A light pinch on his side made Prince Joaqin smirk a little as he finally guessed that the little girl was back.
"So this is the trick you planned? A Grade 5 Invisibility potion, not bad." The prince said which made Elijah frown.
"You can even detect this?" She complained, annoyed that this prince's abilities are truly high. Dangerous, really dangerous.
"If not, then why'd they call me a genius of this generation?" Prince Joaqin stated so brazenly like it's normal.
"Tsk. Truly a narcissist." She then commented and pulled him to the side. "Quickly hide your presence and follow me, your highness. We don't have much time."
The second prince knew this urgency amd immediately casted a spell on himself, his body eventually disappearing from sight. Elijah's jaw dropped in awe after witnessing this. Even after 3 years of immersing herself in this world, it's still amazing to it especially when someone makes it looks so easy to do.
"Close your mouth. It's not that difficult to do." The prince commented, grinning happily as he saw her frown.
"You can even see my expressions even when invisible? Truly a genius but creepy!" She shuddered at the thought moved quickly heading southwest.
"Once you reach a certain level of magic, of course nothing is impossible." The prince replied cockily.
At this time, the soft breeze brushed by, and the wind-borne light cloth adorning Elijah's red dress willfully danced about. The her at this moment, was as beautiful as a demoness walking out of a painting. Her silhouette was like a sculpture from an ancient diety; sharp, and distinct. It was gentle and languid. Even her enchanting light smile that she makes everytime she discovers the right way held such devilish charm. The prince suddenly realized how truly attractive his fiancé is. Being with her this close makes him appreciate her beauty more.
"How was it? My performance in leading the way wasn't that bad right?" Elijah excitedly spouted as she finally reached a secluded yard in the Colleen's Manor.
"Barely passable." Prince Joaqin replied as he sat on the stone chair in the area.
Seeing his neither warm nor cold attitude, Elijah not only did not mind, but instead raised her face and moved towards him. This prince liked to tease him so she decided to tease him back. Then she leaned in to the closest distance possible making the prince slightly surprised. Hot air suddenly fluttered to his ears and he was speechless when he heard a soft and affectionate voice: "Dearest prince, can't you just praise me when it's rightfully so?"
Taken aback, the prince stood abruptly bumping his head on her chin. "Ouch!"
"Sorry." He blurted out as a slight color of pink covered his face. Then he stepped back to slightly create a distance between them. This finally made him breathe easier. He didn't even notice he actually held his breath.
"Tsk. Teasing you is no fun." Elijah said after rubbing her reddish chin with an amused smile. She felt happy that he wans't totally unaffected. "Anyway, we're here. All we have to do is find something that will trigger the entrance to the magical node."
"You truly did your research." Prince Joaqin replied, now back to his normal self.
"Of course, didn't you see who set out on this campaign? I wouldn't be brave enough to do this without planning. You see I treasure my life the most, your highness." Anything Elijah sets her mind to do were almost always successful, never had a record of failure. She did her very best in everything. That's also why she's very much eager to return to the real world. Because she wanted to enjoy all the fruits of her years of labor. She wanted to feel that everything she's been through was worth it. Her life, afterall, was too difficult for an orphan like her. She somehow cannot accept the fact that she couldn't enjoy the benefits of all her hardwork back in her original world.
"I like that you're careful. How'd you manage to know the ways going to this yard? Isn't your first time to visit this manor?" The prince voiced out though he already had a vague idea.
With a sly smile, she handed him a carefully folded piece of cloth. The expression in her eyes seem pleased with herself, "I actually thought it would be heavily guarded, but it's only like this. Plus, my father helped out with the potion so it went smoothly."
Prince Joaqin's eyes sparkled a little when he saw a map carefully drawn in the cloth with a lot of details. The he turned to see a smug look at the little girl's face. An emotion wavered in his gray eyes for a bit before he used his long fingers to poke her forehead: "Keep bragging. If not for this prince carefully hiding our presence and even scent, do you really think it would have been this simple? Those mages in their secret hiding places should have long known that intruders have come. What would you have done with just an invisibility potion? Tsktsk. Aren't you thankful now that this prince has decided to help?"
"Was it really so?" Elijah contemplated and realized that they truly moved swiftly without any detections from the mages. She then gestured an approved fingers over to the second prince and beamed with a bright smile. "I knew it! Your highness is the best!"
"Since you said so, that mean you're going to marry me now, right?" Prince Joaqin teased.
"That's child abuse! I am still underage, Your Highness!" Elijah immediately retorted.
"Ha ha ha." Prince Joaqin laughed as he already expected her to say this. Whenever he teases her with marriage, she would always resort to child abuse especially after her turned 18.
