ROTLE- Chapter 24- Nella (Patreon)

The events after their teleportation were simple.

After Aiden had drunk his potions, Elaswit demanded that the carriage remain in the Naranoff’s teleportation port for a while longer. She hoped to use it to allow Aiden catch his breath despite all his insistence that he was fine.

Clothes and bowls of water were brought into the carriage. Since there was no practical place to take a bath, Aiden was left to clean himself of his own blood with wet clothes as best he could.

The entire ordeal was uncomfortable.

In the end, he abandoned the task with a degree of petulance deserving of his current age. He wasn’t going to spend all this time cleaning blood from his skin if his clothes were still going to be bloodied regardless.

“We can find a place for you to change into spare clothes,” Valdan suggested when Aiden voiced his opinion.

“Like hell we will,” Aiden scowled. “Let’s just get to house Naranoff so I can get an actual bath and a change of clothes.”

“I’m more interested in getting the bastard who messed up once we get back,” Elaswit scowled. “They almost got a guest of the kingdom killed for their silly mistake.”

Aiden paused. He and Valdan looked at her.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Obviously someone made a mistake in preparation for the teleport,” Elaswit said. “No one almost dies from being teleported.”

Aiden cocked a brow. The last thing he wanted was this turning into a witch hunt.

“You know you and Sir Valdan came out completely fine, right?” he said. “In fact, I’m ready to bet the entire entourage came out completely fine.” He turned to Valdan. “Has there been any complaint outside?”

Valdan shook his head. “No.”

“Are you saying that this entire thing might have something to do with your composition?” Elaswit asked.

Aiden nodded. “That is very likely.”

“Then I must inform my father. It is his intention to have you and your companions use the teleporters for your tasks. The last thing we want are such problems turning up.”

Aiden waved her worries aside with a gesture. “They’ll be fine. The problem is likely specific to my constitution. Also, can we please get back on the road. The task I came here for is one I must complete as quickly as possible. I would very much like to return to my brother as soon as I can.”

Valdan sighed. He stuck his head out of the carriage once more, and with a few spoken words, they were moving again.

“Why just you?” Elaswit asked.

“No idea,” Aiden said. “It’s merely a possibility. It has been speculated that I would react differently to space magic after what happened the day I arrived. I probably have a different reaction as compared to the others.”

Elaswit’s brows furrowed. “Speculated by who?”

“A certain old man that your father keeps in his company.”

That sufficed to silence Elaswit. It seemed every member of the royal family knew not to question the words of the Sage.

“About this task,” Valdan said as their journey continued. “What is it?”

“I, too, would like to know your reason for coming so far down south,” Elaswit said. “You do understand that the Naranoff house is the family of former knight Derendoff, right?”

Aiden knew that.

Aiden was seated now, allowing the gentle sway of the carriage relax him as they moved along cobblestone.

“Would you be willing to tell me what business you have in the south as well, princess?” he returned.

“Elaswit,” she corrected. “In the presence of Sir Valdan and no one else, it is Elaswit to you, Lord Lacheart.”

“I thought it bothered you when I obeyed.”

“It did not bother me. Merely took me by surprise how quickly you took to it.”

“Me, too,” Valdan said. “It was like you were waiting for it.”

Aiden shot the knight a look. Valdan was not fazed.

“Well, princess,” he said. “What brings you so far out to the south.”

“Honest answer?” Elaswit crossed her legs. “Nothing.”

Valdan looked at her. “You came with us for no reason, princess?”

“I wouldn’t go as far as to call it no reason, exactly. To be more precise, I heard of your intended departure and figured that the presence of the princess will carry more weight and authority than a piece of paper.”

“That piece of paper was penned by your father,” Aiden pointed out. “By that very fact, it is system bound. Refusal by the receiving party to obey it will have repercussions.”

“And yet, it is still ultimately a piece of paper, Lord Lacheart,” she smiled with false innocence. “That said, may I call you Aiden? Only in the presence of Sir Valdan, of course. All this Lord and Lady is taking a toll on me.”

Aiden shrugged. “You may do as you wish. Your gods know I’ve been trying to get Sir Valdan to call me by my name since forever. He continues to act like it is anathema.”

“You’ve only made the request of me a handful of times, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan said, aghast. “And that was in our earlier days.”

Aiden intentionally ignored the knight to continue. “The first time he called me by my name was after he almost took my head off with a sword skill. At least I believe it was a sword skill.”

“Lord Lacheart!” Valdan protested, suddenly nervous.

Again, Aiden pretended not to hear. “My life flashed before my eyes. It was terrifying. Lesser men would’ve wet themselves.”

Elaswit smiled, noticing what he was doing.

