After Illumia found us all, we continued playing a few more rounds allowing each one of us to be the seeker or the person who must capture everyone else, we at first had Illumia play with us, but no one of us could catch her without using their cultivation, so we just decided to let Illumia be the official seeker while we either hid or ran away.
"Brother, I'm hungry. Can we go and eat?" Asked Elaine as she rested against a tree.
"Yes, but let's wait for Illumia to find Sarah first; it shouldn't take long anyways." Answered Elif, lying on the ground a few meters away from Elaine.
Just like I had predicted, it wasn't even a full minute later before Illumia returned with a disheveled Sarah in her arms.
"Alright, let's take a break, Sarah, Elaine is hungry, and the same game is getting kinda boring anyways." Announced Elif as he stood up and started walking to the castle with the help of his divine sense.
Once we were out of the forest, I continued leading the way into the castle while navigating my way through the hallways.
"Hmm, where are we going, your highness?" Asked Sarah as she skipped about through the royal hallways, looking at everything with fascination.
"We're going to the dining room; where else would we go to eat?" Replied Elif as he looked at Sarah strangely.
"I thought you would have the food delivered to you, that's what happened to me a little after I turned four, so I figured it was normal." Said Sarah as she became slightly downcasted.
"Wait! Will their Majesties be there!?" Shouted Sarah, unnerved at the idea of possibly being in the same room as the Empress or Emperor, let alone eating at the same table.
"Stop yelling, and no, they're usually busy with their duties of being an Emperor and Empress at this time." Replied Elif as he opened the doors to the dining room, only to see Maria sitting down at the table, which had a plate of food for three other seats.
'YOU TOLD ME THEIR MAJESTIES WOULD BE BUSY, YOUR HIGHNESS!!!' Yelled Sarah via divine sense as she didn't dare to speak before the Empress.
'No, I said they were usually busy; sometimes one of them will take a break to come spend time with Elaine when she eats; last time it was father, so now it's mother's turn.' Replied Elif nonchalantly via divine sense as he made his way to the table along with Elaine.
Sitting next to mother, I was about to start eating, but I saw Sarah standing by the entrance as if frozen in time, not moving a single muscle.
"Sarah, are you going to eat or not? But either way, can you close the door." Said Elif as he began eating, though his words did not affect Sarah; nonetheless, that changed when Maria spoke.
"Sarah, you should come eat with us; I'm sure you'll enjoy the food." Said Maria in a friendly voice, something she only ever uses when speaking to her family; not even Illumia is spoken to this nicely.
While my words were utterly ineffective on her, mother's was not, as Sarah quickly did a deep bow while going back to her stuttering, something she only does when Marley arrives.
"M-My a-apologies, Y-Your Majesty, b-but I w-wouldn't d-dare dine at t-the same t-table as the R-Royal E-Elven F-family, I-I'm j-just a mere N-Noble." Quickly responded Sarah with a shaky voice while stuttering, causing her to get even more nervous at the poor show of deference.
"Well, how about this then, as the Empress, I order you to sit at the table and eat with us. How's that?" Ordered Maria with a chuckle escaping her mouth when she saw the change of expression on Sarah's face.
Now that everyone was sitting at the table eating, with some feeling extremely uncomfortable, we conversed amongst ourselves, though in reality, it was just mother and me as Elaine was too absorbed in eating the food while Sarah didn't once look up from her plate.
"Ohh, yes, Elif, have you heard the news of the Noble Tournament that will occur in a couple of days?" Asked Maria as she wiped some food off Elaine's face with a handkerchief.
"Hmm, I believe I have, though the name didn't interest me enough to care about it." Answered Elif as he continued eating.
"Well, I think you would be interested in it. The Noble Tournament is something agreed upon by about eighty percent of the nobles in the kingdom to host a tournament meant for the younger generation to showcase their power and talent; the winner even gets a dimension ring full of resources that all of the Nobles contributed to. I also think it would be an excellent way to gain more fighting experience; you've been training with Illumia for two years, so you have a solid foundation when it comes to fighting; now all you need is more experience." Explained Maria, successfully managing to intrigue Elif.
"That does indeed sound interesting, though I could care less about the winning prize; however, what you said is right, mother; I would also love to fight people other than Illumia. It would feel good to win for once." Said Elif with a shake of his head while remembering all of the times Illumia's defeated him during their sparring sessions.
