It was the second day and the twins had their formal introduction with the Five Commanders of the Royal knights and the Captains of quadrants under each of them.
They are the only children in the Valorian royal family so of course they knew of them but they never met them in person. Tutor Kaylee has forbidden them from meeting anyone of consequence and their swordsmanship classes with Sir Emil Rupert always took place in their palace training grounds and under strict supervision. So they never had a chance to talk with Sir Rupert in length.
Yesterday, however, was one of the best days in the twins' life because they met all the people in the stories they only heard.
Cleo always thought that the Valorian Royal family had knights who were heroes that only appear in stories but those heroes now jumped out of the stories and were standing in front of them. He couldn't help but stare in awe.
"It is an honour to learn from the esteemed." Noah smiled but his eyes were filled with as much admiration as Cleo had.
"You flatter us, My Lord." Commander Kira replied with a smile. She was the only other woman among the Five Commanders besides Duchess Florence Devin. All the commanders were S-Class adventurers and among the Captains, Sir Emil Rupert was the only S-Class meanwhile others were Either A or B-Class. And the man who went with Seth on his latest expedition was also a Knight Captain named Royce, a B-Class adventurer. Seth chose them to personally watch over their skills that day so except for Royce, the rest had little experience with Seth in dungeon expeditions.
"It is not mere flattery, we speak the truth." Cleo added immediately and the commanders chuckled at the adorable young lords. Even the stoic Florence Devin couldn't help but smile.
"That is all for today." Seth ended the meeting. All day, the twins were allowed to watch and observe the commanders in action as they spared their father. The twins couldn't sit still as they saw their father defeating each S-Class effortlessly.
In truth, despite being a Disaster Class, Seth had to struggle to keep them at bay because this wasn't a battlefield or a dungeon where he could just let go. It was easy to take them one at a time, for sure, but it was in no way effortless. He just wanted to look cool in front of his boys.
Commander Odin Barrett however, sensing Seth's holding back, attacked with vigour. He was an expert in finding weaknesses and exploiting them. Kira, encouraged by her fellow commander, let loose as well prompting Seth to struggle a little against them both.
"I suppose, I know who to take on my next expedition now." Seth was smiling but his eyes weren't. Kira flinched visibly at those words and Odin looked at the sky poignantly like it was his end. These commanders were founded along with Seth's rise to the throne so they were all young, around Seth's age or a little older like Florence who would turn thirty soon. They were all inexperienced when Seth appointed them but once they started following him, no one was able to question their experience again. They are the only people besides Velia, Seth's personal knights, who saw how terrifying Seth could be once he let loose. For them, the sight of Seth Peregrine without his limiter was both thrilling and frightening.
"Then shall we head home for today?" Seth looked at the pouting twins. But before he could offer a word or two to uplift their mood, their faces lit up. Seth knew what was happening immediately and was about to leave the place.
The Five commanders along with Sir Emil Rupert and his group of knights, who just come along with Jasper Fox, were startled from the sudden sense of disorientation. It was the result of Seth putting a stopper to his natural aura and mana, erasing his presence. It's like the ground under you had suddenly disappeared. Until then they were basking in his very tangible presence but suddenly he was gone.
They overcame the disorientation quickly and caught the sight of Seth silently walking away like he was nobody's business until they all felt an unfamiliar presence. It was new as if they came across a new kind of dungeon species. That too a class rivalling at least a B-Class.
"I can hear you sneaking away like a rat. What do you take me for?" The female voice was clear and commanding in contrast to the gentle eyes looking at the two boys running towards her.
"Mother!" Noah shouted. It was the first time the commanders looked at the Grand Princess after the carriage accident. They only heard stories like the rest of the knights in Eonon. Emil, Nash, Finn, that squire Basil and Velia were all singing the same song, that the Grand Princess was a changed person. Naturally, the commanders were all curious but they couldn't just go visit their mistress without reason.
Right now, they couldn't believe their eyes. A beautiful lady was opening her arms wide for the two boys to run into her embrace. It was a warm sight like her smile at them.
