Valerian, The Legendary

Chapter 393: Night Attack.

Valerian bid farewell to his mother’s spirit, climbed on the back of the raven with the rest of the group, and left the clearing. They arrived at the palace quickly, and the young man headed to see Fragrantia.

The Empress had yet to get ready and leave her chambers, so the young man pushed a food trolley. The rest of the people were tired, and they all left to rest. Valerian came to the Empress’s room and greeted Ensis with a bow.

The lady reciprocated his bow and smiled. The young man said, ’Can you please inform her?’

Ensis her first meeting with him as an attendant. The lady smiled and nodded as she knocked on the door and said, "Your Excellency, Fourth Highness has come to meet you."

A voice sounded from the inside, "Let him in."

Ensis pushed open the door, and Valerian walked in. The lady was sitting before her dressing table. A few traces of time were visible on her beautiful visage. Valerian felt emotional and walked closer to her.

The lady asked, "Visited her?"

Valerian hummed. The lady fixed her earrings and asked, "Do you need something?"

Valerian nodded and said, ’I have to go and find the people from other Empires, and also, can you tell me where everybody is? Vertex, Priscilla, Quies, and Rectus are in the eastern continent. What about Ignis and Adele?’

The Empress smiled and said, "They have gone to Sapientia to visit Empress Ashlyn. Anything else?"

Valerian thought briefly and said, ’I am going to the vault and taking some metals to refine the collar chain. This reminds me of that old man Fallax. Is he still ticking?’

Fragrantia chuckled and said, "Your language has changed significantly since you went to another world. Old man Fallax has gone to Genesis Town. He has taken up the duty to look after the orphanage with his wife."

Valerian recalled that the old man finally managed to marry the teacher from the fine arts pavilion. He talked for a few more moments before he left the chamber to visit the forging rooms.

The Empress looked at the food trolley and shook her head with a smile. Valerian moved so quickly to forge collar chains that he forgot to give her the food.

...

The young man left the palace and rushed to the forging room on foot. The hawkers and the shopkeepers who were already up and about were shocked to see the prince running through the roads.

They all greeted him, and the young man waved at them all. He spotted a familiar shop on his path and stopped in his tracks. He recalled how Quies had taken him to the Imperial Pavilion. The old lady said that one shop is in every city.

Today he spotted the same hoarding and decided to walk in and see if he could find a collar chain. The door pushed open, and the bell jingled, followed by a gentle voice, "Coming!"

Valerian could swear he had a deja vu. The old lady from ten years ago came out from the small room behind the counter holding her cane. The young man was surprised to see how she could stay the same. Everyone had some changes in ten years, but the lady did not.

The lady glanced at Valerian and smiled, "Oh, an old customer. What a surprise, Young man, finally decided to step in?"

Surprised, The young man asked, ’Old madam, how are you still the same?’

The old lady stopped momentarily and said, "Everything you do inside this shop is a trade. If I am to answer your question, you need to pay."

Surprised, The young man asked, ’Old madam, what could I use to pay you?’

The old man smiled and said, "Hmmm, so let us see, how about I hold you in debt?"

The young man was taken aback, and the lady said, "Do not worry. I will not ask you for anything impossible."

Valerian thought about it and nodded. The old lady replied, "This shop exists in this world, and at the same time, it does not."

Valerian opened his eyes wide. The old lady said, "Now, that is all I could tell you."

The prince was now stunned. Was he held in debt for this? If only he were not eager. Shaking his head, the young man asked, ’Ma’am, do you have a magical collar chain or anything similar?’

The old lady nodded and approached the shelf from where she picked up a collar chain. The design was simple, but it looked very elegant. The lady said, "That will be a thousand Shiling or twenty demon cores."

Valerian had never heard of demon cores. He was confused, and the lady said, "You will know when the time is right. For now, I will take silver."

The young man nodded, took out ten gold coins from his pouch, and asked, ’Will they suffice?’

The lady looked at the coins and found they did not belong to Lumen or this world. However, she smiled and said, "They will. The imperial pavilion accepts everything, and we sell everything."

Valerian did not understand the meaning of the lady much and took his collar chain to go back to the palace. He was quick on his feet, but he did not know that after he left, the old lady of the store smiled and mumbled, "See you soon, Patron Valerian."

...

The young man returned to the palace with a collar chain fixed, and he looked for Libra. The king was addressing the royal court. The guard saw Valerian walking over and announced his arrival.

The courtiers were stunned when they found the young man approaching the throne. Valerian bowed to Libra and said, "Your Excellency, I hope you can allow me to visit the neighboring empires on a political visit."

Libra smiled and said, "You do not need my permission. The Empress already mentioned this, so you are free to leave. However, do not forget to come back."

Valerian nodded and then left after discussing a few things in the court. The rest of the people were not told about it, as the young man directly left the palace from his balcony and flew away with mana wings on his back.

His speed was no less than a flying beast, and he was not exhausted. He used the other to carry on if one of his attributes was exhausted. After a day, Valerian reached the Centaur nation. His mana was exhausted, so the young man tamed a wild horse and used it to ride through the boundaries and was headed to the capital.

...

The sun descended on the horizon, but Morgana was still working under the light of Solaris stone. Ever since that day on the battlefield, the Empress of the Centaur nation has turned quiet. She would not speak if not needed, and her temper had turned cold.

If there were any offenders in the court, she would kill them directly. The citizens experienced a bittersweet relationship with her. The citizens could not tell if this was the same Empress who had fought for the rights and equality of the poor and abused.

These days she did not care about any of it, and the rich were again moving their hands in the dark. The citizens did not approach the lady because they all thought she was cold and had a change of heart.

Ambrosia knew all this and was looking through the reports of a few incidents reported in the last week. She was thinking about how to respond to them when suddenly, she froze.

She sensed someone appearing behind her, gazing over her shoulder. She was ready to cast a magic spell when the person covered her mouth with his big hands. She could not chant, but with the quill in her hands as a weapon, she tried to attack the invader when a wooden vine wrapped around her limbs.

The person pressed a few points on her neck, and now she could not speak. Her chair was pulled and turned around. A masked figure stood before her with a harmless smile.

The figure said, "Seems like the fire in your heart have died down a little, Empress Morgana."

The lady wanted to ask who this person was but could not move her mouth. A bad feeling crept into her heart as she watched the figure lean back and check her out. The figure commented, "The information says you are unmarried without any love entanglement. So, how about I teach you? You teach me a few things about the human body."

The person leaned forward, and his hands caressed her shoulders and legs. He asked, "The only way for you to get out of this is a relationship, a spring thread, and a love debt. Fortunately, you do not have any of those."

Morgana shook her head profusely. The figure was confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

Morgana nodded her head in a quick reflex, and the man asked, "You have a love interest?"

The empress nodded again, and the masted figure took off the mast revealing Valerian’s real identity which made Morgana ball her fists, and hell broke losse inside Empress’s chamber.