"Go and spread rumors that the Crown Prince will compete in the Noble Tournament. I want the whole Empire to know of it by tonight." Ordered Maria to seemingly no one, though a second later, several people covered in black robes appeared out of nowhere, kneeling toward her.
"It'll be done, Empress!" Said the black-clothed people in unison before suddenly vanishing as if they were never even there, to begin with.
Now it's not the first time I've seen that group before; they are called 'The Shadows' as they will always follow you around like a shadow. However, they obviously aren't a group meant to be secretive; otherwise, they wouldn't appear before Sarah. Still, it's cool to appear out of seemingly nowhere.
'Maybe I should learn a hiding technique; I could even use it to sneak attack some people. Hmm, actually, never mind, I prefer fighting face-to-face; it's much more enjoyable.' Pondered Elif as he took the last bit of his food.
"Sarah, do you plan on participating in the tournament?" Asked Elif while waiting for Elaine to finish her food.
"Not at all. Besides, the requirements for participating are for you to be at the Saint realm, so I couldn't join even if I wanted to." Answered Sarah quietly, though she was much calmer when speaking to Elif.
"So then, since I'll be participating, where will the tournament be held, and how long do I have to prepare?" Asked Elif.
"The tournament will be held at the Gladiator Cage, and it'll last for three days, though you currently have thirteen days until it begins, so make sure you prepare yourself." Answered Maria as she stood up and headed towards the exit to continue her duties as an Empress.
Seeing mother leave, I decided I should get back to training in preparation for the tournament, though since it's my one day off in the week from training, I'm sure Elaine is going to be sad as I promised her that I'll do anything for her today.
"Hey Elaine, something important popped up, so I'm going to have to cut our time short and get back to training to prepare for the tournament happening in two weeks." Said Elif sweetly, trying to stop Elaine from getting angry or sad, though that didn't prove very effective.
"What do you mean!? Today's the only day we get to play together, a-and you promised earlier that you'll do a-anything I say!" Said Elaine hurriedly as she set down her utensils and looked at Elif, threatening to cry.
"I know Elaine, and I love spending time with you, but something important came up that's going to need me to be at my best, so for the next thirteen days, I'm not going to be available." Informed Elif, feeling quite bad that he had to cancel on his sister like this, and seeing her cry only made him feel worse.
"N-Now I-I'm g-going to be a-alone w-with no o-one to p-play with!" Muttered Elaine in between her crying.
Hoping off the chair, I walk to her seat, and since Elaine is still sitting, she is currently taller than me, so I had to look up as I comforted her once again for today.
"You didn't let me finish you, crybaby. When I've finished with the tournament, I'll spend an entire week playing with you as a way to make it up for having to cut our time short today, and I'll even listen to whatever you say!" Said Elif as he rubbed her head.
"R-Really, y-you'll do that?" Asked Elaine as she looked down at Elif with tears still streaming down her face.
"Yep, since I said it, I'll do it, besides it's not like you will be alone; you'll still have Sarah to play with!" Stated Elif as he gave Sarah a look with his eyes to agree with him.
"His highness is right; I'll come over and play with you whenever you're bored." Responded Sarah quickly when she saw the crying face of Elaine.
"See, everything will be fine with Sarah; two weeks will pass by super quickly. It'll be like I wasn't even gone." Said Elif as he finally managed to calm Elaine down with the help of Sarah.
"I g-guess your right, b-but make sure to finish the tournament or whatever it is fast, and I'll tell mother, so you have to play with me." Declared Elaine as she wiped the tears off her face.
"Ok, ok, I'll be going now, so make sure you two have fun!" Replied Elif as he kissed Elaine's cheek before making his way out of the dining room with Illumia following right behind him.
'Now that Elaine is satisfied, what should I do for the next two weeks? I won't be able to improve my cultivation base within the next two weeks as I have recently advanced. Sparring sessions won't help me much either; there is only so much I can learn from sparring before I need to enter real combat. Improving my techniques is the only thing I can do within the time limit that'll make a difference. Well then, let's get straight to it!' Thought Elif with a slight smile while walking down the hallways with Illumia close behind him.