Inside a wide indoor training room under a glorious palace, two children are circulating mana under the guide of their father. It was a rare occurrence as their father is a king. The king of the Twilight Kingdom.
"Hmm… that is good. Charles, you are getting better at this." Elijah praises his son.
"Really? Ouch. Dad?" Charles opens his eyes then smiles brightly at his father but he got a knock on his head.
"Focus, Charles. Keep at it, Chelsea. You almost reach 2 Star stage." Elijah said to his daughter who did not say anything and keep circulating mana.
Charles looked at his twin. He snorts and gets back to circulating mana.
Elijah smiles seeing the twin's interaction. A sibling competition is always welcome but seeing his children behave like this he thought it is adorable.
"Charlotte is with Marie. There are no meetings today. Everything is handled but the new trouble brewing across the kingdom is worrying. The problem is we don't know what it is. I have sent the dukes to find information for me. Right now, I just have to wait and enjoy the time now." Elijah stroking his chin while having a thought and shows a little smile.
It was afternoon as the sun is at its highest point, almost time for lunch.
As Elijah is enjoying his moment, polite knocks can be heard from the door.
"Your Majesty, it's me, Royal Knight Commander Arnold. I came to bring some news." Arnold said politely from behind the door.
Charles opens his eyes again and looked at his father. Chelsea ignores the noise and keep circulating mana.
"Sigh… You may enter, Arnold." Elijah sighs his free moment is cut short.
"Excuse me." Arnold enters the room and kneels at a short distance from Elijah who had his back on him.
"My apologies for disturbing your time, Your Majesty. I bring an important news that needs your attention." Arnold starts by apologizing to the king.
"What is it? Tell me." Elijah responds expressionlessly but he finally turns his body towards Arnold.
"Ah. It seems to be the butler from the Cross family named, Ralph, arrived at the palace just now. He looks a bit dishevelled and out of breath. He said he needs to seek an audience with you personally and urgently."
"We tried to reject him and offer to deliver the message to Your Majesty ourselves but he shows the Cross family and Prince Charles's insignia. Seeing the insignias, we guide him to the throne room for him to seek audience with you." Arnold gives his lengthy report.
Chelsea opened her eyes as soon as she heard the word 'Cross' but she was disappointed that only the butler came. Charles is also excited initially but later turns into a disappointment.
Elijah stares at Charles. He knows he gave his son gave his insignia to Adrian. He thinks Adrian is using the insignia's power carelessly. On the other hand, he becomes curious on why the boy do something so reckless. It was not something Adrian would do.
"Children… I will go first. Stay here and keep circulating mana. Let's go Arnold." Elijah walks at the door after grabbing his royal cape that is casually hanged near the entrance.
"As you will Your Majesty." Arnold said while kneeling then stands up and follow the king from the the distance
"Can't we come along? We also had seats in the throne room…. Please." Charles said with a begging tone.
"Since the butler came in a dishevelled state that means he came here in a hurry. The boy must have something important to tell me… Well, maybe. I know his capabilities and smarts but I don't really know him." Elijah thought after hearing Charles pleads while looking at his 2 children.
"….. No. Its an urgent matter…. I think. Sorry, kids." Elijah responds with hesitation while smiling at them and leaves along with Arnold.
Chelsea returns back to circulating mana as she knows, the one she wants to see is not present. Charles sighs and tries to cast ball of water to see his reflection and tries to make a cute face.
"Am I not cute enough to change people's opinion?" Charles mutters softly while touching some areas of his face.
"Hah… Cute? Please get a grip, Charles." Chelsea spoke while her eyes are still close.
"You…" Charles instantly triggered by his twin's remark.
The two spent the remaining training session bickering until lunch.
Inside the throne room, Ralph remains kneeling in front of a grand majestic throne. Beside the grand throne there are other 2 thrones one on each side. One is decorated blue themed which is empty. The other is decorated red themed, which a beautiful maroon haired woman is sitting on it. She is the Queen of the Twilight Kingdom, Charlotte O'Sullivan Wells. There are also 2 other thrones beside the queen which is decorated white.
