Although Caesar"s body was indeed revitalized, the sweat that soaked his clothes was by no means removed, thus, Caesar unb.u.t.toned his shirt and stashed it inside of his storage ring he then took out a simple white tunic and adorned that instead.
Once he was finished, he resumed walking toward the mansion. It was still dark, however, the morning sun was going to set soon, thus, many of the fox-kin citizens and guards alike were currently sleeping.
This earned Caesar a relatively quiet journey, different from his normal, and after a few minutes of walking, he arrived in front of the inner gates. The guard stationed atop the gates noticed Caesar"s approaching figure and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Open the gates!" he roared to the other guards.
At the man"s orders, the gates were pulled open by eight or so guards and Caesar, who didn"t halt his footsteps in the slightest as if it were planned prior, walked through with ease. Once he pa.s.sed through the gates, he briefly thanked the guards and continued on his way.
He didn"t want to waste his and the guards time with unnecessary formalities, he a.s.sumed that most of the guards that worked the morning shift were immensely tired at this time, not to mention the fact that they don"t get to see their families often.
Thinking to here, he soon entered the mansion and walked through the ever so familiar halls until he reached his and Ahri"s room. He quietly turned the doork.n.o.b and walked inside, he didn"t want to wake Ahri, so he moved on his tip-toes, alas, his efforts were in vain.
Right as he entered the room, the dimly lit candles alongside the walls immediately entered into his vision alongside Ahri, who was sitting on the bed with crossed arms, seemingly awaiting his arrival.
Though this would generally be a romantic scenario, Ahri"s angry and deep frown somewhat ruined the occasion, and also made Caesar think to himself, "oh my, what did I do wrong this time?"
However, contrary to his expectations, Ahri wasn"t mad at him in the slightest, instead, her frown was replaced by an expression full of worry as she stood up, "I"m sure you have noticed it, but my grandfather is starting to look older and older as the days go by… I-I don"t know what I would do without him… after losing my father and mother, he is the only one I have left" she said whilst walked toward Caesar, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
This surprise attack was, indeed, out of nowhere, however, it had probably been on Ahri"s mind for a long while, she just didn"t have the right time to talk about it.
Caesar, in response, hugged Ahri tightly, not in a seductive or romantic way, but in a more soothing way… "Musashi is an old man and has accomplished a lot in his time… he has even lost his son and daughter-in-law, maybe it"s time to let him go?" Caesar spoke in a soothing tone, even he had grown fond of Musashi, however, ever since he first met him, he had been prepared for his inevitable death.
His words made Ahri choke on her tears, "I know that… I know that, but, I can"t "just" let him go… he is the only family I have left" she replied with small whispers.
It was clear that even Ahri herself knew that saving Musashi was impossible, however, as her last remaining family member, when he falls, the hit she is going take will by no means be light.
Soon, his thoughts were broken by Ahri"s continued sobs, "I know that dying is a part of life, and I have long prepared for it, I am not so weak… it"s just, even his last days, even when he has already suffered more than anyone, the trolls are taking advantage of his old age and the clan he had created himself is facing destruction!" she said angrily.
Caesar could visibly see the sadness in Ahri"s face turn into rage, though, it was understandable, no one would want to spend their few remaining days in the middle of a war, a losing war, to boot.
Caesar tightened his arms and brought her into his firm and secure embrace, "don"t worry darling, this clan will not fall while it is within my control, nor will the trolls escape my grasp" he comforted Ahri while setting her on the bed, he pulled the covers over their bodies and soon, only the sound of breathing resounded throughout the room.
Both Caesar and Ahri were relatively silent, thinking about two different things. While Caesar was currently thinking about different ways to address the war with the trolls, such as a siege, or a battle of attrition. Ahri was thinking about how, or why, Caesar was attracted to her, he had no connection to the fox-kin, however, he was willing to do so much for them, this made her heart feel extraordinarily warm, and soon, they both drifted off to sleep.
…
The next morning, a loud banging abruptly awoke both Caesar and Ahri, causing them to begrudgingly get out of bed. Caesar stretched his arms and yawned lazily before strolling towards the door and opening it.
Caesar, with his long white hair draping over his shoulders and his half-open crimson eyes, appeared in the doorway, somewhat shocking the maid. Though his presence in Ahri"s room had already been wide-spread amongst the maids, his beautiful appearance never ceased to amaze.
The maid stood there, tongue-tied for a few moments before she finally got a hold of herself and bowed deeply, "sir, the tournament is being held in the next hour, your presence has been requested by the clan leader" she said respectfully and scurried away as if Caesar was some kind of scary monster.
Caesar smiled wryly and closed the door, he turned around and faced Ahri, who was still getting out of bed, her ears were curled and eyes squinted, her expression looked similar to a cat just awakening from their slumber.
Her sad expression from last night was nowhere to be seen and it appeared as though she had contemplated a lot about Musashi last night, he didn"t think, nor expect she was over it, however, she seemed considerably less depressed than she was last night. This, of course, made Caesar feel somewhat happy as well.
Instead of interrupting her, he decided to head towards the bathroom and briefly groom himself. Although he was heading towards a tournament where he was more than likely going to get dirty, he still wanted to arrive looking presentable.
He rinsed his body and brushed his hair, afterword, he dried his body with a soft towel and took out an intricate military outfit from his storage ring. Ever since he encountered that a.s.sa.s.sin, he never took his ring off, as it contained his weapon.
The outfit he adorned had tight black trousers, military esque shin-high boots, a white sleeved b.u.t.ton up shirt covered by a black blazer with military badges placed over the right side of his chest, coupled with a pair of slick, white gloves, and a black and red military cap with a golden emblem of an intertwined dragon above the bill of the hat.
He looked in the mirror and his outfit on top of his glowing red eyes, long white hair, and somewhat pale skin, made him look a highly trained military general, alas, this was, in fact, Caesar"s desire. No one wanted to head into battle looking elegant while wearing a suit.
Caesar nodded in acceptance after seeing his appearance and stepped out of the bathroom and being greeted by Ahri in a snow white dress that reached her knees, her shoulders were somewhat uncovered and her cleavage was just barely discernible. She looked a mix of conservative and bold at the same time.
Seeing her beautiful appearance, Caesar nodded in approval, it looked much better than the kimono"s she normally adorned, "well, shall we head out?" Caesar asked whilst offering his hand towards Ahri, to which she nodded her head with a wide smile and locked arms with him.
And thus, they both marched to the training grounds where the tournament was being held, even they didn"t know what waves were going to be created.