Though the reactions I got weren't what I was expecting.
"Elif, get down from the table." Reprimanded Maria.
"But, mother, I caught a spy; see, look behind you!" Stated Elif, annoyed at how no one seemed to be taking him seriously.
Mother sighed before turning around and eyeing the spy, who still thought she could keep her cover from being exposed in front of mother.
"I have brought his highness Elif as you've asked Empress Maria." Said the servant as she bowed before Maria.
"I can see that, but care to tell me why my son thinks you're a spy, Illumia?" Asked Maria, grabbing the bridge of her nose while trying to suppress her laughter.
"I do not know; all I did was knock on his door and follow him here." Stated the servant, who's known as Illumia, with slight confusion in her voice as she looked at Elf.
"Hmph, see, mother, she said she knocked on the door; no servant has ever knocked on my door, so she must be a spy trying to collect information on me like what father said." Said Elif, explaining his evidence while also exposing Marcus, causing Tiana's anger to be directed toward him.
"Hoho, so you're the reason why Elif is so paranoid; care to tell me why you informed him about the spies?" Asked Tiana in anger.
"Well, you know, mother, it just slipped out while talking; mistakes happen sometimes." Answered Marcus nervously as he tried reasoning with Tiana, though he stopped talking as he knew it was pointless to argue with her.
"Hahaha, you should hurry and tell him the truth, Maria." Said Tyler, laughing at the situation Elif had created.
"Alright, Elif, first off, get down from the table, and secondly, Illumia isn't a spy." Announced Maria.
"But what about her maid attire? It doesn't match with any of the other uniforms, and her breasts seem too large to be real; she could be hiding weapons in there." Asked Elif, who quickly sat in his seat before Maria got mad at him.
"Her attire is unique as her job is quite special, and the reason her breasts are so large is because of her family genetics." Said Maria eyeing Illumia's large breasts.
"So she's not a spy?" Asked Elif, feeling dejected at not finding a spy.
"Haha, no, she isn't a spy; she's your personal maid that your parents have assigned to you." Answered Tyler, who was still laughing.
Finding out she wasn't actually a spy annoyed me, and it didn't help that grandfather was laughing either, so I just ate my food in silence while eyeing Illumia, who was standing by the dining room door in annoyance; once I finished, I got up and walked out of the dining room.
"I'm going back to my room to cultivate." Said Elif, who was still discouraged from earlier
"Oh dear, cheer up and stop being so dramatic; also, when you advance to the Foundation Establishment realm, come visit us, ok." Said Maria, shaking her head at how easily a child's emotions can change.
"Ok, mother."
While walking back to my room, I noticed Illumia following right behind me, but I ignored her since I was still annoyed with her; once I arrived at my door, I walked into my room and sat on my bed in a meditative position, though it seemed like I wasn't the only one in my room.
"Why are you in my room?" Asked Elif.
"As your personal maid, I must always be available to you, your highness." Answered Illumia respectfully.
"Whatever, do what you want; just don't disturb me." Said Elif, who resumed his cultivation from earlier.
After a while of cultivating, I suddenly felt like I hit some ethereal wall that prevented me from absorbing Qi, though the weird thing was that wall was incredibly fragile; it felt like just a light gust of wind would shatter it, and that's precisely what I did. Taking control of the Qi inside my body, I mobilized it to hit the ethereal, and the moment they came into contact, the wall instantly shattered like glass. Right after, I suddenly felt a surge of energy flood my body that made me feel great; I don't know how else to describe it other than feeling wonderful. When the energy settled down, I opened my eyes, checking my body to see if anything had changed, though when I noticed nothing different, I stood up and hit the ceiling.
"Oww, what the heck happened? All I did was stand up!?" Asked Elif, rubbing his head while feeling annoyed once again.
"Congratulations on breaking through into the Foundation Establishment, your highness!" Replied Illumia, though when she congratulated Elif, her voice sounded incredibly bland.
Quickly turning around in fright at another person in my room, I see Illumia, which slightly calmed me down, though honestly, I completely forgot about her existence.
