"We're here your highness." Natalie said kneeling after opening the carriage door stumbling into an awkward scene which she quickly excused herself ,"I am so sorry your Highness for my forceful intrusion. I will now take my leave." She said making a graceful bow but before she closed the door, Aldritch exited leaving Eva sleeping in the carriage who had clung to Aldritch earlier. The two were in a very obscene manner but not completely stripped,sure their pose was too close for comfort for people to see as it was a hug but it looked like much more considering how ruffled up Eva looked and how disheveled her hair and clothes were. The hair was Aldritch but the clothes was as a result of the kiss and hug the two had with each other. Looking around the weather was what took him by surprise as it was snowing real hard and his choice of clothing was suited for this. He simply numbed his body from the cold using his skill Fanfiction to remove the humane nature and looked at the castle infront of him.
It was grand as expected not to mention heavily guarded by the present guards of the kingdom who instead of wearing black armor and a golden emblem on their chest,these Mordant knights wore white armour with somewhat fur coat integrated into it making it look rather stylish to be honest. Before he could make his first few steps,he went back to his carriage and carried Eva who was still sleeping in a princess manner though she wasn't fully aware of this. "I can have her attended to your highness." Natalie said with in respectful manner but Aldritch simply continued after telling her ,"I'll do it myself." Natalie couldn't start an argument and she was sure that Aldritch didn't like any form of protest or opposition whatsoever to what he did so she let him be. Walking up the small flight of stairs,the Mordant knights seeing him immediately opened the castle gates and made their prompt bow addressing Aldritch as their king. Ignoring their manners, Aldritch proceeded inside where it was warmer with the company of Natalie and Horace. "Was that the person who had slaughtered all of our forces alone?" One of the two guards asked with a surprised expression. "I still can't believe that it's him. He had no aura around him similar to a regular human but his guards are highly ranked. Maybe he's concealing it." The second spoke making his calculations but even he too couldn't believe it. Aldritch seemed so normal to the point that someone would take him for a regular human being and this had resulted in him engaging in fights in the higher dimensional planes with powerful beings but the only result was their death. It was because of this that he found that he would play the wolf in sheepish clothing time and time again but he didn't mind as having a domineering aura around him wasn't his style. His looks complimented him further since he had regular silky black hair which was rather common with the only outstanding thing was his jade emerald eyes. Sure he could change it to look more fitting for his level of power but he didn't like changing his looks too much like an insecure bastard inorder to impress the people around him.
Walking through the well lit hallway,the sound of their footsteps reverberated through out till they came to the main centerpiece of the palace which turned out to be a grand banquet chamber with as expected decorated with intricate designs but some of them seem to be depicting about a creature that so far Aldritch had. A dragon and it seemed that here was an ice dragon but that wasn't Aldritch's concern right now. The queen who sat on one of the well polished chair stood up and made a well executed bow. She seemed as if she was in her mid thirties but this didn't seem to dampen her beauty in the slightest. Adorning a snow white dress which complimented her white fair tone skin coupled with her voluptuous body,it was rather a tempting sight to any man but Aldritch was not fazed by this enticing aspect. "Welcome my king. It is an honor to us for you to grace us with your presence." Her voice soothing yet tender. Aldritch put Eva down on a sofa before taking a seat next to her but Horace and Natalie remained standing with neutral expressions on their faces. "Can you answer me this question for me Moira?" Aldritch spoke looking at her with a carefree expression. "Anything you ask, I'll naturally answer it to my fullest potential." She spoke in a respectful manner and Aldritch proceeded to now look not at her but the person standing beside her. He seemed to be in fifties with a cold temperament around him. Wearing white robes similar to a cardinal in a religious institute he looked at Aldritch with a neutral look on his face. "Would you tell me why you reside in such a harsh environment? Wouldn't it be better if you relocated to warmer areas like in the plains for instance." Moira looked at him with a small nervous expression before replying ,"Well we're simply following our ancestral footsteps by residing here." Looking at the ceiling of the hall Aldritch asked looking back Moira's surbodinate ,"Can you give me a more satisfactory answer Lester. Lying will result in your immediate death." Lester was startled on how Aldritch knew his name but he hid expression and replied ,"To honor our traditions as my queen had said." Aldritch then continued to ask ,"Seeing the tapestry of these walls, I'd have to assume that your traditions involve dragons right?"
