Billard was troubled.
He opened the small crumbled letter where one of the informers had sent him a detailed report on the attack. His large study was empty, filled with the swelling worry that emanated from him. He had called out the four guards and Master Valentine to get a detailed report about the ambush.
There was a knock and Billard spoke up, "Come in." His eyes stayed on the letter, reading it many times, scrutinizing if he had read it wrong.
As he tilted his head, he saw Master Valentine and the four guards he had appointed entering.
All of them paid their respect to him and Billard asked, "I heard you did your best to protect the prince and princess and you will get rewards for it." His eyes took in their faces and saw they had fatigue painted on their faces, "but I must ask you the details of this ambush."
The guards bent their heads and said, "Yes, Your Highness."
"How powerful was the enemy and How many of them were there?"
One of the guards answered, "They were six men, everyone had powers."
"What kind of powers?" He pressed his words.
"They were wizards, Your Highness. One of them was earthborn, three of them were airborn, one was rather timid however, he was a good combatant and their leader must be a high tier considering the aura he was giving off."
"High tier, you say?" Billard rested his chin on one of his hands, "Wizards are trying to kill Demian?"
What would the wizards gain from killing Demian and Seraphina? This was troubling him for quite a while. Other than meddling with their alliance, they had no other reason.
Billard entered into deep thoughts about how wizards could enter the Dragons forest and they even went near the hidden land! It was very unlikely as the whole Dragon kingdom had strict rules and very fine settlement so no wizards could enter without a strong reason. Was there someone among his people who had been helping them to enter his kingdom without his knowledge? If there was, then it would be a very big trouble to find him. But for what purpose?
He read the letter again and asked, "How powerful was the leader?"
"Very much that it would have taken two dragonborns to handle him."
He knew how powerful the high tiers were. He personally had never met one however, he gets news of them. And he had heard many tales from Master Valentine and his father. Both of them had fought with wizards in the last battle.
Billard nodded as the last sentence left him with bizarre thoughts. They said Princess Seraphina had killed the high tier. And if it would take two of his men to handle him, how did she manage to kill him? It was very unlikely for a single human to take on a high tier wizard.
Billard tilted his head and said to the guards, "Well, thank you again for your assistance. Now you may all go and take proper rest."
The guards once again bowed before departing from the chamber as Billard placed his elbows on the desk before him entwining his fingers before his lips, questions after questions forming in his mind.
"Master Valentine, have you ever fought with a high tier before?"
Master Valentine nodded, "Yes, two of them."
"Did you manage to win?"
"Well, if I hadn't, I wouldn't be here, would I?"
Billard nodded as he chuckled. "So, were they as powerful as the guards say?"
Valentine scratched his chin, "Very strong and it was hard to lay a fist on them however, they weren't impossible to defeat, if that is what you want to know, your highness."
Billard looked at him for a moment as he recalled his wife's words. Zenith may be a bit barbarous when stating her views but even she could see it was very dubious. Seraphina may have saved Demian many times but what he knew about the human nation is that they didn't train their women to fight. And she was a princess. She was expected to be a proper lady, not a fighter.
Billard rubbed his temple as nothing made sense and he asked, "Master Valentine, do you think the humans have started to train their women?"
All the while Master Valentine was observing the crown prince in silence and gathering his words carefully as he knew everything that had happened would leave some questions in the mind of the person in front of him. He could see the doubts slowly taking their residence in his highness's mind and he was worried this day would come soon. However, he hadn't expected it to come so soon.
He was glad Seraphina had saved Demian but at the same time he was worried as it would raise some doubts as well and it did.
Now that the prince had asked him he had to take cautious steps before saying anything.
"Well, it could be highly unlikely for them to start training their women now as even their men are weak." He stated and Billard's eyes darkened with all the doubts playing in them.
He added, "However, I found some humans are very strong such as the one who had killed over a hundred wizards in the last battle." His eyes closed, "what was his name again? Ah! Sirius. It was very praise worthy for him to do so."
Billard's brows ceased on his forehead, "But still, could our Seraphina do something like that?" Billard asked, "she is very young."
"Well, haven't you heard about this man's tales?" Master Valentine asked and Billard could not understand why he was saying that tale of the one man army. Of course he knew that! Everyone had heard of it.
"I have but that doesn't justify this."
"Well, only if you see it in a different way. The man was powerful indeed but he had set traps in the forest. And when the wizards were crossing that route, he had poured hot iron on them before they could even activate their powers." Valentine tapped the side of his forehead and said, "vision and tricks, my prince."
"Vision?"
"Yes, vision to determine what could be the best at the moment to defeat your enemy and tricks to how to do that." Valentine added, "from the moment I saw Princess, I found her very amusing and I'm certain you have noticed it too."
