The meeting ended pretty quickly after the little quarrel between the Lady and me. I could feel her glares from the other end of the table. Was she the type to have grudges toward kids? Ari was also silently growling at a distance. I guess I have to keep an eye on her from on.
"Disperse."
Everyone quickly bowed their heads and left the room. The king sat there, watching everyone go out. The crown prince didn't move from his spot and stood there like a statue. Dad stood up to leave, but I stood there. Dad looked back in confusion as he took my hand, but I still stood there. Once everyone left, leaving only us four, I bowed slightly to King Tyson.
"I know I am being rude, but I wanted to talk to you immediately. I wanted to give my opinion too, I want your guards to go away. It's personal."
King Tyson waved his hands at the knights. They went out of the room, leaving us alone with them.
"Alright, you may proceed."
"Thank you, your majesty. I wanted the crown prince to stay at our house for a few days before the crown prince ceremony. I hope you could consider it."
"Alex!" Dad quickly turned to King Tyson and bowed. "Please forgive-"
King Tyson put up his hand, asking dad to silence himself. I looked up and met his eyes. His eyes were filled with curiosity and amusement. If I was in his place, I would find this entertaining too.
"State your reason."
"I feel it would safer in my house, but I want this to be secretly done." I looked towards the crown prince. "I want to also be friends with my dad's friend's son. I am not asking for too much."
"Are those the only reasons?"
"Also, I feel like there is a higher chance of having a spy at the palace than my house since everyone knows each other very well. I am not stating that the palace is unsafe or anything, but my dad is a top-tier general and your friend so it would be safe for the prince to be with us. Dad will look out for the crown prince."
I could feel dad's worried face. Why was dad so worried? The king and dad are friends, so it shouldn't matter if dad is informal with King Tyson. Dad talked to me about the adventures of him and King Tyson while they were still young.
"Alright. But he is the crown prince, there will be people watching. He can't randomly just walk out. He will be discovered immediately by our soldiers since they have seen him before."
"I have a solution for that. I hope he could come with me right now since the plan can only take effect while I am here at the castle. I think it is worth it."
"Oh, how would you do that? I would like to hear a plan made by the son of the great general Jake." He was definitely mocking me. I could feel the sarcasm in his voice.
'Ari, can you make the crown prince invisible?'
'Yes, baba.'
"My bond has the power to do this. Please watch."
Ari ran towards and stopped right in front of Prince Hermon. She gave a few moments, so she would scare the prince. She put her paw on the prince's shoe, making him go invisible. The King stood up from his chair, astonished. I could still see Ari and the prince since I was her bond, but the King and dad were a different case. He walked over to where the prince was and put his hand down. He must have felt him.
"Illusion magic?" The king turned to me. "How in the world did you get a light mana-beast? They are extremely rare, but they have classes. Let me see your bond mark."
I unbuttoned the first half of my shirt and showed my mark. The king closely looked at the mark closely.
"It's an E-rank, but it should still have the powers of a C-class mana-beast. Too bad a light mana-beast only makes one contract in its lifetime. It also made a life contract, so if you die she dies too. She will also die if the contract gets nullified somehow. The good thing is that she made a one-end life contract, so that means if she dies you won't die."
"What?" So she will die if I die.
"Looks like you found a very loyal one and it looks young too." King Tyson turned to dad. "You are indeed very lucky, my friend."
My focus wasn't on them right now.
'Ari, is that true?'
'Yes, baba.'
'Why did you make it a contract like that?'
'Because you are my one and only family. If you die first, I can't survive without you. You are my brother.'
I didn't know what to say.
'Can you reverse it?'
Ari silently shook her head. I clenched my fists and looked down in anger. Why didn't she tell me about it to me before? Does she think I would be happy about that?
'Baba, I am happy with it. You have no idea how happy I was when I first saw you. I knew you were going to be my best friend. Even if I die, I would die happy because I made a true friend.'
'You should have-'
'Baba, I am truly happy with this arrangement. Also, no one cannot forcibly take me away from you, so we can be relieved that no one will kidnap me from you.'
I didn't know what to say. I was happy, but I was still not satisfied with her decision. I wished she could have at least said something. Ari ran towards me and climbed onto my shoulder. She started licking me all over my face, making me smile. Her slobber was all over my face when she was done.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was the King.
"I approve of your request for taking Hermon to your house until the crown prince ceremony."