Ein had to return to Emerose City to drop by its orphanage. She was referring to the Aster House here. The same place Kevin entered once upon a time. I think he is still living there, actually. Rufina's tragedy has not yet happened. You know, seeing Rufina is still alive and all. I told Ein to give my regard to those three either way. From there, Ein will be returning to the Holy City, as expected.
Ein happily accepted my message and ensured that if I ever pay a visit to Arteria, the Church will welcome me with warm arms.
Aurelia was the next to leave after that. She simply concluded this was the end of her field studies. As it was the start of the week, she still had classes to attend to at Thors, so she didn't have the luxury of spending more time with us. She thanked us all for the opportunities she was given, and would seek out Roselia's village if she had the time to do so. It will be up to her own power if she can successfully find Eryn Village or not.
But before Aurelia left, she declared something outrageous. She was apparently serious about having a duel with me. And if I won, Aurelia herself would send me a marriage proposal once I came of age. I could see she was being absolutely serious here. I couldn't joke about it. That's an extremely high hurdle to jump over. She's going to be strong, for sure. At least, it was something to look forward to. To have a woman like Aurelia in the harem...
I just simply smiled at the thought. No one knew about the plan to make a harem. No one but Roselia. Aurelia's intuition can be pretty scary, though. Did she know? Or maybe she assumed that I'm interested in a harem? I am not sure.
As for Roselia, she simply upped and left, just like that. She held little interest to the matters of the palace after Aurelia departed. Roselia had given me her personal talisman, which will help me find Eryn Village on my own. That was the one thing I had over Aurelia. She will go in blind, while I have a navigation tool to reach it.
It likely won't happen immediately. I still need to return to my own life back in Trista and enter a good rhythm first. Running in the morning. Training with Father. Departing for Eryn Village, and potentially teleporting between the two places if Roselia is kind enough to enable her teleportation stones. That's right, Eryn Village had hidden teleportation slabs that you can choose to warp out from to a certain destination, as long as it was unlocked. You would see this used in Cold Steel IV while Class VII searched for Rean!
By the time it was time for Father and I to depart, Prince Olivert and his family bid us farewell. It was such a nice surprise to get to know Prince Olivert like this. Apart from the plans I have now set, I think we'll be quite good buddies in the time to come. I'm very much looking forward to spending time with him and the newborns!
As for the rest of the Generals that came along with us, they had already returned to their respective duties, as did Governor Carl to the Imperial Diet.
The ride itself wasn't a long ride. Trista was the next town over from the capital city, only a couple hours at most by orbal car. I could see reluctance in the twins' eyes once they saw us leave, haha! But we had to nonetheless. We've our own respective lives to play out. And I was about to spend some more time with Rean and the rest of the family. I am on a ticking clock, after all. I can only spend so much time with them before all hell breaks loose.
That doesn't mean I won't see them again. Father not only scheduled play dates with Elie, but also the Imperial Family for the next few years!
Kasia and Rean welcomed our return with heartfelt hugs and a home-cooked breakfast. It was still morning by the time we arrived, so like I said, it wasn't a big trip. I'm surprised everything lasted just one day. I was expecting to be there for at least the whole week. But His Imperial Majesty really wanted the enthronement to go without any problem, and Father managed to pull some strings to make sure everything happened ahead of time. To me, it felt like a lot of time, but it really wasn't!
During this time, Father reached out to find me a suitable sword instructor. He himself was not an expert at using the Rapier, so he had to find an instructor to teach me. To his surprise, I had already picked out someone that I was interested in. He showed great amusement once I dropped Father a name.
It was someone who called himself the Sword Fox in his prime. Or more recently, the Demon Commander. Father grinned once he realized who it was who I was referring to. He actively serves as a butler to Liberl's Royal Family. And to a despised character no less, Duke Dunan. I am referring to the butler that serves him. He may seem like a simple old fellow, but he shows his true power during Sky when the Enforcers try to secure the castle!
And it is that same man who Father accepted, and sent out a cordial invitation. It would take some time to see if the Sword Fox accepts this, but my schedule became jam-packed regardless. Since only a day passed in the real world, I had enough time to do my Daily Quest. I made sure not to skip a single day!
My days would begin with my Daily Quest, and body conditioning afterward. From there, Father would begin teaching me his Hundred-Form Military Combat, and how to generally attack with the sword. My base stats began to steadily increase. It wasn't just that. By lunchtime, my studies would start, where Father taught me History and Politics, and other topics like Orbal Science. Granted, he had to be with the Imperial Army most of the week, so most of this was self-taught. He would give me lesson materials to review, and I would review them with Mother. Every so often, he would appear to see my progress.
Do you see where this was going? Time was beginning to pass again. Relentlessly, as always. Spring had come and gone. Summer went. Fall came. The cold winter has arrived. Snow fell, then melted, creating a full cycle.
In the meantime, Elie would come over to play every so often with both Rean and I. We explored and enjoyed the Osborne Villa to its fullest extent. On top of that, I began my Magic training with Roselia, making my schedule even more packed than ever.
Every so often, Prince Olivert would drop by with Princess Alfin and Prince Cedric. When the first time this happened, Elie was there, so she was able to meet the Imperial Family, as I did prior to this. It was funny to see her remain so polite, but that surface quickly cracked, and we were all able to have a boatload of fun. Elie much looked forward to these play dates now that she had more friends, as did I.
Before I realized it, a whole three years passed by. This was the rhythm I was speaking of. Once you start it, time moves on whether you like it or not. Each day that passed by here, I enjoyed it to its fullest!
I turned six years old at the start of the year. It was now S1192. Elie had likewise turned six. She was born the same year as me, as were Estelle and Joshua. Prince Olivert was much older, and he had turned fifteen. He was already looking to study at Thors Military Academy as Aurelia once did. I heard she successfully graduated from the school, and is now in the Imperial Army.
An entire six years have passed since I came to Zemuria. The next steps of the Vermillion Trials have not taken place yet. I was still a young kid, but I looked older. Muscles were already beginning to form on my body thanks to Father's daily conditioning.
From here, it would be a whopping decade until the first game of Trails would begin. In S1202, where Estelle and Joshua become Bracers.
As much as I was looking forward to that, I couldn't. Not yet. For something else loomed over not only Erebonia, but to the entire continent. At least on the western half.
The banner of war was looming on the horizon. A clash between two titans. The Blood and Iron Chancellor and the Divine Blade.
The Hundred Days War.