Chapter 434: A Temporary Member Of Blessed Land

She remained bowed with her breath trembling in the heavy quiet of the office.

Silas sat in silence for several long seconds, letting her words breathe in the room.

He reached up, running a hand through his dark hair and rubbing the back of his neck with a long resigned sigh.

"Raise your head, Princess," Silas said gently.

The Princess slowly lifted her face from the desk, her azure eyes red-rimmed and wide with uncertain hesitation.

Silas looked at her with a wry smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I’ll make an exception for you," Silas said, shaking his head. "You can stay in the Blessed Land for one week but make no mistake... this isn’t a free vacation. You are going to pay for your lodging, your food, and the security detail required to keep you from getting yourself killed."

The Princess’s eyes lit up with an overwhelming burst of relief.

Before Silas could even blink, the blue-haired royal shot up from her chair, lunging across the desk and grabbing both of his hands with ecstatic gratitude.

"Thank you! Thank you, Lord Silas!" she cried, her porcelain face beaming with radiant joy. "I will pay whatever fee you name! I have access to private vaults worth hundreds of millions of credits! I will transfer the funds immediately! In fact... if credits are insufficient, I will gladly offer you my body as collateral! I will serve you however you wish—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Stop right there!" Silas frantically yanked his hands back, his face flushing with sudden flustered embarrassment as he held his palms up defensively. "Nobody is buying or selling bodies here! Dial it back about ten notches, Princess! A standard credit transfer for room and board is more than enough!"

Standing to his right, Aurelia crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a long sigh as she rolled her golden eyes toward the ceiling.

’Unbelievable,’ Aurelia thought with a frown touching her lips. ’He was sweet-talking me and holding my fingers a few minutes ago, and now he has a princess throwing herself across his desk offering her flesh... Does this man flirt with every single woman who crosses his threshold, or is it simply an involuntary reflex?’

At the doorway, Morwenna let out a loud derisive click of her tongue, sheathing Tidebringer with a heavy clatter.

"Tch. Look at the Captain collecting another stray. You’re lucky you have a big fortress, Silas, or we’d be sleeping on the roof."

The Princess flushed a deep embarrassed pink, realizing how undignified she had sounded, and quickly sat back down in her chair, smoothing her rumpled skirts and clearing her throat behind her silk fan.

Silas cleared his own throat, adjusting his sovereign tunic to regain his composure.

"Right. Now that we’ve sorted out the royal hostage situation..." Silas muttered, turning his gaze toward the open hallway behind Morwenna, "...why don’t I call in our resident eavesdropper?"

Silas raised his voice, calling out toward the corridor with an amused smirk. "Talira! You can stop pretending to inspect the outside. Get in here."

Morwenna smirked, stepping aside and pulling the mahogany door completely open.

Standing sheepishly in the hallway, caught red-handed with her ear barely an inch from the doorframe, was Talira.

The Ancient Crimson Dragon was currently in her humanoid form.

Her skin was flawlessly pale, contrasting sharply with the vibrant fiery crimson locks that cascaded in wild, silky waves down to her waist.

Her sharp, reptilian eyes glowed like molten rubies beneath delicate brows, and resting against the small of her lower back were a pair of sleek, scaled crimson wings that fluttered with subtle nervous agitation.

Realizing she had been discovered, Talira cleared her throat, stood tall, and stepped gracefully into the office.

She offered a crisp formal bow to Silas, her crimson hair spilling over her shoulders.

"Good morning, my Lord," Talira greeted. "I was merely... ensuring the security of the upper landing."

"Sure you were," Silas chuckled.

Sitting in her armchair, Thor’s storm-blue eyes instantly locked onto the crimson-haired dragon woman.

The God of Thunder sat up straight, a ferocious grin stretching across her face as she inhaled deeply, catching the unmistakable scent of primordial dragon-fire.

"Oho!" Thor’s booming voice filled the room, her eyes sparkling with pure, unbridled excitement. "Look at what we have here! The blood of the ancient flame itself! Tell me, girl... are you interested in stepping into the ring for a proper spar with the God of Thunder?"

