Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 283 - 283 142 Orland Royal Family Thanks for the Monthly Pass and Alliance Leader_2

283: Chapter 142 Orland Royal Family (Thanks for the Monthly Pass and Alliance Leader)_2 283: Chapter 142 Orland Royal Family (Thanks for the Monthly Pass and Alliance Leader)_2 “Your Highness, His Majesty’s court meeting has already ended,” the servant reminded.

“Just in time, I need to see Father,” Eric instructed his attendant to follow.

The entourage descended the winding stairway from the Dragon Nest behind the mountain, mounted the horses waiting at the base—chosen to avoid startling the Flying Dragons—, and hurried back to the Royal Palace.

Entering the inner city of the Royal Court, Eric dismounted and walked toward the main hall where his father resided, passing by the Royal Garden.

There, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Seeing a girl leisurely sipping tea under a parasol amongst the flowers by the lake, he was pleasantly surprised.

“Ines!”

Calling out his sister’s name, Eric approached her quickly with a smile.

The golden-haired girl under the parasol, hearing the call, looked up with her blue eyes.

Upon seeing her approaching brother, she set down her teacup, rose gracefully from her chair, and with an elegant curtsey greeted Eric, lifting her skirt and bending her knee.

“Good afternoon, Brother, it’s been a long time,” Ines replied with a calm smile.

“You’ve come back from West Bay County?

When did you arrive?” Gazing at his sister, who had changed quite a bit, Eric counted the days; it had indeed been over three years since Ines was sent by their father to the Great Vestra Territory.

The little one who once had not yet shed her childish aura, had now grown into a graceful sixteen-year-old girl.

“I just arrived, only a day later than you, Brother,” Ines responded gently.

Seeing his sister so mannerly, Eric couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of estrangement between them.

“How have you been during these years in the West Territory?” he asked.

“Thank you for your concern, Brother.

West Bay County has a pleasant climate, abundant resources, and the seascape is enchanting.

If you have the time, Brother, you are welcome to visit, and I will make sure you try the succulent Golden Fin fish,” the Princess replied, concealing her lips behind her fan with a smile.

“Since you say so, I will surely visit when I have the chance,” Eric nodded.

Speaking, he slowly withdrew his smile and sighed, “I also met the son of Duke Vister yesterday…

The Duke himself is so robust and his wife such a beauty; how could they have a son who looks like that?

Father, too, how could he wish for you to marry that pig?

I don’t mean to be rude, but that guy is as round as a meatball; I doubt he could even mount a horse by himself.

How could someone like that be worthy of you?”

Ines laughed lightly and shook her head, “Hehe, Lord Akman would be heartbroken to hear that, Brother.

Don’t speak out of turn, and after all, I haven’t actually been betrothed to him, so there’s really nothing to discuss about marrying him.”

“True.

Father sent you to the Great Vestra to grow up together and to see what he’s made of.

But now it seems unlikely you would fancy him, right?

Not to mention taking up arms in battle, if he’d just spend some time exercising regularly, he wouldn’t be so fat.”

As a warrior who knew the battlefield well, Eric spoke with disdain.

Orland was known for its Knights and military heritage; a lazy glutton like that, despite being the son of a Duke, did not deserve a Princess of the Royal Family with the blood of the Dusk Knight.

“Here’s what we’ll do.

When I see Father, I’ll suggest something to him.

Duke Ostdor’s son is a brave Knight; I fought alongside him last year, and he is a hundred times better than that pig from the West Family.

Why don’t you come with me to Loman Territory sometime and see if he catches your eye, how about it?” Eric proposed to his sister.

Upon hearing this, a hint of helplessness appeared in Ines’s eyes, and she couldn’t help but feel amused and frustrated.

After three years, her brother was still so politically naive.

Sixteen years ago, during the civil war, their father had only been able to win the throne by leveraging the support of the Eastern Nobles against those who supported the former King in the West.

Now, with that momentum, Duke Ostdor had consolidated his hold over the entire Loman Territory.

As the reputed leader of the so-called “Royalists,” he had marshalled the Eastern, including the Garsom Domain, and many Western Lords to his side.

If she, a Princess of the Orland Royal Family, were to marry his eldest son…

In a few decades, given the chance, Orland would likely no longer bear the name “Drakemar.”