"Oh? Charlotte, when did you get here?" Elijah enters the throne room and walk through the red carpet with Arnold at the back.
Ralph stands up while still keep his head down and make way for the king to pass through. The queen made a polite bow to the king. Elijah nods and take a seat on the grand gold themed throne at the middle.
"I just came here a little while before you. Hearing the butler becomes a messenger grabs my attention so I decided to hear out what the boy wants to deliver to you. I already asked him the details but he refuse, albeit humbly but he still refused. That is one loyal servant." Charlotte is amazed with Ralph tenacity and loyalty.
"Hmm… You may speak, messenger from the Cross family." Elijah also becomes curious.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I came here on the orders of the young master, Adrian Cross to deliver you an important letter. He requested to directly hand over the latter to you hand." Ralph humbly speaks while still have his head down. He already fixed his appearance before coming in to be presentable.
"Oh? Where is the letter?" Elijah becomes intrigue.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty. Here it is." Ralph excuses himself and reach out to his breast pocket under his butler tailcoat and present it to the king.
"Arnold." Elijah asked Arnold who stands under the throne stage to take the letter.
As Arnold want to reach out to the letter, Ralph pulls the letter back.
"How dare you?" Arnold looks at Ralph menacingly.
"I apologize Royal Knight Commander Arnold. I only act on the young master's order to hand over the letter to the king personally. If you want to change my mind you had to kill me for it." Ralph rebukes Arnold's threat.
"You…" Arnold cannot believe a mere servant dares to challenge him.
"That's enough Arnold. You can stand back. Such a rare and dedicated servant is serving the Cross family. Okay, came up here and give me the letter." Elijah nods in approval of Ralph loyalty.
"…. Yes, Your Majesty." Arnold let it go and gets back to his position.
"I humbly deliver the letter to you, Your Majesty as per the heir of the Cross family orders me to." Ralph stands up while his hands upfront and holding the letter, he delivers the letter to the king's hand.
After the king takes the envelope, Ralph lowers his head and slowly gets back to his original kneeling position.
"Hmm… The word 'Urgent' is largely written at the front. It's quite thick too. Let's see what you wanted to say boy." The king inspects the letter carefully. He also probes the letter with his mana. Seeing there is nothing inside a question pops out from his head.
"Why did the boy did not deliver the letter himself? Also, where is Malcom?" Elijah asked Ralph, wanting the full story of the situation. He is still a cautious king even to someone he knows.
"It's like this Your Majesty…." Ralph tells the full story from Adrian's plan to spread Cross Catch until Adrian save the people of Light Edge town. He kept a secret about Adrian's capabilities and the time they broke into the office. He just tells them a short story of what happen to Light Edge Town.
"That is the full story, Your Majesty. I have nothing to hide." Ralph said those words while looking at the king with burning eyes.
Charlotte looks at Elijah. She actually did not believe a 10 year old had the capabilities to save people from the lake imps. Elijah also thinks that the story is ridiculous.
"But… if the story is like that… then the reason for the letter made sense. The mystery is why is it so urgent until he had to wrote the obvious at the front of the letter. He also asks a servant to deliver the letter. Wait a minute…" Elijah thought back the story.
"Cross servant Ralph… You said that the boy had handle everything and rescued everyone correct?" Elijah asked back for confirmation.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Ralph responds with pride.
"So, the point the boy wants to deliver is not his achievements…. It's an anonymous information? So, this boy just doesn't want attention divert towards him… so what his parent said about him is true." Elijah eyes is wide with surprise after collecting the pieces.
"Interesting. Your Majesty, we should take a look at the letter." Charlotte also gets the hint. She is smiling very wide and can't wait for the next 5 years.
Elijah nods to his wife's words and open the envelope. As he takes out the letter, he admires the penmanship first then start to read it personally. Many changes in can be seen on his face.
Ralph is curious on what Adrian wrote inside the letter but he just here to deliver the letter. Arnold is worried for the king at first because of a possibility of an assassination attempt but he had to give in to the king's decision.
Charlotte saw her husband's expressions and starts to come over and read the letter. Then she also made the same faces as the king.