Ryuu was guided to well furnished room on par with his room in Ayindril, he without changing his clothes just plopped on the bed all this things were new to him and he was quite scared and nervous he does not want to bring shame to his sisters honor by acting in unsightly in front of others but it was so taxing and tiring he should have just stated back home, at least he knew his teacher would be torture no training him, yeah training him, although he for some reason drew blank when he tried to recall the result of the last spar except waking up in hospital with his ribs screaming in pain.
Suddenly he was broken out of his thought when he heard a knock at his door.
Ryuu: "Please come in."
He saw his eldest sister enter his room, Ryuu stood up straight and greeted his sister with a light bow, "Your Highness, how may we be of service."
Antariskh just smirked at that," Brother Stop acting so polite, I came here as your older sister not as an Empress, so act like you do normally."
Ryuu visibly relaxed at that," Big sis I do not like this, I thought you brought me to play this things are boring.", he finished with a pout.
Antariskh just bent down and gave Ryuu a hug, "Oh do not be sad baby brother, we will attend a festival soon only us siblings, no guards no maids just us, but it s still a few days before it starts, we will have to wait ok, so till then have patience, and if you are patient enough I might take you on a treasure hunting."
Ryuu was ecstatic on hearing what his eldest sister had planned for him, he just squealed in glee before hugging his sister tightly, "You are bestest sister ever."
Antariskh returned the hug with a smile, "Ryuu get freshened up but before that show me what clothes you have brought with you."
Ryuu nodded before bringing every sets of clothes his mother packed for him.
Antariskh looked at Ryuu's clothes, "Nice nice your mother has great tastes, lunch is a few hours from now, you will wear this red robe for today's lunch a maid will come to help you dress up, so see you at lunch.", with that she tousled his hair and left."
After she left a maid came in asking his permission, helped him in removing his armor and leading him to his bath, again after a few hours Ryuu dressed in red luxurious robe was led by a maid to the dining hall.
He found himself in a lavish dining hall, with a long table where a small banquet could be held easily.
Ryuu cupped his hand while giving a light bow, "We wish you a pleasant noon Your Majesty", before he glanced at his second oldest sister," Second Princess", and glanced at his third oldest sister and repeated the same as he did with his other sisters, "Third Princess". "We apologize for our tardiness and we hope Your Majesty may forgive us."
Antariskh: "No need to apologize brother, you have arrived on time, please take your seat beside our third sister."
Ryuu bowed lightly before he went to his seat beside third princess, he was thinking if others will join them, before he could voice his thoughts, he was answered by Sylvana, "Her Majesty willed that she desired to lunch in private with only her family as such no one will be joining us."
Ryuu nodded at that, soon the maids wheeled in the foods on carts, a huge plethora of various foods consisting of starter, main and desserts was brought in, he was pleasantly surprised as many of them were his favorite foods consisting of,
Consommé à la Doria
(Game consommé topped with white truffles, and garnished with game quenelles)
Côtelettes d'Agneau à la Rossini
(Lamb cutlets topped with sautéed medallions of foie-gras and truffles)
Cailles Rôties
(Roast quails stuffed with foie-gras)
Pommes-de-terre à l'Indienne
(Roast potatoes dressed in a lightly spiced sauce)
Céleri à la Moëlle
(Celery baked with beef marrow and topped with a cheese and breadcrumb crust)
Quenelles d'Epinards à l'Anita
(Crumbed and fried spinach quenelles)
Aloyau de Bœuf
(Beef Sirloin)
Mayonnaise de Homard
(Lobster medallions re-arranged back in the shell and dressed with a mayonnaise sauce)
Poulards, Jambon, Langue
(Cold roast poulards (spayed hens), Ham, Pressed Ox Tongue)
Terrine de Faisan
(Pheasant Terrine)
Gâteau de Riz à l'Ananas
(Moulds of creamed rice with a filling of pineapple pieces poached in syrup)
Savarin au Kirsch et Vanille
(Savarin cake steeped in kirsch syrup and topped with vanilla cream)
Gelée à la Polonaise
(Puff pastries filled redcurrant jelly.)
Shamiran just gave a smile to Ryuu, before she send a mental message to Ryuu, ' A small treat from us.'
Ryuu whispered, "Thank you", low enough only for his sisters to hear, the maids quickly served them the food, almost in ghostly manner in order not to disturb the people having lunch.