Over the years, even with General Trolsa and his faction aiding their father to weaken the strong and unyielding “Royalists,” it had still been far from enough.

Her father had sent her to West Territory, clearly hoping to strengthen the weakened West Family through an arranged marriage, uniting those nobles excluded from the Royalist faction who had once supported the “former King” during the civil war, to slowly counterbalance the gradually uncontrollable Eastern Lords who were secretly forming an alliance.

But now it seemed her foolish elder brother still hadn’t understood the purpose behind their father’s arrangement for him to lead troops and meddle in the Loman Territory’s border defense.

Lowering her eyelids, Ines responded noncommittally to her brother’s proposal, “Thank you for your concern, Brother, but Lord Akman is not as worthless as you say.

In any case, my future will still be dictated by our father’s plans.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have a good talk with father about this, and we can chat more at dinner time,” Eric assured, patting his chest.

After saying farewell to his sister for the moment, he continued on to the main hall.

Ines waved her small hand, smilingly watching her brother’s retreating figure.

In her head, she could almost see the foolish brother getting scolded by their father.

Gradually, the smile at the corners of her mouth faded, and the girl regained the indifferent look in her eyes.

Who her future husband would be was not for her to decide at the moment; she was destined to be a pawn in her father’s game to maintain his rule.

With that in mind, whether it was Akman from the West Family, the eldest son of Duke Loman, or anyone else, it made no difference to her.

But she still did not want to give up any chance to influence her own destiny.

Of course, this was difficult.

She was not a man, unable to contend with her elder brother for the inheritance rights that belonged by convention to the firstborn male.

Even if she somehow managed to kill this foolish brother, the succession would merely fall to another brother or even to a distant branch of the Royal Family.

To make her father respect her opinion, she would need to possess a power that would force him to reevaluate her true worth.

“Let’s go, Agatha, I’ve already grown nostalgic enough for this scenery,” Ines said, opening her delicate fan from Seralir once more, turning around, and calling to the tall Female Knight to follow.

“Yes, Your Highness,” the ever-silent, valiant woman bowed and touched her chest, waiting for her honored monarch to pass before quietly following behind.

“Sometimes I envy you, Agatha,” Ines said, glancing sideways with a leisurely smile.

“Me?

I don’t understand, Your Highness,” Agatha replied in her muffled voice, a little puzzled.

She had been born a slave and had suffered through a miserable, filthy childhood, barely learning how to wield a sword amidst mocking and abuse from men, and struggling to survive out of countless battlefields as a mercenary.

But, had it not been for the esteemed Princess’ favor and the conferment of a knightly title, she might have perished in a meaningless battle like so many others.

What about her life could possibly be the object of Princess Ines’s envy?

“It’s not your life I envy; it’s that no matter the circumstance, you still get to decide your own worth.

You know, as a child, I too dreamed that I could take up arms and ride Flying Dragons across the skies like my brother…

But I was not allowed to learn martial arts and become burly like you because, to father, being a beautiful girl meant that lying in the bed of some powerful man had greater value to Drakemar,” Ines said with self-deprecation.

“When I first arrived in West Bay, I even sneaked off to the Northern fortress, hoping to gain the Magicians’ powers to free myself from the shackles of the Mortal World…

Alas, the gods did not bless me with the talent for Magic, and Master Hillgarde was right.

The Blood of the Dusk Knight is inherently incompatible with that power—I even nearly damaged the Magicians’ machinery.

…At that moment, I knew that there was only one path laid out before me.”

Before she could finish, a young man clad in lavish garments but sweating profusely and plump as a dumpling wrapped in jewelry hurried over, “Your Highness~!

Princess Ines, where had you gone?

The royal palace of Oran is so vast; you’ve given me a hard time finding you.”

“What’s the matter?

Lord Akman, shouldn’t you be thanking me for giving you the chance to meet with your little manservant in private?” Ines teased with a mischievous look in her eyes.

“Ow, shh!

Shh!

Princess!

Your Highness!

Keep it down, we can’t speak of these things here!

If my father hears of it, he’ll kill me,” the son of the Duke’s face paled, pleading the formidable young lady to silence.