The Kritten heights were desolate and elevated lands, the heights had very little to no grass, growing on it's soil...
This was largely due to the fact that it had too many metal ores, the concentration of these metals in the soil effected plant growth thereby making them deficient and also gave the soil very dark colouration...
And at the top of a hill in this dead and desolate lands was a facility that was currently being constructed.
There were nearly a thousand soldiers and mages patrolling it, it seemed well protected and had several tens of watch towers and various other land defenses.
All in all, it was heavily and highly guarded building...
-●-●-●-
There was only one heavily guarded entrance to the Kritten heights, it was a through a forest...
The entrance to the forest too was guarded by soldiers and mages alike, currently there was a group of civilians who wore white robes.
They stood and waited by the entrance for someone to come, nobody said anything...
Within the distance, they could see a beautiful blood red carriage moving towards them at a considerably fast pace.
After a few minutes, the carriage stopped infront of the group of civilians as the door to the carriage opened.
It was Alexis who had a smirk on his face seeing Magnus Animo waiting for him with his group as he had predicted...
"Mr.Magnus and colleagues, good morning!" Alexis greeted them as he gently helped Florestine come out of the carriage.
"Your highness, we have been waiting for you!" Magnus said excitedly and bowed respectfully, this behaviour was followed by the men behind him.
Alexis chuckled lightly and asked the men to follow behind him as they walked upto the guards, he then took out a purple crystalline tag, it was big enough to fit his pocket considering the fact that he was wearing a suit.
He showed it to the soldiers and mages at the gate, after staring at the purple tag in daze for a few seconds, they quickly got over their shock and kneeled...
"You may rise" Alexis said as they hurriedly rushed to the gate and opened it, right as they did so, they informed the Guards at the entrance to the Kritten heights, so that their Prince does not need to wait!
They did not even bother checking if the tag was fake or not, considering the fact that only a few of them were actually informed of the real tag and they noticed it immediately...
"Security seems very tight, your highness!" Alexis heard Magnus comment, he turned to the old man with a cold smile.
"Ofcourse... afterall it IS a secret weapon!" Alexis chuckled and held onto Florestine's hand as they walked together in harmony...
The rest of the journey wasn't anything memorable and the party quickly entered the establishment and stepped into the main building, the office and the laboratory, it was the heart of the entire structure...
-●-●-●-
The party gathered around a polished stone round table as Alexis drank a mouthful of water from the glass kept for him at his space of the table and turned to the military officer responsible for security...
"Mr.General" Alexis began talking to him as the military officer quickly interjected with a wry expression.
"I apologise for my intrusion but it's Titus, Your highness..." Titus informed him with an apologetic smile.
"Very well, General 'Titus'..." Alexis said sarcastically and continued,
"I hope you do not interrupt when I do speak, If you have anything to say, say so after I'm done with whatever I have said..." He said and lightly glared at the man who kneeled and bowed apologetically.
"I will let you off this time since it is our first time meeting, however... next time I won't be so lenient!" Alexis threatened him as the man nodded in shame and sat down on his chair...
"As I was going to say General Titus, I hope you do your job properly at protecting these gentlemen as they are very important for the Empire!" Alexis stated,
'More important than you...' he added.
Titus nodded with a determined expression as if he would sacrifice anything and everything to keep the men in white robes safe...
'I hate people like you Titus, and I'm already hating you...' Alexis talked to himself.
"You may leave now!" Alexis told him as the man looked shocked, he really disliked the man and dismissed him almost immediately...
"B-But your highness I'm the General..." Titus said, he was stumped.
"Indeed you are, but we do not require your presence at this moment... your duty is to protect us... not to involve yourself with what we are doing inside... If you do have vast scientific and mechanical knowledge, then... you may help us." Alexis reminded him as Titus turned purple in anger, he immediately left, leaving the group in an awkward silence...
"That man is dangerous!" Magnus commented on Titus as soon as the man left, his subordinates nodded their heads as Alexis turned to Florestine who had a serious face.
"That maybe so... but he is a coward, he won't try anything unless he knows he has the upper hand. But in an fortification like this, where there are many captains from the armies of different Generals... he can't do anything. I'll still keep a look out for him!" Alexis muttered as Magnus nodded his head in acknowledgement.
He then took out the blueprint from a hard black cylindrical case, and laid it on the table for the scientists and inventors to see...
Alexis then explained the mechanisms of the rifle and added some extra knowledge from Earth so that they would be more willing to work under him.
The six men who observed the blueprint of the rifle, eyed it with very keen eyes...
To say that they were amazed was an understatement, they were excited, shocked and stared at Alexis as if he was an alien.
"You six are to work on the rifle and improve it... first we need to make the most important parts, the bolt and trigger mechanisms... once we get this perfected, the rest will be a smooth ride!" Alexis said with enthusiasm as the six men agreed...
"I will come every six months, as of now... there is no time limit for the rifle, but I hope to hear news of a working bolt action rifle and your individual machinery that will help produce them at an industrial level by four years time..." Alexis mumbled, he said so while thinking...
"I'm sorry but you six will be very busy..." Alexis apologised and looked at them with a wry smile, Magnus shook his head.
"As Your Highness said earlier, we would like to be known as the founding fathers of this
so-called Industrial revolution and I believe I speak for everyone!" Magnus said and turned to his friends and fellow colleagues who smiled widely at being called the 'Founding fathers of the Industrial revolution'.
"Very well... however do be sure to rest, we do not want anyone to fall sick at these crucial times and thus stagnating our development..." Alexis warned them and guided the six of them to their new rooms that were inside the office.
"So this is our new home huh?" One of the inventors said with an excited smile on his face.