Talira blinked, her glowing red eyes narrowing with instinctual draconic pride.

"Naturally, I’ll hold back my divine output so I don’t turn you into cinder," Thor added with a boisterous wink. "But I haven’t crossed fists with a pure-blooded Crimson Dragon since the great crusades! Let’s see what the last daughter of the red brood is made of!"

Talira’s brow furrowed. She crossed her slender arms beneath her chest, her wings flaring slightly as she clicked her tongue with haughty annoyance.

"I accept your challenge, deity," Talira answered, her dual-harmonic voice rich with draconic arrogance. "After all... my own Lord is apparently far too busy managing ledgers and entertaining royalty to spar with his own Dragon."

She cast a sharp, side-eyed pout directly toward Silas.

Silas let out a nervous chuckle, a large sweat drop forming on the back of his neck as he raised his hands in surrender.

"I apologize, Talira. I was just checking out the reports just now... I promise I’ll make time for combat drills this weekend."

Talira gave a small satisfied huff, her crimson wings fluttering with pleased amusement.

"GWAHAHAHA! I love the spirit!" Thor roared, slapping her armored thigh. "A dragon with fire in her belly! That’s what I like to see!"

Morwenna stepped forward from the doorway, her stormy gray eyes flashing with dangerous battle-hunger. "If we’re opening up the sparring ring, count me in too. I’ve been itching to test my saber against her for a while now..."

Silas nodded, clapping his hands together with a decisive nod. "Alright, that works out perfectly. We can begin immediately."

Silas raised his right hand, snapping his fingers once. "Aeli!"

POP!

A swirl of radiant starlight mana parted the air beside the desk.

Aeliana materialized instantly.

The elven Archon of the Stars stood with pristine grace as her violet-gold eyes looked upon Silas with boundless devotion.

"I am here, my Lord," Aeliana purred softly, offering a graceful curtsy. "How may this humble servant assist you?"

Silas smiled warmly. "Thor, Morwenna, and Talira want to hold a full-contact sparring session. I need you to escort them down to the subterranean training vault beneath the Keep and deploy your isolated sub-space barrier so they don’t bring down the foundation of the fortress."

Aeliana tilted her head, a playful sweet smile curving her delicate lips.

"Of course, Lord Silas. I would be more than happy to deploy my spatial dome for a fight... however, such an advanced spatial expenditure requires proper motivation."

She leaned forward over the edge of the desk, pointing a slender, manicured finger to her porcelain forehead. "A kiss of encouragement from my Lord, if you please."

Silas let out an amused laugh, shaking his head. "Come here, you."

Aeliana stepped closer, leaning down with her eyes closed and a breathless expectant smile.

Silas reached out, gently cupping her chin, and planted a firm affectionate kiss right in the center of her smooth forehead.

Sitting in the guest chair, Thor let out a loud teasing scoff, resting her chin in her hand with a wide grin.

"GWAHAHAHA! Look at that! Kisses on the forehead are reserved for proper couples, lad! You’re running a sovereign domain, not a romance novel!"

Aeliana’s porcelain cheeks instantly flushed a brilliant shade of crimson.

She pulled back with a flustered squeak, smoothing down her robes in a frantic attempt to regain her dignified archon composure.

"I-I shall transport them immediately!" Aeliana declared in a high hurried pitch.

With a sweeping flick of her hand...

VUUUUUUM... FLASH!

A blinding sphere of starlight mana enveloped Aeliana, Thor, Morwenna, and Talira simultaneously. In the fraction of a millisecond, all four women vanished into thin air, leaving the office in peaceful quiet.

Left behind in the office, Silas turned his attention back to the blue-haired royal maiden seated before him.

He looked over her attire, then gestured to the various crystalline relics resting on his desk.

"Now then, Princess," Silas began, leaning back in his chair. "Since you’re going to be staying here for a week, we need to assess your defensive capabilities properly. What other armaments and protective gear are you carrying under those silk robes?"

The Princess sat up straight, eager to prove her preparedness.

"I possess several high-tier defensive items woven directly into my undergarments," she explained, reaching down to the hem of her pale silk tunic.

