Chapter 81: The Conspiracy of the Royal Family
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Night fell over the inner city, and with it, a quiet over the streets of the Royal Ballroom.
On one of those streets was Elizabeth; a girl that had just left the Ballroom. She hurriedly disembarked from an inconspicuous horse carriage, only to head for another one down the street a few hurried steps later.
"Teacher, I have arrived." she said as he entered the parked carriage and shut the door, looking at the only other person accompanying her.
It was an elderly person, sitting gingerly across from her in the horse carriage.
This was the ‘teacher’ that Elizabeth had addressed, this figure clad in a long robe of viridian with a cautious expression. His chest was wrapped in rolls of bandages, as if covering a fresh, still bleeding wound.
This man was the same one Benjamin had met before in the outer city; the elder mage from the Academy of Silence.
"Are you ready?" The elderly mage warned Elizabeth with a heavy tone, "Once we depart, you will have to leave your parents behind, possibly never seeing them again."
Elizabeth sat solemnly, and without words, nodded her head.
The teacher, also silent, turned around and instructed the driver to set off.
With a crack of the whip, and sound of horses echoed down the silent street, and the carriage moved. Down the street, the carriage Elizabeth had emerged from just moments ago turned around and did the same.
On the journey.
"And don’t get too emotional, I’m not the one forcing you away. The kingdom has seen great unrest as of late, along with the Church, other factions are working in the dark, behind the scenes. Something major will go underway eventually." the teacher warned. He then whipped around again, looking at Elizabeth, "For your own safety, we have to bring you back; we can no longer teach you magic in the capital."
Elizabeth frowned a little, but managed to show a calm smile, and replied. "I understand."
Despite this, the teacher couldn’t help being worried. He patted Elizabeth on her shoulders. "You don’t have to be too nervous, either. You are the one the oracle spoke of twenty years ago, everyone at the academy is anticipating your arrival, I’m sure you will be warmly received."
Elizabeth heard this and smiled. She shook her head, eyes unblinking, her gaze fell in front of her on nothing in particular.
"Teacher, I understand, I am not nervous." She said
The old mage seemed like he might have wanted to continue, but seeing this, he held his tongue, adding on to the silence of the carriage.
Flying past lonely street after lonely street, the carriage galloped on, quickly leaving the inner city and into outer city. However, from the speed the carriage carried and the path it was on, it was clear to see that this would not be their final destination.
Beneath the moonlight, the blurry silhouette of the carriage surged forward. Its wheels rumbled along the stone pavements of the capital, impressing upon it marks only it would recognise as its own, its destination unbeknownst to its passengers.
Somewhere else within the kingdom sat another carriage, its luck not quite up to par with the one thundering away, having been halted within a main avenue of the capital.
"What’s happened here?" Benjamin inquired of the knights blocking the street as he stepped out from his carriage.
Just a moment ago, he was already shook to the core by Grant’s homosexual act and left the royal ball, his only desire being to go home and have some solitude. However, it seemed that reality wasn’t very co-operative tonight, and decided to offer him a road block on the way home.
"If I may ask, who are you, who was on board?" One of the knights questioned.
"I am Benjamin Lithur." He frowned and answered.
"What on earth, was it time for curfew already? Why are there knights all over the place questioning people at this time of night?" Benjamin thought to himself.
"Ah, a nobleman from the Lithur family. We have been disrespectful." The knight nodded, but from his tone, one could tell there wasn’t a slight hint of disrespect. "You’ve just came out from the Princess’ birthday ball, no?"
Benjamin nodded, and said: "I’ve had a bit too much to drink and I don’t feel very pleasant. I’d like to be on my way home"
As the words left his mouth, his mind was already whirring.
What was the Church up to this time?
However, after looking at the knights for a while longer, Benjamin changed his mind.
On the chests of these knights were crests of crossed swords and a shield, not a cross ---- they were knights from the royal family.
The knights belonging to the royal family were trying to poke around the inner city at night; the royal family was definitely up to something.
But what was it?
Thinking upon what he heard during the royal ball...
The Fulner family wanted to prove their loyalty to the Church, and performed a bloody massacre. As for the royal family, what were they willing to do?
Benjamin could not help but sigh inwardly.
The capital was so peaceful, was it about to enter a state of chaos soon?
"Sir Benjamin, if you would, could you please return to the royal ball? It has yet to end, and in a while, the King will appear with the Princess." The words of the royal knight came as a shock to Benjamin.
What the hell?
Events like this royal ball were not of mandatory attendance in the first place, but they are forcing people now? Even the Church was not so domineering in their ways of handling things.
What did the royal family want? Were they not afraid of offending the noblemen like this?
"I respect the King and the Princess very much, but I am afraid I’m not in the best physical state as of now, and can no longer continue attending the royal ball. I am filled with regret as well, please send forth my most sincere wishes and blessings to the Princess. " Benjamin replied, after some thought,
Whatever the royal family wanted, he felt that it would be wise to stay clear of it.
Right now, all he wanted was to learn magic in peace. Whatever with chaos in the kingdom and whatnot, he could go and find out about it later on. At a time when it would be wise to remain hidden, only a fool would want to attract unwanted attention.
In short, these knights could not stop him from going on.
"I’m afraid... that’s not quite possible." These knights were not keen on letting him go home after all.
"Why isn’t that possible? Nowhere in the laws of the kingdom does it state that it is compulsory to attend a ball. Do you knights have control over the freedom of a nobleman?" Benjamin retorted assertively having heard the knight’s reply.
The more adamant the knights were, the more it showed that the royal ball was not a place he should be at.
It seems evident now that the royal family held this ball with an ulterior motive in mind.
This only increased his urge to return home. He was already lucky to have left the ball in advance, were this not the case he would have been hard pressed to even find a place to cry.
"Well...." The knights still blocked the road, but did not know what to reply.
It was obvious, these royal knights were a cut below the holy knights, and naturally lacked the ability to effectively talk down Benjamin.
What were they, when compared to the holy knights? They did not have the power of the Church to rely on. Benjamin just needed to use his identity as a nobleman wisely and he could already force them to a corner.
For this, Benjamin was already experienced.
"How could the royal family do things like this, forcing an ill nobleman to attend a royal ball? I can’t believe it, are you really the royal knights!? You lot must be under the influence of demons, trying to tarnish the royal family’s reputation!"
"No, that’s not......" A cold sweat broke out from the few knights.
They were fumbling for an explanation, but Benjamin continued the onslaught.
"If that’s the case, back off! Stop standing here and giving the royal family a bad name." Benjamin let out a "hmph" of finality, striking his final blow.
The few knights looked at each other. In the end, they had to submit.
"...Alright." They could only obediently let him go.
Benjamin saw this, and could not help but feel relieved inside, though he remained straight-faced, and continued displaying that arrogant look the noblemen had, and returned to his carriage glaring at the befuddled knights. He asked the driver to make haste leaving the area.
The driver waved the horsewhip, and in a flash, the carriage departed.
What remained on the dark, night street were nothing but the few helpless royal knights.