Chapter 453: Hidden Room X
*Knock* *Knock*
There was a knock on the door. Arthur had expected that. "Come in."
"Excuse me." Elysia opened the door and entered the princ.i.p.al"s office. The others immediately followed her from behind.
"Mm, you guys have come as I expected. Please have a seat." Arthur pointed his palm to the sofa for the guests.
Elysia, Ella, and Evelyn sat side by side on the same sofa. Apart from Gio and the little beasts, everyone was also sitting on the sofa.
Then, Ella opened the conversation politely. "Please forgive us if we disturb you, princ.i.p.al. But, we need to see you soon to ask permission to take a few days off. Umm, about a week."
"Permission to take a week off? The three of you?" Arthur raised his eyebrows with an astonished expression.
"Mm, the three of us. Ely, Eve, and me." Ella nodded.
"Hmm, before that, may I know why the three of you decided to request a week off? As for Elysia, didn"t you just take a week off?" Arthur rested his hands on the table. He became interested in what might happen next.
"Yes, I just returned yesterday, but circ.u.mstances have prevented me from attending academy cla.s.ses for the time being. We will be leaving tomorrow morning for an intercontinental journey." Elysia didn"t hesitate to tell the truth because she knew the princ.i.p.al"s true ident.i.ty before her.
"I see... Alright, a week off for the three of you. I"ll take care of that and hand it over to your homeroom teacher." Arthur closed his eyes and nodded. He could already draw a conclusion from Elysia"s answer.
"Thank you, princ.i.p.al." Ella and Evelyn responded in unison, but Elysia remained silent.
"But! I want all of you to come to the Aeddoterra Imperial Palace this afternoon or evening. Emperor Arthur wishes to see you on an important matter." Arthur tapped the table once for attention.
"Uh?" Ella and Evelyn looked at each other. They didn"t know why they needed to see Emperor Arthur because they wanted to take a week off.
At that moment, a golden sparkle appeared in mid-air. A beautiful and graceful fairy figure with a pair of pure white wings emerged from the golden light. The little G.o.ddess flapped her wings and floated before everyone.
Nell looked at Arthur, who was disguised as the princ.i.p.al. "I know that you have something to say but you"re not ready for it. If you really wanted to say something or beg for help, why don"t you say it right here and now, Arthur?"
"..." Arthur felt a little awkward. His real ident.i.ty was simply exposed by the G.o.ddess of Blessings. So, she was around too...
"Eh?" "Huh?"
Ella and Evelyn became clueless, as if they couldn"t keep up with the sudden change in events. They did not know why the G.o.ddess of Blessings referred to the princ.i.p.al by the name of the Aeddoterra Emperor.
"Really, no disguise magic can trick you, the G.o.ddess of Blessings." Arthur smiled helplessly and revoked his disguise magic.
"Emperor Arthur!?" Ella and Evelyn were surprised because they really never thought that their princ.i.p.al was the Emperor himself.
"Hmm." Arthur just nodded, but he suddenly became surprised that Elysia didn"t show any expression as if what she saw was normal. "Elysia, you, aren"t surprised?"
Elysia didn"t know what to say. She was not surprised by what she already knew. Therefore, she only smiled in return.
"Elysia is a special girl. She has known that you are Emperor Arthur since the first time you came before her as princ.i.p.al." Nell glanced at Elysia and helped to answer.
"O-oh, then, no wonder... As expected of the G.o.ddess of Light"s disciple." Arthur stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"With that being said, it"s best if you finish the business you wish to convey now, Arthur. I"m afraid that this afternoon or evening we won"t have time to come to your palace for some preparatory reason." Nell drew a middle ground to hasten their business there.
"Here and now..." Arthur hesitated at his decision. He felt conflicted because he only hoped to talk to the divine and maybe Elysia.
Nevertheless, he quickly made up his mind. He put a soundproof barrier across the room, then he made a steeple of his fingers.
"Honestly speaking, this is my personal request as an Emperor of the Aeddoterra Kingdom as well as a patriarch of the Griffith Royal Family. The G.o.ddess of Blessings, the source of all blessings and goodness… This is my profound plea, please come to my palace to help my wife out of her misery." Arthur bowed his head to plead for the divine aid.
