It had been a week since the attack by the Drakzen, and ever since then Ren had become a bit more of a celebrity in the village; after all, he had killed a Drakzen, which they had not done for hundreds of years.
As Ren's popularity rose, more people opened up to him, including Laelli, who, while still cautious around him, was more willing to talk to him. Asha had even officially announced that Ren was her fated one, which sparked talk around the village. After all, the Queen had just announced that she had a fated one, which means that one day in the future she would give birth to a prince or princess.
Sthora kept the fact that Ren was also her fated one a secret from the village, as she was still trying to think of how to proceed with the fact that she and Ren were destined to be.
After the announcement, the village erupted into a celebration, which cultivated into a dinner held in Asha's house with certain invited guests.
Ren, of course, Lucilia, Sthora, Laelli, Ivy, Mae, and those who were on the team that fought against the Drakzen, along with Ren being Ceti, Silili, Attia, Zilyana, and Selussa.
As they feasted on foods from both Volaria and Versaerth, they all enjoyed their time together. Ren sat next to Asha and Lucilia, who were both competing for who was sitting closest to him, leaving him very little wiggle room. Ivy smiled seeing that, as she enjoyed seeing her daughter being competitive for Ren's affections.
Laelli had apologized for treating Ren the way she did, which he forgave pretty easily as she never directly acted in aggression towards him.
However, something got Lucilia's attention, which distracted her from the dinner. She soon excused herself, and it seemed like she was taking a call on her hologram, but Ren couldn't figure out to whom.
Lucilia came back with a serious look on her face and said "Hey everyone, I need your attention."
Everyone looked up at Lucilia as she sighed before saying "Alright, two things. First off, Ashastha, you are officially requested to join our empire.
"Your Empire?" Ashastha asked.
"Yes, we have a large group of systems under our banners; you will be given the right to have a representative run an embassy on our home planet, Volaria, where you can have direct communication with our top government officials." Lucilia explained.
"And what would happen if I refused?" Ashastha asked curiously about how Lucilia would answer this.
"Honestly, Ashastha, the rest of my people would invade and either force your people to join us or force you into servitude, and even if I tried my hardest, I wouldn't be able to stop them." Lucilia said.
"Lucilia, where did this come from?" Ren asked.
"My uncle just called me; my father has learned about our discoveries on this planet and wants to have your people under our banners; bad news: he also wants to meet Ren; good news: his mole in my house is slowly being discovered." Lucilia said.
"Well, I suppose I have no choice but to meet with your government, do I?" Ashastha asked.
"Not really...I'm sorry, Ashastha, but there's nothing I can do in this situation." Lucilia explained.
"That is fine; after all, it wasn't your fault, Lucilia." Ashastha said, taking a sip of the tea that Lucilia made everyone.
"There is also a second thing..." Lucilia said as she turned to Ren.
"There was a battle between our people in another solar system. We won, but there are prisoners." Lucilia said.
"You captured prisoners?" Ren asked.
"Yes, my sister was leading the force in that battle, and she has requested that you help translate for them." Lucilia explained.
"Translate, but what about the device?" Ren asked.
"They have refused any offer we have tried to make, and my sister doesn't want to knock them and install them like you." Lucilia explained.
"What if...but that's...could it be..." Ren thought to himself.
"I'll go." Ren said. He really wanted to know who was imprisoned.
"Okay, that will be our first stop. Come tomorrow morning, for tonight we will continue our feast." Lucilia explained.
"Lucilia, a quick question you said earlier in another star system; does that mean it wasn't in my own?" Ren asked curiously about what Lucilia had said.
"Yes, it happened in another system from there." Lucilia said "Why is that important?"
"Yes, we never traveled outside of our own system before...so that means...nah don't mind me." Ren said nervous; he was scared that his friends were involved in that battle, and the last thing he would want was for some of them to die.
"Are you sure, Ren?" Lucilia asked, as she was worried to see Ren so anxious.
The dinner concluded with everyone heading to their respective rooms that night. Ren could barely sleep thinking of the possibilities of this battle, but eventually his body gave out and he fell asleep.
The next morning, the entire crew that Ren and Lucilia came with, besides two knight pilots, Attia and Zilyana, came aboard the ship. Attia and Zilyana would defend the village from any other possible threats while the others would be gone.
Coming with the crew were Ashastha, Sthora, Laelli, Oririna, and three other guards who would act as the Queen's personal escorts.
