After lightly knocking on the study door for a long time without any response, the Archbishop pushed the door open and walked in.
At the end of the room, behind the desk, a young man with silver short hair had one hand pressed against his forehead, staring blankly at the manuscript on the table, completely unaware of Heinrich's entrance.
"Your Highness Brad." Walking to the desk, Heinrich quietly called out to the prince who was lost in thought, lightly tapping his knuckles on the smooth table that had seen much use.
"Hmm? Oh, Heinrich, why are you here?" Brad looked up at Heinrich and finally snapped out of his daze.
"Your Highness, didn't you summon me here?" Heinrich's expression was strange, as if the prince had entered old age early.
Brad then remembered that he had sent someone to find Heinrich earlier and awkwardly waved his hand. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I was lost in thought and didn't realize it. Has the Holy Knights Order been reorganized?"
"It has been completed. There are about three thousand Holy Knights gathered from Temple Churches across the kingdom. With them, we can stand against the Kingdom's Crusaders."
"And... what about Angel?" Brad hesitated for a moment before throwing out the second question. That dangerous creature had almost killed Tiran, although Tiran managed to escape later, Brad's heart was still in turmoil.
"Recently, we sensed her divine mark again. She has set off to hunt down Your Highness Tiran. Although we are on the side of the Light, it is not easy to get along with Miss Angel. We are actually relieved that she has left the capital city."
"Is Tiran... alright?"
Brad couldn't help but ask directly in the end. Despite launching the coup, he didn't want anything to happen to Tiran, which was why he had initially tried to trap Tiran with a barrier instead of using a more powerful annihilation spell.
"I'm not sure." Heinrich read the tension in Brad's eyes and sighed inwardly. "But based on Prince Tiran's battle on the day of the coup, it's not accurate to say she was completely defenseless. If she focuses on escaping, she should be safe, but she won't be able to help His Majesty the War King deal with us."
Brad seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. This was the best scenario – as long as he could quickly determine the winner between himself and his father... which seemed difficult.
From the perspective of the outcome, the coup a few days ago was not a complete success. Although they had gained control over the capital city and its surrounding areas, once the War King left the capital, a large number of loyalist troops would soon turn their spears toward the capital. In addition, the declaration of "abolishing the noble class" made Brad a thorn in the side of the entire noble class.
His father's achievements had also caused him a lot of trouble. His own declaration might have a considerable impact on the common people, but firstly, he had no evidence to present, and secondly, it had only been a short decade since the end of the war, and War King's reputation was deeply rooted in people's hearts. Launching a coup against his father would be difficult to gain support from the masses.
"It's already a challenge to not have the residents of the capital city oppose me..." Brad shook his head in frustration. He was in a weak position now, and it was impossible to quickly settle things with his father. It seemed he would have to allow Angel to chase and harass Tiran for a while.
If Tiran were here, she would definitely curse at him. From start to finish, she wasn't interested in getting involved in the struggle between her father and Brad. But her brother somehow believed that her overwhelming strength would hinder his plans.
What about basic trust between siblings?! Has Aya been fed yet?! (Aya: ∑(っ °Д °;)っ)
"Your Highness, please remain calm. Since I have promised to cooperate with you, I won't watch you fight alone." Heinrich walked forward and patted Brad's shoulder. "Now, we just need to wait for the right opportunity."
...
Setting aside the Eastern Continent, at least on the Western Continent where the Kingdom of Milanía was located, humans still held the dominant position. Over sixty percent of the area south of the Kent Mountains, which stretched from east to west, belonged to humans and was ruled by more than ten kingdoms of varying sizes.
In the region north of the Kent Mountains, the plains in the northeast were under the control of the Orc kingdom, while the largest forest on the Western Continent in the northwest was the territory of the Elves."We finally arrived, I haven't been here in a long time." Aya jumped on the snowy ground, her scales transforming into lightweight winter clothing. She stretched her stiff body, which had become somewhat rigid from flying in the air for too long.
"It's truly the territory of the Elves, so beautiful. Have you been here before?" Tiran yawned, clearly feeling sleepy. Travelling on the back of a dragon was not comfortable, especially in the high altitude. Despite having enough Chi to withstand the cold wind, continuously releasing Chi still exhausted her mentally.
