Lawrence and King Augustus set off and went back to tell Eliana where Nathan was and what was happening. Afterwards, they took a few Imperial guards with them to where the fight happened.
Nathan was given a room to sleep in for the night.
"Nobody has used this room in a long time, so if anything is wrong with it, you can tell one of the maids, and they'll be happy to help."
"Thanks, Sera."
"Alright, good night."
Seraphina noticed that Nathan hesitated to get on the bed and sarcastically asked,
"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?"
"(chuckle) It's not that. I was just thankful for how you'd let me stay over for the night and for giving me this room. It's insane."
Seraphina smiled and lightly punched his shoulder.
"That was for you knocking my forehead."
She then raised her fist, waiting for him to do the same.
"You don't have to thank me, Nate. It makes me feel like an old lady helping out a lost puppy. I know that if I were in the same type of situation, you'd be the first to know."
He raised his fist and bumped hers.
"Definitely."
She left the room in a happy mood and closed the door. As Nathan was about to get into the sheets, he looked out the window, and his focus was fixated on the woman who appeared while he was drowning.
"Who are you?"
He muttered to himself while climbing onto the bed and fell asleep in an instant. His mind went pitch black, and no thoughts were present in the moment. Until the same purple aura came oozing into his mind.
[Not again, what now?]
The environment around his mind kept changing from different shades of purple until it stayed violet. But the woman wasn't around at this time. His consciousness began floating around for the whole time he was asleep until he felt relentless shoving on his body. He woke up with his eyes burning from the sunlight and Seraphina sitting beside him with a worried expression on her face.
"Why did it take you so long to wake up!? I kept trying to wake you up for 10 minutes, but you still kept sleeping. I almost went to get my mom to help out."
In all of this, Nathan kept frantically rubbing his eyes.
"My eyes hurt. What time is it?"
"It's 9am. King Augustus announced to address the Kingdom in 2 hours. That's why I wanted to wake you up. My mom has already left to go with the other Captains there."
Nathan rested his head on the pillow and said,
"Alright, just give me 5 minutes, and I'll be up."
She grabbed him by the collar and shook him until he stopped her.
Some time passed with Nathan walking downstairs in search of Seraphina, but the servant directed him outside to the garden, where he saw her eating breakfast with Abigail.
"What took you so long? A bath doesn't take this long."
"I had to do the bed afterwards."
"Why, there were maids to do that sort of thing?"
[Sometimes I forget how she's from a noble family.]
"Anyway, sit down. We have to eat and head to the capital."
Nathan sat down and greeted Abigail and her teddy bear, Mr. Buzzy, with a smile.
After eating and some games he played with Abigail, Nathan got up with Seraphina in preparations to leave.
"Wait!"
Abigail yelled as they were about to depart in a carriage. She hugged Nathan and said,
"Thank you for playing with me and Mr. Buzzy, Nathan."
She looked up at him and asked,
"When will you come back and play again?"
Nathan turned to Seraphina, but she also didn't have an answer, so he knelt down and said,
"I don't know since there are a lot of important things to do, but when I'm back, I'll play with you and Mr. Buzzy twice as hard."
She cheerfully smiled and hugged him tighter.
"Don't forget your promise, okay!"
She joyfully skipped inside the manor with maids behind her.
"You two look the same, but in terms of personality… you're complete opposites."
Seraphina glared at him and went inside the carriage.
"(snickered) Do you remember how you were to me when we first met?"
"Shut up and get inside."
Their journey to the capital felt short but long at the same time. They passed people on the street who rushed to get the best view of the King's address.
"There are a lot of people who came out today," Nathan said.
Seraphina replied, "King Augustus doesn't do this sort of thing a lot, so for him to be doing this, especially with the recent attack, it's a major turnout."
Their carriage took another path that nobles use to get there faster. As they arrived, they were met with furious nobles who were arguing with each other over who got which seats.
They get off, and Seraphina tells Nathan to follow her to where the Captains are situated. They both passed guards in front of a building and went up to one of the highest floors. After some time of walking up the stairs, they saw Captain Regina, Captain Cedric, Captain Ravencroft, Captain Carter, and Captain Ashbourne, along with 1 guest each.
Seraphina went over to her mother, leaving Nathan to stand there by the door. He awkwardly tried to not look around and bring attention to him until someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh!? Hey, Eleanor."
She replied and asked him,
"Hey, Nate, what are you doing here?"
"It's a long and complicated story."
After he said this, Captain Ravencroft came in front of them and stared at Nathan with a piercing gaze.
"I also want to know what you're doing here."
[Not this guy again.]
Captain Cedric went up and told him that they'd already discussed why Nathan was here.
"I want to hear it from him," Captain Ravencroft replied.
Captain Carter then sighed and said,
"Come on, Ravencroft, how long are you going to act like a prick. It's getting boring right now. King Augustus already told us what happened and why he's here, so give the kid a break and sit down."
"What did you say?"
Ravencroft clenched his fists, but just as he was about to take action, all the other Captains stared at him, as if they were about to handle him if he made a move. He then clicked his tongue and went back to his seat along with Cedric.
"Hey, Nate. Let's go to where Sera is sitting."
They both sat down with Seraphina and waited for King Augustus to come out.
The crowd almost went into a frenzy, asking themselves where he was, until finally, he stepped forward from his castle and began speaking.
"Citizens of the Kingdom of Elarion, I bring to you all the body of one of the commanders of 'The Heralds of Life'.