just as shiva spoke they arrived in city vietra in the morning just as the sun was rising. this city was majestic! almost mythical.
made in the valley between towering mountains filled with greenery and waterfalls the city even had fog covering it. tall buildings, various roads and vehicles going in and out of the city through its border walls that were not any smaller than the huge buildings. the castle was even mostly covered in mist as it was made on the mountain along with the city lord mansion which also served as the duke's residence.
faes was mesmerized by the view, she had lived her past life in a city, had lived in royal capital of reptiliance and even been to other cities as city eduki and nexa but vietra was on another level when compared.
"welcome home your highness" shiva grinned as they arrived at the railway station and deboarded the train. sky was still asleep hence sarah was holding her currently while eli was there too glancing around with interest.
even faes was amazed as she watched around but quickly caught herself and followed shiva.
"we will be going to the mansion i own in the city first where you can rest till lunch. after lunch i would introduce you to my personal knights and workers officially. then you can prepare for the party which is tomorrow night." shiva spoke once they were in the limo.
"what kind of party will it be? and who would i have to meet?" faes asked curiously
"well all the nobles houses of kingdom altai would be there along with the other guests. if i am correct you have invited his highness prince alison and her highness princess nia along with the owner of nature's blessing company too?" shiva asked to which faes nodded
"i have sent them invitation formally, also the royal family of kingdom altai would be there too; its a masquerade party as i thought you wouldn't want to take off your mask" shiva informed.
faes wasn't surprised as she knew about this already hence she began focusing on the green city outside. she was already imagining robin and emma holding lots of dresses for her to try on. but what can she do, being a princess had its own perks and problems.
...
the day went as faes expected it to. when she informed emma and others about the party they instantly went to prepare a dress for her and sky. she spent the morning with emma and sky preparing their dresses. after lunch shiva introduced her to his personal knights and servants.
when faes was standing on the balcony of the mansion shiva owned (which by the way wasn't any smaller than a castle) she felt the pressure. she knew that a commander can have a personal army containing around 10000 soldiers she still felt nervous. because along with the ten thousand soldiers there were also the servants who worked for shiva.
all these people which was around twelve thousand in total lived in the artificial forest which was made around the mansion expanding ten miles in radius.
when shiva introduced her as aster his heir and sky as mani his direct disciple faes was expecting few to challenge her but to her surprise everyone accepted them and even saluted formally.
"they know about you fighting a vital refining stage cultivator to a draw, as not even i can do something like that they have already accepted you as their new leader. if anything they are probably more excited to work for you" shiva smiled when he sensed faes nervously eyeing the people standing in front of the mansion.
only after hearing shiva did faes calmed down.
"everyone, i know you will probably think that i am a kid, a girl and would i be able to lead you like commander shiva? along with many other questions. i don't have an answer to them but i do know that i would try my best to make us stronger, not just stronger for ourselves but for those who rely on us to protect them. we need to look after those who cant protect themselves, kids mortals and weaker humans who live their lives normally knowing that they can trust us soldiers to keep them safe and out of harm's way. we are not only a private army but also the strength and protection of kingdom altai.
now tell me who is going to protect the weak?" faes glanced at the people who were looking quite fired up and emotional
"we"
"are you with me to make altai a better place?"
"yes"
"then lets look after each other, i will be in your care"
faes finished her speech as the soldiers began chanting "long live lady aster! long live sir shiva"
shiva gave faes a proud smile. while faes sighed internally, looks like her speech was good. she somehow managed to hide her nervousness and now she wasn't looking forward to do that anymore. faes had done such speeches before but she still wasn't used to it yet.
...
following which she met the strongest soldiers and head servants personally before everyone went back to their work preparing for the party tomorrow night.
faes and sky took their time resting and occasionally sparring with the soldiers giving them pointers while also giving their thoughts on the decorations and food for the party.
...
as for city vietra, many people were in an uproar. because the news about the commander of the melee army of kingdom Altai introducing his heir was made public. although not many knew many details about commander shiva they knew he was strong, and with his achievements, he was one of the suitable candidates to become the next king in case the royal family was removed from the throne.
"i heard commander shiva's heir is even stronger than him"
"she even fought a vital refining stage cultivator to a draw while also fighting with elemental strengthening stage cultivators"
"i heard she is barely eleven years old yet she is such a prodigy! i wonder if she is also beautiful"
"i heard she always wears a mask, why does she want to hide her face? she is really familiar to commander shiva, he also barely shows his face in public."
"i heard he is only introducing his heir but not his other direct disciple why would he do that?"
"i heard the other one is barely three years old, she is barely old enough to even activate her powers how could commander shiva introduce her to more danger?"
"yes, how can a child survive a political struggle like that? i support commander shiva to not introduce the other one"
"i heard the royal family of kingdom altai alone with the prince of devil kingdom, first princess of beast kingdom and second princess of fae kingdom are also invited"
"not only that i also heard that the owner of nature's blessing company is also going to attend the party"
"the heir of commander shiva sure have so many friends and even allies! from what i remember the royal family barely have this many connections in the younger generation"
"if the heir is as strong as they speak then the royal family might be in danger! i already heard that commander shiva was one of the candidates of becoming the next king"
"if that happens then wouldn't his heir become the next queen?"
both the commoners and nobles were discussing about the party and other things they managed to find out. many were happy while many were fuming inside, after all many nobles were going to use the lack of commander shiva's heir in making him lose in the competition of the next royal family after the current one fell but now he was not only introducing an heir but she was a prodigy with many high level connections! how can they not get angry when their plans failed?