Billard stayed silent as if he was recalling everything from the start.
"The cold attitude of our young prince is slowly fading away." Master Valentine said, "she is warming up to him, she wouldn't seem like it but she is intelligent," he finished his sentence.
"That's true. I found out today Demian is no longer angry all the time and his boisterous acts have been stopped lately." Billard nodded.
"Yes, your highness, princess Seraphina is very smart. She could handle situations that are challenging. She is not some weak human we had pictured a human princess would be."
Billard smiled, "Well, she had changed that perspective of humans."
Master Valentine may have sprouted some tales to make him believe that Seraphina was an incredible princess; however, it wouldn't take long for him to take a guess. Billard might be a simple minded prince but neither Prince Demian nor Prince Billard were fools.
He believed him as the brothers had heard stories from Master Valentine when he wasn't appointed as an advisor. The former king was his friend and he even used to tell them how unusual the world was outside of the dragon country.
However, next time if Seraphina acted carelessly it would bring her a lot of trouble.
*****
As Demian neared his brother's study chamber, he found Zenith near the turn. Her face bore a waried expression and it seemed she was coming back from her personal room.
"Going to his study?" She asked as she came near and added, "I'm sure these attacks have been so hard on our young prince as you never liked to go out of the castle."
Demian didn't say anything, just stayed with a blank face.
Zenith shrugged, "And now that you finally went out, every tragedy is falling on you. Sad..." She made a face as if she was hurt but Demian could see through her buildup pretence.
"How cruel people could get nowadays? It seems like they don't need a prince who could bring disaster to this kingdom." She said in a breathy voice.
Demian had known that for some reason, Zenith had always shown him hatred but she never did anything in front of his brother. She was quite capable of becoming the future queen however, Demian never liked her family and certainly not Zenith as all of their views were twisted and wicked. And there was another fact that they preferred power and wealth above everything. Zenith's father was a Marquess and he held power over the Southern dragon land and he wanted more power so he pursued their father, the old king about the marriage.
He was glad he didn't have a sister. Taking Casian as his brother in law would have scarred his soul.
"If you have nothing more to offer, kindly move there are some important things that i need to discuss with my brother." He said coldly, "I don't have time for this."
She chuckled in a mock tone ignoring his statement, "Of course, you don't. After all, it seems like you have enough time to trouble your brother."
"Well, if he's going to be our future King, then he should be." Demian stated.
"Why aren't you capable enough to handle your own?"
"And why do I have to answer you, Zenith?" Now Demian felt annoyed and wasting time would not be what he preferred. Demian neared as his cold voice growled with power, "Remember, Zenith, like my brother, I have the power to discard anyone on a single word. And my brother would not even question me."
Demian gave her a crooked smile which said even if she was married to the crown prince, Demian was still superior in terms of power and position and he would not hesitate to use it if he felt like it.
Zenith took a few steps back as Demian crossed her and she remarked, "It seems like the young prince has gotten attached to the human Princess..." She gave a cruel scoff as Demian halted.
He wasn't sure why Zenith had been sticking her nose in his problems, especially with Seraphina. Was she trying to threaten him with Seraphina? If she was, it would be a mistake not only for Zenith but for her father as well.
She added, "It seems to me that put her own life in danger for you is a complete waste for her."
Demian turned his head to give her a cold glare but it didn't seem to have much effect as she continued, "For someone like you who would kill her in an instant, she sure is naive to lay her life to protect yours."
Her smile resembled a snake's and Demian clenched his fists.
"It is her decision. Unlike you, she makes her decisions based on her feelings and not by thinking of the gain by it."
"Ho! You seem to know a lot about her."
"She is mine, it's only natural for me to know that much about her."
"Still, what if she did it on purpose? Putting her life in danger to save yours just to gain something?" Zenith asked leaning her back against the wall with her arms crossed against her chest.
"The Human nation never trains their women in fighting as far as everyone knows and yet, Princess Seraphina fights men and wins, she even survives the deadly attacks and comes out unscathed. How?"
"That's her skill, and as far as I know, I've seen her doing so myself, so, if you think you can put something in my mind about Seraphina then think again. I know you very well, you may be my brother's wife but it won't take me long to rip your throat out if you posed any danger to my family or my woman." Demian's voice was low but the threat screamed through his words and Zenith didn't fail to get the hint.
Zenith's muscles clenched as she whirled around, "If she were a spy or someone who would pose a threat to my husband then you would be responsible for it. It would be better if you investigate of that woman."
"That is something that I will decide and I don't need you to tell me what I'm supposed to do and not. Besides," he turned to face her, "I don't like my woman to be some weak, helpless little being who can't even defend herself."
There was a moment of silence between them as Demian turned and walked towards his brother's study, "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I have better things to do."