She leaned forward in interest. “And was it fun? Your life?”

Aiden shrugged. “It was filled with images of a man sparring with me, too uptight to even take off his armor.”

“Yet, said man tried to kill you.”

Aiden shivered dramatically. “It was vastly unknightly.”

“That’s not even a word,” Valdan protested. “I will like to put on the record that this level of treatment can be considered in some spaces to be bullying.”

“So is using a sword skill on a classless at level 49, sir Valdan,” Elaswit retorted, eyes and smile still firmly fixed on Aiden. “Is my father aware of this?”

Valdan stiffened and Aiden laughed.

“Please do not terrify my knightly friend, princess,” he said with an amused smile. “He tends to grow terrified when the king is involved.”

“I remember telling you my name, Lord Lacheart.” Elaswit’s smile seemed teasing. “What do I have to do to make you remember it?”

Aiden stared at her for a while, contemplating. He leaned forward, suddenly discovered a headache and fought to hide his reaction to it.

Since no one said anything, perhaps he was successful.

He rested his forearms on both knees and met Elaswit’s eyes. They were a soft amber, a copy of Brandis’ but without the age and steadiness that came with the time and accomplishments.

“Careful, princess,” he said softly. “What would happen if your brother were to find out you were having me call you by name?”

Elaswit shrugged. “He’d make some noise and I’d beat him up to make a point.”

“Vicious.”

“True.” Elaswit shrugged easily. “And yet, you don’t seem put out by my viciousness.”

Valdan looked between the both of them. “Please tell me this isn’t happening.”

Aiden chuckled. “Yes, sir Valdan. This isn’t happening.”

Elaswit finally looked at Valdan. “And should my father learn of what isn’t happening between Lord Lacheart and myself, I will deny it quite equivocally.”

Aiden gave Valdan an apologetic smile. “Me, too, my friend.”

Valdan groaned and put his head back. “This is my fault. I was the one that wanted to be a plus one.”

Elaswit slapped him on the knee in a casual gesture.

“Cheer up, sir knight. Some air outside the castle every now and again is good for you.” She turned back to Aiden. “Now, about that task you have to do in the south.”

Well, I guess that’s how far I can avoid it.

“When you tell me yours, princess.”

“I’m here to assist in making your travels and endeavors smoother,” she said still smiling. “And no, my parents do not know of my intentions. I told my mother that I was coming down south for a breath of fresh air. Though I believe she harbors thoughts that I might be coming because you are.”

Aiden nodded. “Well, it’s never a good thing to lie to one’s mother, princess. However, if you must insist, I’m here for the cave.”

Everyone paused.

“The cave?” Valdan asked. “As in the cave?”

Aiden nodded.

“And how did you learn of the cave?” Valdan continued, pointedly. “Another piece of information from the library?”

Princess Elaswit looked at him.

“It’s something Lord Lacheart does,” Valdan explained. “He spends so much time in the library that any odd piece of information he has that he shouldn’t have usually ends up coming from the library. In case you do not know, Lord Lacheart, we all know it’s a lie most of the time.”

Aiden shrugged. The library story was already a bust. Especially since the unique skill incident.

“It’s a vast library, Sir Valdan. Anything can be found in a library so vast. But yes, I am going for the cave.”

Elaswit looked between the both of them before asking. “And how did you learn of the cave?”

“The soldier, Ded. He’s been gathering information for me. Things I would be unable to learn within the palace.”

Elaswit sat back. “That would explain the correspondence then. Surely Sir Valdan would not be able to get the kind of information you seem so interested in. But what is your intention for this cave?”

Valdan frowned. “Before that, Lord Lacheart, how long have you been aware of this cave?”

Aiden knew what Valdan was aiming at. The cave was rumored to give unique skills for any who conquered it. They said it had been months since anyone entered and came out with a unique skill. However, people didn’t venture into it very often anymore since adventurers and mercenaries were now often known to not return.

Aiden knew the story, people were dying, the adventure guild branch in the south had declared the cave off limits until it could be confirmed safe. At least safe enough as far as the word could go for adventurers.

The reason was simple. The cave had been corrupted by demonic mana. It wasn’t enough to be an issue. It was definitely little enough to still be covered up, though anyone could make the argument that that was only the case because not many people knew what demonic mana looked and felt like right now, except those in power.

For now, the adventure guild was covering that little bit of information up.

“It was after my unique skill, Sir Valdan,” Aiden answered. “However, I have come to the conclusion that I need—”

“A unique class skill,” Valdan interrupted with a frown. “Don’t you think it might be too much of a risk? Adventurers have been reported to go missing in that cave recently.”

