While the carriage was getting closer and closer to the Imperial castle, the guests started pouring in, these people were all the members of the higher echelons of the Empire.
They ranged from low ranking nobles to Counts, Dukes and even rich merchants and businessmen. These people made up most of the Empire's economy and it can also be said that majority of the common populace worked for them...
Once all the guests were inside, the doors were closed shut. Everyone quickly gathered around the Emperor who was sitting on his throne and kneeled.
"WE GREET HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR, LONG MAY HE LIVE!" They said in unison.
"Arise!" Aurelius commanded them while he was seated in his throne.
Aurelius was quickly approached by a few of his close allies who kneeled once again and sat down next to him respectfully and conversed, which effectively made those pesky lower ranked nobles to not be able to disturb him.
These close allies of Aurelius were given special seats and seated close to the Emperor himself and under their orders, these seats were moved closer towards the throne so that they could speak softly without anyone hearing them...
While they were nobles of the highest rank, the way and the things they talked about were questionable since the way they talked was not of the 'Aristocratic' way...
One such person was Duke Aero, he was one of the most powerful people in the Empire, his authority second only to the Empress herself!
Duke Aero leaned forward, "Aurelius, I heard you knocked your wife!", he whispered these words with a perverted smile, the others who were seated next to him also nodded their heads and giggled.
"Now Now gentlemen, let's calm down a little..." Aurelius quickly replied with a smirk.
"Oh... I see what's going on!" Duke Aero stated and elbowed the Emperor, the guards who saw this looked at each other awkwardly, even if they knew the Emperor was 'attacked' no one had the gall to point their weapons at a Duke, let alone Duke Aero!
"What? What? Tell us!" The other Dukes and Counts asked Duke Aero eagerly who only whistled and glanced at Aurelius who closed his eyes to calm down.
However, before Aurelius could speak, the giant doors to the Imperial Ballroom was opened.
"HER HIGHNESS, THE EMPRESS OF THE GRAND LUNAR EMPIRE, HAS ARRIVED!" Shouted one of the more well dressed guards, these guards were stationed outside and were supposed to open the doors, they were powerful and so nobody said anything against them announcing out loud...
-●-●-●-
Annalise walked into the bright and grand room elegantly as a few maids followed her from behind, they walked in unison and no longer lifted her long robes as the Ballroom was carpeted and regularly cleaned with magic.
Immediately after she stepped into the room, the guard next to the guard who announced announces out loud, "HIS HIGHNESS, THE CROWN PRINCE OF THE GRAND LUNAR EMPIRE, HAS ARRIVED!", while most of the guests could not notice it, the more prominent ones such as the Dukes along with Duke Aero included, noticed a bit of pride and respect coming from the guard.
Aurelius who noticed this too, smirked. These guards had probably heard of Alexis' genius somewhere...
The lower ranking nobles, businessmen and women were shocked. They've heard rumours of a Prince but to think that it was true... they were blown away.
Some of the daughters of nobles including some who were in their teenage years were eager to 'meet' this prince, however these teenage noble girls were inwardly disappointed once they saw it was a small kid with crimson hair...
Alexis entered the room followed by a maid, the nobles kneeled and bowed when the entire family arrived, mostly because they had to stay in their good behaviour infront of the future Emperor of the nation and get into his good looks,
Including the few nobles who were seated next to the Emperor but it was out of respect.
-●-●-●-
'It seems like there are some bad eggs in here...' Alexis thought.
He saw greed in the eyes of some of the nobles and glared at them, the said nobles cowered under the gaze of the four year old and lowered their heads in fear.
Aurelius smiled when he saw this since he too felt some interesting emotions oozing out of some people.
However at this exact moment, Alexis noticed something interesting, he was always bothered by the light blue hair that almost all of the workers in the Imperial residence had, but these people had darker shades of blue and purple.
He then deduced that the darker shades of blue and purple represented either their pure blood or nobility...
'However I won't let you all ruin my life! I finally have the chance to live a carefree life...' Alexis thought, 'Besides, eventhough I have to complete the Administrator's job, it isn't that hard plus I'm a prince... I'm already in paradise!' Alexis continued on his thoughts not bothered by the gazes of lust and greed thrown at him by various noblemen and women alike...
-●-●-●-
Once Annalise and Alexis arrived where the Emperor, the guests stood up and started whispering, Aurelius cleared his throat as the various individuals quietened down, he then spoke loudly in a crisp voice.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Four years ago, my wife, Your Empress gave birth to a baby boy, his existence was kept a secret from most of the public and only those of the Imperial family and aides knew of him. So now I introduce you all to, Alexis Gladios Lunar, the Crown Prince!" Aurelius stated.