They didn't believe it, but now they had to. The hair, eyes, her walk and talk all changed making her look like a different person despite the unchanged face. This wasn't Grace Finley. No, one couldn't even say that it was a different person with the same face. Even the face looked different after a minute.
"Were you having fun?" She asked the twins and the two boys nodded, clinging to her skirts.
"Stop right there, Seth Peregrine!" She commanded and the Grand Prince flinched. He literally flinched. It was a novel sight. No. It was an impossible sight.
"Catch him." She said and everyone wondered who she was ordering.
"Akira."
"Ares." Cleo and Noah called and two dungeon wolf cubs, one snow white and the other pitch black stood in Seth's way growling. Seth, instead of easily defeating them, turned to find another escape route.
"Dammit!" The Grand Princess cursed and ran to Seth holding her skirt up, annoyed that it was in the way.
"Boys!" She called. The young lords ran at her call and tried to catch their father only for Seth to dodge them with just a step.
"Jasper, Emil! A little help here!" The Grand Princess shouted.
"You are asking me of the impossible, Your Highness." Jasper replied solemnly. Emil however, took this chance to go against Seth.
"Damn you and your loyalty!" The Princess cursed.
"Finn!"
"Nash!" The twins called to their knights.
"To serve is to die! Gahhhhh!" Both eighteen-year-old knights yelled a battle cry and ran to Seth with bare hands.
"Ellie! Do that! Your rope thing. Hold that man!" The Grand Princess was ordering her Aide in the midst of trying to find an opening in between the scuffle. Yes, it was a scuffle. They were trying to hold Seth down but they couldn't even get hold of him before they were thrown away with just one pick. It was comical.
"Your Highness, I am Kira. How may I be of assistance?" Odin was already standing beside her waiting for the Grand Princess' orders.
"And I Odin, at your service."
"Kira and Odin…" She stared at them for a moment longer making them nervous for some reason before commanding with her hand outstretched towards the scuffle, like a general commanding his legion of soldiers into a battle, "Go."
With that, the size of the scuffle grew and they were so close to catching him before they all stumbled. Seth erased presence again to slip away and he almost got away before a yelp stopped him in his tracks.
The fight somehow reached the Grand Princess and a sheathed sword flew at her at some point. She fell to the ground and the swords lay alone beside her. Seth immediately ran to her along with the twins and the wolf cubs. Her Aide, maids, the head maid, the butler, the knights who were fighting Seth, even the squire Basil were startled into a run towards her.
"Wife!" But as soon as Seth made it to the Grand Princess, she jumped on him with an evil smile and sat on him, locking his hips under her and her hands holding his collar in a vice grip.
"Got you!" She cried in triumph.
"Bwahahahahaha!" She was laughing like she conquered a kingdom by some evil means.
"What an ingenious move mother!" Cleo was right behind her. Noah was giggling beside him.
"Why, thank you." She winked. Only then everyone realised that the sword lying beside her was Squire Basil's. While everyone was busy, she called the only familiar face and took his sword to his horror and bumped her head onto it lightly and fell to the ground. Squire Basil who witnessed the whole thing laughed nervously and shrunk away when he felt everyone's eyes on him.
"We have some matters to settle, don't we, dear husband? Hm?" The Grand Princess asked in a sweet tone but her eyes weren't smiling.
"You are hurt." Seth's stretched hand towards the red spot on her forehead was slapped away. "Don't touch me."
"We agreed not to fight in front of the kids." She glared at him.
"We aren't fighting though." Seth gave a lame excuse. True, they weren't fighting but he was for sure distancing himself from her.
"Ha! Who are you trying to fool? Children." She called at the end.
"We know." Cleo nodded solemnly.
"You have been avoiding our mother as of late." Noah explained plainly.
"See that? You stupid stupid man!" She shook him by his collar as soon as she got the affirmations from the twins.
"I hate silent treatment! How dare you! If you have any grievances, let's talk it out!" She was now pulling Seth's hair.
"We can't afford to have her upset." Noah shook his head seriously which only appeared adorable to everyone around them except for Cleo who was wearing an equally serious expression.
