make up for some kind of ceremonial outfit.

It was a first for Elric. Though he was often dressed in different attire, it was usually in something that wasn’t even a third as complicated as this. Elric didn’t even want to leave the fitting room after the attendants left. Not with Flania ordering him to stay put.

The only time he rose from his chair was when the princess entered the room. He had to admit that the princess looked beautiful in her celebratory attire. As beautiful as it was, though, Elric wasn’t really sure how to describe the situation. After going through his own hell of being dressed, Elric could only imagine how unbearable it was for the princess to be dressed. Even that simple-looking style of curled hair—that 

had

 to take at least two hours to do. Was it really worth going through all that effort for this?

He followed the princess outside to where the other envoys were already waiting. Many of the envoys looked to Elric with envious eyes. His regal aura made even his friends jealous, especially Jerry, the one who wanted to become an aristocrat most.

Elric could only shake his head with a bitter smile. The price behind such beauty was not something others could easily understand without experiencing the inconvenience themselves.

The only one that understood and could relate to Elric stepped up to give him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder: the prince. Dressed up just as much as Elric was, the prince looked almost like a dumpling.

Such an action destroyed the air of nobility, thus earning him a withering glare from the princess.

Seemingly afraid of his sister, the prince immediately ducked behind Elric. Elric had actually thought about doing the same thing to hide, for the princess was equally as scary to him as she was to the prince. Hiding essentially became a reflexive action to Elric—even a single stare from her was enough to send shivers down Elric’s spine.

“Our first visit will be to the Temple of Triumph. His Grace, the emperor, will meet us there.”

Ah, so that was the plan.

Preceded by the paladins, the group began their route over to the temple.

Located at the heart of Waldsk, the Temple of Triumph was once the palace ruins of the ancient Magic Empire. During the Triumphant War, the Twelve Heroes led a coalition against the emperor and laid waste to the palace here. After the war, the ruins were turned into a temple to commemorate that war and the heroes were entombed in afterward. But peace didn’t last for long. The unity between the nations became more and more disharmonious, leading to the Temple of Triumph removing the tombs of every foreign hero. This in turn led to the other nations downplaying the roles of the other heroes while emphasizing their own. 

With history being told with different perspectives, every nation had their own retelling of the Triumphant War. Elric, for example, knew that there were twelve heroes, but he only really had an understanding of the two that originated from Sovereign (One of which being Charle’s ancestor).

Now that the temple was in sight, Elric noted with some excitement the twelve triumphant arches that preceded the temple. These twelve arches were all that was left to symbolize the twelve heroes on the Day of Triumph.

He appreciated each of the twelve arches. Eagerly, he studied the beautiful reliefs engraved on them. They were so magnificent that Elric swore to himself that he’d come back here in the future so he could properly study them.

At last, the group was finally in the temple. All they had to do was ascend the marble-white steps and they would be inside. Gathered at the very top of the stairs were the many civil and martial officials of the Karthian government.

Elric recognized some of these men, but not everyone.

The officials split apart to allow for a gold-robed man to walk through. Elric immediately recognized him as the current emperor of Karth: Hecaris III. 

The emperor slowly approached the Sovereignian dignitaries before coming to a stop by Flania. “Salutations, Princess Flania, and welcome to my nation. Should there be anything you find lacking, let my ministers know and we shall the preparations to make your stay here as though it is your own home.”

“The kindness of Your Imperial Majesty is greatly appreciated and welcome. I have loved everything your nation has to offer so far, and thus I extend to you my heartfelt thanks. May Your Imperial Majesty’s health be long and your nation’s prosperity even longer.”

Elric lost interest in the conversation between Flania and Hecaris III the moment it began. Eyeing the prince next to him, he noted that the prince was also extremely disinterested in the conversation.

The formalities finished soon enough. Turning his attention to the other dignitaries, Hecaris III began to warmly greet each of the dignitary before moving to the next. Elric was the only exception.

When Hecaris III stepped in front of Elric, he took two steps back from him as if to size him up. “This is the youngster that met your forbidden magic head-to-head?” He asked Kebrilio.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Kebrilio stepped forward.

“Oho—how extraordinary. Extraordinary indeed.” Hecaris III chuckled.

Scanning him from head to toe again, the emperor walked back to Flania. “I extend to you my congratulations. Your court bridal training for this youngster is most excellent.”

Court bridal training? What kind of joke was that? Elric found himself at a loss for words.

There it was. On Hecaris III’s face. It was that same unsmiling smile Kebrilio often had. Everyone had that look, even the officials. Some of them had looks as though they were trying their hardest not to laugh, though a small number of them were pointing fingers and laughing with one another.

There definitely had to be something off with him. Only two people amongst the Karthian and Sovereignian groups weren’t laughing. Flania and Madoshi.

His fear of the princess made him unwilling to go even near the princess, let alone ask her why everyone was laughing. Going near Madoshi wasn’t even a possibility. The magus was highly venerated and also very serious-looking, how could Elric possibly bother him for his own personal matters?

Just as Elric was about to resign himself to being forever ignorant of the situation, the prince quickly began to whisper into his ear.

“Elric, my sister was afraid of you causing another embarrassment for her. Thus she had you undergo a very particular training taught by our family. It’s the type of training all princesses must undergo if they must learn the customs of another nation in a short amount of time. It’s what we call the Court Bridal Training.”

“Elric,” He continued to whisper, “You’re fortunate enough to be the first male in history to complete the court bridal training. Ah, I’m jealous that your name will be recorded in history for this.”

If Elric had to describe his mood, it’d definitely be ‘despondent’. The previous embarrassment he thought he had finally escaped was nothing more than a prelude to an even greater humiliation. One that’d forever stain his name.

Still under the jeering eyes and pointed smiles of everyone else, Elric followed the princess inside the temple. Perhaps it was the serene nature of the temple, but Elric began to feel less stressed once in.

He studied the interior design of the temple as they walked through the halls. Karthian and Sovereignian architecture seemed to oppose one another in philosophy. Karthian architecture had multilayered designs that were complicated, but individually beautiful. Sovereignian architecture emphasized beauty of the parts to contribute to the beauty of the whole.

The main part of the temple was dome-shaped in design and occupied an area larger than even Crazy’s laboratory. But unlike Crazy’s laboratory, the decorations in this part of the temple were magnificent and the reliefs wholly stunning.

Gold and silver lines ran through one another in multiple intersecting lines to form beautiful patterns across the lapis lazuli-roof. Around the dome, twelve different reliefs were engraved, each telling the story of each individual hero.