Despite his own words, Aiden could see the contemplation on the knight’s face.

He wasn’t surprised. With the new bit of information he’d learned of the knight, it was no surprise at all.

At level 49, he had most definitely hit the wall to level 50, and it was common knowledge for those who rose high enough that possessing a unique class skill was one of the things that helped in breaking that wall.

But a unique class skill only made it relatively easier. Unlike most levels, a person needed more than just experience and skill mastery for every fifty levels. At level 49, one needed to practically create their own skill, a skill strong enough for the system to register, to get to level 50.

The trick, as Aiden had learnt in the Order, was in the amalgamation of all the class skills. The world of Nastild called them conditional skills or techniques.

You had to use all your class skills in the right way at the right time to finally discover a final skill. It was a person’s ultimate technique, so to speak.

Considering the new direction of his class, Aiden had a feeling he would struggle to achieve level fifty in this timeline.

“Is this true, Lord Lacheart?” Elaswit asked. “Even I know of the deadliness of the cave. Did my father sanction this outing even though he knew this?”

“Not directly,” Aiden answered.

“What exactly does not directly mean?”

“It means, he is not aware of the fact that I am here for the cave,” Aiden answered. “But knowing your father, he has certainly put the possibility of me going there into consideration.”

Valdan shook his head, still contemplating. “Lord Naranoff will not agree to this.”

“I do not doubt that for a second.” Aiden smiled.

“Then how do you wish to convince him?” Elaswit asked. “Am I to be your trump card in this? I have some skills worthy of adventuring but I do not—”

Aiden couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.

“Sir Valdan. Princess. It seems my age continues to blind you in some way.” He shook his head, battling to rein in his laughter as it worsened his headache. “The princess I can understand. But you, Sir Valdan, you should know me well enough by now. I am not like the nineteen-year-olds you know.”

Elaswit looked at Valdan and Valdan nodded.

“He is not. He thinks in the most outlandish ways, completely different from what I’ve learned of his companions.”

“If you don’t need me,” she said. “Then how do you intend to convince Lord Naranoff?”

Aiden folded his arms and stared out at the beautiful city Lord Naranoff governed.

“Who said anything about telling him?”

…

The Naranoff house was about an hour’s ride away from the teleport center. When they arrived, their entourage was double its size. It seemed the reception that had been waiting for them at the teleport center had basically been the same size.

They dismounted in relative silence. The princess exchanged a few words with Valdan, then exchanged a few words with some of the attendants that had come with her.

Everyone waited while she did this. Only when she was done did processes conclude.

Like most manors, the main house was situated at the center of the estate. The building itself almost rivaled the castle, and Aiden had a feeling the only reason it did not was out of respect for the crown. After all, a noble did not simply compete with their king in such things.

Lord Naranoff himself was not at the door to greet them. Instead, there were three maids, two butlers and a woman in a combat attire, complete with light armor, a large quiver at her hip that held large arrows like the ones used by samurais, a long bow strapped to her back and two falchions on both hips.

She screamed [Archer] class.

“You still uphold your dastardly hobbies, I see,” Princess Elaswit greeted the woman with a warm smile. “How long has it been, Nella?”

She approached the woman with open arms and they hugged as comfortably as Nella’s attire allowed.

They separated after a moment but did not part. Elaswit’s hands remained firmly on Nella’s shoulders and Nella’s on hers.

“We saw not too long ago, princess,” Nella said, smiling widely. “At the ball. Remember? My family was the host.”

“You can barely call that a meeting.” Elaswit dismissed. “That was some kingdom trying to show off their merchandise or something.”

“Last I heard, none of the participants were knights.” Nella cocked her brow inquisitively. “Or squires for that matter. Are there happenings in the palace that we low elites should be informed of?”

Elaswit took her hands from Nella’s shoulders and laughed. “I don’t think so. But if there was, you know how my father can be. As long as his machinations are concerned, we are all low elites.”

Nella paused as if having just remembered something.

“By the gods,” she said, “where are my manners.” Then she turned to the maids and butlers beside her and gestured them forward. “Hurry up, now. Help them with their things. Please, let’s all come out from under the sun and take a breather in the manor.”

She finally took her eyes of Elaswit as her aids went to work.

Her eyes settled on Aiden and she stopped in her tracks once again.

Her eyes widened in worry. “Are you alright, Lord Lacheart?”

Aiden looked down at his blood stained attire, unbothered by it. He was more impressed by how the maids and butlers had seen his blood stains and said nothing. They’d simply gone about their requested business.

Elaswit placed a hand on Nella’s arm to calm her.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” she said. “An odd reaction to teleportation magic. Never seen the kind.”

