99 In the Royal Palace.

-A few minutes earlier.-

In a room adorned with one of the finest gems and rare pieces, a silver-haired girl stood at the window, gazing at the view outside with hazy eyes.

The room was located high up in the Royal Palace. So, the girl had a clear view of the beautiful scenery outside.

Far out in the distance, she could see the dark clouds forming above in the sky. But those clouds were still quite far away from the Capital's outskirts.

Moving her vision just outside the walls in the vicinity of the Royal Palace, the girl noticed the crowd resting just outside the entrance.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw another carriage heading towards the entrance, just like the others, it stopped at a fair distance from the gates.

Because of how far the walls were from the Palace, she could not clearly see anyone's face, even with her enhanced vision after becoming a Rank-5 Mage.

Just as she looked at the carriage that had recently stopped near the entrance, the girl was brought out of her mind when she heard the sound of footsteps outside her room.

Without any formalities such as knocking at the door, the newly arrived person just rudely opened the door to enter without asking for permission.

"As impatient as ever, Sarah! How many times have I told you to at least knock first? It's bad manners!"- The silver-haired girl reprimanded while feigning anger on her face.

Her words, however, had little effect on the girl named Sarah, who had just entered the room.

The girl that had just entered had blonde hair and big round eyes. Around the age of 16, the girl wore fancy clothes embroidered with silver and gold linings.

Her face also resembled that of Emperor Luthien—clearly a proof of her identity as the princess. Through light feet, she tiptoed in front of Clara without caring about the latter's expressions.

"Oh, Come on, Sister Clara! Isn't it just that you don't want someone to interrupt your blissful time while thinking of him~?" Sarah said with a teasing tone.

Hearing Sarah's words, Clara's angry expression came down immediately. Her cheeks instantly became red, and she began to fidget with her hands.

"Y-you... you, h-how do you kno-..." Stuttering, Clara was almost about to admit to the 'accusations'.

"Oh~? How do I know?"- Although Clara had forced herself to shut up, it wasn't hard for Sarah to understand what she was going to say next.

Keeping one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her face, Sarah tapped her cheek with her finger and made a thinking pose.

"Hm... How would I know that when you've only just started daydreaming lately? Then you began staring out the windows as if waiting for your prince charming to come to you or something?"- Sarah teased her with a little sarcastic question.

*Sigh.*

Clara sighed in defeat after realizing that she couldn't refute the girl before her. However, Sarah could still notice the increasing redness from her cheeks to her ears.

It couldn't be helped since no matter how much Clara tried, she couldn't stop herself from thinking of the moment when the man had passed by her.

Within only a few seconds, without even stopping to look at her, the onyx-haired man not only saved her from the assassination but also killed the assassin! She would never be able to forget that day in her life.

That incident had left a deep impression on her. She had survived many assassination attempts on her life before that she had already lost count. However, she would never be able to forget this one.

"Ouch!!! What was that for!?"- Clara was brought out of her thoughts when she felt something sting on her waist.

"What do you mean by what was that for? I'm still standing here, and you have already started daydreaming!"- Sarah huffed, angry since no one liked being ignored while in the middle of the conversation.

"Oh! Hehe... There there."- Clara realized her mistake and patted Sarah's head to make it up to her.

"Hmph! I already don't like that guy! Even before marrying you, he has stolen all of your attention!"- Sarah said after she had calmed down from the pats.

"W-what WHAT?! M-m-m-marriage?! But that's so soon! And I don't even know him, why would he even... m-marry me?!"- Clara lost her calm the moment she heard the word marriage.

She imagined the onyx-haired man holding her hands as she was wearing a white wedding dress, the sky turning pink, and the birds chirping in the distance.

"Ara ara~? It hasn't been a minute, and you have already dozed off twice!"- Clara woke up from her fantasies to look at the threatening smile on Sarah's face.

"Hehehe... I'm sorry?"- Clara cheekily smiled as she rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed by her own actions.

"Would there even be a man out there who would reject you, Big Sister? Heh, I wouldn't even let that guy come close to you until he does not show enough respect to me."- Sarah said as she raised her head, trying her best to imitate her father.

*Tuk.*

Clara gave a head chop to Sarah's head while shaking her head.

"What was that for!?"- Sarah asked while glaring hatefully at the silver-haired girl who had a smile on her face.

"Silly! Don't just go assuming things. I don't even know if I will be able to meet him or not."

"Oooh, and what will you do, if you do meet him?"- Sarah teased with a smug face, already knowing what Clara's next reaction is going to be.

And just as she had expected, lost in her fantasies again, Clara was blushing to the ears!

"See! Again! Even though I somewhat expected it, it still doesn't fit right with me that you suddenly start to ignore me and start to daydream about this guy, hmph!"

*Tak! Tak!*

Just as they were going to continue their bickering, there was a knock at the door.

"It's me, Young Miss."

A voice resembling that of a middle-aged woman sounded out behind the door.

"Oh, Venessa, you can come inside."- Clara said after recognizing her maid's voice.

"Young Miss, Sir Hanry told me to inform you that everything is arranged. We will leave now."- Venessa did a small bow before explaining.

"It's time already, huh?"- Clara sighed before she went out of the room with Sarah following behind her.

Meanwhile, Venessa waited a little while in the room and suddenly turned towards one of the walls.

"You shouldn't hear their private conversations, Sir Hanry."- Venessa said while facing the wall.

"It's my duty, Venessa. If you have a problem with that, you can discuss it with the Master."

While Venessa could still see no one in front of her, the direction the voice came from was the same position she was looking at.

*Whoosh...*

Once the voice disappeared, some wind developed within the room until it came to a standstill, and Venessa was left with no one to get out her frustration on.