Chương 268: Departing from Castle Reinhard (2)
Maintaining his tranquil expression, Lord Archibon replied, "I will continue to try my best, Your Highness, so rest assured. Please be safe out there on the battlefield."
"I will," Elizabeth replied solemnly.
"Your Highness, it's time to depart," Sir Winstin interrupted.
She nodded and said her final farewells before boarding a lavish carriage. Accompanied by many other carriages, soldiers, and bannermen, it was a grand royal procession, fit to send royalty into battle! The carriage doors closed as Elizabeth and her aunt settled in. Sir Winstin hopped onto an armored horse and signalled to the rest of the convoy. With a majestic steed, immaculate plate armor, and an oppressive presence, he took the lead. On cue, horns played and Arcanists released flashy magic into the air. Boom! Amidst a myriad of blinding colors and deafening sounds, the gates raised and the procession moved out! The next second, the streets exploded with volcanic activity as the massive crowds started cheering, hollering until their throats dried! It was so loud that the buildings were shaking, and even Elizabeth had to cover her ears. She was finally entering public eye and in such a high-profile way too!
As her carriage entered the main street, she was dumbfounded and speechless. The amount of people present was mind-boggling! Not only were the streets jam-packed to the point of solidifying, but even the side streets were occupied! Children clambered onto shoulders to watch, while shorter folk grabbed boxes to stand on. The buildings on the main road had dozens leaning out of every window, as every room was sold out at a premium, and the more adventurous individuals applauded from rooftops. It was insane! Streamers, banners, flags, and all manner of patriotic material were strewn out. Some were tamer, cheering for the Alzar Kingdom and Elizabeth's triumphant victory. Others were crasser, shouting to exterminate the Xingyuu Empire or slaughter the Imperial Princesses. The chaotic atmosphere strained thousands of soldiers to keep order.
Elizabeth thought she had seen it all. Coming from New Havens, where the population was a few hundred, every moment spent in the Alzar Kingdom was a novel experience. When she stepped into Corasen and Algard for the first time, Elizabeth was blown away by the fact that millions lived here. That number was staggering, equivalent to several thousand times New Havens's population! However, hearing was one thing, but seeing was another! Currently, how many people were present? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Maybe hundreds of thousands? She had no idea! Everywhere she looked, swarms of people filed her sight. Despite her training, being the center of everyone's attention made her pale and queasy. Elizabeth felt her vision darken and her stomach turn. She was going to be sick!
"Calm down, Elizabeth," her aunt said gently, while resting her hands on the girl's hands. "Take a deep breath and relax. It will be okay."
The girl closed her eyes and calmed her frantic heart. When she opened her eyes again, her muscles were still tense and her brow was drenched in sweat, but at least she felt better. It took her a minute to recover yet the carriage barely managed to move through the busy streets of Algard. In fact, Castle Reinhard remained visible behind! Elizabeth took another look around and felt trepidation. This was the Alzar Kingdom! Last she saw anything like this was half a year ago, right at the start of the new year, when she made her first appearance as heir apparent. The crowds back then were absolutely on par to the ones right now. However, travelling through the hordes of people or staring at them from afar were two diametrically opposed things. This was a thousand times more intense!
"Do you want to greet them or stay like this?" The windows and curtains offered a unique one-directional view. It was next to impossible for outsiders to see inside, but the opposite was not true.
"I will greet them," Elizabeth replied slowly as she revealed a bright smile. Light flooded the carriage and she waved to the masses. This caused another tsunami of excitement, shaking the carriage, street, and buildings again like a small earthquake! Elizabeth felt bitter inside. The journey to Corasen's harbor was longer than she thought!
Meanwhile, it was not just the commoners looking at her. From his personal quarters in Castle Reinhard, Prince Ranir was also observing. Prince Ranir was the oldest son of Queen Bethnal, so by tradition, he should have been king! Unfortunately, man proposes, and god disposes. The heavens were cruel! What should have been his, his brother Prince Dannark inherited. Prince Dannark then later abdicated, passing down the crown to King Harth. King Harth then was defeated during the Battle of the Millennium, forcing Lord Korogin to take the reins. And the rest was obvious with Lord Korogin then passing away at the final battle with Emperor Lianghu, passing Elizabeth his dying wishes. Now, Elizabeth was the heir apparent of the Alzar Kingdom, the chosen candidate to become queen regnant! All the while, Prince Ranir was left in the dust, forgotten by the sands of time.
