Two days passed. The emperor called Duke Lobelia to his office to take care of some official documents. The two old friends were sitting next to each other, piles and piles of papers and documents surrounding them.
"Those are from last month. You will take care of them, Angus. As for me, I will work on those of this month," said Arthur, picking up a tall stack of documents for himself.
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" the duke asked, a little worried.
"Yeah, why you're asking?" he asked back, confused.
"Isn't that a little too much paperwork for you? I mean, you're going to really tire yourself with these," he explained.
"Don't worry, Angus. It's nothing I can't handle," the emperor replied, smiling slightly.
"But you know very well what the doctor said-"
"I know what he said. I'll take care of these, and you, of the others. It's decided and I won't change my mind," he retorted stubbornly.
Seeing his reaction, Duke Lobelia sighed heavily as he stopped writing and looked at his friend with determination as he crossed his fingers under his chin.
"At least leave the half of it for next week," he suggested.
"I can't... I want to finish them before next week so I can be free to celebrate Luana's birthday... It's a very special day for both of us and I want to spend it with my daughter without worrying about the work that remains for me to do," replied Arthur with an affectionate smile plastered on his lips.
"Okay. As you wish," said Angus, smiling back warmly.
After that, they continued to sort the documents quietly while discussing political things concerning the empire until they heard someone knocking softly on the door.
"Come in," ordered the emperor.
The head butler, Gardner, entered the office as he walked over to the two men and bowed to them.
"Your Majesty. Your Grace," he greeted.
"What is it, Gardner?" Arthur asked.
"I came to tell you that the Order of the Imperial Knights is back. They have just entered the palace gates. They're in the courtyard right now," he declared with a small smile.
"This is great news!" exclaimed the duke with joy.
"I'm reassured that they're back safe and sound," Arthur added with a proud smile.
"What do you order me to do, Your Majesty?" the butler asked.
"Tell them to go wash up and rest for now. They must be exhausted after their long journey. And order the cooks and maids to begin the preparations for tonight's banquet."
"Understood, Your Majesty. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Call Captain Koraxos. Tell him that I want to see him in my office now. I need to talk with him," he added.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," replied the butler, bowing before leaving the room.
The emperor sighed as he rested his back on the chair to relax.
"They arrived just in time. Just like they said they will in the letter. That's a good sign," Angus remarked, smiling.
"I didn't expect less from the new captain. I knew we could count him since he is, after all, Arminel's disciple. The latter is a very good master and he never makes mistakes in his choices," Arthur replied with a proud smile.
"That's very right."
"Plus, the army has very powerful and skillful knights. Their harsh training really paid off."
"I'm very proud it's the case."
"You should go see your son, Angus. I know you must be missing him badly," he offered with an affectionate smile.
"That's true. I do miss him a lot. But I can't leave my work undone."
"We'll take care of these documents later. They won't run away. So, go ahead!" he chased him away, laughing.
"Okay. Thank you, Your Majesty," Angus chuckled and stood up from his chair as he bowed before leaving the office.
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A few minutes passed by in silence. Arthur was busy tidying up his desk and drawers when there was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," he ordered.
A handsome young man in his twenties and dressed in a silver armor with a blue cape entered the office. The guy was very tall and very muscular. He had slightly tanned skin with short dark brown hair and gorgeous teal eyes.
"Your Majesty," he greeted with his deep voice, bowing to the emperor.
The latter got up from his seat and walked to him slowly. He stood in front of him, looking at him without saying anything for a few seconds.
"Raise your head, Captain," he ordered in a soft tone.
The young knight lifted his head and was taken by surprise as Arthur suddenly took him in his arms to hug him tightly.
"I'm glad you came back safe and sound, Lucas. You can't imagine how much I was worried about you, my son," he whispered in his ear.
"Your Majesty, I, too, am very happy to see you again," replied the young captain, smiling slightly as he hugged him back.
Lucas Koraxos was known to be a man of few words. He always had a firm and emotionless expression on his face that made him seem cold to others when in fact, it wasn't the case.
Arthur looked him in the eyes deeply before checking him from head to toes as he tapped his shoulders.
"If your parents were still with us, they would be very proud to see how their son grew up and how he became such a handsome and strong young captain. I'm sure they can rest in peace now," he said with a warm smile.
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. Even though I lost them, I can't say that I don't have a family since you never made me feel that way," he replied, smiling sadly.
