Looking at how the servants were fauning over them, Greyson already had a feeling of dislike growing for the group. Although they were without the usual overt arrogance spelled across their faces, if one looked closely, they could see the overflowing pride in their eyes. Worried about already starting a fight, Greyson tried to hold in his expression of dislike. As for the other three, as people used to this sort of scene, they all continued to leisurely smile as they approached. The only exception would have to be Sweetbow who did not even bother to hide the disdain he felt. Disgust might as well have been written in bold letters across his face. Inwardly shrugging, Greyson actually appreciated this geniune side of his teacher. Seeing such an example, he suddenly felt there was no need to force himself to smile. No matter what, they were still weaker than him and he had no reason to try to cozy up to them just because they were royalty in the Idris Kingdom. Greyson also had extraordinary origins if he were to think about it. Throughout the time he spent with Rosalie and his grandparents, they clearly explained the ident.i.ties of his parents. His father was rather obvious and was the only son of the two top elders in the Snow Dragon tribe and one of the top geniuses in the entire Dragon tribe itself. His mother, however, was even more shocking. She was the younger sister of the current Queen of the elves and possibly the most talented elf to be born in the royal family. She was the one who set the record for breaking through to the magister level at 15. As the son of these two individuals, Greyson no longer felt the need to avoid conflict.If he didn"t like them, then he didn"t!
The three royals also noticed them approaching as they rather stood out in the crowd of weak citizens. With the exception of Quinn, who was relatively average-looking, the group were all handsome and beautiful individuals. Unaware of this himself, Greyson was actually the one catching the most attention. With his silky-looking white hair and deep blue eyes, his good looks stood out. No longer as feminine as his earlier self, he had grown taller and filled out more. He started to easily attract the stares of the younger girls.
Slightly overwhelmed by the attention turned towards their group, Greyson glanced towards his teacher. Nodding to himself, even he had to admit that his teacher was extremely handsome. If only his personality was not so strange and difficult to get along with. His eyes also travelled over to his companions and stopped on Ezra. Though not exactly his cup of tea, Ezra was most definitely a seductive beauty. Every step she took had men looking over and drooling. In order to egg them on, she would occasionally send out a wink. As if to counteract the effect, however, Ignis would turn his eyes over to glare daggers at them. Immediately cowering, those "lucky" men no longer dared to look towards the group. Sweetbow and Ezra so obviously enjoyed the interest of the crowd. Ignis, one the other hand, was just one step away from being a growling guard dog while Quinn was the only one who showed no change from the whispers and stares.
Leading her two brothers, Palmira approached after getting out of their makes.h.i.+ft seats. Directly overlooking the rest of the group, she made a slight curtsy to Sweetbow.
"Elder Brennan Sweetbow, it is our honor to make your acquaintance. We have heard much of your talent and strength." Her tone was cold but respectful.
"Hm... yes, it really is your honor." Snorting in contempt, Sweetbow did not give her any face. Without getting fl.u.s.tered, Palmira just took it in stride and nodded politely. Only, the group realized that her greetings stopped there. The older prince, Sebastien, also did not indicate that he was interested in conversing with the group. Instead, the younger one, Nicholas burst out from behind them in a friendly manner.
"h.e.l.lo, I am Nicholas. What are your names?" With a sunny smile, he was the first to greet the group warmly. First impression-wise, Nicholas was the one who the group warmed up to the fastest. Reciprocating his smile, Ezra curtsied per n.o.ble standards.
"It is my honor to greet the Fourth Highness, Nicholas. I am Ezra of the Seirina Family." Restraining her normally flirtatious and playful nature, she kept her expression grave and dignified. Ignis and even the whimsical Quinn also greeted seriously.
"Ah, ah, I hate these kinds of formalities the most. You all can just refer to me by my name. Hehehe, since we are going to be fighting together, we might as well get comfortable with one another." A spirited and clever look appeared on Nicholas" face as he straightened all of them up. One could see his innate playful nature and he really did not seem to take himself too seriously. Shoulders slowly relaxing, the rest of the group seemed to breath easier after hearing his words.
"And who might you be? Wow, you are so young! However, to be here, you must be a magister level magician, right? Super impressive~." Nicholas grinned seeing the trio"s response, before he quickly flipped his attention to the one who had yet to introduce himself.
"Fourth Prince is too kind. My name is Greyson." Not one to brag about himself, Greyson answered humbly. Returning the friendly att.i.tude, he also smiled back politely. Seeing Greyson"s response, Nicholas actually had a pause in expression.
"Well, you are really good-looking, aren"t you? I think you might be the best-looking man I have ever met." Laughing at himself, Nicholas scratched his head in embarra.s.sment after realizing he had gawked at Greyson for a little too long.
