Alastair and Aldrich joined up with the prince's entourage a few miles outside the city. Before they got to them Alastair gave Aldrich a quick summary of who they were meeting. The seventh prince of the seventh ruling dynasty in Warbrühm. He gave him as much exposition as he could before the royal carriage came into view.
Riding alone in front of the larger than life carriage the prince must be in was a knight in pitch black armor. It looked nothing like any armor Aldrich had ever seen. The Warbrühm kingdom was quite far from Yves after all.
The knight didn't respond verbally to Alastair's greeting and only gave a quick acknowledging nod. A head stuck out from the carriage window, looking around quickly before making eye contact with Aldrich. It was a young man with messy gray hair, bright amber eyes and most notably a weird marking of some sort on his left cheek.
He smiled warmly. "You two must be from Yves. Please, join me in the carriage."
After that he pulled his head back in. Aldrich looked over to his father, who gestured for him to go. Meanwhile he would stay outside and ride along side. Aldrich got off his horse and handed the reigns to his father before nervously opening the carriage door and climbing in.
He took a seat opposite the prince and one other passenger. A young woman in a short black dress and white fur coat. More Warbrühm clothing choices Aldrich wasn't familiar with. Even the prince's armor seemed more fashionable than functional. She clung on to the prince's arm and gazed at Aldrich disdainfully as he settled in as much as he could.
Aldrich cleared his throat before attempting to be as respectful as he possibly could. "W-welcome to Yves, your royal highness. I am Aldrich, from the Order of the Rose."
"There's no need to be so formal!" The prince said with a hearty laugh. He leaned over and shook Aldrich's hand a bit too vigorously. "I am Shans Dmitri Konstantin VII, just call me Shans."
"And this lovely lady right here is Rakshasa." He gestured to the woman sitting beside him, who was still looking not too fond of Aldrich. Then he leaned in and whispered. "Don't be put off by her cold glare, she's really quite warm once you get to know her!"
He leaned back with an loud sigh, placing his left hand on his thigh and his left on Rakshasa's. She gave him a quick sideways glance but didn't say anything. "So, my new friend, tell me all about yourself."
x
"Well...," Aldrich started, trying to shift backwards in the seat even more so they wouldn't be so close. "I'm from the Order of the Rose, as I said earlier..."
Shans interrupted him. "You say you're a knight and yet... you lack power don't you. Or virtue, as you Yves people call it."
"H-how did you..."
"I'm a good guesser." Shans replied, with a wide grin. "How curious, a person completely without Virtue. Especially since the man outside, who I assume you are related to, does have one."
He folded his arms, thinking. "Completely devoid of power, no wonder Rakshasa isn't too fond of you. Not even inside the city of wonders yet and we've already stumbled across quite the anomaly. Could this be... a sign of good luck to come?"
"More like a bad omen." Rakshasa rebutted. Her first words since Aldrich had joined them. Her voice was just as icy as her glare, almost making him shiver.
"If I am bad luck then maybe I should ride outside..." Aldrich started, trying to extricate himself casually.
Shans patted his shoulder, shoving him back into his seat. "Don't get your hopes up Rakshasa. You know I don't do bad luck."
Rakshasa smiled, her b white teeth extremely visible in the dimly lit carriage. It was an eerie sight. "There is a first time for everything. Ah... I can already taste it..."
Aldrich shifted to the side farthest away from her. Shans leaned in once more, and whispered as if she couldn't hear everything anyway. "You'll have to forgive her. She's just been looking forward to eating my heart for a while now."
"Oh, okay..." Aldrich replied. "Wait, what?"
But the prince hadn't heard him. He had shifted his attention outside the carriage, they had almost reached the towering gates of the city. He let out an amazed laugh at the sight. "Incredible, these walls are as grand as I heard."
They rode through the gates in silence, with Shans sticking his head out the window, Rakshasa looking directly at Aldrich and Aldrich looking anywhere but at her.
The city streets were especially noisy at this time. A bit too noisy, Aldrich noticed. There was some kind of commotion going on outside.
"Something seems to be going on outside." Shans said, sitting back in his seat. He knocked on the carriage wall and called out to the coachman on the other side. "Stop the carriage for a second would you."
Meanwhile outside Alastair was trying to locate the cause of all of it. Someone had just shouted 'thief!' a second ago. Followed by 'stop him!'. He sighed, this was not the right time for petty crimes. He spotted a suspicious man running from that general direction with something clutched to his chest.