As the Grand Princess was interrogating the Grand Prince, the commanders were shocked speechless, unable to make anything of the current situation in front of them.
"What happened without our knowledge?" Commander Curtis was looking around for some answers but got no answer as his colleagues, even Odin and Kira were standing with their jaws open in shock.
"As you wish. So can we go talk inside and not stay like this?" Seth's voice brought the shocked commanders back to their senses.
"Alright." The Grand Princess was surprisingly agreeable but a moment later she was wrapping the Grand Prince with a rope around his waist and then tying it to her waist.
A minute later their masters were standing in front of them with a rope tying them together in an absurd sight.
"Before we go, introduce them to me." She pointed to the commanders.
Right now? Like this? Their Prince's gaze seemed to ask but the Princess' was unyielding so he had to be the one to yield.
"Odin and Kira were in time of need, true soldiers." The princess patted their shoulders, commending.
"Yes, I'm taking them on my next biggest dungeon expedition." Seth replied.
"Good. Good." The Princess nodded in approval oblivious to the two trouble-making commanders' internal distress of their nearing end.
"Pfft!" A laugh escaped Curtis and he cleared his throat as he was introduced next.
"This is Curtis, Maxence and Florence." Seth introduced and the three bowed to her respect.
"I have been very curious, Your Highness." Curtis said despite the disapproving looks from Maxence and Florence.
"You are?" The Princess smiled and raised a brow.
"And how was it? Was your curiosity quenched?" She asked, smiling. It was in truth a little flirtatious. Curtis wasn't expecting it so he was flustered at once.
"Yes, Your highness." Curtis replied a moment later.
The Princess offered her hand for him to kiss, "Pleasure meeting you as well." She said but before he could kiss her hand it was pulled back making him kiss the air.
"We are done here." Seth was dragging the Princess away.
"What? Wait! I'm not done, You brute!" She cried to no avail. With no other choice, she shouted. "Duchess Devin! I heard of your son Atlas! I will send you an invitation soon, so I hope he can be friends with my boys!"
The Duchess was startled to be addressed all of a sudden but she bowed in response as she watched the Prince lift the Princess into his arms and carry her back in large strides.
"You've got some handsome commanders here." They heard her say.
"What part of those sweat-smelling fools is handsome?" Came the immediate reply and Kira was on the ground laughing holding her stomach oblivious to the glare from their master.
"You are a sweat-smelling fool too." The Princess scoffed.
"Ah wait! Noah! Cleo! Keep Ares and Akira away from the garden. Old Man Hans almost cried this morning. Train them properly, You brats! They are turning more and more like you two! Worst of all, they don't even listen to a word I say!" The Princess glared at the twins.
"They don't listen to us either." Cleo pouted only to have Noah shut him with a nudge.
"We will train them properly, Mother." Noah replied.
"This is your fault! They are like that because you gave them those little beasts." She turned to Seth with a glare.
"You are the one who told me to get them pet friends." Seth reasoned, feeling a little unfair.
"I meant puppies! kittens! Or even a hamster! little domestic pets, for god sake! Not dungeon beast cubs!" The Princess wailed in frustration. Now even Odin joined Kira on the ground punching it while laughing.
Bickering like that, they walked away and Maxence looked at the state of his colleagues. "You two can roll on the ground a bit more." He frowned at the two still-laughing people.
"I want to ask, what happened? Do you call that a fight? What were those seven years before the carriage accident then?" Curtis asked as soon as the twins ran to look for the wolf cubs with their servants behind them.
That evening the commanders learned about what transpired after Seth's recent Dungeon conquest. They were even more shocked after learning that because of how the Princess didn't seem to mind what happened. Her only grievance seemed to be the silent treatment she spoke of. The Prince's actions, they could understand but the Princess' however were a mystery even after they met her in person.
"She is like an entirely different person." Maxence said looking down at his glass of beer.
"Not Grace Finely." Kira muttered.
"Then who was that?" Curtis banged his beer mug after a large gulp. He was drunk. And so the evening started with a drunk man's tales of his first love.