Valerian, The Legendary

138 Outwitting The Emperor.

Valerian followed Fragrantia to his room and then he washed up while the lady selected a set of clothes for him. It did not take long for the boy to walk out of the room dressed in a coarse white shirt with brown pants with calf high boots.

The catching feature was the dragon pin from yesterday was now replaced by a lily flower pin inlaid with blue gemstone, paired with the daggers tied around his thighs. There were six daggers until they were taken out of the sheath, the people will find them to be normal.

The seventh dagger was tied horizontally to his tailbone, this was a light element dagger. The two people walked through the corridors with a cat riding the head of her humble servant.

Fragrantia had a faint smile on her face as she noticed the two conversing with each other throughout the way. However, what amused her was the furrowed and vexed face of the boy. She could guess that dealing with Fortuna was really difficult for this genius.

Before long the two reached the dining hall and found that Libra was entering the hall from another side with his counterpart, Thales, the emperor of the Sapientia nation. The two men were talking to each other with a faint smile.

Fragrantia sneakily touched Valerian’s arm and said with single-handed signs, “This is diplomacy, neither agreeing, and neither disagreeing with each other, observe.”

Valerian nodded and then the two moved ahead as well. Thales glanced at Fragrantia and with a gentleman smile he said, “Good Morning, Lady Fragrantia.”

Fragrantia returned the greeting and said, “Good morning to you too, Sir Thales.”

Those with the same stature would address each other like this. Valerian greeted the middle-aged man, “Good morning, Your Excellency.”

.....

Thales cast him a gaze and said with nodding, “The youngest of the Verus Royal Family, I heard what happen yesterday, you are true as they say, talented and strong. ”

Valerian replied with a faint smile, “You flatter me, Your Excellency, I have nothing but meager skills.”

He displayed his modesty, but Fragrantia was surprised and thought, ‘This kid, how dare he pretend to not know anything? Such a keen act of diplomacy, have I spoiled him too much? Shall I give him a spanking later?’

She was thinking from the mind of a mother. Thales wanted to say something when the lady asked, “Where are Lady Stephanie and the princesses?”

She turned to look at the maid and said, “Go tell Vertex that he has five minutes to appear before me.”

The maid bowed and left the dining hall quickly. The second prince was too happy for his elder brother and ended up drinking himself out, thankfully, Azula salvaged the scene, or the face of the family would have been stained by this philanderer.

Fragrantia, after she came back from the scene, spanked Vertex’s unconscious butt with her vine whip. If others knew their goddess was so cruel. Soon, Stephanie entered the hall with Ashlyn and found the three elders talking to each other about the events yesterday, and a young man was leaning against the huge window on the side, gazing at the flowers outside.

She approached the elders and her daughter followed. Valerian saw this and came over to greet the lady and went back to the window, he had no intention to meddle with these old gingers and observed the situation from the side in silence. He was learning the typical verbal tug-of-war between the two sides as they presented different opinions about topics.

Azula entered the hall, with a dazed Vertex behind her, and they greeted the elders before the princesses exchanged courtesy, Azula invited Ashlyn away from the old people. She came to stand beside Valerian and patted his head when she found him looking out in a daze, “What are you thinking about?”

The boy replied and said, “This time of year, lilies in the garden bloom so beautifully.”

Azula followed his gaze and found lilies in the garden. Ashlyn asked, “Is there something special about this flower?”

Valerian nodded and said, “Mother Diligentia loved lilies, and during this time of the year, she would come out for a walk, and smile while looking at them. We had a lot of them in the orphanage garden.”

Azula recalled the state of his mind when she found him back then and could not help but sigh. She asked, “Do you want to go and pay her a visit?”

Valerian nodded and said, “I will ask the master to allow me a vacation.”

The other people also heard his voice, and as the adopted person in the family, the guests were observing him all the time. They could sense his emotions, Stephanie could not help but say, “Why do you seem said? It is a joyous occasion of your brother getting married, Prince Valerian, you must not emit gloomy emotions to dampen the spirits.”

Fragrantia frowned at this and wanted to retort when Valerian said, “Pardon me, your excellency, I did not expect that recalling the woman who sacrificed herself for me will make the atmosphere damp.”

In one sentence he stated the significance of Diligentia in his life, and also managed the decorum. The other people did not expect him to say such a thing, and were at a loss, while Stephanie said, “Do you mean that she is dead? Then you should avoid mentioning her even more.”