"Huh... how did you see that. Only people of the Mordant royal family and the higher people of the church can see that,how did you?" Lester asked but Aldritch didn't reply rather he asked ,"Am I right?" Moira replied ,"Yes it does actually." Aldritch could see the tapestry as his mind was well adapted to any hidden runes of any kind. A skill he found rather important during his hunting period where he would hunt the children of heaven and protagonist of different worlds from the higher dimensional planes. So seeing this artwork wasn't that much of a problem and he gained this skill from his Overwrite skill. Eva who had now started to wake up grabbed Aldritch in a loving manner still thinking that she was in the carriage. Aldritch caressed her cheek before whispering to her ,"We're not in the carriage." Eva then fully opened her eyes realizing that she was unfamiliar with her surroundings then looked at the queen of Mordant to realize where she was. She was a little embarrassed but she regained her composure sitting now upright on the sofa. All eyes were on her but they retracted after she regained her composure and wandered elsewhere. 'How did we get here?' Eva asked Aldritch telepathically. 'I carried you here.' He responded. To think that she would be in an embarrassing situation was not what she had expected but she didn't majorly care provided she was with Aldritch and the topic of the subject resumed. "What exactly are your traditions for you to uphold them to such an extent?" Aldritch asked and as expected Eva wasn't aware of what was happening asked him ,'Why are you suddenly interested in their traditions?' Aldritch replied ,'Because it seems that they worship dragons to begin with. Speaking of which do you see the artwork on the walls?' Eva looked around and sure enough she saw it but not as clear as Aldritch,just a vague line running across the place thanks to her pendant gifted by Aldritch.
"We have to offer sacrifices such as gold and platinum to satisfy the dragons at the end of every month. The ice dragons reside at the very peak of this mountain we are situated on. They are extremely powerful easy rivaling SS rankers as they are on the precipice of SSS rank. Unlike humans,they have monstrous strength and overwhelming power easily subduing a kingdom. Moira said as Aldritch looked at her. "Horace..." Aldritch called and Horace who was standing on his left responded ,"Yes my king." Aldritch ordered ,"Can you kill these dragons for me ?" Everyone in the room was surprised by his order. Horace was somehow aware of the fact of dragons residing at the Mordant kingdom from the Intel he had from the numerous links and connections from the black market but he didn't bother too much with it but now it seemed that it was actually true. From what Moira had said,the chances of his death were certain if he did this therefore he hesitated. "Excuse me my ..." He wanted to proceed but suddenly he went silent. Aldritch then asked ,"What's wrong Horace? Can you not perform such a task for me or would are you simply too proud for my orders." Aldritch taunted but he knew that Horace would most certainly die from this but he didn't care not to mention after realizing what he had done,this was more fitting. "Or do you think that I don't know about you giving intel about us to the rest of the kingdoms. Consider this your punishment and if you do survive then I'll naturally grant any wish of yours." He was startled similar to how Lester was when Aldritch knew his name but he showed his emotions then asked ,"How do you know?" Aldritch coldly looked at him ,"The greatest atrocity you can ever commit against me is betrayal Horace. I really did want to keep you close but after failing me, you'll naturally have to account for your mistakes, don't you think so?"
The same way Aldritch knew Lester's name was the same way he knew about Horace's little stunt of giving away their Intel. He used his mind control ability and read their thoughts and knew everything about them without their knowledge though Eva realized this unlike the rest. Horace fisted his fists as he gritted his teeth cursing how Aldritch knew but he couldn't do anything in his current predicament. He couldn't kill Aldritch or Eva as they were way above him, Natalie was a SSS ranker and he was SS rank so that would result in his death so he chose to gain some form of leverage with the queen of Mordant by holding her at a swords edge. The queen similar to him were on the same rank but he was stronger not to mention had better artifacts so he suddenly moved towards her and quickly held her in a hostage manner moving away from everyone. Aldritch looked at him aware of what Horace was thinking the entire time but he played oblivious to it. Moira tried to free herself by suppressing him with her aura but failed and tried to wriggle away to break free from him but his grip was too strong so she gave up.
"Make any unexpected moves and I'll slit her throat!" Horace ordered them all but Aldritch asked a completely irrelevant question ,"When do you offer your sacrifices Moira?" Lester along with her were perplexed with Aldritch asking this question especially at a dire time like this but Lester responded ,"Today actually." Aldritch then continued to sit and look at Horace who looked like a wild cornered animal and told him ,"You may proceed Horace." 'What?!?' Horace wondered as he looked at Aldritch who continued to sit with a carefree expression with one arm resting over Eva's shoulder looping over her bringing her closer to him. "Excuse me your highness but it is important that we save queen Moira." Lester said with a worried look on his face. "Why? Similar to everyone in this room she's easily replaceable." He spoke then turned to Eva ,"But you are something else." He said as he gave her a light kiss and looked at Horace ,"So you may proceed."
Lester was in a tight spot ,"Your highness, only the royal family can personally deliver the sacrifices and with her being the last remaining royal,it is crucial that we save her." Aldritch looked at Horace before giving a simple order ,"Let her go and execute my order." He said with a small smile but Horace gritting his teeth ,"I'd rather die than serve you." Aldritch smirked at Horace's resolve before saying ,"It's cute how you try. Always trying but the outcome is always the same in these scenarios, touching." He looked at a dead man living on borrowed time. "I'm just lying hehe."