When Emperor Valentin managed to fully recover, he did not delay any further and proceeded to join the council meetings immediately.
Most of the matters raised were not alarming for him to personally move, however, the main concern in the past few days was the visiting of the Main Temple envoys to take the traitors away and the hosting of the Grand Tournament of the three continents.
With these two major events happening in about six months, Emperor Valentin found it hard to decide hastily how they would go about the matters. And so he opted to wait for the Grandmasters Reuben and Andvari, as well as his brother, the Governor of the North, Fidel.
Three days later, the Emperor along with the three princes, Kazimir, Antoine, and Leon waited in the Sun tower to welcome Grandmasters Reuben, Andvari, and Governor Fidel. Along with the key officers from the council, they stood patiently in front of the teleportation platform.
Some of the nobles could not help but whisper among themselves, how the Emperor was not even anxious to use the teleportation array when they knew that the Empire had limited resources of mana stone.
Leon, who could hear their conversation, just shrugged indifferently. The guardians immediately pulled him aside during the visit to their realm last time and made him get as many supreme mana stones as he can.
"C'mon prince, dig some more! You will never know when your family will be in great need of these stones." He remembered Guardian Zale conjuring a shovel and a sack as he handed it over to Leon. Then he pointed to the lake which had countless mana stones around.
He could never forget how dumbfounded he appeared to be when he told him that.
Now, Guardian Zale's words were proven to be true as they needed the stones at this moment to increase the mobility of the East and West clearing teams.
The Empire could not afford to wait for them to travel by land because there would be two major events that were about to happen in six months.
Not long after, the teleportation array finally reacted and a bright green light started to flood all around the Sun Tower.
When the light finally subsided, Grandmaster Reuben and the West Retaliation Team finally emerged from the array, with their valiant uniforms as they stood straight and proud. Behind them were the culprits that had to be subjected to trials by the Main Temple.
"On behalf of the Seirende Empire, we greet you with the greatest honor and thanks, Grandmaster Reuben and the entire West Retaliation Army. Congratulations on your victory!" Emperor Valentin saluted as he led his people to welcome Grandpa Ben's team.
"En… thank you for your warm welcome. Has the East team arrived?" Grandmaster Reuben responded as he looked around to find his old friend and their counterpart.
"Grandmaster, they have yet to arrive, probably in around five minutes." Emperor Valentin respectfully replied.
"Then I shall wait with you." Grandmaster Reuben decided. In an orderly manner, the troops went down on the platforms with the captives in tow. The knights on the Emperor's side also assembled to assist in securing them.
A few minutes later, the teleportation array reacted again and this time, Governor Fidel, Grandmaster Andvari, Randel, and the East Retaliation troops finally arrived in the capital.
Emperor Valentin also led in welcoming the team, especially his brother, whom he had not seen ever since he decided to exile in the north.
Governor Fidel stood tall as he looked similar to Emperor Valentin with only a few years younger. He looked at his elder brother with a nostalgic smile.
"Long time no see, Your Majesty." He greeted him back politely.
"I finally saw you after all these years. Welcome back to the Capital, Fidel." Emperor Valentin smiled as he gave his brother a bear hug.
"Are they the well-known princes, my nephews?" Governor Fidel took a long look at the three princes. He was deeply surprised upon seeing them.
"Indeed." Emperor Valentin smiled happily, then he proceeded to introduce them to their uncle.
The welcome was rather simple yet the people who attended were the most prominent people in the empire. Thus it could be said that it was the highest honor for the troops who had arrived to be personally welcomed by them.
Before they proceeded to the welcome banquet, the two troops had to proceed to the Court of Sinners to put the captives into jail.
The Court of Sinners had been modified and enhanced by the joint effort of Leon and the Temple in order to ensure that their security is of the same quality as the one in the temple dungeons. With this, the Imperial Family and the officials were also relieved to let traitors be jailed there.
"There were a lot of discussions on how we will have to deal with these culprits but they were all put aside when the Main Temple stepped in." Emperor Valentin told Governor Fidel as they traveled toward the court.
"Then that means that whether they keep them alive, kill them or just punish them through exile…" Governor Fidel looked at Emperor Valentin with surprise on his face.
Emperor Valentin's expression went dark as he nodded his head and replied, "Yes… we can't say anything. Nor can we influence the kind of punishment they would even receive."
"At most, what we could do is compile the evidence that we managed to gather to condemn them impeccably." Emperor Valentin declared.
While the Empire was finally consolidating all the traitors in one place, on the other side of Prasinos, in the Vanderford Castle, a certain man who lazily sat on the throne once again summoned his official.
"Have we gotten any information about the Seirende Empire?" His voice sounded familiar.
If Eli was around she would immediately recognize the voice as the owner of the Spirit Fragment.
"Our spies have been totally wiped out in the empire. The most we can do is to see the surveillance crows who could only transmit images on our side." The cloaked man kneeling before the throne reported dutifully.
"Luckily, the nearby kingdoms and the Green Wave Continent agreed with our motion to force the Seirende to open their gates. With this, we can finally have an opportunity to infiltrate that empire again and look for the paladin."
"Does the council still believe that the Paladin is in the Empire? Didn't they receive the information of the Paladin's last miracle?"
"My Lord, they do but they could not take Seirende off the list just because of that."
"Alright then, the Grand Tournament might be the best course of action. How were our new vessels?"
"The new vessels have already started their training in the Cuervo Duchy. However, they were a little bit hard to manage because of their haughty behaviors." The hooded official reported.
"Hmm…" Lord Raven played with the jewels in his hands, one of them was an amethyst stone that shone brightly almost like the Vesala's purple eyes.
Remembering the Vesalas, an eerie smirk appeared on his face as he finally replied, "I think it is time to crush their spirits to build a new one. Have the siblings know of their family's demise in the Seirende Empire."
"Let's see if they could still hold their heads up high upon knowing the news. I do not need a vessel I could not control. If they still would not submit then have them killed." Lord Raven ordered.
"I will do as you said, your Highness, Lord Raven."
"How many times do I have to say… Duke Cuervo…" Suddenly, Lord Raven, who was lazily sitting on the throne, stood up. His dark purple hair flowed like a river in his slender shoulders as his blood-red eyes looked displeased towards the hooded official who was actually Duke Cuervo.
"In this castle, you must not call me by the name Raven…" He suddenly transformed into another man, bearing the same features as that of the Vesalas. However, his amethyst eyes were much purer than Carolina or any other Vesala in Seirende.
He stood in front of the kneeling Duke Cuervo just a few steps away from him as he said with a devilishly threatening tone, "In this castle my name is Magnus… Magnus Amir Vanderford, the 'crown prince of the Vanderford Empire!"
"Yes, your Highness Crown Prince!" Duke Cuervo shuddered as he did not dare to lift his head upon knowing that Lord Raven approached him.
It was just a few years ago that he discovered that the Crown Prince actually had two personas. Due to that, he had no choice but to pledge allegiance to the prince even though he knew that involving him would be extremely dangerous.
But what was more dangerous than having to lose his dear life?
And so, he chose to become a faithful servant of the Crown Prince's true identity, Lord Raven, leader of the sinister organization - the Spectre!