Valerian nodded and said, “I will keep it in mind, Your Excellency. Then may I ask for your guidance about a question in my mind?”

Stephanie raised her chin and nodded to him. However, the next moment she regretted being too haughty, Valerian asked, “Does this rule apply to all the dead people?”

The faces of the Sapientians changed, Thales spoke up, “What do you mean by that, Prince Valerian?”

Valerian replied, “Just now her Excellency was comparing her esteemed father’s glory, but as far as I heard, His grace passed away a decade ago, in a battle with a grade seven magical beast.”

His words were exactly what Stephanie just said to counter Fragrantia’s description of her father-in-law. While the old emperor held a higher position, he was slightly outplayed by the duke of Kans-ha, Stephanie’s father.

Fragrantia was upset by this remark and could not say anything, but Valerian could not tolerate this, so he bought up Diligentia. He was aware of the disgust the two elders held for him in their eyes. So, he was aware that his words will definitely be retorted by these two.

Thales snorted and said, “What do you mean to say? The mention of my father-in-law is not worthy? Are you disrespecting our family?”

The man lost his temper in an instant, he thought, ‘How dare this scum to dare to question us?’

Valerian smiled and shook his head as he said, “You have mistaken my intention. I do not mean to disrespect anyone, and it is my honor to hear the glorious history of an esteemed senior. I was merely asking a question, pardon my ignorance. However, Your Excellency, when I asked you to stop mentioning those who had passed away. You asked me if I was disrespecting the seniors.

Now, I would like to ask you, are you disrespecting my mother as well?”

The last sentence was laced with a chill that made the atmosphere turn rigid. Vertex had regained his senses when he heard this, and the scene from the fortress flashed in his mind. He gulped and cast a gaze at his mother and gestured for her to intervene or it might become a war situation.

Fragrantia was quick to react and said, “Valerian is this how you talk to your elders, let alone guests? Apologize.”

Valerian cast her an unwavering gaze and said, “You can punish me however, you wish, later. I am still waiting for an answer from, His Excellency.”

His statement left Thales indignant and Stephanie shocked, Libra raised his eyebrow and curled his lips. He liked the guts of this child, even facing an emperor without any pressure. What was more, even the kitten on his shoulder had raised her small head in defiance?

Just when Fragrantia was about to say something, the newlywed couple entered the room, and Ignis said, “I apologize for the delay, we slept quite late last night.”

The lady holding his arm blushed and pinched his waist, making him grimace. The love birds also sensed something was wrong, the girl looked at her father and saw him engaged in a stare-off with Valerian. She liked this young man, he was shy and respectful to her yesterday, but today she saw his defiant side and could not help but ask, “Valerian, tell me what happened?”

She was newlywed and was overflowing with maternal love, watching this poor child being targeted by her father, she could not help but take pity and asked in a soft tone. Valerian looked at her with teary eyes and said, “Sister-in-law, you be the judge for me, please.”

His change was frightening for everyone, but it worked on Adele like a magic charm spell, and he directly told her everything that happened and played to be the victim. Adele, sighed after she heard his narration and said, “Since you did not interrupt him, it means he did not say anything extra, and neither did he remove anything. Father, tell me if my mother was to sacrifice herself for me, and I mentioned her outside in nostalgia, as she is my most cherished person, and someone like you said that I was dampening the spirits, what shall I do?”

Thales was caught in a bind, the motive of this meal was to convince Ignis to go back to their nation and live there, but the table was turned, and all this was done by this witty bastard in front of him. He clenched his fist and said with a heavy heart, “I was wrong. Prince Valerian, I apologize for my angry behavior, I did not mean to disrespect your mother’s noble soul.”

Valerian bowed and said, “I apologize for overstepping my bounds, Your Excellency.”

Then he turned to face Fragrantia and said, “I have let you done, I will voluntarily repent my actions, and give up food for the next whole week.”

The people were shocked, and after he thanked Adele, he left the room, but not before he wiped the corner of his dry eye. The mood was destroyed, and so was the planning. Fragrantia and Libra exchanged a glance and held their urge to laugh when they saw the dark faces of the two people.

Valerian just made them look high, and threw himself under the carriage to make Adele empathize with him. Azula chased after Valerian, she was going to seek his guidance.