"That filthy bitch is going too far!" Princess Rosia, his daughter, shouted indignantly. "The throne should've been ours! Why does she get to take it, but not us? I can't stand it!"
"It is a bit unsightly," Prince Belmond, his son, added. "But don't worry because everything is going as expected. There's no way the Royal Assembly or the Grand Nobility Households would let her ascend to the throne. It's nothing more than a dream for her."
"Hmph. It's good that the bitch is heading to the battlefield. Our grandmother finally realized how useless and pathetic that bitch is! I hope she gets killed over there!"
"If you want, we could stoke the fire. Maybe she'll be involved in an 'accident' and die."
"That's a great idea, brother! Who should we get for the job?"
"Shut up!" Prince Ranir roared angrily with a frosty face. "Don't you have any decorum? Talking about the heir apparent, if you weren't royalty, then your heads would have been rolling already! Don't mention nonsense like that in my presence again!"
He was not saying it to really defend Elizabeth. Rather, it was truly dangerous to slander the heir apparent, much less threatening to harm her. Do not forget what happened to her a few months prior. She was abducted within these very walls by the Whispering Shadow's Second Hand! They were able to bypass dozens of security checkpoints and safeguards without a trace that it mystified everyone. Of course, how could anyone believe that 'Lord Wenmord' used a special perception altering spell to grant them near-perfect invisibility? And that it could affect Elizabeth just by touching her? Or that Captain Julian and Vice-captain Julie were fully healed after their tough battle? All this showed how extraordinary and unbelievable Lord Wenmord's methods were! Consequently, both the Royal Family and Royal Assembly began placing stricter and stricter restrictions and guidelines for Castle Reinhard and its inhabitants. Since everyone was looking for a target to pin their suspicions on, Prince Ranir was not about to willingly offer up his head and become someone else's scapegoat.
"But father…" Rosia pouted. "These brawn for brains won't do anything to us. They're glorified slaves, see?" She proceeded to violently kick her Protector, but the man remained rigid and inert, almost like a statue. "What's the problem?"
"Sis is right," Belmond yawned. "What a shame that my Protector is a man. If it was a woman…" he laughed lewdly. "If I could lay my hands on uncle's Protector, I'd give her a night she'd never forget," referring to Prince Dannark's Protector, Lady Valentina Weiss, one of the kingdom's three strongest knights as a toy!
Despite their obscene and rude comments, the three Protectors did not react at all. They really did resemble statues with their passive expressions! Even Sir Roland Hawken, Benedict's father and Prince Ranir's Protector said nothing, and this was the proud patriarch of the Hawken Household, one of the twenty-five Grand Nobility Households in the Alzar Kingdom! Who could have imagined that these legendary or invincible Royal Guards would be treated as lowly slaves or playthings? But that was the reality of this world. Only at the top can one see the grandeur of the world. Only the chosen royalty can look down on everyone with disdain and laugh! Everyone else, no matter how great or powerful they were, unless they surpassed their masters, they would only end up as servants. Be it the human world or the grand world beyond, this was the universal truth! Power was king!
How did I father these two ungrateful bastards? Prince Ranir's expression blackened further. It seems I need to severely discipline them afterwards, he thought. Taking one last glance at Elizabeth's carriage in the streets, he shook his head thinking, Princess Elizabeth… You have no idea how frightening Queen Bethnal can be. I'm afraid that this is all part of her grand plan. To not notice it and willingly walk into the trap, you're young, too young… Hopefully you don't end up in too much despair.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
DivineFifteen
DivineFifteen I realized there was a discrepancy between who was the eldest child of Queen Bethnal since I repeatedly switched between Prince Dannark and Prince Ranir. To clarify, Prince Ranir should be the older one, NOT Prince Dannark. However, Prince Ranir was passed in the inheritance line for Prince Dannark, who later abdicated (this is written in the chapter above). Moving forward, I will try to keep this correction in mind. Sorry for any confusion!
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