Way of the Knights

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"Well, about that…"

Richard's voice caused the two's hearts to tighten, are they really going to have a problem before the sale? They've been working pretty hard for everything to go smoothly, it would be too depressing if the date will have to be moved.

"…I already sent the invitations, it's just that I am somewhat restless and anxious. With how things went for the Mort Family, I'm afraid that many people will just outright ignore our event."

Hearing his concern, Raven and Jacob heaved a long sigh of relief. It turns out that nothing went wrong, Richard was just having some jitters before the sale, which is perfectly understandable considering the scale of the events they're planning.

"If it's audience you're worried about then rest easy, I already made a pre-emptive move for that. In fact, we actually don't need that many people to see the showcase, even a few nobles with commoners will do. News of our deed will spread like wildfire anyway."

Raven's words aren't without any basis. If things go the right way, this event will be the grandest of all during the past century or so. It's not even an overstatement that this event will be even more historical than a coronation of a King.

"Master, what about our security?" Jacob asked, "With the decline of the pavilion, most of our guards and resident fighters withdrew as well. What are we gonna do if someone attacked during the event?"

"There's no need to worry about that as well." Raven replied, "Once you see the people who will attend the event, you will know that no one will dare to even have any ideas about attacking. Just focus on concocting, I've got the rest covered."

Richard and Jacob sighed in reverence when they heard his words. Sure Raven was a mere teenager but his tactical knowledge heavily surpassed them, it's like he had been doing this things for a long time now and completely grasped every possible loopholes that could be exploited, making contingency plans for it in advance. His always a couple of steps ahead of them, like he could somehow see the future.

Of course both of them wondered just how he was able to do all of this, but since Raven wanted to keep it a secret, then they won't force the issue. It was not their place to meddle anyway, they had been completely convinced that with him taking charge of the pavilion, transforming it to become an absolute overlord would only just be a matter of time. Deep down, they started wondering. What would be the pavilion's fate if he never interfered? They would probably be forced into a very miserable place right now.

Thank the gods that they sent him here to give them a ray of hope.The three talked for some more, after making sure that everything's on their proper place, he left the pavilion under a disguise once more and returned to his cave dwelling. It was almost night time when arrived, he did some light exercises before sitting down and disappearing. Raven arrived once more at the crown space. Even though he has an important even tomorrow, that's not a reason to postpone his daily training. Night quickly passed and in a matter of hours, the grand event will commence.

***

Invitations had been sent, those who were addressed at the letter properly received it and read its contents.

Richard had personally hand written each letter, he tried to express how it would mean the world for him if they could spare a tiny bit of their time to at least attend, what might be their final sale for the pavilion.

Some sympathized with him, those people were most likely merchants who felt the pain of seeing their efforts go to waste. Bankruptcy had always been the worst nightmare for business people. The bigger their achievements were, the more they are terrified for the eventual decline. What goes up, will eventually come down, all of them knew this but very unwilling to accept it.

Some people were skeptical, these people were the ones who were badly affected with the previous display of the Mort Family. For some reason, they were expecting that Richard was in cahoots with Alfred and were highly afraid that what transpired a few days ago will happen once more. If this was true then they rather not attend since they were still having nightmares about what happened.

Some people were more interested. These people weren't as affected by the death of Alfred but instead more interested about the hidden conspiracy behind it. They could still remember how Alfred exposed all of his misgivings about the Mort Family and his last words for Richard. Somehow, they could tell that something was up, and that it's very unlikely that what Richard said in these letters were completely true.

"What are they trying to accomplish here?" A middle-aged man thought out loud. He sat on the middle of a large and luxurious room. Fancy chandeliers hung on the ceiling, the tables are made out of precious white jades, the chair that he was sitting on was made out of Elderwood Narra and had crystals embedded on it's edges.His sword-like brows were pressed together, his piercing obsidian eyes tried to see through the contents of the letter that he was holding. After a while of inspecting, he failed to truly understand the underlying meaning behind the letter. He sighed and rested back against the chair, he closed his eyes for a while, trying to relax for a bit since it was evident that he had been rather stressed during these past few days.

This man is Balmung, current Crown Prince of the Final Haven Kingdom. Resting at his office at the Royal Palace.

*Knocking*

Balmung was briefly startled by the knock on his door, he fixed himself up and said:

"Come in."The door opened and revealed two people. One was an old man wearing a rather simple clothing, somewhat unfitting to theme of the room they were currently in. Nevertheless, he carried himself with grace and dignity. Usually, the servants and guards of this place will never allow anyone like him to enter this room, but this old man had a frightening identity so they don't dare to slight him even for a bit. This old man was Magnum Lee, the current King's most trusted aide and also the guardian of Luna.

The other person with him was of course, Luna. If any of her friends were here, they will discover that she looked rather different. Her previously long and black hair has now turned golden, her charming face became even more pronounced, her obsidian eyes also turned golden as well, and her expression dignified. She also became somewhat taller and slimmer as well. On the middle of her forehead, lies a white diamond shaped mark that shimmer when light touches it. There was no doubt that she was akin to a fairy visiting the mortal world. This is Luna's real appearance, her previous look was a disguise she made to hide her identity so that she won't be in any danger. This is what Raven always sees whenever he looked at Luna with his ocular technique active.

"Luna, Grandpa Lee." Balmung greeted as soon as he saw them, "Fancy seeing you here." He was thoroughly surprised to see them both in here, usually it was him along with his guards who visits them and not the other way around.

"You jest, Your Highness." Old Lee chuckled, "We're already exposing ourselves in at least 10 dangers by coming here."

"And you don't even appreciate it." Luna commented while rolling her eyes on the side. This caused Balmung to tense up and smile wryly.

"Oh come on you guys. You know that's not true." He explained nervously. "I am always looking forward to your company! You can't even imagine how lonely I am in here."

"There he goes again, trying the pitiful act. You won't fool anyone with that!" Luna grinned mischievously.

"Come on Sis, you know-"

"Alright you two, stop that already." Old Lee chuckled while shaking his head, "The servants will here you bickering, you best behave or else your dad will do it for you when he comes back."

The two froze when they heard Old Lee's warning, they composed themselves and acted like nothing happened. Luna sat on one of the unoccupied chairs while Old Lee closed the door behind them and proceed to stand behind Luna.

"So, anything we need to know?" Luna asked.Balmung hesitated a little bit before passing the letter to her. Luna picked it up and read it, there was an unnoticeable glint in her eyes once she saw this. She also passed the letter to Old Lee who was puzzled instead.

"This is… strange." Old Lee commented, "Does Your Highness plan to go?"

"I'm currently thinking about it." Balmung replied.

"I'd say you go." Luna said which made the two look at her strangely. Luna wasn't really inclined to comment about private affairs and most of the time keeps her thoughts to herself. But now, she didn't even hesitate to speak her thoughts about this letter, which totally strange.

"Don't misunderstood." Luna explained rather calmly, "The reason why I wanted you to go is because I'll be there as well. Anne will act as the Hostess of the event, that's the mission she received. Let's attend to give her some moral support."

Hearing her explain like this erased the suspicions on their mind. In the end, Luna managed to convince her brother to go.. Without them knowing, Luna heaved a sigh relief, at least she managed to fulfill her part in this.