Watching them crash into the empty road in front of the Pagoda, I followed them before gracefully landing in between them. At the same time, various spectators converged at our location now that the fighting had stopped.
Seeing every one of them forced to kneel because of my pressure brought a smile to my face, knowing that the so-called strongest nobles in the Empire couldn't even lift a finger before my might; to top it all off, I still had plenty of strength to spare.
"P-Prince Elif, w-when did you transcend to a Divine!?" Asked Maga, feeling utterly shocked that someone four years younger than him could surpass everyone in merely four years, even if said person were the Crown Prince.
"It was during my little forced vacation in the Spirit realm; how else did you think I would leave such an accursed realm?" Replied Elif with a smirk as he observed the expressions from everyone, especially the disbelief on Marley's face.
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"To achieve a Divine cultivation base at merely the age of eight, how many people have done that in history!?" Exclaimed one of the spectators in the distance.
"I don't know, but it can't be many. I only advanced to the Divine realm shortly after turning eighty, which is already considered quite fast compared to normal standards!" Replied a floating Fairy while watching the commotion in the distance, no one daring to get close in case another battle erupts.
"From my shallow knowledge, there haven't been more than one-hundred people who have achieved the Divine realm before the age of ten since the Primordial Epoch. That, of course, only includes those written in history; who knows what type of geniuses have long been forgotten about since immemorial times." Said a very short, stout older man with a long beard, his characteristics resembling that of a Dwarf
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"Anyways, returning to the topic of why I interfered in the fight, your battle has caused a great deal of panic among the citizens, so much so that Mother and Father, the Empress and Emperor, had to personally order me to stop the battle. Though that was partly my fault as I stopped any of the guards from interfering with the fight." Declared Elif as he quietly mumbled the last part under his breath, causing the seven to realize the severity of the situation they had caused.
"Mother is going to be very angry." Muttered Alf quietly with her head down, the other five having similar thoughts.
"I won't enact any punishment on the six of you, as I'm sure your parents will do so in my stead once they return home from receiving their punishment from Mother and Father." Announced Elif as he released the pressure on Alf, Osborn, Maga, Kare, Felecia, and Starlet.
Having dealt with those six, I focused my attention on Marley, who was trying her hardest to resist the pressure I placed upon her to no avail. With a slight chuckle, I arrived directly in front of Marley before squatting down and lifting her face with my hand, resulting in our eyes locking together. Seeing the amount of disbelief, humiliation, and denial in her eyes was quite the spectacle if I do say so, though I didn't derive any joy or happiness from her misfortune, as I simply didn't hate her enough. Well, maybe I did find a minuscule amount of pleasure in her appearance, but that was merely because of what she did to Elaine.
"Now, your punishment, on the other hand, Marley; I'll be personally deciding on that, as knowing that fool Nordan, he probably won't even scold you." Said Elif with a slight smirk as he looked at Marley's unwilling face. Neither one realizing how sensual the scene looked from a spectator's point of view; the charming Crown Prince and the arrogant Noble girl—quite the title for a shoujo manga.
"Not only will you be punished for what transpired today, but also for having ruined my little sister's day, which you did a few times in the past six months." Added Elif, causing Marley to feel even angrier.
"It's not my fault that your sister doesn't like me!" Rebuked Marley angrily, which only resulted in further annoying Elif.
"It's Princess Elaine to you, Marley. And while it may or may not be your fault for why my little sister doesn't like you, I don't care; in my eyes, it's your fault, so you must be punished." Declared Elif, causing everyone's face within earshot to twitch from his unjustifiable statement, though everyone stayed quiet as he was the Prince and had the authority to do so.
'Now then, what type of punishment does Marley deserve? With her personality, giving her a punishment that humiliates her and or forces her to listen to someone's orders would be the best punishment, but what would that be? Ahh, how about this one.' Pondered Elif before grinning as he looked back down toward Marley.
"Alright, Marley, I've decided on your punishment, but you must return to the palace with me. Don't worry; it should be nothing too hard for a noble like you." Said Elif with a smirk before standing up and releasing the pressure on Marley.
"Wait for me by my carriage, and don't bother running away; it's not like you could escape from my grasp anyways." Added Elif as he left the area and flew up toward the top of the Pagoda.
Once at the topmost floor, I landed next to Elaine and Sarah, who were conversing with each other and only stopped when they saw me.
