"Father..." Lysandra began, walking slowly toward the throne while Lucas remained in his position, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he watched his sister approach their increasingly impatient parent.
"Have your men had any luck finding Aiden?" she asked, genuine worried. At this point, it was no longer a hidden fact that Aiden had left the castle, though the reasons remained speculation among the court.
"Your brother is acting out of spite and nothing more. He will return," Jarius said curtly, then shifted the conversation away from his son. "Right now, my daughter, your focus should be on the academy. Which guild have you decided to join?"
"Father, that doesn’t matter right now," Lysandra protested. Although truthfully, she hadn’t made her decision yet, given that every guild captain in the kingdom had sought private audiences with her after her magical evaluation.
She was a Gravity Magic user like her father, and this was no trivial matter. She had inherited his rare and powerful gift directly.
Lucas immediately seized the opening and chimed in eagerly, "Father, do you want to hear of my decision?" A gleeful expression crossed his face as he stepped forward slowly. "I think I will—"
But the King cut him off sharply. "Lucas!" That single word struck like a whip, making the young prince fall silent at once and retreat to his original position.
Jarius added, with this coldness in his voice, "As you can see, I was speaking to your sister."
"Yes, Father..." Lucas said, his face turning downward in disappointment and shame.
The King then turned back to Lysandra and said, "Lysandra, do not concern yourself with Aiden’s disappearance."
He leaned back in his throne and waved his hand dismissively. "Now, if there’s nothing else, I require solitude as I have important matters to attend to."
Lysandra’s face showed clear dissatisfaction with his response, but accepted that it was futile to press any further.
She lowered herself in a respectful curtsy and made her way out of the throne hall, with Lucas following behind her, leaving their father to his troubled thoughts.
...
The companions were already awake and preparing themselves beside their horses for the journey to the town with the dungeon situation.
The quest to "[Carry The Party’s Equipment]" came to Aiden’s mind immediately, and to that effect, he called out to the men preparing to mount their steeds, "Let me help carry your weapons."
They all turned toward him with peculiar expressions, and Alaric raised an eyebrow. "You wanna carry our weapons, eh?"
"Yes, let me repay the kindness of taking me to Xathia. It’s the least I can do," Aiden replied with a genuine, though somewhat expressionless, demeanor.
The companions exchanged glances among themselves before looking back at him. Rakan shrugged and tossed his blade and an extra tool pouch toward Aiden, who caught them deftly one by one.
He strapped the bag across his body and secured the blade at his side as well.
Then Alaric approached with a grin on his face. "Alright, hold tight to this one," he said, handing over his shoulder guard armor wrapped within a canvas bag.
Aiden looked toward Tam to see if he had anything that needed carrying, and Tam simply shook his head with a slight smile.
In fact, Tam appeared to have no visible weaponry on him at all, which led Aiden to an immediate assumption; if Tam carried no weapon yet was joining these adventurers into a dungeon, it could only mean one thing: he was a mage, like himself.
Then Aiden’s gaze shifted to Ingrid, who was already fully dressed and equipped for battle. Her shoulder guard armor was properly secured on her right side, and her war hammer, with a head much larger than any normal smithing tool, was strapped securely to her horse’s flank.
Ingrid simply shook her head when she noticed his questioning look, indicating she neither wanted nor needed his assistance.
Alaric then motioned for Aiden to approach his mount. "Get on, you’re with me," he said in that distinctive scouse accent of his, patting the space behind his saddle.
"Hya!" Alaric exclaimed, tapping both legs against his horse’s sides. The steed immediately began trotting forward, and the others fell in behind him as the small party set off on their journey toward the dungeon, with the hooves of their horses beating a steady rhythm against the packed earth of the road.