As Tessa stepped through the portal, her breath caught in her throat. The air itself felt different—crisp, pure, almost sweet—as though the earth had never tasted pollution. Rolling meadows stretched wide, dotted with blossoms that shimmered in shades she had never seen before, glowing faintly under the golden light of two suns. Towering forests breathed with life, their leaves humming in soft harmony as unicorns grazed peacefully beside streams so clear they reflected the sky like liquid crystal.
"My goodness, Jasper.... This place is amazing. I have never seen such beautiful flowers in my life. What are those tiny beings? "
" Liliputs... I am sure you have heard of them. They are not a large community right now but they do exist deep in the forest and they are shy ." Jasper led the way in the forest trail as Tessa followed him while enjoying the scenario." My horse is there . We are outside of the empire so we will travel to my home by horse."
" But why ? I know you have teleportation power..."
" I do." Jasper looked at Tessa " I can't perform that as this is banned area where wild animals lives. I will teleport us to capital once we enter in the borders of the empire. And don't you think people will question if I suddenly teleport an living human girl direct to my room ? "
" You are right but even if we go together... People still will be curious right? "
" Don't worry Tessa , I have a plan already. "
Jasper stopped and offered his hand "May I ?" Tessa looked confused. Seeing that face Jacob smiled . "I believe with your short height... You won't be able to ride the horse without my help."
" Hey I am not that short . I'm 5'1.5" ok? There are many short ones in my world 😤"
"*Pffft..* Fine Ms. Eiffel Tower .. I got it . Now please come so we can move. "
" You meanie ...😒" Tessa cursed Jasper in her mind . Jasper lifted her up in the horse easily. " Wow , that was quite bold of you to curse me with those words..."
" Don't act like you are VIP..Well , what is your plan then?" Tessa asked as they kept moving.
" Let me tell you some crucial informations about this world. This world has 6 parts. One is the banned forest area as you saw. We use it to mostly to go into your world by portal. Only limited people are allowed to enter here as many wild and rare creatures residency here. To protect them from any harm this measure was taken. Other than this there are 4 small kingdoms - Seron, Grathon, Kyrndor and Torf. Lastly the biggest, powerful empire , my home ground and where we are going right now - Velmor.
I will explain things to my family but to outsiders you are an friend of mine from Seron. Got it? "
" That sounds a good idea. Ok , I will remember. " Tessa nodded her head.
" Oh , I more thing which I forget to mention is , we don't have anything called cellphone here... As the blood relatives can contact through telepathy... And for rest we simply use letters. I know this maybe an old fashion fact to you but .... You look oddly happy.."
Tessa's face glowed up with joy. " Ofc , I'm happy. You know I always wanted to live in a place like this. I guess finally God heard my prayers. And don't worry about phone.. I'm not much attach to it . Do you have good story books? "
Jasper was surprised to see Tessa's reaction. " Yes , we do have good libraries with different kind of book in vast variety. You can wear your regular clothes as those are common here. We don't wear traditional unless it's a huge event or functions. And here we are . "
Tessa saw a small countryside area.
" Hold tight . And close your eyes. " Tessa closed her eyes and got startled with the soundof bustling crowdund of bustling crowd.She opened her eyes and saw a huge urban town with medieval architecture. architecture.
She was buffled as she only saw and heard about those buildings in either fantasy novels or history books. She was buffled as she only saw and heard about those buildings in either fantasy novels or history books.
"Wow 😯, is this where you live? Where is your home ... Is it like those buildings. I want to see it . "
" You will soon . Hold tight and sit straight. "
Jasper buckled up the horse and made it gallop in a high speed. Tessa was enjoying the ride and the air.
" What else do you have here? This place feels like a normal city structure like my world. "
" We have everything here... Like various shops, stalls , boutiques, educational academy, knight academy , libraries, acquariums, parks, gardens , laboratories , restaurants and train stations... Mostly werewolves use them but since last 5 years everyone is trying enjoy riding it as I heard it has so much fun ... You know like enjoying the journey while observing the nature and spending fun time with family or friends. "
" That's fabulous. Even though this world has traits of old era like monarchy, your supernatural powers, using sword and horse.... But it also somehow blends and contains all the positive things of modernization. What a perfect combo. I'm sure people here lives happily. "
" Yes they do . "
" But where is your home? Is it in the outskirts? I thought it's the capital ci..." Tessa suddenly saw a big palace standing tall . The architecture, colour combination everything was so mesmerising that she kept looking.. "I guess that's the imperial palace. If monarchy still exists then there must be prince or princess.. I hope I could visit the palace." She thought as she couldn't realise the horse was moving in that very direction.
Jasper smiled slightly and answered ," Yours wishes going to come true then Ms . Eiffel Tower." Before Tessa could replace the horse stopped infront the palace gate. palace gate.
" Are you mad?! I heard we can't meet or enter in the imperial palace without permission or prior notice. I mean thats what happens in the stories I read about historical fantasy."
Jasper didn't answer her questions and grabbed her waist. Within a second, he put Tessa down in the ground. Tessa was unable to understand Jasper' s motive . She saw several guards coming towards them in a hurry.
" F*ck.. we are screwed.. they surely gonna put us in jail . " Tessa poked Jasper's arm .. " Mr. Fearless thorn ... I guess we should have gone to your home first. They gonna beat the shit out of us.. if we kept standing. I know you are skilled with swords but they are too many... AARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"
The guards approached them . Tessa again closed her eyes thinking Jasper had gone mad for sure and they are done here until she heard , " Welcome, Your highness."
" Your highness? " Tessa thought. " Is the prince or princess also come along .. "
Tessa felt a hand gentle patting her head . She opened her eyes and saw every armed guards bowing down to them . She looked at Jasper who was smiling underneath of his mask.
" Welcome to my home , Tessa. "
" Eeh? "
" Ivan , please prepare a room for the guest as she will be staying here from now on for a quiet long time. "
A well dressed man came forward and bowed to Jasper while saying, " Sure , your highness. Everyone! Prepare to welcome our imperial crown prince and his honourable guest . " Sure , your highness. Everyone! Prepare to welcome our imperial crown prince and his honourable guest ."
Her knees almost gave out. "Prince? Crown prince?! " She wanted to scream, but all she managed was a strangled whisper: 'Your… home?"
Tessa's eyes widened as she heard
everyone shouting, " Long live Velmor and Love live our beloved crown prince Jasper Blackthorn."