'So I advanced into the Foundation Establishment realm; no wonder I hit my head on the ceiling. I'm not yet accustomed to the strength increase that comes with each advancement in cultivation when you reach the Foundation Establishment realm.' Thought Elif, curious at how powerful he had become.
Climbing out of bed, I walk toward one of the dressers and try lifting it up, which I manage to do quite easily; setting it down, I try lifting my bed, but even after giving it my all, I could only lift about half of it before I had to set back down.
"My goodness, how heavy is that bed!?" Asked Elif, astonished at why his bed was so heavy.
"Your bed is approximately four-thousand three-hundred forty-eight kilograms, your highness." Answered Illumia in the same tone of voice as before.
"Why is my bed that heavy? I'm pretty sure a bed doesn't need to be that heavy." Replied Elif, who was still confused about why his bed was so heavy, with the bed frame being entirely made out of gold, but of course, Elif didn't know gold was a dense metal.
"That can be discussed later, your highness, but Empress Maria said to visit her once you've advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm." Said Illumia.
"But shouldn't mother be acting as the Empress right now along with father?" Asked Elif, as he didn't wish to intrude on them.
"Yes, currently, both the Emperor and Empress are in the Throne room in the middle of a meeting with some of the nobles of the Empire, but the Empress has ordered me to bring you to them once you have advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm." Answered Illumia.
"Well then, lead the way to the throne room; I don't want to get lost in the maze that we call hallways." Said Elif, mumbling the last part.
Since I was already ready, I followed behind Illumia as she led the way to the throne room, and I must say, if it weren't for her, I would've gotten lost as every single hallway looked practically the same as the one before it.
'Whoever made this castle should've done a better job with these hallways!' Thought Elif, annoyed at the layout of the castle.
Not long later, we arrive in another hallway; however, this one had some apparent differences with it being vastly wider and taller than the ones before it, as well as it leading to a beautifully designed set of giant double doors, though they are still several times smaller than the ones at the Erdtree.
"We've arrived, your highness; just beyond these doors is the Throne room where the Emperor and Empress perform their duty as the current rulers of the Empire." Said Illumia, with a slight hint of respect oozing out of her.
Walking forward, I try pushing the doors open, and surprisingly they're pretty light; opening them all the way, I'm met with a giant room filled with beautiful paintings, antiques, and a giant floating chandelier that lights up the entire room. However, before I could walk any further, Illumia suddenly appeared in front of me.
"His highness, Crown Prince Elif has arrived!" Said Illumia; though she didn't say it loudly, her voice resounded throughout the entire room.
I was confused why Illumia would announce my presence since mother and father should've known I was coming, but then I suddenly saw the two rows of shining armor on each side of the wall kneel before greeting me.
"CROWN PRINCE ELIF HAS ARRIVED!" Yelled the men and women in armor kneeling.
'I thought those were just fancy armor stands.' Thought Elif, though he wasn't surprised as he's seen a few royal guards roam through the castle hallways.
I started walking to the other side of the room, where I noticed mother and father sitting on giant golden thrones with a huge golden emblem of a star behind them, the star which every Royal Elf has on their forehead, while several people were standing beneath them, looking at me.
When I arrived close by, I noticed everyone was Elf, and they seemed to be scrutinizing me, which felt slightly weird, but I didn't really care about the supposed nobles; passing by them, I stopped just before mother and father who sat on their thrones and I was surprised as their demeanor was completely different to when they're with me. Usually, they're, well, normal, as that's the only way I've ever seen them, but currently, they look exceptionally majestic and imposing with the aura radiating off them, and I find it somewhat cool.
'Will I get to be like that too?' Thought Elif.
"Ohh, Elif, I see you've advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm." Said Maria with a smile on her face while still retaining the majestic and imposing aura.
"Well, it wasn't hard or anything, but you told me to come here, so what's going on, mother?" Replied Elif, who had gotten teleported on top of Maria's lap.
"Well, nothing much; we're just talking about casual stuff that's happened within the Empire." Answered Maria as she pinched Elifs cheeks.