Nella looked from the princess to Aiden, then back. Her worry did not dampen.

“I’ve seen terrible reactions to teleportation,” she said. “But nothing that involved blood.”

Personally, Aiden was tired of standing so he walked forward. He stopped a few paces away from Nella, making sure not to stand in the way of the servants.

“Would you be inclined to worry less if I said I slipped and fell?” he asked.

“I’ve seen you fight, Lord Lacheart,” Nella replied. “You didn’t slip and fall. I doubt you even know how to.”

Aiden knew how to. His time in the Order had ensured that he learnt a variety of things, some of which were sorely embarrassing.

But this was no place to be proving a point.

“Then let it be said that I slipped and fell—” he gestured dramatically at Valdan “—on Sir Valdan’s honorable fist.”

Valdan opened his mouth, sputtered incoherent words.

“I never touched the lord,” he finally declared in a slight panic.

Nella laughed and some of her worries seemed to dissipate with her laughter. She had a nice laugh very unfitting of her present attire.

Elaswit laughed as well. “It is always a pleasure to see a knight all flustered.”

“Reminds me of when we were younger and you used to come visit often.” Nella’s smile widened in mischief. “Remember how we used to try and make the knights give a reaction beyond ‘my lady’? I swear, Sir Ivaned got completely confused when I—”

Elaswit moved quickly, cutting off Nella’s words with a hand over her mouth. She looked back as if making sure no one else heard, but Aiden was more than certain that there was no maid around that did not.

Aiden cocked a questioning brow when his eyes met Elaswit’s.

“We were children,” she said in way of explanation.

Aiden’s expression didn’t change. Although it did get a little teasing. “I didn’t say anything.”

Elaswit frowned at him but said nothing more.

Aiden couldn’t help the half-smile that touched his lips.

As for Nella, she looked between the both of them puzzled. Then, after a short moment, a smile touched her lips as well. It was mischievous.

It was a pity that Aiden knew nothing about the individuals of the Naranoff bloodline. All his knowledge was of the house as a whole.

When all the attendants had picked their carriage clean and a stable boy or two—at least Aiden believed they were stable boys—led their carriage away, Elaswit spoke once more, addressing the official status of their visit.

“Where is your father?” she asked Nella.

Nella hesitated, then her shoulders deflated slightly.

“Busy,” she said apologetically. “We’ve been having issues with the adventurers for a while now and he needed to attend to a certain situation.”

Elaswit frowned. “By himself? Does he not have knights for that?”

“He does.” Nella gestured to the only maid left with them and the girl shuffled off to the side to give them some space. “But you know how my father likes to attend to certain issues himself. The adventurers have all but gone up in arms over the issue.”

“And the issue?” Elaswit pressed.

Nella worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She shrugged after a while.

“It’s not like it’s a secret at this point,” she said. “It’s more of an open secret and I’m sure the palace knows of it. But there is a cave at the outskirts of our domain. Adventurers used to venture into it in search of a unique quest. Most of them hoped to get a unique skill.”

Elaswit nodded. “This is known.”

“What is not common knowledge, however, is the number of adventurers that have been venturing into the cave and not coming out in recent days.”

Aiden’s attention focused on the conversation while he did his best to look only mildly interested.

“He should send out a decree as the lord that none should enter, then,” Elaswit said as if it was the simplest solution.

“He has,” Nella said. “But that’s the thing about adventurers, they are citizens of the kingdom but not entirely subjects of the crown.”

“All are subjects of the crown,” Valdan said simply.

Aiden knew better. Adventurers were a grey area when it came to being subjects of the crown.

He’d seen the agreement the first king of Bandiv had signed with the first guild master. He wanted a decentralization of military might to a certain extent, so he had given the adventure guild a certain level of autonomy.

The adventurers were not beholden to the crown but they were to respect it. An adventurer could not be judged by the crown for crimes against his fellow adventurer but he could be judged for his crimes against a citizen and subject of the crown.

Choosing the path of an adventurer removed you from all default benefits of being a subject of the crown as well as all the requirements. However, in return, it placed you under all benefits of the adventure guild as well as its requirements.

It was a complicated matter where all matters of the adventurers were left to the capable hands of the adventure guild and the crown had no hold over it.

However, there were certain factors that constituted exceptions, factors that allowed the crown intrude on adventurer business.

The agreement with king Brandis the first was signed and sealed and sanctioned by the system. Oddly, what most people did not know was that there was an Order representative who’d served as witness to the effect, amongst other people.

It was why the Order also had a copy. But Aiden kept that all to himself.

Nella looked at Valdan with disappointed but accommodating eyes. “Spoken like a knight of the crown. However, you are wrong. And now I realize that I liked you better when you were flustered.”

