Law of Space and Time

Chapter 8-1: Return of the Princess (1)

Princess Onean was truly the most precious person in King Cameron's heart, and he made sure she received the grandest of welcomes upon her return to Sarus. All of the royal court's most important officials and nobles had been instructed to greet her at the city gates, and the welcoming party was arranged in a rather interesting way.

There was one group of people on one side of the flagstone street, led by Governor Jenkins with Prime Minister Fuller standing behind him.

On the other side of the street was another group of people, led by Prince Lazaar with Archbishop Sirius standing behind him.

Erwin took a close look and discovered that all of the nobles of the old guard, such as Larwood's father, Duke Nandoon, were standing on Governor Jenkins's side. Gwen was also standing not far behind her father. In contrast, all of the nobles that had been more recently initiated were standing on Prince Lazaar's side. In order to support Prince Lazaar, Archbishop Sirius had invited the bishops of the True Light Church to join them as well. With that in mind, Erwin couldn't help but admire his own father, who had refused to be present during such an important occasion, citing illness as an excuse.

As for the young nobles with no official titles, such as Larwood and Chase, they were naturally standing on Governor Jenkins's side.

Erwin cast his gaze toward Prince Lazaar's faction, and he spotted Lana and her brother standing not far away from Prince Lazaar. Due to the fact that he had to get up early to come here, he couldn't help but yawn in a sleepy manner. He raised his head to look up at the sun, which still hadn't fully risen into the sky yet, and he couldn't remember the last time that he had gotten up this early. Recently, he had always been thinking about the laws of space and time until late into the night, and he would struggle to fall asleep whenever he thought back to his sparring match against Lana during that offense and defense class.

Thankfully, the princess didn't keep everyone waiting for very long. Right as Erwin was beginning to nod off for the fifth or sixth time, the princess's carriage finally appeared on the horizon.

There were six cavaliers of the royal guard riding on either side in front of the procession of carriages, each of which holding a long spear and clad in a suit of silver armor. Their steeds were purebred Zam highland horses, which had pure gray coats of fur with white manes.

Behind them was a luxurious four-wheel carriage that was extremely intricately crafted and plated with gold. The carriage was being drawn by four tall white horses: it was the princess's carriage. Behind the carriage were two rows of female magicians in gray robes riding atop white steeds, and they appeared to be the princess's servants, who also doubled as her bodyguards.

Erwin's gaze swept over these well-trained female magicians, all of whom were undoubtedly quite powerful.

"Wow, what an ostentatious entourage," Larwood commented in a low voice.

"Well, she is His Majesty's most prized daughter, after all," Chase replied in a quiet voice as well. "Take a look at this welcoming party. Aside from His Majesty, all of the most important figures in the city of Sarus have gathered here."

"How long has Princess Onean been studying under Master Piro?" Erwin asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't recall exactly how long it's been. Maybe six or seven years? Has it been that long?" Kaiba mused as his brows furrowed slightly in contemplation.

"I don't remember, either. In any case, I heard that she was exceptionally talented in magic at a very young age, and she caught the eye of Master Piro when she was only 12 or 13 years old, and that's when he took her as his disciple," Larwood said.

"Wow, Master Piro sure likes them young," Erwin jibed as a sly grin appeared on his face.

Chase and Kaiba immediately buried their faces in their palms, doing everything in their power to suppress their mirth.

"You really have no filter, do you?" Larwood rolled his eyes at Erwin. "Master Piro is almost 70 years old already!"

On the other side of the street, Lana swept her gaze over the extravagant welcoming party, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes in exasperation. "What a waste of time this is."

Jeff immediately turned around to give her a stern glare in fear that she would say anything else out of line.

The luxurious horse-drawn carriage slowly drew to a halt in front of everyone, and a servant from the royal palace immediately placed down a small stool. The officials and nobles on either side of the street bowed in welcome, while Princess Onean emerged from the carriage in an elegant manner, then swept an indifferent gaze over the nobles and officials bowing on either side. Her father had told her about the situation in the kingdom through letters.

Erwin was not the type of person to be bowing obediently like everyone else. He took advantage of the fact that he was concealed within the crowd to sneak a few glances at the princess out of the corners of his eyes.

He had thought Lana was the most attention-grabbing woman in the entire city of Sarus, but after taking a glance at Princess Onean, he couldn't help but be captivated by her aura and beauty. She was like a proud and haughty goddess looking down on all those around her, and just looking at her evoked a sense of inferiority in the heart of the beholder. Under the light of the sun, every single strand of her silver hair was giving off a sparkling sheen, outshining the luster of the princess crown that was sitting on her head. Her long hair was arranged to one side, thereby clearly revealing the delicate lines of the other side of her face, and every single one of her proud facial features looked as if they were masterful works of art that had been meticulously arranged into the most perfect combination. All of her features were breathtakingly gorgeous, and if it weren't for the fact that her bright and piercing golden eyes were far too prominent a feature, one would truly be at a complete loss as to where to look.