"Gentlemen, You may pick whichever room you wish to take and ask help from the guards at the entrance to carry your luggage if you wish to do so..." Alexis reminded them.
"Good luck!" He said earnestly and left the building.
He and Florestine stopped next to one of the guards and turned to him.
"Hey you... come here for a second!" Alexis ordered the guard in a hushed voice and signalled him to be quiet.
Once the trio was hidden from all angles of vision, Alexis informed him of Titus and told them guard to spread a few rumours about him and to always inform Alexis if Titus was planning anything...
"B-But your highness..." the soldier looked conflicted.
"Look, I'm not telling you to go kill yourself... if anything happens and he decides to kill or harm you, take this..." Alexis gave him a signalling stick.
The stick, once broken immediately sends a signal to the giver and then he or she may do whatever they want.
"And besides... nothing bad will happen to you, I'm the crown prince... The future emperor! I'm sure following me would benefit you more than it would if you keep on following 'that' guy..." Alexis enticed him.
The soldier was still struggling...
"If you do exceptionally well, I will consider promoting you to the rank of General and perhaps even give you nobility..." Alexis said with a smile.
This broke the man's last defenses as he agreed and kneeled infront of Alexis pledging his loyalty...
Alexis pat him on the shoulder and continued complimenting the man and explained how he was going to be a hero for the Empire.
-●-●-●-
Once he entered the carriage he sighed loudly and sat on the sofa in his carriage.
"Was that really the best method, Your highness?" Florestine asked Alexis who nodded.
"Military men are quite simple... a rank is very appealing to them... imagine an opportunity like that, given to cannon fodder. It is true that he may betray me and go and inform Titus right after we left... but who would the soldiers believe? Me, a crown prince with near absolute authority or a General that probably treats his own soldiers like shit..." Alexis explained to her and hugged her waist and kissed her neck...
"Y-Your highness..." She mumbled in a barely audible voice as Alexis continued with his administrations.
"Besides, I don't trust the man... the only reason why he denied at first was because he was wanting something... ranks, riches and nobility... hence why I gave such an appealing offer to the man, once he had done what he is supposed to do, he loses all value and I can just..." Alexis said and pointed his finger and did a neck cutting motion on his neck...
Florestine shook her head at his actions but listened to him eagerly.
"Hopefully the entire project will be over by four years time and then we can manufacture the rifles... once the machines are made, people who were previously silenced will come out of whatever hole they hid under... This will lead to an industrialisation in the country and thus developing civilian technology at a fast pace!" Alexis stated and traced his finger along her smooth white neck...
"Head to the residence!" After a few minutes, he informed the coachman who had no idea what happened inside the carriage, Alexis then went back to having some fun with Florestine...
"I think I'm falling for you..." Alexis whispered into her ear as Florestine blushed and started mumbling incoherently which amused him to no end.
The rest of the journey was peaceful and calm, both the master and the maid enjoyed in each other's company and warmth...
-●-●-●-
Alexis who had turned fourteen years old awhile ago was finally given his own palace, it was closer to the Imperial castle and even looked quite similar in design...
The interior was quite different from his mother's palace... it was more domineering and had very dramatic drawings on its ceilings, infact... the interior was very baroque esque and was very beautiful!
There were very bright chandeliers that illuminated the entire palace, the light reflected off of the gold plated and carved into the walls which gave the interior a very magical atmosphere...
He entered his room after a long bath with Florestine and the duo decided to call it a day...
-●-●-●-
"So... how far have the two of you gone?" Annalise asked Florestine who looked at her in shock...
"I-I-I" She stuttered as Annalise squealed and hugged her and started rubbing her face on Florestine's.
"How do you look so beautiful and young??" Annalise asked her.
"Eh?" Florestine was shocked and touched her face.
"...I don't know ...big sis" She mumbled and begrudgingly called her Empress as big sis... she was ordered to say so...
The only thing Florestine could trace it back to was that day... the day they talked about her living long...
"Hmph! Fine then, keep it to yourself, I'm so jealous! It's so good to be young..." Annalise said with a pout and touched her face with a scowl.
"I've been trying all sorts of treatments and finally got rid of the two wrinkles on my face!" She said as Florestine giggled but inwardly she was in turmoil.
'What happened to me?! What did his highness do to me??' She asked herself...
"Florestine, are you okay?" Annalise asked her young sister figure worriedly, she suddenly became pale as if something happened.
"*gasp* did you not use protection?!" Annalise asked Florestine with a weird expression.
"I'm too young to be a grandmother!" She shouted as Florestine calmed down a bit and calmly explained that nothing of that sort happened 'YET!' She added inside her head and conversed with the Empress and future mother in law... if everything goes well...
Meanwhile Alexis who was forced to play with Irene suddenly sneezed.
"Big brother, come see this!" Irene shouted at him excitedly and showed him an insect fending off against an army of ants...
Alexis ruffled her hair.
"You know that the insect is dying right? It is protecting itself from the ants who want to kill it..." Alexis explained to her gently...
"...oh" Irene frowned immediately.
"Does it mean that the ants are bad?" She asked tearfully as Alexis shook his head.
"No, the ants have to kill it for food to feed it's young." Alexis replied with a smile while kneeling down to her height...
"Remember Irene, there is no good AND bad... no one is truly good and most are not truly bad, everyone does something for a reason, most do bad things because they are desperate..." He stated and lifted her up.
"Never trust anyone just because you heard it from someone... and always have an open mind, it will help you in the long run!" He kissed her forehead lovingly and placed her on his shoulders...
Irene was silent throughout the day after what her beloved brother said.
Alexis definitely did not know that his small speech affected Irene...