The siblings just shared small talk regarding training mostly asking Ryuu in so as to get a clear picture and formulate precautions needed for his first adventure outside Ayindril.
Hours past quickly before it was time for the Royal Court to be held, the throne room was filled with people occupying various seats according to their position and stature. Soon the gossip came to a halt as the herald announced the entrance of the Empress along with the Princess and Prince.
Everyone stood from their chair and bowed their head as Antariskh walked towards her throne after she sat on her throne she ordered, "Everyone may take their seat."
At her command everyone took their respective seats in the throne room, Ryuu himself sat on a throne which was placed closed to Shamiran. Everyone was quite as everyone waited for Antariskh to speak, who was sitting leisurely on her throne with one her arm resting as she raised that hand and rested her chin on it, she crossed her legs as she loosely held her naked saber with her other hand. Ryuu shivered at the killing intent released by the saber, Shamiran quickly held Ryuu's hand and enveloped him with her Ki calming him down.
Antariskh: "Before we would begin the court, we would like to introduce you all to our brother Ryuu", then she glanced at her brother," Brother please introduce yourselves to others." , unlike before Ryuu noticed that since she came her his eldest sister did not have the playfulness in her voice but it had a commanding aura which made anyone bow to her whims, although her eyes held the same warmth whenever she looked at him.
Ryuu gave a curtsey bow before he began with a stoic face, "Our name is Ryuu, our age is 7 years and 4 months, and we have been blessed with the opportunity to have Her Majesty's Royal Father, First Royal Mother, Second Royal Mother and Third Royal Mother as our teacher, also currently our cultivation level is level 4 Zifu disciple.", before he gave a curtsey bow to Antariskh, who returned with a brisk nod and a small smile.
The last statement caused a commotion within the court, the sisters laughed inwardly but that soon changed to frown, as the people present in the throne room regardless of status began quickly scanning Ryuu with their divine sense to check if he was truthful or not.
Antariskh frowned at the behavior of the people, checking out Ryuu in such an uncouth manner meant they are disbelieving him, in others words slandering her brother as a liar, in other words her brother who she supported was called a liar in front of her, thus insinuating she was untrustworthy and a liar. Anger rose within her as her blood boiled at the blatant insult her people threw on Ryuu and by extension her, a quick glance showed an uncomfortable Ryuu and an equally angry sisters. She gripped her saber hard before she slammed it on the throne floor causing a large crack to form her throne towards the door of the throne room stunning everyone to silence as she spoke out in an angry tone, "SILENCE! You impudent people have quite the gall to act in such an unsightly manner in front of us, if you have any queries against your prince step forward and ask you shall receive your answer, but who gave your permission to use Divine sense against our brother.", she roared out the last part as her Ki flared with such intensity that it caused the entire planet to sake, cracks developed all around the throne room, the people were scared enough to the point some of them almost fainted.
Shamiran quickly hugged Ryuu to protect him from being harmed by Antariskh ki, Ryuu even though he was protected from his eldest sister's anger was very fearful he had never seen his sister so angry, he understood that the people present may have tried to do something to him which caused her sister to be angry, even then tears came up his eyes as he felt he might lose his bowels.
The people went on his knees as one of the people who Ryuu noticed was present when they arrived on this place, as he was the one who greeted them in the first place, pleaded to Antariskh, "Please Your Majesty be merciful, we erred greatly we were so shocked to see heaven defying genius like your brother, we never meant to do any harm to him, please have mercy on us."
Shamiran: "Your Majesty please calm down our brother is not accustomed to such level of Ki and killing intent, so please reign in your anger.", Shamiran herself was angered very much but her baby brother's health made her try to stop her sister's anger.
Antariskh took a deep breath as she calmed down, "We are greatly displeased at your behavior, but today we will forgive you today for our brother's sake. If there is any query you have you may ask our brother after we have conducted today's business." before she turned her head towards Ryuu and inquired of him in a kind tone," Brother are you alright?"
Ryuu stood up from his throne as he put up brave front with stoic face, "We are fine Your Majesty, we are grateful for your concern, and thank your grace for protecting our honor."
Antariskh returned a kind smile, though she frowned when she saw slight shaking of Ryuu's legs and hands but at the same time she was inwardly pleased and proud at seeing her brother display of maturity and level headedness which any other child would have been a crying mess.
Antariskh then commanded with a voice laced with anger, "Let the proceedings of court begin."