"You're the son I never had, Lucas. Don't you ever forget that."
Upon this words, Arthur turned around to walk over to his desk and sit behind it while the young captain sat down in an armchair in front of it.
"So, how was the mission? You didn't have too much difficulties?" he asked.
"We didn't, no. We got rid of the Ebonwells and their leader, the Great Mage Abras. Although it took a long time to track them down. They were really sneaky and clever. They changed their hideouts more times than I can count. Also, the bad weather wasn't of much help to us."
"That's for sure. The weather in Freley and the cities around is uninhabitable. Beside that, What did you discover? Did the mage confess anything?" Arthur asked with a hint of hope.
"Your doubts were well placed, Your Majesty."
"What do you mean? What did he tell you?"
"The late empress... didn't die because of an illness. Someone killed her."
"What?! What are you talking about?!" he exclaimed in shock.
"The mage confessed it. He said that the death of Empress Isadora was planned in advance."
"But that's impossible! Isadora was always by my side! If there was something suspicious, I would have noticed it right away!"
"It's not impossible, Your Majesty. Certainly, the empress was not poisoned because, if it was the case, the princess wouldn't have been born alive. But-"
"But what?! What did that rascal say too?!" he asked angrily.
"That's all he said, unfortunately. When I wanted to question him further, he died right there. He committed suicide by casting a death curse on himself."
"Bastard!" growled the emperor in rage.
"But I was lucky enough to find this book. It was hidden in one of his coffers," he said, giving the item that he pulled of his pocket to him.
Arthur took the middle sized, black covered book and leafed through its yellowish pages.
"It looks like some kind of diary. There are even some very recent dates. But I can't understand what's written on it. It looks like some sort of ancient language," Arthur remarked.
"I also failed to understand this writing. But I'm sure that if we can decipher it, we will be able to obtain some important information. And maybe even know the reason why the empress was killed and how."
"That's for sure."
The emperor sighed heavily as he put the diary on the desk's drawer and rubbed his aching temples gently.
"Tonight, there's going to be a banquet. Like some sort of a homecoming ceremony in honor of the Order of the Imperial Knights and their victory. So, tonight, I will officially declare you as the captain of the Imperial Army."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. It's an honor," replied the young knight.
"You really deserve it, Lucas. You can go rest now. I know you must be exhausted."
A little moment of silence settled between the two men. It was the young captain who broke it.
"Your Majesty..." he began, a little bit nervous.
"Yeah, Lucas? What is it?"
"I have something to suggest to you."
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In the evening, everyone gathered in the main hall. The latter was filled with knights that were chatting with each others and having a good time telling stories about how their expedition went. All of them were wearing their casual, everyday attire.
Once the emperor made his entry with the princess, silence settled down and everyone took their places around their respective tables.
Arthur sat down on the royal table at the end of the hall. To his right, Duke and Duchess Lobelia, and to his left, the princess and her best friend, Lady Lobelia. As for Captain Koraxos and his companions, they sat down with the other knights.
"Tonight, we're celebrating the return of our brave Imperial Knights. You brought victory and honor back with you. You are the pride of this empire!" exclaimed Arthur in encouragement.
The knights applauded and cheered loudly in response. Once they calmed down, Arthur resumed his speech.
"As all of you know, Captain Arminel decided to retire, a few months ago. So, I declare that from now on, Lucas Koraxos is officially the new captain of the Imperial Army."
The knights applauded cheerfully to congratulate their new captain as the latter got up from his seat and walked to stand in front of the emperor and bow on one knee.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for putting your trust in me. I will do my best to preserve it."
"I trust you completely, Sir Koraxos. And I'm sure you'll be up to my expectations. Get up now, Captain."
The young knight stood up slowly and looked him in the eyes.
"I also declare that I assign Sir Koraxos the position of personal bodyguard of the princess Luana Aubretia," he added.
An icy silence settled in. Everyone was shocked at that news since no one really expected it. After all, the princess never had a personal bodyguard before. Even the latter was surprised at her father's sudden decision. It was the warm applauses of the knights that broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for trusting me by giving me this responsibility," replied the captain, bowing again.
Arthur nodded at him, smiling softly as Lucas regained his place beside his comrades.
"I declare the royal banquet open! Enjoy!" he declared.
