"Nordan, I've heard that your third daughter, Marley Eve, is the first one among the younger generation in the Empire to break through to the Saint Emperor realm; it seems like you have a promising heir to the family." Declared Marcus, sitting on the throne and looking down upon the several nobles who had attended the meeting.
"Thank you for the praise, your Majesty; I also believe Marley will make a wonderful heir and even more amazing matriarch of the Eve family in the future." Stated Nordan, the current patriarch of one of the three Arch-Duke noble families in the Elven Empire.
"Though her attitude could be improved upon." Remarked another Elf standing right next to Nordan.
"What is that supposed to mean, Mavis!?" Asked Nordan in a slightly threatening tone while staring at Mavis.
"Ohh, did I say that out loud? Oops." Replied Mavis, a tall, light-skinned Elven woman with beautiful black hair and the current matriarch of the noble Arch-Duke family, Evergreen.
"We are in the presence of the Empress and Emperor, so can the leaders of the highest noble families stop acting like children and act like they are leaders of a noble family." Stated a tall and bulky dark-skinned Elf, which is rare to see amongst the Elfs, with a few scars across his face.
Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I stop staring at Mavis and heed Draxs advice; who is also the patriarch of one of the Arch-Duke noble families, the Cordan house, known for being a military family.
"My apologies that you had witnessed such child-" Said Nordan, who had stopped talking as everyone present had heard the sound of the entrance doors open, and right after, a lady's voice resounded throughout the Throne room.
"His highness, Crown Prince Elif has arrived!"
"CROWN PRINCE ELIF HAS ARRIVED!" Yelled the men and women in armor kneeling.
Realizing what was transpiring shocked every noble here, including me, as this was the first time we would get to bear witness to the Crown Prince.
'Hmm, but that voice from earlier, could that really be her?' Thought Nordan.
In the distance, we could see the crown prince in all of his glory walking toward us, and the first thing we all noticed was how the star emblem on his head was purple instead of gold, which allowed us to determine something vital about him.
'The Crown Prince is mutated!? Dammit, this just made Marley's chances of defeating Prince Elif even slimmer than before!' Thought Nordan, pissed at the revelation.
When prince Elif arrived near us, I wanted to scan him with my divine sense but doing so was akin to declaring war upon the Royal Family; besides, the Empress and Emperor, who are right here, would easily catch my attempt at using my divine sense. As we watched him walk through us, I saw him look at me with an annoyed expression plastered on his face before ignoring me and continuing on his way to the thrones.
"Ohh, Elif, I see you've advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm." Said Maria with a smile while still retaining the majestic and imposing aura.
"Well, it wasn't hard or anything, but you told me to come here, so what's going on, mother?" Replied Elif, who had gotten teleported on top of Maria's lap.
"Well, nothing much; we're just talking about casual stuff that's happened within the Empire." Answered Maria as she pinched Elifs cheeks.
Watching the interaction between the two slightly surprised us, as Empress Maria was known for being domineering and one who rarely smiled, and this was all just from her younger days when she was still just a princess; now she is even worse. While the interaction continued, I noticed a maid standing to the side just below the thrones, and when I saw her, it allowed me to confirm it indeed was her.
'Illumia, the "Battle Maniac" general who guards the north, to think the reason why she retired four years ago was to become the Prince's personal maid, though it doesn't seem like it has affected her cultivation whatsoever.' Thought Nordan.
As I thought deeply about new plans to help Marley deal with the prince, I was brought back into reality by Empress Maria's voice.
"Introduce yourselves to my son." Said Empress Maria with authority.
"I'm Nordan Eve, the patriarch of the noble Arch-Duke house; it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Prince Elif." Declared Nordan with a bow.
"I'm Mavis Evergreen, the matriarch of the noble Arch-Duke house; it is a pleasure to be of your acquaintance Prince Elif." Declared Mavis with a bow.
"I'm Draxs Alfhild, the patriarch of the noble Arch-Duke House; it is wonderful to meet you, Prince Elif." Declared Draxs while bowing like the rest of them.
"I'm Sally Hilda, the matriarch of the noble Duke family." Declared a petite dark-skinned Elf with a bow.
