Kapitel 3: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Royal Court, Kingdom of Naxos, Continent: Barat, the Year 2041, Planet: Grimoire

Three hours after departing the Bellonia Empire, the crown prince's entourage encountered difficulties. He surveyed the boundary gate where the guards were resisting his departure.

"Sir, this isn't the best time to go chasing after a ghost," one of the guards insisted frantically.

Dekert sighed. "The man I'm after isn't a ghost," he growled in acute disgust. "Do I really have to explain what I'm doing again?" His temper was about to explode.

The pursuit wasn't going well, much to Crown Prince Dekert's increasing aggravation. None of his people wanted to allow his departure, and half of his group hadn't even wanted to be there in the first place! Not only that, but he had to put up with a hostile attitude from a cousin who wasn't even part of the bloodline registry anymore.

Whose brilliant idea had that been? Dekert was exasperated. He shook his head in rising irritation. Never mind that. What should he do to get the guard to let them through?

"Sire, might I make a suggestion?" Chester Jesso wasn't pleased with the mounting delays.

Dekert supposed he understood why. The man's twin brother was actively hostile and uncooperative, so this whole situation probably came across as a massive waste of time to him. At last, Desert sighed. "Sure, I'll listen to what you want me to hear you out." He had nothing to lose at this point other than more time.

Chester nodded in relief. "My brother, Firenze here, has some cloaks with appearance-altering qualities," he explained patiently. "You could use one, as there are plenty for all of us."

Huh, Dekert could see where this was going. "Just how long will this work?" He looked directly at Firenze.

For a moment, Firenze didn't respond. He stared off to their left with a frown. Then he blinked and looked over at the crown prince. "My pardon, what were you speaking about?"

Dekert was annoyed, but he set that aside. He'd deal with this insolent lout later. "How does the cloak work to disguise one's appearance?"

Firenze regarded them in silence. "First, you have an image in mind of what you want to appear as, and then you infuse mana into the cloak's spell." He tapped the runes inscribed into the material.

Well, that seemed simple enough. What did he want to appear as? Dekert studied the faces of his entourage as he considered his options. He really didn't want to be too ugly, plain, or hideous. However, he didn't want to come off as too effeminate either, like that one pretty boy, Grifton Tinroy.

Firenze eyed him coldly but refrained from saying anything.

Dekert finally came up with an idea that he thought would work. He held the image in his mind securely and infused the mana into the cloak after donning it.

There were low whispers and gasps as his entourage watched the magic take effect.

"Well, you certainly don't appear as the prince we know and obey," Carmichael said, appearing amused.

Firenze's face darkened with anger, but he didn't comment.

Dekert felt that Firenze wanted to throttle him. That's too bad; in this case, he could do whatever he chose.

With his example, all the others chose different appearances to take on once their cloaks were donned. It was effortless this time when they attempted to leave through the gate again. The cloaks were very effective indeed. Dekert glanced at Firenze. "Should I assume that your partner, Tinroy, was the one who inscribed the runes into this?" He needed to get his hands on such a creative individual for his personal gear.

Firenze shook his head. "No, those were made by other party members who are no longer alive." He shrugged. "We all have our personal skills. Inscribing runes into clothing isn't one of mine." He also didn't give his partner any credit for those cloaks.

Huh, that was disappointing. Dekert knew how much Tinroy's creations were in demand. He'd hoped to find something that had his personal touch. He may be able to do it in the future. "Fine, let's continue on our way." They'd wasted enough time trying to leave the boundary of the Bellonia Empire.

Several hours later, the group was exhausted. That dragon knight had led them on quite a wild goose chase. He'd left red herrings all over most of Barat, much to the rising ire of the crown prince, who'd gotten drunk, cursed all of them, and then gone to sleep off his alcoholic indulgence.

As punishment for wasting the great crown prince's time, the entourage was forced to work shifts with the guards. Currently, Chester Jesso is on the night shift with his twin brother, Firenze.

Of all the times for his twin to be such an asshole, now wasn't the greatest. Chester stood near a crackling fire. He was clad in a brown vest, black pants, and boots. He held a beige knapsack. Even his wings were out, and he hadn't fully completed his griffin transformation, much to Firenze's annoyance.

Violet eyes glinted with anger as Chester fumed in disgust at their situation. He was not a happy camper right then.

"So why did you think we should stop here?" Chester growled at Firenze.

His twin's shoulders hunched slightly before he responded wearily. "I saw him earlier when we were at the boundary gate."

His eyes were icy with anger when he glanced at Chester. "He was watching from a distance," Firenze startled Chester with his response. "I have no doubt he'll go around remarking all the areas we trampled when searching for him." His voice was matter-of-fact when he informed Chester of his suspicions.

Chester began sputtering furiously. He couldn't believe his ears. This timing was just so like Firenze, and it was the worst. "So, what you're saying is that he's been very close this entire time?"

Chester noticed a unique fragrance that was very faint and enticing. To say that it disturbed his senses was an understatement. He was distracted, and right now, that wasn't a good thing.

On the other hand, his twin didn't find this situation even remotely inviting—the complete opposite, in fact. "If I'm reading the signs right," Firenze grimaced. "Yes." He clearly did not like the scent at all. "It is overwhelmingly surrounding us now and has been for a while." He shivered with disgust.

Unbelievable, Chester wasn't sure why he was so surprised that Firenze could recognize what was happening. Maybe it was because he had a dragon for a mate? Did his mate even pull this kind of territorial marking shit? Frazzled, Chester shook his head in aggravation.

If there was one thing that Clarence learned to recognize, it was the signs of intruders in his territory. What annoyed him even more was that he recognized at least one of those intruders. "What the hell is that fool crown prince doing outside of Bellonia?" he growled in aggravation. "Isn't it enough for him to continually attack the Republic of Shantu?"

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