Without an ounce of hesitation, the Princess gripped the edge of her embroidered shirt, lifting the fabric all the way up past her ribs to expose her smooth porcelain midriff, revealing an intricate, leather-and-mithril harness strapped tightly around her slender waist and right hip.

Mounted directly upon the hip-plate was a pulsing barrier generator etched with defense runes.

"This generator can deploy an omnidirectional forcefield capable of absorbing up to three direct strikes from a Tier-4 siege beast." she noted proudly, turning slightly to display the runic wiring along her hip.

Standing to Silas’s right, Aurelia’s jaw slowly dropped.

The Saintess’s golden-amber eyes darted from the Princess’s exposed milky-white stomach to Silas, who was leaning forward, squinting with deep concentration as he inspected the runic engravings on the metal plate near her hip bone.

’Perverts...’ Aurelia thought, her cheeks burning as she glared daggers at the side of Silas’s head.

Silas, completely oblivious to Aurelia’s silent mental prosecution, nodded in genuine appreciation.

"The runic power on that hip-plate is solid," Silas commended, leaning back. "It’s a well-engineered piece of tech but silk robes and a light waist-harness aren’t going to cut it if you’re walking the perimeter walls. The wind alone will freeze your ribs, and a stray shard of shrapnel could bypass that field."

Silas stood up from his desk, smoothing down his charcoal tunic.

"We’re going down to the foundry to have Thora forge you a proper set of lightweight, enchanted traveling armor and we’ll get a set for Aurelia while we’re at it."

The Princess lowered her shirt, smoothing down the silk with a satisfied nod.

Silas looked at her, his eyebrows raising with sudden curiosity.

"By the way... do you actually know any form of personal self-defense? Any martial arts, blade forms, or unarmed combat styles?"

The Princess froze.

A flicker of panic flashed across her azure eyes.

As an unawakened royal, she had spent her life attending diplomatic lectures, tea ceremonies, and finance seminars... She had never held a sword in her life.

But desperate not to disgrace her lineage in front of the Lord of Blessed Land, she quickly stood up, setting her feet in what she believed to be a fierce imposing stance.

"Of course I possess martial knowledge!" the Princess declared boldly. "I have studied the grand physical arts of the elite Knights!"

With a sharp dramatic shout, the Princess threw her right leg outward in a high sweeping roundhouse kick aimed at the empty air.

"HAAAH!"

Unfortunately, lacking mana to stabilize her center of gravity, and wearing smooth silk slippers on a polished wooden floor, her left foot immediately lost all traction.

WHOOSH...THUD!

Her support leg slipped completely out from under her, and the Princess went crashing down onto her rear with an undignified squeak, her limbs sprawling across the plush woolen rug like an overturned turtle.

Aurelia covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter and Silas stared down at the sprawled royal maiden for two long seconds.

"Did you..." Silas began, his lips trembling as he fought back a massive grin, "...did you literally just try to perform a spinning kick you watched on television?"

The Princess sat on the floor, her entire face, neck, and ears turning a brilliant shade of scarlet.

"Pfffft—" Silas couldn’t hold it in.

A loud wheezing chuckle escaped his chest, quickly turning into a full, hearty laugh as he shook his head in amusement.

"Oh man... that was magnificent. Come on, Your Highness. Let’s go get you some armor before you injure yourself on the carpet."

HUMMMMM!

Deep the Keep, inside the training vault, the air suddenly tore open with a brilliant flash of starlight mana.

Aeliana, Thor, Morwenna, and Talira materialized simultaneously upon the cold, dark-granite floor.

The underground vault was vast... easily two hundred yards wide and vaulted with massive rune-inlaid stone pillars capable of withstanding a lot but Aeliana did not waste a single second allowing them to admire the masonry.

The elven Archon of the Stars planted the base of her hand firmly against the center of the chamber, her violet-gold eyes glowing with cosmic authority.

"Dome!" Aeliana chanted, her melodic voice echoing through the vault.

VUUUUUUUUUM!

In less than a fraction of a millisecond, the physical walls, the stone floor, and the granite pillars dissolved into an infinite blinding expanse of pure white sub-space.