"I'm Jasmine Dagmar, the matriarch of the noble Duke family." Declared a light-skinned Elf with half her face covered by a veil while bowing.
"I'm Harry Voldir, the patriarch of the noble Duke family." Declared a light-skinned Elf who had short blonde hair with a bow.
"I'm Norman Freyr, the patriarch of the noble Duke family." Declared another light-skinned Elf who was wearing a weird attire with a bow.
"I'm May Sigurda, the matriarch of the noble Duke family." Declared a beautiful dark-skinned Elf who was wearing revealing clothes with a bow.
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"Now, Elif, you should also introduce yourself as well." Said Maria in a pleasant tone, which was vastly different from how she sounded when she spoke to the nobles.
"My name is Elif August, the Crown Prince." Stated Elif, who tried copying Maria's overbearing attitude when speaking to the nobles, though to most of the nobles, he looked more adorable than scary.
"Hehe, you're so adorable trying to copy me, Elif." Said Maria in amusement as she tickled Elif, causing him to try and wiggle his way out of Maria's arms, though her fun got interrupted.
"Maria, we are in front of nobles; please have some self-control." Said Marcus, exasperated at how Maria doesn't care about her image before important people of the Empire.
With father's comment, mother finally stopped tickling me and let me go, and I used that as an opening to quickly hop off mother's lap toward father, who had caught me in mid-air.
"Tsk, everyone leave; we shall reschedule today's meeting for another day!" Declared Maria in annoyance, but none of the nobles dared to question her as they didn't wish to receive her wrath.
Once the nobles were gone, it was just me, mother, father, Illumia, and all the guards left in the Throne room.
"Haa, being an Emperor is so tedious." Muttered Marcus in displeasure.
"But you and mother looked cool sitting on the throne; you both gave off a majestic and imposing feeling, though mother felt far more imposing than you." Stated Elif in excitement and awe, causing both Maria and Marcus to smile at his compliment.
"Haha, that's true; Maria has always been overbearing, even when we were young." Said Marcus with a laugh.
"Hmph, whatever. Anyways, now that you have achieved the Foundation Establishment realm, we can take you to the treasury to pick out a weapon and also grab some resources for you to use while cultivating." Stated Maria as she stood up from her throne and started walking towards the exit.
"Great-grandfather said I'll also get to meet Great-grandmother once I visit the treasury!" Said Elif, who had hoped off of Marcus, running after Maria with an excited grin on his face.
"Yes, you'll get to meet her, but be careful though; who do you think mother got her personality from?" Said Marcus.
When I thought about that, it slightly scared me as sometimes grandmother would randomly teleport me to her arms and force me to go to sleep while still within her arms, using me as a pillow; it was terrible, especially since sometimes she would push my head in between her breasts, suffocating me in the process.
"M-Maybe we can visit her some other time?" Asked Elif as he nervously backed away, though he didn't get very far as he bumped into Illumia, who was following behind them before getting teleported into Maria's arms.
"Well, too bad, you're going to visit the treasury several times throughout your life as a prince, so you might as well see her now." Answered Maria.
Sighing, I just sat in mothers arms as we made our way through several hallways, which for reference, looked the exact same as all the other hallways before we eventually arrived at a wooden door; looking out one of the windows, I could tell we were quite high up from the ground.
"Grandmother, we're here to visit the treasury." Announced Marcus after knocking on the door.
A few seconds after father knocked on the door, the door opened while a calm and soothing voice appeared, welcoming us.
"My oh my, if it isn't my two little grandchildren Marcus and Maria, as well as my baby Great-grandchild, to what do I owe the pleasure." Said the calm womanly voice coming from behind the door.
"Well, Elif has just broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm, so we are here to get him some resources and pick out a weapon for Elif." Stated Marcus, still standing outside the room
"Well then, come on inside, though I must take a closer look at my new Great-grandchild." Said the voice happily as Elif suddenly vanished from Maria's arms.
Suddenly feeling myself within different arms and a different scent slightly startled me, but from what I had heard before, I assumed I was being held within my Great-grandmothers's arms even though I couldn't see her.