The following dawn;
Rows of banners fluttered gently in the breeze while armored guards stood motionless like statues along the palace pathways.
Within this grand atmosphere, Kaelan Phoenix departed from the palace grounds surrounded by an escort that would have attracted attention anywhere on the continent.
Twenty elite knights rode alongside the procession while a General of the Army personally accompanied him, creating a scene so extravagant that it almost appeared as though someone was announcing to the entire world that an extremely valuable target was sitting inside the carriage.
The irony of the situation was not lost on those who understood the truth.
Apart from Emperor Cassius Leon and a handful of his most trusted aides who knew about the existence of the Seed of Fire, almost nobody within the Leon Empire considered Kaelan particularly important.