Her pristine white dress highlighted her slender figure and voluptuous chest to perfection, and there were two crescent openings on her dress at her waist, revealing the fair and delicate skin there, adding a sense of seduction to her holy and unapproachable appearance. What came as quite a surprise to Erwin was that she also had a white sheep wool cape draped over her shoulders, which was trailing down onto the ground, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was the signature attire for all the powerful female magicians nowadays.

Purely in terms of appearance, it was hard to pick a definitively superior option between Onean and Lana. However, their personalities and dispositions were completely different. Princess Onean was like the all-encompassing sunlight shining down upon the land, striking the beholder with a sense of awe and veneration, while Lana was much more fickle. At times, she was like a frosty glacier that was extremely cold and forbidding, while at other times, she was like a sea of passionate fire that was both captivating and dangerous at the same time.

"No need for formalities, everyone," Princess Onean said with an impeccable smile.

"Welcome back, Your Highness. You must be quite weary after your long journey." Governor Jenkins was the first to approach her with a smile on his face, and the group of officials behind him quickly offered up some words of praise and flattery.

In contrast, Prince Lazaar wasn't as eager to approach the princess as they were, and he merely remained on the spot with a tranquil smile on his face.

The princess acknowledged Governor Jenkins's group with a smile and a nod, and she naturally wasn't going to ignore Prince Lazaar.

While Princess Onean was conversing with everyone else, Prince Lazaar took advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look at her, and he couldn't help but admire her disposition and poise at such a young age.

"Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat rang out from within the carriage, and an amused smile appeared on Princess Onean's face as she returned to the carriage.

"I'll help you out of the carriage right away, Teacher."

Shortly thereafter, a feeble elderly man emerged from the carriage. This man was the most renowned magician in the entire Effer Kingdom, Master Piro.

Erwin took a glance at him from afar. Master Piro appeared to be around 70 to 80 years of age, but his eyes were still bright and sharp.

Everyone was quite surprised to see this. It was already close to three decades since Master Piro had retired from his post as the head of the Court Magician Council, and since then, he had rarely ever been sighted outside of Fort Glans. Thus, everyone was wondering why he had returned to the capital with Princess Onean on this occasion.

Back when Master Piro was serving as the head of the Court Magician Council, many of the people present hadn't even been born yet.

Piro paid no heed to everyone as he allowed one of his hands to be held by Princess Onean, while his other hand was resting on a beechwood staff that was even taller than he was. He pursed his lips as he looked around, quickly identifying many of the people present to be students that he had once taught many years ago. All of the past students of his in the crowd immediately lowered their heads in a respectful salute, so it was clear that this legendary magician still held a very important place in their hearts.

Master Piro paused momentarily as he was walking past Prince Lazaar, then turned to glance at Prince Lazaar's blue eyes with a thoughtful expression before calmly withdrawing his gaze.

To his credit, Prince Lazaar remained quite calm and collected even in the face of the legendary magician.

Master Piro paid no heed to anyone else as he directed his gaze toward the city gate of Sarus, which was constructed from Yin Mountain Stone. A contemplative look appeared in his eyes, and he heaved an internal sigh before turning to the princess beside him. "Let's enter the city."

Princess Onean nodded in response, and some servants immediately led a pair of Zam highland warhorses to them, one of which was white, while the other one was gray. Princess Onean gently stroked the mane of the white warhorse, and the horse's mane gave off a faint sheen under the light of the sun. As soon as it felt her touch, the white horse immediately knelt down onto its front legs in an obedient manner, only standing straight again once Onean had secured herself in a straddling position onto its back. As for Master Piro, he didn't even have to touch the gray horse. He merely tapped his staff against the ground, releasing a magic halo that spread over the ground to reach the gray warhorse, upon which it immediately lowered itself onto its knees as well.

Thus, Princess Onean and Master Piro entered through the southern gate of Sarus one after another, leading the procession of carriages through the outer city to the inner city along Phoenix Street, heading directly toward the royal palace.

Everyone bowed respectfully once again as the procession of carriages gradually disappeared into the distance.

Members of the royal guard were stationed all the way along Phoenix Street under instructions from the king, and all of the bystanding citizens of the city were standing behind the guards, getting onto the tips of their toes with curious expressions to try and catch a glimpse of the princess.