Alexis smiled and bowed his head a little towards the guests as a sign of greeting.
"We greet your Highness!" They said in unison.
"Now that everything is clear, it is time for the more important topic, Alexis has officially turned Four years old! He is now eligible to apply for schooling..." Aurelius said.
Immediately after he said those words, a group of elderly men and women started shouting.
"Your highness, my Lunarian Noble Magic Academy is the bes-!" Shouted one old man, he had a wrinkled face and greyish purple hair, however before he could finish the sentence, he was pushed away as another old man, he too had the same wrinkled face but his hair was greyish light blue, he shouted "Bah! Your school is pathetic! Your Highness, My Imperial Academy is by far the best in the country!" He declared honestly.
The others immediately quietened down,they didn't want to be part of the conversation anymore.
"What did you say you old bastard?! Your Imperial Academy is the best in the country? Stop acting like a clown!" The previously interrupted old man glared at the one who pushed him.
"Principal Efreel, please calm down!" One of the nobles said worriedly.
"Huh?! Who the hell are you?! This fight is between us! Go buzz off!" Efreel, the Principal of the Lunarian Noble Magic Academy, shouted at the man who tried to calm things down.
"This..." the nobleman smiled wryly, his eyebrows twitched but he still kept quiet and observed the comical scene.
Meanwhile, the Imperial family stared at the scene in silence, until Aurelius bent down to Alexis' height and whispered.
"These two old people are the principals of the best Academies of the Empire, they were apparently rivals since my father's time! I know I haven't explained anything to you clearly but think of this as a test and pick the best option..." He said, hoping Alexis would get the meaning of his words.
"Efreel, take my punch!"
"Trebourn!!"
Alexis nodded and turned to the two old men, they were about to punch each other in the face when Alexis said, "I have chosen the Academy I wish to go to!".
"..."
The hall was silent.
Trebourn's fist stopped millimetres before touching Efreel's face.
"Your highness! What a pleasant surprise, which Academy will you be applying to?" Trebourn immediately retracted his fist and smiled amicably towards Alexis.
Alexis calmed down, he was about to berate this old man however he was still very annoyed as his eye twitched when Trebourn smiled as if nothing happened...
"I wish..." Alexis started, Aurelius looked at him a bit nervously.
"To go to both Academies!" He completed his sentence.
"WHAT?!" Efreel shouted in anger.
"What's wrong with it? I will complete my regular studies in your Academy and go to the Imperial Academy for my higher studies!" Alexis shrugged and explained.
The two old men were stumped.
Aurelius sighed as Annalise smiled at him and held his hand gently, reassuring him.
"Whether I study in your Academy or not, it fulfills 'my' expectations, the only problem is your ridiculous rivalry, and since regular studies are just as important as the higher studies and vice versa, it will do you both good and tie in whatever you are competing about!" Alexis explained even further shocking most of the nobles, not expecting a four year old to say something like that.
"Well... if you put it in that way I guess it's acceptable!" Efreel said after thinking for a while.
"Hehehe! Your highness, you truly are smart!" Trebourn complimented him eventhough it sounded like an sarcastic remark.
"I'm glad to be of help" Alexis humbly said and smiled innocently.
"I would like to object!" an old voice resounded in the hall, everyone turned to the voice but was shocked at who was standing there.
"SUPREME ELDER!" The lower ranking nobles and businessmen and women shouted in fear and bowed in respect.
"Nephew, I want to take little Alexis as my protege and teach him Magic! While he is learning about Magic i can also educate him regarding the courses taken in the Academies..." The Supreme Elder stated as Efreel and Trebourn stayed quiet.
"This..." Aurelius was stumped at this demand.
"Dear nephew, we both know what's going on... I won't mind it if you decline but pick one, Empire or Family?" Philip said while looking straight into Aurelius' red eyes...
"..." The Emperor of The Grand Lunar Empire was quiet... he frowned, he knew what his uncle was talking about.
While he wanted to deny this fact, deep down he knew that Alexis was the Empire's greatest asset...
"Very well Uncle, I shall do just that..." Aurelius said and continued, "However! the decision is upto him alone and he will be protected until he turns Sixteen!" he ended his reply as his red eyes turned cold.
The entire hall was silent, they knew something going on but still kept quiet because this conversation was not something they were supposed to butt into...
"*sigh* Very well... little Alexis, what do you think?" Philip said and turned to his grand nephew.
"I will teach you about Mana and everything about it, including spells! but I will also be educating you about the various subjects..." he added, trying to convince Alexis.
'It's certainly not a bad deal, it will be like school but with more advantages...' Alexis mused and nodded.
