Lucy's POV
My father's eyes were raised higher in amusement as I replied, but nothing came out of his mouth in the form of a retort.
"Let's get started then shall we...how are you, my daughter ?" he said, still looking straight at me without any emotions showing on his face.
"Can we please get to the point, your Majesty? You informed me it was urgent that we meet" I replied with annoyance in mind but not in tone.
"Sigh, you were never one for much small talk" he said getting up from the throne and heading towards the side doorway.
"Follow me.." he said as he beckoned me to follow.
I followed him reluctantly, as we walked through the windowed hallways of the castle. He was silent for a few minutes but then we entered a balcony overlooking the whole courtyard and he turned around once we entered.
"You felt it didn't you...the mana spike a few days ago" he said nonchalantly.
I half expected it to be honest. As much as I hated to admit it, my father was one of the strongest magicians in the world, there was absolutely no way he hadn't realised it too.
"I did" I replied. No point in hiding it, he already knew.
"Do you have any theories of what might have happened?" he asked.
"I think you already know what happened, I know that Lucifer took the spellform" I replied, almost cutting him off. Again, it was futile to lie, he already knew and was just testing me. I wasn't going to play his games any longer.
"You were always a clever girl. You are right, my spies have informed me that the Rostaria Kingdom have successfully used the spell. Not that they were trying to hide it. Those prideful humans you see, filled with hubris...they paraded their warriors out in the open as a show of strength" he said with superiority in his tone.
"If you already knew and also knew that I knew, why did you call me here?" I asked, the frustration ever growing in me.
"There are rumours that one of the warriors disrespected the King and was disposed of. It was proclaimed to the other warriors and the public that he chose to leave the castle himself to explore but died in the wilderness. It was a blatant lie of course" He said as his gaze settled on the forest at the edge of the horizon.
Alarm bells started ringing in my head. I was getting overwhelmed with emotion as a million different thoughts fought in my head.
Did he already know, how could he? Everyone in my castle was under my control and no outsider was ever allowed. Haruto was the one and only exception, spies weren't an option either. My senses were extremely sensitive to mana, no one would be able to hide from it. I started panicking, finding it hard to stay calm, even more so was the difficulty in keeping the panic inside my head and not giving myself away.
"The reason I called you however is that the actual truth of the warrior is that he was abandoned in the dark forest and left for dead, that's what the rumour is. Have you felt anything unusual near your castle, any disturbances in mana or something like that? You are the closest person who lives there and I can't send an expedition without giving a reason or arising unnecessary suspicion" He said while looking straight into my eyes.
I internally let out a huge sigh of relief, I had jumped to conclusions too fast and thankfully, the worst had not come to pass. I regained my composure and replied.
"No, nothing of note. The dark forest is too concentrated in mana anyway to detect any disturbances" I said as I lied through my teeth.
"And it takes years for even the warriors created by the spell form to wield real power, I don't think a fledgeling warrior would be able to survive...you and I both know that" I continued.
He continued gazing into my eyes, trying to extract any and all information he could but ironically through his own past actions, I was really good at hiding myself behind a veil of darkness. I stared back knowing that all he could see in my eyes was just pitch-black darkness reflected back.
"I see, a fair assumption...keep your senses heightened though. We cannot afford to let our guard down" he said, returning back to his monotone nature.
"I will.." I replied, again lying.
"Is that all, I have an appointment with her majesty the queen as well" I said, not wanting to continue the conversation any longer.
"Yes, you may leave.." he said, not even looking at me. As usual, he used me for what he wanted and then went back to normal again, nothing I wasn't already used to.
"I will take your leave your Majesty" I said as I turned around and walked to the exit of the balcony.
"I expect you are ready to enter the academy soon" he said as I was about to leave.
"Yes I have prepared well" I said with the last shred of cordiality I had left in me.
"Not enough" he replied. More of a threat than anything else.
I was in no mood to entertain him however and I just left, without replying a single word.
Alarm bells started ringing again and an ominous feeling enveloped me as I walked to my mother's room. My father had given me a warning and I had no idea what it was about. I put that in the back of my head and left it for later as I knocked on my mother's room.
"Come in!" I heard from the other side.
As I opened the door I saw my mother standing near the window, gazing into the vast nothingness in front of her.
"Welcome my daughter, this conversation has been long overdue but I need to tell you something...."
Not this again, I thought.
"Please...enlighten me..." I replied as I stood in front of her.