After waking Lara up, Ros scolded her but he wasn't truly angry at her. He knew this would have happened sooner or later. She just accepted it, letting Ros talk.
"Why are you here out of all places, anyway?" asked Alex curiously.
Lara looked at him for a moment as she recalled the reason why she was in this tavern.
"I was thirsty. I didn't think it'd be a problem," she muttered, eyes down. "Sorry."
The party had left their supplies back in the carriage, as they didn't really bother taking it with them. They were leaving in a day at most.
Ros sighed as he reminded, "We need to get to the inn now. It's already nighttime."
Alex nodded and Lara stayed silent, she wanted to explore more, but there was no choice.
While things calmed down in Zaragoza, unrest brewed in the heart of Aeloria.
In Aeloria's capital, a woman with flowing pure white hair watched her father from the shadows of the cold, dimly lit throne room.
King Clovis II sat on his throne, resting his cheek on his fist as he looked down upon the people.
A line of about ten nobles and high-ranking officials of the Empire stood before the King, each waiting for their turn to speak.
Because of their high position, they were permitted to enter and speak with the King as the council decided.
One of the men stepped up, he bowed down on one knee as he held his arm to his chest and spoke respectfully:
"My King. It would be most appreciated if you could address the situation of Elanor. Things are escalating quickly and it might bring trouble."
Silence hung over the room as the man brought up such a topic to the famous and powerful King of Aeloria. He truly was brave.
The King gazed at the man, sending chills inside his whole body even when he wasn't making eye contact with him.
King Clovis, or Clovis the Grim as the people called him, answered sternly with an intimidating voice, "Tell me, General. Would you care if you had just stepped on a bunch of helpless ants?"
The General swallowed as he moved his head up, his slightly trembling arm still resting on his chest.
"Your Highness, I—"
The General was cut off, as the King took his head off his reinforced fist and looked down on the General who looked like an ant to him.
"Do not overstep your boundaries, General Alfred. Let them rebel, let them shout. If it comes to it, I shall force the might of the skies upon them."
King Clovis was an expert at wars, in fact he was a tactical genius with only two or three battle losses to his name.
However… When it came to politics and such, he wasn't exactly the best at it.
'Come on General!' Aurora encouraged in her head, wanting the General—who she was acquainted with—to speak about the topic more.
"Yes, Your Highness.." General Alfred spoke as he lowered his head again.
Aurora silently clicked her tongue. She couldn't blame him, because she felt the same way when speaking to the King.
General Alfred got up as he bowed once more before turning back and exiting.
The next person that came was a tall figure with silver hair, his eyes were sharp and serious.
Repeating the same process, he bent his knee and put an arm to his chest, showing his respect.
"Lucan. What brings you here?" The King asked, unusual of him.
Though not of the direct line, Lucan's blood still tied him to the Royal Family—and more importantly, to the King's favor.
His head locked on the ground, he answered, "My King. I am honored to be in your presence, but I have been wondering the same as the rest of the people." he paused for a moment, thinking carefully of the right words, "What course does Your Highness intend for the unrest in Elanor—and the threat of the Corrupted Beasts?"
Lucan's voice was calm, but there was something unreadable in his eyes.
"Hmph." the King grunted. "For the Corruptions, it is only a matter of time before they are completely exterminated. It is a low-tier priority which mere adventurers could deal with. As for the situation of Elanor and the rising unrest, all will be handled carefully under the decisions The Council and I come up with. You must only do as I say in the meantime."
The King only decided to answer due to the ties he held with Lucan. He was an important aspect in the Kingdom which he couldn't lose.
The Silver Knight nodded and turned, his steps firm. Aurora watched him go, wondering what he truly thought of the King's words.
'What a waste of time.' Aurora thought as she also headed outside.
She left the throne room through a different path, leading directly inside the castle. As she entered through a small hallway, her personal maid stood patiently.
"Let's go, Melina. It wasn't worth it, after all."
Melina frowned, "Miss… I apologize if this sounds rude, but the King seems like he is waiting for a war to happen."
Aurora's eyes narrowed, showing a hint of sadness. "I know. In the end, they're only going after my life. Not his. It won't matter whether the civilians resort to violence or not."
Melina had the urge to just go and hug her, as Aurora has been slowly beginning to not value her own life.
All the Princess wanted was to get a breather. She wasn't allowed to leave the castle, and if she decided to even step out of her room she always had to be accompanied.
Her tournament, which she looked up to, was cancelled and now the two contestants will be chosen just based on information.
She was extremely disappointed. If anything, it pushed her frustration only further.
"I'm always going to be by your side, Princess." Melina reassured. She wasn't sure what to say, but she still tried her best to be clear.
Aurora chuckled, "I told you… You can call me by my name."
Melina nodded as her lips curled up into a smile, seeing Aurora happy made her feel the same.
"In any case.. Let's go over the information about the contestants again."
"Of course." Melina replied as she pulled out a small notebook from one of her pockets.
She carefully analyzed each paper she was going through, until she finally stopped at one of the papers.
Aurora started walking down the hallway as Melina followed, still holding the notebook.
"The first contestant is Zivko Karev. His blood is from the East, but he lived in Elanor his whole life."
"He must have gone through the massacre…" Aurora spoke, with a guilty expression.
Melina nodded soundlessly as she continued, "His Concept is Logic — The Unchanged Rules. He's apparently an 8th Revealed Blank. And for his Soul Mechanism.."
Aurora looked back, curious. "You don't see many with a Logic Concept, but I still don't get his Soul Mechanism."
"It's written here that it is the ability to calculate, isolate, and exploit the most efficient course of action in any given situation, based entirely on pure logic. We tried asking for more details, but he kept refusing." Melina replied.
Aurora's eyes slightly widened, "Interesting. And the other contestant?"
"He hasn't verified his identity yet. But as far as we know, his name is Alex. He's a Forsaken with no Blood name." Melina confirmed.
"Forsaken, huh.." She related a bit to that word.
The two finally reached a room in the large hallway after walking up stairs and taking different routes and such.
Aurora opened the door as she and Melina headed inside her room.
"And he is a registered adventurer in Alos, also the one that went into the Dungeon Tower of Virelith with his party. That is everything we know as of right now."
In reality, Alex and his party weren't able to go through all of the dungeon, as they only explored a small part of it.
However, going into it by itself was something others would never dare to do.
Aurora pondered for a second as she rubbed two fingers over her chin, "He must be close to arrival if he headed out from Alos."
"That's right."
Aurora sat down on her fancy, decorated bed before saying,
"Well, all we can do is wait and see then. If I can't take a look at how they fight, then I at least can see how they look."
She had to comply, no matter how much she refused the idea of only judging by looks, Aurora had no capability, or even the guts of denying her own father's choices.