"How'd it go, your highness?" Asked Sarah as she ate some lightning cherries out of Elif's personal bowl that he handed to Elaine before he went to interfere with the battle.
"It went fine, and everything is taken care of, though it seems like you've been having a good time." Answered Elif, his eye twitching in annoyance while watching Sarah eat his precious lighting cherries.
"So, did you punish Marley!?" Asked Elaine in excitement as she also ate Elif's lightning cherries.
"I have already decided on her punishment, but she needs to return home with us so that I can enact said punishment." Said Elif while he, himself, started snacking on lighting cherries.
"Ugh, I don't want to spend any more time with Marley than I have to; the punishment better be good, brother!" Said Elaine, irritated at the revelation.
"It'll only be for a short time, and don't worry, while it may not be the worst punishment, for someone like her, it will be a nightmare." Replied Elif with a smirk as he took the bowl of lightning cherries out of Elaine's arms before storing them in his dimension ring.
"Don't you two look at me like that; that was my personal stash of lightning cherries. If you want some lightning cherries, get your own stash." Remarked Elif when he saw Sarah and Elaine making pouting faces.
Ignoring their little antics, I made my way over to the manager, who seemed to be doing his best to hold back any anger, and I couldn't blame him, considering how his entire restaurant was practically destroyed.
"Y-Yes, Prince Elif?" Asked the manager with a stiff smile when he noticed Elif approach him.
"No need to agonize over the destruction caused to the restaurant, considering I'm partly at fault for what happened today; I'll cover the cost of the repairs. Just send me the bill, and I'm sure you're smart enough not to do something like this but don't scam me; I detest liars." Said Elif lightly, causing the manager to nearly break down into tears.
"You don't have to worry about that happening, Prince Elif. I'd rather pay for the repairs before attempting something foolish like that!" Exclaimed the manager with passion before bowing and leaving.
Once that was taken care of, I gathered Sarah, Elaine, Illumia, Mandy, and her guards before returning to the carriage to head home, as today had been quite an exciting day. When we arrived at the carriage, just as I ordered, Marley was standing beside it while adorning an angry expression; though when we approached Marley, for the briefest of seconds, I saw jealousy in her eyes as she looked at Sarah before it was swiftly covered up by anger.
'I'm sure I wasn't mistaken, jealousy? Why would Marley ever feel jealous of Sarah? Hmm, maybe their relationship isn't as bad as I thought. No, Marley has been bullying Sarah for as long as I can remember, so then why did I sense jealousy? I'll think about this at a different time.' Thought Elif, causing a spark of curiosity to ignite inside him, though since right now wasn't the best time to speculate, he put it at the back of his mind for later.
"I'm surprised you actually listened to me; I thought I'd have to send Illumia to apprehend you." Said Elif while Illumia opened the carriage door; Elaine and Sarah stepped in, followed by Elif, Maxim, and Illumia.
All Marley did was angrily look in my direction before stepping into the carriage and sitting down in the corner by herself.
"Don't you have something to say, Marley?" Asked Elif with a smile while signaling to Elaine right beside him.
'I don't mind increasing the punishment if that's what you want.' Said Elif via divine sense when Marley sat quietly and ignored him.
"Tch. Princess Elaine, I apologize for my previous actions." Said Marley through gritted teeth as she slightly bowed.
"Hmph, you should be apologizing, and maybe with his punishment, you'll stop being irritating." Remarked Elaine with a huff.
"Alright then, Zulo, Zala, return to the palace; we are done for today." Ordered Elif, resulting in two beautiful neigh's sounding out before the carriage started moving.
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While the royal carriage was heading toward the Palace, an obsession had been born inside someone that day, though all were oblivious to it. Currently, it was just a tiny seedling inside that person, and its presence would stay unknown for some time; however, the obsession would grow, and the more it grew, the more it would slowly change said person's personality. The obsession could be something extraordinary or something terrifying; it all depended on whose perspective. One thing is sure, though, the owner of such an obsession will become a person hated by nearly all women in the future, but they'll also strike terror in any women who know of their deeds, and sadly for them, any women who know of their deeds will not live long.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 200: Elaine & Elif) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 81: Alexander's Heaven 2/3(R18)) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 137: Freyja Vs Dalmatian) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]