Chapter 47: Envoys of the blue
(5/7/1515)
"I see them."
"Yes, ring the bells."
"RING THE BELLS!"
"Open the gate! Ring the bells!"
A little less than a month has passed since the demon invasion incident.
Life had returned to the Sungrade city of Oren, and the people had retired to their daily lives as well.
The younger ones who couldn’t finish the Proof of Worth previously were tested internally, however, instead of being sent away upon failing to get a satisfactory result, the family was bringing in new changes to their ever-old traditions.
Things were changing in the Sungrade. But, this festive atmosphere that was unusually brighter had remained the same this time as well.
-Karrrrrr...
And the reason for this holistic cheerful brightness was the caravan at the gates of their city.
"SIIIIIIIIIIDE!"
The carriages bearing a flag of the sigil with a , the legendary beast representing the Serulians of the South, had arrived in the city.
They brought with them a militia of thirty knights who entered on their unique mounts, six carriages that had the envoys from the Serulians, twelve mages of (Level-4), three High Mages of (Level-5) and a hundred foot soldiers who marched with the blue banners.
They were here at the invitation of the Sungrades. And for the people who understood the feud the two families had, this was nothing less than a joyous occasion.
"Inform the family."
"Yes, m’Lady." Lady Markeet stood at the wall as she watched them enter through the front gates with their lavish carriages and their boastful flags of gold and blue fluttering in the air.
At the head of the six carriages was one adored in white gold, and sitting inside of it, undoubtedly, was the witch that almost harmed her children.
"Tsk." Lady Markeet knew she could not move against that person even if she wanted to, so she clicked her tongue for now and walked downstairs from the watchtower atop the castle.
They found evidence of the faceless manipulator’s connection to multiple incidents that happened in the Sungrade, but nothing that connected them to the White woman.
She was clean in the eyes of the evidence, but as a mother, Lady Markeet knew it in her heart that the one behind this whole thing was none other than that witch.
"Mark."
"We should just do this and get it over with."
Lady Markeet and Lady Emilia, along with Flora and a few other servants were present to greet the envoys from the south.
They did not like it, but they had to do it. However, at the very least, their citizens were having a good time thanks to these unsightly foreigners.
"She sure is good at putting up a farce." The Ladies couldn’t help but click their tongues when they watched their happy citizens.
They weren’t even refusing the money and gifts from the Serulian soldiers. The entire city was going to enjoy the hundreds of thousands of gold worth of gifts brought by the enemies.
"She’s just playing her usual games." Neither Lady Emilia nor Flora liked that person.
Every time the Serulians came to the Sungrade territory, they would bring riches and grains and wines and offerings to win over the common folk.
The feud between the two families was well known throughout the empire and beyond, but they knew how to get more people on their side.
Sungrade had their methods, and the Serulians, one of the richest families of the six continents, knew exactly how to spend that great wealth of theirs.
"People already worship her as a saintess–."
"Saintess my feet. That bitch is a demon."
The two ladies did not like dealing with this particular woman. However, in the absence of the First Lady of the Patriarch, the rest of them were the only ones in the house that could deal with her properly.
"She believes for a fact that we have nothing on her. She came here to shove it in our face." Lady Markeet ground her teeth in frustration.
The enemy had arrived not as an alleged criminal, but as an envoy.
They denied knowing anything about the Faceless Manipulator, and instead of being offended by the ’false’ charges, they offered to talk things out between them.
And since the Faceless Manipulator was already sent to the imperial government in the capital, the matter was out of either of their family’s control.
What they needed to do now, on the surface, was to talk things out as peacefully as possible.
But that would have only been the case if anyone other than that woman had come to represent their family.
"The envoys of the Great Blue are entertaining!"
The gates to the central castle were opened and the people from South walked in with a lady with ashen white hair, milk-white skin, and lightest blue eyes in the lead.
Accompanying her was a younger boy in light armour carrying both a wand and a blade.
His hair were white as well but had a hint of purple at the end like his late father.
He was the youngest child of the late Serulian Patriarch and the White Lady. The current head of their family, his ’new’ father, being nothing like the people that birthed him.
Personally, he did not like any of them.
But, as a member of this family, he had no say in what was right or what was ought to be done for the good of their people.
"Welcome, Lady Melisandra. It is a great honor to make your acquaintance."
The first person to greet the envoys was the commander, Lady Markeet.
"It is good to see you once again as well, Mark~. You look just as young as the first time I saw you~."
Her voice was cheerful but the first time this woman saw her was when she was covered in her people’s blood on a battlefield.
She had not liked her since that very moment.
"Great, then. You’ve had a long journey. We will show you to your chambers and we can begin our talks-."
"Oh, no no. There is no need for wasting our precious time, dear~. We should begin our talks immediately."
The white woman, wearing a white dress like always, smirked down at the commander with her face hidden behind her decorated fan.
"We apologise, m’Lady but our Lord isn’t here at the moment. If you could just wait until dawn-."
"Oh? Lord Sungrade isn’t here? How unfortunate..." She spoke in a sad voice but there was a certain smugness in her eyes.
Lady Markeet could already tell this witch already knew about the Lord’s absence.
Perhaps, she had planned her arrival around his absence in the first place.
"Well, I’m certain the great lord must have appointed someone as his spokesperson, right? We can still begin our chat, if I’m right.
You see, we must leave for a nearby city immediately. I heard there was a big disaster there just a couple days before."
She needed to go and help the people in need. She had her justification.
And she was right about them having an appointed spokesperson as well.
"I understand then. Please allow us to escort you inside. We will prepare for your talks immediately."
Lady Markeet was a military head of this state. She knew her duties and she knew how to put them above her own hatred for a bitch.
She wasn’t the amateur knight errant that was covered in the blood of her men on a barren battlefield.
She was now the Lady of a great house, as well as the mother responsible for many others.
"Greetings, Lady Melisandra."
"Greetings, m’Lady."
Flora and Lady Emilia accompanied her and Lord Rainin into the castle, looking after them until they were seated in the discussion hall on the upper floor.
It was a closed area, so aside from the people directly representing the families, no one, not even the guards were allowed in here.
"Will the spokesperson need some time? We won’t be waiting for long, you know that, right, Lady Lia?"
The white woman took a sip of her warm tea while sitting as if she were in her own house.
Her son stood behind her, simply watching everything with his hollow eyes.
"Oh you won’t have to." Lady Emilia wasn’t the one who answered her question. It was Lady Markeet who just opened the door and stepped aside.
"Apologies for being a little late. I was in the middle of teaching Elder Van."
The one who entered after her, the voice that the white woman heard, belonged to someone young.
To be precise, someone that seemed a little too young.
"Allow me to introduce you to the one chosen by the Lord Patriarch himself."
He had a distinct shade of blue hair and an unmistakable pair of red eyes.
"This is Prism Von Ignasia Sungrade, the youngest natural born Son of the Sungrade Patriarch, the Lord of Fire, the chosen representative for this discussion, a rightful heir to the eastern lands of Sungrade, and a proposed Lord under the watch of the Supreme Throne."
This was the very person she wanted to have killed in the first place.
"How are you doing today, m’Lady?"
Prism smiled at her warmly while Felix took her place in a corner of the room.
Nyx was resting in his essence card right now so, they were playing it safe against this woman.
’She isn’t an easy target to deal with.’
Prism knew her too well.
If she was sitting here so carelessly, even his surprise appearance wouldn’t make a dent to the plans she had already made.
"I see."
She was vicious enough to use anything to get what she wanted.
Something as simple as his surprise appearance was never going to stop her or her ambitions.