Upon these words, the tables were quickly filled with delicious food prepared especially for the occasion that the knights were eager to taste. After all, they have been deprived from good food for three years.
Throughout dinner, Luana couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched intensely. When she looked up from her plate, her eyes met the cold and piercing ones of the young captain. She felt a shiver running down her spine as she averted her eyes quickly from his.
Now, she was sure of one thing. Lucas Koraxos hated her.
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After dinner, some of the knights went back to their rooms to sleep and rest while the others stayed in the main hall to have fun telling jokes about some of their adventures and playing games with each others.
The princess was standing in a corner beside a large window with Azusa. The two girls were chatting together cheerfully.
"The atmosphere is very warm here," said Azusa, happily.
"I'm glad the knights came back safe and sound."
"Oh yeah, me too. Especially my big brother-"
"And Sir Carter. Don't forget about him," she retorted, teasing her friend with a wink.
"Y-yeah... Of course..." replied the young girl, blushing as she lowered her gaze to the ground in embarrassment.
"Speaking of him, he's been devouring you with his eyes since a while ago, you know that?" Luana remarked, pointing at the other side of the room with her eyes.
Azusa turned around discreetly to look at the direction her best friend was looking at and then, she met the gaze of the young knight in question who blushed very hard and looked away hastily.
Matthew Carter was a very handsome guy, tall and muscular. He had fair skin, semi-long burgundy hair and pretty jewelry-like red eyes.
"Hey, someone blushed very hard when they met your gaze," Luana teased again.
"R-really? I-I didn't notice," Azusa replied nervously.
"Oh really now?"
"You know, sometimes I tell you things and I end up regretting doing so later," she said, annoyed.
"That's what friends are for. People that annoys you like nobody but you still love them like nobody," Luana chuckled.
Azusa kept her gaze locked behind her friend for a long time before smirking devilishly and then changing her expression to an innocent one before looking at the princesse.
"You know, Lulu, I'm not the only one being devoured by the eyes. And now that I think of it, Eric asked me to join him on the balcony earlier since he wanted to talk to me about something. He must surely be waiting for me now. I have to go. See ya later!" said the young girl as she left hastily.
"What? What are you talking about? Wait! Eric's already gone home..." she whispered, seeing her friend rush towards the exit.
Luana was left all alone in her corner and completely confused. She knew her best friend was lying to her since Eric didn't talk with them at all.
"What's wrong with her, all of a sudden?" she whispered to herself.
"Your Highness," a deep voice called out from behind her.
The princess turned around quickly to meet the cold, harsh gaze of the new captain of the Imperial Army.
"Good evening," he greeted, bowing to her gracefully.
"Good evening, Sir Koraxos. Congratulations on your new position. You really deserve it," she replied, smiling nervously at him.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
An uncomfortable silence settled down between them. The tension was so high that it could be cut with a knife and the princess feeling very anxious and nervous didn't help at all. The young captain kept looking at her with an icy gaze that showed no emotion. It was impossible to decipher what he was feeling or thinking.
"The knights seem to be having so much fun," she started, trying to soften the atmosphere.
"Yeah. They haven't had the chance to have fun like this for 3 years. So it's normal for them to be so happy," he replied in a calm tone.
"Yeah. That's true."
Silence settled again which bothered the young princess greatly.
'Azu, why did you leave me here all alone? This atmosphere is really uncomfortable. I feel like I'm going to suffocate here,' she thought bitterly.
A few seconds later, Lucas cleared his throat gently before calling her out softly.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
He looked her straight in the eyes. There was something foreign in them. An emotion she wasn't used to see in his usual cold gaze. It contained a certain affection and tenderness.
"By being your personal bodyguard, I will do my best to serve you as I should," he declared.
The princess remained still, watching him in silence. She couldn't help but find him very handsome, attractive and manly. He had a charisma worthy of a captain. She blushed slightly when she realised her own thoughts.
'Pull yourself together, Luana. He's the captain of the Imperial Army and your bodyguard. You mustn't have such thoughts about him,' she thought, embarrassed.
"I will protect you until my last breath, Your Highness," he declared again, looking at her tenderly with a small smile on his lips.
The girl widened her eyes in surprise. It was her first time seeing him smile. She didn't know he was capable of doing so. But somehow, it filled her heart with relief since she thought that maybe, after all, he didn't really hate her.
"Thank you, Captain. I offer you my trust," she replied, smiling back at him.