"Nicholas, stop throwing away the pride of royalty. No one would doubt your idiocy even if you do not speak." Finally, Sebastien could no longer bear to watch his younger brother make a fool of himself. Scowling, he yanked his younged brother back by his collar while giving a scanning look at Greyson. Scoffing with disdain, he no longer paid attention to Greyson. Palmira watched the scene like an outsider, as if they were all just children playing in front of her. Getting a sense of their personalities, Greyson really only felt that Nicholas was worth befriending. The other two had their noses pointed to the skies and did not seem to deem Greyson and his friends worthy of interaction. Yet, Nicholas also made him feel slightly awkward. Clearly he was 10 years older, but he acted more like a child than Greyson.
"Well, enough small-talk for now. Let"s quickly head out." Sweetbow cut in.
"Elder Sweetbow, I"m sorry for the inconvenience, however we must wait for our Royal Grandfather to arrive. He will also be escorting us to the Moon Empire"s imperial city." Swiftly stepping out, Palmira calmly explained the situation.
"How could he still not be out yet? Isn"t he too arrogant to keep us waiting like this?" Frowning while obviously displeased, Sweetbow did not seem to hold any respect towards this character.
"Hey, elf! We have obviously treated you with respect this time as someone with power and talent. However, you had better hold your tongue when it comes to our Royal Grandfather. His power is not something that you can look down on." Sebastien could no longer contain his anger and snapped back at Sweetbow.
"Oh? Well, I would really like to meet such an almighty character." Sneering, Sweetbow"s voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Anyways, don"t think I do not know that this is the Old King Amand Yce. I"m not some ignoramus. He retired the crown long ago and is just a bored old man. What could he possibly be busy with that it took him this long to come?"
"Hahahaha! While it is true that this old man is much more idle compared to before, I do still have at least some things to do. Plus, young friend, is it not your group that has come hours after the agreed upon time?"
Everyone turned to the source of the voice. Greyson watched in fascination as the old man quickly approached them. Underneath his feet was an ice path that allowed the Old King to slide effortlessly over to them. Curious about this tactic, Greyson watched closely hoping that he would be able to copy this later on. Not so much because he was too lazy to walk, just because it really seemed like fun. His country was covered with snow all over so he could really use this kind of spell anywhere here. Sweetbow saw the interested expression on his disciple"s face and felt a little miffed, but realized that if he said something he would sound narrow-minded and immature.
"Just parlor tricks..." He sniffed quietly.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
Greyson who was next to him could obviously hear him, however, he decided to just ignore his teacher.
"Well, we had a straggler who ended up making us late." Responding to the older man"s earlier accusation, Sweetbow did not even bat an eye as he shamelessly lied through his teeth. He even topped it off with a conspicuous look over in Quinn"s direction. While he might be extraordinarily thick-skinned, the rest of the group was not. Ezra, Ignis, and Greyson all had odd expressions on their face when they heard the elf justify their tardiness. Although he knew Sweetbow came only moments before him, Quinn also knew that now was not the appropriate time to defend himself. Plus, it was true that he was late. Thus, he just shrugged and apologized.
"Your Majesty, I truly did wake up late and ended up dragging the rest of the group down causing us to be late. I apologize."
"It"s no matter. It"s not as if these children truly suffered while waiting." However, the Old King just waved it off and indicated towards the area where the princes and princess were waiting earlier. Truly, it was just as he said. A makes.h.i.+ft tent with comfortable cus.h.i.+oned chairs and tens of servants who served them food and fanned them. Their wait could not have been more comfortable. "This kind of situation is good for tempering their patience, as well. Though, it is true that we are now a day behind. So, we should head out as quickly as possible."
Ending with this statement, he raised his head up and whistled loudly. In response, there was a loud caw from the sky. Landing down in front of them was actually a large Silverwing Bird. It was a wind element magic beast that was famous for its speed and endurance. They did not have very high-level bloodlines and would usually peak at the magister level. This Silverwing Bird looked pretty miserable with clear cuts and scars where some of its beautiful signature silver feathers used to be. Greyson could tell right away that this bird was in a master-servant contract with the Old King and was definitely used as a s.h.i.+eld more than once. In the depths of his heart, seeing the depressed magic beast did bring about feelings of dislike in Greyson towards the Old King. Lucius, Theo, and Snow/Gold were his friends as were the dragons he met along his stay in the Beast Empire. Living among the magic beasts allowed him to experience firsthand that the intelligent ones were in no way inferior or different from humans. If anything, high-level bloodline magic beasts lived longer and possessed higher talent at birth than humans. The label of "beasts" did not really do them justice and caused incorrect a.s.sumptions.
He was helpless, though. The idea that magic beasts were only good for being caught and used as servants was a long held belief in the human kingdoms. Just like how he could not convince someone to stop selling and buying slaves, even if he said something to the Old King, that senior would probably not heed Greyson"s words.