"Okay, but you need to explain everything that happened with your wife. I am omniscient, but I was not in this world at the time of the tragedy of the Aeddoterra Imperial Palace. Now, raise your head, Arthur. Let"s do that on our way to your palace." Nell gave a yes without a second thought. An Emperor had already bowed his head to beg for help. The response was clear and definite only because Arthur was her people.
"I express my deep grat.i.tude. Then, let"s go now." "I express my deep grat.i.tude. Then, let"s go now." Arthur raised his head with joy bubbling in his heart.
"All right. We will go in my invisible magic." Nell nodded, then cast an area of effect magic. She opened the window and used her magic to bring everyone flying toward the palace with her.
It didn"t take more than three seconds. Nell revoked her wind magic after everyone landed at the palace entrance.
"Let"s go in. I"ll explain everything when we get to hidden room X." Arthur pointed his palm toward the palace entrance.
"Good, show us the way." Nell gave the nod.
After that, Arthur walked ahead and came out of Nell"s invisible magic. The Emperor just appeared out of thin air. That was what the imperial knights saw. Nevertheless, all the knights immediately gave their salutations to welcome the Emperor"s arrival.
Arthur went to a hidden chamber somewhere in the palace"s bas.e.m.e.nt. He was alone, but he seemed to know an invisible group following him from behind.
"Can you revoke your invisible magic, o the G.o.ddess of Blessings? Allow me to begin explaining what happened to my wife." Arthur looked back and spoke into empty air.
But, a group of people suddenly emerged out of thin air. They were already standing in front of him with various expressions on their faces.
It was like an ordinary dungeon used as a storage warehouse with nothing inside. Elysia looked around once more, then looked at the hidden door. At first glance, the door was just like an ordinary wall, but there was a mechanism to open it.
At that moment, she remembered a ghost who came to her that night. That ghost just popped out of nowhere and just went somewhere unknown when she was staying at this palace.
"Could it be that ghost..." Elysia muttered in her mind.
"Why don"t you ask Emperor Arthur to confirm that, Ely? Any data about his wife can"t be found anywhere, and here, he asks for help. I"m sure there"s a deep reason behind it all." Elena suggested while looking deep into what was hidden behind that hidden door.
She couldn"t see more than 200 meters. As far as she could see, it was just the staircase leading down deep underground.
"Excuse me, can I ask you something before you explain anything, Emperor Arthur?" Elysia held up her hand.
Instantly, everyone"s attention was on her, without exception.
Arthur glanced at the G.o.ddess of Blessings briefly, then gave Elysia a nod. "Mm, tell me what you want to ask, Elysia."
"Do you remember what happened that night when Ella, Eve, and I were staying at the palace? That night, a female ghost with long black hair and azure eyes came to us. When morning came, Eve and Ella told their parents about it, but they couldn"t seem to believe it." Elysia brought back an old problem.
"Ah, I remember that. Yes, that"s right, no one wanted to believe us and just think of it as just a horror night story." Evelyn repeatedly nodded in support of her best friend"s statement.
"Is it possible that the ghost in question was the reason why you led us here, Emperor Arthur?" Ella felt a little uncomfortable because she didn"t really like horror.
"Whoo, we"re going to meet a ghost?" Sylvia clapped her hands, but softly.
"Sigh, to be honest, your elders believed what you said. However, they respected me because it was such a taboo thing to talk about. Everything will become clear once you hear my story as what I promised the G.o.ddess of Blessings." Arthur sighed with a sad expression. Even though it was a long time ago, he still found it very heartbreaking.
"You sealed your wife deep underground, huh... And again, her soul came to the surface to meet Ely? Hmm... Well then, you need to explain everything while we walk down." Nell had some thoughts in mind. But, she needed to confirm something first.
"..." Arthur didn"t say anything else. He just triggered some mechanism on the wall, then a light flashed on one of the rocks.
After he drew a transparent pattern there, he pressed the stone and shifted it to the right.
*Rustle* *Rustle*
A soft, m.u.f.fled crackling sound like that made by the movement of dry leaves was heard as the stone wall shifted upwards. Behind it, there was a dark, terrifying-looking hallway with stairs leading down.
Elysia and anyone who didn"t know what would await them down there seemed to feel that it was a staircase leading to an abyss of no return. Once in, there was no way out.