Chapter 52 - Monica’s Arrival
“Hey, why are you dragging me?”
When they left the Fairy Castle and headed west, the male messenger stared at his female companion, who had kept her hold on him.
“Shh!”
The female messenger raised a finger at him as she looked around them. She realized that a well-maintained forest surrounded them. There were no guards there. Then, she lowered her voice and said, “Idiot, didn’t you feel that the temperature has dropped? Count Sylvan is a fire-element platinum-tier mage, and he is the best at controlling the temperature. I can feel a murderous aura from his body. If we don’t leave quickly, we might not be able to leave at all.”
The essence of fire-type magic was temperature; whether to increase or decrease the heat, it would work either way. Therefore, ice magic was also a type of fire magic.
“Are you sure? Why didn’t I feel it?”
The male messenger looked puzzled.
“That’s why you should cultivate properly!” The female messenger flicked her companion’s forehead. “If you were like me, a bronze tier warrior who cultivates the fire element, you definitely wouldn’t say such things.”
The male messenger cried out in pain as he held his forehead and asked, “But, why did Count Sylvan suddenly want to kill us? Did we say something wrong?”
“Well, do you know about the grudge between Count Sylvan and His Majesty?”
“Of course I know about that. I’m a messenger; there is nothing in the kingdom that I don’t know! Back when His Majesty was still a prince, he and Count Sylvan were very good friends. He even married his younger sister to His Majesty, the former Queen. Unfortunately, the Queen died before she had any children. Count Sylvan quarreled with His Majesty over this matter and was sent to the border.”
The male messenger looked puzzled. Then, he spoke confidently. “From then onward, Count Sylvan did not get along with His Majesty. Apart from any important meetings, Count Sylvan never went to the Royal City. His Majesty would only send people there when it was close to winter.”
Sylvan’s sister, Avril, was a half-elf. When the King married Queen Avril, it had caused a stir in the kingdom. After all, the Holy Dragon Kingdom did not have a precedent for the non-human queen. Nevertheless, the King resisted the public’s objections; he dragged all the nobles who opposed him and beat them up.
Unfortunately, their happy times did not last long. Queen Avril fell ill and died in less than two years. However, the King did not hold a funeral for her. Many people discussed it, but they did not come to a conclusion. After a long time, the matter was considered settled.
Even as a messenger, he did not know the secret behind that, and he did not want to know. The most important rule of a messenger—know what one must know; do not inquire about things one should not know.
Curiosity killed the cat. The more he knew, the more dangerous it would be for him.
The female messenger said, “Since you know the relationship between His Majesty and the border count, you should know what it means to have an extra castle on the border! There used to be only the Fairy Castle. And now, the Blackmoon Castle has risen, and they are recruiting men. It had threatened the count’s authority. I suspect that the owner of this Blackmoon Castle is His Majesty’s confidant.”
“I’ve asked around about the Blackmoon Castle owner. It belongs to a down-and-out baron named Edward. How is he related to the King?”
“You’re an idiot; I’ve already told you! A down-and-out baron can’t build a castle so quickly. There has to be someone behind him! So why don’t we make a bet? Let’s bet one gold coin to see if this baron is His Majesty’s man.”
“Let’s bet on that.”
The two of them made a bet and headed toward the direction of Blackmoon Castle together.
As he faced his companion, who was smiling proudly, he said, “You’re going to lose for sure!” The male messenger looked helpless as he said softly, “How can I be wrong? Even though I don’t know how a down-and-out baron can rise to power so suddenly, I know that it has nothing to do with the King. Why don’t you believe me?”
..
At the Blackmoon Castle.
A long fleet of carriages had arrived at the gate.
“Young Miss, we’ve arrived at Blackmoon Castle.”
Wesley rode his horse to the first carriage and waved his hand. The four accompanying guards immediately took out a wooden stand from the back and placed it at the carriage door.
“This is Blackmon Castle? Hmm… it does look good.”
A hand in a light muslin pulled the curtain open. Monica, who was in a boat-shaped hat, placed her hand onto Wesley’s arm. Then, she walked down the stairs gently with his help and stood at the entrance; she stared at the building.
Even though she was calm, Monica’s peach blossom eyes were staring at the walls of Blackmoon Castle. Her breathing was heavy.
Dark jade stones.
The entire wall was made of dark jade stones.
Wilber’s family traded ores, medicinal herbs, and magical beasts. As the family’s young miss, Monica knew a lot about ores. She knew how many gold coins it would cost to build a wall of dark jade stone that spanned ten kilometers. Monica smiled as she thought about how she would be the castle’s mistress. It seemed like a worthy place for her.
Four guards trailed behind Monica, and they also stared at the castle. They looked like country bumpkins who had entered the city.
“This is Blackmoon Castle. It’s just like the rumors—it’s really majestic!”
“Master’s manor isn’t even half the size of this place, right? The walls are even made of black jade stones. I heard that there’s a Rainbow Phoenix Chicken that’s even more precious than the Pentacolor Fragrant Chicken. I wonder if that’s true?”
“If we can live in such a big castle, it’ll be enough to brag to other people.”
Wesley’s face was bitter. He had been there once a few months ago. At that time, there was only a wasteland, a chicken farm, and a simple three-story wooden house. It was nothing like how it had transformed. He even suspected that he had hallucinated about it.
At that moment, Wesley had to suppress his feelings when he heard the words around him. Instead, he said, “Alright, stop talking. Unload Young Miss’ things from the carriage.”
“Yes, Sir Wesley.”
The four guards walked to the next two carriages and retrieved the things from the inside. There was a dressing table with a bronze mirror, a cabinet filled with clothes, and a big bed covered in velvet. There were also two small pillows on the bed.
When the guards dismantled it, Monica directed it from the side.
“Be careful. My dressing table is very expensive. The lipstick in it is more than you can ever afford.
“And this bed, don’t get it dirty. Velvet can’t be washed. I still have to sleep on it at night.”
As a noble and socialite, Monica was very particular about her living environment. The castle did look good from the outside, but what about the interior? She did not want to be uncomfortable, so she brought her own things with her.
“You are a young miss, indeed; you really have a lot of demands.” Wesley carried the big bed as sweat beaded on his forehead. He complained in a low voice, “Why aren’t the people in Blackmoon Castle out here?”
Boom!
As soon as he said that, Blackmoon Castle’s gate opened with a loud bang. A group of majestic knights in armor appeared on their ligers. They surrounded Monica and the others.
The leader had long sky-blue hair—it was Liszt. He looked serious as he asked, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Are you all blind? Can’t you see that we are moving things?”?
Wesley had wanted to say that, but he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. The ten knights in front of him emitted bronze tier murderous aura. Even the ligers were enough to scare them.
However, Wesley remembered that he was there on behalf of his master, Wilber Liszt, so he could not be an embarrassment. He immediately held back his fear and puffed out his chest. “Are you a guard with the Blackmoon Castle? Go and tell your master that your young master’s fiancée, Miss Monica, is here. Tell them to send someone to welcome her.”