[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Cintra, northern kingdoms.
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...
A little before Madara headed to the throne room, Mousesack met with the queen, entering the throne room where some of the audiences with the queen took place.
"My queen, you must understand that I was robbed!" said a man dressed in noble attire.
"That's a lie! My queen, this man bet his money on a horse race and his horse lost, I won the money fairly," said another man, dressed more like a merchant.
"You're lying!" the noble retorted.
"Silence!" Calanthe, unable to bear the argument any longer, shouted angrily as her voice echoed throughout the place.
She waited for everyone to be silent as she began to stare at all those involved while another group of nobles requesting an audience for the day waited, listening and even enjoying this as a form of entertainment.
She sighed and began by looking at the noble. "From what I understand, you bet your money on a horse in the race, correct?" she asked with a hawkish glance.
"Yes, my queen..." the man said cautiously.
"And your horse lost?" she raised an eyebrow as if dealing with a spoiled noble who doesn't know how to lose.
The man swallowed early before continuing, a bit hesitantly. "Yes, my queen, but..." he continued, but was cut off.
"Well, if that's why you came to request an audience and make me waste my time, after all, you lost that money in a fair game," she rebutted.
"But my queen, it's 200 gold coins!" the noble said with a whining tone.
"You should have thought of that before even betting, now get out of my sight, you have nothing to pay this man, and if you come back with another ridiculous demand after betting money and losing, I will throw you in the dungeon!" Calanthe growled at the man, who shrunk at those words and began to leave hastily.
"Thank you for your clemency, my queen," the merchant bowed respectfully before beginning to withdraw as well.
"I thought you'd throw him in the dungeon..." the man next to the queen, Eist Tuirseach, said.
"It was close, but today it seems I'm patient..." Calanthe admitted.
"Anyway, our druid is present..." Eist said.
Calanthe turned her gaze forward, passing by the noble group and looking at Mousesack near the entrance. Immediately making way for the castle's druid to pass. "Mousesack, come closer," she said, and the mage walked up to her, but he didn't stop, coming closer to the queen.
Calanthe knew this habit when the man had something important to say while not wanting to share something with everyone present, he approached her ear and began to speak.
"Madara Uchiha is in the princess's room," he said calmly.
Calanthe showed no initial reaction, but her eyes trembled slightly.
She looked at all the nobles still present and spoke in a loud tone as if she was commanding an army on the battlefield. "Everyone, the audience is finished for today, there are more urgent matters that require my presence!" she said with her stern voice, and everyone, despite a dissatisfied face, began to leave the throne room.
"And there goes your patience..." she murmured after hearing the druid.
After everyone left, even the royal guards, she turned to Mousesack, who had moved away a bit.
"Now start telling me why that boy entered my castle and is in Ciri's room?!" she growled, demanding an explanation.
"You should blame the girl more than the boy," Mousesack said calmly.
"What do you mean?" she looked confused, yet still angry.
"Our princess ran away from the castle without anyone noticing a few days ago, she went after the boy in the city and by some luck, or intervention of fate... She found him and he brought her back to the castle safely," Mousesack emphasized the connection between the two.
"Don't come to me with this fate thing!" Calanthe growled before continuing. "How that girl managed to get out, she could have died in the city!" Calanthe could not imagine anything worse for Cirilla going out alone.
"My queen, if I may," Mousesack suggested, waiting for permission to speak.
Calanthe, still a bit angry, looked at him, "Speak," she said dryly, since she had to listen to him anyway.
"They are connected... No matter how much you might deny it, it will only be worse to keep them apart..." He said cautiously, not wanting to infuriate Calanthe too much.
"Do you think Cirilla, the heir to this realm, could be with someone unknown? No matter how strange the name of his family and those weird powers!" She snarled.
"I'm not speaking of that kind of relationship, Queen Calanthe. But Madara could be a protector for Ciri, she carries great power and will need powerful allies, many will covet both her blood and her status of Cintra. I ask you to think about the girl's future..." He spoke sincerely his thoughts.
"..." Calanthe fell silent after these words while Eist looked at her curiously. Until she finally began to speak again with a serious tone. "You always talk about giving the boy a chance... But can we really trust this unknown boy with powers even you don't know?" She asked.
