As the hour was already late, many of the guests had already left and the stable only held a few horses and carriages, of which theirs was the most eye-catching.
"Oh dear, haha! Who was the one who suggested to bring such an eye-catching carriage again?" Yurian laughed.
"Who else but his Royal Highness? Seriously, you would have thought to bring a more discreet carriage…" Sylvester muttered as he crossed his arms.
"Well, I wanted to show the prestige of the Auglarus country if someone wanted us to prove our identities," Alistair sighed. "Look at the crest! Look at the brilliant design and colours! Who could have known that the camouflage spell would malfunction the moment we exited the spatial gateway?"
"Well, ask your mighty father to fix the gateways then. What if something more serious happens, like a partial teleportation?" Sylvester shrugged as they walked to the golden carriage. "The technological standards of Auglarus have seriously fallen…"
"We wouldn't have fallen so badly if Auglarus and Clomodor were still trading actively on talisman and spell notes." Alistair grunted as he hauled two heavy luggage off the carriage. "Tensions have been high lately, so the country's starting to preserve the remaining stockpile. Sylvester, please replace the camouflage spell and increase the strength. Perhaps an illusion spell too, to give it a more subdued image."
"Aye, sir."
"But…what do you guys think?" Yurian placed his finger on his lips as he asked.
Marianne leaned against the carriage as she looked curiously at Yurian. "Hmm? What do you mean?"
Yurian scratched his fluffy hair. "Young Master Quille…can he be trusted?"
"Although he was acting like a total douchebag, didn't you hear him give his promise?" Marianne reassured him as she tilted her head kindly. "Would a noble of Clomodor break a promise with the aristocrats of all three kingdoms and the Moon Saint?"
Alistair raised his hand, and everyone kept quiet as he scanned the surroundings for any presence.
"It's safe. Sylvester?" Alistair gestured his friend to voice his opinion.
Sylvester pressed his lips into a hard frown. "He can be trusted, although he is no simple man. Henrik is extremely wise and cunning. He far surpasses his father in terms of his business acumen. In fact, if he did not appreciate Marianne, he would never have helped us, even if I were the third prince of Clomodor.
"That is how powerful he is, and how flippant, too. However, Henrik is not a person who will break his word, for he cherishes his reputation very much, as does any businessman from the House of Quille. I am pretty sure he went that far just to secure a promise from the Moon Saint, so Marianne," Sylvester grinned, "You're not as useless as you think."
"Alistair must have met him before too? After all, both of you are in the upper nobility circles of your respective kingdoms," Yurian asked.
"I've only met him once when the Duke of Quille visited Auglarus with his son as an envoy. I didn't realise how twisted he could be, even though I have heard rumours of how he left several girls crying from his rejection," Alistair sighed. "He must have hit them hard with his spittle and venomous gaze."
"That's why I didn't want to speak with him," Sylvester shrugged.
"And you let me speak with him without telling me all these?" Marianne slapped Sylvester's head angrily.
"Well, you were quite enthusiastic, so I thought I'd let you try…Good job, good job," Sylvester patted Marianne's short bob gently as she shook off his hand roughly. However, the overall impression Marianne gave off was more like a fluffy dug shaking its head rigorously, ambitious but helpless.
Next up, Libitina meeting the main characters!
Creation is hard, cheer me up with your beautiful comments :D maybe some stones too