Aiden stepped in smoothly. “Try not to hold it against him, Lady—”

“Nella,” she cut him off abruptly. “To you, I am Nella. It’s the least I can do considering my brother’s rashness.”

Elaswit looked from Nella to Aiden as if waiting for his reaction.

Aiden had no idea what he was going to do. Once upon a time he’d had almost no interactions with the princess, now here he was finding out that she now had expectations of him.

“This is noted,” he replied cautiously. “What I was trying to say is that Sir Valdan is a knight of the crown, such stiffness is to be expected of him as regards matters pertaining to the crown.”

“I know. And that’s why I preferred when you left him flustered. That said,” she gestured to the maid who remained patiently waiting. “If you follow Vanisi here, she will lead you all to your rooms.”

She stepped to the side and Elaswit grabbed her by the arm. “You’re leaving?”

“Sadly, yes.” Nella really did look sad to say so. “Unfortunately, my father has taken it upon himself to add me to this matter of the cave. He has said that I should gather a team and investigate this cave and the issues surrounding it. He wants a solution as quickly as possible.”

“And if you were to find the issue?” Aiden asked, knowing that she wouldn’t.

Up until the end of his life, there had been no discovevred issues regarding the cave until the Demon wars had begun when the Demons had turned it into a base of operation for a short time. A few more people had gotten the unique quest and many more people had died or gone missing before then.

The issues surrounding it had never been resolved. At least not by house Naranoff.

But he wasn’t going to just leave it at that after hearing such a piece of information.

He looked at Valdan with all the intent he could muster into his eyes without giving anything away. It took a moment but the knight caught his look.

Aiden popped his brows as subtly as he could then cocked his head at Nella.

“Ehh…” Valdan let the word drag out as he slowly turned to Nella, clearly unsure of what exactly was expected of him. “I would… say… we…?”

Aiden almost slapped his forehead.

He’s a lost cause.

“Yes, sir Valdan?” Nella asked. “You would say that we what?”

Valdan looked at Aiden and everyone turned to him. Aiden acted normal.

“Sir Valdan?”

Valdan turned back to Nella. “I would be more than happy to be of assistance to you if you do not mind. A knight is always a useful aid in such matters.”

Nella took a moment to think about it before shaking her head.

“Nope,” she said. “My team is already full. Today will be our third day of investigations. Besides, we have enough knights as is and as useful as they are, I actually hate adventuring with knights. They’re always so chivalrous and charming. It’s always ‘not there, my lady this’ and ‘would you like to sit on my shoulder while I wave my massive sword that’. You all are just too much.”

She shivered visibly and the maid smothered a laugh with her hand.

“See,” Nella pointed at the maid. “Even Vanisi knows this. But if the princess wanted to come, I certainly wouldn’t say no.”

She wiggled her brows at Elaswit.

Elaswit smiled fondly but shook her head. “It would drive the entire city into confusion if anyone found out that the princess was here for adventuring.”

“Untrue.” Nella waved the worry aside with a flick of the wrist. “It’s been ages since the last royal portrait. I’m sure no one will recognize you.”

“The royal portrait was updated last year,” Elaswit pointed out flatly. “Everyone will recognize me.”

“Then we can give you a mask.”

“I’m not here for adventures, Nella.”

“Fine.” Nella pouted, then changed her attention. “What of you, Lord Lacheart? Would you be happy to join me?”

“Didn’t you say your team was already full?” Aiden asked.

She smiled at him flirtatiously. “There’s always room for an enigmatic young lord that travels with a knight and a princess.”

Elaswit smacked her on the arm. “You are a lady. Behave.”

Nella stuck her tongue out at her. “Right now I’m an adventurer and we’re sometimes known to be sleazy. Anyway, toodooloo. Vanisi will show you to your rooms. I had them picked out already. And I’ll find you the moment I return.”

With that, she skipped her way down the road and towards the exit that was quite far from where they were.

It was an odd sight to see a lady who looked like she was preparing for war with her hair braided back skipping down the road.

Elaswit let out a sigh when Nella was far enough. “I swear I love that girl, but she’s growing up too slowly.”

To Vanisi, the maid, she added: “Please show us to our quarters.”

Vanisi walked inside the house and they followed.

“What happened back there, Lord Lacheart?” Valdan whispered as they walked.

“What happened,” Aiden whispered back, “is that we need to spend more time together so we know what each other needs without having to use words.”

Valdan looked puzzled. “That’s a strange thing to say.”

“Well, you’re a strange thing to say.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Aiden sighed. “Me neither. I think I just need a bath and a change of clothes.”