370 Meeting the King
Cain sat down to drink tea with Noel and her mother, the maid who poured his drink had her hands shaking. If even one of the queens was allowing his presence it only meant he had quite the power behind him.
“How’ve you been doing?” Cain asked as he looked at Noel.
“I’m doing fine, just arrived here a few days earlier and I’ve been bored. Have anything interesting?” Noel replied with a smile, this wasn’t her first time facing Cain so she was relaxed contrary to her mother who was sweating.
“Noel mind your manners, he might be exhausted from the trip.” Her mother glared at her.
“Mom, he gets exhausted? He won’t even feel such a trip.” Noel stared at Cain with a grin.
“You’re right, it was just a week after all.” Cain stretched his arms.
“A week from Furberg to here? You must be joking.” Noel’s mother thought he was joking.
“Well, we could have come faster if Zaleria hurried a bit. She wanted us to have a comfortable trip.” Cain took a sip from his tea. Noel’s mother recognized Zaleria as the dragon her daughter was talking about.
“Wait, she is here?” Noel gasped at Cain, for some reason she thought he would just teleport to the capital or something. She never expected that a creature as dangerous as Zaleria is already within the capital’s walls.
“Are you sure she won’t cause any problems? Just in case…” Red dragons are known for their temper and anger, it wouldn’t be strange if Zaleria killed someone who pumped into her. Noel’s thought rationally.
“Don’t worry about that, she is more rational than most humans,” Cain said the truth, even if Zaleria was a red dragon, she had amazing control over her nature.
“I see you’re having fun with my wife and daughter.” They heard the deep voice of a man speaking. When Cain turned around he saw what he could only describe as an old lion.
The man was tall and muscular yet his exquisite garment made him look noble. That long hair and thick grey beard and eyebrows. Life glimmers in his honey-colored eyes.
The maid behind him rushed to give him a chair to sit on.
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<Name: Baltos Lior Ruris><Race: Human><Level: 12/20><Exp: 47555/120000>
<HP: 180/180><MP: 60/60><SP: 192/192>
<Strength: 18><Dexterity: 12><Constitution: 16>
<Intelligence: 12><Wisdom: 16><Charisma: 12>
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“You seem to have gained some weight Baltos, you should start swinging your blade again,” Cain said sipping his tea.
The king snorted, “Mind your own business, you’re just a bag of toothpicks and blood.”
“You’re right, even I should train a bit.” Cain laughed.
Hearing the two of them laugh together like them made the guards sweat buckets. This man has just insulted the king yet it was seen as a joke, this was no ordinary meeting.
“Shall we get down to business then? I would like to get this over with quickly. How is she doing?” Cain glared at the king.
“We don’t really know…” Baltos replied with a sad and pained face. “She used to cry in her room for hours from the cold, yet in those last days she started walking out and practicing with her bow and sword.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Cain asked, as per the king’s words, the princess was improving.
“Her personal maid has told us, she is in even much pain. She just wants to spend her last days doing what she like the most.” The king said with a sore face.
“If the source of her ailment is magical, spending that magic should make her better.” Cain said but quickly changed his thoughts, “No, she is using a bow and a sword, that won’t consume any magic and will only exhaust her, making her condition worse.”
“Then what you suggest we do?” Noel said with a concerned face, she clearly cared a lot for her half-sister.
“Have you tried to burn her with embers?” Cain asked if cold was the absence of heat, adding more heat should help ease the symptoms a bit.
“We did but to no avail, we even tried boiling water bath but it ended up frozen the moment she went in.” The king replied.
“I see, then I will need to do a closer inspection to get a grasp on her condition. Depending on the case, the cure but not be easy to endure, and neither will the examination.” Cain said to warn them beforehand, he might even resort to using Zaleria’s fire magic.
“She should be in the training ground, do you want to see her?” The king asked with a serious face, Cain might be the last hope for his daughter’s survival.
Cain stood and then turned toward the king, “Can we two talk in a private room for a second?”
After getting a private room, Cain stared at Baltos. “I won’t be treating her alone, I might need to imply the help of three people.”
“If you picked them then they are trusted.” The king immediately replied, that he has gone through a lot of troubles and this was nothing.
“The first one is William’s daughter and my wife, Alice Furberg. She is quite adept with healing magic.”
“William’s daughter? The one you first healed, congratulation on marrying her. That sly bastard has beaten me to you!” The king grinned, he knew of Cain’s value as a weapon and William’s move of creating a political relationship with Cain was smart.
“Thank you. The second one is Zaleria, the red dragon you heard of. As you might expect, she can offer more heat than embers and boiling water.”
“I can see her use, if we had the luxury to use a dragon flame we would have done it.” The king replied. Countering cold magic with fire magic was as ancient as the magic itself.
“The last one I’m afraid you won’t like, it’s a bit complicated. If you refused her presence, I will just delete this part from your memory. But know this, she is a person that no amount of wealth or political power will help you employ.” Cain said menacingly.
“Speak up, who is the person I can’t employ besides a raging dragon?” There weren’t many people who would refuse a request from the king.
There wasn’t any reasonable way Cain would hide her necrotic magic so he had to make it clear from the start. “She is an ice witch, should be an expert in the magic hurting your daughter. On top of that, she is a lich.” Cain said it straight, there was no sugar coating it.
The king took a step back and sat on a chair, “The archmage and her students would instantly notice her.” He said.
“Exactly, that’s why I’m asking you here,” Cain said, this was all Bela’s fault for being bad at hiding her necrotic magic.
“Fine, I will find a way. I don’t mind her participating.” The king agreed, he would even jump to hell if it meant curing his daughter.
Cain stood up and smiled, “Then lead me to her, I will do an initial examination now and we’ll see. I hope we find nothing serious.” By serious, he meant a life-threatening and incurable condition. Alice’s condition was serious as she needed an extreme solution that turned her into a true devil.
The princess’s name was Isbert Silver Ruris. Her mother was from the Silver family which is the descendant of the ice hero Absolute Zero. That is why are given the family name of Silver, the hero’s famed name.