"I agree, Grand uncle!" Alexis said and smiled earning a knock in the head from Philip.
"Its master!" Philip said with glint of sadism, Alexis sweatdropped but obeyed, thus ending the short drama.
"Now that this ordeal is over, let us continue on with the party!" Aurelius announced as an Orchestra was brought into the hall, they started playing soothing music as the ballroom returned to its previous atmosphere.
-●-●-●-
Annalise saw a few noble girls around the age of Alexis taking glances of him, which made her giggle and nudged Alexis to go.
"Alexis, there seems to be some admirers who are eager to talk to you..." Annalise smiled and said and moves her eyes to some of the girls who were with their parents looking at Alexis.
"*sigh* alright mother" Alexis said tiredly and stood up from his luxurious throne and walked over to the gathering.
"I hope he socialises with kids his own age..." she said while looking at his back...
-●-●-●-
"Good evening, ladies" Alexis greeted the group of girls with a small smile on his face.
"Your highness!" They gasped and quickly bowed with flushed faces.
"Please! Do not bow at a time like this..." he said with a wry smile as they looked up at him with flushed faces.
"So, what exactly were you conversing about?" He asked them with fake curiosity.
"We were talking about you, your highness!" one of the girls who had very dark blue hair spoke up with a flushed face, Alexis looked and found her to be very beautiful eventhough she was a child, she would definitely be more beautiful than Clair...
'What the... who was Clair again?' Alexis asked himself in his head...
(A/N: The soul inside Alexis the prince is slowly merging with the original, Alexis will lose his memories but not his knowledge and intelligence... there will also be slight changes to his personalities! Hint: He won't be a goody two shoes)
-●-●-●-
Within minutes, Alexis was laughing along with them.
Annalise looked at this scene gently and turned to Aurelius.
"Your highness, Look! Look!" She whispered to Aurelius who smiled at her and turned to where she secretly pointed.
Aurelius saw Alexis talking to a lot of children and laughing along with them.
He was about to smile when he saw something odd...
'That brat!' He thought and smiled at his wife.
"It seems like he has met some people!" He said while thinking, 'Why is he only talking to the ladies??' he asked himself and cried inwardly... why wasn't he like his son when he was his age?
Annalise however did not know any of this and only nodded her head.
Suddenly the doors opened disrupting the entire event, even Alexis narrowed his eyes.
But thankfully, it wasn't an attack, however a guard came in rushing. He wore black metal armour, it consisted of a Chestplate and shoulder guards.
He wore leather armour melded with metal plates that covered the coarse pants he wore under it, the guard also wore leather boots in which the black metal was melded into.
The helmet too was made of the same black metal and looked like a modern army helmet although it covered the nape because of the elongated back of it, this helmet also had a sliding face guard that was pushed down to cover the face, the interior was probably cushioned and stitched with leather so that it was comfortable to be worn...
He quickly kneeled infront of Aurelius.
Alexis could not hear what he said but judging by the look on his father's face, it probably wasn't good news...
Aurelius frowned as soon as the guard finished what he said.
Infact, it was very troubling and bad news...
The continent which the Grand Lunar Empire, was the biggest out of the three continents, it had many countries but the main ones were; Grand Lunar Empire, Kingdom of Ritzburg, Republic of Namu and the Empire of Satellia.
These four nations were the biggest and strongest in the continent, whether it was either militarily or economically, no other country could rival them, they were the absolute authorities of the continent...
The Grand Lunar empire however was one level above the other three, it's territory was the size of the other three nations combined and more, it was massive!
The Lunar Empire bordered a neighbouring country called the, Kingdom of Enleitz, the shared borders were to the South of the Empire, it was no threat to the Empire but the country below the Kingdom of Enleitz was the problem...
The Republic of Namu was a very aggressive nation and could only be controlled by the other three, but now it has allied with the Satellian Empire...
Which was weird considering the fact that these two countries were in a cold war, so why would they ally?
And the even more troubling news was that the Republic of Namu was amassing its forces near its shared Northern borders with the Kingdom of Enleitz...
Since the Kingdom of Enleitz was inbetween two superpowers, the Lunar empire to its North and the Republic of Namu to the South, if fighting did take place, the small Kingdom would be the one suffering the most...
Aurelius also heard from his spies that the wife of the Emperor of Satellia also gave birth, thankfully the baby was a girl!
But back to the main topic, if someone said that what the Republic of Namu did wasn't an act of aggression against the Lunar Empire, Aurelius would slap them in the face!
He would need to take some actions immediately and hopefully let Alexis do the rest, while he spends the rest of his years with Annalise in comfort!
The guard then excused himself under the Emperor's order and the party continued on with no further interruptions...