"Oh right, what kind of stone is this? Have you seen it before?" Elijah sulkily rolled her eyes when she realized he was just making fun of her. Then, she pointed at the yellow marking on the map then to the yellowish stone on the left side of the yard.
The second prince examined and carefully looked at it. His expression originally held a hint of crooked smile, but after a while, his expression began to slightly change.
Something that can change the expression on Prince Joaqin's face was presumably not a simple thing, Elijah pondered. Checking the time, she urgently moved towards the prince and curiously blinked her beautiful vividly touching eyes: "What? Could it be the entrance to the magical node?"
"Where did you get this map?" Prince Joaqin asked in a rare and serious tone of voice. He only took a glance of the map earlier and didn't notice it but his hand slightly trembled after finally looking at the map closely.
"It's something I specifically obtained from my distant cousin." Elijah said with a hint of slyness in her eyes. "It's not something I was specifically searching for, but I was lucky enough to get it. It was actually hidden in a very old box the Colleen's Family treasures. I originally just wanted to pry on my cousin and have a vague idea of the manor's structure. But then he saw my newly purchased crystal ball and became entralled with it that he made a bet using the old box in exchange. I wasn't paying attention at first ubtil he said that it's a box treasured by his family and that it was passed down from their ancestors. So I took the risk and got it for myself. After losing, we exchanged items of course."
"And he has no idea it was you?" Prince Joaqin asked with an amused smile.
"Of course I used a disguise. I am not stupid enhough to enter a brothel with my real face and identity." Elijah blurted out.
"You went inside a brothel?" The second prince asked in shock.
"Then where else could I find that distant cousin of mine if not in his favorite brothel?" She retorted back.
"Tsk! Fearless! Truly fearless!" Prince Joaqin scolded. "Don't you know how dangerous that could have been for a young girl like you?"
"But I still managed to pull it off, right? Besides I was able to get the box and figured out how to get the map inside." Elijah reasoned and very innocently, blinked her eyes; she even shrugged her shoulders.
Prince Joaqin was at lost once again to the point of being speechless as he stared at the young lady. With a sigh of resignation, he used a little more force to rub her head: "Little girl, what did you eat when growing up? How could you be so lucky? Went to spy on your cousin and then also come out with a hidden treasure map."
"This is a treasure map? Because of the magical node right?" Elijah verified.
This time, Prince Joaqin admitted that although he was always said to be the legendary prideful son of heaven, God's favorite, compared to this little girl's luck...he really felt all kinds of great admiration and envy. She only knew about the magical node but didn't even realized this map is a real hidden treasure map. "Not only a magical node, this contains all the treasures that would be more than enough to be spent in a lifetime."
"Truly?" Elijah clapped happily as she carefully retrieved the map back.
Within these short time of interacting with her, it looked like, not only was her wit extremly high...she was also cunning and is blessed with incredible luck. She actually coincidentally fished out a piece of hidden treasure map from an old box after tricking it's previous owner. Thinking about that really made him have the urge to run into a wall.
Silence covered the yard and as she was stared at by his deep eyes, Elijah grew a little hesitant. She then began to think that he might just be teasing her once more. Her slender fingers poked him in the arm: "I'm asking you a question. Quickly, speak, could it be that this is really a real hidden treasure map? You have to elaborate!"
"Tsk. It's undeniably the real deal." Prince Joaqin said with certainty.
"Then it is really valuable?" Elijah raised her palm sized small face as her beautiful eyes which somehow reflected the the yard's light.
"Valuable? How could the word valuable be used to describe it? Like I said a lifetime won't be enough to spend all of the treasures in this map." Prince Joaqin's facial expression lighten, "This is simply a priceless treasure. Let's just say the amount of treasures in this map is equivalent to the amoubt of treasures inside the Imperial Family's Royal Treasury."
"Is that true or fake?" Elijah's eyes widened, immediately, she become exhilarated. But still, she doubtfully looked at her own pair of white tender hands. These hands' luck was really too much!
"How could I lie to you? We promised not to lie to each other, didn't we? This map is truly a hidden treasure map. The magical node in this manor is only a tiny treasure you can obtain from it. In fact, you still haven't discovered the real face of this map. You needed to search for various materials in order to finally uncover this map's secrets."
Checking the cloth that looked quite old but ordinary, Elijah's brows twisted as she pried on it. "There is such thing?"