With a flick of his wrist, Alastair brought a twisting vine out from the ground to entrap the man. But surprisingly the man was not so easily caught. It took him a second to register what had just grabbed his leg but he quickly recovered and burnt through the vines with flames from his hand.
"Tch, a flame virtue." Alastair thought aloud. The man ran past Alastair's horse, narrowly slipping past his attempt to grab him with his own hands. The thief was almost home free when the door to the prince's carriage swung wide open, and he rammed face first into it at full speed. He fell over, the purse in his arms flung into the air and landing at the feet of Alastair's horse.
Shans looked out the open carriage door, his hand still on its handle. "Is there a problem?" He asked Alastair.
"It seems you handled the problem." Alastair replied, dismounting his horse and picking up the coin purse.
Shans grinned widely, clapping his hands together. "Perfect, on to the castle then!"
x
After returning the coin purse to its owner and handing over the thief to some passing knights, Alastair finished escorting the prince to the royal castle.
He still had his own matters to attend to, so once they were there he left the prince and his... companion, in Aldrich's care. Aldrich wanted to object but ultimately just kept silent and accepted his fate.
He led Shans, Rakshasa and the knight in black armor through the castle halls towards the throne room. Once there Shans and the knight went in while Rakshasa opted to stay outside, with Aldrich. Aldrich gave her an amiable smile she didn't bother returning.
Meanwhile inside, Shans greeted the king loudly. "Greetings your majesty! I am Shans Dmitri Konstantin VII, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. And this right here is my ever-so-trustworthy guard, Ymir."
The king returned his sentiments. "It's quite unusual for royalty to travel all the way here and compete, especially with such little security."
Shans shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm only the seventh prince, they won't miss me that much."
"I must warn you though, prevailing in this tourney will be no easy feat. Are you quite sure about fighting yourself?"
"Not only am I quite sure," Shans declared, placing his hand on his hip. "I plan on taking all the glory. I don't do second place. You can bet on that."
The king laughed airily, amused by the prince's confident boldness. "Very well then. I look forward to seeing how your specific skills translate onto the battlefield."
While Shans and the king continued to exchange pleasantries, Rakshasa had closed the distance between her and Aldrich. Getting a little too close for comfort to him.
"W-what are you doing." Aldrich asked, backing up. Up close he could see just how pale her skin was. Was she even human?
She sniffed at him, and then wrinkled her nose. "You have a peculiar smell. Almost completely masked behind the overbearing stench of roses, but not quite. It smells like the he-..."
"And who is this?" A voice from behind Aldrich asked. He jumped, startled by its sudden appearance. It was Veliona, he hadn't noticed her walk this way. He was happy she was here though.
"Veliona!" He exclaimed. "This is Rakshasa, from Warbrühm. Rakshasa, this is princess Veliona."
Rakshasa took a few steps back. "Greetings, your highness."
Veliona nodded quickly in response. "Nice to make your acquaintance. Uh, Aldrich. Could I borrow you for a minute."
"Of course!" Aldrich blurted out, a bit too fast. He cleared his throat and tried again, but slower. "Of course, princess. Please excuse us Rakshasa."
Aldrich let out a sigh of relief as he followed the princess away from the throne room doors. Once Rakshasa was out of sight Veliona stopped walking and turned to him.
"Shouldn't you be doing more... productive things with the time you have left?" Veliona asked.
"I-it's not my fault! My father assigned me to escort the prince."
Veliona folded her arms. "The seventh prince... To think that he was allowed to travel all the way here to compete in a knights tourney, instead of just sending any random knight."
She sighed longingly. "I wish I could participate as well..."
Aldrich let her have a moment of silence before asking, "Was there an actual reason you called me away?"
"Nope." Veliona answered, shaking her head. "You just looked like you needed some help. I know how socially inept you can be."
Aldrich wasn't sure whether to thank her or protest.
"Anyway, I'm off. Be careful around that one will you." She told him before starting to walk away again. A few steps later, she paused. "Oh, and Aldrich?"
"Yes?" he replied.
She looked at him over her shoulder, a serious look in her eyes. "Don't you dare lose immediately. You're competing for both of us after all."
Aldrich laughed nervously in response.
"I'm serious. I'll kick your ass if you do." She stated blankly. Then added in a lighter tone. "I'll see you later, say hello to Levi for me."
Then she left.
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