As they boarded the ship, all of the villagers who came with them immediately lost their balance on takeoff as they weren't used to how the ship worked yet.
However, as the ship continued to rise into space, the villagers couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the stars.
"It's...so beautiful" Sthora said.
"What are these stars? How are there so many of them?" Laelli asked.
Ren responded to Laelli "Every star in the sky that you see is a sun in another solar system far away, being home to their own planets and, who knows, maybe their own population.
"Preparing for a jump in 3..." one of the pilots said.
Ren looked over to the villagers.
"2...."
Ren smiled and said "You might want to hang onto something."
"1....Jump!"
Soon the entire ship entered light speed, which caused the villagers to freak out, but Ren and the Volarian people were perfectly fine.
After about two minutes of this, the pilot spoke again "Princess, we have arrived at the designated coordinates and are currently hailing your sister's flag ship for permission to land."
After about half a minute of hailing, the pilot says they have been given permission to land on the ship, and they went towards the ship's hanger.
"Entering hanger soon, Princess, your sister will be waiting for us on arrival.
"Good, hopefully this ends quickly. I already have enough anxiety on my plate." Lucilia said.
The ship landed in the hanger, and the ramp opened, allowing Ren and the others to exit. Lucilia left first, and they were immediately greeted by "Hail Princess Lucilia Aria Caelum!"
Guards surrounded the ship, all bowing in respect to Lucilia, and at the center of it all stood a beautiful woman with long silver hair and bright blue eyes. She was near the same age as Lucila, but she was slightly taller than Lucilia and was left gifted in the chest department, but that didn't take away from her beauty at all. She had a very princess-like air to her; she seemed very refined and graceful.
"Greeting Sister, it's good to see you again." the woman said.
Lucilia went over to hug her sister "It's so good to see you too, Aurelia; I didn't expect you to call me about this."
"Well, I did want to see my favorite sister again, but also her future husband...you were right, Lucilia; he is very handsome." Aurelia said with a smile.
"Hey now..." Lucilia said, looking at her sister.
"Relax, Lucilia. I was just teasing, but I did honestly want to meet him; after all, not every day we get to communicate with someone from Planet 3." Aurelia said walking towards Ren.
"Hello Ren, my name is Aurelia Aria Caelum, princess of the Volarian Empire and your future sister-in-law." Aurelia introduced herself.
"It's nice to meet you too, Aurelia, and I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but you called about there being prisoners?" Ren asked. He was still very anxious about the possibilities.
"Ah right, let's walk and talk as we head to the cells." Aurelia said as she started to lead everyone down the hall of the ship.
"It's also very good to see you too, Aunt Ivy." Aurelia said, looking over at Ivy.
"It's good to see you too, Aurelia; how's your mom?" Ivy asked.
"Good, she still hates the old man, maybe more than you now, but that's all of his wives, honestly." Aurelia said it plainly.
One of the guards looked at Aurelia as his jaw dropped.
"Are you still not a fan of your father than Aurelia?" Ivy asked.
"Never; you know that better than anyone, Ivy." Aurelia said with a sadistic smile.
"That I do, any way I think Ren wants to know more about the prisoners." Ivy said as she shoulder-bumped Ren.
"Yes, the prisoners. Well, Ren, we have some of your people who we captured during our latest battle; there's about a half dozen of them, and they can't understand a word we say, so my hope would be that you would be willing to help me translate." Aurelia explained. "I normally would've wanted to install the translation device, but unlike most of our people, I'd rather have their permission first."
"I understand. Just if you would be so kind, let me speak with them first. I just want to see if I know them." Ren explained.
"Absolutely, that's not a problem." Aurelia said it with a smile.
Aurelia led them to the cells, and Ren walked down the hall by himself while being escorted by a guard who showed him the direction.
Aurelia then looked over at her sister and said "You know our father is going to be angry with Ren, right?"
"I know, sister." Lucilia explained.
"After all, he planned for you to marry..." Aurelia was saying this before Lucilia interrupted her.
"I know, sister, and I will handle it." Lucilia said.
Aurelia smiled and said "Well, if you need my assistance, you have it."
"Thank you, Aurelia."
Ren continued down the hallway, and the guard pointed to his right and said "Down the hall, the 3rd cell on the right should be the cell block where we have them all located; they have received basic commodities and three meals a day, so they should be healthy."
"Thank you."
Ren walked down the hall, his stomach filled with anxiety and his lungs struggling to breathe consistently, until he saw what he had been waiting for.
"There's no way..."
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