"Ha ha ha. I think I still need a long time more before I get your trust, little girl." The second prince finally said with a hint of bitterness. She's absolutely doubting all of her words which made him feel a little bitter. Pointing at the map once more, he continued, "This map is actually called the Map of the Sacred Lands. That is an existence which transcended endless years. Rumor has it, that these lands were vast and boundless. It's rich with resources and treasures that are quite unimaginable. They also said that people coming out of there, even those considered most ordinary, can exterminate a country on this continent in one move. I believe this map will show where the treasures are located in the Sacred Lands. "
"Oh? You said one of the most ordinary of persons from there, could destroy a country in only one move? They're that powerful?" No matter how calm Elijah was, she still cannot avoid opening wide her beautiful purple and misty eyes. She couldn't hide her excitement. "This, how could they be so powerful? I simply could not imagine it. Even if an extremely strong person came over, how could he annihilate a country with only one move? This is simply unimaginable!"
'I mentioned treasures unimaginable but all she was excited about is gaining power? Isn't she a non-magical being? How could she benefit from gaining power she couldn't even use? Or was she hiding more from me?' The second prince pondered, getting more amused. 'This girl is truly interesting.'
"This is indeed what the legends say." Prince Joaqin's pair of cold gray eyes became deep and mysterious. He faintly said. "It has been said that the Sacred Lands was sealed by a powerful mage who once lived in this continent. There was a struggle between grand mages before which almost destroyed everything in these lands. A great war broke out. Almost all died in the final charge; the bodies of the grand mages were buried in the boundary that connects this continent to that of tge Sacred Lands. When the powerful mage sealed that place, it was said that it's to protect this continent from those powerful exponents."
The second prince pause a little. Then his pair of abstruse gray eyes seriously gazed at the young lady, "Including all the divine artifacts, powerful potions, recipes, spells lost through the ages, everything; those were also buried in these boundary. Andbthis yellowish stone is the key to finding that boundary where the entrance to the Sacred Lands can be found."
Divine artifacts are very rare treasures that even the book only mentioned a few. And those things were very powerful and helpful to the main character while he tried to go against the Cold Tyrant and the tyranny of the Kingdom of Arthemia. Elijah sucked in a mouthful of cold air.
"Now I really want to go there and dig for treasure, ahh." Things like unearthing treasure was something she would really loved to do.
"That's something you have to wait for. Firstly, we need to go inside the magical node to finish what we cam here for." Prince Joaqin's cold gray eyes faintly glowed with a hibt of doting as he looked at her. He smiled as helis habd rubbed her head, as if stroking a pet, "For the current you, a non-magical being, forget about the treasures, you don't even have the most basic of magical power. How could you get there?"
'Fine.' Elijah admitted it; the blow hit her where it counted. 'It's really not fair to have this extreme luck in finding a hidden treasure map but lack the ability to venture out and go take the treasures.'
"I can do it!" Elijah declared firmly.
"Fine. Fine." Prince Joaqin teased and then spoke an incantation which powderized the yellowish stone. Picking up a handful of the powder, he swiftly sprinkled it upwards. The yellowish powder immediately glowed and sparkled, creating a veil like entrance.
"Tha magical node entrance." Elijah blurted out.
"Let's go." Prince Joaqin said and offered his hand. Seeing that the young lady somehow refused to hold his hand, he slightly frowned. "This is necessary, do you think there's no danger inside? Tsk."
"Fine. Fine. I admit two is better than one." She said with a smile and finally placed her hand on his.
Together, the two entered the veil like entrance and disappeared from the secluded yard.
***
It was utter chaos inside the hall after the biggest chadelier crashed right into the ground. Everyone was shocked and somehow frightened, especially those who nearly escape death. If not for Duke Orvin rushing over to save them, then wouldn't they be crushed by the falling gigantic chandelier? This thought frightened them to the bone.
"Thank you very much for saving our lives, Duke Orvin." They declered and bowed which somehow made the Duke twitch, feeling a little guilty.
"I truly apologize for what happened. This truly wasn't intentional. I will make sure to give the guest proper explanation." The Head of the Colleen Family immediately interjected, afraid that what happened with cause a big decline on their family's reputation.
He was about to say more when their Head Butler rushed to his sise and whispered something urgent. His face somehow paled and frigidly glanced at his son who just came, he said coldly, "You brat! Come follow me!"
"But Father!" The young master, George Colleen, had a lost expression; he didn't know what he did wrong.
"Again, I will have my men investigate the matter and give you all proper compensation and explanation. I truly apologize. Please continue with the party as I have an urgent matter. I will be back shortly." He explained while signalling the mages to urgently take care of the broken chandellier and clear the hall.
Duke Orvin let out a sigh or relief that the Colleen's somehow had something urgent. He hoped his daughter wasn't discovered or anything. He didn't think she was the cause of that urgent news or else he would've been called as well. Then he then looked around only to discover that the second prince wasn't on the side. His brows furrowed a little, feeling a little tense.
'Be careful, dear daughter.' He thought.
***