"I have traveled around before, but then there was a sudden wave of dragon-slaying fever among your humans, so I had to hide to avoid drawing attention." Aya replied. Up ahead was a gently sloping hill, and in the distance, the evergreen forest was covered in a silver-white blanket. The sunlight reflected off the snow, emitting a faint glow. The distant sound of winter birds chirping added to the tranquility and beauty of the scene.
The chilly air mixed with the fresh scent of nature invigorated one's spirits. "When I came here decades ago, it was much colder than it is now," Aya said, picking up a handful of snow and rolling it between her fingers. "Back then, this place was frozen all year round, regardless of the seasons. But I heard that the climate has become much warmer now, so snow covers this area for only about half of the year."
After three days of full-speed flight on the golden Dragon, they had crossed half the continent, arriving from the southern kingdom of Milanía to the northern Frost Forest. Upon entering the territory of the Elves, Aya became more cautious, increasing their flying altitude. The relationship between the Elves and Dragons had never been good, and if they were caught by the Elves, being an illegal entrant, Aya might be killed. Elves also had many powerful individuals, and Aya was not confident in a direct confrontation, especially with an Angel behind her, who could strike at any moment.
As they approached the Elf capital, Aya dared not fly any further. The Elf King, Alda, resided there, and it was also the city where the World Tree, a divine creation, was located. Furthermore, some Elves had the ability to fly. Aya couldn't believe that there were no detection spells against flying creatures in the sky of Alda.
So, as they neared the capital, Aya chose to retract the dragon's body and land on the ground. "When we landed just now, I took a glance. We are not far from Alda; it will only take us half an hour at our speed. There's also a small Elf village ahead where we can make some preparations," pointing towards the depths of the forest, Aya said.
"Preparations? What kind of preparations?" Tiran asked.
"Are you serious or just pretending? You are a princess, and you don't even know this?" Aya looked at Tiran with a disappointed expression. "The Elves are a very conservative and exclusive race. Although things have improved recently, anyone, be it humans, Orcs, or any other race, who wants to enter the territory of the Elves must obtain a permit issued by the Elves."
"Sorry for not knowing all this! I'm just a shut-in... Hey, what are you doing?" Tiran crossed her arms over her chest, feeling Aya leaning towards her inexplicably.
As she felt Aya's breath on her face, Tiran's face turned red instantly. She inexplicably remembered the feeling of Aya's lips when she forcibly kissed her in the capital. For a moment, she forgot to resist.
Aya did not take advantage of the situation but gently brushed Tiran's ear with her hands before stepping back and clapping her hands, looking satisfied as she nodded. "Looks like it's working... Wait, why is your face so red?"
"Working? What's working?" Tiran held her cheeks, still feeling heat radiating from her face, but she finally realized that Aya wasn't planning something inappropriate suddenly.
She instinctively touched Aya's ear, which she had just touched... Pointed and elongated? Upon careful inspection, it wasn't an illusion. Aya's ears had become long and pointed, just like those of an Elf.
"Hmm, shapeshifting, the effect is good, isn't it? It's the best way to disguise ourselves as Elves without a permit." Aya nodded in satisfaction, using shapeshifting on herself as well. Her ear contours also took on the pointy shape of the Elves.
Humans and Elves shared many similarities in appearance, although the Elves had a more delicate bone structure, and their overall appearance was much more attractive. The distinguishing feature was the pointed ears.Aya and Tiran's appearance is at a very good level even by the sharp aesthetic standards of the Elf race, so once the issue of their ears was resolved, their looks were no longer a concern. However, after realizing this, Tiran suddenly felt a sense of loss in his heart.
Why do I feel this sense of loss? Could it be because that stupid dragon made such a gesture, but...
Wait a minute, why am I even thinking like this? Am I... starting to like him? No, that can't be, he's just a stupid dragon, a mere servant.
For some reason, the image of that stupid dragon carrying himself and swinging his sword all the way out of the royal capital, despite having his powers sealed, kept flashing in Tiran's mind.
Ah, what's happening to me...
When Tiran looked up, he saw Aya looking at him in confusion. Tiran hesitated for a moment, then became furious and forcefully stomped on Aya's foot, before turning and walking towards the direction pointed out by Aya earlier.
"Why are you suddenly angry again..." Aya blinked. The snow on the ground was quite thick, so Tiran stepping on his foot didn't hurt much, it was just a little effort to pull it out of the snow.
But Aya, with his emotional intelligence, didn't think much of it and silently used the excuse of "today is my period" to explain, then followed Tiran without any worries.