"As I said, your granddaughter and the boy are united, it's better we let them be together so the boy can become a guardian for Cirilla. I can train him here in the castle, he can't read, but he's smart enough to learn quickly, so I can offer him a chance to learn while becoming loyal to the kingdom. Make him grateful, I've seen what he can do, I wonder how strong he will be in the future, as a sword of Cintra against any enemy!" He said, wanting to bet that Madara could be loyal to Cintra and Ciri and was trying to convince the queen thinking about the future of the kingdom.
She put her hand on her chin, analyzing Mousesack's words. "I think our druid is right, Calanthe." Eist spoke beside her.
"You just want to meet the boy!" She accused him, but he just shrugged.
She turned her attention back to the druid. "Has he completed all the missions?" She asked.
"Yes, all completed in just a few days, I left the heads of the monsters from the requests in my lab, but I confirmed all of them and the victims of the bandits on the road were rescued by Madara as you heard a few days ago." He spoke.
"I see... If you really want to give the boy a chance, then I'll follow your advice. Bring him here, we'll have a long talk and bring my granddaughter too." Calanthe demanded and Mousesack nodded before leaving the throne room, heading to the princess's room.
As soon as he found them, he asked Madara to accompany him along with Cirilla, to see Calanthe.
Madara left the room with Ciri, leaving his royal guard alarmed by the presence of the strange boy there without him noticing.
"No need to say anything." Mousesack stopped him with any questions, making the guard remain silent and follow them as they headed to the throne room on the first floor of the castle.
"Look, this is my family! They were ancient kings!" Cirilla used this time to talk about the castle, at this moment they were descending a huge staircase with Mousesack leading and the royal guard at the end, meanwhile, Cirilla pointed to the portraits of her ancestors hung on the walls.
"Hm." Madara just nodded.
"This was a queen of Cintra 200 years ago, everyone says my grandmother is inspired by her, as they say both are alike and led Cintra on the battlefield! One day I think to be like them!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"Hm."
"Look! This is the founder of the family, what's her name again...La... La..." She said, thinking.
"Lara Dorren..." Mousesack said in front of her with a small smile.
"That's right, Lara Dorren! She was an elf who married a human and our family was born... all of our family have her blood!" She said, showing that it was a very important thing.
"Hm."
"Why do you only answer me like this? You seem like Geralt when I met him..." She said a bit dissatisfied, but then started to laugh about it.
"Hm." Was the only thing Madara responded.
Cirilla pouted after hearing that again, ceasing her laughter.
Madara remained silent, and they finally arrived at the throne room, with Mousesack entering first and calling the two in, saying that the queen intended to speak with the two of them privately and for him to wait outside.
Cirilla entered skipping while Madara followed behind, taking calm steps as he approached the entrance and saw a large room, larger than any other he had entered, with two people sitting at the end of it, a woman in her 40s, but very beautiful and with white hair like Cirilla, and a man whom Madara would say was Skagosi, despite never having gone to the islands, he still recognized the man from the history of this world.
He approached as Cirilla already reached her grandmother. "Hi, grandma!" She said with a mischievous smile.
Calanthe just looked at her with a severe gleam. "I'm aware of your most recent activities, young lady, wait so we can talk later, now I want to speak with this boy." She said and looked at Madara approaching by Mousesack's side with another severe and analytical look.
"Haha! Finally, I'm meeting the young warrior who has been causing a stir in this city lately!" Exclaimed Eist as he clapped and looked at Madara as if he were looking at a rare object or exotic animal.
Madara didn't respond, looking a bit surprised by this outburst, and soon turned his attention back to the queen, knowing her presence was of the highest authority there. "Queen Calanthe." He said with some respect in his childlike tone but did not bow.
Calanthe looked at him for a while, ignoring his breach of decorum, until she finally spoke while Cirilla stood aside waiting for her to speak as well. "Finally, we are seeing each other, Madara Uchiha."
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Raccoon here:
Poor Mousesack, he has no idea what Madara can do with his real power, which would scare him if he saw what he will do in the future. He would even find the ancestral blood a common thing after seeing a complete Susanoo.
I'm changing how Madara and Cirilla met!! Just a change, to have them have a more logical connection, like just before Cirilla was attacked by necrophages in the forest, she plays with Gerald invoking the law of surprise, with Madara saving her.