Chapter 113 Suspicious Movements

When Aion and the others approached to congratulate those two, Aion saw Selene flinching a little, so he decided to keep his distance. The atmosphere in the room also got a bit heavier, and Aion could feel the stares of the guards around. That sure was annoying for him.

"Why are you so stiff and nervous, Aion?" Henri asked while frowning. "I didn't take you for someone who is afraid to talk to girls."

"You should work on your skills to read the atmosphere more," Aion said.

It was evident that the princess was quite afraid of Aion. While he wasn't armed, weapon or not, things are basically the same for a mage of Aion's lineage. Almost all mages of the kingdom would need time to cast a spell, but Aion could do it instantly. So, it felt like aside from the guards, Aion was the only armed person in the room.

Anyway, Aion and his brother shook their hands, and Aion just nodded at the princess. She probably would faint if he got too close… Nevertheless, she returned the greeting with a stiff smile.

"He isn't a bad guy, you know," Henri said when his family moved away. "His fame might make him look scary, but he isn't someone who would do bad things to people without a good reason. Besides, his mother doesn't want him to follow a path of revenge, and the last thing that he wants is to make her sad."

"Still…" Selene said. "He has this weird aura and immense magic power, I can't help but get nervous."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you how he used his magic powers the other day… it was awesome," Henri said.

From the distance, while seeing his brother's gestures, Aion could tell what Henri was telling the princess… he truly hoped that he wouldn't ask him to bring her on another trip to the sky as well. In any case, after a couple of hours, the party ended, and Aion finally had the chance to go home, or his former home. He sighed when he returned. Training all day was a lot less tiring than such events with so many stiff rules.

"Did you have fun, Aion?" Artemisia asked. "I bet that you are stuffed. The girls didn't leave you alone for a second, right?"

Aion didn't know what was worse, to lie or to disappoint his mother. He decided to change the topic since, after that night, it was clear that instead of hate, people feared him. Finding a woman in that kingdom that would ignore all that would be hard.

Anyway, the festivities would last for a week, and leaving so soon would disappoint his brother. Aion couldn't leave his mother in that room forever, so he asked her to take a look around. She only accepted when she found a cloak to hide her body and face.

People frowned by seeing someone wearing clothes like that in that hot weather. Still, they didn't make much of a fuss. Most of them didn't recognize Aion either. In any case, there were a lot of stands across the capital, but Artemisia was only interested in buying some sweets… She spent all day eating that kind of thing. To the point that Aion got dizzy, he wasn't that good with sugar, so he avoided it. Still, his mother stayed in a good mood, so that was fine.

Things only changed around two days before Aion could return home with his mother. He was training with his brothers when his father suddenly returned home a bit earlier and then went to the office in a hurry. Aion, Georges, Elio, and Philip looked at each other. Something definitely had happened…

"What is wrong, father?" Philip asked when Lexus returned fully armored.

" …You all will know sooner or later, so I might as well tell you that," Lexus said. "It seems that one of the neighbors is trying to annex the lands that we obtained thirteen years ago. They used the ceremony to attack. Some armies have already invaded and destroyed some watchtowers and camps that we used to keep the borders on a close watch."

Lexus was talking about the territory of the former Milleris kingdom that they had obtained. The east side of the Zaera kingdom was particularly longer than the opposite one because of that. It was weird since. Apparently, they divided the territory into a country that was known for having many bandits. Still, they split things in half.

Even considering only the half they received, the annexed land was weird since half of that was made of forests, and the other half was mostly desertic areas on the coasts. Only the location of the former capital of the Milleris kingdom wasn't a desert, but the capital was in total ruins. That was what marked the borders between both lands, but now their former ally was trying to increase their territory…

"While you will graduate soon, you still are studying under the command of those three," Lexus said. "Until you graduate, you are members of their battalions. Stay ready to move if something happens. Be ready to leave as soon as possible. I am going ahead first. We can't let those guys ruin this period of time so important for Henri and Selene."

Aion's brothers nodded, and then Lexus left while he was lost in thought. He considered that such a thing would happen, but not coming from that side of the kingdom… while the leaders of that country were basically bandits, they once shared the same goal and achieved it together with the Zaera kingdom… However, those feelings of comradeship didn't last long.

On the next day, Aion's brothers received the order to move out, and he wondered how he could give them a hand… he had his own territory to guard, but he couldn't help but wonder… Still, on the day of his departure, Aion received the word that the western side of the kingdom was also under attack…